Finding Aid
A.G. Chisholm fonds. – 1892-1948. – 44.5 cm of textual records and graphic material.
Series 1
Correspondence. – 1909-1945. – 12.5 cm of textual records and graphic material. – Title based on content of series. – Correspondence was in disarray; it has been arranged in chronological order by the archivist. The series consists of letters to and from Chisholm with exceptions noted. Letters take various forms: handwritten, typed, typed copies, and handwritten copies.
Box 1
Note re correspondence: In a letter dated 28 February 1936 Chisholm writes that when he was moving his office he believes that files were sent to the incinerator in error. Thus the gap in the correspondence reflected below. Titles of correspondents appear at first mention.
F.1 Typed copy of letter from F.L. Newcombe, Deputy Minister of Justice, 5 February 1909; recipient is unclear, possibly the Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
F.2 1916-1917: Asa R. Hill, Secretary of Six Nations Council; encl. news clipping re electric power on the Grand River.
F.3 1916-1917: Letters from Chisholm soliciting information on documentary evidence; there are replies, some of them handwritten. Correspondents include: Auditor General of Canada; R. Bodreau, Clerk of the Privy Council; Clerk of the House of Commons; Arthur G. Doughty, Public Archives of Canada; Lieut. Col. A. Hamlyn Todd, Library of Parliament; Department of External Affairs; Department of Finance – all in Ottawa; Alexander Fraser, Archives of Ontario.
F.4 1920: Department of Indian Affairs, Office of the Deputy Superintendent General; reply, 31 August.
F.5 1924: Department of Indian Affairs, Office of the Deputy Superintendent General; correspondence, concerning maps; includes published map of St. Clair river; blueprint copy of map of Walpole Island, 1896; Essex, Kent and Lambton and portions of Elgin, Middlesex and Huron counties map issued by Department of the Interior, 1916 – map has been annotated with dates.
F.6 1932: Letters concern the payment of Chisholm. See also statements in Box 3, F.13-16.
F.7 1933-1935: First letter in the file is from the Six Nations Council stating that they are considering “the opening of the ‘Grand River Navigation’ question”. File contains authorization for Chisholm to proceed, dated 1 February 1934. This file and the remainder of the files concern the legal proceedings that followed; they also contain continuing disputes about Chisholm’s payment. Correspondents, in addition to Six Nations, include R.V. Sinclair who acted as Chisholm’s Ottawa agent.
F.8 1936: Correspondents include William Smith, Chief Councillor, Six Nations and other councillors including Samuel R. Lickers; R.V. Sinclair; Public Archives of Canada; Postmaster General of Canada; F.C. Betts, M.P. and others. There is also a news clipping, 26 February [1936] re the claim.
F.9 1937: Correspondents include William Smith; F.C. Betts; Samuel R. Lickers; Postmaster General
F.10 1938: Correspondents include Postmaster General; Ministry of Mines and Resources; William Smith; Prime Minister MacKenzie King (replies are from King’s private secretary); W.F. Powless, Secretary, Six Nations; Arthur G. Slaght , M.P., Barrister, Slaght, Ferguson & Carrick
F.11 1939: Correspondents include Samuel R. Lickers; William Smith; Leader of the Opposition, House of Commons; R.V. Sinclair; Department of Mines and Resources; Globe and Mail, W.F. Powless; Public Archives of Canada; Major E.P. Randle, Indian Superintendant. Some letters are to Chisholm’s son, W.G.H. Chisholm. A.G. Chisholm’s letter to the editor the Globe and Mail resulted in the paper doing a story, “Six Nations Indians Part Owners of Canal, But Nobody Knows Why”, 22 March 1939. The news clipping contains several photographs.
F.12 N.d. but probably 1936-1939: Two letters from William Smith, also letter fragments that could not be matched to the body of letters.
F.13 1940: Correspondents include Deputy Provincial Registrar and Assistant Provincial Secretary (Ontario); W.F. Powless; E.R. Garlow, Chief Councillor, Six Nations; Major E.P. Randle; Department of Mines and Resources; Globe and Mail; Sol. J. Brant, The Ancient Six Nations Council of the Bay of Quinte, Ont.; also news clippings.
F.14 1941: Correspondents include: W.F. Powless; Major E.P Randle; William Smith; Frank Miller, Chief Councillor, Six Nations; G. Lanctot, Public Archives of Canada; Auguste Lemieux who replaced Sinclair as Chisholm’s Ottawa agent; R.V. Sinclair; Samuel R. Lickers. One letter is addressed to Chisholm’s daughter, Constance. The file also contains notes with regard to the petition filed (see Box 2).
F.15 Jan.-April 1942: Correspondents include: Auguste Lemieux; Samuel R. Lickers; F.P. Varcoe, Deputy Minister of Justice.
F.16 May-Aug. 1942: Correspondents include: Auguste Lemieux; F.P. Varcoe; Miss McVicar, Librarian, Middlesex Law Association.
F.17 Sept.-Dec. 1942: Correspondents include: Auguste Lemieux and W.F. Powless
F.18 Jan.-March 1943: Correspondents include: Auguste Lemieux; E.H. Coleman, Under Secretary of State; Constance Chisholm (who informed Lemieux of her father’s death in January 1943); W.F. Powless encl. extracts from Council minutes expressing their sorrow on Chisholm’s death, also a signed minute from the Council; E.P. Randle; obituary news clipping. Also a notice that Lemeiux has replaced Chisholm as the Six Nations’ solicitor, 24 February 1943.
F.19 Other: envelope addressed to Constance Chisholm pmk. 1944; a wedding notice (Hawkins-McGinn in London, 1945)
Series 2
Legal and other documents; printed materials. – 1892-1948. – 32 cm of textual records and graphic material. – Title based on content of series. – This series contains copies of documents beginning in 1763.
