(CANADA.) Anna May Auer. Diary and photo album by a pioneer gold-mining wife in northeastern Ontario. 4 items (diary, photo album, mounted photograph, and atlas) in one box (0.2 linear feet); moderate wear. Various places, circa 1904-1926 Anna May Hale Auer (1884-1964) was born in Detroit, MI and there at the age of 19 married Charles or Karl Melchior Auer (1875-1958). He went as part of a small gold rush to the frontier region of northeastern Ontario in 1907, establishing the Porcupine Peninsular Gold Mine on Night Hawk Lake east of Timmins. Anna and their two sons soon followed. In May 1911, the Auers settled on the first homestead in Mattagami Heights, which was annexed to the growing city of Timmins in 1922. They spent their final years in New Hampshire. The lot includes:
Manuscript diary kept by Anna May Auer. [142] manuscript diary pages plus [24] pages of recipes and memoranda. Oblong 8vo, 7 x 4¼ inches, original limp cloth, moderate wear and staining; coming disbound, minor dampstaining to contents. Daily entries from 1 January to 31 December 1910, with the exception of a three-month summer trip to Oxley, ON described mostly in summary. Signed "Mrs. C.M. Auer, Wolfeville, Log Book 1910" on front board. Mostly kept at the family mining camp on Night Hawk Lake east of Timmins, at the southern tip of a peninsula extending from the northern part of the lake. Neighboring villages of Porcupine and Matheson are often mentioned, as well as Gold Island and Dead Man's Island; Wolfeville is apparently a defunct name for the nearest settlement. Auer's diaries describe a rugged frontier existence, but with some modern luxuries provided by the family's relative affluence. The weather was harsh; a temperature of 29 degrees below was recorded on 10 February, and the first substantial snow of the fall season was recorded on 12 October. She often mentions her work as an amateur photographer: "Took 2 pictures of the men as they came in, and a picture of K and Cole with ice on their faces" (9 February). She also describes cooking for the family as well as her husband's small group of mine laborers. Live game such as partridges were often on offer, she was often out checking snares, and she gathered and prepared the local delicacy of spruce gum as a treat: "I tried to melt some spruce gum but it didn't work so had all my trouble for nothing. Cleaned up all my spruce gum and have a nice lot now" (7 February). As one of the few families on this remote lake, the Auers sometimes provided aid to random travelers: "Two men came in from Moberly's, said the Frenchman invited them over. They got dinner on our stove, then pitched tent & camped for the night. Are going to Carman" (17 February). Similarly, on 5 May, "was just going to sleep when I heard some hollering & went out in time to see Mac & K making for Deadman's Island & then saw someone in the water with an overturned canoe. . . . They rescued him and put him on Dead Men's Is." Transport in and around Night Hawk Lake by canoe or snowshoes is often discussed; she describes making a pair of moccasins on 28 November. Additional notes on the diary are available upon request.
Photograph album. 76 photographs, most about 3 x 4 inches, inserted into an oblong 8vo string-bound album; worn, partly disbound, only minor wear to photographs; most photographs with short tidy captions. Apparently compiled by Anna May Auer for one of her sons. The images span from his infancy through his days as a preparatory story at Upper Canada College in Toronto in the early 1920s. Other locations include Oxley, ON and South Dakota circa 1908. One shows the primitive cook camp at the Night Hawk Lake mine circa 1909, and several show the children playing at Night Hawk Lake: sleighing, canoeing, and snowshoeing. Two photos show the father at his Mattagami Heights land office. One momentous occasion is recorded: "First watermelon ever eaten at Mattagami Heights, carried seven miles by Fred Kenning, the bald-headed man, now Member of Parliament, June 25, 1911." Alfred Franklin Kenning represented the area in the Ontario legislature from 1926-1934.
A larger print of one of the album photographs, there captioned "His home his father built, Mattagami," circa 1915. 7 x 11¾ inches; laid down on paper, 3-inch crease, ½-inch stain.
Printed atlas with cover title "G.H. Moyer's Porcupine Maps." 24 folding plat maps covering the area which would soon be known as Timmins. Undated but likely from the era of the Porcupine Gold Rush, circa 1910s. Two lots owned by Auer can be seen in the Cody map. Inscribed by C.M. Auer on verso of first map.
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