Banker Snedden —–James Snedden

Photo from The Snedden Saga: From Lanarkshire to Lanark County Paperback – Jan. 1 1994

Almonte Gazette

April 7, 1882

The Late Mr. James Snedden – The chronicler of local events has at no time a sadder duty to perform than when called on to record the death of those well known to the generality of our readers, and who have to a certain extent identified themselves with the history of the locality. No face was more familiar on our streets that that of the gentleman whose death it is our sad duty to record today. Very few indeed of our readers in Almonte and the surrounding neighborhood but can recall the good-humored countenance of the man who was so well and favorably known as “Banker Snedden,” but whose smile will be seen no more.

The late Mr. James Snedden was born in the 11th line of Beckwith in 1821. About fifty-five years ago the father of the deceased removed to Ramsay, settling at Rosebank, and building the grist mill there, afterwards going into the lumbering business, and dying at Quebec of cholera about 1834. At the time of his father’s death James, who was the eldest son, was about fourteen years of age, and from that time he acted as a father to his brothers and sisters. Three brothers, James, William and John, continued to work harmoniously together until the youngest was about thirty years of age, but although they were then working each for himself, the elder brother never lost his fatherly interest in their well being.

Like his father, the deceased engaged in lumbering and speculation of other kinds, and was very fortunate in his pursuits, but the hard times in the lumber trade and a heavy expenditure he had been led into to improve the passage from his timber limits, caused him heavy losses. It must not, however, be supposed that he was straightened in his resources, as the widow and family are left well provided for. The deceased attended church at Rosebank on Sunday, as usual, and on Monday morning he harnessed his horse to come to Almonte. He went into the house to wash his hands, and coming out of the washroom he placed his hand on his head and exclaiming “Oh! My head!” fell on the floor in an apoplectic fit, and only rallied for a brief time in the evening, and died on Tuesday morning about six o’clock, in the 61st year of his age.

The deceased was borne to the 8th line cemetery on Thursday afternoon, the funeral being attended by a large concourse of friends and neighbors, who were unanimous in the opinion that a good husband, a loving father, a kind brother and worthy neighbor has been called away. The family have the sympathy of the entire neighborhood in their bereavement.

James died on Apirl 4, 1882 and Christina died on the 9th of Novemember 1883.

The brick house they lived in in Bennie’s Corners was made on the homestead in the brick yard owned by James. Their furniture was made by the inmates at the Kingston Penitentary.

The eldest son, David Bain Snedden after farming at Bennie’s Corners moved to Carleton Place and operated a hotel next to the train station. (with files from: from The Snedden Saga: From Lanarkshire to Lanark County Paperback – Jan. 1 1994)

Snedden Hotel on Moore Street (Franktown Road)– the building across the street used to house a rag business and was The Grand Central Hotel.. Photo-Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

In 1904 Carleton Place’s eight hotels were:

James Lee’s The Leland

Walter McIlquham’s The Mississippi Hotel

Albert Salter’s Queens Hotel

The Revere House- formerly The British Hotel

J. E. Rathwell’s Royal Hotel, formerly the Wilson House

D. B. Snedden’s

P. J. O’Briens

Victoria House

P. Salter’s Queen’s Royal at Lake Park

Read-The Old Morgan House — Ray Paquette and Gord Cross Memories

Old Almonte Photo Collection — In Back of the D. W. Snedden Drugstore 1953

Rosebank, Blakeney, Norway Falls and Snedden’s Station

Bennies Corners and the Snedden Family

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Headstone of Robert Young Jr — Memories

found this recently. Maybe you can find out where it belongs.

Friday I received this from an unidentified emailer. Please note he was advised what to do and the headstones are safe.

I believe it may have been taken from the Auld Kirk Cemetery in Almonte where his parents are buried. My thinking is someone, family or church, will know when it may have gone missing. I found it under a deck of a home I am working on.

Headstone of Robert Young, Jr

BIRTH	1835Ramsay, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
DEATH	1 Jan 1863 (aged 27–28)Ramsay, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
BURIAL	Auld Kirk CemeteryMississippi Mills, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada

