Books

Learn more about:

• Pre-Confederation Ontario
• Frontier Diplomats and the First Nations
• The struggle for domination in Ontario
• The first Consumer Society in Canada
• The British American War of 1812
• The first Consumer Society in Canada
• The meeting of Frederick Arnold with the Tecumseh Shawnee leader before the battle of the Thames

Ontario’s Formative Years

This book takes us back to the first 40 years of Ontario’s history from 1775 to 1815. This was the period of time when Ontario was mostly still a primeval forest lacking infrastructure and sufficient numbers of population. England needed its people for the Napoleonic Wars, and therefore virtually no immigrants came from Europe until the Napoleonic Wars were over.

A small population devotes their effort to the building of a new country with astonishing accomplishments. The buildup of Ontario was left to a small population. This book gets to the heart of what was happening in politics, the economy, and among the people. In 1713, Conrad Weiser, a Württemberger from Herrenberg, Germany, acted as an important diplomat with the American, British, and First Nations people on colonial issues. These issues played an important role during the founding of the US nation (1693-1743) and subsequently to the founding of Canada.

Historic Trails

The historic trails for many settlers during this period led from the United States to Canada. Pennsylvania Germans and other people of German origin came from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, with most of them originally from the Palatine State, amounting to 80% of the population in Ontario.

They interacted with the First Nations people and the military on many important matters and much of their history is visible for the first time in this book. The policies of a cash-strapped government required settlers to perform multiple services on the farm and in the military, as well as free labour for community work. The unique character of Ontario’s progress came from the strength of the population, with contribution from each settler for the common good of the entire community.

Notable Contributions to the Military in the War of 1812

German-speaking tradesmen produced transportation vehicles that could withstand the rough conditions of the terrain—a crucial factor that allowed settlers to transport their goods in the wilderness from the United States to Upper Canada. Critical food supplies and ammunition were moved to the war front at Queenston during the War of 1812. These settlers’ contributions to the military during the War of 1812 was best recognized when George Ball, whose family originally came from Heidelberg, Germany, received the British commander’s cocked hat of Sir Isaac Brock. The War of 1812 helped to shape the founding and future of Canada, and without a doubt is one of the more forgotten episodes of British American history. In the light of the current world events and politics, this conflict deserves more attention from both historians and the public. The end of the war laid the foundation for the Confederation and the emergence of Canada as a free and independent nation.

This is a true story, a rare, first-hand account of one soldier’s experiences during the Third Reich. it is also a love story, for amid the strife and devastation of war, Albin Gagel found the love of his life. By 1943, it had been four long years since he had left his home in a small village in Bavaria to begin what was supposed to be only two years’ mandatory military service. Although a seasoned veteran of the Wehrmacht, nothing he had experienced during the Blitzkrieg across France, or even the siege of Leningrad, had prepared him for the horror and desperation that surrounded him during the Battle of Kursk, the biggest tank battle of World War II and the start of Nazi Germany’s slow retreat from the Eastern Front. Now Albin was in the fight of his life. Any dreams he might have harboured about honour and glory had long since vanished. Political rhetoric meant nothing on the battlefield. Medals were just trinkets and would never equal the value of lives lost in their purchase. His world was reduced to the men in his company and the enemy that shadowed their every manoeuvre. Yet there was also Gisela—his hope, his dream, his future—if ever he could get out of Russia alive. A true story, captivating from start to finish, this account offers an uncommon insight into wha most Germans really thought about Hitler and his regime, and it is not quite what the wartime newsreels portrayed or what post-war Hollywood portrays. Doug Gagel’s book is very well written, captivating, and an amazing read. This book is highly recommended by Max Bork, publisher of The Hofbräuhaus News.

Author’s Contact Information:
Doug Gagel
261 Ferndale Avenue
London ON  N6C 5L1
519-680-3484 (home)
519-870-3144 (cell)

Learn more about:

• Bismarck’s policies and Kaiser Wilhelm’s follies.
• What happened during the Weimar Republic and how Hugo Frank started a successful textile mill despite many odds.
• The political instability during the 1920s and the frequent putsches and the struggle between Communists and Conservatives.
• How lack of statesmanship and miscalculations by a political clique led Hitler to power.
• What happened to Hugo Frank and German Jews during Nazism.
• How the Nazis were organized and what the Gestapo did to ordinary citizens.
• How Hugo Frank’s factory reached its peak in 1938, declined thereafter, then in late 1942 started making parts for BMW aircraft engines.
• How the Americans came and left, the Soviets came and stayed, and how regime change affected people.
• How shortly after WWII Hugo Frank’s factory, his life’s work, was taken from him and nationalized.
• What happened to the Frank family members as they were evicted from the factory and their residence.
• About the failure of putting in place the socialist paradise in East Germany and how the hemorrhage of East Germans fleeing the communist state led to the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Contents include:

• Marysburgh — The First German Settlement on Lake Ontario
• Marysburgh — The Fifth Township
• Baron Gottlieb Christian von Reitzenstein
• The Marysburg Hessians as compiled by J.H. Merz
• SOURCES of information

Pictures include:

• Up the River with Batteaux — Loyalist refugees
• Hessian Soldier’s Plaque Celebration in Hanau 2002
• Marysburg Settlement — Historical Plaque
• General Burgoyne and German Mercenaries
• Landing of German soldiers at Quebec City 1776
• Map of Settlement in Upper Canada about 1800

90 Pages