194-530: The Bell Homestead National Historic Site , located in Brantford , Ontario , Canada, also known by the name of its principal structure, Melville House , was the first North American home of Professor Alexander Melville Bell and his family, including his last surviving son, scientist Alexander Graham Bell . The younger Bell conducted his earliest experiments in North America there, and later invented
388-452: A Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music ). He also modified a melodeon (a type of pump organ) so that it could transmit its music electrically over a distance. When the family was settled in and he had regained his health, both Alexander Graham and his father, an authority on the acoustics of speech , made plans to establish teaching practices. As the senior Bell was soon occupied with
582-604: A battery to see if it would improve the transmission, which it did, and "the voices then came in distinctly." That first Brantford call was followed the next day on 4 August during another call between Brantford's telegraph office and Melville House when a large dinner party, including members of the Cowherd family who would later manufacture phones for Bell in Canada's first telephone factory, provided "... .speech, recitations, songs and instrumental music" that were transmitted to
776-472: A ceiling level cistern and to a hot water heater in the basement. The home's layout featured a central hallway plan and its ten rooms included a large kitchen, large dining room, parlour, study plus four bedrooms on its upper floor. A greenhouse conservatory with a workroom at its rear were also added by the Bells to the side of the house, off of its parlour. They were later removed in the 1920s, and then rebuilt in
970-551: A change in the public perception of the residential school system, as well as official government apologies, and a (controversial) legal settlement. Colonization had a significant impact on First Nations diet and health. According to the historian Mary-Ellen Kelm, "inadequate reserve allocations, restrictions on the food fishery, overhunting, and over-trapping" alienated First Nations from their traditional way of life, which undermined their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. As Canadian ideas of progress evolved around
1164-761: A change of 7.4% from its 2016 population of 134,203 . With a land area of 1,074 km (415 sq mi), it had a population density of 134.2/km (347.7/sq mi) in 2021. 103,210 people gave their ethnic background on the 2021 census, up from 95,780 on the 2016 census. Brantford has the highest proportion of Indigenous people ( Status Indians ) in Southern Ontario , outside of an Indian reserve . In 2021, 51.8% of residents were Christian , down from 64.8% in 2011. 22.2% of residents were Catholic , 17.6% were Protestant , and 7.7% were Christian not otherwise specified. All other Christian denominations and Christian-related traditions accounted for 4.1% of
1358-446: A large gathering of Telephone Pioneers of America members attending a three-day conference in the city where Henderson was interred after his death. Approximately 200 dignitaries, Pioneers and others attended a graveside memorial service where a plaque in his memory was unveiled, in a service also attended by Henderson's great-granddaughter. The Homestead complex and Melville House have been renovated and restored several times: first in
1552-533: A law library and a gaol. During additions in the 1880s, the Greek Revival style, with Doric columns, was retained. Among the most famed residents were Alexander Graham Bell and his family, who arrived in mid 1870 from Scotland while Bell was suffering from tuberculosis. They lived with Bell's father and mother, who had settled in a farmhouse on Tutela Heights (named after the First Nations tribe of
1746-641: A lecture position at Queen's College in Kingston, Ontario , he sent his son to Boston in his place when a contract was offered to teach in that city for the handsome sum of US$ 500 (approximately US$ 12,700 in current dollars). Over the next several years the younger Bell would live and work in the Boston area during the school year, and then return to his parents' homestead during the summer months to rest with his family and conduct further telegraphic, and later, telephonic research work. During his summer vacation at
1940-523: A local community channel on Rogers Cable . Otherwise, Brantford is served by stations from Toronto , Hamilton and Kitchener . Brantford Municipal Airport is located west of the city. It hosts an annual air show featuring the Snowbirds . The John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton is located about 35 km (20 miles) east of Brantford. Toronto Pearson International Airport
2134-474: A main floor ceiling over three metres (10 feet) in height, a low-pitched gabled roof, a gingerbread trim-styled front veranda as well as a bathtub and shower equipped washroom fitted to an attic or ceiling level rainfall cistern —installed by the younger Bell at a time when few homes in the region had any fixed bathtubs at all. Its shower and oversized bathtub (likely chosen for the younger Alexander's large frame) drew hot and cold water from piping leading to both
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#17327730726012328-678: A neutral Indian state in the American Old Northwest, and made this demand as late as 1814 at the peace negotiations at Ghent. The Americans rejected the idea, the British dropped it, and Britain's Indian allies lost British support. In addition, the Indians were no longer able to gather furs in American territory. Abandoned by their powerful sponsor, Great Lakes-area natives ultimately assimilated into American society, migrated to
2522-660: A person-carrying kite, hydrofoil). Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population : 104,688 ) is a city in Ontario , Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario . It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independent of the county's municipal government. Brantford is situated on the Haldimand Tract , and
2716-515: A population of 104,688 living in 41,673 of its 43,269 total private dwellings, a change of 6.2% from its 2016 population of 98,563 . With a land area of 98.65 km (38.09 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,061.2/km (2,748.5/sq mi) in 2021. At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Brantford CMA had a population of 144,162 living in 56,003 of its 58,047 total private dwellings,
2910-680: A post-secondary certificate, diploma, or university degree. Several post-secondary institutions have facilities in Brantford. Public education in the area is managed by the Grand Erie District School Board , and Catholic education is managed by the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board . Public education in the area is managed by the Grand Erie District School Board , and Catholic education
3104-654: A residence for the Homestead's caretakers, who were then residing on the upper level of Melville House, thus allowing the complete restoration of those rooms to their original condition as part of the Melville House museum. In 1971 Ontario Minister James W. Snow , in front of Brantford Mayor Howard Winter , Alderman Andrew Donaldson, chairman of the Bell Homestead Committee, plus Bell Historian Robert H. Spencer and other dignitaries, commemorated
3298-532: A right of access." More than 6,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis served with British forces during First World War and Second World War . A generation of young native men fought on the battlefields of Europe during the Great War and approximately 300 of them died there. When Canada declared war on Germany on September 10, 1939, the native community quickly responded to volunteer. Four years later, in May 1943,
3492-504: A silver tea service that was a wedding gift to Alexander Graham and his bride Mabel Bell , a gold candy dish that was a wedding present to the elder Bells, Melville's walnut shaving stand and Mabel's favourite wing chair. One important donated item is the original melodeon (serial number 16265 of the George A. Prince Company) given to the Homestead museum by the granddaughter of Jenny Cowherd (who later became Mrs. Joseph Durnan). Jenny's father
3686-410: A telephone receiver, Alexander Graham Bell could not respond directly to his father, and instead replied back by telegraph on a separate line to Brantford. Nevertheless Alexander Graham much later declared that this was the first one-way long-distance call "of several miles", but noted it was "the first transmission at a distance, but it was not the first reciprocal (two-way) conversation over a line. That
3880-651: A variant of Métis . The Métis as of 2013 predominantly speak English , with French a strong second language, as well as numerous Aboriginal tongues. Métis French is best preserved in Canada, Michif in the United States, notably in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation of North Dakota , where Michif is the official language of the Métis that reside on this Chippewa reservation. The encouragement and use of Métis French and Michif
4074-491: A wide range of chemical effects, including severe mercury poisoning. They suffered low birth rates, skewed birth-gender ratio, and health effects among the population. This led to legislation and eventually the Indian Health Transfer Policy that provided a framework for the assumption of control of health services by First Nations people, and set forth a developmental approach to transfer centred on
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#17327730726014268-575: Is a misnomer, given to Indigenous peoples of North America by European explorers who erroneously thought they had landed in the East Indies . The use of the term Native Americans , which the government and others have adopted in the United States, is not common in Canada. It refers more specifically to the Indigenous peoples residing within the boundaries of the US. The parallel term Native Canadian
4462-651: Is growing due to outreach within the five provincial Métis councils after at least a generation of steep decline. Canada's Indian and Northern Affairs define Métis to be those persons of mixed First Nation and European ancestry. Allied with the French, the first nations of the Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia fought six colonial wars against the British and their native allies (See the French and Indian Wars , Father Rale's War and Father Le Loutre's War ). In
4656-667: Is known as the "Telephone City" because the city's famous resident, Alexander Graham Bell , invented the first telephone at his father's homestead, Melville House, now the Bell Homestead , located in Tutela Heights south of the city. Brantford is also known as the birthplace and hometown of Wayne Gretzky and Phil Hartman . The Iroquoian-speaking Attawandaron, known in English as the Neutral Nation , lived in