1898, Friday December 23, The Almonte Gazette, page 8
A Runner Dropped Dead
While going through the eighth line cemetery lately a GAZETTE scribe was struck by a verse on the tablet at the head of the grave of the late Robert Young, which reads as follows:
“My sudden death proclaims aloud
To you, my living friends,
To be prepared to meet your God
When He the summons sends.”
Inquiry as to the cause of the sudden death brought out the particulars, which are worth giving here. On New Year’s Day, 1863, on the Mississippi river between Youngville and Rosebank, there was quite a gathering to witness the sorts, which consisted of trotting races on the ice, the trotters being hitched to buggies. In the afternoon a foot race was got up, the contestants being John Young (blacksmith, Almonte), John Toshack (son of the late James Toshack) and Robert Young (Brother of Messrs P.J. and Wm. Young, Ramsay). They were all young men – two of them Young by name as well as young in years – and, removing their boots, they ran in their sock-feet. Robert Young was ahead as he came to the winning line, and just before crossing the line he dropped on the ice – dead! The late Dr. Mostyn, who happened to be in Rosebank at the time was quickly summoned, but the winner had passed beyond the reach of medical skill. The crowd got a great shock by the event, the sports were cancelled, and there was sadness in the community the balance of that New Year Day

December 23, 1898 Almonte Gazette

the second one mostly likely belonged to his father

New one at Auld Kirk which put in as replacements for the ones missing above

The replacement at Auld Kirk

Robert Young, Jr

BIRTH	1835Ramsay, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
DEATH	1 Jan 1863 (aged 27–28)Ramsay, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
BURIAL	Auld Kirk CemeteryMississippi Mills, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
MEMORIAL ID	200644312 · View Source

1898, Friday December 23, The Almonte Gazette, page 8
A Runner Dropped Dead
While going through the eighth line cemetery lately a GAZETTE scribe was struck by a verse on the tablet at the head of the grave of the late Robert Young, which reads as follows:

“My sudden death proclaims aloud
To you, my living friends,
To be prepared to meet your God
When He the summons sends.”
Inquiry as to the cause of the sudden death brought out the particulars, which are worth giving here. On New Year’s Day, 1863, on the Mississippi river between Youngville/ Bennies Corners and Rosebank, there was quite a gathering to witness the sorts, which consisted of trotting races on the ice, the trotters being hitched to buggies.

In the afternoon a foot race was got up, the contestants being John Young (blacksmith, Almonte), John Toshack (son of the late James Toshack) and Robert Young (Brother of Messrs P.J. and Wm. Young, Ramsay). They were all young men – two of them Young by name as well as young in years – and, removing their boots, they ran in their sock-feet.

Robert Young was ahead as he came to the winning line, and just before crossing the line he dropped on the ice – dead! The late Dr. Mostyn, who happened to be in Rosebank at the time was quickly summoned, but the winner had passed beyond the reach of medical skill. The crowd got a great shock by the event, the sports were cancelled, and there was sadness in the community the balance of that New Year Day

---

Family Members

Parents

• Robert Young1802–1870
• Annie Mason Young1805–1873

Siblings

• Elizabeth Young Young1826–1890
• William Young1827–1914 (m. 1857)
• Margaret Young Naismith1833–1870
• Peter Johnston Young1846–1932
• Jane Creighton Young Buckham1848–1887

An article written long ago by Robert Young, an uncle of M. R. Young, former hardware merchant in Almonte, and his two sisters here, tells of the days at Bennie’s Corners when the school was new.

This lovely stone home, now known as “Stanehive” was built in 1856 by Peter Young and his brother Robert. The quality of the stonework here is very high with cu and dressed stone laid in regular courses. A decorative effect is achieved with contrasting stone used for the quoins and the massive lintels and door surround. The large two-paneled front door is very handsome and the transom above has the uneven division typical of the area.-A TOUR OF BENNIE’S CORNERS (written by Jill Moxley, architectural comments by Julian Smith)

Bennie’s Corners Gave a Fine Surprise To Prince Edward

Village 5 Miles from Almonte had a Big Arch and other Decorations for the Prince – People who accompanied Prince from Arnprior had not expected any demonstration there. A recent reference to Bennie’s Corners by the O.T.S. interested Mr. Robert Young, 240 Fifth avenue, Ottawa, a former Almonte man, who knew Bennie’s Corners when a small boy back in the early sixties. Mr. Young tells the O.T.S. that Bennie’s Corners was one of a few of the smaller villages of the Ottawa district which was honored by a visit from the Prince of Wales (King Edward) in 1860. And the Corners did itself proud on that occasion. It will be recalled that the Prince on the occasion of his visit here in 1860 sailed up the Ottawa river to Fitzroy Harbour, then to Arnprior where he stayed over night with Mr. McLachlin, the lumberman, and the following day drove to Almonte by way of Bennie’s Corners, and from Almonte took the Canada Central Railway on his way back. Almonte was the terminus of the railway at the time.-Edna Gardner Lowry.

Otter Glen Woolen Mills

W 1/2 Lot 24 Conc 9 Ramsay Township.

