The Duff-Baby Mansion

When the Americans invaded Canada, General Hull took over the home of James (Jacques) Baby, a prominent French Canadian in the Sandwich area. Baby's house is still standing today, at the corner of Mill and Russell Streets in Windsor. The house was one of the more prominent houses in the area, being known as the "Baby Mansion." It was badly damaged, first when the Americans under Hull left in August of 1812, and later when General Harrison took it for his headquarters after the British defeat at the Battle of the Thames.

James Baby was a colonel in the militia. He was at Fort Malden in Amherstburg during Hull's occupation. He moved back to Sandwich after the capture of Detroit, and Thomas Verchères describes a dinner-party held at the house just before the retreat up the Thames River. James Baby was captured at the Battle of the Thames and remained a prisoner until the end of the war.

The house was repaired after the war, although Baby did not ever get paid for his losses in the war.