Thunder Bay Unseen

The Wiley Cross marks the Wiley family plot. Each family member has a stone marker set into the ground around the large family stone.

The Wiley Family has a few prominent members in Port Arthur's history including Franklin Samuel Wiley who was a school board trustee, a Shuniah Councilor, and president of the Board of Trade. His brother Arthur was a customs agent and his other brother Harold was a realtor. The Wiley brothers were nephews of Thomas Marks.

The Marks Family features quite prominently in Port Arthur's early history. Thomas Marks was the first Mayor of Port Arthur in 1884. He was also a Reeve of Shuniah, a Port Arthur alderman, and president of the Board of Trade in 1885.

The stone itself is a celtic cross which bears the letters IHS - these are the first three letters in the Greek spelling of Jesus. In the Middle Ages this was incorrectly interpreted as "Jesus Hominum Salvatore" or "Jesus Savior of Mankind".

Another Marks in Thunder Bay history is George Thomas Marks who was also a Port Arthur Alderman and Mayor of Port Arthur. His stone is seen below.

The McVicar family has also had a prominent place in the history of Port Arthur. Captain Robert McVicar was the Hudson's Bay Company Postal Clerk at Fort William and an early Crown Land Agent. They owned a farm near the current site of Downtown Port Arthur and a local creek bears their name.

His daughters Christina and Victoria both served as Post Mistress, his son George discovered the Shuniah Mines, and his other son John was responsible for subdividing the farm property for residential development.

The stone here is a column topped with an urn. The column represents long life while the urn represents immortality.

The stone at the left is for members of the Vigars family, former owners of the Vigars-Shear Lumber Company (Now the Port Arthur Lumber Company). Richard Vigars served as a Port Arthur Alderman, Mayor, and Lumber Merchant.

The stone at left bears the mark of the FreeMasons. The roses in the corners represent perfection, completion and achievement.

The Hadden Family stone tells of a history that is cut short by war. It marks the final resting place of many members of the Hadden Family, as well as makes note of the final resting place of two family members who never came home from serving overseas. One died at Vimy Ridge in the First World War, the second at the Battle of the Falaise Gap during the invasion of Normandy in World War Two.

The stone is topped by an urn, draped in a cloth, representing sorrow and mourning.

The McFarlane family marker is simplistic in that is only displays the name on a large, unmarked granite surface. It is bordered by climbing roses.

The graves for each of the family members is set into the ground surrounding the main marker.

Though the Hancocks were not born in the area, nor did they die here, they have been interred here.

The top of their stone is ringed with laurel branches which symbolize heroism, distinction, success and worldly accomplishments.

Neil McDougall worked for the Port Arthur Public Utilities Commission.

The McDougall stone features four different forms of plant life, all of which signify something different. The Ivy on the right symbolizes immortality, protection, and friendship. The laurel leaves on the bottom symbolize heroism, distinction, success and worldly accomplishments. The oak leaves on the right symbolize power, authority, and victory. The eight-petal rose at the top of the stone is the pinnacle of achievement

The Mead family were the final owners of the Pie Island Silver Mine before it was transferred to the Newaygo Timber Company.

The stone is adorned with St. Andrews Crosses in the upper corners.

For the supernaturally inclined, there is an orb in the bottom right corner of the photograph.

Oriental symbols, probably Chinese, are featured on this stone. Read from top to bottom and right to left, it is one of many stones that mark the resting places of Thunder Bay's (and formerly Port Arthur's) large Chinese population.

The sun at the apex of the stone represents everlasting life and renewal.

This children's headstone is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, used by many eastern European ethnic groups. The Russian Cross points towards a family in the Orthodox Tradition

Thunder Bay is home to one of the largest concentrated populations of Finn peoples outside of Finland and they have done much to form our city's identity,

The crosses on the left and right are entwined with ivy which signifies re growth and faithfulness.

A Vietnamese family? The image in the centre is oriental, no doubt, but the homeland of the family is a little harder to discern for someone without formal linguistic training.

Yugoslavia is the former homeland of a large portion of Thunder Bay's immigrants as well.

This stone was placed as a memorial of Rosvall and Voutilainen, two Finn labourers who disappeared mysteriously north of Thunder Bay while journeying to assist workers at a nearby bush camp strike for increased rights.

There is an Ontario Heritage Plaque in their honour at Centennial Park.

This stone was placed by the Thunder Bay & District Labour Council over sixty years after they disappeared for these two martyrs to the cause of organized labour.

Some stones bear insignias relating to each Veteran's branch of the military or their regiment - Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air force, the Forestry Corps, The Maple Leaf (From the Canadian Ensign, Canada's Flag during WWII).

James Meek was a Port Arthur alderman, as well as a Sheriff and court registrar.

The large stone features a wreath symbolizing victory over death.

The Smellie Family is best represented by Elizabeth Smellie, the first female colonel in Canada's Armed Forces. She served in both World Wars and there is an Ontario Heritage Plaque in her honour near the Armouries in Port Arthur at Waverly Park. The plaque was formerly located in front of McKellar General Hospital in the former Fort William. The stone at right is a central marker to the Smellie Family plot.

The shrouded urn represents sorrow and mourning.

The Woodside family is long associated with the development of Port Arthur.

The family owned and operated the Woodside Iron Foundry which made many of the iron manhole covers and grates that still grace both former city's streets.

W.C. Woodside, J. Woodside, and A.M. Woodside all served as aldermen in the city of Port Arthur over a twenty five year period at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The McNulty Family owned McNulty's Limited, a minor department store in downtown Port Arthur.

Their family home at the corner of Waverly and Secord Streets is a part of the Waverly Park Heritage District.

Many local families lost someone close to them during World War One, as hundreds of local men went off to fight for King and Country. This stone puts their sacrifice into perspective and gives it a value that is rarely seen in more modern stones.

Laddie, somewhere in France you sleep,

Somewhere beneath alien flowers and alien winds that weep,

Bravely you marched to battle,

Nobly your life laid down,

You unto the end were faithfull Laddie

Yours is the Victors Crown