This document was prepared from a four hundred and eight page handwritten manuscript written by James Collins during the 1915 to 1925 period. After being kept in the Collins family over these many decades, the task of making it more generally available was long overdue. The Chronicle of Carlsbad Springs describes events and personalities in the small community of Carlsbad Springs just outside Ottawa from the mid-1800s through to 1925. While the manuscript concentrates on the history of Carlsbad Springs, there is also much in the document about the parallel history of Canada.

The Chronicle of Carlsbad Springs has previously been lent to a few researchers in its original form. Harry and Olive Walker, authors of ‘Carleton Saga’, cited it is as one of only a very few examples where pioneers of Carleton and Ottawa “have left any extensive documentation for posterity” (Runge Press, 1971, page 163).

The opening words of the manuscript are compelling: “That the story of my native neighbourhood may not pass into oblivion and be forgotten in the dead past, I have undertaken in the following pages to record faithfully and correctly the chief events that have marked its progress from its earliest settlement down to the present day, when it has grown from early childhood to mature years.” Hopefully, the availability of The Chronicle of Carlsbad Springs in this new form will do something to prevent the passage into the “oblivion” of the “dead past” that James Collins was concerned about.

The manuscript is in fair physical condition: the pages have yellowed and the photographs and sketches have faded, but it is still legible with some effort. The author had an excellent handwriting style, but it had a flair which, combined with the aging process of the paper, makes a casual reading of the manuscript impracticable. We have included all of the photographs and sketches that were in the original manuscript. Even those of poorer quality are sufficiently clear to provide interesting illustrations of life and events in the community.

I did not attempt to edit the manuscript. My purpose was simply to make it accessible to interested people. No doubt if it was being submitted today for publication under the hand of a rigorous editor, there would be substantial revisions. There is a bit of repetition in the manuscript; the topic at hand changes quite abruptly at a few points; and the time-line gets a little out of step on occasion.

At the same time, my view was that some authenticity – and even some charm - would be lost in an editing process. There is also the issue of keeping the faith with the author; after all, he is not around at this point to react to any suggested ‘improvements’.

Despite any imperfections, I hope the reader will simply accept the document for what it is: a rare, fascinating and detailed account of life in a Canadian pioneer settlement. If only we had a chronicle like this for each of Canada’s little communities!

I wish to thank a few individuals who assisted me. My wife, Marilyn, who also caught the “genealogy bug” a few years ago, read final drafts and caught many errors and problems that I had missed.

Many years ago, my late mother - Irene (O’Meara) Collins - painstakingly went through the document and wrote out in very legible long-hand every word of the manuscript. This was a critical intermediate step to this publication, because as noted above, the manuscript in its original form requires some effort – and sometimes a magnifying glass – to decipher. In a very real sense, this project would not have been completed without her patient efforts.

Let’s bring fresh wreaths of the rarest flowers
Tributes to the brave and the true
And lay them down upon their graves
Tokens of honour due