Clippings and Memories of Deachman’s Bridge

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada07 Jun 1905, Wed  •  Page 1

CLIPPED FROM
The Kingston Whig-Standard
Kingston, Ontario, Canada28 Jun 1946, Fri  •  Page 2

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada26 May 1909, Wed  •  Page 4

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada17 Feb 1909, Wed  •  Page 8

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada17 May 1911, Wed  •  Page 1

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada14 Apr 1909, Wed  •  Page 1

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada07 Sep 1904, Wed  •  Page 8

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada14 Apr 1909, Wed  •  Page 1

Replaced in 1946– Photo Laurie Yuill

Bird Watching-

#11 Deachman’s Bridge, Lanark

How to Get There: Go to Lanark Village on Highway 511. In the middle of the village on the

main street (George), turn east on Owen and then onto Rosetta Road. Observation Point: The bridge is over the Clyde River, just out of the village.

Watch For: Swallows under the bridge, various water birds and black terns upriver. Continue on Rosetta Road for good open rural birding.

Seasonal Information: May to October is best at the bridge. All seasons for open rural areas. for more click here..

Theresa Barr

That bridge flooded every year until late into the 1970s. The ditches would fill with water to the dump corner. The road always closed for at least 2 weeks every spring.

Leanne Schonauer

Even till this day sometimes the bridge still floods in the spring and my in-laws Joan and Ernie McDougall have to cross Caldwell’s fields to get out. They live on Herrans Lane right at the bridge

Brady Scanlan

Spent a lot of time fishing at that bridge.

Crystal Cordick

My kids caught alot of fish off that bridge!

Blair T. Paul, Artist – Canadian and International

As a boy, I fished off that bridge many times with my Dad, brothers and friends. It was the place to go!

John McDougall

i fished off that bridge alot of times fishing bull heads

Susan M. Storie

Fond memories of fishing as a child there, with my dad and brother, uncles

Ken Barr

Apparently my name is carved into the top rail of this bridge. I still remember the talking to I got from my dad, because it was his knife I was using. This would have been about 1971. Ernie and Pete Hall and me spent months at this bridge fishing.

Theresa Barr

Ken Barr only one place. Lol. We tried carving our name many places on the bridge

Ken Barr
January 8, 2021  · 
Photo taken in spring 2019.

Arthur Whyte

Spent many an hour fishing off that bridge.

Les Morris

I spent half my life in that bridge

Blair PaulLanark Village Community Group
April 17, 2021  · Blair PaulThis is NOT Deachman’s Bridge, but it reminded me of the days spent out there fishing when I was a kid.

This photo I found on line reminds of the old days of fishing off Deachman’s Bridge outside of Lanark a little ways. Jim Paul and I would jump on our bikes, and head there whenever we could, and sometimes we even caught something…but if you are a fisherman/woman, you know the real fun is just being there.

Jeanie Maennling

each year a Mother turtle lays her eggs here. Unfortunately some creatures show up in the evening for a feast on the aforementioned eggs. Hopefully one or two hatch, but she lays about 30 eggs each time. Walked there today but no indication that she has been there yet.

Ben Willis

As a young lad dad would take us out to deachmans bridge we all caught our first here

Stories About Deachman’s Bridge?

Why the Appleton Bridge Collapsed…

The Day the Appleton Bridge Collapsed

Lawsuits in Carleton Place — The Collapse of the Appleton Bridge

Memories of the Pickerel Run Innisville

The Floating Bridges of Lanark County

The Sullivans —- Floating Bridge Builders

Down by the Old Pike Hole–The Island Bridges of Carleton Place- Before and After

Was the McNeely Bridge Funded on “Drinkin’ Fines”?

So Which William Built the Carleton Place Railway Bridge?

The Mystery Ruins and the Floating Sidewalk Near the McNeely Bridge

Rideau Ferry Road– Black Snakes Bridges and SS#6

What Happened on the CPR Railway Bridge?

Tales from Oliver’s Ferry

The Tragic Tale of the Rideau Ferry Swing Bridge

Geddes Rapids Bridge 1903 — Dalhousie Lake

The Sharbot Lake Floating Bridge

Herron’s Mills Bridge Closed 1935

“Herrons Mills”  Gary Barr
24″x36″ oils on canvas
(donated to Middleville Museum)

If you look at that little yellow house on the left hand side– this is what it looked like in the 80s and early 90s until it was torn down.

Sterling SomervilleTook a picture of it, got heck from a old lady,s ,for put phote in Perth Courier back in March 12 1987.the house is gone ,like Herron Mill dam ,what a shame ,home on corner near by also.

Lorna Deachman

That belonged to my Aunt.

