Fonds yuk-1030 - Rev. V.C. Sim fonds

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Rev. V.C. Sim fonds

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CA yuk yuk-1030

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10 folders of textual records;1 photograph : b&w print;1 Compact disk : (textual records)

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Biographical history

Vincent Collier Sim was born March 23, 1855 in Windsor, England, the fifth child of William and Eliza Sim. In 1875 he attended a preparatory institution and in 1876 attended the Church Missionary College located in Islington. On May 1, 1879 at the age of 24 he was ordained deacon by the Bishop of Rupert's Land at St. Matthew's, Bayswater. Sim was appointed to the Athabasca Mission at Fort Chipewyan in the Northwest Territories with an annual stipend of £150. He remained at this post until 1881 when he was sent to Fort McPherson as assistant to Archdeacon McDonald. Sim spent several months here working with McDonald and gaining a working knowledge of the Takudh language. In 1882 he proceeded to Rampart House, on the Porcupine River, to establish a mission; this was the first parish in what is now known as the Diocese of Yukon. Rampart House was a post built by the Hudson's Bay Company when Fort Yukon was handed over to the Americans in 1869. In addition to ministering to all the natives that traded at this post he travelled extensively for the next 3½ years visiting, preaching and teaching English from Lapierre House (on the Bell River near the mouth of the Rat River) east of Rampart House, to Nulato on the lower Yukon River, and Fort Reliance on the upper Yukon River. In 1884 he travelled a total of 2670 miles and baptized 167 children and one adult. The combination of constant travelling and working and poor diet took a toll on Sim's health and by March 1885 he was bedridden. The Rev. T.H. Canham, who was McDonald's assistant at Fort McPherson, was at Lapierre House when he received word that Sim was ill and he quickly travelled to Rampart House. Canham remained with Sim (except for April 17 to May 6 when he returned briefly to Peel River) for the last months of his life. Reverend Vincent Collier Sim died due to malnutrition, pneumonia and exhaustion on May 11, 1885.

Custodial history

The original material was donated to the Yukon Church Heritage Society (YCHS) by Christine Roe (nee Sim), Rev. Vincent Sim's great-niece, via Mrs. Susan Porter of England. The material was then transferred to the Yukon Archives as part of the Anglican Church, Diocese of Yukon fonds. At Mrs. Roe's request the Sim material was copied for the Yukon Archives and the originals were transferred, in 2002, to the Old Log Church Museum which operates under the stewardship of the YCHS.

Scope and content

The fonds consist of copies of Rev. Sim's appointment and ordination papers, 1881; 2 copies of his diary, handwritten and typed, June 1, 1984 to August 26, 1984, and January 14, 1885, which describes his interaction with the natives and their customs and beliefs; a copy of Sim's last letter to the Bishop, April 3, 1885; extracts from letters written August 1885 by Rev. Spendlove and Bishop Bompas after receiving news about Rev. Sim's death; a letter written by Sim describing his work and published in the Church Missionary Intelligencer, February 1886, "Voice from an Arctic Grave"; letters from the archivist at the Church Missionary Society to Mrs. T.V. Ralph with information about Sim, Canham and Wigram; a genealogical chart of the William Sim family up to 1986; an article by Marjorie Almstrom about Sim and the donation of his records to the Yukon; and a summary written by Christine Roe of her visit to Canada and the search for her great-uncle's grave at Rampart House, 2002. Also included in the fonds are a copy of a photograph of Sim and a CD which contains scanned images of diary pages and various MS WORD documents found in the previously listed files.

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There are no donor-imposed restrictions on this material. General copyright or institutional or legal restrictions may apply. The CD is for in-house use only.

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File list is available.

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Old Log Church Museum, Whitehorse, YT has textual records and artifacts which belonged to Rev. Sim.

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