A Canadian Photograph Album :
Cassumit Lake, Ontario, 1930's to 1940's,
and points east.
This photograph album was found in a Toronto bookstore in the mid or late 1980's. It spans about 15 years, starting in the 1930's in Cassumit Lake, Ontario (about 120 km north-west of Red Lake), the Dobie townsite and Kerr-Addison Gold Mines (both just east of Kirkland Lake, Ontario), and ending in Halifax and Deep Brook, Nova Scotia around 1943 or after.
- January 30, 2017 :
I posted a link to this album on the Facebook group
"Historic Northern Ontario", and the response was immediate:
- Page 23: "ARGOSY" on the back of the tractor is the name of the mining company operating at Cassumit Lake.
- Page 24: The Tyrrell cottage most likely belonged to James Williams Tyrrell, who had mining interests all over Ontario, and who purchased 26 acres of shoreline on Lake of Bays, south-east of Huntsville. He developed the property and sub-divided it into 22 lots.
- Album's Owner: The album probably belonged to the R. Massey Williams family. A Facebook post by John Burger pretty well says it all: " An article in the Globe and Mail of Sep. 1938 reports that Mr. Williams had left Cassumit to become Chief Geologist at Upper Canada Mines in Kirkland Lake. The tentative plan was for the mine to use the "Tobico" townsite. The caption about "Connors & Williams Houses / Dobie Townsite" was the telling fact. Mr. C.R. Connors was the accountant for Upper Canada Mines at that time. . . ."
- And the name "James Williams Tyrrell" seems to indicate a family connection to the Williams surname.
- October, 2019 : I received a series of emails from Robert Galway, a former resident of McKenzie Island near Red Lake. He confirmed the spelling of the surname "Buckles", which is unclear on a couple of album pages. Robert says he went to school with Nancy Buckles (see page 33 and page 37) and that her father, Harry Buckles, was one of the mine managers there in the 1940's.
- September, 2022 : I received an email from Janice Wilkin concerning Bill Smitheringale shown at Kerr Addison, on Page 34. She said in part: ". . . . Bill's father William Vickers Smitheringale was a well respected geologist and was most likely doing some work in the area. Their home was in Vancouver, BC. The photo of Bill Jr. wearing what might possibly be a cadet uniform, would have been taken around 1944 as he appears to be about 13 and he was born in 1931. Interestingly Bill Jr. also became a geologist."
Revised September 14, 2022
Page 1 : See this page.
Five photos showing a mine or mill at an unknown location on the shore of a lake (Cassumit Lake?).
Two photos show a Canadian Airways Limited float aircraft CF-ARM.
According to the
Western Canada Aviation Museum website,
this aircraft was a Junkers JU-53.
Known as the "Flying Boxcar", it could lift a maximum of three tons. CF-ARM flew with
Canadian Airways Ltd. from 1931 to 1942, then with Canadian Pacific Airways until the
aircraft was scrapped in 1947 because of scarcity of parts. When it arrived in Canada in
1931, "it was not only the largest airplane in the country but the largest single-engine aircraft
in all of North America." Another photo on this page shows two other aircraft: CF-AAT
(crashed March 12, 1936) and CF-AWV (1919-1938).
Page 2 : See this page.
Four photos – two of a lake and two different views of a rapids.
Page 3 : See this page.
Four photos of a lake; the top left showing aircraft CF-AAT taking off or landing.
See enlarged photo.
The bottom right photo shows a large log boom.
Page 4 : See this page.
Four photos – top left is of four underground miners holding drills or jackhammers –
see enlarged photo; top right is of a man standing on a floating
dock amid partially-crated and disassembled engines; bottom left is a large (aircraft?) engine; bottom right is of
a miner standing in a shallow pit holding a jackhammer. This is the same location as the bottom right photo on
Page 17.
Page 5 : See this page.
Five photos – top left is of an unknown mine headframe, possibly still under construction; top right
is of another headframe and mine buildings on the shore of a lake; middle right is of a large engine, probably used
to power the mine hoist; bottom left shows five men in the process of moving the heavy hoist engine from an aircraft
onto the dock – see enlarged photo; bottom right shows another view of the
hoist engine suspended by chains inside the mine building.
Page 6 : See this page.
Four photos – top left is of two unknown men standing beside what is probably a mine headframe –
see enlargement;
top right is a group photo of a woman and six men standing under the wing of an aircraft with the Canadian Airways Limited
logo partially visible – see enlarged photo; bottom left is of a
shoreline with what might be the start of mine excavations; bottom right
is of a geologist or prospector on a nearly vertical rock surface.
