Simcoe hosted a "Town of Simcoe and Norfolk
County Old Boys Reunion"
2-7 Aug 1924.
Reunion memorabilia included a 100-page, soft-cover souvenir book called Simcoe and
Norfolk County (printed at Simcoe, Ontario, by the Pearce Publishing Co., 1924).
These Photos & Bios web pages are based on that now out-of-print book,
reproduced here with the kind permission of the Pearce family.
Intended as a keepsake
for those attending the Reunion, Simcoe and Norfolk County resembles a high
school year book in many respects. It includes a few essays, three
dozen group photos, two dozen local scene photos, and over 230 head and shoulder
portraits of individuals. Most photos are captioned. Most individual photos accompanied a mini-bio
of the person.
Citizens of the era were presumably photographed
especially for
this book. Other photos and commentary, particularly that pertaining to citizens
of earlier generations, appear to have been culled from the archives of The Simcoe
Reformer newspaper, which was the principal product of the Pearce Publishing
Company. Additional photos were presumably contributed by family members.
Photo quality varies throughout the
book. The consistency of the information provided
in each individual's mini-biography suggests book compilers may have asked photographed people
(or in some cases their
descendants) to complete a questionnaire.
Much of the content of Simcoe and
Norfolk County first appeared as newspaper articles in the Simcoe Reformer
in the spring and summer of 1924. For more on the history of this souvenir
book, see Articles: Reformer
will publish a souvenir book.
If you've ever wondered
"Where did my Norfolk ancestor go" be sure to check out the
Article "1924's Where are they now?" which lists current
addresses for many of the Old Boys and Girls invited home for the Reunion.
We have taken liberties in reproducing this resource
online. We re-organized it. Individuals are listed alphabetically. Group photos and scenes have been organized
chronologically. We also added hyperlinks between many biographies in the
book -- and in some cases
with other web pages on this site about
the same family.
This online transcription is a
work in progress. We are still adding and updating links. Once the photos and captions are all
online, we will augment them with articles from the same book, summaries of Reformer
articles about the Reunion, and connecting data from other sources. (The articles in the Reformer
are particularly interesting because they include letters to the editor from many
unable to attend -- some with return addresses which may be a boon for family
researchers.)
Old Boys Reunions were quite popular in the
first quarter of
the1900s. The neighboring
village of Teeterville held its Old Boys Reunion three years earlier. Simcoe's was also
referred to variously as "Old Home Week" and at least once as "Old Boys and
Girls Reunion," but was most commonly called "Old Boys Reunion."
No (before you ask) we cannot
explain why some deceased individuals who appear in the source book are
headlined "Circa 1924 Citizen of Simcoe" when they died up to
half a century earlier. Nor can we explain the inclusion of some
individuals and the omission of others.