4850-683: Is located in Mississauga , about 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Brantford. Brantford station is located just north of downtown Brantford. Via Rail has daily passenger trains on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor . Trains also stop at Union Station in Toronto . Street rail began in Brantford in 1886 with horse-drawn carriages; by 1893, this system had been converted to electric. The City of Brantford took over these operations in 1914. Around 1936, it began to replace
5044-567: Is managed by the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board and the Conseil Scolaire de District Catholique Centre-Sud . BTOWN is a free alternative online magazine which highlights people, projects and events in the Brantford area. The Brantford Expositor , started in 1852, is published by Sun Media Corp. six days a week (excluding Sundays). The Brant News was a weekly paper, delivered Thursdays until 2018; it publishes breaking news online at their website, and
5238-698: Is named after Joseph Brant , a Mohawk leader, soldier, farmer and slave owner. Brant was an important Loyalist leader during the American Revolutionary War and later, after the Haudenosaunee moved to the Brantford area in Upper Canada . Many of his descendants and other First Nations people live on the nearby Six Nations of the Grand River reserve south of Brantford; it is the most populous reserve in Canada. Brantford
5432-786: Is not commonly used, but Native (in English) and Autochtone (in Canadian French ; from the Greek auto , own, and chthon , land) are. Under the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , also known as the "Indian Magna Carta , " the Crown referred to Indigenous peoples in British territory as tribes or nations. The term First Nations is capitalized. Bands and nations may have slightly different meanings. Within Canada,
5626-513: Is not well defined. The earliest accounts of contact occurred in the late 10th century, between the Beothuk and Norsemen . According to the Sagas of Icelanders , the first European to see what is now Canada was Bjarni Herjólfsson , who was blown off course en route from Iceland to Greenland in the summer of 985 or 986 CE. The first European explorers and settlers of what is now Canada relied on
5820-521: Is now closely identified with. Returning again to the Homestead the next summer in 1875 Bell wrote his first draft specifications of the telephone patent—commonly considered to be the most valuable patent in history—that September. He later built his first fully functional unit at Boston on March 10, 1876. Later that year, in August, Bell made the first successful voice transmission of any notable distance, between Brantford and Paris Ontario. On July 26, 1974,
6014-568: Is on the west coast of Vancouver Island . In pre-contact and early post-contact times, the number of nations was much greater, but smallpox and other consequences of contact resulted in the disappearance of groups, and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. The Nuu-chah-nulth are relations of the Kwakwaka'wakw , the Haisla , and the Ditidaht . The Nuu-chah-nulth language is part of
Bell Homestead National Historic Site - Misplaced Pages Continue
6208-596: Is passed on through oral tradition of the Squamish indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast . Prior to colonization and the introduction of writing had only oral tradition as a way to transmit stories, law, and knowledge across generations. The writing system established in the 1970s uses the Latin alphabet as a base. Knowledgeable elders have the responsibility to pass historical knowledge to
6402-622: Is published by Metroland Media Group . The Two Row Times , a Free weekly paper started in 2013, is published on Wednesdays, delivered to every reservation in Ontario and globally online at their website, published by Garlow Media. BScene, a Free community paper founded in 2014, is published monthly and distributed locally throughout Brantford and Brant County via local businesses and community centers, It can also be viewed online at their website. Independently published. Brantford's only local television service comes from Rogers TV (cable 20),
6596-464: Is still in use today as one of two royal Chapels in Canada and the oldest Protestant Church in the province. Joseph Brant and his son John Brant are buried here. Chief John Brant (Mohawk leader) (Ahyonwaeghs) was one of the sons of Joseph Brant. He fought with the British during the War of 1812 and later worked to improve the welfare of the First Nations. He was involved in building schools and improving
6790-512: Is the municipal governing body. As of October 22, 2018, the mayor is Kevin Davis . Brantford's economy was hit hard in the 1980s when farm equipment manufacturers Massey Ferguson and White Farm Equipment closed their local plants. By the end of 1981, the city's unemployment rate reached 22%. As with other small Ontario cities hit by the decline of manufacturing, the community struggled with an increase in social problems. In more recent times,
6984-495: The Citizenship Act was amended to grant formal citizenship to Status Indians and Inuit, retroactively as of January 1947. In 1960, First Nations people received the right to vote in federal elections without forfeiting their Indian status. By comparison, Native Americans in the United States had been allowed to vote since the 1920s. In his 1969 White Paper , then- Minister of Indian Affairs , Jean Chrétien , proposed
7178-628: The Atlantic coast. Together with other Anicinàpek, they arrived at the "First Stopping Place" near Montreal. While the other Anicinàpe peoples continued their journey up the St. Lawrence River , the Algonquins settled along the Ottawa River ( Kitcisìpi ), an important highway for commerce, cultural exchange, and transportation. A distinct Algonquin identity, though, was not realized until after
7372-488: The Bell Telephone Company of Canada . The decision was widely criticized by Ontario's heritage preservation community, however, the city argued it was needed for downtown renewal. Plaques and monuments erected by the provincial and federal governments provide additional glimpses into the early history of the area around Brantford. The famed Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanega) led his people from
7566-699: The Bell Telephone Memorial ), to the Homestead site where it was renovated to serve as a telephone company museum. The house had been donated in October 1968 by its then-owner, William C. Burles (born in Bath, England, 1885, eighteen years after Alexander Graham taught there at its Somersetshire College), and it is now known at the Homestead as the Henderson Home. The house, likely built in 1843, had been Burles' family home for some 44 years. At
7760-468: The Bell Telephone Memorial : I came to Brantford in 1870 to die; I was given six months lease of life, but I am glad to be alive today... As I look back upon it, visions come to me of the Grand River and of Tutela Heights and my dreaming place upon the heights where visions of the telephone came to my mind. Alexander Graham frequented his "dreaming place", lying on a roll of carpet with a pillow and his books. He would relax, think, and "... dream away
7954-608: The British Parliament's Slavery Abolition Act finally abolished slavery in all parts of the British Empire . Historian Marcel Trudel has documented 4,092 recorded slaves throughout Canadian history, of which 2,692 were Aboriginal people, owned by the French, and 1,400 blacks owned by the British, together owned by approximately 1,400 masters. Trudel also noted 31 marriages took place between French colonists and Aboriginal slaves. British agents worked to make
Bell Homestead National Historic Site - Misplaced Pages Continue
8148-763: The Cascadia earthquake of 1700 and the 18th-century Tseax Cone eruption. Written records began with the arrival of European explorers and colonists during the Age of Discovery in the late 15th century. European accounts by trappers , traders , explorers , and missionaries give important evidence of early contact culture. In addition, archeological and anthropological research, as well as linguistics , have helped scholars piece together an understanding of ancient cultures and historic peoples. Collectively, First Nations (Indians), Inuit, and Métis peoples constitute Indigenous peoples in Canada , Indigenous peoples of
8342-465: The Contempra telephone produced by Bell Canada's affiliate equipment manufacturer, Nortel . In 1973 Bell Canada also later offered an "extensive and valuable" collection of telephone and telecommunications equipment on permanent loan for display in the museum. Renovations planned in the early 1970s time included the conversion of its ground floor into a telephone museum and its upper floor rooms into
8536-697: The Cowichan and Fraser rivers, and those from Saskatchewan managed to produce good harvests. Since 1881, those First Nations people living in the prairie provinces required permits from Indian Agents to sell any of their produce. Later the government created a pass system in the old Northwest Territories that required indigenous people to seek written permission from an Indian Agent before leaving their reserves for any length of time. Indigenous people regularly defied those laws, as well as bans on Sun Dances and potlatches, in an attempt to practice their culture. The 1930 Constitution Act or Natural Resources Acts
8730-547: The District of Saskatchewan under Riel against the Dominion of Canada, which they believed had failed to address their concerns for the survival of their people. In 1884, 2,000 Cree from reserves met near Battleford to organize into a large, cohesive resistance. Discouraged by the lack of government response but encouraged by the efforts of the Métis at armed rebellion, Wandering Spirit and other young militant Cree attacked
8924-668: The Great Lakes and the Illinois Country . The alliance involved French settlers on the one side, and on the other side were the Abenaki, Odawa, Menominee , Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Mississaugas , Illiniwek , Huron- Petun , Potawatomi etc. It allowed the French and the Indians to form a haven in the middle- Ohio valley before the open conflict between the European powers erupted. In the Royal Proclamation of 1763 ,
9118-707: The Liberals began to back away from the 1969 White Paper, particularly after the Calder case decision in 1973. After the Canadian Supreme Court recognized that indigenous rights and treaty rights were not extinguished, a process was begun to resolve land claims and treaty rights and is ongoing today. In 1970, severe mercury poisoning , called Ontario Minamata disease , was discovered among Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation and Wabaseemoong Independent Nations people, who lived near Dryden, Ontario . There
9312-552: The Makah tribe practising death by starvation as punishment and Pacific coast tribes routinely performing ritualized killings of slaves as part of social ceremonies into the mid-1800s. Slave-owning tribes of the fishing societies, such as the Yurok and Haida lived along the coast from what is now Alaska to California . Fierce warrior indigenous slave-traders of the Pacific Northwest Coast raided as far south as California. Slavery
