Philemon Wright
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Philemon Wright (September 3, 1760 – June 3, 1839) was a farmer, lumberman and entrepreneur who founded the
Ottawa River Timber Trade The Ottawa River timber trade, also known as the Ottawa Valley timber trade or Ottawa River lumber trade, was the nineteenth century production of wood products by Canada on areas of the Ottawa River and the regions of the Ottawa Valley and weste ...
in 1806. He was also founder of what he named Columbia Falls Village, mostly known as (or Wrightstown) and Wright's Village to others, the first permanent settlement in the
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of
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. Wright's Town, later became incorporated in 1875 and renamed
Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadia ...
, and then in 2002, as a result of a municipal amalgamation, it acquired its present name of the City of Gatineau.


Biography

Wright was born in
Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' mayor-council form of governme ...
into the family of Thomas Wright and Elizabeth Chandler, a large and prosperous Woburn family that had been among the town's founders, 120 years before. Philemon Wright was raised as a farmer. At the young age of 16, he was thrust into service for two years with the rebel forces in the first years of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, leaving service as a sergeant. He fought in several battles including the
Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...
on June 17, 1775. Nicknamed "the Old Squire" by his employees and friends, Wright was once described by John Mactaggart as "about six feet high, a tight man, with a wonderfully strange, quick reflective wild eye”. On May 16, 1782, Philemon Wright married Abigail Wyman, a Woburn woman whose ancestors were among the founding families of
Charlestown, Massachusetts Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett tribe, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston, and also adjoins t ...
in 1628. Charlestown would later become
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Philemon and Abigail would have a large family of 9 children. Their children (ages listed as of 1800, when they arrived in Hull Township) were: Philemon Jr., 18; Tiberius, 13; Abigail (Nabby, who died at 7 yrs.); Mary (Polly) 10; Ruggles, 8; Abigail, 6; Christopher Columbus, 2; Christiana, b. 1803.Wright Carr-Harris, Bertha: ''The White Chief of the Ottawa'', page 28. William Briggs, Toronto 1903.


