Low Down Articles
Echoes from the Past
Article 66 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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Review of Wright Papers
Now that the cataloguing of the Wright documents is complete, it might be as well to review what was revealed by the exercise, some of which was shared with you as the job was in process. Before doing so let me tell you that we are only about 1/3 through with the indexing of the names mentioned in each document, and as there were 468 of these it is a long tedious chore which requires 3 or 4 recorders.
Perhaps the most exciting document was that of Philemon Wright and Associates signed in Montreal prior to their continuing westward to what at first became Wright's Town, then Hull. The date was 6 March 1800. Philemon had previously been on annual canoe trips, first to Quebec City and then westward to where three rivers meet, the Gatineau, the Rideau and the Grand (or as we know it nowadays, the Ottawa). These exploratory journeys took three years before he finally chose the latter area. The settling journey was by sleighs as they had huge and heavy loads to move - obviously they would need enough supplies and tools etc. to last a while.
I must confess that I had to cheat a bit with the Associates' signatures in my "Echo" (these columns) as they wouldn't fit the newspaper column so I did some shuffling. Nary a single signature was left out.
The next pair of documents of importance I would surmise were the wills of Philemon and his third son Ruggles. Philemon's was the easier to understand and to follow. After funeral expenses and the settlement of all debts against his estate the remainder went to his three surviving sons - Philemon Jr., his oldest son, having done to his grave as the result of a coaching accident in 1821, at about the time the elder Philemon's wagon was bringing to Hull the body of the Duke of Richmond, the victim of a bite from a rabid fox.
The will of Ruggles was quite a different story. At the time of his death his three brothers had been dead for twenty years. Apparently prior to his own death Ruggles had had difficulties with Lois Richer, second wife of his brother Tiberius, and with Alonzo, son of Tiberius, which became court cases in Montreal which Ruggles didn't always win. Soon he was out of his depth by foolish deals. The court appointed three trustees, Sir Hugh Allan (owner Allan Steamer Line) and James Gilmour in Montreal, and Alexander Workman in Ottawa.
More to come.