Fonds 356 Charles Spencer fonds

32 photographs

9 negatives

Date: 1886-1941 (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of a notebook dated 1896 to 1906 with miscellaneous entries including names and addresses, lecture notes, measurements, chess moves, names of books, and to do lists, a 1923 Daily Journal including lists of building materials and costs for buildings and additions and daily activities and happenings, a daily journal of activities and happenings for 1933, and correspondence from relatives in England during World War II and a comrade in 1914.

Physical description: 2 cm textual records

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

Publication status:

Published

Date: [1905-1940] (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of the business papers of Charles Spencer accumulated as a result of his personal business activities as well as in his role as a scoutmaster, the chairman of the Grande Prairie School District, a member of the Argonaut Co. Ltd. and a member of the Grande Prairie town council. Although they are included in this series, some records pertain more correctly to the Argonaut Company or Spencer’s personal records. The series is predominantly composed of correspondence and receipts, but also includes forms from his Southampton business, Argonaut Co. stock, material on Toronto British Co-operative Society and Social-Democratic Party, Grain Growers’ Guide representative card, rental contract, lists of building costs, Notices of Assessment, shipping forms, an insurance policy, a bylaw, land transfer documents and a land option agreement, application for telephone service, Independent Order of Odd Fellows Official Certificate, Statements for Registrar of Joint Stock Companies on the Argonaut Company, a Cash Account and General Ledger or Real Estate Accounts Book, a Rink Accounts Book, a rental sign, and two blueprints for Montrose School.

Physical description: 5 cm textual records

2 blueprints

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

•                Architectural drawing (documentary form)

Arrangement:

The material in the correspondence files was arranged in chronological order (according to date sent) by the processing archivist.

Publication status:

Published

Two blueprints of Montrose School built in 1917. Charles Spencer was the architect for this school.

Sign the says “ To Rent Apply C. Spencer (Opposite The Grande Prairie Hotel)”

Date: [1900-1950] (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of four photographs of Charles Spencer, an enlarged photograph of men in a buggy, a mounted portrait of an unknown girl taken in England, and postcards of Grande Prairie, Bear Creek, Lake Saskatoon, Red Willow River, Mrs. Benson driving the Golden Spike on the E.D.B.C. Railway, the Argonaut office, scenes from the Trail coming to Grande Prairie, construction of the Grande Prairie train station and nearby grain elevator, and a few unidentified settlements.

Physical description: 32 photographs

9 negatives

Access points:

•                Graphic material – photograph (documentary form)

•                Graphic material (documentary form)

Publication status:

Published

Street shot of Charles Spencer walking down a large city street.

Casual portrait of an elderly Charles Spencer sitting in an easy chair.

Wooden bridge over Bear Creek at an unidentified location.

A vegetable garden on the west bank of Saskatoon Lake, opposite of “the point” which extends into the lake from the north bank.

The Red Willow River, south of Beaverlodge, flows into the Beaverlodge River just before they join the Wapiti River.

Mrs. Benson driving the Golden Spike when the E.D. & B.C. Railway reached Grande Prairie on March 22, 1916. Rev. Alexander Forbes is beside the spike.

The town of Grande Prairie as viewed from the west bank of Bear Creek, just north of Richmond (100th) Avenue.

A group of six men traveling by horse and wagon from Grande Prairie to Athabasca. Alex Wishart, the teamster driving the horses, is taking the other five to enlist with the R.N.W.M.P. at the beginning of World War I. From left to right they are Harley Conrad, George Balmer, Jack McKenzie, Delmar Pratt, Alex Wishart, and Chester Carman Miller. The five joined the force on September 9, 1914.

Unidentified portrait of a young woman ca. 1900 taken by Charles Speight in Kettering, North Hampshire, England.

An exterior view of the Argonauts Limited office in Grande Prairie.

A man and a boy in the doorway of a teepee.

Boys and animals in a large pile of straw at a rest stop on the Edson Trail. The wagons and boilers in the background are part of the Spencer party.

Hilltop view of the horse teams and wagons of the Spencer party coming down the snowy Edson Trail. Note the heavy boiler they are bringing over the trail.

Team of horses from the Spencer party pulling boiler up a hill on the snowy Edson Trail.

The Forbes party on their way to the Grande Prairie crossing the Simonette River at A. M. Bezanson’s. Mrs. Forbes stands on the ice near the raft.

The Forbes party on their way to the Grande Prairie crossing the Simonette River at A. M. Bezanson’s. Part of the group is on a raft.

A group of settlers in a wagon pulled by oxen.

The Grande Prairie Train Station under construction.

The new Grande Prairie Train Station with a grain elevator being constructed behind it.

A grain elevator in an unidentified location.

A distant view of buildings in an unidentified prairie town.

A distant view of buildings in an unidentified prairie town.

Several large canvas tents in a camp.

Two men with tools in front of stacks of lumber on what is likely a construction site.

A man sitting on the boardwalk in front of E. M. Gregory’s General Store in an unidentified town.

The Scandia Restaurant and rooms, another restaurant, and a laundry in an unidentified town.

Restaurants and shops including the Scandia Restaurant and rooms, other restaurants, and a laundry on the main street of an unidentified town.

Men working on the main street of an unidentified town. Restaurants and shops including the Scandia Restaurant and rooms, other restaurants, and a laundry are visible in the background.

A man sitting on the boardwalk in front of E. M. Gregory’s General Store in an unidentified town. Other businesses and men are visible in the background.

A view of an unidentified town from its railway platform.

A crowd of people at the train station of an unidentified town on the Grand Trunk Pacific railway.

A portrait of Charles Spencer.

A portrait of Charles Spencer with a large dog. The photograph was taken out of doors.