Jennifer's Pick - Week 2

Hello and welcome to Staff Picks Saturdays! The staff member in the spotlight today is the museum's Curator and Administrator, Jennifer Black. Jennifer has gotten to know the heritage buildings and artifacts quite well over the years; she claims that every item is unique and she cannot single out a favourite artifact. She wanted to share two items that she is partial to, as they are both odd and interesting with a great deal of history behind them. The artifacts Jennifer selected for Staff Picks Saturdays are pictured below: A carved pipe and a coffin plate.

As you can see, the meticulously hand-carved pipe (seen below) is no ordinary pipe. This pipe is unique in that it has been delicately manipulated into the shape of a man's head. The pipe is made of meerschaum, also known as sepiolite, which is a mineral found in sea-foam from the Black Sea. Meershaum is porous and easy to carve; great for intricate pipes like this one.  This particular pipe was donated to the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in 2009 by Glen McKenzie of Manitoba. The pipe belonged to his ancestor, James Roderick McKenzie who lived on the 9th of Kenyon. McKenzie was a very busy man - he was a postmaster at Skye, a deacon at the local Dunvegan Presbyterian church, a farm-owner, and a school teacher. On top of that, he was also a clerk of the division court and an elder at the Presbyterian Church for almost 50 years. Interestingly, J.R. McKenzie's great aunt was the historic Scottish figure named Flora Macdonald.  Flora Macdonald was the heroic individual who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape after defeating Jacobitism in 1745. Flora and Bonnie Prince Charlie are known for their brave and noble devotion to the Stuart cause; their clever schemes included hiding Prince Charlie in rocks and disguising him as an irish spinning maid! With this item's rich history, it is no wonder why it is one of Jennifer's favourite artifacts.

Jennifer's second pick is called a coffin plate. Coffin plates were made of various metals, including silver if a family could afford it. This item would be fastened to a coffin and would sometimes be removed and given to the family before burial. Coffin plates, also called death plates, may have included decorations, names, ages, dates, and/or loving and endearing inscriptions. This coffin plate carries a tragic and shocking story with it. On June 29, 1895, 53-year old James Denovan of Dalkeith was spending the day with many members of the Glengarry community at a barn-raising bee for John R. McLeod.  Unfortunately, James Denovan died in a shocking and public manner when a beam struck him in the head and killed him. The community mourned deeply. The obituary in the Eastern Ontario Review on July 5, 1895 states that "it is safe to say that nothing happened in the neighbourhood of Dalkeith within the memory of any one living there at present that had such a sad effect on the
whole community. The funeral... was the largest seen in Eastern Ontario for years. There were fully 175 carriages at the house."

His coffin plate, along with the boots he was wearing when he died, were donated to the Glengarry Pioneer Museum to commemorate James Denovan and to preserve even the saddest parts of Glengarry's history.

In memory of James Denovan (1841-1895)