Low Down Articles
Echoes from the Past
Article 21 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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Early Settlement
Earlier I wrote about the arrival of the Philemon Wright party, on March 7,1800, at the future settlement which at first was called Wright's Town, later to become Hull.
Philemon kept a log or diary, in which he set down at frequent Intervals how the settlement began and how with the passage of time it grew and developed. More and more New Englanders continued to arrive in increasing numbers, to be joined by a sprinkling from the old countries across the Atlantic. So many came from Ireland that it soon became a flood. The Gatineau and Ottawa Valleys were both invaded by the Irish of both faiths, most hoping for land to be granted to them. The French speaking inhabitants of central and eastern Quebec also discovered the area of promise for good farming and joined the quest for land.
In the early days of the 19th Century and lasting for the next hundred‑years, more or less, it was the custom to give titles to books, news articles and reports, etc., almost as long as an introduction or foreword (if any). Here is Philemon Wright's effort from which I propose to take short excerpts.
"Account of the First Settlement of the Township of Hull, on the Ottawa River, Lower Canada, by P. Wright, Esq. Delivered to the committee of the House of Assembly, appointed to take into consideration that part of his Excellency the Governor-in-Chief's Speech of the 16th. December 1820, relative to the Settlement of Crown Lands in Lower Canada."
"After having arranged with the Indians, we continued cutting down and clearing a spot for the erection of a house, and we continued cutting and clearing, and erecting other buildings for the accommodation of the families and men."
"As I had laid in a good stock of hay and grain, which I gave freely unto my cattle, I was surprised to find the they took to the woods, living upon browse, such as the buds of fallen timber, and the joint rush (sic) that stood through the snow, which was about seven inches deep... working cattle in so good condition in the month of June...
"I was also much surprised to find the snow disappearing so very soon by thawing underneath ...found no frost In the ground... quite the reverse of Massachusetts, where there is from three to four feet of frost in the ground in the spring... all the men being much pleased with the country in finding vegetation come forward so much easier than they were accustomed to see it..."
"We continued cutting down... March, April an May, building, and putting in our vegetables and garden stuffs etc ... we began to turn our fallow (which is the timber felled in rows) for winter wheat, which ought t be put into the ground in August, to expect a good winter crop. Our provisions now began to run short, and we were obliged to go to Montreal, a distance of 120 miles, to obtain means of subsidence until our crops could be harvested. This retarded... the advancement of the settlement..."
"The year 1800 was spent in clearing land, building and raising vegetables and roots... was about 100 bushels of potatoes, which I put into the ground (to keep them through the winter) so deep that I lost the whole of them by the rot... by the heat of the ground. We prepared some land for the fall wheat, and prepared about thirty acres for spring wheat and peas: also a great deal of time in going to Montreal for provisions. Seeing my people were going on well, and comfortable as to provisions, houses, etc., I gave directions how to proceed until return my return."