9506-585: The Mohawk people of the Iroquois Confederacy left New York State for Canada. As a reward for their loyalty to the British Crown , they were given a large land grant, referred to as the Haldimand Tract , on the Grand River. The original Mohawk settlement was on the south edge of the present-day city at a location favourable for landing canoes. Brant's crossing (or fording) of the river gave
9700-519: The National Research Council . The Post Office Department issued a stamp to mark Bell's birth centennial on March 3, 1947—a four-cent commemorative, featuring Bell's portrait crowned by an allegorical figure, Fame, standing on a globe showing much of North America. Telephone lines appear in the background. Another stamp honouring Bell was issued on March 17, 2000, as part of Canada Post's millennium collection, showing Bell working, surrounded by images of projects he worked on at Cape Breton (the Silver Dart,
9894-406: The North Saskatchewan River and purchased a great deal of European trade goods through Cree middlemen from the Hudson's Bay Company . The lifestyle of this group was semi-nomadic, and they followed the herds of bison during the warmer months. They traded with European traders, and worked with the Mandan , Hidatsa , and Arikara tribes. In the earliest oral history , the Algonquins were from
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#173277307260110088-418: The North-West Territories . Offended by the concepts of the treaties, Cree chiefs resisted them. Big Bear refused to sign Treaty 6 until starvation among his people forced his hand in 1882. His attempts to unite Indigenous nations made progress. In 1884 the Métis (including the Anglo-Métis) asked Louis Riel to return from the United States, where he had fled after the Red River Rebellion , to appeal to
10282-504: The Post Office Department released a commemorative postage stamp honouring the centennial of the invention of the telephone stating "At Brantford... Alexander Graham Bell, a young teacher of the deaf, spent a few weeks of leisurely contemplation and invented the telephone." The stamp depicts three telephones of various time periods, including his famous Gallows model, considered the world's first telephone. In 1915 Alexander Graham referred to it saying "The instrument, just as you see it here,
10476-424: The Three Sisters ( maize / beans / squash ), the Iroquois became powerful because of their confederacy. Gradually the Algonquians adopted agricultural practises enabling larger populations to be sustained. The Assiniboine were close allies and trading partners of the Cree, engaging in wars against the Gros Ventres alongside them, and later fighting the Blackfoot. A Plains people, they went no further north than
10670-405: The Treaty of Tordesillas , these two kingdoms decided to draw the dividing line running north–south, 370 leagues (from 1,500 to 2,200 km (930 to 1,370 mi) approximately depending on the league used) west of the Cape Verde Islands. Land to the west would be Spanish, to the east Portuguese. Given the uncertain geography of the day, this seemed to give the "new founde isle" to Portugal. On
10864-477: The Wakashan language group. In 1999 the discovery of the body of Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi provided archaeologists with significant information on indigenous tribal life prior to extensive European contact. Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi (meaning "Long Ago Person Found" in Southern Tutchone ), or "Canadian Ice Man", is a naturally mummified body that a group of hunters found in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park in British Columbia. Radiocarbon dating of artifacts found with
11058-474: The on-or-off transmission methods used by other telephone experimenters. Alexander Graham held lengthy discussions with his father explaining what he thought he could achieve with a sound-driven transmitter producing an electrical signal which would instantaneously travel an electrical circuit to a receiver at another location where it would be converted back to sound. His record of a discussion with his father in their home's living room, wrote "If I could vary
11252-482: The 1502 Cantino map , Newfoundland appears on the Portuguese side of the line (as does Brazil). An expedition captured about 60 Aboriginal people as slaves who were said to "resemble gypsies in colour, features, stature and aspect; are clothed in the skins of various animals ...They are very shy and gentle, but well formed in arms and legs and shoulders beyond description ...." Some captives, sent by Gaspar Corte-Real , reached Portugal. The others drowned, with Gaspar, on
11446-424: The 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and Europeans , mainly French. The Métis were historically the children of French fur traders and Nehiyaw women or, from unions of English or Scottish traders and Northern Dene women ( Anglo-Métis ). The Métis spoke or still speak either Métis French or a mixed language called Michif . Michif , Mechif or Métchif is a phonetic spelling of the Métis pronunciation of Métif ,
11640-410: The 19th century, the Canadian Indian residential school system was intended to force the assimilation of Aboriginal and First Nations people into European-Canadian society. The purpose of the schools, which separated children from their families, has been described by commentators as "killing the Indian in the child." Funded under the Indian Act by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, a branch of
11834-445: The 20th century of cultural genocide and ethnocide . There was widespread physical and sexual abuse . Overcrowding, poor sanitation, and a lack of medical care led to high rates of tuberculosis , and death rates of up to 69%. Details of the mistreatment of students had been published numerous times throughout the 20th century, but following the closure of the schools in the 1960s, the work of indigenous activists and historians led to
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#173277307260112028-419: The A. Wallis Ellis store in the neighbouring community of Mount Pleasant , listened to his uncle's voice emanating from his receiver housed in a metal box. Initially David Bell's voice couldn't be heard distinctly as "... all kinds and sizes of wire were used in stringing from the house to Mount Pleasant road". However, Walter Griffin, the Dominion Telegraph manager, decided to attach the telegraph line to
12222-423: The African-Canadian residents. By 1847, Europeans began to settle further up the river at a ford in the Grand River and named their village Brantford. The population increased after 1848 when river navigation to Brantford was opened and again in 1854 with the arrival of the railway to Brantford. Because of the ease of navigation from new roads and the Grand River, several manufacturing companies could be found in
12416-414: The Americas , or " first peoples ". First Nation as a term became officially used by the government beginning in 1980s to replace the term Indian band in referring to groups of Indians with common government and language. The First Nations people had begun to identify by this term during 1970s activism, in order to avoid using the word Indian , which some considered offensive. No legal definition of
12610-405: The Association to the City of Brantford in 1917, with restoration of the home to its earlier condition taking several decades. In 1925 it was moved 80 feet (24 m) closer to Tutela Heights Road onto a new foundation further from the Grand River due to the continuing erosion of the tall river bank adjacent to the farmhouse. This was done only after the City of Brantford had attempted to stabilize
12804-449: The Atlantic coast were the Beothuk , Maliseet , Innu , Abenaki and Mi'kmaq . The Blackfoot Confederacy resides in the Great Plains of Montana and Canadian provinces of Alberta , British Columbia and Saskatchewan . The name Blackfoot came from the dye or paint on the bottoms of their leather moccasins . One account claimed that the Blackfoot Confederacies walked through the ashes of prairie fires, which in turn blackened
12998-399: The Bell Homestead it was converted into an adjunct museum on the development of telephone technology . The Homestead is operated by the Bell Homestead Committee of the City of Brantford. The Homestead was named a National Historic Site on June 1, 1996, and was listed on the national Register of Historic Places on June 22, 2009. The replacement for a federal commemorative plaque was unveiled
13192-458: The Bell Homestead. To bring telephone signals to Melville House, Alexander Graham audaciously "bought up" and "cleaned up" the complete supply of stovepipe wire within Brantford. With the help of two of Melville's neighbours, E. McIntyre and Thomas Brooks, he tacked the stovepipe wire some 800 metres (a half mile) along the top of fence posts from his parents’ home to a junction point on the Mount Pleasant telegraph line, which joined that community to
13386-410: The Bell Telephone Memorial Association, which at the time was collecting funds to build a major memorial to both Alexander Graham and to the invention of the telephone, the Bell Telephone Memorial . In 1910 Melville House became a museum dedicated to the Bell family, including both Melville and Alexander, and to Alexander Graham's invention of the telephone there in July 1874. The Homestead was deeded by
13580-498: The Bell family to immigrate to Canada. After a brief stay of only a few days with the Hendersons, the Bell family purchased a homestead of 5 1 ⁄ 4 hectares (13 acres) at Tutelo Heights (in the present day called Tutela Heights, named for the First Nations band that had previously settled the area), on the outskirts of Brantford , Ontario, for CA$ 2,600 (approximately CA$ 101,900 in current dollars), with $ 2,100 being paid immediately. They were likely assisted in their search by
13774-467: The Bell family's arrival, writing that it was "... pleased to welcome to our town and neighbourhood A. Melville Bell, Esq., Professor of Elocution, of University College, London [...who...] has purchased from Robert Morton a property containing 10.5 acres of land with a good orchard, beautifully situated on the Mt. Pleasant road some two miles from Brantford". At their new home Melville's surviving son Alexander Graham Bell created his laboratory inside
13968-505: The Bell family's possessions, which serve as a clue to the kind of clever, inventive mind that thrived in these surroundings. In the parlor hangs a trompe-l'œil print of Saint Cecilia that looks as if it has been framed behind broken glass.... Just as bizarre is the stuffed duck-billed platypus which sits in the study among the books and telephone wires. It was brought from Australia in 1874 by visiting relatives who must have thought it just
