The diaries of Rev. J. H. Shoults provide details of his life history over the period 1870-1884. Rev. Shoults worked as a minister with the Christian Church during this period. The majority of diary entries relate to his work with this church though reference is also made to his work as a teacher, family affairs, farming and gardening activities, shopping and errands, prices of food and farm goods, his personal finances, social visits (Rev. Shoults had many friends and acquaintances), and to weather conditions.
Rev. Shoults was born on Mar. 27, 1843. At the time of writing the diaries he has already married and many references are made to "Mrs. Shoults" or "Mrs. S." Diary entries also include references to his three children - Ella, Herschel, and Bertha. Rev. Shoults appears to have begun his career working as a school teacher and in 1870 (the first year for which the diaries are available) he was teaching and living on a farm in Whitevale, Ont. During this year he was also involved in the activities of both the Baptist and Christian churches, and he began to play a small part in preaching for the Christian Church working with Elder Jesse Tatton. In 1871 Rev. Shoults became involved in working as a Minister of the Christian Church on a full-time basis preaching in Bloomington, Ringwood, Markham, and Brougham. Rev. Shoults writes increasingly of his preaching, church meetings, funerals, and baptisms, and other activities of the Christian Church.
In Apr. 1872 Rev. Shoults moved from Whitevale to Altona, Ont. and in 1873 he moved from Altona to Little Britain, Ont. In 1879 he took up a new position as an Evangelist under the direction of the Mission Board and lived in a rented house in Newmarket, Ont. During 1880 Rev. Shoults moved from Newmarket to Kettleby and later in this same year he moved to live in J. Steven's house called "Mt. Pleasant" on the third line of King Township.
In 1883 Rev. Shoults' circumstances suddenly changed when he decided to rent a store and dwelling at 345 Yonge St., Toronto. However, his plan to open a store selling stationery and books was never realized, as he returned to the country and resumed working as a Minister with the Christian Church, first living at Bro. George's residence in Markham, and then in Oct. 1883 moving to Orono. In Feb. 1884 Rev. Shoults' daughter Bertha died of an illness. The final year covered by the diaries is 1884.
(Source : Materials in GA 110 Rev. J. H. Shoults Fonds.)

Eric McCormack (1938-2023) was a Canadian author, reviewer, and academic. He grew up in the small industrial community of Bellshill in Scotland where his his father worked in the steel mill. Eric McCormack obtained a Masters Degree in English Literature from the University of Glasgow. In 1966 he left Scotland for doctoral studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. In 1970 he accepted a teaching post in the English Department of St. Jerome's College (Now St. Jerome's University) at the University of Waterloo, where he specialized in seventeenth-century and contemporary literature.
As an author Eric McCormack began his career writing short stories which appeared in small literary journals including Prism International, West Coast Review, Malahat Review, and The New Quarterly. In 1987 his first book Inspecting the Vaults was released. This is a collection of nineteen short stories, thirteen of which had been previously published in literary magazines. His first novel, The Paradise Motel, was published in February 1989. Eric McCormack became the focus of considerable media interest and his books were translated into many foreign languages. His next novel The Mysterium was released in 1989, and First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, was published in 1997. The Dutch Wife was published in 2002 and his final work, Cloud was published in 2014. Eric McCormack also frequently reviewed for The Globe and Mail. His works to date have received much critical acclaim.
Eric McCormack had won and/or been nominated for many prestigious literary awards. In 1988 Eric McCormack was one of two recipients of the Commonwealth Writers Prize in the Canada Caribbean Region for his work Inspecting the Vaults. He was awarded the Spring Book Award by the Scottish Arts Council for his novel The Paradise Motel in 1990, and in the same year he was one of the nominees for the People's Prize for Fiction. In 1997 the author was short-listed for the Governor-General Award for his work of fiction First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women. In 1999 Eric McCormack was awarded the Literacy Award at the Eleventh K-W Arts Awards Ceremony.
Eric McCormack also read at many international and national literary festivals including Harbourfront, Vancouver, Ottawa, The Eden Mills Writers' Festival and the Elora Writers Festival. He also gave readings at the University of Waterloo, at other universities, in local public libraries, in bookstores, and at other venues.
(Source : GA 117, Series 1, Files 1-1, 1-3 to 1-5, and 1-7 to 1-8 )

Catherine Taylor (1874-1967) was a nurse in the US and England. She was born on June 11, 1874 in Clinton, Ontario. She graduated from St. Luke's Hospital, N.Y. and was head nurse in the Private Pavilion at that Hospital. In 1917 she went to England, and was given charge of a hospital at Shipston-on-Stour near Stratford-on-Avon for the British Red Cross. She assisted in opening a hospital in Liverpool for the American Army and converted the Guest Mansion in London into a showplace Navy hospital in 23 days. In 1918 she returned to the United States and assisted in combating the influenza epidemic. In 1920 the American Red Cross sent her to New Mexico to initiate public health programs in the schools there. Later, in California, she taught health and hygiene, organized summer camps for underprivileged children and qualified as a state audiometrist. In 1951 she moved to Ontario, California. She died February 1967 in Barrie, Ontario.

The Ontario Association of Architects was founded in 1889 and is the regulatory body for the profession in Ontario. It is responsible for registering and licensing all architects legally entitled to practice in the province.