The Pat Evans (Skipper's) Corner

A Tale of Two Chelseas

Written in 1986 by Patrick M.O. Evans

Original document ^{8.6 MB}

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Appendix

Note that the images, illustations and text from the separate References section in the original publication have been incorporated into text.

People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors

Edmund Burke (1729-1792)

Research made possible by grants from the Explorations Program of the Canada Council and the Search for History Program of the Historical Society of the Gatineau.

Foreword

"The Tale of Two Chelseas" came about simply because the post office at Old Chelsea was about to celebrate its one hundredth birthday in the spring of 1985. June Dompierre, the postmaster had received word from Montreal, Canada Post's head office in Western Quebec, that this anniversary was about to take place, offering'a modest donation to help celebrate.

Being an historian at heart, as well as an amateur archivist and genealogist, I feel that I was equipped to attempt a short history of the post office at Old Chelsea and in consequence I put my services at the disposal of June, the postmaster; little dreaming where the trail might lead.

Like Topsey the story "just grewed" to the extent that the Historical Society of the Gatineau adopted it as one of its programmes. About six months after the actual birth date a celebration party was held in the Chelsea school in September. The party was well attended, and, rather surprising to me, the postal authorities had taken my "history" and published it in the two official languages of Canada. To put it modestly I was well pleased with the success of the whole operation.

In researching for the post office story I had uncovered a wealth of material not related to the postal matters. The more I thought about it, it seemed to me, a person of some thrift, that it would be a waste not to use it, especially as it had come to me gratis, as it were. Okay, I said, find out if anyone else has written the history of Old Chelsea; as I did not relish the idea of repeating the efforts of someone who might have done a more accomplished job than I was capable of achieving. With this in mind I phoned the national library to see whether this was so. I was somewhat surprised by the answer that some person had indeed written a story about Old Chelsea. My informant went on to explain that the opus was about the Chelsea in London, England and not our Old Chelsea. ¹

Having cleared the decks thus far I decided I would put two limitations on my history, one of area and the other of time. Being well aware of the arrival of Philemon Wright at Hull was in 1800 I considered that the hundred years between Wright's settling in his "Wright's Town" and 1900 would be a nice, neat package. I had settled the time frame, or so I thought.

The next decision was to be the boundaries. I didn't want to write a story about a huge piece of landscape but to keep it within bounds, say the diameter of a circle of about a quarter mile, with the circle's centre at a point where the Scott Road intersects the Chelsea Road. There that's fixed, but where does one start? I remembered that some time ago I had purchased a book on writing local histories. That little treatise seemed to be the answer to my quest and more besides.

Having started to write I quickly realized that my pair of limitations would require to be modified somewhat. The time frame, of 1800 to 1900, could still be used. I stipulated to myself that any "happening" which started in that century would be carried to its conclusion. The events which had their genesis later would be ignored, unless they were perhaps worthy of some note.

The area restriction of a quarter of a mile was soon set aside as much of my story transgressed the artificial boundaries I had imposed upon myself.

As a genealogical researcher I was well aware of primary and secondary sources of information. Primary sources being those which were recorded at the time of the event or happening, while the second type are composed of peoples' memories or thoughts, not quite as reliable but useful for colour or embellishment.

Finally, I did not wish my story to be useful only to historians but that it should have a wider, or popular, readership of young and old "The Tale of Two Chelseas" is the result. The dates and happenings are as accurate as my sources have provided. I know that there are bound to be errors and omissions, and for these I apologize. I hope the reader will enjoy my story as much as I had in its relating.

Patrick M. O. Evans

The Beginning

The Gatineau where the Chelseas are situated is an extensive area in the Province of Quebec, directly north of Ottawa, Canada's capital. The hills of the Gatineau, formed as the earth took shape, are some of the oldest in the world, being part of the Canadian Shield, formed of Pre-Cambrian granite.

The river which flows down the valley formed by the hills was named after Nicolas Gatineau, Sieur du Plessis, a member of the Hundred Associates, a notary of Three Rivers and Montreal. Tiring of his legal responsibilities and seeking the wherewithal to return to his beloved France he turned to the exploration of the forested countryside which might provide for this need through hunting and trapping. Gatineau was not to realize his dream; as legend says, he lost his life on the river's reaches.

Radisson and Desgroseillers, also from Three Rivers, intrepid coureurs de bois, made use of the Gatineau River as a route for their canoes, passing via the St. Maurice and Lawrence Rivers, thence to the Gatineau and finally westward on the Grand River.

Champlain, as he travelled up the Grand (now the Ottawa) River, could not have missed the blue-green of the Gatineau's hills to his north. Indeed it is possible he would have poked the bow of his canoe a mile or so up the mouth of the Gatineau River in curiosity.

These men, however, were merely passers-through and cannot be considered as settlers. It was as late as 1800 that we find the American, Philemon Wright, from Woburn, Massachusetts, arriving at the junction of the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers, to establish his Wright's Town on the western bank of the latter river. In time, the settlement changed its name to Hull, and Lower Canada became the Province of Quebec.

Although Wright and those whom he had persuaded either to accompany, or to follow him later, were, for the most part, tillers of the soil, Napoleon had other ideas. History tells us that Bonaparte closed the Baltic to the British, with whom France was then at war, forcing the government of the day to seek elsewhere, namely Canada, for timber to be used in its ship· building programme. Overnight Wright and his associates became timber merchants; the first raft of timber being floated down to Quebec City by Wright, his son Tiberius, and two other men, in 1806.

He was warned that there would be difficulty getting his raft past Montreal, but Wright, not a man to be balked, persisted and eventually won through. The trip was made as a speculation and he was lucky to make a sale as the New Brunswick timber men, being nearer the shipping point, had got there ahead of him. The Gatineau had entered the timber and lumber trade.

Native People

Up to this point only those of white skin have received mention. It now seems appropriate to remember the Indians and their antecedents, those human beings so vividly described by Richard E. Leaky in his book The Making of Mankind, who for twenty thousand years or more roamed this continent and must have trod the dense forested land we know as the Gatineau.

