Very good. Some of the letters written in pencil are a little faded.
History / Biographical
Ruth Alverda Wade was born born July 11, 1912 in Brandon, MB to James and Etta Alverda. She had two younger siblings: sister Gwen and brother Sherry. The Wade family resided at 1837 Princess Avenue, Brandon, MB. Ruth graduated from Brandon College with the Class of 1933.
During her time at Brandon College Ruth met Archie MacLachlan. Archibald James MacLachlan was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in 1907. He had four brothers: Howard, Edgar, Bruce, Curly and Stirling. When Archie was quite young the MacLachlan family moved to Alberta. Archie came to Brandon c. 1930 to attend Brandon College. During the summers of his years at Brandon College Archie held pastoral charges in Alberta. The first two summers were spent in the Peace River Country and the second two in Etzikom in Southern Alberta. This is the period during which the letters in the fonds were written.
Ruth Wade married Archie MacLachlan on September 19, 1934 in Brandon, MB. Following the wedding the couple moved to Hamilton, ON. Archie graduated from McMaster University with his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1937. During this period their daughter Joann Ruth was born. After his ordination as a Baptist Minister the family moved to North Bay where Archie was minister for four years. The next six years were spent in Vancouver as Archie worked as minister at Fairview Baptist Church in Vancouver. The couple's sons Archibald James and Lachlan Wade were also born during this period.
At the end of the Second World War Archie decided to go back to school. The family travelled to Brandon, where Ruth and the children remained for part of a year while Archie went ahead to Andover Newton to enroll and find a parish that would support him while he went to school. The family was reunited in Penacook, New Hampshire; they lived there for two years while Archie completed his Masters in Sacred Theology. After a brief additional period of study at Harvard University, the MacLachlan family returned to Canada, settling in Toronto while Archie finished his second Masters degree (Psychology) and held positions as interim minister and then assistant minister at York Minster Church. Following the two years in Toronto they moved to Winnipeg.
Eventually Archie left the church ministry and became Chaplain at the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital. He also continuted to train students in Pastoral Education through the courses he had begun at the Divinity College of McMaster University. He remained at the Hospital until his retirement.
During their married life Ruth was kept busy raising the couple's children and with her work as a minister's wife, particularly her work in the community. She sat on a number of community boards, including positions as President of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec and a member of the Board of Governors for McMaster University's Divinity School.
Ruth MacLachlan died on October 29, 1983 in Missassauga, ON.
Archie married Kathleen Marie (Green) French (b. January 22, 1908, d. June 1, 1998) on June 20, 1987. Archie MacLachlan died in December 1997.
Custodial History
Records were in the possession of Ruth and Archie MacLachlan until their deaths. At that time the records were inherited by their daughter Joann. Joann MacLachlan donated the records to the McKee Archives on October 24, 2009 at a donation event held as part of Homecoming 2009.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of approximately 197 letters written by Ruth and Archie to each other during the spring and summers of 1932, 1933 and 1934. The letters were written during the courtship of the couple and contain details not only on about their lives in Brandon and Alberta but also more personal information about their relationship, families and future plans. Because Ruth and Archie were students at Brandon College during this period the letters also often reflect on events and personalities related to the College, as well as their own personal studies.
Fonds also contains a scrapbook compiled by Ruth during her Brandon College years. It includes photographs, newspaper clippings, graduation cards, event programs, place cards and other ephemera. There are also a few miscellaneous documents - McMaster University examination papers, handwritten sheet music, postcards - that appear to have belonged to Archie. Fonds also contains a graduation photograph of Ruth.
Notes
Description by Christy Henry. History/Bio information taken from Joann MacLachlan's book Ruth and Archie: Brandon and Brandon College 1932-1934.
Ruth and Archie's daughter Joann edited the letters into a book entitled Ruth and Archie: Brandon and Brandon College 1932-1934. A copy of the book is located in the Rare Book collection of the John E. Robbins Library, Brandon University.
William Ridley Sheridan Wade collection (28-2007)
Arrangement
The letters are arranged in chronological order with all of Archie's letters to Ruth for a particular year grouped together, followed by Ruth's letters to Archie for that same year. For preservation purposes photographs in the scrapbook have been removed and placed in photograph storage, with their corresponding scrapbook page number noted on the back. Because of the fragile condition of the scrapbook a note has been made concerning the original location of many items that have become detached from their original location in the scrapbook. These items remain with the remnants of the scrapbook in one archival housing. Note that Ruth did not place items on every page so the numbering is not sequential for scrapbook items. Some items were loose at the back of the scrapbook and therefore have no corresponding page number.
