Mystery surrounding Seneca Memorial plaque
Barbara A. Martindale- For What It's Worth July 22, 2013
There was a bit of a mystery surrounding the Seneca plaque or tablet, as they once called it, when Special Projects acquired it for mounting at the Caledonia cenotaph.
Following the refurbishing of the cenotaph area in 2012, Special Projects went to work to restore the bronze plaque, polishing the bronze letters, powder coating and generally bringing it back to its original stature before mounting it and locating it in the cenotaph area.
But where did it come from? Brian Hagan said curator Karen Richardson called one day to say that the plaque resided in the Haldimand Museum in Cayuga. When four or five men including Brian Hagan from Special Projects went to pick up the very heavy plaque, it was leaning up against a wall in the kitchen of Haldimand Museum, dusty and dirty.
The assumption is that when Regional Government came into being in 1974, the plaque was taken from in front of the Seneca Municipal building and, with no where to go, was deposited at the Haldimand Museum.
A little more to the story was revealed this week when the deceased Elizabeth Hyslop's scrap book for 1941 to 1952 was added to the collection of scrap books.
A picture from 1947 when the "tablet" was unveiled showed the people involved in the Remembrance Day ceremony that took place on Sunday afternoon (November 16th, 1947) at the Seneca Township municipal office at York.
The caption at the bottom of the picture stated "Unveil tablet - On Sunday afternoon, a tablet in memory of the men of Seneca Township, who made the supreme sacrifice in the Second World War and in honour of those who served, was unveiled in Seneca Township Hall, York. The service was sponsored by the Seneca Township Council."
The tablet was unveiled by Charles Martin, MPP of the day, and Mrs. Arthur Bain placed a wreath at the base of the plaque. J.H. Cummings, Reeve of Seneca read the honour roll.
With more information from the Seneca history of 1967, there is another memorial bronze plaque of Seneca residents who served in the First World War. It also was in the York Municipal building, presented in 1919 to the township by Mrs. C.J. Martindale, president of the York Red Cross Society.
Where it is resting today is unknown.
The Oneida equivalent memorial plaque is embedded in a wall at the Oneida Central School. Brian Hagan said they would do the same for Oneida when and if it becomes available for mounting at the Caledonia cenotaph.