Peter McDougall, proprietor, operated a custom carding and woolen mill on this location from 1868 – 1872. It was then sold to Stephen Young who operated the mill from at least 1873 – 1876. It then became the Youngville Woolen Mill, owned and operated by Robert and Andrew Young, running at least from at least 1885 but not in operation in 1892.-MVTM

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
28 Feb 1942, Sat  •  Page 6

Canada’s Other Game: Basketball from Naismith to Nash

George Bailey –Headstone– the Cemetery on the Ninth line

Gravestone Tips– Memories and Respect for our Headstone Treasures

A Monument Back in Time –Time Travelling in Lanark County —Part 1

Like a Prayer I left My Mark in Franktown — Part 2

Marvin Arnold Walker — Another Ron Bos Genealogy Mystery

Clippings of Bennies Corners

July 28,1999- thanks to the scrapbooks of Lucy Connelly Poaps

 

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
07 Jan 1933, Sat  •  Page 2

 

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place and The Tales of Almonte

1. Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships SunScreamin’ Mamas (USA)  and The Sherbrooke Record

   

Bits of Bennies Corners — Names Names Names

The Bairds of Bennie’s Corners

Squirrel Massacre in Bennie’s Corners —-Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!

Taking Sexy Back with Brothel Bertie aka Edward the VII

Bennies Corners and PATRICIA ELEANOR TATE

Handwritten Notes on Bennie’s Corners

Handwritten Notes on Bennie’s Corners

Bennie’s Corners was a small village less than two miles from Blakeney. It was at the junction of the eighth line of Ramsay and the road from Clayton north of the Indian River, on land where James Bennie located in the original settlement of the township in 1821.

Someone wrote these notes and there is no name on it, but thought it was a good idea to document them.

 

BENNIE, James and Agnes & John A. and Ellen Carswell

A Tale of Two Brothers:  1. James Bennie, born in 1779 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland,  would arrive into the port of Quebec City in 1821 at age 42 with his family.  2. His younger brother John Alexander Bennie (1788-1865)  also came to the New World when he was 33 and his family line is described later in this entry.

Extended families immigrating together, were common because these “kinship networks” were extremely valuable to undertake the tough pioneering task.  And so this family’s Canadian story begins.

1. James Bennie & Agnes Bennie

James Bennie (1779-1871) would be long-lived and die at age 92 in Lanark County. He and wife Agnes___ had travelled with their children to the New World and  first settled in  West Lot 25, Con 8, Ramsay Twp., Lanark County. “Bennie’s Corners” in Ramsay Twp. is named for the family and James received the homestead from the Crown. In 1846 he had a store and became the first postmaster at Bennie’s Corner. This family were Free Church adherents; which was a type of Lutheranism.

James  Bennie (1779-1871) and Agnes ___ Bennie (1777-  ) show up on a Westmeath  Census because they are with their son George Bennie on his homestead. The 1851 Westmeath Township Censusshows that George at age 42 is living together with his parents or they were visiting him. Scribbled over by the enumerator is the place of birth “Scotland”.

Read the rest here.. CLICK

CLIPPED FROM

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
20 May 1933, Sat  •  Page 26

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place and The Tales of Almonte

1. Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships SunScreamin’ Mamas (USA)  and The Sherbrooke Record

   

   Bits of Bennies Corners — Names Names Names

   The Bairds of Bennie’s Corners

   Squirrel Massacre in Bennie’s Corners —-Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!

   Taking Sexy Back with Brothel Bertie aka Edward the VII

   Bennies Corners and PATRICIA ELEANOR TATE

   Taking Sexy Back with Brothel Bertie aka Edward the VII

   “The Mounties Will Arrest You if You Step on a Trillium”

   Living Dangerously With Lilies of the Valley

Bennies Corners and the Snedden Family

CLIPPED FROM

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
07 Jan 1933, Sat  •  Page 2

 

CLIPPED FROM

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
13 Apr 1935, Sat  •  Page 2

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place and The Tales of Almonte

1. Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships SunScreamin’ Mamas (USA)  and The Sherbrooke Record

   

   Murder on Island Street — Henry Gray

   Shocking Murder in Almonte–Michigan Charlie

   Memories of When the Devil Visited Drummond Township

   More Tales from the Thoburn Mill

   Is Samuel Shaard Lying in the “Cement” of the Thoburn Mill?

   Tears From the Old Gears of the Mills

Bennies Corners and PATRICIA ELEANOR TATE

Photo- Linda Seccaspina

Bennie’s Corners was a small village less than two miles from Blakeney.  It was at the junction of the eighth line of Ramsay and the road from Clayton north of the Indian River, on land where James Bennie located in the original settlement of the township in 1821.  The buildings of the hamlet were destroyed in the summer of 1851 by fire.  As rebuilt it had little more than a post office and general store, a few residences, a school and such tradesmen as blacksmiths and shoemakers, and claimed a population of about fifty persons. The post office of the area was moved to Blakeney in 1874 from Bennie’s Corners with Peter McDougall as postmaster.

