14

Rose Gordon Sydenham Glass Company Stock Certificate
22 April 1895
Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Wallaceburg and District Museum
2001.84.1

15

George Mitchell Sydenham Glass Company Stock Certificate
2 May 1895
Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Wallaceburg and District Museum
2001.84.1

16

Dr. Mitchell and a group of Wallaceburg men at the grave of Tecumseh
20th Century, Circa 1900
St. Anne's Island

Credits:
Wallaceburg & District Museum
997.189.8
P6083

17

In Carol Janet Holmes work entitled, "Community and Factory: An Important Relationship In the Start-Up of Glass Factories In Port Colborne and Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada, 1890-1900", she provides a detailed description of the Sydenham Glass Company's early problems. Holmes articulates that before construction began there was a great debate on where the factory should be located; there were a number of fires; financial trouble; and faulty furnaces. A return for investors did not occur until 1898, nearly four years after initial construction started. Fortunately, the growth of the company was exponential after 1898. In the said year, nearly $200 000 worth of manufactured products were sold and $90 000 in wages paid. By 1899 they employed 400 workers. This was close to half of Wallaceburg's work force. The following document, an 1895 auditors report, illustrates early financial costs of the company and the investors involved.