Gypsies, Preachers and Big White Bears: One Hundred Years on Country Roads

Barbara B. Aitken is a public services librarian in the Douglas Library
at Queen’s University, a board certified genealogical record specialist, and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

This superbly written local history introduces readers to life in Lanark
County, which is located in southeastern Ontario between Ottawa and
Kingston. The author, a history columnist with the Lanark Era newspaper
and a volunteer with the Middleville and District Museum and the
Middleville Agricultural Society, has illustrated the book with a
judicious mix of old newspaper advertisements and photographs of
artifacts and rural relics. In researching the book, Smith drew upon old
diaries, scrapbooks, letters, newspapers, and township records. She also
interviewed many senior citizens in Lanark County. Though her book
includes an excellent bibliography, there is, regrettably, no index.
Recommended for Canadiana collections in academic and public libraries.