Some of the articles about Bennie’s Corners were by: Edna Gardner Lowry.

Bennie’s Corners was a live little village in the sixties, according to Mr. Young. Bennie’s Corners was a name as far back as 1848, but was in its prime in the sixties. It was started by one John Bennie. The cities and big towns later killed it. In 1860 when the Prince passed through, the village was a live business center. The merchants and other business people as Mr. Young recalls them were:

Village Live Wires

Alex. Leishman, merchant, who had succeeded John Bennie. Mr. Leishman did a big business with the lumbermen. In the winter the village used to be picturesque with shantymen’s garbs, colored toques and sashes and wool coats. William Phillips, blacksmith. John Phillips, wagon maker. Geo. Cockell, made-to-order boots; Alex. Snedden, hotel keeper and farmer. Mr. Snedden used to draw grain and camp feed to Mattawa in the winter. He had four sons, William, James, Alexander and David.

Pot Barley

Stephen Young, who made what was known as “pot barley” for soup. The barley was hulled. Greville Toshack ran a carding mill and farmed. He was a one armed man. A Paisley Weaver. Alex Peters, weaver. Mr. Peters was an old Paisley weaver, and knew his weaving.

Very Exact Man

James’ Snedden supplied the lumbermen. He was known as “Banker Jimmy” because he was always “well fixed” financially. John Baird kept a general store, ran a flour mill and sent supplies to the lumbermen. Mr. Baird was known to be a very exact and honest man. When he weighed goods they were weighed to the fraction of an ounce. He never gave more nor less. Mr. Baird later went to Almonte and ran a woolen mill there. John McCormack ran a tailor shop.

Cooper Shop

John Glover operated a Cooper shop, and made firkins and pork barrels. There was no church at Bennie’s Corners, but in the sixties, the Cameronians used to hold services in the village school house. The nearest church was four miles from the village.

Rival to Almonte

Mr. Young says Bennie’s Corners once aimed to rival Almonte in the race for business supremacy, but lost out, as Almonte was on the railway. Besides the businesses and industries mentioned were others: In 1868 Peter McDougall advertised: New Woollen Factory at Youngville. 9^th line near Snedden’s hotel, open Aug. 1, 1868. Custom work carding, spinning, weaving, fulling, finishing. This was where the mouth of the Indian River empties into the Mississippi at Otter Glen, the present home of Russell Camelon.

There were also quarters for the factory hands in what they called Corktown, and also a dye house. This is where Stephen Young had his barley mill about 1830 or possibly in the 1820’s. Peter McDougall later built a larger stone factory in the Village of Blakeney. Mr. William Whitelaw wove blankets and lived on the sideroad between the 8^th and 9^th lines. He had a son James who taught school and later became a minister. On the farm of John Snedden, now owned by another John Snedden, Mr. Richard Foxby had a brick yard where he made the brick that was used to build the houses of John Snedden, his brother Banker Jimmy Snedden and the house now owned by Sheffield Graham on the 9^th line, as well as the two former brick schools on the 7th and 10th lines.

In 1838 Greville Toshack, who had the carding mill on the Indian River, James Rosamond of Carleton Place and Mr. Bellamy of Bellamy’s Mills, now Clayton, met to agree on restriction of credit on custom work in carding wool and dressing homespun.

In the Carleton Place Herald we find: ALEXANDER LEISHMAN, Auctioneer, Bennie’s Corners, RAMSAY. FOR SALE By the subscriber, FLOUR and OATMEAL JOHN BAIRD Woodside Mills, Ramsay, June 23, 1857. John Baird in 1828 bought 200 acres from the Canada Company for $500. Carleton Place Herald: “For Sale or, to Lease for a term of years.” That valuable property in the Twp. of Ramsay, known as “Woodside Mills,” consisting of a flour mill with two runs of Burr Stones, a Superior Smut Machine, an Oatmeal Mill, with two runs of stone, one of which is a Burr. The Mill is three and a half stories high and most substantially built. There are also an the premises a KILN capable of drying from 120 to 200 bushels Oats at a time, a frame house for a miller, a “blacksmith’s shop” with tools complete, two stone houses and outbuildings with stabling for eleven horses, haylofts, sheds, coach houses, etc. There are 200 acres of land, about 80 of which are under cultivation. As there are other water privileges on the premises, furnishing an abundance of water power, a large amount of machinery could be erected in addition to that in operation. For further particulars, apply to the Subscribers on the premises. Ramsay, 20^th April, l860.” William Baird, John Baird.