Philemon Wright did, in fact, have two encounters with Indians, the first being as he led the settlers from Montreal westward to the Gatineau River where it empties into the Grand River. Apparently the party was having difficulty travelling the frozen Grand, as the ice had to be tested every now and again to see whether it could support the heavily loaded sleighs, when they were met by an Indian and his wife pulling their child on a small bark sleigh. The Indian was more than just friendly. Leaving his wife to fend for herself and child for several days he guided the settlers safely to their goal.

The second meeting with natives was somewhat later, when the settlement was in its early stage. Two Indian chiefs from the Lake of Two Mountains arrived on the scene, questioning the right of the settlers to cut down trees, fearing the ruin of their sugaries and hunting grounds. The Indians had little conception about land ownership as they believed the Great Spirit had provided the land to be used by mankind not to be possessed by individuals.

Wright was required to return to Montreal to obtain the necessary documents, and was able to reassure the Indians that the timber was being cut merely to house the settlers. The weapons, which were in evidence, were for their protection from wild animals and for hunting. Much to his surprise and pleasure Wright was adopted by the Indians, Receiving the title of "The White Chief of the Ottawa". ²

One wonders what were the thoughts of the two chiefs at the wholesale stripping of the forested land which followed so shortly afterwards in response to the demands of Britain for Canadian timber.

Settlement Spreads

There was, in the early settlement days, a situation akin to the English "lord of the manor" concept where Philemon Wright was looked upon as "The Squire". Indeed, he was at times called by that sobriquet. As a matter of fact, most lands granted were made through him because of the capital he was able to invest. He, in his capacity as land agent, was the key to whom intending settlers turned.

Resulting from the land grants, and purchases by the few who were in the fortunate position to be able to do so, the original settlement in a few years started to spread; at first slowly then with gathering momentum, as addtional New Englanders joined their friends. The troubled times in Ireland brought a sizeable influx of immigrants from that country, leavened by a sprinkling from the rest of the United Kingdom. French Canadians, who were, of course, already in this country began a slow infiltration into the area.

This led to the establishment of new communities to the east of Wright's Town, at Pointe Gatineau, Templeton, Limbour and Farmer's Rapids, the last so named because a wealthy Englishman with the name of Farmer brought his family, friends, servants, along with all their chattels, in a rented ship, to settle there. The move north saw the development of Ironside, called thus because it was the shipping point for the nearby iron mines. Ironside later became the piling place for logs. Chelsea and Wakefield were both part of the move northwards, as was Cantley on the east side of the Gatineau River.

The spread westwards is of historic interest because the Indians, and subsequently, the voyageurs, had used a trail there as a portage for their canoes past the Deschenes Rapids for centuries. Philemon Wright had seen the need for a depot about eight miles west of his settlement where farmers could bring their grain for milling at his grist mill in Hull. He decided to build a road to the depot, the old portage trail not being practical, because of its ups and downs and its many twists and turns. As Wright had paid for the road, he instituted a charge for its use. This involved a toll gate, and the practice was to turn the pike or pole placed across the road to allow passage through, once the toll had been paid. Such roads were called turnpikes. Wright named his new depot, appropriately, Turnpike End. Later, Charles Symmes, nephew of Wright, moved to the depot and developed a village there. Because the new community was a point of embarkation for steamer travel, then coming into vogue, it was dubbed Symmes Landing - the. steamers used to dock at the hotel Symmes had built at the river's edge. Still later the community became Aylmer, named after an early Governor-in-Chief (Governor-General).

The Economy

Timber and farming were the mainstays of the economy for the greater part of the 19th Century. There were, in addition, a number of secondary industries. For example iron, mica, lead, tin, and even marble were discovered and mined. The returns from capital invested in the mines depended on variables; the extent of the deposits, ease of extraction, available markets and transportation costs, to mention a few. The small community bearing the name Ironside reflects the type of mining for which it was a shipping point. Ironside, incidentally, was used as a log piling ground. This community was important because self-propelled vessels could reach that far up the Gatineau River and thus it became a busy little port.

Another small business was the production of potash ³. Although profitable it remained almost a one-man operation. A number of cottage-type industries were practiced, once the needs of their own families were satisfied. These will be dealt with later.

Timbering and lumbering have been well covered by such noted authors as John W. Hughson, Courtney C.J. Bond, Dr. Charlotte Whitton, and others. It is not proposed to echo their narratives, but to turn instead to the topic of farming generally, and in particular, as it related to Chelsea and vicinity.

The farms which surrounded the burgeoning village consisted of land grants acquired through arrangements with Philemon Wright, in his capacity as land agent, and later with his heirs. Land could also be purchased by those with sufficient cash to pay for it, or by the barter system, especially when ready money was not always at hand.

Depending, more or less, on the luck of the draw, the land transaction could be very much a "pig-in-the-poke" deal. One lot might be covered with red or white pine or both, in any case a prime harvest. A second lot could be rocky, with little soil to support the raising of any type of edible crops. These would be used chiefly for grazing or haying purposes. A third lot could be so swampy it would take a major effort to drain it. Combinations and variations of all three were not uncommon. The lots granted were usually of 200 acres per head of family, but could, and did, vary both upwards and downwards. A person could own more than one lot, either adjacent or separated by intervening lots owned by others. Many a lot changed hands, being bartered for nothing more than a pair of good boots or a calf. Land was so plentiful at the time that a dollar could buy an acre.

Before a settler came into full possession of land through a grant, the terms of the deal required a commitment to erect an accommodation for living quarters and the clearing of trees from a certain acreage, preparatory to the planting and harvesting of cash crops. A time limit was set and became part of the agreement.

Not all persons granted land intended to occupy or develop it. In some cases the grantee disposed of the land to another person who took on the commitment. Others receiving grants, for one reason or another, ignored the deal, and, in consequence, the property eventually came into the possession of someone else.

