Eastern Townships of Quebec - A Brief Historical Background

I was born and raised in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. My family roots go back very far in this area. Understanding the historical background of this region is essential in the research of our family tree.

Basically, the foundation of English speaking Canada really starts after the American War of Independence, ending in 1783. During the period of 1783-1784, ten of thousands of those loyal to the British Crown left the new United States of America and settled in Canada - mainly in the Maritimes and Ontario. As for the Eastern Townships, those who came from the United States much later into this regions were NOT United Empire Loyalists. Rather, these Americans were known as the "late Loyalists." They came for different reasons other than loyalty to the British Crown.

In 1791, two new provinces were formed in British North America: Upper Canada (Ontario), and Lower Canada (Quebec). The original inhabitants of the Eastern Townships, the Abenaki First Nations people, were very few in number, having been decimated by diseases carried by Europeans. At this time, the total population of Eastern Townships was about 2,000 souls, most of whom were Americans who settled in thinking that they were living in Vermont. They had no idea they had travelled beyond the US border into a foreign country.

The British, observing these wayward Americans settling into this region, and wanting to absorb the French speaking culture of Lower Canada into an English speaking world, decided to encourage more American settlement into the region. Thus, the Eastern Townships were surveyed to provide more systematic settlement, and this surveying into township divisions is what gave the region its name.

Each township was approximately 10 miles by 10 miles. Further surveying divided each township into land areas averaging about 200 acres. The surveying was accomplished by 1793, and the Stanstead Township, being on the border with Vermont, was one of the first townships settled by the American immigrants.

One of the complaints by the 13 Colonies prior to the the American War of Independence was that they wanted more land to settle but the British would not allow them to go beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The Americans, even after winning their independence, and still being land hungry, would rather settle in land nearby rather than going west for hundreds of miles into the Ohio River valley. The Eastern Townships of Lower Canada was ideal for them. All they had to do was put up with British rule again, and for many, this was of little consequence.


At the time, although the land was fully surveyed, the Eastern Townships was truly a pioneer area. Although land acquired through grants was attractive, this regions was, to say the least, quite untamed. It was more or less completely forested and mountainous. The climate was harsh particularly in the winter months, and there were no infrastructures built such as roads, bridges, etc. In fact, it was a very long time before roads were even built, nonetheless maintained, and this was a major complaint by Townships inhabitants for decades.


The American settlers who first came here were essentially pioneers, using technology not that far removed from medieval methods for clearing land and tilling soil. Only the courageous, naive, or deluded came to claim their free land.


By 1825, when the Erie Canal in the US was finally completed, this spelled the end of American immigration to the Townships. However, by that time, the British were then encouraging immigration from the UK, which started around 1820. From the UK, mainly the Irish and Scots came, with promises that the climate in the Townships was like that in the south of France and that the rivers were excellent for transportation - both terrible lies. At least the Americans had no such misconceptions when coming to the Townships, but many of the UK immigrants left in complete despair finding this free land contained in a climate so harsh, and wherein transportation through the area was next to impossible via any method. Even though the UK pioneers were given free land, free farm implements, and free food for a year, it mattered very little. Only the very tough and stubborn stayed.


In 1850, the British encouraged the French Canadians to move into the Townships, and by 1870, they became the majority of the population. But prior to 1850, the Eastern Townships was an entirely English speaking region of Canada. It was in these first 60 years that my relatives came from the US and from the UK.

Our American Ancestors Arrive in Canada

[This is an extract from Forests and Clearings: The History of Stanstead County, the Province of Quebec, by B.F. Hubbard (1874), pages 39-41 - my own commentary of this extract is provided for further explanation, in italics.]


THE MARLOW SETTLEMENT

In 1799, John Gustin, jun., Elisha Miller, Wm. Lanphier, John Gustin, sen., Josiah Gustin, and Abijah Mack, of Marlow, N.H., made a tour through the woods, a distance of 150 miles to Stanstead, and, after examination, decided upon locating near the Lake Shore. They had brought apple seeds, and planted three nurseries: one at Magog Point, one on No. 9, 4th Range, and the other on No. 6, 6th Range. Several fine orchards were afterwards produced from them.

[Lake Shore refers to Lake Memphremagog. The area that they found to settle is currently known as Marlington.]

In March, 1800, John Gustin, jun., Abijah Mack, and Elisha Miller, returned again to Stanstead with a two-horse team, loaded with farming implements and other necessaries. They were followed by Caleb White and Dexter White. These five put up a shanty which they occupied together until Fall.

