Willaim Shakespeare, John Wilkes Booth and Mercy Coles, New York City

Today November 25th, 1864, also a Friday, the Booth brothers below put on a benefit performance for one night only, the first and only time they performed together, to raise money for this statue of William Shakespeare in Central Park New York City. (It was April 14, 1865 when John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln.)

On top of that, less than an hour into the performance Confederates set fire to the city and to the house attached to the theatre. The New York Times called it "one of the most fiendish and inhuman acts known in modern times," Read more here

Less than 2 weeks earlier Mercy Coles and her parents were at the same theatre. Just interesting I think, all the connections of one thing to another.

 

Julius Caesar at The Winter Garden Theatre, with John Wilkes Bookth, Edwin Booth and Junium Brutus Booth Jr.

for more on the statue and Central Park   and  more here

More fact and fiction with Mercy Coles

Image courtesy of Susan Law http://www.osgoodehall.com/



It has been really interesting for me to go back and look at Mercy Coles' diary from 1864 and do more research on the event and places at the time - there are so many more connections than those mentioned here yet and I plan on doing more - for example, the Peace Conference in Niagara Falls in July 1864 and the writings of John Wilkes Booth, more on education in Ontario and what developed from the Toronto Normal School ... just the tip of the iceberg in my notes below.

More of my notes from Mercy Coles' diary Nov 1864

And the Lawyers Hall, now Osgoode Hall, from the novel:

Wednesday, November 2nd. Toronto

In the morning Mercy rose, untired. They toured the

city, the delegates and the women shown the sights. The first

stop was the Lawyers Hall where the centre room reached all

the way to the roof and they stood and looked up at a dome

made completely of stained glass. The light from the dome

was filtered and shimmered along the walls and the floor of

mosaic. It made Mercy feel dizzy with her head back, staring

up. Her hair fell over her forehead and into her face and across

her eyes as she knew it would. Her sleepless night and waiting,

the air so still in the room and she was breathless. The room

a fall of water, the coloured light playing over their skin.

Anticipation the whole night through, wanting to see him.

But he wasn’t there.

The Giller invite and a food and off beat literary tour of my favourite Toronto places

This is Helen's invite to the Gillers this evening. She won the Grand Prize of a trip for 2 to the Gillers - and nominated my book. I moved from Toronto to Regina 12 years ago - and still have my favourite bakeries and places to go there - so I thought I'd put together a Giller Food and Out and About Tour. Yours to enjoy too!

Greek pastries Akropolis (not sure how late they are open, I’d usually go for lunch or a late afternoon snack.)

Spinach and cheese pies – ‘spanakopita’ and also custard pies dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon – all to die for! Their signs say they sell their phyllo pastry across Canada.

On the Danforth, Pape subway station, exit on the north –east side and walk east 1 – 2 blocks. See here

       After the Greek place you can keep walking east on the Danforth – it has changed from Greek to lots of Ethiopian and Eritrean places. Mosques. And a Turkish place that sells mostly olives, but also had a tray of stuffed grape leaves – the best, honestly, that I’ve ever tasted. As good as the ones my old ESL students made from leaves they’d picked in High Park.

             And if you want to take the subway further east yet – but need to give yourself some time, 30 – 40 minutes maybe – there is the RC Harris Water Filtration Plant – see note below.

The Portuguese Bakery Nova Era is not to miss – great reviews here. Take the bus south from Ossington Station down to Dundas. Walk west 1 – 2 blocks. Nova Era is right there on the north side, windows full of light, corn bread and everything else, pastries to sit and eat there, with ahhh coffee, AND more pastries to take away. You can’t go wrong. See here

Italian restaurant – not tres fancy, but nice, and excellent just family Italian food – they’ve been there 40 yrs I think. My sister and I always used to go and I went in August this past summer – still excellent (even nicer in the summer when you can sit outside, nevertheless, lots of windows and just nice. The Capital Restaurant on 597 College Street at Clinton (either take the subway to Bathurst and the streetcar south to College and walk 8 ish blocks or take the College Street car westbound, from anywhere along College.)  ... And then there are a few gelato places all right there.

