Disney/Bluevale connection solidified with new sign
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
Rumours of famed cartoonist/capitalist tycoon Walt Disney’s connections to the area have long circulated among Huron County locals, but recently, a group of historically-minded citizens has teamed up with the Huron County Museum and the Huron County Historical Society to not only confirm those rumours, but commemorate them for future generations to enjoy.
On Wednesday, June 3, members of the Disneys of Huron County Project Group (DHCPG) gathered in Bluevale at the site of its new historical installment: an educational sign that offers an oversight of Walt Disney’s official ancestral connection to this little part of the world.
This new sign is the fruit of the ongoing community effort to share a remarkable chapter of local history with a wider audience. “It’s history, and everybody should be interested in history,” explained DHCPG member Lloyd Michie. “The Disneys are definitely history, so that’s what we’ve been concentrating on: their contributions to Huron County. It’s not widely known that they were in Canada at one time.”
According to research compiled by the group, brothers Robert and Arundel Disney arrived in Huron County from Ireland in 1834 and settled in the Holmesville area. Arundel’s son, Keppel Elias Disney, later moved to the Bluevale area. In 1858, Keppel Elias married Mary Richardson, and, in 1868, acquired the south half of Lots 27 and 28, Concession 1 in Morris Township. The couple raised 11 children, including their eldest son, Elias Charles Disney, who was born in 1859 and attended S.S. No. 8 school in the settlement of Browntown. In 1878, the family moved to the United States, where Elias Charles married Flora Call in 1888.
Together they raised five children, including son Walter, also known as Walt.
Project member Alison Lobb likes to imagine that the family’s rural beginnings may have played an important role in shaping the imagination that would later transform the entertainment world. “Certainly in a rural area, when there wasn’t transportation, and there weren’t theatres, and things like that, I think there is more encouragement of imagination and initiative, because they have to make their own amusement,” she posited.
Over the course of this initiative, Lobb has experienced nothing but enthusiasm from those just learning about Huron County’s Disney connection. “The response is certainly positive,” she noted. “People are interested - they didn’t realize that, as it says on the sign, the Disneys settled in Holmesville in 1838. That’s the earliest part of our history, really, so I think anybody who’s interested in history would want to follow up and wonder how they're connected.”
Lobb also pointed out that Walt Disney himself is confirmed to have visited his ancestral home, which has further stoked interest in the project. “Well, he came back here himself in 1947, and now you’ve got a picture of Walt Disney at the cemetery in Holmesville, and at the school in Goderich - that awakened a lot of interest."
For Lobb, those sort of moments of discovery demonstrate the enduring appeal of hunting down the details of a historical story. “The little snippets of Disney history have been there, and they come back, and come back,” she said. “And every time, there are new people that say, ‘really?’ And then they want more information.”
The group’s members believe that on-site historical signage offers a unique way to share that information. Unlike a history book, which requires someone to actively seek out the story, a sign can connect people directly to the landscape where history unfolded.
Committee chair Nancy Michie said the project began with a simple goal. “We wanted to recognize the areas in Huron County that the Disney family settled in when they came to Canada from Ireland… They’re a very prestigious family in the world, and it really is important for Huron County people to know their roots.”
To uncover that history, volunteers have spent years gathering photographs, records and personal accounts. “Our group has been researching to find pictures and information about when the family lived here, and the farms that they settled on,” Nancy recounted.
She credits a Disney history presentation by Mike Miles of Orillia at the Huron County Museum with helping advance the project. The group also drew extensively from local historical records - sometimes accessing new resources in the nick of time! “We had the opportunity to go through the Women’s Institute’s Tweedsmuir books,” she explained. “They were kept at the Wingham museum, and when the Wingham museum was disbanding, we had the opportunity to go through those books and copy information about Disney’s roots in Huron County. We got a lot of information that way.”
The project has also benefited greatly from the contributions of late committee member Arnold Mathers. “What a loss when Arnold passed away," Nancy lamented. “Arnold was just a wonderful resource on our committee.” Mathers’ family lived in the same Morris Township area as the Disneys, providing valuable firsthand knowledge and family connections that helped strengthen the historical record. “He had a lot of information that we were able to document, and that information will be in our book as well.”
The DHCPG also hopes to someday include some living Disney history into its research. “We have connected with Walt Disney’s grandson in San Francisco - he is the chair of the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco,” Nancy explained. “And we sent an e-mail to the museum, and he actually responded to us… he recognized the benefit it would be for the area to have that information, and gave us his blessing for the sign to be erected.”
Lobb hopes the blessing becomes a bonafide visit. “For members of the Disney family to come and visit - that would be an ultimate wish,” she confessed. “And quite possible! Only time will tell.”