Sub-series consists of registration cards for Brandon College, some of which were filled out in the students' own handwriting. Over time the format of the cards changed but at various times they contained information on: name; address (home and in Brandon); parents' names; age; religious denomination; date of entrance; course of study; birthdate; last school attended; whether or not the student was a church member (and if so where they attended church); occupation in view; phone number; and college department.
In 1924-1925, some of the students' registration cards are McMaster University initial registration cards, rather than the Brandon College registration card format. The reason for the use of the McMaster cards is unknown, however Brandon College was affiliated with McMaster University at the time. These particular cards contain information that is not included on the cards created by Brandon College. Additional information fields include: prepatory schools attended; how admitted to Brandon College (name of examination); where the examination was written and if the student obtained complete standing on that Examination; father's nationality; and mother's nationality.
Some years (1899-1908) also have a breakdown of the different denominations as represented by students attending Brandon College.
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 4: Office of the Registrar
4.11 Registration cards
Arrangement
The sub-series is arranged by year. Some of the years are arranged numerically, while others are arranged alphabetically. Original order was maintained.
File contains registration cards for the following students: Rupert G. Stewart, Mildred Roseborough McKee, Mary Corbett, Charles Christopher Corbett, J.G. Dickson, Maggie L. Davidson, Charles Spurgean Elsey, John Fraser, E. Thomas Ferry, Isaac Gaetz, Mayzie L. Gillies, James Thomas Gamey, E.J. Hanbury, Joseph Joel, Wellington Clifton Kellay, Annie Mathews, Mabel Florence Mitchell, Eva Rosalind McDiarmid, George E. McKee, Isaiah D. McBain, Angus McVicar, Donald McIntyre*, Mary H. McKay, John McMillan, A.S. Parnall, Flossy(?) Ethel Rear, Jean Isabel Larupson(?), Henry Milton Sampson, Emanuel Selley, Herbert Silvester, Etta Sutherland, Claude Smith, Maude Smyth, R.B. Ledingham, Annie Millar Truesdell, Amelia Umbach, Edwin W. Williams, Thomas A. Mitchell, William T. Morrision, Livingstone Milne, Oscar Welsh, Frank Wilson Millox, J.A.S. Hyndman, Thomas Stanley Jardine, Carrie Nelles, Rodman Weldon Minaker, Mary McQueen, Elsie McGregor Graham, Jas. Arthur Barber, Frank L. O'Neil, J.L. Nichol, Emma(?) Fleming, Margaret Mott, Colin Brainard Feader, Roy Howard Glover, Fred Hawson, John Russel Synch, F.C. Grant, Donald Paterson, Samuel J. McKee, George W. Alexander, John Henry Betz, E.P. Crane, A. McRae, David Berry, William Grummett, Alexander Murphy, Hugh Campbell Warroch, William Jamieson Halliday, Susan Earline DeMaine, Ward N. Fallis, Rena(?) Anderson, Herbert Childerhose, Gilbert A. Colquhoun, David S. Tod, Herbert Horton Talmay, Reuben J. White, Annie Agnew, William John Robinson, Ivy Butcher, Ewart Kelly, James A. Hamilton, Samuel Winterbottom, Albert Hatcher, Alfred Walker Bell, Ebbot N. Elliott, John Anderson Grummett, Jno McEvoy, P.J. Barrager, Archibald William Hunter Smith, John George Pope, Bedord A. Tingley, William H. Davidson, A.B. Tweddle, Kate L. Woodcock, Thomas Percival Hodnett, Isabel Hall, D.L. Purdon(?), Claude Percival Evans, Robert William Conn, and R.A. Frampton.
Notes
*Donald McIntyre was one of Brandon College's first theological graduates, along with J.C. Bowen, in 1904.