14162-547: The Beothuk disappeared entirely. There are reports of contact made before Christopher Columbus between the first peoples and those from other continents. Even in Columbus' time there was much speculation that other Europeans had made the trip in ancient or contemporary times; Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés records accounts of these in his General y natural historia de las Indias of 1526, which includes biographical information on Columbus. Aboriginal first contact period
14356-694: The British Crown in 1785 for the Mohawk and Iroquois people (Six Nations of the Grand River), was dedicated in 1788 as a reminder of the original agreements made with the British during the American Revolution . In 1904 the chapel received Royal status by King Edward VII in memory of the longstanding alliance. Her Majesty's Royal Chapel of the Mohawks is an important reminder of the original agreements made with Queen Anne in 1710. It
14550-756: The British Isles their middle son Alexander Graham now appeared to be faltering from the same disease. Upon landing at Quebec City on 1 August 1870, the Bells transferred to another steamer to Montreal , and then took the Grand Trunk Railway to Paris, Ontario , residing at the parsonage of the Reverend Thomas Philip Henderson. Henderson was a Baptist minister and close family friend who likely went to school with Melville in Scotland, and who had previously invited
14744-581: The British agents discouraged any warlike activities or raids on American settlements, but the Americans became increasingly angered, and this became one of the causes of the War of 1812 . In the war, the great majority of First Nations supported the British, and many fought under the aegis of Tecumseh . But Tecumseh died in battle in 1813 and the Indian coalition collapsed. The British had long wished to create
14938-533: The British ceded the Old Northwest to the United States in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, it kept fortifications and trading posts in the region until 1795. The British then evacuated American territory, but operated trading posts in British territory, providing weapons and encouragement to tribes that were resisting American expansion into such areas as Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. Officially,
15132-471: The British recognized the treaty rights of the indigenous populations and resolved to only settle those areas purchased lawfully from the indigenous peoples. Treaties and land purchases were made in several cases by the British, but the lands of several indigenous nations remain unceded and/or unresolved. First Nations routinely captured slaves from neighbouring tribes. Sources report that the conditions under which First Nations slaves lived could be brutal, with
15326-572: The Canadian successor to the phone company established by Melville with Reverend Henderson's assistance, after Alexander Graham gave his father 75% of the Canadian patent rights to the invention. The exhibits included a model of the nation's first telephone factory, a three-story building established by some of Bell's friends in Brantford, Thomas Cowherd and his son James. Other artifacts included telephone components, an original 'telephone exchange' or switchboard, and early model telephones leading up to
15520-528: The Carolinas all stimulated destructive wars over land with their immediate Indian neighbors...Settlement patterns in New France also curtailed the kind of relentless and destructive expansion and land-grabbing that afflicted many British colonies." The Métis (from French métis – "mixed") are descendants of unions between Cree , Ojibwe , Algonquin , Saulteaux , Menominee and other First Nations in
15714-602: The Creator, or in the Squamish language keke7nex siyam . He called this man his brother. It was from these two men that the population began to rise and the Squamish spread back through their territory. The Iroquois influence extended from northern New York into what are now southern Ontario and the Montreal area of modern Quebec. The Iroquois Confederacy is, from oral tradition, formed circa 1142. Adept at cultivating
15908-491: The Dominion Telegraph office in Brantford. Scientific American noted the test calls in their 9 September 1876 article, The Human Voice Transmitted by Telegraph. Historian Thomas Costain referred to them as "the three great tests of the telephone". One journalist wrote of them, "No one involved in these early calls could possibly have understood the future impact of these communication firsts". Melville House
16102-529: The First Nations into military allies of the British, providing supplies, weapons, and encouragement. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) most of the tribes supported the British. In 1779, the Americans launched a campaign to burn the villages of the Iroquois in New York State. The refugees fled to Fort Niagara and other British posts, with some remaining permanently in Canada. Although
16296-478: The First Nations peoples, for resources and trade to sustain a living. The first written accounts of interaction show a predominantly Old world bias, labelling the indigenous peoples as "savages", although the indigenous peoples were organized and self-sufficient. In the early days of contact, the First Nations and Inuit populations welcomed the Europeans, assisting them in living off the land and joining forces with
16490-618: The French and British in their various battles. It was not until the colonial and imperial forces of Britain and France established dominant settlements and, no longer needing the help of the First Nations people, began to break treaties and force them off the land that the antagonism between the two groups grew. The Portuguese Crown claimed that it had territorial rights in the area visited by Cabot. In 1493 Pope Alexander VI – assuming international jurisdiction – had divided lands discovered in America between Spain and Portugal. The next year, in
16684-547: The Grand River valley area before the 17th century; their main village and seat of the chief, Kandoucho , was identified by 19th-century historians as having been located on the Grand River where present-day Brantford developed. This community, like the rest of their settlements, was destroyed when the Iroquois declared war in 1650 over the fur trade and exterminated the Neutral nation. In 1784, Captain Joseph Brant and
16878-501: The Grand River. Because of existing networks, it became a railroad hub of Southern Ontario. The combination of water and rail helped Brantford develop from a farming community into an industrial city with many blue-collar jobs based on the agriculture implementation industry. Major companies included S.C. Johnson Wax, Massey-Harris, Verity Plow, and the Cockshutt Plow Company . This industry, more than any other, provided
17072-481: The Henderson Home with a historical marker plaque standing freely in front of the building (see photo above). Snow stated to an assembly of more than a hundred "This simple frame structure, less than 100 years ago, was the cradle of the telephone business.... The plaque pays tribute to a giant among inventors". Reverend Thomas Henderson was himself memorialized earlier in June 1954 at Perth, Ontario 's Elmwood Cemetery by
17266-541: The Homestead hosted a live radio broadcast, with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King addressing a dinner of invited guests. Speakers and guests included Alexander Graham's daughter, Mrs. David Fairchild and J.A.D. McCurdy of the Aerial Experiment Association , Transportation Minister Chevrier, Chancellor H.J. Cody of the University of Toronto and Dr. Jack Mackenzie , president of
17460-419: The Homestead in 1874, Alexander Graham continued to contemplate electrical sound reproduction while viewing the undulating surface of the Grand River from his "dreaming place". He postulated that "it would be possible to transmit sounds of any sort" by the continuous variation of the intensity of the electric current. This method of sound energy to electrical signal transduction was fundamentally different from
17654-536: The Homestead museum's curator, Brian Wood, viewed hundreds of letters written by the Bells at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum archive in Baddeck, Nova Scotia , and used those writings to determine the true layout of the Homestead and its farmhouse rooms during the family's tenure. The Bell Homestead eventually acquired many of the Bell letters between Alexander Graham and his mother, enabling
17848-411: The Homestead since 1921, assigned its own historian to head the Homestead's restoration committee in 1969. Bell Canada additionally built a caretaker's house on the site and helped finance other renovations and commemorative projects. Other improvements included a return to the home's original cream and green exterior paint scheme, as existed when the Bells lived there. Phase I and Phase II renovations of
18042-523: The Homestead, visited by over a million people from numerous countries around the world, has been described as "... this shrine, where lingers the spirit of the great inventor". At a farewell dinner at Brantford's Kerby House as Melville was preparing to depart for Washington, D.C., the elder Bell addressed the invited banquet guests, saying "[Our son] could not come to us, so we resolved to go to him. I now confidently feel that my sojourn in Brantford will outlive my existence because under yon roof of mine
18236-706: The Maple Leaf Chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of America , Jack E. Skinner of the Bell Canada, Alderman Andrew Donaldson of the Bell Homestead Committee, Don J. Southcott of Northern Electric , Bell Telephone of Canada historian Robert Spencer, and Boston University Professor Robert V. Bruce , who was some two years away from the release of his definitive biography on the younger Bell (titled as Bell: Alexander Graham Bell and The Conquest of Solitude ). Bell Historian Robert Spencer provided
18430-598: The Melville House Museum. A third room, to the left of the front entrance on the ground floor, was not furnished and opened to the public until 1947. The Homestead and Melville House museum have developed special programs through the years, such as their Christmas holiday celebrations when the farmhouse is "... decorated in the style and traditions of Alexander Graham Bell's American wife Mabel, with stockings stuffed full of oranges and toy trinkets." Costumed interpreters and slide presentations also provide
18624-717: The Mohawk Valley of New York State to Upper Canada after being allied with the British during the American Revolution , where they lost their land holdings. A group of 400 settled in 1788 on the Grand River at Mohawk Village which would later become Brantford. Nearly a century later (1886), the Joseph Brant Memorial would be erected in Burlington, Ontario in honour of Brant and the Six Nations Confederacy. The Mohawk Chapel , built by
18818-554: The Morton Hardware Store in Brantford. The elder Morton had purchased several hundred acres of land along the Grand River one year earlier from Margaret and Elizabeth Stewart at a cost of £183 (equivalent to approximately C$ 25,800 in 2012). The farmhouse was constructed amid towering elm trees, from hand-hewn lumber on a fieldstone foundation and finished with masonry stucco and lath work. Its architectural features included pine and wood pegged floors, walnut window trims,