Bar Volo is on Yonge Street just north of Wellesley a block ish. The Ont Speaker of the House recommended it! It’s good, a real urban Toronto experience – and their beers on tap change throughout the day. The Speaker likes it b/c they sometimes have ‘Dead Elephant Ale’ from a brewery in St Thomas where he is from and where Jumbo the Elephant was killed in a train crash in 1885. (The food was a bit pricey for what we got – so we’d recommend going for the beer not for dinner.)See here.

PLACES

Osgoode Hall - Originally called The Lawyers Hall – it’s in Mercy Coles diary and that ceiling of domed glass and mosaic tile floor is still there (tho I remember it seemed a bit difficult to find). A lovely and interesting building inside too. On Queen Street at University (about 3 blocks west of the Eaton Centre) See here

The Ontario Legislature  - Queens Park, is a stunning building. I can’t believe I’d never been in till we toured it for the Hansard Conference. It’s at University and College

Also – maybe the Carlu (I thought for eating ... but see the rest of the note) because Christopher Moore talked of it and it sounded good and fun – and also because a Saskatchewan children’s writer was the originator of the prize they were giving out.See Chris Moore's note on the Carlu and the Bilson Prize.

Ah I see on looking at the website it is for special events only – worth a look at though ... wonder if you can take tours? It’s at Yonge and College. For the Carlu

If you want to go for a walk from there and see some real live foliage you can walk east a good few blocks and get to the green houses – gosh nice and warm and lovely. A real haven. It’s not in the best part of town, go in the daytime, etc.

A bit further away – but if you’re going for the Greek place ... well ...

The R C Harris Water Filtration Plant in the Beaches is something not to be missed either –  Ondaatje used it as a site in In the Skin of a Lion. It’s something else. You have to go way east on the subway (Station ?) and then take the bus south and the streetcar more east. It takes a bit of time – you get to see the Beaches area at the same time though – funky, different, a whole other Toronto down there.

            When taking the subway to Pape for the Greek Akropolis and further east to the Beaches, you’ll pass over the Don Valley – this is the bridge that M Ondaatje also writes about – same book (remember the nun Alice Gull), same guy RC Harris (who wanted to design a “Palace for water”).See here   and here

For Helen's win for To the Edge of the Sea see here

"A must read for Canadians as it features John A. Macdonald and the beginnings of Canada. Anne creates tension from the first page. We almost feel that we have gotten into Mercy Cole's body with the description of the turning of her wrist. The sentences are brush strokes in this painterly, lyrical writing." 

The Canadian Boat Song by Thomas Moore

Mercy Coles writes of The Canadian Boat Song as she and the Fathers of Confederation and their families travel from Montreal to Ottawa in 1864 - so I included it in my novel - and, of course, no book launch is complete without a singalong. With thanks here to my niece Kate and her grade 5 class.

For more notes on Mercy's travels from her diary I've posted them here at Christopher Moore's History

John A and me in Victoria Park Reading

Mercy Coles and the failed Ball Government House Quebec October 1864

 

 

Originally Government House, also known as Spencer Wood, now Parc du Bois-d-Coulonge in Quebec City

image from Tourisme Quebec

This is a continuation of Mercy Coles' diary from the Quebec Conference of October 1864. Mercy was 26, unmarried and the daughter of George Coles of PEI, one of the Fathers of Confederation. The unmarried daughters and sisters went along to Quebec as well as the wives of the delegates. Mercy wrote of the parties and balls and of the sights and other 'goings -on'.

