Wooden Potato Masher

Datec. 1860-1865

DimensionsOverall: 34 x 9 cm

Credit LineGift of the Estate of Mrs. Olive E. Carty, care of Ms. Edith McKay, 1977.

Object number1977.103.060

Label TextThis seemingly mundane potato masher, in fact, has an interesting story to tell. A "Yankee Skedaddler," that is, a Civil War-era (1861-1865) draft evader who came to Canada from the Northern United States, made it. He gave it to Mrs. Margaret Carty of London, Ontario, to thank her for some act of kindness. Maybe you know that some 30,000 American war resisters, better known as draft dodgers, came to Canada to avoid fighting in the Vietnam War. But did you know that these men and women were not the first Americans to make this choice? During the Civil War (1861-1865), ten to fifteen thousand Northerners are estimated to have crossed into what is now Ontario and Quebec to escape military service. Many others crossed into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Indeed, so many had settled in the Mapleton District of Carlton County, New Brunswick, that it became known as “Skedaddlers’ Ridge.” Southerners dodged the draft and deserted the Confederate Army, too, but they sought refuge closer to home; Canada was too far away. As early as 1862, American President Abraham Lincoln acted to stem the tide of those fleeing to Canada; the Union Army was desperate for soldiers. His General Order No. 104 prohibited citizens subject to military duty from going to a foreign country without permission. This didn’t stop the exodus. In fact, it only got worse following the Enrollment Act of 1863, also known as the Civil War Military Draft Act. This piece of legislation implemented a form of conscription: every man aged 20 to 45 had to enlist. Further, it permitted those who didn’t want to serve to pay $300 or to present a substitute. The act led to significant unrest, including the New York Draft Riots of July 1863. The implementation of conscription also created some sympathy for “Yankee skedaddlers” in Canada. Although initially inclined to regard them as cowards, many Canadians came to see these men as victims of a government that no longer respected the civil liberties of its citizens. As well, the new arrivals ended labour shortages in both rural and urban areas, allowing farmers and merchants to benefit from increased wartime demand for all manner of goods. That skedaddlers accepted lower wages added to their attraction as workers. But when unemployment began to rise again in the later years of the war American draft dodgers lost their appeal. They competed for jobs that Canadians wanted. It didn’t help that some had not behaved as well as they might have done. The Toronto Globe reported on October 21, 1863, for example, that “two men, named John Livingston and Lawson Rinehart, both ‘skedaddlers’ from the other side, drove up to the village of Aylmer, county of Elgin,…and immediately set to work passing counterfeit coin the stores.” Rinehart was captured but Livingston escaped. Many skedaddlers returned to the United States following the May 29, 1865 proclamation granting amnesty to those who had left the country. For Margaret Carty, at least one such man left behind good memories and a small token of his appreciation.

NameMasher, Potato