Down On The Farm

Life on the farm was stern and demanding for the settlers as they struggled for their very existence. First came the task of providing shelter for themselves and their domestic animals. For the most part, the needed material was right at hand. All that was required were strong arms, an axe or two, and the know-how. Even the lack of spikes and nails presented little or no problem, as the structures were fitted together by an ingenious system of joints and hardwood pegs. Chinking against wintery blasts was a matter of using clay, hammered into place with a mat of hay or moss, also readily available. To this was sometimes added a surrounding bank of earth or sawdust. The floor was generally of earth, but sometimes a layer of logs, with their topsides hewed flat, would be added. The fireplace, which supplied both heat and a cooking place, was a crude affair with a simple exhaust for the smoke. The smoke exit consisted of a hole in the roof or a makeshift chimney of logs and clay, the latter practice having been used for many years in New England, as a temporary expedient. ⁴ These first shelters were rough and ready, being constructed initially of round logs. As time passed they were replaced by better buildings, either of squared timber or sawn lumber. It was the establishment of the sawmills which provided the boards and planks used in later construction. Nails and spikes were made by the local blacksmith or were obtained from Hull or Montreal as were other metal objects before a blacksmith's shop was instituted.

Some prodigious journeys, on foot, on horseback or by canoe were made by settlers, to procure tools, foodstuffs, seed grain and other scarce commodities, from sources which were often many miles away. Many an odyssey was also undertaken, by both men and women and even older children, to dispose of surplus home products at markets, which might consist of a single habitation or a market place in the nearest community.

As trees were felled, either for local consumption or for the trade, the ground where the trees had grown was used for edible crops, these being sown between the stumps, the latter being burned for making potash. Sometimes the stumps were removed by teams of horses or oxen making it easier to plough. Often ingenious devices were invented and constructed to remove stubborn stumps and huge boulders. Stones of all sizes were dragged on stone boats to the edges of the property to form loose stone walls. The low stone walls were heightened, at times, by adding wood railings, usually of cedar. The tree roots themselves were sometimes dragged into rows to serve as a type of fencing. Fencing was erected not only for keeping herds and flocks from straying but also in an endeavour to keep out predatory animals.

There was a multitude of daily and seasonal chores to be accomplished on the farm: everything from fashioning a wooden plough blade, feeding and watering the livestock, feeding the poultry and gathering the eggs, constructing a chair, spinning wool, cooking meals and so on. To perform these, and to meet other challenges, large families were the fashion, or perhaps a necessity, the sons being built-in labour to help father in the fields, the bush or the farmyard. The daughters of the family were mother's helpers in the kitchen, the vegetable plot and looking after the toddlers. The older girls did not shirk from sharing the chores of their brothers in the yard and fields. Some daughters, if born with a "green thumb", became understudies for their mothers in the herb plot or corner. The herb garden provided the ingredients for an amazing list of remedies for ailments and injuries which plagued man and beast.

Unfortunately, with the large family came attrition in the form of diseases which did not respond to mother's remedies and which sometimes resulted in death. Likewise, accidents, at times, proved fatal to those who suffered them, or resulted in a crippling disability which would have to be borne for a lifetime. There 'were few practitioners of medicine-the Rev. Asa Meech being one. Consequently much was left to the care of the women, especially those skilled in midwifery, when occasion demanded the latter.

Despite these vicissitudes, or perhaps because of them, most families survived the first years, and life, as time passed, became slightly less demanding. By mid-century some of the farm chores, depending upon the season, were transformed into party affairs or "bees". These were, according to one lady of some eighteen summers, in a letter to her 15 1/2 year old girl friend; corn husking bees, quiltings and apple parings, culminating in dances or simple playacting. To these may be added maple-sugarings, barn raisings, berry picking parties and other operations made easier by many hands to perform, all in an atmosphere of fun and laughter. Neighbours were good neighbours indeed.

The mid 1800's saw a measure of time for everybody which could be used for more leisurely pursuits, without neglecting the customary chores. Artisans, and those artistically inclined, carne into their own, producing works of art, which while pleasant, and often beautiful to look upon, were articles designed to serve a useful purpose. Many males of the household were skilled with wood-working tools and produced articles of furniture and other furnishings, a number of which replaced the earlier crude make-shifts which had to serve while the task of survival had first call on their time and energies.

The women and girls were, for the most part, adept in what may be termed womanly aptitudes. Sewing, stitchery, knitting, tatting and needlepoint were amongst their skills. Some of their creations of a century and a half ago have been handed down from generation to generation and are still a joy to behold and to wonder at. In baking, cookery and other culinary skills, in which they were well versed, the ladies produced appealing triumphs of their arts-appealing not only to the eye and the nose, but to the palate. It is likely that to-day's bake and handcraft sales, along with church suppers and other kindred events are directly descended from the earlier skills of grandmothers and great-grandmothers. All this is not to say that sex divided the skills. Many a man has produced a creditable meal and the women have created many useful articles of household furnishing. Both sexes took to sketching and painting, and unless one was in the know, poems and other writings could not be attributed to one sex or the other.

As chores became less burdensome leaving time for more leisurely inclinations, especially in the springtime, when "faint heart never won fair lady", it is not surprising that the farmer's son walked - or, if he was in a hurry, which he generally was - rode over to do a little courting of one of the neighbour's daughters. A glance at an 1875 map of Old Chelsea and its environs demonstrates the intermarriages of neighbours with neighbours.

Mention has been made of the ever-present chores around the farm. Herewith a brief list which will undoubtedly evoke memories, or may be entirely new to some of the younger readers. Can you remember?

filling the woodbox	stooking hay
dumping the ashes	churning ice cream
turning the whetstone	shearing sheep
repairing a whippletree	digging a well
making a rag mat	setting traps
making candles	killing the Christmas Turkey or goose
helping to fill the ice house,	sharpening the axe or kitchen knives
or bringing in a block of ice	bringing in the cows for milking

It must not be construed that farming was on an equal footing, economically, with timbering and lumbering, but rather that they went hand-in-hand. For example, the farms provided the hay for the horses used in hauling out the logs ready for the spring drives down the creeks and rivers. The horses themselves were reared on the farms, being sold to the lumber companies for use in the bush, or if not sold the horses were hired, with their owners or drivers. Then again, the farms were sources of manpower, as the men on the farms turned to the timber trade during the winter months.