[Caleb White is my 4th great grandfather, and Dexter White is his brother, my 4th great granduncle. At the time, Caleb was around 23 years of age, and Dexter was about 15. Caleb and his wife Martha, had their first child in March of 1800 - Roswell.]


Having found that there were several unclaimed lots in the vicinity of their encampment, they agreed that, before exploring, the choice of the different parties should be determined by lot. The numbers were then put into a hat and drawn. It was somewhat remarkable that every one was pleased with the lot that had fallen to him.
In the meantime these pioneers had purchased a yoke of oxen, a cow and a grindstone in common, and in June began their operations—each beginning a clearing of his own.

[It is quite obvious that these pioneer families all knew each other and trusted one another completely. They all lived in Marlow NH, and they all belonged to the Universalist Church in Marlow.]


They had previously sowed and planted a piece of ground which they had hired on shares, and their share of the crop furnished them with provisions for the ensuing year. In the Fall they secured their harvest, built a log house on the premises of Abijah Mack, and returned to their friends in New Hampshire. The next winter, 1801, Abijah Mack and Elijah Miller moved their families in, and in March following, Caleb and Dexter White returned. They all resumed their labors upon their farms, and were made comfortable in Mr. Mack's cabin.

The Spring was unusually forward. Abijah Mack sowed two bushels of wheat in March. No crop has been sown so early in the Eastern Townships since that time. Their labors that year were rewarded by an abundant harvest. Gustin, Miller and Caleb White built log houses on their own premises. Comfort Carpenter and Simeon Glidden built a grist-mill and a saw mill near the present site of Smith's Factory on Barlow River. Constant White, a millwright from Charlestown, N. H., superintended the work. He settled in Stanstead.

[The Barlow River is now known as the Tomifobia River. Smith's Factory was sometimes called Smith's Mills, and is now called Tomifobia. A grist mill (flour mill), and a saw mill, were the first mill types needed for the pioneers.]

In February, 1802, John Gustin and Caleb White moved their families in. The first part of the winter had been unusually open —no sleighing until the latter part of February. They improved the first fall of snow and started; but a thaw came on and left them on bare ground, almost at the beginning of their journey. The women and children had to walk over many of the rugged hills for which Vermont is distinguished. Mr. Gustin's ox team was thirteen days on the road, and the horse team was eleven days. This long journey served in some measure to render their log cabins acceptable homes. They were pleased with the attentions paid them by their now neighbors who came to welcome them—each seeming desirous of cheering and encouraging them by a particular relation of the difficulties through which they themselves had passed. They soon found that they were all engaged in the same enterprise—that they were placed upon a level and moved as equals, and that their interests were in a great measure identified. Consequently, the early settlers soon became strongly attached to each other, and the foundation of future society was thus gradually formed.

[Note that all their journeys back and forth were in the winter months. Travel in general was always better in the winter time when rivers were frozen over, since no bridges had been built yet. Travel during the warmer months was extremely poor, if not impossible. The first stagecoach lines set up in the Eastern Townships ran only in the winter months.]

In the meantime, Hosea White had come in and made a beginning on the east half of No. 11, 5th Range. In April, 1802, Rufus Lanphier, Daniel Miller, and Benjamin Bingham, settled in the neighborhood. In 1804, Ira Miller settled on No. 7, 4th Range, with his brothers Elisha and Daniel. In 1800, Silas Mack purchased a part of No. 6, 4th Range, on which he located. In after years, his two brothers, Asa and Franklin Mack settled on No. 13, 4th Range. These were the last emigrations from Old Marlow to Stanstead. The name Marlow was given to the settlement as commemorative of the native town of its first settlers.

[Hosea White was a brother to Caleb and Dexter. In the beginning, their community was called Marlow. It was renamed to Marlington later on. It is only a couple of miles from Griffin, previously known as Griffin's Corner. This was where many of the Marlow community moved to later on, including the White family.]

The beginning of the settlement was attended with much prosperity. A log school-house was built in 1805, and in 1817, a new house, much in advance of the times. This house has since been destroyed by fire. For many years the Marlow school ranked among the highest in the Eastern Townships. Many of the teachers of this school are still living, and some of them enjoy high positions in society.

[Note well that the first public building was a schoolhouse. New England was more or less a completely literate society by 1780. This was rare. The only other literate English speaking society that existed around this time was Scotland. England became a literate nation much later. Education was very important to these New Englanders who came to Canada. This particular schoolhouse served as a church for the Marlow community as well in the early days.]