According to the Canada Directory 1857-58 the population of Bennie’s Corners was 75 and of Almonte, 500. In Mitchell’s Business Directory of 1864-65, Bennie’s Corners had a population of 115. Mr. McGoverane was listed as another cooper, Greville Toshack as a Justice of the Peace and Robert Gommersall as a tanner. In the Canada Directory of 1871 it states that the mail comes twice weekly. Eneas Toshack was a shingle maker and James Toshack a leather dealer. Jas. Coxford, was a shoemaker, Alex and David Snedden had a gristmill and Abial Marshall a sawmill. Of course the Sneddens had long been lumbermen and built the slide.

James Bennie had received lot 25, Con. 8, from the Crown. In 1846 he sold a large part of it to Wm. Philip, and from that time on until he moved away about 1855 he sold many lots. He moved to Lanark township where he died at 92. His brother, John Bennie, moved to Renfrew County. James Bennie had a store and became the first Postmaster 1853-1355. Bennie’s Corners Post Office: July 1^st, 1853 — James Bennie; July 1^st, 1855 – Alex Leishman; July 1^st, 1874 – John Crossley; Jan. 1^st, 1879 – Miss Jane Philip; 1881 — John Whitelaw; 1883 – Thos. B. Caswell; 1890 — Robt. Philip; 1891 – Alex Anderson; Mrs. Alex Anderson had the post office again for a year or two before the rural mail delivery began.

Dr. James Naismith standing in front of the school he attended as a boy in Bennies Corners, Ontario, Canada – University Archives

Bennie’s Corners School was one of outstanding merit, having received a diploma as the best in Lanark County. It was taught by outstanding educators who did their part in producing fine citizens. In the early days were John Bennie and John McCarter, both of whom taught in a large log building behind where the present school is located. Behind the school in the field two Bennie children are buried. About one-third of the building was teacher’s quarters and the other two-thirds the schoolroom, which was long used for meetings of many church groups. Here Andrew Toshack continued to superintend a large Sunday School for about 50 years and also helped to carry on weekly prayer meetings. Many church services and other meetings were held here and also in the new school. The enrollment in the school ranged from 60 to 90 and many came from adjoining School Sections because of the superior teaching they received. Mr. Thos. B. Caswell. an outstanding teacher, was one of the early teachers in the new school. Among his pupils was one who became famous all over the world, the much loved physical instructor, also an M.D. and a Presbyterian minister and chaplain in the 1^st World War, Dr. James Naismith, whose achievement should not be forgotten. Much honor is due him indeed. We want the world to know that it was here that he attended “Common School” and here that he obtained some of the grounding for a later life of service. It was here, too, playing Duck on a Rock on the pink granite stone across the corner from the school that he got the idea of the underhand throw of a ball into a basket.

 In Memoriam

 

PATRICIA ELEANOR TATE

Patricia Eleanor Tate, youngest, daughter of Mr and Mrs. Charles Hill Tate, was struck down by a car when coming home from school in the afternoon of March 4th, was rendered unconscious and passed away in an Ottawa hospital, never having regained consciousness. “Patsy” was born on August 1, 1951. Her short, happy life, ending so suddenly, saddened the hearts of all who knew and loved her. She was a pupil at Bennie’s Corners school and was in Grade 2 and attended Blakeney United Church and Sunday School.

Surviving with the parents, are, a sister, Penny, age 12; and two brothers, Paul and Brian, age 10 and 9, respectively. Funeral service was conducted by Rev. Winfred L. Henley, pastor of Blakeney United Church and was held at the Kerry-Scott Funeral Home.

Floral tributes from Blakeney, W.A., Cedar Hill choir; Almonte, Male Choir, Almonte; Almonte Presbyterian Church; Branch 240, Canadian Legion; Ramsay Township School Area Board; Teaching staff Ramsay S.A.; members of O.F.U. Local 256 and many friends and relatives, were in evidence. Pallbearers were Messrs. E. S. Graham, Alex Snedden, J. R. Camelon, R. E. Toshack, W. Earl Caldwell and J. Kenneth Bowes. Entombment was in the Auld Cemetery vault.

 

The Bairds of Bennie’s Corners

Squirrel Massacre in Bennie’s Corners —-Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!

Taking Sexy Back with Brothel Bertie aka Edward the VII

 

The small hamlet of Bennie’s Corners appeared on the scene of the eighteen thirties, adjoined on the Indian River by Toshack’s carding mill and Baird’s grist mill.  The Baird mill, now known as the Mill of Kintail, has been preserved by a private owner for public historical uses and as a residence.

