The fonds consist of records related to the history of the Crawford family. They are arranged into the following series and subseries:
Series 1: Diaries
Subseries A: Benjamin Benedict Crawford (1800, 1810-1859)
- This Series consists primarily of diaries of Benjamin B. Crawford. These include a diary of a trip to Upper Canada in 1800, as well as yearly diaries from 1810 to 1859. Diary entries relate to; the weather; farm activities; social events in the community; births, marriages and deaths of his family and his neighbours; experiments with crops and prices of supplies and produce; Kings County court sessions; the Rebellion of 1837; elections; and services in the Anglican church in the Ingersoll area. Daniel Nathan Crawford, the eleventh child of Benjamin Benedict Crawford, continued his father’s diary during the latter’s final illness, and after his death for the remainder of 1859.
- This subseries also includes transcripts of a majority of the diaries, made by Blanche Crawford, in 1938.
Subseries B: James Augustus Crawford (1865-1882)
- The diaries of James Augustus Crawford, a son of Benjamin Benedict Crawford, note farm duties, and family and community activities.
Subseries C: Leeman Wallace Crawford (1877)
- The diary of Leeman Wallace Crawford (son of James Augustus Crawford, and a carriage- maker at London), contain entries describing his work, with some references to politics, and family and community affairs.
Subseries D: Charles W.A. Crawford (1848-1875)
- The diaries of Charles W.A. Crawford contain description of his daily work, including purchases, sales, and debts related to his farming businesses. These diaries have been transcribed by a member of the Crawford family.
Subseries E: Eliza Georgina Crawford Nichols (1930-1945)
- The diaries of Eliza Georgina Crawford continue daily musings of people and events.
Series 2: Correspondence [18-- ] – [1995] (not inclusive)
- Includes correspondence of various members of the Crawford family concerning personal and family matters. Letters also include correspondence to/from Ruth (nee Crawford) Ellis regarding family genealogy.
Series 3: Writings of Christopher Colin Crawford (ca. 1880s)
- Includes unpublished manuscript writings (poetry and prose). Tiles are as follows:
Poems:
Battle of Queenston Heights
India’s Golden Gate
The Lamb
Lines Written on the death of late Mrs. H. Guppy
The Metis
The Rockies
The Shanly Boy
Prose:
Along the Bow
Camp Life on the Bow River
Chinook Winds
A Frontier Town
Infidelity
Latest Mining News from British Columbia
On Leaving Silver City
Montana
The Serpent
A Visit to Morley
Winter, 1885-1886
A Word about the Provincial Agricultural Exhibition of Asaboia
Series 4: Genealogy ([18-- ] – 2007)
- A very complete and detailed genealogy of the generations of the Crawford family in North America beginning with John and Jane Henderson Crawford, whom arrived in Connecticut, United States from Ireland. It contains dates and places of birth, marriages and deaths; details on families into which Crawfords married; and often a description of the individuals the early genealogy was prepared in 1927 by Mrs. Olive Arnold Crawford of Ingersoll, Ontario, with the assistance of certain relatives, while the later and more complete family history was completed by Ruth Ellis.
- Includes research papers and notes, newspaper clippings, and photographs, as well as a copy of “The Crawford Family” by Ruth Ellis.
Series 5: Almanacs (1761, 1814-1853)
- Contains New Brunswick, New England, Maine, Canada West Farmer’s Almanacs, and several Medical Almanacs. These are arranged alphabetically according to the locality for which they were calculated. Occasionally, a diary was bound into an Almanac, and these volumes have been stored with the diaries.