19012-547: The Port Royal settlement. Champlain persuaded First Nations to allow him to settle along the St. Lawrence, where in 1608 he would found France's first permanent colony in Canada at Quebec City. The colony of Acadia grew slowly, reaching a population of about 5,000 by 1713. New France had cod -fishery coastal communities, and farm economies supported communities along the St. Lawrence River. French voyageurs travelled deep into
19206-771: The Six Nations Reserve after their 1753 adoption into the Cayuga. Their longhouse was across the street from the Bell Homestead. Professor Alexander Melville Bell , a Scottish-born British authority on speech and elocution, immigrated to Canada by steamship in July 1870 with his family and daughter-in-law, who had been widowed by the death of Bell's eldest son from tuberculosis in May of that year. The family's youngest son Edward had similarly died of tuberculosis three years earlier, and during their departure from
19400-626: The abolition of the Indian Act of Canada, the rejection of Aboriginal land claims , and the assimilation of First Nations people into the Canadian population with the status of "other ethnic minorities" rather than as a distinct group. Harold Cardinal and the Indian Chiefs of Alberta responded with a document entitled "Citizens Plus" but commonly known as the "Red Paper". In it, they explained Status Indians' widespread opposition to Chrétien's proposal. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and
19594-544: The advance efforts of Reverend Henderson, who was also employed as a school board inspector. At the time of the Bell family's departure from the UK, Alexander Graham's health was threateningly poor, with "a chest condition... giving cause for concern" and his tall, broad-framed body being reduced to 59 kg (130 lb), leaving his face gaunt. The city's largest newspaper, the Brantford Expositor , soon announced
19788-545: The afternoon in luxurious idleness" while also contemplating the undulating ripples of the Grand River below him. The younger Bell continued his previous interest in the study of the human voice, and when he discovered the Six Nations Reserve across the river at Onondaga , he learned the Mohawk language and translated its unwritten vocabulary into Visible Speech symbols, a written scientific vocabulary invented by his father. For his work Alexander Graham earned
19982-602: The age of 35 ). By 1790 the abolition movement was gaining ground in Canada and the ill intent of slavery was evidenced by an incident involving a slave woman being violently abused by her slave owner on her way to being sold in the United States. The Act Against Slavery of 1793 legislated the gradual abolition of slavery: no slaves could be imported; slaves already in the province would remain enslaved until death, no new slaves could be brought into Upper Canada , and children born to female slaves would be slaves but must be freed at age 25. The act remained in force until 1833 when
20176-682: The area and later absorbed into Brantford.) Then called Melville House, it is now a museum, the Bell Homestead National Historic Site . This was the site of the invention of the telephone in 1874 and ongoing trials in 1876. The Bell Memorial , also known as the Bell Monument, was commissioned to commemorate Bell's invention of the telephone in Brantford; it is also one of the National Historic Sites of Canada . Some articles suggest that
20370-470: The area around Murray Street, and in Cainsville . In Brantford, they established their own school and church, now known as the S.R. Drake Memorial Church . In 1846, it is estimated 2000 residents lived in the city's core while 5199 lived in the outlying rural areas. There were eight churches in Brantford at this time – Episcopal, Presbyterian, Catholic, two Methodist, Baptist, Congregational, and one for
20564-418: The assembly with a detailed description of the three phases of restoration that was then underway at the Homestead. After the Henderson Home was transferred to its new Homestead location in 1969 it was then renovated and converted to a telephone museum, with exhibits of early telephone and switchboard technology stretching back to the 1880s. The museum's exhibits were developed in cooperation with Bell Canada ,
20758-538: The bluffs with pilings to prevent further erosion in the early 1920s—attempts which were unsuccessful. The Bell Homestead Museum first opened to the public in October 1910 with two rooms available for viewing, and over several decades repurchased or received donations of much of the Bell family's original home furnishings, including its cabinetry, furniture and piano-like melodeon , eventually comprising 90% of their Melville House furnishings. Further donations from Bell family descendants also included books, china, paintings,
20952-472: The body placed the age of the find between 1450 AD and 1700 AD. Genetic testing showed that he was a member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations . Aboriginal people in Canada interacted with Europeans as far back as 1000 AD, but prolonged contact came only after Europeans established permanent settlements in the 17th and 18th centuries. European written accounts noted friendliness on
21146-460: The bottoms of their moccasins. They had migrated onto the Great Plains (where they followed bison herds and cultivated berries and edible roots) from the area of now eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. Historically, they allowed only legitimate traders into their territory, making treaties only when the bison herds were exterminated in the 1870s. Pre-contact Squamish history
21340-575: The businesses left thousands of people unemployed. As a consequence, it became one of the most economically depressed areas in the country, leaving a negative impact on the once-vibrant downtown. An economic revival was prompted by the completion of the Brantford-to- Ancaster section of Highway 403 in 1997, bringing companies easy access to Hamilton and Toronto and completing a direct route from Detroit to Buffalo . In 2004 Procter & Gamble and Ferrero SpA chose to locate in
21534-533: The campaign was meant to also transfer the caretaker's residence from the upper level of Melville House to the upper level of the Henderson Home to allow for the complete restoration of the farmhouse to its original condition when the Bells resided there. However an extra $ 60,000 of funding became available for the construction of a new caretaker's cottage, described as "a typical little Ontario house with two bedrooms", as well as new public washroom facilities. The Homestead's curator, Mr. C. E. Studier, and his wife were at
21728-514: The canoe routes west and a land route to the west coast. According to the oral history, seven great miigis (radiant/iridescent) beings appeared to the peoples in the Waabanakiing to teach the peoples of the mide way of life. One of the seven great miigis beings was too spiritually powerful and killed the peoples in the Waabanakiing when the people were in its presence. The six great miigis beings remained to teach while
21922-440: The city was hit hard by the opioid crisis . In 2018, Brantford had the highest rate of emergency department visits for overdose of any city in Ontario. In 2018, Brantford police reported an overall crime rate of 6,533 incidents per 100,000 population, 59% higher than in Ontario (4,113) and 19% higher than in Canada (5,488). The same year, Maclean's magazine ranked Brantford as having a higher rate of crime severity than most of
22116-466: The city's telephone exchange was installed. A telephone line was also installed to the city's telegraph office. On 9 August 1970, Ontario Lieutenant Governor William Ross Macdonald , aided by the home's former owner William Burles, officially opened the Henderson House before an invited assembly of distinguished guests and notables, including Brantford Mayor Richard Beckett , Robert W. Gray of
22310-479: The city. Though Wescast Industries, Inc. recently closed its local foundry, its corporate headquarters will remain in Brantford. SC Johnson Canada has their headquarters and a manufacturing plant in Brantford, connected to the Canadian National network. Other companies that have their headquarters here include Gunther Mele and GreenMantra Technologies . On February 16, 2005, Brant, including Brantford,
22504-433: The concept of self-determination in health. Through this process, the decision to enter into transfer discussions with Health Canada rests with each community. Once involved in transfer, communities are able to take control of health programme responsibilities at a pace determined by their individual circumstances and health management capabilities. The capacity, experience and relationships developed by First Nations as
22698-501: The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought large numbers of European settlers west who encroached on Indigenous territory. European Canadians established governments, police forces, and courts of law with different foundations from indigenous practices. Various epidemics continued to devastate Indigenous communities. All of these factors had a profound effect on Indigenous people, particularly those from
22892-463: The county. Ontario's Municipal Act, 2001 defines single-tier municipalities as "a municipality, other than an upper-tier municipality, that does not form part of an upper-tier municipality for municipal purposes." Single-tier municipalities provide for all local government services. At the federal and provincial levels of government, Brantford is part of the Brant riding . Brantford City Council
23086-543: The death of his last son Alexander Graham, who was being consumed by disease. Melville Bell appointed Henderson as his phone company's general agent "for the Dominion of Canada" after Melville received 75% of the phone's Canadian patent rights from his son in 1877. Henderson faithfully served Melville's company from 1877 until 1880, when he became an employee of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada (later Bell Canada) at their Montreal headquarters. Henderson served Bell in Montreal until his death in 1888. Henderson also supervised
23280-533: The development of agriculture, the surest foundation of a colony in the New World. According to David L. Preston , after French colonisation with Champlain "the French were able to settle in the depopulated St. Lawrence Valley, not directly intruding on any Indian nation's lands. This geographic and demographic fact presents a striking contrast to the British colonies' histories: large numbers of immigrants coming to New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and
23474-491: The dividing of the Anicinàpek at the "Third Stopping Place", estimated at 2,000 years ago near present-day Detroit . According to their tradition, and from recordings in birch bark scrolls ( wiigwaasabak ), Ojibwe (an Algonquian-speaking people) came from the eastern areas of North America, or Turtle Island , and from along the east coast. They traded widely across the continent for thousands of years and knew of