The rocky nature of the countryside limited the number of productive cash crops. The mixed farming practised was usually able to provide for the family in the matter of food and clothing. Surplusses, as has been noted, were of course disposed of for a profit. Some of the products which fitted this category to a greater or lesser extent were honey, butter, jams, jellies, apples, vegetables, berries, bread and pastry, meats from domesticated or wild animals, shot or trapped, eggs, chickens, ducks, geese, lamb, mutton and wool from the sheep, and tanned leather. Flax and hemp were both grown, and even whiskey was distilled. In fact the "bees", earlier mentioned, were not complete without this liquid refreshment being served. At times too much was imbibed and things got a little out of hand. In 1851 the Sons of Temperance was organized. Subscribers were expected to take the pledge, abstaining from consuming alcoholic drinks, excepting for wine and beerbeer was banned a short time later.

There was little cash in circulation in the early days of settlement. What coins there were in one's pocket could be a strange mixture of British sovereigns and half sovereigns, American dollars, as well as French and Spanish currency. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that a system of bartering prevailed.

A visit to Upper Canada Village gives a good indication of life on the farm in the mid or late 1800's allowing for differences of location.

The Chelseas

To understand the positioning of most communities in the western part of Quebec, the two "W's", water and wood, were of paramount importance in the days of settlement. The rivers, streams and brooks were routes along which logs were sent to the mills. These·water "roads" also served as a means of canoe travel for human beings in the summer, and in winter their frozen surfaces became unobstructed trails for travel by sleigh. It should be remembered that roads and highways, as we know them to-day, were creations of the future, unknown to those who lived in the first quarter of the 19th Century. First came the walking and horseback trails which wound their ways through the thick woods and bush, always seeking lines of least resistance. These passages were often widened and improved to take wheeled traffic, by the judicious placing of wooden bridges and the use of earth and stone fill in the gullies. Such road work was designed to afford more direct routes for horses and oxen drawing loads; although oxen were not used much after 1830, even for ploughing. A day's travel by horses, with a full load being drawn, was about ten or twelve miles.

Two stories will suffice to illustrate the problems of travel in the mid 1800's. While the tales involve two brothers Chamberlin, sons of Josiah and Sophia (Frost) Chamberlin, there is no connection between the stories.

The older brother, Charles Waters, living in Old Chelsea, on being interviewed, at the age of a hundred or more, told the reporter that he remembered, from his boyhood, the journey to Hull and back as an overnight affair. He recalled that on the return trip, upon reaching the bottom of Christie Wright's hill (Christopher C. Wright lived at the top of the hill-the hill which later was known as Mile Hill) the loads had to be taken off and skidded up by chains. In describing this obstruction to smooth travel the old gentleman said "The long hill was much steeper than now" (1924). The whole road was, at first, only a sort of trail through the thick bush. One had to wind around stumps and pick the best spots. Nobody ever dreamed of getting home the same day they started when they went to Wright's Town or By town".

Water's youngest brother, Albert, lived with his wife, Jennie (Doxie) and family, in a house which stood, and still stands, at the junction of Highway 11/105 and the Scott Road, (N.C.C. Heritage No. H14-132.) In their time there was only a bush trail between their home and Old Chelsea. Chamberlin marked a line of trees with strips of white cloth, from their home to the village, so that Jennie could find her way when she visited relatives or the store in Old Chelsea.

The second "W" - wood - was used, as we have seen, not only as a product for sale, but to provide shelter both for humans and domestic animals, in the form of houses, barns and stables, etc. on the farms, and to a lesser extent in the villages.

Where there was water power to run either sawmills or gristmills, and often both, a community generally evolved. This is what happened at Chelsea prior to 1825 when Thomas Brigham, one of Philemon Wright's sons-in-law, had Josiah Chamberlin ⁵ (father of the two brothers, of earlier mention) erect both types of mil)s, on his property, on the Chelsea creek.

Naming Chelsea

Josiah Chamberlin was one of the four millwright brothers who set up Philemon Wright's mills. Upon compietion of the job he elected to remain in Canada, settling at Kirk's Ferry.

Two men early associated with the village have each been credited with naming it "Chelsea". The one is the above Thomas Brigham, and the second was Thomas Brigham Prentiss, an uncle-nephew team, both from Chelsea, Vermont. Prentiss ran a store and post office in Old Chelsea for some years prior to both operations being transferred down the road, to new quarters constructed to receive them in the newer Chelsea which was slowly developing about the mid 1800's.

As the second half of the century opened changes and development were gradually taking place. The first signs of the 19th Century "urban sprawl" were observed in the area, as the tempo of lumbering increased on the Gatineau River's lower reaches.

In 1832, the Gatineau Privilege, a timber cutting permit, was granted by the Crown Timber Office to Tiberius, Ruggles and Christopher Columbus Wright, sons of Philemon Wright, who himself was busy as a member of parliament at Quebec City at the time. Each of the brothers was permitted to take out 2000 pieces of red pine annually, on the Gatineau River. In addition, Peter Aylen ⁶ and Thomas McGoey were also permitted to cut 2000 sticks, by the same privilege. In 1835 the Gatineau Privilege was re-negotiated to bring in two Hawkesbury partners, George Hamilton and C.A. Low. (It is possible that the latter's name was used for the village near the Paughan Falls). At the same time the permit was extended to operate until the autumn of 1843. Things were on the move, on the Gatineau River, which would have an effect on communities adjacent to the river.

