NE 1/2, Lot 25, Conc 9, Ramsay Township, on the Mississippi River
Blakeney is one of the prettiest places anytime of the year– and especially in the Spring with the raging waters. The tiny hamlet was originally called Norway Falls because of the incredible Norway Pine trees. But, like most of the small towns here the name was changed a few times. It also became Snedden’s Mills because of the amount of industrial growth in the area and its historical beginnings with the iconic Snedden family.
Alexander Snedden became a militia officer and in 1855 gained the rank of Lieutenant colonel in command of the Ramsay battalion of Lanark Militia. His adjutant was Captain J. B. Wylie, Almonte mill owner. Around the Snedden establishment a small community grew at Norway Falls, known as Snedden’s Mills until in the eighteen fifties it was named Rosebank.
It was renamed Blakeney when the post office of the area was moved here in 1874 from Bennie’s Corners with Peter McDougall as postmaster. In the 1850s the name was changed to Rosebank, but similar to Carleton Place and its postal issue, the name Rosebank was already being used and it changed one more time to Blakeney. The nearby railway station continued to be called Snedden, and the name Rosebank also persisted.
Other early industries at Blakeney included a woollen factory, a brewery at the Pine Isles, a second sawmill and a tannery. A three storey woollen mill of stone construction operated by Peter McDougall, was built in the eighteen seventies. The flour mill at Blakeney continued to be run for some years after the turn of the century by Robert Merilees.
Did you know Blakeney once rivaled Almonte in growth? However the railway chose Almonte as their destination because of the Rosamonds and their textile mills and Blakeney lost the industry to their neighbour.
The Snedden family who came from Rosebank, Scotland, named the place where they settled Rosebank and it is still known by that name in that vicinity. Here the Reform Association conventions of the old District of Bathurst and of the United Counties of Lanark and Renfrew of the eighteen forties and early fifties were held.
Among the treasures this family brought from Scotland were brass candlesticks, brass curtain tics, pictures of Robert Burns, ‘the poet, and of Rev. Robert Burns, who was the Presbyterian minister in the kirk where the Snedden family worshipped, a chair worked in needlepoint, a small Brussels rug and a table cover.
A discriminating traveler of 1846 wrote of “Snedden’s Hotel, which is kept in as good style as any country Inn in the Province.” Another travelling newspaper contributor of fifteen years later added in confirmation: “Who in this portion of Victoria’s domain has not heard of Snedden’s as a stopping place? Ask any teamster on the upper Ottawa and he will satisfy you as to its capabilities of rendering the traveler oblivious to the comforts of his home.” Built in the 1840’s by Alexander Snedden, the white frame structure was well know throughout the Ottawa Valley.
“Who in this portion of Victoria’s domain has not heard of Snedden’s as a stopping place,” one diarist is quoted of commenting regarding the Inn. “Ask any teamster on the Upper Ottawa and he will satisfy you as to its capabilities of rendering traveller oblivious to the comforts of his home.”
Preceded by a log building which had been destroyed by fire, the frame building operated as a stopping place until the mid 1860’s. According to the book, one of the inn’s least welcome lodgers was the man infamously known as the villain of the valley, the notorious Laird Archibald MacNabb. The authors state that MacNabb would produce a 20 pound note to pay for his lodging and since there generally was not sufficient cash on hand to provide change, he would simply walk out and say that his account was settled.
Since its closure as an inn, the building has been utilized as a residence and is now home to Alexander Snedden’s great great grandson, Earle and his family.
The Snedden’s have retained many of the original features of the stopping place including the pine interior doors and the heavy front door that boasts a deep axe scar, courtesy of a drunken patron enraged at being ejected from the premises.
Earle’s wife Marilyn has been told that lumbermen used to “roll up” in blankets and sleep in the two large rooms in the downstairs portion of the house. One of the large rooms on the second floor, she says, served as a dining room while the stopping place was operating.
The original white pine boards on the lower level are now covered by hardwood. Until the change in the 1930’s, people were able to pinpoint the location of the bar through the cigarette butts on the flooring.
The Rosebank flour mill was built by four brother, Alex., David, Jimmy and Willie Snedden. A Mr. Henderson was the first miller. John Usher purchased the mill from the Snedden brothers, and after his death, John Merilee, who came from Fallbrook bought the mill from Mrs. Usher. This was in 1888.