Mary Campbell —The Storie house

In 1935 the wooden structure over the Clyde River near Herron’s Mills, on the Third Concession, has been closed to traffic owing to the stringers giving way under a heavy truck load of logs. The truck got safely over, but the bridge was no longer safe for furthur traffic.

It is possible that a new bridge will be erected instead of the old bridge being repaired. In the same year a “Beaver Dam’ Bridge was erected over the Clyde near Herron’s Mills and opened for traffic in September. It didn’t last long however, and in 1938 the old Beaver Dam Bridge was torn down and the piers demolished as it was a menace to the new bridge downstream from it.

In 1935 Ed LeMaister of Almonte was the successful tenderer for supplying gravel for the county road between the Clydeville Bridge and Herron’s Mills. His tender was 65 cents per yard. he to purchase the gravel, haul it and pay  the foreman in charge.

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  26 Nov 1954, Fri,  Page 41

1. 

Lost Souls –Herron’s Mills

Burning Down the House — Literally in Lanark County

The Gillies Home in the Ghost Town of Herron’s Mills

Visiting the Neighbours — Middleville Ontario and Down the 511

The Ghost Towns of Eastern Ontario

Photographer Finds Money in a Local Abandoned Home

From local historian Laurie Yuill=Good morning Linda. Here is a picture from September 23, 1987 of construction of the Herron’s Mills Bridge on Herron’s Mills Road.

So Where Was Craig’s Camp? How About Marble Bluff?

So where was Craig’s Camp?  It was described as being west of Calabogie by way of Gordon Rapids to Lammermoor in Dalhousie–In layman’s terms it was on the Lanark Calabogie Road. Was it  at Craig’s Creek.?

                                                            Clyde River at Gordon’s Rapids

Craig’s Camp-January 16, 1920 Almonte Gazette

Mrs. Ernie Elliott spent Sunday last at F. A. Craig’s. Mr. John Smith called on friends at Calabogie on Tuesday.

Mr. Jas. Sweeney visited his home at Marble Bluff this week-end.

Mr. Boyd Ellrott made a business trip to Calabogie Monday last.

Mr. Stanley James spent Sunday with his sister, Mrs. A. Camelon.

Mr. Alex. Herron and Albert Warren spent Sunday at Craig’s Camp.

Mr. Chas. Virgin purchased a fine horse from Mr. John Craig last week.

Miss Alma Craig is on the sick list bat we hope to hear of her recovery soon.

Messrs. George “Chalmers and Alii e Ferguson aft-e on the sick list at present.

Mr. Ross Camelon lias returned to the camp after two weeks absence in Ottawa.

Mr. Tim -Sweeney and Mr. Maek Barr spent ‘Sunday at their homes in Brightside.

Messrs. John A. Craig and William G. Craig made a business trip to Tatlock on Monday last.

Mr. *Wm. Camelon had the misfortune to upset his load of logs last week and bruised his leg but he is recovering rapidly.

Two young men from this vicinity tried to imitate Johnson and-Willard the other night, but decided it was a bad practice and stopped for fear they would get hurt.

Mr. William Elliott had a narrow escape the other day, the team getting a. fright and running some distance, but Wm. got them under control before much damage was done.

Mr, Stanley James made-a mistake the other night, stepping into a dish of boiling water. His moccasin was badly crimped, but Stanley was lucky enough not to scald his foot.

Our cook, Mr. Adam Craig, spent Saturday and Sunday at his home at Calabogie. Mr. John P. Craig took bis place while he was away and made a good success of the job for a greenhorn.

Donna Sweeney Lowry Regarding Marble Bluff, my great grandparents Timothy Sweeney and Margaret O’Connor came to Canada about 1847 and settled in the backwoods of Darling Twp on Lot 5 Con 4.

In John Sweeney and Lizzie Wark’s time (my fathers parents) at the end of their lane in Darling Twp L5C4 on the #511 Calabogie Rd., large blocks of marble were quarried out and moved across country in the winter to the K&P. My understanding is the area took on the nic name Marble Bluff.

As a child when we visited the old homestead where Dad grew up, there was a small building still standing by the laneway that was part of the work area. Of course in later years the hill to the south of the Sweeney homestead was opened up as a marble mine and now is the huge Tatlock Guarry owned by Omya, Perth. The old homestead is also part of Omya now.

My Grandfather John Sweeney was the mail delivery person. For how many years, I sadly don’t know; information I did not pay attention to. Perhaps it was the quarry on his land that gave it’s name to the mail route.

I hope other people bring forward stories of the early marble quarry work in Darling. As a child you just don’t always pay attention when your parents try to tell you about the earlier years.