In the summer of 1839, the old squire, Philemon Wright, breathed his last; Philemon Junior, his oldest son, had died as a result of a coaching accident in 1821 - Abigail Wyman, Philemon Senior's wife had died 10 years before her husband. Two years later, in 1841 (the year of union between the two Canadas, east and west), Tiberius died. He was followed in another two years by his brother Christopher Columbus. The Wright stars which had shone so brightly for so many years were gradually twinkling out. This left one brother, Ruggles, who himself was having difficulties with his nephew, Alonzo, son of Tiberius, over property which had come into the possession of the Wrights in earlier years and which was the subject of a number of wills as, one by one, they died.

Alonzo settled on property on the east shore of the Gatineau River, at Limbour, (which had been his father's). In time he was to become a member of parliament, as his grandfather had been before him. He was given the title "King of the Gatineau" in tribute to him and the position he held in the society of the day. He married wealthy Mary Sparks, daughter of Nicholas Sparks, after whom Nicholas and Sparks Streets in Ottawa are named.

As the power and influence of the Wrights dwindled a new name, that of Gilmour, borne by brothers James and Allan, came upon the scene. The Gilmour timber operations were destined to have a profound influence on the Chelsea area and its development, especiaily along the road which extended northward from Hull roughly parallel to the Gatineau River, and to the west of it. The centre of the Gilmour logging interests was the newer Chelsea, about a mile and a half eastward of the logging operations at Old Chelsea, or as it was sometimes called, Upper Chelsea. As Gilmours, and later Gilmour-Hughson, employed a large number of men the face of the newer Chelsea gradually changed as houses were built to be closer to the job. There were a number of hotels and some stores were opened about mid-century.

Between 1850 and 1885 the two Chelseas each came to be served by post offices - and still are, a hundred years later ⁷ - emphasizing an artificial split between the two. Finally the autoroute, constructed in the 1970's, with its humpback bridge on the Chelsea road tends to set the seal on the division. Nowadays Old Chelsea is usually called by that name, but the "New" is generally dropped from the newer Chelsea unless distinction is required to identify one from the other.

The Village of Old Chelsea

The village of Old Chelsea was in the 19th century, and still is, the focal point to which the trails, and later the roads led from the farms which surrounded it.

Situated here were the services which provided what was lacking on the farms. A blacksmith fashioned the ironware: hinges, gate latches, spikes, nails and the many items and tools for farm and bush which the farmer did not have the time or skill to manufacture himself. One looked also to the blacksmith to make ornamental railings to be placed around the graves and plots of departed relatives. The gates at the entranceway of the old Protestant Cemetery reflects the blacksmith's art. A simple cross made of strap iron marks the grave of a departed soul in St. Stephen's Cemetery. An inscription, made with a punch, at one time gave the statistics, but these are rapidly rusting away through the ravages of time and weather.

A tannery prepared leather for making numerous articles - harness and collars for the horses and footwear for the farmer and his family were the run-of-the-mill items (see Appendix D).

The village or general store, usually housing a postal service, carried a plethora of items to satisfy the needs and wants of customers from the farms around and the villagers themselves. It was the meeting place to which people gravitated to pick up their mail, to buy from the selection offered and to stop awhile to socialize with others and perhaps to exchange gossip, remedies, recipes and inevitably to talk about the weather, and depending on the season, the crops being cultivated.

The saw mills and grist mills performed the services usually associated with these operations. Thomas Brigham owned one of each and later Charles Waters Chamberlin had a sawmill on his property.

Another institution was the local hotel, inn or house. The two Chelseas were both well provided with these. While not prime examples of the modern-day Hilton Hotels, with coloured T.V.'s in every room, they were havens or stopping places to which the tired drivers headed their loads at the end of a day's travel of 10 to 12 miles. The animals and their drivers, having been fed, bedded down for the night, the men perhaps sharing the crude accommodation offered by the establishment. It goes without saying that the inns or hotels-which were, for the most part little more than enlarged houses - often purveyed liquid refreshment in their taverns.

Those researching heritage buildings in the Chelseas are faced with problems, in that the majority are of wooden construction and are subject to being destroyed by fire, razed, moved to another site or altered by additions or deletions, with the consequence that the original structure is often not recognizable. Complete records are not always available, sometimes being a patchwork of recorded bits and pieces. Old Chelsea is favoured with a fair collection of heritage buildings, most of which are over a hundred years old. All the researcher is required to do is to gather the pieces and fit them together, as in a jigsaw puzzle, so that a picture is revealed. The following are "word" pictures of the Old Chelsea heritage buildings, some of which no longer exist.

The Dunn Hotel

Letters Patent to Thomas Brigham in 1824 - N.C.C. Heritage No. 14-055

This building was probably constructed of planks from the nearby sawmill before 1875, to serve as a private house. It is believed that Josiah Chamberlin Jr., son of Josiah Chamberlin Sr., was the first occupant. Josiah Sr., one of four millwright brothers, had set up both the gristmill and sawmill on Chelsea Creek for Thomas Brigham.

In 1875, with an addition to increase its size, the one-time residence became an inn, known as the Dunn House or Dunn Hotel named for its new owner Johnny Dunn, a former "driver" on the Gatineau River. Dunn had been in charge of the log drives between Eaton's Chute - where the Gatineau River Yacht Club starts and finishes its races - and Ironside - on the outskirts of Hull.

The Dunn Hotel was one of four hotels in the village, all run by Irishmen. For the next twenty-five years it suffered growing pains, as the structure was changed to meet the needs of passing years. In December of 1900, the inn was destroyed by fire, but was replaced by the present one in the spring of 1901, a carbon copy, with slight differences, of the first one.

The second version was built by Henry and Billy Fleury, a little to the east of where the first had stood, It is entirely covered by tin, which is painted green. The trim is white, contrasting well with the green walls.

Both old and new hotels were noted for their full-length verandahs across their fronts, on two levels of floors. The newer version had its front verandahs extended around the corner and along the west side.