The Marlow settlement comprises an area of about four square miles, extending easterly from the Lake Shore to the Griffin Corner settlement. It contains some thirty or forty neat farm houses, and a school house. The land ranks among the best in the Township.

White-Hunt-Howard Lineage Chart

Our Ancestral Thanksgiving

I now know that this Caleb White, who should be designated as Caleb White, Sr., was the father of Caleb White, Jr., Hosea White, and Dexter White, all sons of his, who were part of the Marlow Settlement in the old Stanstead Township in the very early 1800s. I also know now that this Caleb White, Sr., followed his sons up to Stanstead and settled into the community of Griffin's Corner later on. This invasion, I affectionately call the invasion by the White Tribe, for it was 4 families in total that came here from Marlow NH.

On the tombstone of Caleb White at the Griffin Hill Cemetery are written these words: "Fourth in descent from peregrine White b. on Mayflower, 1620." This was always an intriguing mystery to me, and I would imagine to the many other of my relatives who visited this cemetery. We accepted this statement as fact, but we never really knew the details. Hey, we never even knew who this Caleb White was anyway, but that he was somehow connected to our family.

However, the other thing I know now is that Caleb White, Sr.'s tombstone inscription was wrong. It was not from Peregrine White that our family line comes, but from his brother, Resolved White. Regardless, this White family was one of those Mayflower families. It was an honest mistake on Caleb's part, for Peregrine was equivalent to a Mayflower celebrity. Peregrine was the first Englishman to be born at this Plymouth Rock settlement, in November 1620. His bassinet is one of the few original articles displayed at the Pilgrim Hall Museum, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Peregrine was born on the Mayflower while it was anchored in the harbour, and the Mayflower ship was the home of all the passengers for about 5 months.

Peregrine was Caleb's great granduncle. However, Resolved White, who was 5 years old at the time, was Caleb's great grandfather. This would make Susanna White (nee Fuller), the mother of these two boys, Caleb's 2nd great grandmother. Their father, William White, died that winter along with about half of the passengers on the Mayflower. Let us say this much about the Mayflower passengers, what they endured was hardly a picnic in 1620-21.

There were 102 passengers leaving on the Mayflower. Yet, when the first "Thanksgiving" was celebrated in November of 1621, there were only 53 passengers left of the original 102. Almost half of them died of scurvy or lung disease. Since William White and his two male servants were among those who died during this terrible winter, this made Susanna White, a widow with two very young sons, in a desperate way.

But a recent widower who lost his spouse on this voyage too, Edward Winslow, who survived this troubling time, asked for her hand in marriage, and thus, Caleb's 2nd great grandmother married a second time and her sons acquired a stepfather. This made another first for the Mayflower colony - the first marriage. So the Winslow/White family became a prominent family out of these Mayflower passengers. Since Winslow's male servant also survived the first winter, this also helped to ease the burden. Winslow later became governor of the colony and became a wealthy land owner, and a servant of Oliver Cromwell's government in England.

I am sure that the average cynic thinks the first Thanksgiving, taking place in November of 1621, is really a myth. But it really did take place, and 3 of our ancestors took part in it: Susanna, and her two sons Resolved and Peregrine. It may not have been called Thanksgiving in that year, since its roots go back to the old English harvest festivals that took place every Fall for centuries. But when we see scenes of First Nations and Pilgrims celebrating this time, it is a true picture. This is exactly what happened, and there are at least two independent accounts that corroborate this. In fact, it really was through the generosity and benevolence of the First Nations people that these Pilgrim immigrants survived. Our 9th great step grandfather, Edward Winslow, was a principal party in treaty negotiations with the First Nations that allowed the Plymouth Colony to prosper. Our 8th great grandfather, Resolved, was in good hands.

About the White Family

Sometimes it is hard to keep track of all the names, dates, and places, making genealogies and family trees very boring and tedious to read and follow. This is what I want to avoid. Therefore, I am going to put forth the complete White family lineage in a way that will aid the reader to follow along in the easiest way possible. I will use only the male names for now, since males are the carriers of the surnames.