A close-up view of the serpentine, Lanark marble- Marble Bluffs

*William Camelon– Where is it Now? The Heirloom of William Camelon

Clyde Forks United Church Hall— A large marble monument was cut from the Marble Bluff quarry on the 511- teams of horse would haul blocks like this from M arble Bluff during the winter using the clyde river as a ice road. Once stockpiled they could be hauled away by train.

Perth Courier, July 19, 1918

Review Cases Before the Tribunal

Category B–John Burns, farmer, Marble Bluff, exempted till 1^st November

SWEENEY, John b: ABT 1859 in Tatlock, Darling Township, Lanark, Bathurst District, Canada West d: 21 MAY 1943 in Marble Bluff, Darling Township, Lanark, Ontario, Canada
1918 Directory-  Marble Bluff  from Charles Dobie’s collection

SCHEDULE OF POST OFFICES
           for
    DARLING TOWNSHIP

  1.  Brightside
  2.  Clayton
  3.  Clayton R. R. #2
  4.  Tatlock
  5.  White
  6.  White Lake
  7.  Raycroft
  8.  Marble Bluff
  9.  Green Mountain

Geoff Hallett

 

14 hours

Marble Bluff Post Office

In 1995 my wife and I bought a log house at Marble Bluff that was built about 1908. In the house was a wooden box of pigeon holes said to have been left over from when the Post Office was there. It is now with our son in Seaforth, Ontario. We bought the house from a Harvey Horne and had an extension added and a metal roof put on. We stayed there only 5 years, selling the 100 acre property to OMYA. It was not quite 100 acres as near the far end of the driveway close to the 511 was a quarry owned by Angelstone. This was serpentine marble and I reckon the photo shown is that and not the pure white calcite marble mined by OMYA.

Geoff Hallett – Vancouver Island, BC

 

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada24 May 1911, Wed  •  Page 5

Down at Old McIlquham’s Bridge

In 1918 when the new bridge opened ( see below) this birdge was in its 100th year

 

McIlquham’s bridge number 1 as they called it was on Highway 511 between Perth and Lanark. In the beginning the settlers didn’t have any other way to cross the old Mississippi River except to take Cameron’s Ferry— which was basically a canoe to get to Perth. As you know most of the roads were quite impassable in those days and a quick drive down the 511 will give you an idea.

Well that old bridge hung on as long as it could, but in 1987 something had to be done about it. Wooden piers filled with stone had to be replaced with cement and steel railings were needed– basically it was the works.

When Sandy Caldwell was king in the lumbering days- the logs used to pile up at this bridge  blocking the river for days. Lumbermen worked for hours and days with their pike poles trying to free those logs- and some even lost their lives.

It was during these hard times that Lanark County’s famous song “The Ballad of Jimmy Whalen”  supposedly written by John Smith of Lanark and was allegedly first put together by a Ferguson’s Falls bard.

The facts behind the song are elusive, but Jimmy Whelan or Whalen – actually was James Phalen (so spelled; pronounced Whalen) – was killed on Ontario’s Mississippi River. The date given was 1878, but James Phalen’s grandniece, Mary C. Phelan of Ottawa, thinks it was 1876, and she names Timothy Doyle as the ballad’s composer.

Whatever who wrote the song- it still lives and reminds us of when life was rough and tough on the Mississippi River.

 

 

 

Perth Courier, July 23, 1897

On Sunday afternoon, July 25, Rev. James Cross conducted a baptismal service at McIlquham’s bridge on the Carleton road when Mrs. Jas Dodds and Miss L. Borrowman were baptized.  The news that an immersion was to take place drew quite a large crowd, a number walking down from here to witness the ceremony.  From the Lanark Era

Lost Jimmy Whalen_Mrs John Coughlin NA1.30 T30

Lyrics:

1.
Slowly as I strayed by the banks of the river,
A-viewing those roses as evening drew nigh;
As onward I rambled I espied a fair damsel,
She was weeping and wailing with many a sigh.

2.
She was weeping for one that was now lying lonely,
Weeping for one that no mortal can save;
For the dark rolling waters lies slowly around him,
As onward they speed over young Jimmy’s grave.

[At this point, Mrs. Coughlin asked if that was good enough to give Sandy the tune. She claimed she couldn’t sing.]

3.
Slowly there rose from the depths of the desert
A vision of beauty more brighter than the sun,
With roses of crimson around him a-waving,
To speak to this fair one he just had begun.

4.
“Why do you call me from red-lums [realms] of glory,
Back to this wide world I no longer can stay?
To embrace you once more in my strong loving arms,
To see you once more I have come from my grave.”

5.
“Darling,” she said, “won’t you bury me with you?
Do not desert me to weep and to mourn,
But take me, oh, take me along with you Jimmy,
To sleep with you down in your cold silent tomb.”