23668-597: The early 1970s along with the house's verandah and chimneys. The property, which borders the Grand River , originally contained an approximate 4-hectare (10.5 acres) fruit orchard, large farmhouse, stable, pigsty, henhouse, icehouse and a carriage house . During the Bells' 11-year residence at the Homestead, the working farm, with its plum, cherry, pear, apple and peach orchards, supplemented Melville's modest income from dramatic readings at elocutionary performances and university lectures on elocution and vocal physiology . Moreover, college lecture assignments were scarce for
23862-485: The early 1970s included the transfer of the Henderson Home from downtown Brantford to its new foundation at the homestead and its conversion into a museum, plus the restoration of Melville House's ground floor, and the rebuilding of the greenhouse conservatory that had been removed during the 1920s (likely when the farmhouse was moved 25 metres away from the eroding bluffs overlooking the Grand River). The house's verandah and chimneys were also rebuilt at that time. Phase III of
24056-529: The early 20th century, then in the early 1970s (in three phases in preparation for the centennial of the telephone's invention) as well as in 1994, and finally in the late 1990s to revert changes made at the Homestead by its subsequent owners after Alexander Graham's parents departed in 1881. Later restorations were also meant to provide the home with a more authentic and less museum-like experience. The Bell Telephone Company of Canada (renamed to Bell Canada in 1968), which had provided financial and other support to
24250-527: The education of First Nations children at residential schools , which were intended to teach them English and European-Canadian ways and assimilate them into the majority cultures. Such institutions in or near Brantford included the Thomas Indian School, Mohawk Institute Residential School (also known as Mohawk Manual Labour School and Mush Hole Indian Residential School), and the Haudenosaunee boarding school. Decades later and particularly since
24444-657: The electric street car system with gas-run buses, and by the end of 1939, the changeover was complete. First Nations in Canada First Nations ( French : Premières Nations ) is a term used to identify Indigenous peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis . Traditionally, First Nations in Canada were peoples who lived south of the tree line , and mainly south of the Arctic Circle . There are 634 recognized First Nations governments or bands across Canada. Roughly half are located in
24638-427: The family and to the invention of the telephone . A large visitor reception centre has also been added adjacent to Melville House. The Henderson Home building was later added to the Homestead in 1969, being moved there from its original location in downtown Brantford. It was Canada's first telephone company business office, opened in 1877 as a predecessor of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada . After being moved to
24832-403: The farm's converted carriage house , nearby to what he called his "dreaming place", a large hollow nestled in the elm trees at the back of the property, above the river where he could view its surface. Despite his frail condition upon arriving in Canada, Alexander Graham found the climate and environs to his liking, and he rapidly improved, regaining his health. He later related at the unveiling of
25026-574: The federal government, the schools were run by churches of various denominations – about 60% by Roman Catholics, and 30% by the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada , along with its pre-1925 predecessors, Presbyterian , Congregationalist and Methodist churches. The attempt to force assimilation involved punishing children for speaking their own languages or practising their own faiths, leading to allegations in
25220-412: The first city in Canada to fluoridate its water supply. Brantford generated controversy in 2010 when its city council expropriated and demolished 41 historic downtown buildings on the south side of its main street, Colborne Street. The buildings constituted one of the longest blocks of pre-Confederation architecture in Canada and included one of Ontario's first grocery stores and an early 1890s office of
25414-456: The following year by Queen Elizabeth II during the 150th anniversary year celebrations for the birth of Alexander Graham Bell. Melville House has been described as "... this shrine, where lingers the spirit of the great inventor". The Bell Homestead period began with the arrival of the Bell family in the summer of 1870 from their native Scotland, where two of their sons had died of tuberculosis and their middle son, Alexander Graham Bell ,
25608-580: The fur trade, conflicts with colonial authorities and settlers and loss of land and a subsequent loss of nation self-suffiency. For example, during the late 1630s, smallpox killed more than half of the Huron , who controlled most of the early fur trade in what became Canada. Reduced to fewer than 10,000 people, the Huron Wendat were attacked by the Iroquois, their traditional enemies. In the Maritimes,
25802-521: The government declared that, as British subjects , all able Indian men of military age could be called up for training and service in Canada or overseas. Following the end of the Second World War, laws concerning First Nations in Canada began to change, albeit slowly. The federal prohibition of potlatch and Sun Dance ceremonies ended in 1951. Provincial governments began to accept the right of Indigenous people to vote. In June 1956, section 9 of
25996-524: The government on their behalf. The government gave a vague response. In March 1885, Riel, Gabriel Dumont , and Honoré Jackson (a.k.a. Will Jackson) set up the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan , believing that they could influence the federal government in the same way as they had in 1869. The North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of
26190-608: The hinterlands (of what is today Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba, as well as what is now the American Midwest and the Mississippi Valley ), trading with First Nations as they went – guns, gunpowder, cloth, knives, and kettles for beaver furs. The fur trade kept the interest in France's overseas colonies alive, yet only encouraged a small colonial population, as minimal labour was required. The trade also discouraged
26384-569: The homestead in 2003 included work on its carriage house, pantry and scullery , as well as the development of a master plan for the entire complex. During an elaborate public ceremony before a crowd numbering in the thousands, the Homestead and the Bell Telephone Memorial were both formally presented to the City of Brantford on Wednesday, October 24, 1917, by Victor Cavendish , the Duke of Devonshire , then Governor General of Canada . A city-wide holiday
26578-419: The intensity of the electric current in exact proportion to the variation of the air density in the production of words, I would be able to transmit speech by telegraph" (using the telephone's technical analog, the telegraph , as the former name had not yet been adapted). On 26 July 1874 in their living room the younger Bell realized the technical principles of telephony, inventing the telecommunications device he
26772-522: The invention of the telephone here... [which was] conceived in Brantford in 1874 and born in Boston in 1875" and that "the first transmission to a distance was made between Brantford and Paris " (on 3 August 1876). As well, the second successful voice transmission (over a distance of 6 km; 4 miles) was also made in the area, on 4 August 1876, between the telegraph office in Brantford, Ontario and Bell's father's homestead over makeshift wires. Canada's first telephone factory, created by James Cowherd ,
26966-614: The late 18th century, European Canadians encouraged First Nations to assimilate into the European-based culture, referred to as " Canadian culture ". The assumption was that this was the "correct" culture because the Canadians of European descent saw themselves as dominant, and technologically, politically and culturally superior. There was resistance against this assimilation and many businesses denied European practices. The Tecumseh Wigwam of Toronto, for example, did not adhere to
27160-405: The late 20th century, members of various nations more frequently identify by their tribal or national identity only, e.g., "I'm Haida ", or "We're Kwantlens ", in recognition of the distinct First Nations. First Nations peoples had settled and established trade routes across what is now Canada by 500 BCE – 1,000 CE. Communities developed, each with its own culture, customs, and character. In
27354-720: The late 20th century, numerous scholarly and artistic works have explored the detrimental effects of the schools in destroying Native cultures. Examples include Ronald James Douglas' graduate thesis titled Documenting Ethnic Cleansing in North America: Creating Unseen Tears , and the Legacy of Hope Foundation's online media collection: "Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools". In June 1945, Brantford became
27548-535: The male Bells as the nearest university was in Toronto, some 105 km (65 miles) away. The Bell family was not well-to-do, but upper-middle class, and depended on the sales of their farm products to make ends meet. After Melville sold the homestead to Matthew Whiting in 1881 to join his son in Washington, D.C., the handsome farmhouse and property changed ownership five more times until it was acquired in 1909 by
27742-487: The museum to accurately recreate the Homestead as it existed during the period of Melville's ownership. In 2002 the Homestead converted its former caretaker's cottage into a tea room cum café, launched on 2 July as the Bell Homestead Café at a cost of approximately $ 56,000 in order to serve hot meals and fresh baked goods to visitors, with its staff dressed in period-era costumes. Further renovations planned for
27936-543: The next generation. People lived and prospered for thousands of years until the Great Flood . In another story, after the Flood, they repopulated from the villages of Schenks and Chekwelp , located at Gibsons . When the water lines receded, the first Squamish came to be. The first man, named Tseḵánchten, built his longhouse in the village, and later on another man named Xelálten, appeared on his longhouse roof and sent by
28130-579: The northeastern coastline of what is now the United States. Under Samuel de Champlain, the Saint Croix settlement moved to Port Royal (today's Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia ), a new site across the Bay of Fundy , on the shore of the Annapolis Basin , an inlet in western Nova Scotia. Acadia became France's most successful colony to that time. The cancellation of Dugua's fur monopoly in 1607 ended
