Andrew Stevenson- Justice of the Peace, Cooper and Cheesemaker

Almonte Gazette
April 14 1882

Death of Mr. A. Stevenson – The many friends had scarcely returned from following the late Mr. Snedden to the grave before they were called upon to wend their way thither again, to mark their respect for the memory of Mr. A. Stevenson, J.P., who has gone over to join the “majority.”

The deceased gentleman came to Canada from Glasgow , where he was born, with the other members of his mother’s family, together with his step-father, the parent of the late Mr. Galbraith, of whom the deceased was a half-brother, in the year 1821. The family settled in Ramsay, and at that time our late townsman was about nine years old. He resided with his family for some six or seven years, and then went to Montreal , where he learned the trade of a cooper, remaining there about seven years, when he removed to Carleton Place and commenced a cooperage for himself.

He followed the trade for two or three years, his shop being on the site now occupied by Lavallee’s hotel ( Leland). In 1833 he married, and moved to his own farm on the 2nd con. of Ramsay, where he remained until 1870, when he came to Almonte, and has since resided here. Mr. Stevenson was a member of the township council from 1852 to 1856, and was for many years a Justice of the Peace. For over thirty years he was Pork Inspector for this district. After forty-nine years of married life, he has left a widow, who feels her loss keenly, and a family of two sons and three daughters. The deceased was a very quiet, unobtrusive man, and was consequently not as widely known as many less worthy, but in all the various positions he was called on to fill he brought a strong conscientiousness, combined with a good share of common sense, to bear, and thus succeeded in establishing a claim to the respect of those with whom he was brought into contact.

Owing to frequent attacks of asthma he was latterly confined much to the house, but he was not long confined to his bed. He died on Sunday morning last at the ripe age of 77 years, and was followed to the grave on Tuesday by a very large number of the people of the town and country. Those who knew the late Mr. Stevenson were conscious that he felt severely the death of the late Mr. Galbraith, from the shock of which he never recovered.

During the 1874 and later, when the cheese was being made at the Rosedale Union Hall Cheese Factory, Andrew Stevenson would load a wagon up with 25 or 30 boxes of cheese, and head for Pembroke with a team of horses. At this time the building of the railroad was in full swing and camps were set up in different places.

John Morrow

John Dunlop 1837-1914 was my great-great-grandfather; the Andrew Stevenson mentioned would have been his wife Euphemia Stevenson-Dunlop’s brother, who was also a Justice of the Peace. This story was written a few years ago now since my granduncle Norman Gilbert Dunlop died Dec. 27, 2010, 15 days short of his 103rd birthday, and the author, Berneice McKay, has also passed away.