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 4: Office of the Registrar
4.11 Registration cards
Box 1
File contains registration cards for the following students: Herbert S. Sneyd, Alfred Newton Wolverton, Edgar Howard Way, M.E. Rutherford, William James Groves, A.M. Yuill, Joseph Henry M. Emsley, P.J.A. Barragher, Amelia L. Umbach, Jno. E. McDonald, Anson Buck, Henry Boyne Cross, S.B. Williscroft, William Hunter Davidson, Mattie I. McEwen, John Edward McEvoy, Herbert Randell Sharp, William James Scott, Wesley E. McVicar, Rowat Hepburn, Annie Millar Truesdell, Angus McVicar, Thomas Stanley Jardine, James Liggett, Ruby Fowlie, John Russell Synch, Marian L. Hurley, William P. Freeman, John Albert Shirley King, Eva R. McDiarmid, Lottie Louise Currie, William P. Stuart, Toussant Henry Framant, John McMillan, Gertrude Belvidere Campbell, William J.T. Graham, Peter Sharp, Algie Midgley, Frederick A. Ross, George I. Wilson, Frank E. Werry, Andrew Jorgen Sarup, Verda Wrye, Nellie Orchard, Edward Blake Goldsmith, Harold N. Kirk, Joseph P. Sproule, Byron J. McLeod, Jennie Trotter, T.C. Frampton, John Chas. Parr, James Currie McMillan, Henry Milton Sampson, Annie M. Acton, J.F. Fraser, J.G. Dickson, Percy Cory Johnson, John J. McCallum, Victor(?) Sandstrom, Melville James Bridge, Andrew Jamieson, Adne Joseph Leech, Frank Wilson Millox, Archibald Adam Herriot, William John Clifford Empey, E.J. Hanbury, W. Fred Howson, Carrie Nelles, Rolland Robert Brock Nicklin, Claude Percival Evans, Jean Helen Williscroft, John Bruce Kerr, Bedford A. Tingley, Samuel J. McKee, William A. M. Russell, Corlis R. Richards, Margaret Lucretia Mott, Jessie McIntosh, Judson Post, Donald McIntyre, J. Harry Bowering, Manford Mott, Herbert Armstrong, James Andrew Rollo, Jean Isabel Sampson, Christopher Croft, Nellie Rosamond Warner, Willie H. Howey, Allan Bremner Kelly, Albert Victor Knowlton, George E. McKee, Herbert W. Silvester, Mary Isabelle Clare Alexander, George Alexander, Joseph Joel, Charles S. Elsey, R.A. Frampton, Susan Earline DeMaine, Ada Louise Barton, Iva Hunter, Robert F. Moule, Phillip Percy Bucke, Percy Neill McGregor, Leslie Smart, Edward Brice.
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 4: Office of the Registrar
4.11 Registration cards
Box 1
Some of the cards had had something spilled on them in the past. The edges of those cards were trimmed in order to separate the cards.
Scope and Content
File contains registration cards for the following students: Jabez Harry Bowering, Annie B. McGregor, Anlowa M. Pelton, Ernie Therrien, Sinclair Reekie, Peter Fraser McLaurin, Harry W. Thompson, Sara Edith Oliver, James A. Rollo, Nellie Orchard, Lottie Louise Currie, William O. Turnbull, Rowat R. Hepburn, Albert Bennett, Annie Margaret Allan, Frank Edward Brown, Fred Harold Fenwick, Howard Neelands White, James Leroy Sloat, Wellington Clifton Kellay, Sarah Lillian Marions Hurley, W.A.M. Russell, George E. McKee, Christopher Cross, Roy Gordon Macdonald, Percy G. McGregor, Herbert S. Sneyd, John Campbell Bowen, Mary Isabel Clare Alexander, Jean Isabel Sampson, Israel Judson Post, Frederick Letts, Emanuel Selley, William Parker Freeman, Henry Milton Sampson, Andrew Jergen Sarup, Harold Agustus Valmore Frith, Stephen Samuel Alpin, Mildred Roseborough McKee, Donald McIntyre, Frank Darby Gray, Helena May Bennest, John Stark, Roy Howard Glover, Harry F. Chapin, Anette Johnston, Alice Maud Gilbert, Alexander Sidney Parnall, Henry Bayne Cross, Jessie May McIntosh, Thomas Andrew Mitchell, Lawrence Hunter, Charles Spurgeon Elsey, Maggie Love, Marion Lorette(?) Umbach, Amelia L. Umbach, Lucy Birtles, Ethel L. Kelley, Edward Lee, Joseph Joel, Wilson Mowbray Graham, Leslie Smart, Fred Walton Kerr, Fredrick Syer Shaw, Maggie Ferrier, Arthur James Bowbrick, Charlie Clinton Gorrie, John Walton Smith, Livingstone Milne, Annie Millar Truesdell, Annie Elizabeth McKillop, Bedford Tingley, Idella Gertrude MacGregor, Allan Kelly, Edith Venitia Doran, Harold G. Macdonald, Jno F. Fraser, W.F. Hawson, Norman Bannerman, Henry Stratton Mullowney, Margaret Lucretia Mott, W.H. Bulloch, Addie Munroe, J. Burke, Charles F. Ziegler, Frank W. Willox, Harold N. Kirk, Charlie Benner, George Nelson Broatch, Carrie Nelles, Henry Norman Honeyman, George Fred. Edward Smith, ? Perley Hall, James Liggett, Ellerton Simpson Hopper, Frederick Sibert Conners, Richard Lloyd Hammill, Roy Wilbur Bridge, Elba Clare Ramsay, Alma Hughes, Joseph Percy Sproule, Fraubicz Arnold, George Frith, Lawrence Dale, J.G. Dickson, Bunyan W. Lee, Mary Jane Gummerson, George Doherty, Marler Lee, William Joseph Gordon Carruthers, Thomas E. Fear, Alred James Tulloch, William Munroe, William John Clifford Empey, John Lynn Weir, Julia P. Alexander, Ida May Gray, Alice E. Elliott, Frederic Thomas Cliff Lever, Charles E. McEvoy, Fred Clark, Nelson Boulton, Pierce Couling, Fred A. Ross, Francis G. Barber, John J. McCallum, MacDuff Rae, Percy C. Johnson, Samuel Cuthbert Robinson, Peter C. Robertson, Anson Buck, Jean Dorsey, William George Groves, Jean Helen Wiliscroft, Martha Jane Might, George W. Burgess, Robert J. Dunsmore, Stella May Cameron, Grace Ethelwynne Fraser, Charles Henry Bryce, Toussant Henry Framant, Margret J. Hughes, Chester A. Hughes, W.D. Wilson, F.E. Werry, George Adams Mogridge, and John F. Morrison.
