This week I was creating more metadata from the Chaffey brothers’
letters. In the letter, William Henderson, a colleague of the Chaffey brothers
writes to a man in Canada about the status of the colony. In this 1883 letter,
he explains that the Ontario Colony is young, less than a year old. I couldn’t
believe it! I have been creating metadata for this series of letters for nearly three
months and I have covered less than a year of materials!
The letter explains that the principle occupation for colony
settlers is fruit and wine grape farming. William Henderson explains that the
Chaffey brothers don’t “expect a great city to rise up here in a day.” This
quote reminds me of the famous phrase, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” I wonder
if William Henderson did that on purpose, predicting the eventual future
success of Ontario.
William Henderson also mentions the benefits of Southern
California, which happens many times in these letters. He writes, “As to the climate
situation and fruitfulness of soil, this part of California is, we believe,
unsurpassed anywhere and undoubtedly has a great future.” Given the sunny
weather we are experiencing this week I have to say I must agree. The “climate
situation” is great!
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