Page 7 : See this page.
Four photos, all of an unknown mine site on the shore of a lake.
Page 8 : See this page.
Four photos, all winter scenes of an unknown mine site. Top left photo shows tractor hauling a shed or
bunkhouse mounted on skis.
Page 9 : See this page.
Four photos, all winter scenes and showing an ice train pulled by a tractor. The shed or bunkhouse shown in
the page above is attached to the end of the ice train.
Page 10 : See this page.
Three photos – top photo is an aerial photo of smoke labelled "Bush Fire"; bottom left photo is of an ice train
labelled "Tractor Train (thru or thin) Ice"; bottom right photo shows two men working on the engine of an aircraft.
Page 11 : See this page.
Four photos – top and bottom left photos show what must be the same ice train as above; top right photo shows
snow-free scene of tractor pulling a wagon; bottom right photo shows mine(?) buildings which are well-established
as evidenced by the power lines. A later view of this scene is shown on Page 25, bottom right photo.
Page 12 : See this page.
Four photos – top left photo shows two Canadian Airways Limited float aircraft,
CF-AQW in the foreground, with another in front of it with registration not visible;
top right photo shows a machine being loaded onto an aircraft; bottom left photo shows a
Canadian Airways Limited float aircraft moored to a dock with buildings and men in the background; bottom right photo
shows the same machine as in top right photo, sitting on a dock.
Page 13 : See this page.
Four photos – top left photo shows what is probably CF-ARM and tugboat named
HEXAGON or HEXACON. The scow beside the tug is filled
with 40 gallon barrels labelled "Naptha" – see enlarged photo.
Top right photo shows aircraft CF-ABK
approaching a dock – see an enlargement; bottom left photo shows mine or
mill buildings on the shore; bottom right photo shows what might be part of a conveyor or winch with haze or fog
in the distance (see duplicate and labelled photo on Page 29).
Page 14 : See this page.
Six photos, all but one showing views of machinery and electrical panels inside what is probably a mill. Top
right photo also shows three men with tools working on machinery. The bottom middle photo shows a portrait of a
man sitting at a table or desk. The calendar on the wall behind him displays July 1936.
Page 15 : See this page.
Six photos, all showing machinery and electrical panels as in the page above.
Page 16 : See this page.
Six photos, three showing various canoeing scenes, one showing a lake, one showing a house, one
showing a building under construction.
Page 17 : See this page.
Five photos – top left shows two white horses pulling a sledge; top right shows a mine mill and
is helpfully labelled "Mill"; middle left shows a mill on the shore of a lake; bottom left shows
forest with a lake in the background; bottom right shows men drilling and hand-digging in and
beside a pit. This is the same location as the bottom right photo on Page 4.
Page 18 : See this page.
Five photos – four of electrical panels, probably the same location as on pages 14 & 15. One photo is an
outside shot of what might be a building under construction.
Page 19 : See this page.
Five photos – two of electrical panels as in the page above; another of the building under construction
as in the page above, this time with an electrical lineman working on the pole beside it; the bottom two
are duplicate photos of a mill hoist room.
Page 20 : See this page.
Four photos – top left shows slightly blurry photo of aircraft CF-AAT landing and
approaching shore – see enlargement; top right shows a mine mill;
bottom left shows aircraft CF-AWV moored at a dock; bottom right shows aircraft
CF-ARM moored at a dock.
Page 21 : See this page.
Four photos – top left shows aircraft CF-ARM landing or
taking off; top right shows aircraft CF-AWV moored at a very crude dock;
bottom left shows float plane moored at a dock; bottom right shows motor boats in the mist.
Page 22 : See this page.
Four photos – top left shows aircraft CF-ARM at the same dock as on Page 20, bottom right
photo, with aircraft CF-AWV moored in the foreground; top right photo shows aircraft
CF-AWV floating on the water; bottom left photo shows a view of a lake with docks in
the foreground; bottom right photo shows aircraft CF-ARM moored in foreground with
aircraft CF-AWV floating in background –
see enlargement.
Page 23 : See this page.
Five photos – top left shows a tractor with driver. The name on the back of the tractor is "ARGOSY".
Top right shows aircraft CF-ARM taking off or landing – a duplicate of the photo on Page 21,
top left; middle photo shows a woman standing behind a canoe with another boat, building and piles of steel drums
behind her – see enlargement. Bottom left is a scene inside the mill, and
bottom right shows a lake shore.
Page 24 : See this page.