Notes
Jabez Harry Bowering's grandson George Bowering, noted Canadian poet and Governor General's Award recipient (1969, 1980), wrote a poem about Jabez Bowering entitled Grandfather. The poem can be found in Bowering's book Touch: selected poems 1960-1970 (McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1971).
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 4: Office of the Registrar
4.11 Registration cards
Box 1
Some tearing around the edges of some of the cards and a number of the cards are quite dirty. The first card - Sidney Robert Howe - is so faded it is almost illegible.
Scope and Content
File contains registration cards for the following students: Sidney Robert Howe, James William Farrar, Henry Hillyer, William C. Parsons, Howard Ernest Fairchild, Herbert Sellar Rutherford, John Barriman Dodson, James LeRoy Stoat, Robert McCaul, Norman Burke, Luella Muriel Macdonald, Jas. William Carrick, Ellerton S. Hopper, Frank H. Fenwick, Henrietta Koester, Elizabeth A. Henderson, Nora A. Brown, John Baldwin, James C. Murdoch, Peter Macgregor, William Henry Wakefield, Otto Reginald Schultz, Harry Royden Schultz, J. Hilton McGregor, George Alfred Reynolds, Alfred Northam, Fred Poyner, May Hall, Russell Hartney, Charles Angus McCance, Robert McLaren Johnstone McDougall, George A. Fraser, James Thomas Gamey, Wesley Morrison, Harold Alonzo Wolverton, John Carruthers Stagg, Harry W. Ellis, Leslie Hilton Head, Gertrude Hopper, Emanuel Selley, Hugh Winton, Bedford Almer Tingley, Alexander Sidney Parnall, William Parker Freeman, Alex Vincent Darrach, Chester Dunham Gainer, Wilson M. Graham, William Rosser McLaurin, Ernest James Bingham, R.A. Gibson, Maxwell Richard Parkin, James Lockhart Stark, Mehets(?) Kriewetzky, George Herbert Foster, John Campbell Bowen, Donald McIntyre, Mary Eleanor Brandon, Mamie J. Greaves, J. G. Dickson, Olive Joy Merrill, Leslie C. Whitelaw, H.S. Mullowney, John Herbert Frith, Oscar William Thompson Welsh, Charles Herbert Fee, John E. Kidd, Lorne Nelson Laidlaw, Harold Bolton Bedford, Peter C. Robertson, Herbert S. Sneyd, Wilbur F. Baker, Henry Millon Sampson, Ezra A. Thompson, Edgar William Johnson, Jno. McGregor Menzies, James Liggett, William Alfred Neff, John Freeman Cameron, Henry N. Honeyman, Archie Lamont, Homer Ernest Agar, Wilbie Mary Elizabeth Magwood, George Ross Michie, Annie McKillop, Edward Walker Hannah, Ethel Ross, John Kennedy Kerster, William George Clendening, George McTavish, Herbert S. Nichol, Donald McKinnon, James P. Hood, Alexander M. Dalgleish, F.W. Ball, Charles Zink, Laura Graham, Agnes M. Johnston, Georgie N. Davies, Albert Rabe, George Nelson Broatch, Amelia Laura Umbach, Arthur James Bowbrick, Coleman James Davies, Edna Laidlaw, Elizabeth Simonson, Roland Bell, Elba Clare Ramsay, Barbara Livingstone Purdon, Jessie Mary McKenzie, William T.F. Finch, John McCaul, Stella Williamena Donaldson, Earle R. Greenwood, Mercy E. McKenzie, Ernest Frith, Fred P. Clark, Thomas Todrick, John Bruce Kerr, Duncan Arthur Bell, William Reginald Morrison, William Samuel Young, Robert J. Dunsmore, Alfred Walker Bell, Francis J.G. Barber, William Henry Robertson, Helen Beveridge, Finlay William McKinnon, Lucy Birtles, Robert William Conn, May Rutter, Christopher Rice, Edward Jones, Linda Shore, Edythe Shore, and Mamie Macdougall.