There used to a number of thriving mills in Blakeney, but those structures have long since been demolished.The Rosebank Woolen Mill belonged to Mr. Peter McDougall. It was a large stone building, the ruins of which are still partially standing, and was powered by a large water wheel. It was erected in 1873 and in operation under McDougall until 1901. By 1905 it was being operated by Peter Campbell who purchased the mill in 1906. In 1906 it was sold to the Blakeney Woolen Company Ltd with George C Francis as president.
The Mississippi River turned below the bridge and divided into three parts before resuming its course downstream toward Pakenham. Three dams were built across the three channels to the two Islands formed by the division. One dam served the sawmill, one served the flour mill and one the woolen mill.
The sawmill was built by William Snedden on the north side of the river. The lumber companies, MacLaren and Caldwell, floated squared timber from the upper Mississippi and the Clyde Rivers down through Rosebank, so a “slide” was built below the Peter McDougall property, which ran the logs into what is known as the Bay, a quiet pool of water below the woolen mill.
The village brewery a frame building, was north-west of the woolen mill. The early brew master was Mr. Gomersall. Later the brewery was turned into a home for Mr. Peter McDougall, owner of the woolen mill, and his family who lived there until Mr. McDougall built a brick house at the foot of “Granny” Campbell’s hill. The McDougall house is still standing.
The tannery, also a frame building, was south of the woolen factory. William Reilly was the tanner. His two sons, William and Wellington Herman became doctors and practiced in Montreal as partners. (by Helen Theimer)’
With files from–Tavern in the Town
Women’s Institute
Ottawa Citizen
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
It was not until the late 1860s that lovers of the “stanes” in the Almonte district formed a club and built rinks in the town, but at a much earlier date pioneer Scotch settlers gathered on the Mississippi river at Rosebank, four miles below Almonte, and had the time of their lives. They fished nicely rounded stones from the bed of the river, decorated them with fancy silver-mounted and ebony handles and then “curled” to their hearts’ content.
17 August 1870
It had been a dry spring and even drier summer. By mid August, little rain had fallen in four months, parching the fields and forests of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. On 17 August 1870, a work gang clearing a right-of-way along the Central Canada Railway between Pakenham and Almonte near the village of Rosebank set brush on fire along the tracks. It wasn’t the brightest of moves. With a strong wind blowing from the south, the fire quickly got out of control and spread into the neighbouring woods. Despite efforts by railway workers to douse the flames with water pumped from the nearby Mississippi River, it could not be contained. Racing northward through the tinder-dry forest, the fire sent massive columns of smoke into the air blanketing the region.
Almonte Gazette – Aug, 27, 1927. Read the Almonte Gazette here
Robert Snedden Died Suddenly in his Office.
Prominent Merchant of Pakenham Expired After Opening Up For The Day.
Belonged to Well Known Ramsay Family. Taught School before Entering Business In Almonte and Later in Pakenham. Mr. Robert Archibald Snedden, merchant of Pakenham, and one of the most prominent business men of North Lanark, died very suddenly this Thursday (25 Aug 1927) morning in his office shortly after 8:00 o’clock. While for some time he had not been in the most robust health, his condition was never regarded as serious, nor was it contemplated that his end was so near. Shortly after opening up for business for the day he suddenly collapsed and expired immediately. He was 58 years of age. Mr. Snedden belonged to one of the most prominent families in this district.
Alexander Snedden, his grandfather, was a noted lumberman in the early days. William Snedden, his father, was also in the lumber business for a time and owned the old sawmill at Blakeney. William Snedden was a power in the Liberal political circles in his day. The late Mr. Snedden was born on the family homestead on the ninth line of Ramsay. He was a graduate of the Almonte High School and was a schoolmaster for some years and many of the residents of that district will speak of his capable care of their education when he was in charge of the Rosebank School.
