Low Down Articles
Echoes from the Past
Article 41 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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Lake Mousseau (Harrington, or Hetherington)
The first Hetherington on this side of the Atlantic was Joseph (c 1795-1873) who was from Carlisle, Cumberland, England. At seventeen, during the War of 1812 he was captured by the Americans. In captivity he and another lad were sent for water for the camp. Upon reaching the river they discovered a boat which offered the means for escaping. The two youths made the most of the opportunity, crossing the river to Canada.
The next we hear of Joseph Hetherington was in 1827 when Philemon Wright petitioned for land on behalf of fifty or so settlers. Joseph received a 200 acre grant - Lot 19, Range 6 of the Township of Hull - where he established a farm. The petition had stated that Joseph came to Canada in 1816. It is curious that the document , gives his family name as Harrington, not Hetherington.
Joseph in the meanwhile had married Charlotte Clements (?-1879). Both their wills are extant. Their first child was Joseph Jr. born c. 1821. There were to be six sons and one daughter. As they grew to maturity the older sons left the farm and struck out for themselves. Joseph Jr. married Lucy Benedict (1820-?) daughter of Samuel Benedict and Eleanor Shatford. Samuel, from New York state, had acquired 600 acres on the Mountain Road. The 1851 census shows Joseph and Lucy living at the northwest end of Meech Lake. The next son, John married Harriet, daughter of Rev. Asa Meech. John and Harriet probably had a farm at Harrington or Mousseau Lake. Surveyor Driscol in 1850 recorded the name Harrington Lake, perpetuating the error in the 1827 land grant. John did not stay at the lake. In 1890 he was living at Salem, Oregon.
The next Hetherington son, Isaac, farmed in Eardley, while his brother; Wesley, moved to the northwest part of Hull Township. Henry (1823-1853) never married. Alvy, the youngest son stayed at home and inherited the original Hetherington farm on the death of Joseph in 1873.
Alvy Hetherington, unmarried, died in 1890 without leaving a will. This meant that the estate had to be divided into five shares, between the living brothers and sister. Wesley bought the farm outright. It passed through the ownership of several of Wesley's descendants until 1969 when the present owner, Michael Reford bought the property from George Hetherington. George stayed on the farm one more winter, and watched with great interest while the new Reford home was built. George was one of those kind of-persons whose lives are full of ingenious inventions and labour-saving devices, a remarkable man indeed.
Oh yes! Most official maps show the lake as Mousseau Lake (Harrington). We know better that, Harrington should have been Hetherington, don't we?
As for Mousseau, I've met a gentleman who claims that it was his ancestor who first settled on the lake. So you pays your money and takes your choice.
Even the best of official mapmakers can make mistakes. For years Meech Lake was spelled Meach. I believe now-a-days we are in accord that it should be MEECH.
From Notes by Michael Reford with permission.