Father and Son, born in Europe, died in the New World (Massachusetts):

1. William White

2. Resolved White

Father and Son, born in Massachusetts, and died in Massachusetts:

3. Josiah White, Sr.

4. Josiah White, Jr.

Father and Son, born in Massachusetts, but died in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada:

5. Caleb White, Sr.

6. Caleb White, Jr.

So there; see how easy it is to follow: one William, one Resolved, two Josiahs, and two Calebs, and this is more or less it for the White surname. All of them are direct ancestors of ours. Please note that the "Sr." and "Jr." designation are strictly to aid in identification, given the same names having passed down from father to son.


William White
We know little about William White except that he was a passenger on the Mayflower, that he did sign the Mayflower Compact, that he did die February 21, 1621, that he was married to a Susanna, and he had two children named Resolved and Peregrine. He may have been born around 1590 in England. He probably did live in Leiden, Holland, as a refugee Pilgrim.  We are unsure as to his wife's maiden name. It may not have been Fuller. It could have been Tilly, or some other name. But her first name was Susanna. He was our 9th great grandfather.


Resolved White (1615-1687)

Born 1615, Leiden, Holland, he arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 at the age of 5. He was raised by his mother, Susannah White-Winslow, and step father, Edward Winslow. He was a land owner, like his stepfather, and it seems married wealthy, a Judith Vassall in 1640. Later on, he travelled with his wife and some of their children to Barbados to help in the settling of her father's estate there. But this was only for a short trip. Resolved also served in the military during King Philip's War of 1676.* He married a second time after Judith passed away in 1670. Of the eight children Resolved and Judith had, the seventh one was named Josiah - born in 1654, in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Josiah White (Sr) (1654-1710)

Josiah lived in various places in the Plymouth colony, but made his way to Salem which was the principle town in the Massachusetts Bay colony (the abode of the Puritans). There he married Remember Read (1657-1721). He was a house-carpenter, but did own some 6 acres of land. He died in Boxford, Plymouth. Remember and Josiah had 5 children. It seems the oldest one was named Josiah, so we will designate him as Josiah, Jr. Even though the documentation of the White family descendants is fairly well done for up to 5 or even 6 generations down from the Mayflower families, sometimes there are some discrepancies, e.g., whether or not Josiah, Jr. was the oldest child in this family. But this is irrelevant overall. Josiah White, Sr., was our 7th great grandfather.

Josiah White (Jr) (1680-1764)
He was born in Salem Massachusetts, and he and his family probably were living there during the time of the infamous Salem witch trials in the 1690s. I did carefully check to see if any our ancestors were involved in these witch trials in any capacity - either as the accused, accusers, jury members, or anything else. They were not, thankfully.
*As a side note, Josiah's grandfather, Resolved White, was declared a "freeman" in Salem the year that Josiah, Jr. was born - 1680. What this title "freeman" meant, in the context with Resolved at this time, was that he was accepted into the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a trusted citizen with privileges of voting in local elections, etc. Given some historical realities, perhaps the award of this title is of dubious distinction, given the nature of this colony under the complete control by the Puritans.
     Josiah moved completely away from his family's usual romping grounds in the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, and settled near the town of Sutton, in the Worchester area of Massachusetts - fairly far inland to the west and south. He became, what we would now call, a farmer, but in those days one was either a husbandman or a yeoman.
     At first, Josiah, Jr., was called a husbandman, which is in contrast to the other term in use of "yeoman," meant that he actually worked the land with his own hands, and probably the land was not completely paid off. Later on, Josiah, Jr., was called a yeoman, which would mean perhaps he owned his land outright, and probably hired help to work the land. In other words, Josiah became a prosperous farmer in Sutton.
     Josiah, Jr. married Mary Taylor (1708-1767) in 1737. Considering the coming drama that I will be commenting on regarding their children, I am going to mention their 3 children by name: Mary, born 1741, Josiah, born 1745, and Caleb, born 1747. Yes, their third child Caleb White, was our 5th great grandfather.

