Low Down Articles
Echoes from the Past
Article 105 of 111
This article first appeared in the "Echoes from the Past" column of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News.
Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.
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What Happened to the Working Stiffs?
Four of Philemon Wright's Employees and What Happened to Them
THOMAS BRIGHAM (1787-1842)
Thomas married a daughter of his boss, ABIGAIL WRIGHT (1796-1877). As a bequest to his daughter and son-in-law Philemon left them Columbia Farm. Thomas and Abigail lived in the fine stone house at 376 St. Joseph Boulevard which in time was the site of the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. Later, it was acquired by the National Capital Commission and was leased as the Ferme Columbia Restaurant.
Brigham also owned property at what was to become Old Chelsea where he set up two mills, one a gristmill and the other: a sawmill, on the small creek which has been variously named Chelsea Brook and Brooks Creek (named for John Brooks who came to settle in the area in 1822).
Brigham generously gave land adjacent to his mills as a burying ground for the community. His son later gave property to St. Stephen's Parish upon which to build a church and to establish a cemetery.
Thomas Brigham's nephew, THOMAS BRIGHAM PRENTISS (1809-1895) who came from Chelsea, Vermont, established a store and post office in the fledgling community, which of course was named Chelsea, the adjective "Old" being added later, when the newer Chelsea came into being.
JAMES FINLAYSON TAYLOR (1796-1868)
Taylor was employed as a clerk by Philemon Wright, in the firm of P. Wright & Sons. He was another who married a daughter of his employer, MARY or POLLY (1791-1821) following the death of her first husband, Ephraim Chamberlin. Her marriage to Taylor ended after only two years, when she died.
For his next wife JAMES F. chose NANCY OLMSTEAD, (1804-1837), the daughter of Captain Gideon Olmstead. This union stretched for 15 years, when Nancy also died.
The widower waited for five years before taking unto himself a third and final wife, ELIZABETH EDEY (1811-1899). As with Ruggles Wright and Hannah Chamberlin the couple were married on the ice of the Ottawa River where it widens and becomes the Chaudiere.
Taylor was a bookkeeper by profession, a deeply religious man by inclination and was widely respected in the community. He, with Thomas Brigham, were the stallwarts who helped keep the Wright firm on the rails when the running became rough and bumpy. Later he was appointed as Registrar for Aylmer to which place he had moved.
James Finlayson Taylor left to posterity a famous diary of which more later.
CHARLES SYMMES (1798-1868)
Charles was the nephew of Philemon Wright, being the son of Capt. John Symmes and Elizabeth Wright, older sister of Philemon. Two letters, extant in the National Archives of Canada, were written by Charles in 1819, to his Uncle Philemon the first asking for a job with his firm, the second, not leaving his uncle time to change his mind, asking that he be met in Montreal and escorted to Wright's Town. He too was engaged as a clerk, a position he was to hold for eight years and during which he gained a partnership in P. Wrights & Sons.
Meanwhile the affairs of the Wrights were rapidly sliding into financial decline with debts to be paid on all sides and no wherewithal to meet them.
Courtney C. J. Bond, the eminent author, was to write in "Hurling Down the Pine" (1964) the following:
"One associate of the firm chose this time to 'abandon ship'. Charles Symmes came up from Charlestown, Mass., in 1819 to what he thought would be an exciting life in a bustling community. Unlike the other relatives, he had taken the precaution to arrange affairs between himself and the Old Man (Philemon Wright) in a legal manner. He terminated his partnership in September 1827, when Its term ran out. But he was to whistle for a settlement, and out of this disappointment was to grow an antagonism. Symmes left Hull and established himself at Turnpike End by lake Deschenes where a community soon to be called (Symme's Landing, then Aylmer) grew".
NICHOLAS SPARKS (1792-1862)
Of all the four employees under scrutiny perhaps Nicholas Sparks was the one to make the biggest 'splash'. Sparks, originally from County Wexford, Ireland, was recruited by Ruggles Wright, third son of Philemon, in Quebec City, to join the firm of P. Wright & Sons.
An extremely lucky purchase by Sparks gained for him the very core of what was to become Ottawa, the Nation's Capital. Previously the property had been offered to Philemon Wright but he turned it down. Sparks paid 95 pounds sterling to John Burrows Honey, which he had to borrow, for 200 acres. For the first few years those on the northern river shore used to check daily especially during the winter months, to see whether smoke was issuing from the Sparks chimney.
Nicholas Sparks Sr. was to become a very wealthy man through the sale of lots to Lt.-Col. By and the workers engaged in the construction of the Rideau Canal, although later there was to be some controversy concerning expropriations by By.
Like the Wrights in Wright's Town, Sparks was to become a 'power' in the rapidly growing Bytown. He married the widow of Philemon Wright Jr., SARAH OLMSTEAD (1790-1871). One of their daughters ESTHER (1832-1876) married James Dyson Slater. Their older daughter MARY (1829-1904) married ALONZO WRIGHT (1821-1894), M.P., grandson of Philemon Sr. taking with her a generous dowry which, in part, restored the finances of the Wrights.
Sparks's son NICHOLAS SPARKS JR. (1833-1872) married CAROLINE BLAISDELL (1842-1887) of the firm of axe and sycthe makers, one of whose family members ran a sawmill operation at Chelsea, eventually to be taken over by the Gilmours.