In the talk given by Leopolda z L Dobrzensky in September, 2005, to the Haliburton Highlands Genealogy Group, Leo mentioned the following: "Do you know why Minden is called Minden? The town of Minden was named after the German town west of Hannover. There are many Minden's in North America. There is a good chance that the Seven Years War was responsible for the name 's popularity. This war, fought mainly in Europe between a number of states, also pitted the English against the French. The war started in 1756 and at first the French had the upper hand. They knew the future of the North American colonies was at stake and fought valiantly to keep the status quo. The tide of British fortunes turned on August 1st 1759 when a fierce battle was fought near the town of Minden on the river Weser in Germany. To this day, the meadow where the fighting took place is called 'Blutwiese' or 'bloody meadow'. The British and their allies led by the Duke of Brunswick defeated a much larger French army. That same month, Quebec fell to the British at the battle of the Plains of Abraham, with Wolfe defeating Montcalm. In 1763 the Treaty of Paris ended the war. The French colonies of New France, the island of Cape Breton became British territories. In 1856 crown land in Canada West - Upper Canada - was released for settlement purposes and surveyed into townships. These were named by the Office of the Commissioner of Crown Lands. Perhaps it was then that someone remembered the battle which decided the fate of British North America. At any rate, one of the townships was named Minden. On July 30, 1859 almost exactly 100 years after the victorious battle of Minden, the Canada Gazette of Toronto advertised, for the first time, the sale of lots in Minden Township. Earlier that year, a post office was to be established at Gull River and the new post office would be named Minden. We have no proof that the naming of Minden Township and the renaming of Gull River were intentional but I like to think that the creation of British North America, a great historical event, had something to do with it."
Information provided by Gail Leach-Wunker
Editor of Original Roots - publication of the Halliburton Highlands Genealogy Group
posted to FOTW by J. Patrick Fischer, 16 November 2005
Didn't realize that the name "Minden" represented a definitive battle between the British and the French. If the British had lost at Minden, we'd probably be speaking French now. Parlez-vous francais?
Yes, it is still standing and part of Johnson and Wales. I recall finding it back in 1992 and taking Len to see it one day. We annoyed some poor custodian to see if a cornerstone or date of the building could be found. We never saw one.
Yes, the Minden is still there. In August 2005, Stefani, Kat and I visited them. Kat wrote an article "Looking for Emma" that appeared in the February 2006 Hatchet. At the time there were several work crews working on the building, I believe converting the apartments to student dorms. We were not able to gain admittance because of this. Here are two photos I took then:
I know I ask perfection of a quite imperfect world
And fool enough to think that's what I'll find
Nice photos Harry! -here is what is happening there now. I actually found a reference to a Minden being in Fall River- am tracking that one down.
Minden Hall
Formerly a hotel and then a Johnson & Wales University residence hall, Minden Hall underwent extensive renovation in 2002 and now houses Brown upperclassmen. Minden is unique in its configuration of having many rooms organized into singles, doubles, and three-person suites that contain a private bathroom. Not all bedroom doors in suites are lockable because of the bathroom configuration and some suites do not contain showers and instead rely upon shower rooms off the hall. Minden has a kitchen on its first floor containing two ovens but has no stove tops.
Residence Hall Services:
Kitchens: 104B
Lounges: 104
Laundry Rooms: 102
Bed Storage: None
Bike Storage: 107
Trash and Recycling: 102
Just had a chat with Brown University and they actually own the Minden now- they bought it from Johnson and Wales TWICE- sort of ping-ponged the ownership. The facilities guy was really nice and promises to email me some more info on the construction, architect and date of construction. Before Bryant College moved out of Providence, they owned it for a time.
Shelley @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:09 pm wrote:Nice photos Harry! -here is what is happening there now. I actually found a reference to a Minden being in Fall River- am tracking that one down.
Minden Hall
Formerly a hotel and then a Johnson & Wales University residence hall, Minden Hall underwent extensive renovation in 2002 and now houses Brown upperclassmen. Minden is unique in its configuration of having many rooms organized into singles, doubles, and three-person suites that contain a private bathroom. Not all bedroom doors in suites are lockable because of the bathroom configuration and some suites do not contain showers and instead rely upon shower rooms off the hall. Minden has a kitchen on its first floor containing two ovens but has no stove tops.
Residence Hall Services:
Kitchens: 104B
Lounges: 104
Laundry Rooms: 102
Bed Storage: None
Bike Storage: 107
Trash and Recycling: 102
Thanks Shelley- can you give the source please? Thanks again.
Thanks Harry for the cite! One of these days maybe someone will quote me.
Here are the things I collected in 2005 for the *Emma in Providence* section of my Emma essay: (I do have the directory listing as well- somewhere around here). I'm late on the Forum today- big storms.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Interesting about the St. Stephen's connection in the typewritten page above as I often go to church there. So, the year was 1912! It looked more Edwardian than Victorian to me. Now, I just want to know the architect. Here is a very unattractive photo of the BACK of the building. http://photos.tetto.org/4110/
Brown is now calling it Minden Hall. The info I posted about the 2002 renovations come straight from the Brown dormitory site. http://reslife.brown.edu/residence_halls/map.html
Mrs. Preston H. Gardner (Mary)
client
First Name:
Mary
Middle Name:
E.
Last Name:
Gardner
Maiden Name:
Name Variants:
Mrs. Preston H. Gardner
Mrs. P. H. Gardiner
Relatives:
Source of Income: 1922, husband, vice president of RI Hospital Trust Co. (P.D. p. 373) 1937, husband, vice president of RI Hospital Trust Co (PD)
Address(es):
c/o The Minden Hotel, 123 Waterman Street, Apt. 79, Providence, RI
(no street address), Touisset, MA
500 Angell Street, Providence, RI
Transactions made by:
Mrs. Preston H. Gardner (Mary)
Correspondence by:
Mrs. Preston H. Gardner (Mary)
Wonder if Apartment 79 would have any relationship to the existing dormitory spaces today?
How the heck did you find that, Cynthia?? Wow.
Notice the last address, 500 Angell?
That is the address of Wayland Manor, where the Preston Gardner's moved to. It was the next best luxury apartments.
Mary Gardner died at that address 22 May 1945.
Preston Gardner was still at 500 Angell (Wayland Manor) when he died at Jane Brown Hospital 22 October 1953.
[obits- Pro-Jo]
Wayland Manor is still a thriving concern. Titanic survivor Helen Ostby, whose father was a wealthy Providence jeweler (lost in the shipwreck) lived there for many years. http://www.waylandmanor.com/
Yes it was. And the Tirrochi Sisters were a hoot. They dressed all the bluebloods in Providence and when they died, all their great design inventory was left in almost a time capsule to discover by another generation. Rhode Island School of Design had a superb exhibit of some of the ladies' designer duds and accessories and we all bought the catalogue for the exhibit as a must-have for any textile library.