Four photos – top left shows a woman standing in front of a house. Photo is labelled
"The Tyrrell Cottage" –
see enlargement. Bottom left
shows a lake scene with two men standing behind a beached canoe. Top and bottom right photos show what is probably a
Jack Russell terrier.
Page 25 : See this page.
Five photos – top left shows aircraft CF-ABK approaching a dock. This is a duplicate of the
photo on Page 13, top right. Top right shows aircraft CF-ARM moored to a dock. This is a duplicate of the
photo on Page 1, bottom right. Bottom left photo shows aircraft CF-AWV moored to a dock. This is a duplicate of
the photo on Page 21, top right. Bottom middle photo shows two men below the wing of an aircraft while
behind them what is probably an aircraft engine sits half inside the aircraft. Bottom right photo shows a road
and mill with ore cars on a trestle over the road. This photo is labelled "Main St". This
seems to be a later view of the buildings shown on Page 11, bottom right photo.
Page 26 : See this page.
Two photos – photo at left shows man holding Jack Russell terrier on the back of a horse, and photo at right shows
woman holding the same dog. This photo is labelled "Mrs. Matthews & Vic".
Blank space in the middle (photo removed) is labelled "1936".
Page 27 : See this page.
Two photos – photo at left shows Jack Russell terrier and is labelled "Vic".
Photo at right shows winter forest scene. Both photos are blurry.
Page 28 : See this page.
Four photos – top three photos show good shots of mine workers, in the top centre photo they are standing in front of a
building with an "Office" sign. The bottom photo shows a group of 19 people, including two women, standing
in front of a building. The photo is labelled "Brick-pouring Party 1936".
Page 29 : See this page.
Four photos – top left photo shows a lake and is labelled "Cassumit Lake";
top right photo shows two women standing in snow. Photo is labelled "Mrs Gadaure & M.W."
Bottom left photo shows lake and mist, etc. and is a duplicate of Page 13, bottom right, but this photo is
labelled "Jack Ladder & logs - Morning Mist". Bottom right photo shows woman standing
on winter trail. Photo is labelled "Mrs Gaudore". Note different spellings of
Gaudore / Gadaure.
Page 30 : See this page.
Two photos – top photo shows house in winter. Photo is labelled "Chateau Williams / Cassumit Lake".
Bottom photo shows two women with lake behind, and is labelled "Mrs Matthews & M.W."
Page 31 : See this page.
Three photos – top left photo shows woman standing with a door behind her. Photo is labelled
"On the Roof of the Fort Garry" [Winnipeg,
Manitoba]. Top right is the Jack Russell terrier again. Bottom photo shows what is presumably part of downtown
Winnipeg, viewed from the top of the Fort Garry Hotel.
Page 32 : See this page.
Five photos – top left photo shows group of 11 people having a picnic on the shore of a lake. Photo is labelled
"Picnic". Top right photo shows the same group from the opposite side, and photo is
labelled "a picnic @ Cassumit Lake". Bottom left photo shows two women, each holding a baby,
and sitting on what may be the wing of an aircraft. Photo is labelled "Frankie & Mrs Stanley / Dick
& Marg. W." Bottom middle photo shows young boy sitting on a woodpile, a black & white cat beside him.
The photo is labelled "Frankie Stanley". Bottom right photo shows about 10-year-old girl
standing in snow with houses behind. Photo is labelled "Frances McC".
Page 33 : See this page.
Six photos – top left photo shows formal photo of three children. Photo is labelled "Woodbury"
above and "Peter, Grace & Charlotte" below. Top middle photo shows a baby
standing outside. Photo is labelled "Nancy Buckles". Top right photo shows young,
well-dressed boy standing outside. Photo is labelled "Peter McPeak". Bottom left photo shows
baby girl in carriage holding a doll. Photo is labelled "Eleanor Perkins". Bottom middle photo
shows same baby in the lap of an older girl. Photo is labelled "Eleanor". Bottom right photo
shows man with boy and girl. Photo is labelled at the top "(Max)" and at the bottom
"The Cassidy Children".
Page 34 : See this page.
Four photos – top left photo shows young girl sitting in an armchair. Photo is labelled "Jane Dewar".
Top middle photo is a studio photo of two young children. Photo is labelled "Putnam Children".
Top right photo shows a man in airforce uniform. Photo is labelled "Bill Smitheringale".
Bottom left photo shows baby and older girl with a birthday cake and one candle. Photo is labelled
"Jane Dewar & Sister / Kerr Addison". Another photo has been removed.
Page 35 : See this page.
