Among the first were those of John McIntosh (1832-1904), a large frame building on the upper falls, and of John Baird (1820-1894) and Gilbert Cannon, all on Mill Street. Sawmills, machine shops and iron foundries followed, including among the latter the foundry operated for a few years by John Flett (1836-1900). A local real estate boom and flurry of inflated land speculation developed, only to collapse in a severe depression of the mid-seventies. A fire loss of over $20,000 in 1877 destroyed the Cannon mill and the machinery of its lessee William H. Wylie, who moved to Carleton Place where he leased the McArthur (now Bates) woollen mill and later bought the Hawthorne woollen mill. William Thoburn (1847-1928) began to manufacture flannels at Almonte in 1880 and became the head of the Almonte Knitting Company and Member of Parliament from 1908 to 1917. Five textile mills in Almonte in 1904 were those of the Rosamond Woollen Company, William Thoburn, James H. Wylie Co. Limited, Almonte Knitting Company, and the Anchor Knitting Co. Limited.
Gilbert CANNON
(23 Sep 1829 – 24 Dec 1899)
Events
Families
| Spouse | Susanna LECKIE (1828 – 1893) |
| Father | William CANNON (1790 – 1841) |
| Mother | Margaret KING (1788 – 1870) |
| Sibling | William CANNON (1816 – 1893) |
| Sibling | John CANNON (1818 – 1879) |
| Sibling | Margaret Dilkes CANNON (1820 – 1857) |
| Sibling | Janet CANNON (1822 – 1895) |
| Sibling | James King CANNON (1824 – 1825) |
| Sibling | Mary CANNON (1827 – 1910) |
| Sibling | Andrew CANNON (1832 – 1836) |
More info on family click here..
Gilbert Cannon (former employee of John McIntosh from 1854 – 1865 at the McIntosh mill on Lot 19, Mills St, Almonte) and Thomas Watchorn operated the custom carding and woolen mill on Lot 21 Mill St in Almonte from 1865 to 1867 under the proprietorship of John Baird, when Watchorn left for Lanark and Cannon continued the operation alone until 1870. In 1869 he purchased Lot F at the foot of Mill St Almonte where he built a new woolen mill in 1870. In 1871 he sold his equipment and leased the mill to William Wylie until 1877. Gilbert Cannon also operated a woolen mill in Arnprior (dates?)
Thomas Watchorn was a cloth finisher and dyer in Almonte employed by the Rosamonds at their mill on Lot 21 Mill St Almonte. The he and Gilbert Cannon operated the custom carding and woolen mill on Lot 21 Mill St in Almonte from 1865 to 1867 under the proprietorship of John Baird, when Watchorn left for Lanark . Thomas Watchorn and Boyd Caldwell established the Clyde Woolen Mill at Lot 2 George St in Lanark 1867. In 1875 Watchorn leased the woolen mill in Merrickville in partnership with his brother Robert.
John Baird purchased Lot 21, Mill St, Almonte in 1865 and operated woolen and grist mills on the site. Gilbert Cannon and Thomas Watchorn operated the custom carding and woolen mill under the proprietorship of John Baird from 1865 to 1867 when Watchorn left for Lanark and Cannon continued the operation alone until 1870. Then John Baird and Company operated the woolen mill from 1871 – 1896 and then sold it to James Wylie in 1897
In 1871 John Baird and Company leased another woolen mill on Lot 20 Mill St, Almonte which he subsequently purchased it in 1879. He then leased the mill to James Wylie in 1881 and sold it to him in 1897. all info from https://mvtm.ca/almonte/
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