Caleb White (1747-1830)
Caleb was born in Sutton Massachusetts, and was buried in Stanstead, Quebec (Lower Canada.) He was the link as to how the White family came to Canada. But in my studies of our family tree, he has become a controversial figure.
     While living in Sutton, Massachusetts, his father passed away. His father, was Josiah White (Jr.), and in his will he passed on all of his estate to Caleb, but he also charged Caleb and his sister, Mary, to be guardians of their brother Josiah. Their brother, Josiah, in modern day terms, was intellectually challenged and needed to be supported as he was incapable of looking after himself. This was therefore a legal requirement of both Caleb and Mary to look after their brother.
     Prior to Josiah (Jr)'s passing, he had already given Mary, his eldest child, almost half of his estate, which comprised mostly land. Now Mary had already married a Thomas Parker in 1761. Therefore, in essence, Thomas Parker controlled Mary's land/wealth. Thomas and Mary had many children, as apparently was the custom in those days.
     Caleb married a Rebecca Marsh in 1767. Rebecca's grandfather had been the original founder of the Sutton settlement, years before, so she had come from an old family from the area. Caleb and Rebecca started their own family soon after their marriage.
     Then in 1781, there was a charge brought against Caleb. The Selectmen of Sutton (these were the administrators of the municipality) asked for a an appointment of a guardian for Caleb White, since he seemed nom compos mentis (out of his mind). The town did not want to have to support Caleb and his family, as well as his "idiot" brother, since his father had left him a "considerable estate."
     Six years later, in 1787, Caleb's brother-in-law, Thomas Parker, complained about Caleb to the Selectmen of Sutton. He complained that Caleb White had left the state after having disposed of his estate. Parker added that he and Mary had done more of their share in supporting the "idiot" brother Josiah, of Mary and Caleb, and he asked the Selectmen to appoint a guardian for Josiah.
     Who knows what the true story really was. Did Caleb shirk his duties and responsibilities in caring for Josiah? Was Caleb showing signs of being out of his mind in 1781, in context with not caring for his brother Josiah? Whatever was the case, Caleb White did sell off his estate and moved his family to Marlow, New Hampshire, some time around 1785. He was the first White in our lineage, to move out of Massachusetts.
     Caleb and Rebecca had 5 children: Sally, Chloe, Caleb, Hosea, and Dexter. All were born in Sutton, MA,  except perhaps for Dexter, who may have been born in Marlow, NH. Rebecca died in 1785 in Marlow, according to Caleb, Sr., as per the inscription on the tombstone at the Griffin Hill Cemetery. I have asked the Marlow NH historical society to verify that Rebecca was buried in Marlow, but have not heard from them yet. It is doubtful that her body was exhumed from a cemetery in Marlow, and brought up to Griffin to be buried, 20 years later. But one never knows. The two older daughters, Sally and Chloe, must have remained in Sutton. Their whereabouts etc., can not be traced through the records available to us. The three sons, obviously, came to Marlow NH and were part of the Marlow Settlement in Stanstead in the early 1800s.
     Caleb remarried in 1794 to a Lucy Howard, in Marlow, NH. She, of course, had no connection with the Thomas Howard who brought the Howard name from Ireland by immigrating to Stanstead in the early 1820s, and that is another story.

Two Significant Hatley Marriages

Caleb White and Martha Henderson married in Marlow NH. After becoming a part of the Marlow Settlement in Stanstead in the early 1800's, and after building the first frame house in the Township, their third child was born, 1807. They named her Mahitable, after Martha's mother. Martha's parents, Andrew and Mahitable Henderson, moved with them to Canada. Both are buried at the Griffin Hill Cemetery next to Caleb and Lucy White.

The first official document that the White family created in Canada was the marriage of their daughter Mahitable. This is a marriage certificate, dated October 13, 1825, of one Orin Hunt, bachelor and blacksmith to Mahetta White, spinster, both of minor age, of Stanstead, in the presence of her brother and mother - Roswell White, and Lucy White. The marriage was performed by Thomas Johnson, Rector, at the Hatley Church of England.

Mahitable went by the nickname Mahetta for most of her life. Both Orin and Mahetta were about 18-19 years of age at the time, and thus, were designated as minors, needing permission to marry. Since Orin was a Wesleyan Methodist, and Mahetta was a Universalist, their choice of being married in an Anglican Church, a far distance away from Griffin's Corner, suggests that there were very few ordained ministers around at the time except for this Anglican priest in Hatley. Above is a picture of the Anglican Church in Hatley that was erected in 1827, just a couple of years after this marriage. It would be very similar to the one that they were married in.


A Howard Arrives on the Scene
Seven months later, on May 16, 1826, at the same Hatley Anglican Church, the same Thomas Johnson, Rector, performs another marriage. This time the groom is Thomas Howard, bachelor and farmer, and Mary Williamson, spinster, and both of major age, were married by bans in the presence of William Nelson Forster, and Edward Williamson.

