History and Importance of the Duff-Baby House

The Essex Branch of the OGS will be held on Monday June 10, 2013 from 6:00 pm at the Windsor Public Library, 850 Ouellette Ave., Windsor.

The talk will be entitled History and Importance of the Duff-Baby House, and the person giving the talk will be Evelyn McLean.

The meeting will be Free, and you can go to www.essex.ogs.on.ca for up to date info the meeting.

The Buff-Baby house was built between 1792 and 1798. It is considered to be the oldest building in Windsor. The house was built by Alexander Duff as a fur trade post, and bought in 1807 by James Baby. It  and was used as the headquarters of U.S. General Harrison. The British ravaged the building during the War of 1812.

The Duff Baby House is also one of the best-preserved and oldest Georgian-style houses in Ontario. Today the building is owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust and houses government offices.

Irish potato famine mystery solved

Scientists in Germany have discovered that a plant-pathogen strain, called HERB-1, was the blight that caused the potato famine in Ireland of the 1840s. Before this tine, it had been thought that an American strain, called US-1 has caused the famine.

According to the website at Irish National Famine Museum, Ireland lost almost a quarter of its population to death or emigration between 1845 and 1850.

The mystery finally has been solved.

Read the complete story at http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4350890/researchers-discover-irish-potato-famine-pathogen