Bruce County’s archives are now the home of papers that belonged to a local participant in the Rebellion of 1837.
John Stewart was arrested for taking part in the rebellion against the government of Upper Canada.
He escaped from jail in Kingston and fled to New York State.
Stewart then moved to Paisley after he was pardoned and ran a farm implement business until his death.
Bruce County Historical Society President Karen Ribey says the papers, which include letters and photographs, are in excellent condition considering they are nearly 200 years old.
Ribey says some of the implements, along with cooking pots that Stewart manufactured, are still around the area.
The documents were purchased at an auction in Aberfoyle, near Guelph, in January.
Ribey says to her knowledge, John Stewart is the only participant of the 1837 Rebellion from Bruce County that she is aware of, and adds he was part of it’s most significant skirmish with British Soldiers on Yonge Street in Toronto.
Led by newspaper publisher William Lyon MacKenzie, the Rebellion of 1837 was an attempt to get a fairer system of government in Upper Canada, which was then controlled by United Empire Loyalists.
It led to the Durham Report and the introduction of representative government.