Thomas Howard is an Irish Catholic, and Mary Ann Williamson is also from Ireland, but she is Church of England. However, Mary is NOT of major age. Having been born in 1811, she is at most here, 15 years old. Mary leaves her mark on the document, showing that she is more than likely, illiterate. The rest are all able to sign their names. I assume that Mary, although only 14-15 years old, looks much older and "stretched the truth" in order to get married. I do not know what relationship Edward Williamson was to her, as it is not clearly indicated on the document. If it had been her father, I assume she would not have had to lie about her age, as he could have granted permission.

Thomas and Mary Howard are my 3rd great grandparents, as are Orin and Mahetta Hunt. I just find it ironic that both these couples were married in the same church, by the same Anglican priest, within 7 months of one another, and that their offspring later married each other, which union brought together the Howard and White families.


Comments on These 3rd Great Grandparents
There are 4 of my 3rd great grandparents listed above. Mahitable White is rather straight-forward. We know her lineage through the White family. However, the other 3 are more difficult to pin down as far as their lineages and places of origin are concerned.

Orin Hunt (1806-1871)
As to Orin's origins, I only know that he was born in the US. I do not know the State, or the names of his parents or his other siblings, if he had any. There was a Jeremiah Hunt who owned land in the Griffin's Corner area, according to the 1825 census. This could have been Orin's father, but there is no way of confirming this.
     We do know that that he was a blacksmith, and more than likely the blacksmith with his operations at Griffin's Corner. We also know that Orin owned some farm land as well, and his first born son, Leonard Hunt, farmed. Blacksmiths did well in the early days of the Eastern Townships, because there were so few of them, and their services were absolutely essential to the farming community, as well as for other associated businesses and industries.


Thomas Howard (1798-1850)
This was the man who brought the Howard name to Canada, from whom our lineage is descended. He was born and raised in Ireland, but we know not from where in Ireland, nor can we trace anything more about his Irish roots. We do know that he was Roman Catholic.
     He likely arrived by ship in the harbour of Quebec City in the early 1820s. In 1820, the British were trying to settle the Townships with people from the UK. Mainly Irish and Scots came. The British used questionable marketing information to encourage people to come and settle Lower Canada (a.k.a. Canada East).
     Thomas more than likely travelled to the Townships via the Craig Road, that was built from Quebec City down to around Richmond. Apparently, he first settled in the Barnston area, perhaps near Coaticook, which is east of Stanstead.
     He would have received a grant of land, probably around 100 to 200 acres, free farming implements, and free food for a year. This was to make the life of these new UK immigrants easier, and to encourage them to stay, especially when they found out that the climate in the Townships was not like the south of France, as they were told through the advertising media of the day.
     When he did move to Stanstead, it was in a place once called Applegrove, just a mile or two south-west of Fitch Bay, and not far from Griffin's Corner.


Mary Ann Williamson (1811-1879)
We know very little about Mary Ann, except that she was born in Ireland but we know not where in Ireland, so no further tracing down of her family is possible. The Williamsons who lived in Ireland were originally from Scotland, and were Protestant. Mary Ann was more than likely baptized Church of England in Ireland.
     In the 1861 census, Mary Ann lists herself as Roman Catholic. She probably converted to Catholicism in order to accommodate her husband. However, in later censuses, she listed herself as Church of England. In the end though, she was buried with her husband in the Roman Catholic cemetery called Mont Sainte Marie, just outside of Stanstead Plains, a couple of miles, to the west off Maple Street.
     It is virtually impossible to trace Mary Ann's roots in Ireland, not knowing from what county or town she was from, as her first and last names in combination was quite popular in Ireland at the time. It is also difficult to trace her origins in Canada. It is next to impossible to identify her family, even through the census records and cemetery records available.
     There were 3 women with last name of Williamson married in the same Hatley church in a period of less than 2 years. One was named Hannah Jane, and the other was named Margaret. Were they related? Were they orphaned just after they arrived in the Townships? Were they indentured servants - a practice that was still very much alive in the early 1800s. Sometimes people would have someone pay their fare on the ship, and agree to indentured servitude to pay for their passage if they were destitute. We will never know, but it will remain one of those unsolved ancestral items, of which, there are many more.    

Griffin's Corner

The Griffin Hill Cemetery has been a place for family burials for a very long time. In fact, this cemetery was originally part of the land of our 4th great grandfather Caleb White (Jr.). His farm land composed all of the north side of the corner. He deeded this one acre plot of land as a cemetery in 1825, and his father, Caleb White (Sr.), was the first person to be buried there in 1830.