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in Hometown News

The Bairds of Bennie’s Corners

 

From Almonte Gazette, 1969

The Aristocratic Bairds of Bennies’ Corners…

by Hal Kirkland

The people of Bennies ‘ Corners always said that the Bairds were proud and aloof, or as one neighbor lady who remembered the Baird sisters put it, “they were uppish.”

Of course they all came from Scotland; the Sneddens, Toshacks, Gardners, Steeles, Naismiths, Waddells, Grahams, Cochrans, Youngs, Philips – and the Bairds too, who came from Glasgow. Perhaps these Scotch felt that they were entitled to pass judgment on one of their own. All of these family names are still familiar in this district – all except the Bairds. The last of the Bairds died at Bennies’ Corners, in the year 1900.

When John Baird emigrated to Canada in 1829 he left his wife and four children in Scotland. He also left numerous creditors in and around Glasgow. But he did expect to see his wife and family again – in Canada. And they did come out after he was established in this new land, even though Mrs. Baird was reluctant to leave the comforts of her home in the city.

If ever a man established himself in a hurry it was John Baird. In an incredibly short time he had built himself a huge two and a half story flour mill, a store and a dwelling, all solid stone buildings.

The mill and the store are still standing, after almost 140 years. The mill, named by John Baird; “Woodside Mills” is now the Mill of Kintail (The Tait McKenzie Memorial) and the store is now the attractive residence near the entrance gate to the Mill of Kintail. The Baird residence which was dismantled and razed is completely gone. It was located about where Mr. Wilbert Monette’s barn now stands.

The neighbors at Bennies’ Corners who were still living in their original log houses and struggling to clear more land must have marvelled at the audacity of this man Baird coming in and straightway putting up such grand buildings. He would have had to hire stonemasons, millwrights and laborers to put up the mill and skilled craftsmen for the rich cherry woodwork throughout the rooms in the dwelling. They concluded that he must have brought out a lot of money from Scotland or else had some mysterious method of financing beyond their ken. But they never knew for certain.

However we now know a little more about the Bairds than these neighbors did. Mrs. Baird kept the letters that her husband had written to her while he was alone in Canada and she was in Glasgow. These letters were found, probably in the drawer of a desk that someone purchased when the Baird household effects were sold in 1900. Appropriately, these letters are now in the Pioneer Museum at the Mill of Kintail the mill that John Baird built.

The letters were written in the year 1830. This writer has no inclination to quote indiscriminately from these letters written by a husband to his wife. Still I think that without violating good taste a few passages of a general nature can be selected because they are authentic accounts of conditions and problems faced by the Bairds and the other Scotch settlers at Bennies’ Corners. Anyway, John Baird did not indulge in sentimentality. he was a very practical man.

In the first letter to his wife Isabella John writes, “I cannot endure the idea of allowing you and the family to come here. I am sure none of you would like it, although I could make a living yet it would be such a living as you would not like. It would not afford an opportunity of the family obtaining such an education to enable them to provide for themselves to which I had my views directed in coming here, and not the wealth as has been stated to you.” What he meant by the reference to wealth remains enigmatic.

In his next letter (a letter was usually six weeks and sometimes longer in reaching its destination) he is talking of going back home. “I will sail for Scotland about 1st June. God willing, I will be in Greenock about 10th or 15th July. I saw Mrs. McFerson. She told me yesterday that she would sell the shirt off her back to go home; but her husband will not consent, because as he says, he will not go to be driven around as a porter, not having a trade.”

Times were bad in the British Isles. But John Baird apparently still owned property in Scotland because he says, “I still feel convinced that the estate will turn out greatly superior to what has been stated of it.” All the same he suggested that she “take a small house.”

He indulges in a little self pity for which he can be forgiven. He says, “Tell them (the children) I undertook this journey looking to their benefit. Supposing I was worth £20,000 I would give the half of it rather than undergo what I have done these last 8 months, but it is little compared to the anxious and sleepless nights I have had, fearing and doubting how you all are. I have suffered severely these four weeks past for want of letters. Within these four months I have lost at least 11/2 stones weight, although in good health.”

He was always anxious about the children’s schooling. He writes, “I hope Isabella can go through the Bible and Psalm Book now well. I trust John is a good scholar. I am quite sure William will not disappoint me. Keep him at his counting, writing and bookkeeping.”

Well, spring came in Canada and John wrote, “I like this country greatly better than I did.” He tells her, “the strawberries grow here in the fields and there are immense quantities of large plums in the woods, much larger than you have. Since April came in the weather has been fine. April and May are like Scotland in July.”

