Byron Jenvey Scrapbooks

Byron Garfield Jenvey

Born on May 25, 1882, in Hawtrey, South Norwich Township, Byron Garfield Jenvey was one of six children of George and Catherine (nee Moore) Jenvey. As a young child his family moved to the Ostrander area, and later to a farm in the West Oxford Township where he attended schools in Centreville and Ingersoll. In 1900, he earned his teaching certificate at the age of 19 and began his career as a teacher in Salford. 

Following his marriage to Annie Mayberry on February 24, 1904, he left the teaching profession to begin a career in farming on the second concession of West Oxford. There he gained an interest in purebred Holstein-Friesians.

In 1908, he eared the position of Clerk and Treasurer for West Oxford Township, which he held until 1918 when he decided to pursue his teaching career once again, joining the faculty at the Ontario Agricultural College, in Guelph, where he served as a member of the Department of Economics. He maintained this position until 1923 when he again decided to return to farming full-time. 

In 1926, he was asked to join the Oxford Holstein Club as a sale representative and exporter, a role he held until 1933. In 1934, he introduced the first life size paper-mache replica of the Springbank Snow Countess, a record producing milk cow from the County, that he took on a tour of schools at the request of the Ontario Holstein Association, years before the legendary monument was erected in Woodstock. In 1966, the Oxford Holstein Club honoured him with a certificate in recognition of his skills as a breeder. He served as a member of the club for 64 years. 

In 1926, Mr. Jenvey also retired from dairy farming and relocated to Ingersoll where he served as an auditor for the Durham and West Oxford Insurance Company and as a real estate evaluator. Over the years, he served on over 60 boards, executives, councils, and committees, including the Ingersoll, North and West Oxford Agricultural Society, Ingersoll Suburban Roads Committee, Harris Street Cemetery Board, Ingersoll’s Boad of Health, West Oxford Historical Society, West Oxford School Board, and the Red Cross Society. 

Regarded by most Ingersoll residents as Ingersoll’s Town Historian, Byron Jenvey’s Jenvey Files were published in the Ingersoll Times on a regular weekly basis. In addition, he collected local history in albums, which he brought to various schools in the County to promote local history. 

Byron G. Jenvey passed away at the age of 98 on February 8, 1980, at Woodstock General Hospital. He is interned at the Harris Street Cemetery, Ingersoll. 

Explore Jenvey’s Scrapbooks and learn a bit more about Oxford County’s history!