On a recent visit to this cemetery, I took a short walk up to the actual corner by walking for about 5 minutes to the west. Even today, there are about 10 houses surrounding the corner. The school was also cut out of Caleb White (Jr.)'s land as it stood right at the north corner. On the south corner was the stagecoach stop and livery stables. The church was opposite the livery stables, and Orin Hunt's blacksmith shop was just further down the road to the south. It is amazing what one can learn just by talking with the local residents.

The old Bodwell Inn still stands, built in the 1820s, it is a solid red brick structure and is now a private home. It was almost opposite to the where the school was, but on the west side of the corner.

Old Bodwell Inn - Griffin

The current residents of Griffin know that the corner was a "really something" at one time. There were 30 houses around Griffin's Corner and there were several businesses running: a blacksmith shop (run by Orin Hunt, our 3rd great grandfather), a tailor shop, and a shoemaker. There was also a general store, a tannery, a potash factory, an Inn, and a Tavern; plus there was a huge union church, a school, and a public meeting hall. Our family too heard that Griffin had been a "going concern" at one time. I had no idea how long ago this was though.

The main factor for the growth of Griffin's Corner was the stagecoach line, that had a stop here. This line went from Montreal to Boston. There was much traffic on this line. By 1830, the main roads were good enough for allowing travel in the warmer months. Prior to this time, only travel in those months in the winter when everything was frozen over, was transportation for long distances possible. So I am guessing that around 1830, Griffin's Corner growth began in a major way. The first meeting of the Stanstead Township elected officials took place at Griffin's Corner, in 1845, and they met there for many years after. The corner was geographically central to the Township, and was therefore, convenient.

In about 1853, the railway line from Montreal, through Sherbrooke, to Portland Maine was opened up. This was the first international railway line established in the world. Since the railway from Portland made its way to Boston, this had a impact on the stagecoach lines. So traffic through Griffin's Corner gradually diminished. By 1870, all that stood at the corner was the church, school, a tavern and the blacksmith shop. So the "hay day" of Griffin's Corner ranged from 1830 to about 1860, a period of 30 years. Yet, this was a long enough time for the passing down from generation to generation, as to how Griffin was at one point, a "going concern." Our ancestors, the Hunts and the Whites, were very much involved with Griffin in its hay day.

Griffin's Corner received its name when a group of Griffin brothers from the US, settled in the area around 1804. Two of their names are known, Silas and John Griffin. There were about 6 brothers in all. Some of the Griffins stayed, but most seemed to head back to the US after a few years. But the name stuck. Griffin's Corner was not far from the original Marlow Settlement. Actually, Marlow was just a couple of miles south west of Griffin's Corner. Griffin was more of or less taken over by the Marlow Settlement people, after the Griffins moved out.

The Howards of Stanstead



Apple Grove - an old barn

In a recent trip to the Eastern Townships, I tried to find the old Howard Farm. Since the local inhabitants of the area were not even aware of the existence of a place called Apple Grove, finding the Howard Farm was a futile exercise. However, Benjamin Campbell Howard, the son of Senator Charles Howard, did leave a document in the archives of the Stanstead Historical Society. In this document, dated 1949, he claimed that the Howard Farm was still standing. So at least we know it was standing 62 years ago. (Benjamin Campbell Howard, now deceased and someone I never met, was my mother's second cousin; but I was so thankful for him leaving something about the Howard family in the archives.)

Thomas Howard claimed a 150-acre farm in the Apple Grove, which is a couple of miles south-west of Fitch Bay, in the Stanstead Township of the early 1800s. After his marriage to Mary Ann Williamson in 1826, they had two children: James, born in 1834, and Thomas A., born in 1837. Given the infrastructures created by the New Englanders and their emphasis on education, I would imagine both James and Thomas attended a local one room school nearby. At one time, these one room school houses scattered the landscape of the Townships, and where most people lived, there was a school within no more than a half hour walk in any direction.



Apple Grove - an old house

There is no record of James' baptism, but there is a record of Thomas A.'s baptism in Sherbrooke, and he was baptized a Catholic. Since his father was Roman Catholic, this made sense. This would have been quite the effort in those days to travel to Sherbrooke to have one's baby baptized. It is only a distance of about 25 miles, but in the 1830s, such a round trip journey with an infant in tow would be done only by the highly motivated.

The Catholic Church, very much aware of the growing number of Irish Catholics coming into the Townships starting in the 1820s, had missions into the area, but had not established many churches. The Howards, essentially being a Catholic family, lived in a sea of Protestants in Stanstead. It makes me wonder how well the Howards fit into the community, given that back in the early 1800s, what religion one adhered was a very important aspect as to how a person was defined.