The large wing at the back originally had two large dormitories, reserved almost exclusively for lumbermen. The logging in the area, and consequently the mills, were going full blast. The hotel was a stopping place for both men and teams engaged in the busy operation.

There were large stables for the horses to the west of the inn. There was also a large dining room at the back of the hotel, and the bar did a roaring trade until 1907 when all licensed premises in the municipality were closed.

In 1962 the old hotel was moved back several feet to accommodate a road change. At the same time, a white picket fence was added to enclose the front garden.

When John Dunn died in 1896, his widow carried on with the hotel until the bar was closed in 1907. The Dunns, mother and son, Michael, ran a store and post office in the building. These services ceased in 1920.

The Blacksmith's Shop

A blacksmith's shop was operated by Philip Leppard. Leppard was born in Cowfold, England, on June 23, 1832. There he received his early education, and later was apprenticed to a blacksmith, to learn his life-long trade. Young and ambitious, he heeded the call to emigrate, his choice being Canada.

Upon coming to Old Chelsea he soon recognized that there was a place for his training and skills. The lumbermen, farmers and miners all required his services.

Leppard set up his 20' x 30' frame shop on the south side of the Chelsea Road, about opposite the old school built in the 1920's which, in the 1980's, serves as a library. Apparently he had to shore up his property with a retaining stone wall, as it was close to a gully. The shop faced north, with big double doors at the front, and large windows in the east and west sides. It was roofed with hand-riven shingles.

Inside the lighting was by coal oil lanterns. The fireplace was an ample 6' x 4'. The bellows, anvil and bench vice were the largest available. The shop was designed to accommodate teams of two horses. Leppard constructed his own rest for the horse's foot from a sturdy tree trunk, but at times, when his "customer" became fractious, he would be required to hold the foot between his knees-hence the vertical split in the middle of a blacksmith's leather apron. Hanging on the walls were several pairs of various sizes of horseshoes, all made up, waiting to be fitted and calked to suit each horse.

Philip Leppard was known for his work on iron, turning his skills to the manufacture of implements and tools of that metal. He was also noted for his sharpening of steel-edged tools. At times he entered the field of woodworking, at which he was also adept.

The blacksmith's shop became the focus of the men of the village, who made it a rendezvous while watching the smith at work. Discussion and arguments on manifold subjects took place in the warmth generated by the fire and the body heat of the animals. At times the blacksmith presented his personal views, and although Leppard was only of average stature, his muscles and the pounding of his hammer on the anvil, to emphasize a point, saw him prevailing in any argument.

Generally the shop was closed on Sundays and other religious holidays, unless it was to shoe a horse for a doctor. In Leppard's later years he would put a set of eight shoes, up to size 6, on a team, for $2.40. He would also remove a shoe, reset it, trim the hoof and reapply the shoe, all for .15¢ per hoof.

Philip married Mary Ann Bradley, an Old Chelsea girl, born July 8, 1834. They had seven sons and five daughters. The couple were well suited to each other. Philip was a man of good humour, loving and generous. He cultivated massive flower and vegetable gardens and delighted in this hobby. Mary was known as an "angel", for the numerous acts of kindness shown to the sick and troubled in mind, in the area. The Leppards and their children attended the Methodist Church in the newer Chelsea, being devout Christians.

Philip Leppard died, aged 76, on Easter Sunday morning, April 11, 1909, at his home. He was buried in the Protestant cemetery, at Old Chelsea, a few yards from his shop.

The property and buildings were passed on to one of the sons, Hartley, born Dec. 3, 1882. Hartley did not claim to be a blacksmith, as his work had been, up to then, in a mica mine. Nevertheless he had learned the smith's trade from his father and decided to keep the shop open, but this service was not to include the shoeing of horses. Like his father before him, Hartley was skillful in all kinds of ironwork, the fashioning and repair of tools used both in lumbering and on the farm.

Hartley Leppard married Allison Lang, and raised a family of four, one daughter and three sons. Hartley passed away at the comparative early age of 43, on June 6, 1925. He, too, was buried in the Protestant cemetery at Old Chelsea. It is sad to reflect that no memorial commemorates the lives of such worthy inhabitants in the area.

Perhaps it is unfortunate that the Leppards' blacksmith's shop was removed from the local scene, thus denying future generations of children the enchantment of stopping at the open doors on the way home from school, attracted by the cherry redness of the fire, and perhaps to be allowed a turn at the handle of the bellows. Children, and adults too, were in awe of what the smith could fashion from strips of iron strapping in front of their amazed eyes. Today's youngsters may have never absorbed the smells created by the application of hot iron to the hooves of living animals - horses and oxen - and the odours of the animals themselves. They may have never heard the sounds of the smith's hammer on the anvil and the heated metal being wrought; neither have they experienced the sizzling which arose from plunging hot metal into a nearby tub of water.

As a postscript, it is interesting that a grandson of Philip Leppard, Clayton Benedict, of South Hull, a few years ago came into proud possession of his grandsire's gold watch and chain, complete with winding key.

Longfellow, the American poet wrote a poem about the village blacksmith, one verse of which goes like this:

"And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door
They love to see the flaming forge
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor."

The Tannery

Operated by Seldon Church in Old Chelsea where he first lived in the mid 1800's. Ed Ryan, who was Secretary-Treasurer of the Council for West Hull for a number of years, indicates that although the tannery was indeed constructed, it was never operated to any extent.

The road to the tannery was about opposite Dean's Hotel, and led to the Chelsea Creek as it curled past the southern side of the Protestant cemetery, on its way to enter the Gatineau River.

It is perhaps surprising that the tannery did not amount to much, as the main ingredients - water and hemlock bark - were present in plentiful supply. The problem could have been the scarcity of hides to be tanned.

There were successful tanneries at Hull, Bouchette, Maniwaki and Gracefield. That at Bouchette operated for twenty years or more. (see Appendix D)

Padden House

This house was probably the later home of the Padden family headed by Thomas Padden (1856-1943) and his wife, the former Julia O'Meara (1867-1945). The Paddens had apparently lived previously in the Kingsmere Mountain area.