“Monday Afternoon – 17^th

      Home all alone. I have not been able to leave my bedroom since Friday [October 14, 1864]. Just as I was going to get ready for the Ball I went to comb Mamma’s hair and nearly fainted. She made me lie down. I got so nervous and excited that I [unclear] crying. Papa went off for Dr. Tupper, he came up directly. He wrote some prescriptions and sent them off to have some medicine made up for me, he saw I had a very sore throat and was very feverish, of course going to the Ball was out of the question so I very soon undressed and got into bed. ... They [her mother and father] did not start until nearly 11 o’clock and were home by 2. Dr. Tupper came in again when he came home. He saw I was very ill indeed. All day Saturday I never raised my head from the pillow, only to take the medicine or gargle my throat. Yesterday morning it broke, it still remains very sore. The Doctor has just been here and he says I shall be quite well in a few days. I hope so for there are two or three Balls and parties this week, one ‘at Home’ at Government House on Friday night and a party at Mde. Tessiers [Lady of the Speaker of the Legislature] on Wednesday. Papa and Mamma have gone out to make some visits. Mr. Crowthers has just called and left a comic newspaper with his compliments. He, Mr. Drinkwater, and Mr. Bernard call everyday to enquire for me. The Ball [The Governor’s Ball at Government House, also known as Spencer Wood, now Parc du Bois-d-Coulonge] on Friday, October 14] I believe was rather a failure as far as the delegates are concerned. The Quebec People never introduced the ladies nor gentlemen to any partners nor never seen whether they had any supper or not [emphasis mine]. The Col Grays [Col John Hamilton Gray, Premier of PEI, and John Hamilton Gray, a lawyer and former Premier of New Brunswick.] are both rather indignant at the way their daughters were treated. Miss Gray and Miss Tupper came to see me this morning. They came to the conclusion I had not missed much yet. ...”

Edward Whelan says differently though:

In his The Union of the British Provinces: A brief account of the several conferences held in the Maritime provinces and in Canada, in September and October, 1864, ...  online  (the book is short, the title though ...)  however says “On the evening of the 14^th a very brilliant Ball was given in the Parliament Buildings, under the auspices of the Canadian Ministry. It was attended by the same classes – the same distinguished persons and society as attended the “Drawing Room” on the 11^th. [Remember Mercy thought this was quite tiresome as well.] His Excellency the Governor General [Lord Monck], His Excellency the Lieut. Governor of Nova Scotia and Lady, the Members of the Canadian Government, the Delegates from the Eastern Provinces, and about 800 others, formed a large and most agreeable party, by whom the pleasures of the dance were kept up without interruption and without an incident [?!] to mar the harmony of the occasion, until nearly 3 o’clock on the morning of the 15^th.”

I guess it depends on your perspective, and who you might be trying to impress. Whelan’s book was compiled after the conferences and the speeches were written out by the delegates after the fact.

Re the New Brunswick John Hamilton Gray, I can find no mention him being married, or having a daughter, even in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography On line . As the unmarried daughters and sisters of the delegates went along to well, get to meet the unmarried men of the rest of the country, it’s unfortunate that there is no record of what happened to them, aside from in some family histories perhaps.

It is interesting to think about what happened to these lost “Daughters of Confederation”. I won’t give away quite yet what became of Mercy Coles. If people do know what became of their great great great great(?) aunts and grandmothers who went to Quebec for the confederation conference of October 1864 perhaps they could let me know and I’ll post updates.

There are endless interesting aspects of the conference and the mixing of the social with the political agendas. To read more of the rest of the week to Friday October 21, 1864

 “Tuesday Afternoon [October 18]

            I am sure I shall know the shape of every shingle on the roof of the old house opposite.” Mercy was quite sick and unable to leave her room aside from a half hour here or there for some days. She kept in touch with what was going on though – seeing the “invitations from the Bachelors of Quebec to a Ball at the Provincial Building on Friday evening. We are also invited to a party tomorrow evening. I hope I shall be able to go.” [But she wasn’t. She was sick with diphtheria and was not really better until Wednesday Oct 26 – and they left Quebec City Thursday Oct 27. The weather can’t have helped.] It’s [Quebec] the most miserable place to live in one can fancy. We have not had one fine day ever since we came. It has been pouring just a few minutes ago. Such dumpy, draggled frail women they have here. I have just seen one go by with a handsome embroidered skirt over a red one. Her white one an inch thick with mud. ...