Again he mentions the immoderate drinking by the settlers. He says, “it is no uncommon thing when a man passes a neighbor’s house at night perhaps with three gallons of whiskey to finish it that night.” In a previous letter he said, “it is the worst whiskey you can have any conception of at 2/6  a gallon.”

But a year later, in his store at Bennies’ Corners, John Baird himself was selling whiskey to the settlers. The price had gone up according to his daybook, which is also in the Pioneer Museum, he was selling whiskey at 3/9 a gallon. Perhaps it was a better grade of whiskey. To those with some knowledge in these matters it may be of interest to know that a gill of whiskey was 4d. and that a gill is 1/4 pint.

The remaining letters are mostly concerned with detailed instructions about preparations for the voyage over.  He advises them to purchase warm and sturdy clothing and it is interesting that he admits “my clothes are all too fine.”

In one letter he informs her casually, as if an afterthought, “ I have bought 200 acres of as good land as is in Ramsay. The Indian river runs through, about  one half size of Clyde; a waterfall of 10 feet; a fine mill seat and store.” It is odd that he never mentioned this before as the records show that he had bought the land from the canada Company more than a year previously.

Apparently he did not tell his wife everything. Just the important things – such as not to forget the gingerbeer and to get her chairs packed with cross spars of wood and Janet’s and Jean’s pictures must be packed with cotton waste and the piano must also be carefully done and strong. he sent the poor woman long lists of goods she must buy and have shipped to Canada for the store at Bennies’ Corners and told her exactly how much to pay for a dozen shawls or a dozen handkerchiefs, how much a yard for various kinds of cloth and so on. Furthermore he specified the merchants or agents from whom the items should be purchased. This would be a new and novel experience for the genteel Isabella Baird. I wonder, how she made out?

There is no record of when Mrs. Baird and the children finally set sail for Canada. She was in no hurry and you cannot blame her. The children were in their teens except William the youngest, and all of them were attending good schools. Jeannie, the eldest, was a gifted musician and was studying in Ireland, probably at a young ladies’ convent school.

However,  we do, know that the mill and the store were soon going concerns and that Mr. Baird was doing very nicely. But he was never satisfied. Years later he acquired a grist mill in Almonte and his son William came in from Bennies’ Corners to manage it. After that, he built a two story mill in Almonte, the bottom story, stone and the top story frame, which he rented to Gilbert Cannon for the manufacture of woolen goods. This mill was on the bank of the Mississippi about opposite the parking lot of Harry’s Motor Sales.

This venture marked the beginning of the decline and eventual end of the Baird Fortune. He became involved in lengthy and costly  litigation over water rights in the Mississippi. This and the fact that his Bennies’ Corners mill was becoming obsolete because he was still operating his flour mill with burr stones while others were converting to the roller method. One of the millstones is now part of the McKenzie Memorial on our Town Hall  lawn.

From now on the plight of the Bairds is a sad story, Mrs. Baird died in 1857. In the same year John advertised that he had for sale pork, flour and oatmeal. In 1860 the mill was up for sale. John Baird died in 1867 in the 88th year of his age. After the grist mill in Almonte failed William went back to Bennies’ Corners and passed away there. The other son John lived until 1894. The two sisters, Isabella and Jean, were left alone. They were old and feeble.

This writer is indebted to Mrs. Hollie Lowry and Mrs. Peter  Syme for the little that is now known of the last days of the Baird sisters. The two spinsters stayed in their beautifully furnished home at Bennies’ Corners, aloof, with no friends and no means. If it had not been for their close neighbours, Mrs. John Steele and Mrs. John Snedden, the proud and pennyless sisters literally would have died of starvation.

Both sisters were highly intelligent, but were considered eccentric. Jean, the musician, died first and Isabella was alone until she passed away in 1900. Mrs. Syme, who was then a small girl named Mabel Snedden, remembers taking food to Isabella, a task which she did not relish as there were usually a sheep or two and a flock of hens in the house. The hens had no respect for the fine furniture and roosted on the piano. Isabella, unkempt and listless, would be reclining on the settee in her expensive bonnet and fine silks.

And sadly so ended the last of the proud and aristocratic Bairds of Bennies’ Corners.

Squirrel Massacre in Bennie’s Corners —-Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!

Squirrel Massacre in Bennie’s Corners —-Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!

Not for the Squeamish!

A Bennie’s Corners story of 1875 may be recalled as the telling of a recognized sport in some circles of Lanark County. In those times, it was known as a squirrel hunt and featuring a reckless slaughter of the birds and animals of the summer woods.  An Almonte newspaper report told of the hunt on this occasion:

On Friday the 25^th a squirrel hunt took place at Bennie’s Corners, and they came far and wide.  Eighteen competitors were chosen on each side, with Messrs. John Snedden and Robert McKenzie acting as captains.  In squirrel hunts, squirrels are not the only animals killed, but every furred and feathered denizen of the forest, each having a certain value attached.  The count runs as follows : squirrel 1, chip munk 2, wood pecker 2, ground hog 3, crow 3, blackbird 1, skunk 5, fox 50, etc.

