Wooden Walking Cane
Datec. 1830-1840s
DimensionsOverall: 89 cm
Credit LineTransfer from the London and Middlesex Historical Society, 1958
Object number1958.001.131
Label TextThis walking cane belonged to Dr. Elam Stimson. Dr. Stimson was originally from the United States. He and his family emigrated to Upper Canada in 1823 and settled in London in 1831. Among his first patients were inmates in the jail. In 1832, only a year after the Stimson family arrived, London and the wider region was hit by a cholera epidemic. Stimson’s wife, Mary Anne, and son, James, fell ill. Using the treatment methods of the era, Stimson prescribed ginger tea and alcohol. He also practised bloodletting. Despite his best efforts, both Mary Anne and James died. Later that year, Stimson returned to his home in Connecticut where he married his wife’s sisters, Susan. The couple later returned to Upper Canada but not to London.
NameCane