Two photos remain on this page – at least three have been removed. Top left photo shows two women standing under
a tree; top right photo shows two different women sitting on a rock by the shore of a lake. Two of the removed photos
were labelled "Auntie Ruth" and "Grandad and Mike".
Page 36 : See this page.
Four photos – top left shows a woman with two children. Photo is labelled "Tommy & Allyn & Nancy".
Top middle photo shows a baby on a lawn. Photo is labelled "Tommy Clark".
Top right photo shows woman holding a baby. Photo is labelled "Allyn & Nancy Clark".
Bottom photo shows five adults and four children on a lawn.
July 20, 2013 – email from Tom Clarke confirms the
identification of everyone, but
the spelling of the surname is Clarke.
Date of left & right photos is 1943, date of the middle photo is 1941.
Page 37 : See this page.
Five photos plus a blank space where one was removed. Top left is a studio photo of a boy and girl. Photo is labelled
"Nancy & Brian Buckles".
Top middle photo shows a young boy and is labelled "John". What was the top right photo has
been removed but the space is labelled "Charlie Putnam". Bottom left photo shows a baby in a
bassinet and is labelled "Keltie". Bottom middle photo shows baby with birthday cake and is
labelled "Keltie". Bottom right photo shows four or five year old girl and is labelled
"Keltie Munroe".
Page 38 : See this page.
One photo is on this page – it shows three boys sitting outside at a table and is labelled
"Peter & David Chillas".
Page 39 : See this page.
Three photos remaining on this page. Top left shows a winter forest scene; top right shows a house on a hill in winter
and is labelled "Briden's House". Bottom left photo shows two houses and is labelled
"Connors & Williams Houses / Dobie Townsite". [Note: Dobie is about five miles east of
Kirkland Lake, Ontario].
Page 40 : See this page.
Four photos – top left photo shows woman sitting on the ground. Photo is labelled
"Olwen".
Top right photo shows two women; photo is labelled "Nama & Nurse".
Bottom left photo shows a man standing in suit, hat & tie; bottom right shows a man and woman sitting in lawn chairs.
The photo is labelled "@ the Goddards cottage, Kenogami".
Page 41 : This page is empty.
Page 42 : See this page.
Four photos – all seem to be of the same small island. The page is labelled
"Auntie Peats Island Temagami".
Page 43 : See this page.
One photo with another blank space where a photo was removed. The photo shows two men standing in front of a house
with two ladders leaning against it. Photo is labelled "Cassumit Lake".
The removed photo was labelled "Mary McDonald / taken in Eng."
Page 44 to Page 50 : These pages are empty.
Page 51 : See this page.
Three photos showing what seems to be the same group of suburban buildings. No identification.
Page 52 : See this page.
Two photos – top photo shows a group of four adults and two children sitting outside. Bottom photo shows a boy and
girl sitting outside on a porch with houses behind them in the distance.
Page 53 : See this page.
Five photos, all of unknown children and a woman.
Page 54 : See this page.
Five photos, all of unknown children which seem to be of the same family.
Page 55 : See this page.
Five photos, most of unknown children and adults. One was taken in front of a bear pit at a city zoo; another is
a hand-tinted winter scene.
Page 56 : See this page.
Seven photos, all of which seem to be of the children of one family – two boys in their baseball hats, playing
football, christmas, etc. Also one of a girl and baby sitting in an armchair.
Page 57 : See this page.
Six photos, all of various unidentified children and adults. Two of family groups,
one of two girls in bathing suits, etc. Probably two different families.
Page 58 : See this page.
Six photos – top left shows unclear photo of two people playing shuffleboard; top middle shows rough rock face of
a waterfall; top right shows three women walking in swim suits; bottom left shows a distant view of what might
be a marina; bottom middle shows two women standing by a fence with a river and bridge in the background;
bottom right shows group photo of seven adults.
Page 59 : See this page.
Three photos – top shows two adults on a city street (taken by a street photographer); bottom left (torn corner)
shows high up view of a mountain town; bottom right (torn corner) shows a man panning for gold. Album page is torn.
Page 60 : See this page.
Three photos on other side of torn page. Top right photo shows two women standing on the steps of a house which might
well be "Chateau Williams" on Page 30; bottom left shows a woman standing against what looks like a mountain of square
hay bales; bottom right shows landscape with a very crude bridge in the foreground.
Page 61 : See this page.
Three photos which are labelled as a group "Camping @ Hatt Cove / Francis, Seth, Dad, Pete, Pat".
Top right photo shows four children on bare rock shore. Photo is labelled "Dick & friends".
