The Hofbräuhaus News

“The Trail of The Black Walnut”
A Book Review by Veronika Pelletier,
Author: George Elmore Reaman (deceased) Publishers McClelland and Stewart, 1957
Note: This book is available from Genealogical.com in the following format:
Hardcover Pages: 288 pp. Published: 1957 Reprinted: 1993 Status: Available Price: $25.00 ISBN#: 0806313943 Item#: GPC4809
Website: http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.asp?ID=4809&afid=1000
Please Note: This book should also be available through used bookstores or through a request at your local public library.
Author: Dr. George Elmore Reaman
A Book Review by
Veronika Pelletier,Cornwall Ontario, Canada
eMail: vpelletier@cnwl.igs.net
Mr. Reaman was a lecturer and author,
born in Concord Ontario. Through his
research in other areas, he discovered that
there were a lot of German immigrants who
had done a lot of remarkable things in
Ontario. His own ancestry, he was surprised
to discover, was German-Swiss. So much
for an Ontario history education!
This book is the result of his efforts.
Today, its content seems obvious to us, the
German/Austrian/Swiss Canadians.
However, in Ontario in 1957, “German
Canadians” were and still are a well-kept
secret. Note two of the reviews on the dust
jacket: “….in the ‘Trail of the Black Walnut’
Dr. G. E. Reaman has made a substantial
contribution to the history of Ontario.
The settlement in
Ontario of ethnic
groups, which other
writers have slighted
or ignored, is set
down here in graphic
detail.” (Lloyd H.
Schaus Dean,
Waterloo College) and
“….He brings out the
constructive value of
their contributions not
only to agriculture but
to the larger culture of
Canada. It is a study
in understanding and
as such is worth a
careful reading.”
(Harold S. Bender,
Goshen College
Biblical Seminary)
Dr. Reaman divides
the book into six sections: He traces the
immigrants background, settlement in first
in America, then in Upper Canada, their
contributions to agriculture, and to our
cultural life, and his conclusions. There are
some very old pictures and several charts.
While I was reading this book I thought,
“At last! At last! Someone who knows as
much about German Canada as I do.”
Truthfully, he knew more, and I am glad
that I read it.
Genealogical.com
This is a superb piece of research on the
little-known Pennsylvania-German
connection in the founding of Upper
Canada.
Starting soon after the outbreak of the
American Revolution, numerous
Pennsylvania-German families and so-called
"Plain Folk" (i.e. Mennonites, Dunkards,
Moravians, Amish, Hutterites, etc.) migrated
to Canada in successive waves.
Together, in cultural and religious groups
and in kinship groups,
they settled in five main
areas: Niagara (1776),
Essex (1780), Eastern
Ontario (1784), York
County (1793), and
Waterloo (1800).
In this work, the author
of The Trail of the
Huguenots recounts the
story of this settlement
of Ontario and lists the
names of the first
recorded settlers, giving
their township and
county of residence, date
of settlement,
nationality, and religion.
This volume is also
available on our Family
Archive CD 7600.
10 - The Hofbräuhaus News March - April 2004
Historical Society of
Mecklenburg Upper Canada
Historische Gesellschaft von
Mecklenburg Ober-Kanada
Publications:
German-Canadian Yearbook,
Canadiana Germanica
( a joint publication with the German
Canadian Historical Association )
Contact Information:
Historical Society Of
Mecklenburg Upper Canada
P.O. Box 1251, Station "K,
Toronto Ontario, Canada, M4P 3E5
Website:
http://www.german-canadian.ca/mecklenburg/historic.htm