Objects Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
1971.71.38 |
Object Name |
Plaque |
Title |
Plaque, John David Higinbotham, Galt Tree Felling, Unknown Date |
Year Range from |
1895 |
Year Range to |
1961 |
Description |
Small wooden plaque gifted to John David Higinbotham. A handwritten inscription suggests the plaque is made form a piece of the first tree cut in Guelph by John Galt in 1827. The inscription was adhered to the plaque between 1895-1961. The light brown wooden plaque is square with a rectangular piece of paper adhered to one side. An inscription in fading black ink is written on the paper. One edge of the square wooden block is angled slightly. |
Notes |
Biography: John David Higinbotham (1864-1961) John David Higinbotham (1864-1961) was born in Guelph and educated at Guelph Academy and Collegiate Institute. In 1883 he graduated from the Ontario College of Pharmacy. The following year, Higinbotham moved to Alberta where he opened his first drugstore in Fort Macleod. He moved 50km East to Lethbridge, AB and lived there between 1885 and 1910. During this time, he served as the postmaster, helped establish the Alberta Pharmaceutical Association, organized Sunday School at the Knox Presbyterian Church, served as chairman to the Lethbridge School Board, held high positions within the Masonic offices, and was appointed coroner in 1892. In 1928, Higinbotham and Dr. Frank H. Mewburn travelled the Mackenzie River. Higinbotham had a particular interest in history of the Western provinces and wrote extensively about it. In 1933, he published a book titled "When the West was Young". On 25 September 1889, he married Margaret Anna Torrance (1865-1937). Together they had eight children: Helen (b. 1890), Evelyn Allan (1894-1894), Harold (1895-1965), Allan Gladstone (1898-1898), Marjorie (1900-1969), Norman Lindsay (b. 1902), Mary Mewburn (b. 1904), and Muriel Dryden (b.1904). In 1929 he sold his drug store in Lethbridge, AB and returned to Guelph, ON. John David Higinbotham died in April 1961 and is buried in Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Guelph. Updated 2025 |
People |
Allan, David (Sr.) (1808-1895) Dunlop, William "Tiger" (Dr.) Galt, John Higinbotham, John David Prior, Charles |
Subjects |
PIONEER/SETTLER LIFE TREES |
Dimensions |
H-0.7 W-8.3 L-8.7 cm |
Dimension Details |
Wooden square with one slightly angled edge. A rectangular piece of paper with the corners cut off is adhered to one face of the wooden block. An inscription is written in fading black ink on the rectangle. |
Collection |
Artifacts |