Tragedy Strikes the Howard Family

In 1850, Thomas Howard died. He was only 52 years old. His surviving wife, Mary Ann, was about 39, but his sons, James and Thomas A., were only 16 and 13 respectively. As to why or how Thomas died is not certain. It could have been a farming accident, or just a simple matter of blood poisoning from a cut, an infection or fever, and perhaps something more basic like food poisoning. Medicine of that era was quite, how shall we say, restricted in its effectiveness to even treat the most basic ailments. Bleeding a person through the use of leeches was still a major treatment for so many types of sicknesses, and doctors had absolutely no concept at all of even the existence of bacteria, and what it meant to keep ones medical instruments sterile.

James being the oldest at 16, became the man of the house and the one responsible for the farm, by default. He apparently took his responsibilities very seriously, and not only did he run the farm, but looked after his mother until her dying day. As for his brother Thomas A. (I wish I knew what name that initial was for in his name, but no records have revealed it so far) he was another story.


The Adventures of Thomas A. Howard

Thomas A. Howard is one of those forgotten ancestors. My hope is to at least keep his memory alive. Just because he had no children is no reason to forget him. His lonely grave lies in the Malvern Cemetery at Lennoxville, Quebec. I went there recently to visit his grave, but could not find it. Regardless, I was perhaps the first blood relative to attempt to visit his grave in the last 125 years. He died in 1886. He is my second great granduncle.

As mentioned above, Thomas was only 13 years old when his father died. In order to run a farm in the mid-1800s, having the strong backs of at least two men was more or less essential. James, his older brother was only 16. The farm was to pass down to both sons, so Thomas owned half the land. I am not sure at what age one had to become to achieve the age of majority in a British colonial province such as Canada East, in the mid 1800s. But when that age came for Thomas, he left the farm. He may have even left before the age of 21, which he would have reached in 1858. One thing was certain, Thomas did not want to farm to earn a living.

Having heard stories about how many more opportunities there were in the US, he headed south, probably by stagecoach. When he hit Massachusetts, he got off and stayed in the town of Haverhill which is right at the northern tip of the State. What he did there to earn a living, I do not know. Perhaps he got a job as a clerk, as he did later on when he moved back to Canada East. For Thomas, I am sure that using an instrument such as a pencil or quill, was far better than using a manure shovel. Not everyone is cut out for life on the farm.

He met a beautiful girl in Haverhill, about his age. Her name was Calantha, although I am sure she went by a nickname like Cally, or something equivalent. By 1860, Cally and Thomas were married, and with the upcoming American Civil War (1861-1865), I am guessing that they both left for Canada soon thereafter. War of any kind brings always brings upheaval, and it would be wise on the part of a foreign male of military age, to return home if he could.

Cally had her own story. She was born in New Hampshire, but her family moved to Massachusetts when she was very young. She was born in 1837, the same year as Thomas, and she was christened, Calantha C. Taylor. She married at the tender age of 16 to a Charles G. Fuller in 1853. He was a mariner, which would mean a sailor or seaman of sort, who would be gone for long periods of time on an ocean going ship. Usually that was the case, anyway. If he was a whaler, his voyages away from home port could be a year or more.

Somewhere along the line, Cally and Charles divorced. It must have been relatively soon after their marriage, because just 5 years later, Charles married for a second time to a Rebecca Beals in 1858. Divorce was not very common in the mid 1850s, so I would imagine this was a scandalous situation for the day.

So Thomas and Cally married in the US, but when Thomas returned to the Eastern Townships, he brought with him as his new bride, a divorced woman. For the day, this was simply a scandal, par excellence. It is no wonder that Thomas and Cally lived in Lennoxville rather than around Thomas' family home 20 miles to the south in Apple Grove.

All along though, his brother James was obliged to pay Thomas for his half of the farm. So Thomas did receive payment for his portion of the farm. It has been recorded that around the year 1862, James still had $400.00 left to pay. That amount of money was a labourer's wage for several years, so it was not a small amount that was still owed.

Thomas and Cally lived in the downtown area of Lennoxville. They probably rented a flat or a house. They never had any children. Thomas's first job in Lennoxville was as a watchman. Later on he worked as a clerk. I can not find out for whom he worked. He died in 1886 at the age of 49, and was buried in Lennoxville. Cally returned to Haverhill MA, and kept her name as Calantha C. Howard till the day she died. She never remarried.