Their home was situated about midway on the east side of what had been designated on an early map as North Street. The map outlining lots and road allowances also shows the present Scott Road as Peel Street.

While the Padden House was razed and removed some time between 1975 and 1985 - it had stood abandoned for some years - the Padden name persists in the side road which passes in front of where the family home had been.

Dean's Hotel

Letters Patent to Thomas Brigham 1824 - N.C.C. Heritage No. 014-001

The original building consisted of a 16' x 20' structure of logs. In the 1870's, a 24' x 38' front portion was added, in a framed barn style. Eventually the log portion was removed. Front and side verandas were built. These too were modified from time to time as the edifice was adapted to serve different purposes.

At one time, the building sported a new brick overcoat, induding a brick chimney. During the course of years, the bricks were painted white. It has been said more than once that the paint was the only thing that held the old place together.

It is remarkable that not even staid old Ottawa can boast both a tin house - the Dunn House - and a brick house - the Dean House, as separate units, in the last quarter of the 20th Century that still serve after more than one hundred years as places of shelter and sustenance for mankind, and, furthermore, positioned a few yards from each other. To these may be added a third hotel, now disguised as the Parkway General Store. These Old Chelsea pensioners simply refuse to take their retirement.

In 1875 Ed Dean (1840-1898), whose wife, Annie Blake (1846-1874) and infant son, Thomas, had both died the year before, ran the place as a hotel. Many of the West Hull Council Meetings were held at Dean's inn, for which he received .75¢ per meeting. It was at one of the council's gatherings that Dean offered a portion of his property as a place for the contemplated new municipal hall. This happened on Sept. 6, 1875, and apparently the offer was gratefully received. By the following June the council was sitting in the new hall for its deliberations.

In 1893 a bylaw was passed limiting the number of taverns in Old Chelsea to one, presumably Dunn's Hotel, but business carried on through the back door - obviously Dean wasn't Dunn. The lines were longer here on Sunday mornings than they were up on the hill, at St. Stephen's for communion. Father Carriere, and after him, Father McNally pushed for prohibition to keep their parishioners. Consequently in 1907, with the connivance of some of the more mature citizenry of the day, the municipality voted against liquor, by public referendum.

Shortly after prohibition, John Grimes bought the place and rented it to a succession of families: In 1920 Grimes sold it to Billy Trudeau, who with his wife, Fanny Aubin, ran a store in the building until 1930. It was William Trudeau who preserved the gravestones of Thomas Wright and Rev. Asa Meech by setting them in concrete in the Protestant Cemetery. Surely the act of a public-spirited citizen was performed by this gentleman. Billy Trudeau was followed at the store by one of his sons who operated a restaurant in the old hotel. He in turn was followed by others who attempted to make a living by a snack bar operation,

At the time of writing (1986), the building was completely remodelled and received the name "Chelseas Restaurant,"

Sweeney's Hotel

This building may have been the subject of more metamorphosis than any other in Old Chelsea, It is possible it may be the place where Thomas Brigham Prentiss operated his store and post office, from 1830 to 1843, although no documentation has been discovered to substantiate this.

If the above theory is accepted there is a 32 year gap, between 1843 and 1875, which cannot be accounted for by any written record. In 1875 it is known that there was a tavern here operated by John Sweeney.

John Sweeney was a member of the McSweeney family which came from Cork, Ireland. Here is another instance where there was a change in surname, the "Mc" being often dropped. In 1864 John married Helen (or Ellen) O'Neil. Mary, their daughter, worked in the bar, serving beer over the counter at .05¢ a glass. Lizzie Durbridge, who was an English girl married to Mary's brother, worked across the road at Dunn's Hotel as a cook and waitress.

As well as being a tavern keeper, John Sweeney was a coachman for Gilmour's Mills in the newer Chelsea. He used to drive John Mather, the manager, to visit the logging shanties. Sweeney also brought the mail to Old Chelsea from the train station at the newer Chelsea. John and his wife are remembered for their habit of sitting on the veranda on summer evenings both smoking their pipes.

Sweeney ran a store here for a period, and then the place was turned over to Jack Hendrick, who sold it to Joseph Bilodeau. Bilodeau tore out the old kitchen and built living quarters at the back. The old building has been a store and post office periodically since that time. The store was then sold to Ronald Donovan who operated both store and post office from 1943 to 1948. Once again there were alterations, as Donovan had apartments built upstairs, also changing the stairs in the front hallway to the far right.

In 1948 Gerry Murphy bought the store and remained there as storekeeper and postmaster for the next 19 years at which time the Fisets bought it. After the Fisets came Bob and June Dompierre who have continued to serve in the store, with June being the postmaster, for the last ten years. The store was sold, in 1986, to Bob Dompierre's brother who after a six month trial returned it to Bob and June.

Whittaker's Hotel & The Allen Home

Before 1875, Whittaker's Hotel, a squared log building, was located on the Corner of the Scott and Chelsea Roads. There was another private house, also of wood construction, which stood next to the hotel on the same corner. This private home was occupied by the Allens, one of the families who came from New England with the Wright party.

Both buildings disappeared and the corner stood vacant until the "gatehouse", from Gilmour's Mills in the newer Chelsea, was moved to the site in 1926. It was moved by Tom Padden who was the watchman for the Gatineau Power Company which had taken over the area previously occupied by the Gilmour operation.

An interesting story about Whittaker's was related by Isobel (Lyd) Ryan in the 1979 issue of "Up the Gatineau!" ...."An 89 year old man, named Kennedy, of Allumette Island, told the story that his father's wedding party was at Whittaker's, and that he and his bride were driven out from Ottawa in the Governor General's carriage which was for rent when not required for official purposes."

Chamberlin's Big & Little Houses

These two framed houses, the Little House, on the corner of the Padden Road and the Scott Road, and the Big House, next to it, were built as cottages by the Chamberlins prior to 1875.