At the conclusion of the contest the game killed by both sides amounted to over 2,500.  Mr. James Cochrane bagged 164 squirrels, being the highest individual score, and Mr. Andrew Cochran came next.  The affair wound up with a dance at the residence of Mr. James Snedden.

They danced? What do you mean they danced? After killing 2,500 animals? I have only one thing to say.

Buy Linda Secaspina’s Books— Flashbacks of Little Miss Flash Cadilac– Tilting the Kilt-Vintage Whispers of Carleton Place and 4 others on Amazon or Amazon Canada or Wisteria at 62 Bridge Street in Carleton Place

Taking Sexy Back with Brothel Bertie aka Edward the VII

On my way to the Mill of Kintail in Ontario last summer I knew I needed to take a picture of a sign that was erected in the middle of nowhere years ago. It has always fascinated me, and I often wonder who made the sign. Was it the neighbours, or might it have been the families of former British Loyalists that had hand crafted it? The sign says that in 1860, King Edward the VII knocked on the Metcalfe family’s door in Bennie’s Corners, Ontario. He was then was offered a cool drink from their spring “among the cedars”.  What do you do, or say, when the son of Queen Victoria knocks on your door?

Knowing me, I would have first asked the King about his mistress, Alice Keppel, great grandmother to Prince Charles wife Camilla Parker Bowles. Rumour has it Camilla’s grandmother, Sonia Keppel, was actually the illegitimate daughter of King Edward VII. The apple does not fall from the tree does it?  Should I have asked him about his documented love chair? I swear I would have given him all the water and smiles he wanted to know about little piece of history.

The Queen and her ladies however, used to do charity things during the day like sewing shirts for the poor or working on their beloved tapestries. Much time was spent in prayer reading the Bible in the garden, banquets, dancing or anything that would keep the King happy. Some of the Kings routines however were not to be divulged to his or adoring female followers.
As I researched more about Edward I had many questions about his secret sexual habits and the well known love chair.

Unknown to a lot of history books after that trip to Bennie’s Corners Edward was secretly called “The Prince of Pleasure”. His royal highness routinely gave his mother Queen Victoria, a royal headache with his frequent trips to the Parisian brothels. They say he literally killed his father when dear old Dad found out what a “luster buster” he was.

Because, Bertie, as he was called in private, was quite overweight, he needed a little help with his routine daily love making. The love chair was especially made for him so he could have multiple encounters at the same time.

Apparently the chair is still in use somewhere in France by the family of the creator, and a copy of it is at the Prague Sex Museum. Word on the internet highway is, that you can also purchase your very own copy if you would like. Somewhere in the corner of the darkened seedy part of the web lies someone that wants to offer you this chair for your routine sex habits.

I have seen a lot of erotic things in my life but this chair boggles my mind.
Who did what, where, and how? Ideas, anyone? Was it caused by the water at Bennie’s Corners?

Edward also had private bathtub in the brothel called Le Chabanais in France. It was a huge copper bath usually filled with champagne in the design of a half woman and half swan. King Edward bubble bathed his life away daily with his “lovelies” including Winston Churchill’s mother. Dirty Bertie’s tub was eventually purchased by Salvador Dali in 1951 for his daily wash ups from all that painting.

Seeing my great great grandmother Louise Knight was a lady in waiting for Queen Victoria, I shudder to think if she was involved in any of these routine court-side extravaganzas.

Louise was eventually kicked out for having “loose skirts” around the court. But, how “loose” were they? My grandparents had a good idea and never shared; but I am the first to admit that her skirts probably were routinely up around her neck. Or maybe she was just” let go” for bad technical support on certain furniture for her daily “mopping” and “royal welcomes”.

God save the King and someone needs to bottle that water at Bennie’s Corners!

From my friend John Morrow with great thanks

Meow! Check your facts on this. King Edward apparently didn’t meet Alice Keppel until almost 40 years after his trip to Canada according to Wikipedia. Another apocryphal story connected with this concerns the Metcalfe family’s son, Dr. Archibald Albert Metcalfe, later Mayor of Almonte and the man responsible for Almonte’s hydro-electric generating plant. Dr. Metcalfe was actually born 3 Nov 1869, but in his later years claimed he was born within a few days of the prince’s visit and was given the middle name Albert in honour of the occasion. Dr. Metcalfe died in 1962, claiming to be 101, but was actually 92 at the time.