28324-864: The northwest were the Athapaskan-speaking peoples, Slavey , Tłı̨chǫ , Tutchone-speaking peoples, and Tlingit . Along the Pacific coast were the Haida, Tsimshian , Salish, Kwakiutl , Nuu-chah-nulth , Nisga'a and Gitxsan . In the plains were the Blackfoot, Kainai , Sarcee and Northern Peigan . In the northern woodlands were the Cree and Chipewyan . Around the Great Lakes were the Anishinaabe , Algonquin , Iroquois and Wyandot . Along
28518-419: The ocean as well. If the seventh miigis being stayed, it would have established the Thunderbird doodem . The Nuu-chah-nulth are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast . The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen separate but related First Nations, such as the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations , Ehattesaht First Nation and Hesquiaht First Nation whose traditional home
28712-436: The one returned into the ocean. The six great miigis beings then established doodem (clans) for the peoples in the east. Of these doodem , the five original Anishinaabe doodem were the Wawaazisii ( Bullhead ), Baswenaazhi (Echo-maker, i.e., Crane ), Aan'aawenh ( Pintail Duck ), Nooke (Tender, i.e., Bear ) and Moozoonsii (Little Moose ), then these six miigis beings returned into
28906-444: The original name to the area: Brant's ford The Glebe Farm Indian Reserve exists at the original site today. The area began to grow from a small settlement in the 1820s as the Hamilton and London Road was improved. By the 1830s, Brantford became a stop on the Underground Railroad , and a sizable number of runaway African-Americans settled in the town. From the 1830s to the 1860s – several hundred people of African descent settled in
29100-608: The part of the First Nations, who profited in trade with Europeans. Such trade strengthened the more organized political entities such as the Iroquois Confederation. The Aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 200,000 and two million in the late 15th century. The effect of European colonization was a 40 to 80 percent Aboriginal population decrease post-contact. This is attributed to various factors, including repeated outbreaks of European infectious diseases such as influenza , measles and smallpox (to which they had not developed immunity), inter-nation conflicts over
29294-440: The plains who had relied heavily on bison for food and clothing. Most of those nations that agreed to treaties had negotiated for a guarantee of food and help to begin farming. Just as the bison disappeared (the last Canadian hunt was in 1879), Lieutenant-Governor Edgar Dewdney cut rations to indigenous people in an attempt to reduce government costs. Between 1880 and 1885, approximately 3,000 Indigenous people starved to death in
29488-463: The population. 40.4% of residents had no religion, up from 31.6% in 2011. All other religions and spiritual traditions make up 8.1% of the population. The largest non-Christian religions were Sikhism (2.6%), Islam (2.0%), Hinduism (1.7%) and Buddhism (0.5%). Brantford has been used as a filming location for TV and films. Statistics from the Federal 2016 Census indicated that 54.1% of Brantford's adult residents (ages 25 to 64) had earned either
29682-407: The province. The electric telephone was invented here leading to the establishment of Canada's first telephone factory here in the 1870s. Brantford developed as an important Canadian industrial centre for the first half of the 20th century, and it was once the third-ranked Canadian city in terms of the cash value of manufactured goods exported. The city developed at the deepest navigable point of
29876-469: The provinces of Ontario and British Columbia . Under Charter jurisprudence , First Nations are a "designated group," along with women, visible minorities , and people with physical or mental disabilities. First Nations are not defined as a visible minority by the criteria of Statistics Canada . North American indigenous peoples have cultures spanning thousands of years. Some of their oral traditions accurately describe historical events, such as
30070-465: The public with a more personal and comprehensive experience. They have additionally earned plaudits for their dedication to authenticity, with one reviewer writing: Although the house is kept as a historic site, it has a comfortable look of habitation about it. Freshly pressed, embroidered linens hang on the side of the bathtub, a basket of needlework waits to be completed and clothes hang in the bedrooms. Amidst all these homey little touches, are some of
30264-402: The receiver "clearly and strongly", on a telegraph line connection of some 106 km (66 miles) length. Speaking to his son in Paris from Brantford's Dominion Telegraph office, Professor Alexander Melville Bell sang songs, quoted Shakespeare and read poetry. In Paris, news of Bell's test quickly drew crowds of onlookers who witnessed Melville's voice emanating from the crude metal box. With only
30458-403: The return voyage. Gaspar's brother, Miguel Corte-Real , went to look for him in 1502, but also failed to return. In 1604 King Henry IV of France granted Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons a fur-trade monopoly. Dugua led his first colonization expedition to an island located near to the mouth of the St. Croix River . Samuel de Champlain , his geographer, promptly carried out a major exploration of
30652-452: The right sort of offbeat souvenir for the Bells. Overall, the journalist noted: A pretty white home surrounded by shade trees and flower beds may not be the popular idea of the kind of place where a creative genius lives, especially someone who advised people to "leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods." Yet Alexander Graham Bell's Homestead in Brantford presents a dignified picture of middle class bliss. Melville House and
30846-529: The sale of their lands in 1916 and 1917, the Department of Indian Affairs held back funding necessary for farming until they relented. In British Columbia, the McKenna–McBride Royal Commission was created in 1912 to settle disputes over reserve lands in the province. The claims of Indigenous people were ignored, and the commission allocated new, less valuable lands (reserves) for First Nations. Those nations who managed to maintain their ownership of good lands often farmed successfully. Indigenous people living near
31040-399: The second war, Queen Anne's War , the British conquered Acadia (1710). The sixth and final colonial war between the nations of France and Great Britain (1754–1763), resulted in the French giving up their claims and the British claimed the lands of Canada (New France) . In this final war, the Franco-Indian alliance brought together Americans, First Nations and the French, centred on
31234-496: The small town of Frog Lake , killing Thomas Quinn, an Indian agent , and eight others. Although Big Bear actively opposed the attacks, he was charged and tried for treason and sentenced to three years in prison. After the Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870, Métis moved from Manitoba to the District of Saskatchewan, where they founded a settlement at Batoche on the South Saskatchewan River . In Manitoba settlers from Ontario began to arrive. They pushed for land to be allotted in
31428-447: The square concession system of English Canada , rather than the seigneurial system of strips reaching back from a river which the Métis were familiar with in their French-Canadian culture. The history of colonization is complex, varied according to the time and place. France and Britain were the main colonial powers involved, though the United States also began to extend its territory at the expense of indigenous people as well. From
31622-422: The start of the 20th century, the federal Indian policy was directed at removing Indigenous people from their communal lands and encouraging assimilation. Amendments to the Indian Act in 1905 and 1911 made it easier for the government to expropriate reserve lands from First Nations. The government sold nearly half of the Blackfoot reserve in Alberta to settlers. When the Kainai (Blood) Nation refused to accept
31816-439: The summer. The third and most important test was the world's first true long-distance call, placed between Brantford and Paris, Ontario , on 10 August 1876. For that long-distance call Alexander Graham Bell set up a telephone using telegraph lines at Robert White's Boot and Shoe Store at 90 Grand River Street North in Paris via its Dominion Telegraph Co. office on Colborne Street. The normal telegraph line between Paris and Brantford
32010-407: The telephone at the Homestead in July 1874. In a 1906 speech to the Brantford Board of Trade, Bell commented on the telephone's invention: "the telephone problem was solved, and it was solved at my father's home". The approximately 4-hectare (10 1 ⁄ 2 acre) site has been largely restored to its appearance when the Bells lived there in the 1870s, and Melville House now serves as a museum to
32204-544: The telephone manufacturing being conducted at the Brantford telephone factory run by Bell's friend James Cowherd , son of the Brantford's hardware store owner Thomas C. Cowherd who had supplied the Alexander Graham with almost all of the stovepipe wire available, used for his Bell's first telephone line. Cowherd's Brantford factory's first shipment of nineteen telephones was made to Hugh Cossart Baker in Hamilton, Ontario on 23 December of that year, with total production of all orders eventually reaching 2,398 phones before James
32398-437: The telephone was born". The two story white framed clapboard home of Reverend Thomas Philip Henderson (b. Scotland, 1816 – d. 1887), served as his combined residence and religious library as well as the business office of Canada's first telephone company. In 1969 the house was carefully raised onto a flatbed mover and relocated from Brantford's downtown area (at 30, formerly 46 Sheridan Street, approximately three city blocks from
32592-412: The telephone was invented in Boston , where Alexander Graham Bell did a great deal of work on the development of the device. However, Bell confirmed Brantford as the birthplace of the device in a 1906 speech: "the telephone problem was solved, and it was solved at my father's home". At the unveiling of the Bell Memorial on 24 October 1917, Bell reminded the attendees that "Brantford is right in claiming
32786-463: The telephone's invention, during which visitor admissions to the Homestead totaled some 100,000 people. Restoration and new facilities work progressed across the Homestead through the years. In 2005 its carriage house was dismantled and the rebuilt in 2007 at a cost of $ 75,000. The mid-1980s saw the expansion of the Homestead's general facilities, including a new visitor's reception centre and mini-theatre added for slide and movie presentations. In 1998
32980-459: The term First Nations has come into general use for Indigenous peoples other than Inuit and Métis . Outside Canada, the term can refer to Indigenous Australians , U.S. tribes within the Pacific Northwest , as well as supporters of the Cascadian independence movement . The singular, commonly used on culturally politicized reserves , is the term First Nations person (when gender-specific, First Nations man or First Nations woman ). Since