6.
“Darling,” he said, “you are asking a favor
That no mortal person can grant unto thee,
For deep is the desert that parts us asunder –
Wide is the gulf lies between you and me.

7.
“But as you do wander by the banks of this river,
I will ever be near thee to keep and to guide;
My spirit will guide you and keep from all danger.
I’ll guide you along from my cold silent grave.”

8.
She threw herself down and she wept bitterly;
In the deepest of anguish those words she did say:
“Oh, you are my darling, my lost Jimmy Whalen;
I will sigh ’til I die by the side of your grave.”

 

Related Bridge Stories

The Tragic Tale of the Rideau Ferry Swing Bridge

The Bascule Bridge of Smiths Falls — A Ghost Story

The Floating Bridges of Lanark County

Debbie Dixon and The CPR Bridge Incident in Carleton Place–Linda’s Mailbag

How to Really Catch Fish With Dynamite at the Glen Isle Bridge

One Day a Long Time Ago on the Glen Isle Bridge

Spring at the Gillies Bridge

Over the Falls- June 1984

Shark Week in Carleton Place on the Mississippi Bridge

Who Caught the Big Shark in Carleton Place?

Down by the Old Pike Hole–The Island Bridges of Carleton Place- Before and After

Lawsuits in Carleton Place — The Collapse of the Appleton Bridge

Feeling Groovy by the Lake Ave East Bridge

Was the McNeely Bridge Funded on “Drinkin’ Fines”?

 

 

 

Mcllquham Bridge

CLIPPED FROMThe Lanark EraLanark, Ontario, Canada18 Sep 1918, Wed  •  Page 1

Visiting the Neighbours — Middleville Ontario and Down the 511

Most of the first North Lanark farm settlers came from overpopulated towns and countryside of Lanark County in
the South of Scotland, including Glasgow, and Lanark, the county of Lanarkshire. Smaller communities later
formed in Lanark Township include Middleville, Hopetown, Brightside, Herron‟s Mills (formerly Gillies Mills),
Halpenny, Rosetta and Boyd Settlement (Brown 1984:14)

This is the family of Robert Charles (Bob) Somervile and Sarah Anne Headrick;

Robert Charles Somerville born 18 Dec 1852, died 1931, buried Greenwood cemetery, Middleville, Ontario.

Sarah Anne Headrick born 7 June 1860, died 1925, buried Greenwood cemetery, Middleville, Ontario.

This area of Ontario was at the centre of the Canadian textile industry in the 1800’s. Settled
almost exclusively by weavers from the area south of Glasgow, Scotland, who organized themselves
into “Emigration Societies”, the terrain of low hills, rocky outcrops and fast-running rivers and
streams was ideal for raising sheep and establishing textile mills. Not to mention the early timber industry.

The village of Middleville was a frontier village, located in a rocky and rugged landscape. The
photo is taken from the north side of the village which located in a valley. If you follow the road over
the hill to the south, Lanark is the nearest village. Almonte is the closest town towards the east.

One of the first settlers in the town of Middleville was James Campbell from Paisley Scotland, who emigrated independent of government assistance (Bennett, 1980; 70; MicGill 1963: 65). In 1820, Campbell occupied the west half of Lot 15, Concession 6, where the present town of Middleville is found today and later sold part of his land as town lots. His wife Jean Whyte, whom he had left in Scotland, came out in the spring of 1822 with their three children.

Campbell had been a manufacturer in the old country and was not trained for farming. Other early settlers were Matthew Laurie, John Anderson, Kennedy Baxter, John Mather, James and William Borrowman. They were soon followed by the next influx of settlers whose descendants still live at Middleville today: Gillies, McKay, Creighton and Rankin. At the time James Campbell settled, the community was originally called Middleton until the 1850s when a post office was established (Bennett, 1980: 70-71). There was already a community receiving mail under that name and so Middleville came into being. Middleton boasted a post office, two churches, a cheese factory a general store and three schools in the nineteenth century, almost all of which are still standing today.

More information- Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment Jackson
Subdivision, Middleville Lot 15, Concession
6, Geographic Township of Lanark, Lanark
County, Ontario 

This is the Thomas Watt & Son stove display at the Middleville Fair.

Middleville school still stands today.

After a stop at the Museum –Next stop- take a right onto the 511 known as Herron’s Mills Roads.

A gentleman was erecting stone pillars for a driveway where the once ghost house stood and I stood there rattling off the history of Herron’s Mills–because that is what I do now. For God’s sakes don’t ask me anything if you see me– you might never see your family again. This man got off lightly.:)

 

Photos Bytown or Bust Photo and they appears in Lanark Legacy, by Howard Morton Brown