Wednesday Afternoon

      In bed again the whole day. [Her throat was worse and Dr. Tupper ‘opened’ it again – this seems to mean that he cut it open. She had to hold ice in her mouth all night.] ...

Thursday Morning

     In bed yet. ... They had a great Ball last night at Mde Tessiers. Papa came home with every stitch of clothes wringing wet with perspiration. He says he never had such a time. The French ladies are the very mischief for flying round. John A and he saw Mde. Duval and her daughter home. ...”

And this – tying it back to the conference goings on, is the day, the night as the delegates met till 10 that evening, that the Islanders voted against the resolution of representation by population ‘rep by pop’, which had already been more or less agreed upon in Charlottetown (from 1867 How the Fathers Made a Deal, p13 - 114). So even though Coles would likely have been upset with Macdonald, and vice versa, they were out together. Why? Because Macdonald was so charming? Because Coles hoped for better? Because - ?

Fact and Fiction Mercy Coles and John A Macdonald

October 1864 is when the Fathers of Confederation met in Quebec to create the 72 resolutions that make up the BNA Act of Canada's constitution - they took along their unmarried daughters and sisters too. Mercy Coles wrote of the events in her diary - I used it in creating her character in my novel and used the timeline to help structure the novel. On Wed Oct 26 she writes of John A at dinner with her - read that note here on my posting on Christopher Moore's history blog

AND FROM THE NOVEL - WHAT I MADE OF THE FACTS ...

When they all returned to their seats the conversation

continued, a little louder, more merry. They talked of

the tour ahead, of Montreal and Ottawa. Of the trip around

the lake, through Kingston and Toronto and on to the Falls of

Niagara. Everyone talked eagerly, looking forward to the trip.

Mercy was eating new potatoes, the taste of home, the first

time she’d enjoyed eating anything in the past two weeks. The

two of them, Mercy and John A, still connected in the dance,

a shift in one causing a change in the position of the other.

A synchronicity of movement though they were turned away

from each other and talked to the people beside them. Mercy

felt how every subtle movement in her changed him, knowing,

with an edge of thrill, that if she were to stand now and leave,

he would follow.

As dinner ended they moved to the drawing room, the

women first as the men lingered behind talking. Mercy sat on

the blue couch by the fire, a silk cushion at her back. She felt

a draft of night air come in through the window; the damp of

it mixed with the smell of the wood smoke in the small room.

Macdonald was the first to enter the room. He walked over to

her bringing her dessert. As if he ought to do it, as if he always

would do it.

He sat with the men and poured himself a drink. The talks

were over, Mowat finished with his finances. Seventy-two

resolutions, the draft completed. Next the tour to convince

the people. He rested back into his chair. He liked the smell

of damp wood, the same as the smell of night in the trees by

his lake and the wet leaves of fall at home. Here it was nearly

winter, rain becoming snow too soon in the season. They

were headed back now, towards home. He closed his eyes for

a moment, smiled. He’d stop, see Hugh John. He raised his

glass, drank.

Mercy sat silent holding her plate. She wished she could

take off her gloves and feel the air on her skin, the coolness of

the fork against her palm, the texture of the plate. She wanted

to touch, feel the air. She could feel the cushion at her back,

was conscious of how her legs touched each other under her

dress, and how her feet rested lightly on the floor, every inch

of skin aware, everything magnified. She watched a drift of

smoke rise to the ceiling, the air quivering in the damp. She

sat eating her cake. There was a crumb at the corner of her

mouth. Raising her hand, she dusted the crumb away, leaving

lemon sugar on her lip. She licked it away, a small indelicacy,

her napkin held in her hand. And she saw Macdonald look up

at her just then, but her small tongue was out of her mouth.

John A watching, smiled as he looked away, the tip of her

tongue sweet in her mouth.