The Big House was built first and was owned by John Chamberlin, a younger brother of Josiah Jr. and Charles Waters. A still younger brother Albert Chamberlin owned a house at the junction of the Scott Road and Highway 105. It was Albert who marked the trees to keep his wife on the trail between their home and Old Chelsea.

In 1861 John Chamberlin married Angela Wyatt Allen. The Aliens lived in a house - gone by 1900 - on the corner of the Chelsea and Scott Roads, next to Whittaker's Hotel - also gone. This marriage is not surprising seeing that the two principals lived less than a hundred yards apart.

The Little House was built some time after the larger one, but before 1875. It was a smaller version of the Big House and except for size they were twins. This building was rented to summer tenants for many years.

Mrs. Chamberlin is remembered in the village as a widow, living with her youngest daughter, Hattie, and her granddaughter, Myrtle Laura, whom she raised following the death of the girl's mother. The neighbourhood children called Mrs. Angela Chamberlin "Aunt Jelly", which seems appropriate.

Hattie Chamberlin was quite the belle in her day. She was married in the Big House.

Both houses were bought by the Murphy boys, Paddy and Johnny, around 1910. They were the sons of James Murphy, who was born in County Wexford, Ireland, in 1832, and his wife Mary Barrett. The Murphy homestead in Kingsmere was a well-known boarding house at the time. A third son, Willy, was the celebrated stagecoach driver who transported many a cottager to and from the train station at the newer Chelsea.

Paddy Murphy and his wife Anastasia (nee Welch) with their children, lived in the Little House. Paddy was noted for his fine stonework throughout the Mackenzie King estate.

Johnny Murphy and his wife, Lottie (nee Elizabeth Charlotte Joyce) with their nine children occupied the Big House.

The property at the rear of both houses extended to the Padden Road where it runs north and south. The lawns were immaculately kept, as lawn bowling was the favoured weekend sport.

The smaller of the two houses - or cottages - was remodelled and winterized in the 1960's. The former verandah was removed and the ivorycoloured clapboard was replaced by stucco. The Big House remained the way it had been for many years and was still in the Murphy family's possession at last report. The former carriage house set back from the Big House is now a utility shed.

O'Meara House

Letters patent recorded in the name of Thomas Brigham, 1824 - N.C.C. Heritage No. D14-372

This house, of squared logs, stands on the corner of the Scott and Padden Roads. It was built before 1875, and a 1911 photograph shows that it was whitewashed in those days.

O'Meara is the first name associated with this building. It is understood that John O'Meara (c1835-1892) and his wife Mary Quinn (c1840-1910) moved from the mountain ridge and lived here. Their nieces were Julia, who married Tom Padden, and Bridget, who married Jack Reynolds. In the 1875 collection roll, John O'Meara is listed as a labourer.

A Burke family lived here next. They may be related to Thomas Burke (c1841-1899), the lumberman who came from Ireland in the 1860's and settled on the Mountain Road.

A succession of families occupied the building after the O'Mearas and Burkes - The Keogans about 1908-1912, Hugh and Essie Fitzpatrick came about 1912. In 1928 it became the Old Chelsea Post Office, with Grace Welsh in charge. Grace also had a tearoom, and served meals by reservation. The Dunlops came next, and in 1966 Malcolm McEwen and his wife Dorothy Trudeau. In 1971 it was sold to Dieter Meynecht and wife Sheila Dwyer. Currently, it is occupied by the operator of L'Agaric restaurant, on the corner of the Scott and Chelsea Roads (the old Gatehouse).

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Supscripts

1.	The Chelseas in Vermont, Massachusetts and elswhere derive from the London Chelsea.
2.	The title of a novel by a Wright descendant, Bertha (Wright) Carr-Harris, 1903
3.	"until about the middle of the last century most of the world's potash was obtained from wood ashes. The ashes sometimes mixed with lime were leached with water and the resultant liquid was evaporated to dryness in cast iron pots. It was used in soap and was an excellent fertilizer.
4.	The Rev. J.L. Gourlay describes such a fireplace and chimney in his "History of tne Ottawa Valley" - 1896 pp 47 & 48: "Chimneys were very wide and low, causing free circulation of air, pure and wholesome, they had such a fine draught. If a stone could be found large enough to stand on the ground against the wall, it was set up; if not a piece of thin wall was built with stones and blue clay mortar to keep the fire from the logs or wall of the building. Then, two crooked cedars were got and the ends pointed or thinned to drive into the chinks between the logs on each side of the stone work. The other ends pinned to the beam across the house about four feet in from the end wall. Cedars were cut to length for these laths from one side to the other. The first lath was laid in a good bed of clay mortar on the stone work on the back. Then the cedars flatted a little on their upper side, had a bed of mortar laid on and laths cut laid on them across the lath on the back; some of them nailed in the end to the crooked cedars, laid in plenty of mortar. When they reached to the level of the highest ends of these crooked cedars with the three sides or back and two sides they laid a lath in mortar on the beam and formed the fourth side. So they built the chimney which they called a fireplace till they got above the scoops. The substitute they made for hair in the mortar was cut straw or beaver meadow hay, cut with the axe on a block sometimes pounded to make it the more pliable. The back was kept straight with the house wall but the other three sides were drawn in so that from five or six feet wide at the bottom it could end in three by two feet at the top. The mortar was laid to give three quarters of an inch on the inside of the laths, and made smooth to be safe. They often caught fire but a cup of water thrown against it generalIy extinguished it.
5.	Josiah Chamberlin was one of the four millwright brothers who set up Philemon Wright's mills. Upon compietion of the job he elected to remain in Canada, settling at Kirk's Ferry.
6.	Peter Aylen had come to Canada, in 1815, as a 16 year-old. He grew into a rough tough timber man. He married Ellen Ferris in 1821. He died in 1861.
7.	Postal service at Old Chelsea ceased on July 1, 1986

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Appendix