Photo from the 70s of a mill that once existed by rapids in Blakeney
Names on the map above: (also from the McGill Digital County Atlas Project)
Last Name First Name County Township Town Occupation Birthplace
Barker James Lanark Ramsay Farmer Ramsay Tp., Canada
Barker James Lanark Ramsay Farmer Ramsay Tp., Canada
Black James Lanark Ramsay Farmer; Deputy Reeve of Ramsay Tp. Glasgow, Scotland
Bond J.H. Lanark Ramsay Almonte Tinsmith Lanark Co., Canada
Bowland John Lanark Ramsay Farmer Wicklow Co., Ireland
Coffey John F. Lanark Ramsay Almonte Roman Catholic Priest Ottawa, Canada
Fumerton Archibald W. Lanark Ramsay Appleton General Merchant; Hotel Proprietor, Appleton Ramsay Tp., Canada
Galbraith Daniel Lanark Ramsay Almonte Member of Parliament Glasgow, Scotland
Gemmill James D. Lanark Ramsay Almonte Retired Merchant; Major of Militia Lanark Co., Canada
Gilmour John Lanark Ramsay Almonte Butcher Lanark Co., Canada
Gilmour William Lanark Ramsay Farmer Scotland
Kitson William Lanark Ramsay
Lang John Lanark Ramsay Farmer Ramsay Tp., Canada
Lynch D.P. Lanark Ramsay Almonte Physician and Surgeon Allumette, Quebec, Can
Marshall Robert Lanark Ramsay Farmer; School Trustee Lanark Co., Canada
McCreary Joseph Lanark Ramsay Farmer Ireland (McCreary’s Beach on Mississippi Lake?)
McDougall Peter Lanark Ramsay Blakeney Woollen Manufacturer, RoseBank; Postmaster, Blakeney Perthshire, Scotland
McFarlane David Lanark Ramsay Farmer Glasgow, Scotland
McIntosh John Lanark Ramsay Farmer Perthshire, Scotland
McPhail Donald Lanark Ramsay Farmer Argyleshire, Scotland
Metcalf James Lanark Ramsay Farmer Renfrew Co., Ontario, Canada (Metcalfe)
Miller Duncan Lanark Ramsay Appleton Carriage Manufacturer Lanark Co., Canada
Mostyn William Lanark Ramsay Almonte Physician and Surgeon Ireland
Naismith Peter Lanark Ramsay Farmer Lanarkshire, Scotland (Dr. James Naismith invented the game of Basketball)
Patterson Henry Lanark Ramsay Almonte Chief Constable, Counties of Lanark, Renfrew and Carleton Sligo, Ireland
Patterson James Lanark Ramsay Almonte Physician and Surgeon
Patterson John Lanark Ramsay Almonte Glasgow, Scotland
Paul John Lanark Ramsay Farmer; Lime Burner Ramsay Tp., Canada
Rae James Lanark Ramsay Farmer; Tax Collector Ireland
Raines Thomas W. Lanark Ramsay Almonte Dentist Alabama, United States
Robertson James Jr. Lanark Ramsay Farmer; former School Trustee Lanark Co., Canada
Robertson W.P. Lanark Ramsay Almonte School Teacher Stirling, Scotland
Scott James Lanark Ramsay Manufacturer of Carriages, Buggies Prince Edward Island, Canada
Scott John Lanark Ramsay Almonte Retired from Business Glasgow, Scotland
Scott William Lanark Ramsay Farmer Armagh Co., Ireland
Shirreff Archibald Lanark Ramsay Almonte Formerly Superintendent of Rosamond Woollen Co. Scotland
Sneddon Alexander Lanark Ramsay Farmer; ex-Township Councillor Ramsay Tp., Canada (Snedden)
Sneddon James Lanark Ramsay Farmer; Lumberman Lanark Co., Canada
Steel John Lanark Ramsay Farmer Renfrewshire, Scotland
Stewart Duncan Lanark Ramsay Farmer Perthshire, Scotland
Syme Peter T. Lanark Ramsay Farmer Dunning, Scotland
Teskey W. Rufus Lanark Ramsay Appleton Manufacturer; Township Councillor Lanark Co., Canada (Palatine family)
The Teskeys came in 1823 from Rathkeale, County Limerick, Ireland, as part of the Peter Robinson group settlement.
Teskey Wilton Lanark Ramsay Proprietor, Appleton Flour Mills, Appleton Ramsay Tp., Canada
Usher John Lanark Ramsay Blakeney Proprietor, Rose Bank Mills Antrim Co., Ireland
Bennies Corners and the Snedden Family
The Runaway Bridesmaid From Rosebank to Huntley
What You Didn’t Know about Harvey’s Mills — Pakenham
So I Walked Into a Candle Holder and Blakeney-ed Out
lindaseccaspina 