Notes
John Campbell Bowen was the first theology graduate of Brandon College. He was later Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 4: Office of the Registrar
4.11 Registration cards
Box 1
File contains registration cards for the following students: Mildred R. McKee, Roy Gordon Macdonald, Edward Thomas Hardman, Robert Bruce Sharpe, Frank Kelly, Gordon Glenn, Gilbert Vincent White, Herbert H. Best, William R. McLaurin, Marie Nesta Middleton, Bedford A. Tingley, William Edge Jopp, Jas. William Carrick, Edward Brice, Cecil Lorne Carrick, George Perry Armstrong, Agnes N. Johnstone, Ethel Glenn, F. Linsey Crossley, Richard Hoe Standerwick, Fred Poyner, Alexander Vincent Darrach, James Harris McKee, Isaac Walker Williamson, John Carruthers Stagg, Robert McLaren Johnstone McDougall, James N. Stark, Philip William Conrad Heddesheimer, Herbert Sellar Rutherford, Margaret Jane Anderson, Russell Modeland, Wilfred Anson Kerr, Jno. F. Turnbull, May Rutter, Linda Shore, Edith Shore, Cornelius Gale, Herbert S. Sneyd, William Parker Freeman, Norman Burke, Catherine A. Reekie, George Clarke Valens, Henry Stratton Mullowney, Henry P. Finch, J. Alden McIntyre, Mac Stovel, E. Carlton Stovel, Howard Fairchild, William Charles Parsons, Charles Spurgeon Elsey, John Herbert Frith, Harold Arthur Kinniburgh, Hugh Winton, Sidney Robert Howe, Leslie C. Whitelaw, Alexander Sidney Parnall, Wilson M. Graham, Herbert Simpson Bagnall, John Alexander Perdue, John Erb, Robert McCaul, Fred B. Hood, William Alfred Neff, Ernest Frith, Vina W. Crawford, John Edward Kidd, William James Westwood, Charles Herbert Fee, Emanuel Selley, George Alfred Reynolds, James Thomas Gamey, Annie Maud Kerr, Edith Irene Kerr, Ezra A. Thompson, Frank W. Ball, Claude Cameron Luton Blackwood, Gerhard Siemens, James Albert Searle, George Ross Michie, Finlay William McKinnon, Leslie Hilton Head, William Henry Ogilvie, Walter Alexander Ogilvie, John Browning, Thomas Todrick, Jessie Mary McKenzie, Barbara Livingstone Purdon, Frederick N. Burke, George H. Merret, William J. Munn, George Victor Weatherhead, William Archibald Wishart, John Glenorval Gibson, Charles Ira Stewart, Amos William Mayse, William Cameron Smalley, Percy Ingram, George Cecil Speers, Ernest Clayton Osborne, Launcelot John Blight, Sarah Flaws, Annie McKillop, Richard Edwin Wilson, Harold A. V. Frith, Viola R. McNish, Frederick John McPherson, William Ernest Riach, Thomas Chapman, Edward Chapman, Arthur Oswald Glinz, Ilda Grace McLeod, Frederick Edward Clarence Shore, James Hood, Howard Kilfoyl, Fred. Brock Yeomans, Oliver George Parsons, Herbert Baldwin Harrington, Peter McLellan, George Nelson Broatch, Wilbert W. Shore, William Reginald Morrison, Arthur McComb, Olive B. Fawcett, Arthur James Bowbrick, Hugh Kennedy McKenzie, Maggie A. McMillan, James Gordon Riesberry, Philip J. Moon, D.P. Lamont, Laura Graham, Wilfred Main Read, Lorne M. Buckman, Sidney Sourisford Pocock, Rosabelle Myrtle Korman, Leah Sanderson, Nellie Sanderson, May T. Hamilton, and Grace Wilson Graham.
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 4: Office of the Registrar
4.11 Registration cards
Box 1
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