The whereabouts of a journal that belongs to a Cambridge, Ont., church was unknown for the past 50 years, until it was found in a Value Village 100 kilometres away, in London.
The journal was written by Rev. James Dickson, who served as Central Church’s first minister from 1880 to 1914.
“He was the minister that built the church,” said Ingrid Talpak, a church volunteer and one of the first people to see the journal after it was returned.
“He was born in Scotland, and the journal talks about how he came to Canada through Montreal and his adventures in the early days of pre-Confederate Canada.”
But the question around how the journal went missing remains a mystery that volunteers are trying to unravel, Talpak said. Where was it? Who had it all this time? And how did it end up in a Value Village in another city?
Talpak said the journal made its way back to the church on Oct. 7 when it received a call from a woman who was on Highway 401 saying she had found an old book that belonged to the church.
“We didn’t know what it could have been. It could have been an old Bible or a hymn book. It didn’t seem to be anything special,” said Talpak.
Talkpak said the woman didn’t give her name. She just told the receptionist she found the book in a Value Village and then left the church.
“This is our mystery woman. I just happened to be volunteering here that day and there was a collective gasp of, ‘Do you know what this is?'”
Talpak added that the only other information they have about what could have happened to the journal comes from a letter found inside. It was written on Oct. 11, 1979, and says the journal was going on loan to a regional collection for microfilming in Wolseley, Ont.
“We’re guessing, because this [letter] was from 1979, that the reason why it was microfilmed at that time is it would have been the 100th anniversary of the church the following year,” said Talpak.
Looking through the journal, Talpak said Dickson wrote a lot about life in Galt and his parishioners. She was surprised to read many family names that are still prominent in the community today, like the Berry family.
“As I read through this, people are the same,” she said.
“People have the same emotions. They are happy when people get married, they are joyous when they have children, they go in great grief when somebody dies, and that’s reflected over and over as he talks about the congregation.”
The journal also has photographs, bills and even newspaper clippings from the time, such as one that talks about the Galt Trades and Labour Council being opposed to Sunday street cars.
Talpak said the next steps are for volunteers to digitize the journal over the coming year and store it in a proper space.
She said the journal will first be on display for the community to see during a fundraising event on Oct. 24.
Talpak said they also reached out to the City of Cambridge archives for guidance on how to store and handle the journal.
“We do not want this to leave the city of Cambridge,” she said. “There are other archives that we could store it at, but this belongs here so people can study it.”
Dan Schmalz, information and archive analyst with the city, has been helping Talpak with the journal. He said it’s in “excellent” condition for its age and holds great historical value.
“One of the most important things about it is that it’s an example of a primary source,” he told CBC News.
“Primary sources are huge. It gives you a glimpse into the life of Rev. Dickson as well as life in Galt at the time.”
Schamlz compares it to another book written by the Honourable James Young called Reminiscences of the Early History of Galt and the Settlement of Dumfries in the Province of Ontario, where Young writes about the life of some of the area’s early European settlers thanks to his access to primary sources.
“This [journal] does the same,” Schmalz said.