Bottom left photo shows three girls and two boys on a steeply sloping rockface; bottom right photo shows the same
five children sitting on a wall with a white house behind them. Bottom of the page is labelled "Halifax 1943".
Page 62 : See this page.
Five photos plus a space where one was removed. Top left photo shows a woman sitting on steps with a puppy in her lap. Photo is labelled
"Scotty & M.W.". Top middle photo shows the same woman on the same steps
with the same puppy and a much larger dog. Top right photo shows the same woman standing on the same steps with
the same puppy. Bottom left photo shows about 10 army-style tents set up in a field. Bottom middle photo shows two
women and a young child sitting on a beach. Photo is labelled "May deWitt / Pat, M.W.".
Bottom right photo has been removed but it was labelled "Olwen @ Brownie Camp".
Page 63 : See this page.
Five photos – top left is of a Persian cat; top left is of a vintage automobile with what seems to be a
1935 or 1939 Massachusets plate with number 29279; middle left is of a woman with a squirrel on her arm and labelled
"Belle Roberts"; middle right is the cat again, this time labelled
"Belle's cat"; bottom photo is of a black dog on the porch of a brick building and is labelled
"Grahnnie's Dog".
Page 64 : This page is empty.
Page 65 : See this page.
Three photos plus blank area where one or two photos were removed. The three remaining photos are all of Peter McPeat.
Top left is labelled "1 yr / Peter McPeat"; middle photo is labelled "2 yrs";
one of the blank spaces is labelled "3 yrs".
Page 66 : See this page.
Two photos plus a blank area where several photos were removed. Both photos show the same two children, in the top photo
they are with a dog and it is labelled "Scotty". One of the blank spaces is labelled
"Pat".
Page 67 : See this page.
One photo remaining on this page. It shows a boy and slightly older girl; he with a wagon and she with a doll
carriage. Two of the blank spaces above are labelled "Peter" and "Pat".
Page 68 : See this page.
Five photos – top left shows an elderly woman with a dog lying in the foreground. Photo is labelled
"Nama & Judy". Top right shows four elderly people – three women and a man.
Photo is labelled "Miss McAlpine & Miss Penton". Bottom left and bottom right show
the same elderly two couples standing on the steps of a stone house. The bottom middle photo shows two women standing
in a yard with a house in the background.
Page 69 : See this page.
Four photos plus a space where one was removed. Top photo shows couch and chair; middle left photo shows a group of
nine children and is labelled "Olwens Kindergarten". Middle right photo shows three women
sitting in a yard; bottom photo shows four women and three children at what may be an outdoor birthday party.
Page 70 : See this page.
Four photos plus a space where one was removed. Top left shows group of five adults and is labelled
"Preedip & Miss McMillan & Taid & Nama". Top right photo shows group of five
women with farm and silo in background and is labelled "Mary, Nama, Aunt Mary, Olwen, Plul". Bottom left photo shows three
women and a man leaning on a fence with water in background; bottom middle photo shows woman with maid's apron and is
labelled "Blanche".
Page 71 : See this page.
Four photos remain on this page. Top left photo shows an elderly couple sitting with a younger woman; middle and top right
photos show the same elderly couple sitting in a living room; bottom right photo shows the same couple holding
large framed photographs.
Page 72 : See this page.
One photo remains on the page – it shows four women and a man leaning against an automobile. One of the blank
spaces is labelled "Deep Brook".
Page 73 : See this page.
Three photos plus a blank space where one was removed. Top left shows four women and a man sitting on the steps of a
house. Photo is labelled "Deep Brook". Top right photo is missing but it was labelled
"Dad, Nama, Mama, Olwen". Bottom photos are of the same group. Bottom right photo is labelled
"Deep Brook".
Page 73-a : See this photo.
One loose photo found at this location. It shows seven young children lined up on a slide with a woman standing
beside them. The back of the photo is labelled with the children's names:
"Patsy Webster / Mary Cooks / Ann Cooks - 2 yrs / Janet Goodman / Donnie Baird / Carol Simm - Rabbi's son /
Heather Jakeman". The woman is not named.
Page 74 : See this page.
Four photos on this page. They show the same elderly couple in a yard or field surrounded by tree blossoms.
A fitting last set of photos for this album.
This photo album is owned by, and Copyright © 1990- by Charles Dobie. The album pages have been reduced to low resolution to display on a computer screen but I can supply higher resolution scans of individual pages or photos.
Websites Used to Research the Aircraft in the Above Photos:
- 1000aircraftphotos.com.
- Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.
- Chapleau Library.
- Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.
Can you provide names, details, corrections or more information?