Box 2
Legal Documents:
F.1 Statement of Facts, 19 January 1908, ts. carbon, pages A-CC followed by supporting material, pages 1-307. It is signed by the Superintendant and all members of the Six Nations Council. The supporting material is not original – it covers 1827-1850. The statement contains a request asking that the Government of Canada determine a method of dealing with their claims re the Grand River Navigation company and that they be allowed counsel to represent them.
F.2 Memorandum, 7 November 1908, re Grand River Navigation matter; ts. carbon, 1 page with supporting documentation (copies) bound, and with handwritten notes on the cover of an interview with the Minister which took place on 14 January 1909.
F.3 “Statement of Grounds on Which It Is Contended Canada Is Responsible to the Six Nations”; 22 March 1909, ts. carbon, 15 pages.
F.4 Memorandum sent to Hon. F. Oliver, Superintendant of Indian Affairs, 3 November 1910; signed by A.G. Chlsholm re the Grand River Navigation company matter.
F.5 The King v The New England Company, n.d. but 1907 or later, ts. carbon, 51 pp. A document establishing the beneficial title of the Six Nations Indians in their Lands on the Grand River, Ontario. It puts forth a Chain of Title using typed extracts from documents beginning in 1763. Some of the documents have been copied from “Canadian Archives, Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1759-1791”, published in Ottawa in 1907.
F.6 Petition, Statement of Facts, etc. submitted to the Governor-General in Council, 12 March 1920. Ts. carbon, 180 pp., followed by a summary, 3 pp. Signed by A.G. Chisholm. This petition asks for Independent Protectorate status.
F.7 Petition of Right filed in the Exchequer Court of Canada, October 1939. Ms. draft, 22 pages; 2 ts. carbons, 16 pages each. Petition concludes with a request for payment of $1,604,195.80. Signed by Chisholm.
F.8 Petition of Right filed in the Exchequer Court of Canada, 1940. Various ts. and ts. carbon drafts, none of the versions are complete. Petition concludes with a request for payment of $1,510, 474. Signed by Chisholm.
F.9 Petition of Right filed in the Exchequer Court of Canada, 1942. Two ts. carbons, each 27 pages in length. One is signed for Chisholm (not his hand). Petition concludes with a request for payment of $1,289, 467.20.
F.10 Notice of Withdrawal of Petition of Right filed in the Exchequer Court of Canada, 11 September 1942. Signed by Chisholm. Indicates that the Petition being withdrawn was dated 20 September 1941 and that a new petition will be filed.
F.11 Draft in Chisholm’s hand of document beginning, “The Six Nations of the Grand River desire to draw the attention of the Government of Canada …”; ms., 8 pp., n.d.
F.12 Manuscript notes in Chisholm’s hand, 7 pp., n.d.
F.13 Supreme Court of Canada: Two appeal decisions, both on appeal from the Exchequer Court of Canada. Appeal between Frank Miller, Chief Councillor of the Six Nations and the King, 21 May 1948. Appeal between Constance Chisholm, executrix for Andrew Gordon Chisholm and the King, 21 May 1948. Both judgments in the negative.
F.14 Probate of Will of Andrew Gordon Chisholm, 16 Feb. 1943. File also contains a draft in manuscript form, 24 March 1936, addressed “To all my dear ones”.
Other documents
F.15 Minutes and Council Orders, Six Nations, 3 October 1935, 7 November 193[?], 2 May 1940, 3 July 1941. Typescripts and typescript carbons, some signed by councillors.
Box 3
Numbered documents:
In a letter (Box 1, F.8) of 28 February 1936 to R.V. Sinclair, Chisholm notes that he is sending by express “a large bundle of papers” in connection with his account [for payment]. He notes that he has “numbered each page” and the bill will use the numbers. This perhaps explains the numbering of these documents; on the other hand it may not be connected to them at all. The documents are both handwritten by Chisholm and typed. They are similar in type to those attached to the legal documents in Box 2.
F.1 Documents 1-12
F.2 Documents 58-190
F.3 Documents 204-213, 221-6
F.4 Documents 228-234
F.5 Documents 244-247
F.6 Documents 249-273
F.7 Documents 274-402
F.8 Documents 403-537
F.9 Documents 539-609
F.10 Document 610. This is a bound document titled “Indian Department (Canada) … Copies of Extracts of recent correspondence respecting Alterations in the Organization of the Indian Department in Canada … ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 2 June 1856, pp. 1-67; Copies or Extracts of Correspondence between the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Governor General of Canada respecting Alterations in the Organization of the Indian Department of Canada … Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 25 August 1860, pp. 1-65. Between pages 44 and 45 there is a map of lands between Lake Huron and Lake Simcoe.
F.11 Document 612: An Act to incorporate a Joint Stock Company to improve the Navigation of the Grand River, passed 28 January 1832. Typed copy.
F.12 Documents similar to above but without numbers.
Statements prepared by Chisholm outlining work done and requesting payment.
F.13 17 October 1910 – describes work done beginning 30 April 1907
F.14 2 November 1931 – describes work done beginning July 1930
F.15 29 February 1936 – describes work done beginning 1916; handwritten draft
F.16 1942 – describes work done beginning 1915; these are handwritten lists
Printed materials:
F.17 Census Bulletin, Indians, Six Nations of New York; printed, bound, published in Washington D.C. in 1892.
F.18 Newsclippings: Includes “Indians Get Property Back; Long Dispute with New England Company Ends; Deeds are Received; London Lawyer Represented Indian Department”, 28 June [1935]. The article notes that the properties under dispute had been occupied by Anglican churches.
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