The following lists of local history resources were assembled by PHS member Graham Segger as the nucleus of a presentation on how to research the history of the Town of Pelham.
Pelham & Fonthill History Resources
- Pelham Historical Society Calendar Collection, 1977-2001 – approximately 300 stories, all online
- Giles, Henry, Mute Words, Living Voices – The Letters of Henry Giles, Pelham Historical Society, 1992
- Rungeling, Dorothy W., The Road to Home: Tales of Rural Life in the Early 1900s, Pelham Historical Society, 2001
- Lamb, Mary, Pelham: The Making of a Community, Pelham Historical Society, 2012
- Segger, Graham, The Land at the Crest of the Hill: Clues to Niagara History from Upper Fonthill, Pelham Historical Society, 2023
- Historical Mapping of the Town of Pelham
- Assessment rolls; Newspaper indices; Calendar Indices, etc.
- Abrahamse, Johanna, Dexter D’Everardo: A Chronology of his Life, Welland River Press, Toronto, 2014
- Comfort, Margaret, Intertwined through Time: Fenwick and North Pelham, 1994
- Goodwillie, Carol Diane, Life on Quaker Road: History, Stories and Goodwillie Genealogy, Trafford, 2006
- Grol, Lini R., Pelham As It Was and Is, Trillium Books, 1980
- Hansler, Asa Orton, The History of Pelham Township before Regional Government, 1786-1969
- History of Welland, 1887
- Jubilee History of Thorold, 1897
- Newspaper Historical Sections: Herald, January 31, 1961; Herald Centennial Edition Part 1, June 27, 1967; Herald Centennial Edition Part 2, August, 1967
- Snow, Albert E., Fonthill 1920 to 1930: A Glimpse of the Glory Years, 1944
- Township of Thorold, 1794-1967, Armath Associates, 1967
- Tweedsmuir Women’s Institute Histories: Village of Fonthill, 1944 & 1962; Pelham, 1951; Singers Corners, 1984
- Fonthill 2006- There was a short historical overview titled Come Home to Fonthill-The Village of Fonthill’s 150th Anniversary published by the town and a longer cerlox bound document containing 160 short profiles of local families, businesses and organizations (available at the local library branches)
- Pelham Historical Society – PHS maintains a small archive (located at the Maple Acre Branch of the Lincoln and Pelham Public Library) and holds monthly lectures and meetings during the year at Kirk-on-the-Hill, 1344 Haist St., Fonthill
- Public Libraries in Pelham, Welland, Wainfleet, Niagara Falls, Thorold and St. Catharines
- Welland Museum; St. Catharines Museum at Lock 3 of the Welland Canal; Niagara Falls Museums; NOTL Museum; The Lincoln Museum and Cultural Centre: Home of The Jordan Historical Museum of the Twenty; Port Colborne Historical & Marine Museum and the L.R. Wilson Heritage Archives; West Lincoln Historical Society & Archives (Smithville); The Brown Homestead
- Archives of Ontario (“AO”) and Library and Archives Canada
- Brock University Archives & Special Collections and the Map, Data & GIS Library
- Marshville Heritage Society, Wainfleet
- Mayholme Foundation, 525 Ontario St., St. Catharines – a genealogical resource located in an historic farmhouse.
- Ontario Genealogical Society (aka Ontario Ancestors), Niagara Peninsula Branch – Many resources including cemetery transcriptions and church records
- Hard copy land registry records date back to the 1790s.
- Copy Books of both historical Abstracts (based on lot and concession number) and Instruments (Sales, Mortgages, Probates, etc.) are currently at Brock Archives
- Microfiche of Indices and Abstracts are available at St. Catharines Public Library
- Digital copies of the microfiche Abstracts are available for free access online through Onland
- Digital copies of the Instruments may be purchased through Onland, though many historical documents are not yet scanned (they can be requested)
- Pelham and Thorold were part of the Niagara South Land Registry Office 59 (Welland)
- Censuses (Families and Agricultural) – Pelham has censuses for 1828, 1851, 1861 and each ten years thereafter. Agricultural censuses and schedules are particularly helpful in Pelham.
- Business and Farmers’ Directories; Municipal Assessment Rolls; County Atlases and Fire insurance maps are also helpful
The main Pelham (and nearby) cemeteries are:
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- Brethren in Christ Cemetery (aka Hansler Cemetery)
- Fonthill Cemetery (aka Brown’s Burying Ground)
- Pelham Evangelical Friends Church (aka Friends Brick Church Grounds)
- Hillside Cemetery (aka Dawdy Burial Ground)
- North Pelham Cemetery
- Overholt Cemetry (Lot 157, Thorold)
- Pelham Hicksite Quaker Cemetery
- Swayze Family Burying Ground
- Pleasantview Memorial Gardens (technically in Thorold)
Niagara Region Archaeological Management Plan, Appendix B: Historical Thematic Analysis, Table B11, Cemeteries in Pelham Township, page 128-130 contains a list of Pelham cemetries based upon various historical records. A copy is available at this link.
Online sources – A suggested method for finding a burial spot in Niagara is to visit findagrave.com and enter the individual’s first and last name and the cemetery location of “Niagara Regional Municipality, Ontario” into the query. This will search all local cemeteries.
This section of the website is a work in progress. Eventually it will provide links to information about most of the early Pelham schools, and perhaps some others in the neighbouring townships.
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- The Pnyx Collection presents student articles and photographs from the 1933-1950 issues of the magazine of Pelham Continuation School, and from 1949, Pelham District High School.
- Thorold Fonthill High School operated on the site of the current Glynn A Green School from 1960 to 1970. The following link provides access to a privately maintained website containing the year books for those eleven years.
- Links to PHS Historical Calendar articles about the other early Pelham schools will be added soon.
- Onland (Teranet) – Ontario land records – historical and current
- Niagara Settlers – Robert Mutrie land petitions and genealogies
- Niagara Navigator – maps of Niagara (a little out of date)
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WellandHistory.ca – huge amount of historical data on Welland County, which includes Pelham
- Quaker historical records – Meeting minutes from early Pelham
- Brock U – Maps, Data & GIS online maps
- McGill U. – The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project