33174-422: The term exists. Some Indigenous peoples in Canada have also adopted the term First Nation to replace the word band in the formal name of their community. A band is a "body of Indians (a) for whose use and benefit in common lands ... have been set apart, (b) ... moneys are held ... or (c) declared ... to be a band for the purposes of", according to the Indian Act by the Canadian Crown . The term Indian
33368-412: The time of its donation he was living there as a widower along with his daughter, his wife having died the previous December. The four bedroom structure had previously been the home and office of Reverend Thomas Henderson (1817-1887), the close friend, advisor and associate of Melville Bell and his son Alexander Graham. Henderson had persuaded Melville and his family to immigrate to Canada in 1870 to prevent
33562-416: The time residing on the upper level of Melville House. Plans were also being drawn up then to renovate the coach house which was then providing the food and drink concessions area for visitors. Also under consideration was a possible larger telecommunications museum of a national stature. Considerable efforts were made to have the phased renovations completed in time for the 1974 centennial year celebrations of
33756-431: The town by 1869. Some of these factories included Brantford Engine Works, Victoria Foundry and Britannia Foundry. Several major farm implement manufacturers, starting with Cockshutt and Harris, opened for business in the 1870s. The history of the Brantford region from 1793 to 1920 is described at length in the book At The Forks of The Grand . In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Canadian government encouraged
33950-633: The tribe's friendship and was awarded the title of Honorary Chief and participated in a ceremony where he donned a Mohawk headdress and performed traditional dances. Thereafter Bell would break into a Mohawk war dance if he became intensely excited. After setting up his laboratory–workshop in the Homestead's carriage house, the younger Bell also continued his earlier electrical experiments based on misunderstood translations of Dr. Hermann von Helmholtz 's work on electricity and sound as described in Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen als physiologische Grundlage für die Theorie der Musik ( The Sensations of Tone as
34144-408: The villages of the Fox nation , a tribe that was an ancient rival of the Miami people and their Algonquian allies. Native (or "pani", a corruption of Pawnee ) slaves were much easier to obtain and thus more numerous than African slaves in New France, but were less valued. The average native slave died at 18, and the average African slave died at 25 (the average European could expect to live until
34338-441: The welfare of his people. Brant initiated the opening of schools and, from 1828, served as the first native Superintendent of the Six Nations. Chief Brant was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada for Haldimand in 1830 and was the first aboriginal Canadian in Parliament. The stone and brick Brant County Courthouse was built on land purchased from the Six Nations in 1852. The structure housed courtrooms, county offices,
34532-480: The well-paying and steady employment that allowed Brantford to sustain economic growth through most of the 20th century. By the 1980s and 1990s, Brantford's economy was in steady decline due to changes in heavy industry and its restructuring. Numerous companies suffered bankruptcies, such as White Farm Equipment , Massey Ferguson (and its successor, Massey Combines Corporation), Koering-Waterous, Harding Carpets, and other manufacturers. The bankruptcies and closures of
34726-404: The west or to Canada, or were relocated onto reservations in Michigan and Wisconsin. Historians have unanimously agreed that the Indians were the major losers in the War of 1812. Living conditions for Indigenous people in the prairie regions deteriorated quickly. Between 1875 and 1885, settlers and hunters of European descent contributed to hunting the North American bison almost to extinction;
34920-425: The widely practiced Lord's Day observance, making it a popular spot, especially on Sundays. Moreover, Canadian policies were at times contradictory, such as through the late 19th century- Peasant Farm Policy that severely restricted farming on reserves, despite this practice being seen as important to assimilation efforts. These kinds of attempts reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in
35114-531: Was Thomas Cowherd , whose hardware store supplied stovepipe wire to Graham Bell, and her brother was James, who built almost 2,400 telephones for Melville's telephone company and for the Bell Telephone Company of Canada . Jenny also played the melodeon and sang for at least one of Alexander Graham's telephone demonstrations. Many of the items had originally been sold at auction in 1881 by Melville's family when he and his wife moved to join their son Alexander Graham in Washington, D.C., much later being donated back to
35308-440: Was added to the Greater Golden Horseshoe along with Haldimand and Northumberland counties. In February 2019, Brantford's unemployment rate stood at 4.6% – lower than Ontario's rate of 5.6%. Brantford has a humid continental climate ( Dfb ) with warm to hot summers and cold, moderately snowy winters, though not severe by Canadian standards. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Brantford had
35502-514: Was additionally stricken and being consumed by disease. The Bell Homestead complex in the present day consists of several buildings with their own origins. The principal building at the site is Alexander Melville Bell's farmhouse, Melville House, along with its related greenhouse conservatory, outbuildings and fruit orchard. The farmhouse and its farmland were acquired for preservation as a museum in 1909. The Henderson Home, which had served as Canada's first telephone business office in downtown Brantford,
35696-422: Was declared on that day in honour of the event. Several commemorations have been held at the Homestead honouring the 1874 invention of the telephone at the site by their son, Alexander Graham Bell, the Bell family themselves, and other events related to the Bell System . In 1997 Queen Elizabeth II visited the Homestead and unveiled a commemorative plaque, reflecting its National Historic Site status. In 1947
35890-516: Was extensive mercury pollution caused by Dryden Chemicals Company's waste water effluent in the Wabigoon - English River system. Because local fish were no longer safe to eat, the Ontario provincial government closed the commercial fisheries run by the First Nation people and ordered them to stop eating local fish. Previously it had made up the majority of their diet. In addition to the acute mercury poisoning in northwestern Ontario , Aamjiwnaang First Nation people near Sarnia , Ontario, experienced
36084-469: Was held in Boston on 9 October 1876. Nonetheless, the third test in Southern Ontario was the world's first long-distance call, proving that the telephone was useful not only over short distances. On a test call one week earlier on 3 August 1876, Alexander Graham's uncle, Professor David Charles Bell , spoke to him from the Brantford telegraph office, reciting lines from Shakespeare 's Hamlet (" To be or not to be.... "). The young inventor, positioned at
36278-428: Was hereditary, the slaves and their descendants being considered prisoners of war . Some tribes in British Columbia continued to segregate and ostracize the descendants of slaves as late as the 1970s. Among Pacific Northwest tribes about a quarter of the population were slaves. The citizens of New France received slaves as gifts from their allies among First Nations peoples. Slaves were prisoners taken in raids against
36472-546: Was invented in the summer of 1874, during a visit I paid to my father and mother in Brantford ..." As well, one of the first successful voice transmission of any notable distance (6 km) was made on 4 August 1876, between the telegraph office in Brantford, Ontario and Melville House over makeshift wires. Only a few months after receiving U.S. Patent No. 174465 at the beginning of March 1876, Bell conducted three important tests of his new telephone invention and technology after he returned to his parents at Melville House for
36666-410: Was later moved to the site in 1969 and renovated extensively in 1970, to convert it into a separate telephone museum under the principal sponsorship of the county's largest telephone carrier, Bell Canada . As well, a tea house , a visitor reception centre with a mini audio-video theatre and related facilities were also added to the homestead to accommodate visitors and tour groups. The Tutelo migrated to
36860-420: Was located in Brantford and operated from about 1879 until Cowherd's death in 1881. The first telephone business office which opened in 1877, not far from the Bell Homestead, was located in what is now Brantford. The combination of events has led to Brantford calling itself "The Telephone City". Brantford is located within the County of Brant; however, it is a single-tier municipality, politically separate from
37054-534: Was not quite 13 km (8 miles) length, but the connection was extended a further 93 km (58 miles) to Toronto to allow the use of a battery in its telegraph office . When the line connections were completed Graham Bell heard "... explosive sounds, like the discharge of artillery.... mixed with a continuous crackling noise of an indescribable character". Bell began to troubleshoot his device and after changing his telephone receiver's electromagnet from low to high resistance , voices suddenly emerged from
37248-400: Was part of a shift acknowledging indigenous rights . It enabled provincial control of Crown land and allowed Provincial laws regulating game to apply to Indians, but it also ensured that "Indians shall have the right ... of hunting, trapping and fishing game and fish for food at all seasons of the year on all unoccupied Crown lands and on any other lands to which the said Indians may have
37442-401: Was stricken with tuberculosis and died. Henderson later moved to Montreal to join the Bell Telephone Company of Canada where he became their purchasing agent and storekeeper until his death in 1887. In September 1877 the Bells' installed a 5 1 ⁄ 4 km (3 1 ⁄ 4 mile) telephone line from their homestead to connect to Reverend Henderson's house in downtown Brantford where
37636-405: Was the name given to his home by the elder Bell, and which was used on the letterhead of his stationery, reading in full: "Melville House, Tutelo Hights". The large 10-room, two story wooden neoclassical Italianate villa style farmhouse was originally built in 1858 for Robert Morton, a retired Montreal building contractor who moved to the area to be close to his two sons Andrew and Y.J., owners of
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