Settlement of Wright's Town

Feeling the strain of overpopulation in Massachusetts, Wright first came to see the isolated and unsettled area of the
Ottawa Valley The Ottawa Valley is the valley of the Ottawa River, along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais, Quebec, Canada. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. Because of the surroundi ...
in 1796, returned again in 1798, and once more in 1799. He finally decided that the best location for a new settlement would be next to the
Chaudière Falls , image = Ottawa Chaudiere Falls.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Chaudière Falls in June 2006, at summer water levels , map_image = , map_size = , coordinates = , coords_ref = , location ...
, near the intersection of the Tenàgàtino-sibi or
Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...
and Kitchi-sibi or
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
rivers, where he found thousands of acres of good soil and vast amounts of timber. He applied for the lands of the Township of Hull under the "leader and associates" regime and after swearing allegiance to the Crown, received the grant. Wright used his natural leadership abilities to convince a group of
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
settlers to come north with him. He sold his holdings in Woburn and led a group of 4 other families and 33 labouring men to the area, leaving on February 2, 1800, at the age of 39. With the help of a native
Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...
scout, who volunteered to help the group negotiate the treacherous voyage over ice from Kinodjiwan or Long-Sault at
Carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...
to the Akikodjiwan or
Chaudière Falls , image = Ottawa Chaudiere Falls.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Chaudière Falls in June 2006, at summer water levels , map_image = , map_size = , coordinates = , coords_ref = , location ...
, the group arrived on the western shore of the Gatineau River where it meets the Ottawa on March 7, 1800 and began to clear land. At first, their objective was to clear what was needed for homes and farmland for their survival. Two farms, the 'Gateno Farm' (1800), as he named it, and the 'Columbia Falls Farm' (1801) were the first to be cleared. Then, in 1801, at the foot of the Chaudière Falls, construction began on other enterprises. Wright preferred to call the falls the Columbia Falls, but the name never stuck. The name Columbia, however, was repeatedly used throughout the new settlement: Columbia Pond (now, Leamy Lake), the Columbia farm, the Columbia hotel and Columbia road (now, St. Joseph blvd.). Wright's settlement quickly became Wright's Town with the shops, mills and other enterprises that were built so that the small community would not be dependent on the expensive practice of importing goods from Montreal. Wright built a lumber mill, a hemp and grist mill and a smithy to fulfill their needs. When a fire burned down the smithy, he rebuilt it in stone, adding a trip hammer mill, four forges and four bellows operated hydraulically. He built a large bakehouse, shops for a shoemaker, a tailor, a bark grinding mill, as well as a tannery for curing leather. Always the opportunist, he also saw to it that a brewery and distillery were operating to slake the thirsts of the many employees he employed. Before long, he and his wife Abigail also saw to it that there was a teacher to teach all of the children in the community. The process was long and difficult and by 1806 Wright had nearly exhausted his original capital of $20,000. In an effort to earn money and in order to keep his workers busy in the wintertime, he began the cutting of timber. Then, he attempted what was then thought impossible: to build a raft of
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
and float it all the way to
Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
. There, it would be sold for export to
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. He built the first raft at the mouth of the Gateno River and named it "Columbo". Then, on June 11, 1806, he, his 18 yr-old son Tiberius and just 3 other men (London Oxford, a free black man & friend/associate of Philemon, Martin Ebert, and John Turner) began the treacherous journey down the Grand (Ottawa) River. Despite taking two months and encountering many hurdles he reached Quebec on August 12, and sold his 700 logs and 6000 barrel staves. The timber trade on the Ottawa River had begun. He founded several companies, among them a limestone quarry for building-stone and producing cement, The Hull Mining Company and P. Wright & Sons which, in particular, made him a great deal of money exporting timber, during the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
when Britain was cut off from its traditional
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suppliers. As a pioneer and an entrepreneur, Wright had few equals. He was the point man for every builder, land speculator and government project in the region. According to John Mactaggart, the Royal Engineer in charge of the construction of the Rideau Canal and a contemporary of Philemon Wright, Wright should also be credited with having been the person who first suggested the building of the
Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. It is 202 kilometres long. The name ''Rideau'', French for "curtain", ...
, and once the canal's construction was under way, Wright secured most of the contracts for supplies, materials and craftsmen. Despite his many achievements, he and his community faced near bankruptcy on several occasions. His earliest efforts to establish his settlement almost exhausted his entire capital and then, when his town was ravaged by a disastrous fire in May 1808, the village was practically wiped out. A despondent Wright was ready to abandon the venture and possibly would have, if not for the encouragement he received from his sons Philemon Jr. and Tiberius to rebuild. They rebuilt the grist, hemp and sawmills, a larger foundry and the tavern within 6 months. In 1819, Wright established the first passenger ship service on the
Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
. The first ship he used was the ''Packet'', a four-ton vessel propelled by “sail and oars”. In 1822, he contracted
Thomas Mears Thomas Mears (1775 – October 16, 1832) was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in the Thirteen Colonies in 1775. He settled in West Hawkesbury Township. He set up a sawmill and gristmill on the Ottawa River in tha ...
to construct a steamboat, which resulted in the ''Union of the Ottawa'', which first set sail in 1823. The ''Union'' is described as “...measuring 125 feet on the deck, by 23 feet beam, drawing but little water, carrying 150 tons, and propelled by a 28-horsepower engine.” Wright's son Ruggles travelled to Europe to learn
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n timber methods, and armed with this knowledge, returned home and constructed the first ever
timber slide A timber slide is a device for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls. Their use in Canada was widespread in the 18th and 19th century timber trade. At this time, cut timber would be floated down rivers in large timber rafts from logging c ...
in Canada on the north side of the
Chaudière Falls , image = Ottawa Chaudiere Falls.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Chaudière Falls in June 2006, at summer water levels , map_image = , map_size = , coordinates = , coords_ref = , location ...
in 1829, which allowed logs to be transported over the falls without having to use the previous method of waiting for calm water, which could take weeks. By 1820, Wrightstown was properly established. The population was 703, all either native New Englanders or first-generation Canadians. There were five mills, four stores, three schools, two hotels, two distilleries, and a brewery. For livestock, the count was 123 horses, 418 oxen, 503 cows, 505 pigs, and 558 sheep.


Political career

Wright was elected to the legislature of Lower Canada to represent Ottawa County in 1830 and he and his settlement both saw great success. He voted against the
Ninety-Two Resolutions The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the ''Parti patriote'' of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony. Papineau had b ...
. He was also the leader of Freemasonry in the area for many of the villagers and surrounding communities.


Wright farms

Although he and his family spent their lives as lumber barons, Philemon Wright was always a farmer at heart. He was a strong advocate for "scientific farming" and
selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant mal ...
, and he was the first person to import prize
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and
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cattle to the Ottawa Valley. In 1813, Wright sold 3,000 bushels of wheat in Québec for $3.00 a bushel (this astronomically high price courtesy of the War of 1812). By 1823, the Wright family had created several large and lucrative farms, some of which covered most of the land occupied by present-day Hull & Aylmer. These included the Gatteno Farm near
Leamy Lake Leamy Lake (in French: ''Lac Leamy'') is a lake in the Hull, Quebec, Hull sector of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The lake is located just to the south of the Gatineau River, and just west of the Ottawa River, and is linked to both of them with flowin ...
, the Columbia Falls Farm (at Wright's village), The Columbia Farm (Chelsea Rd.), The Dalhousie Farm (by Leamy Lake), the Britannia Farm (on the Britannia Turnpyke), the Chaudière Farm (where Aylmer began), the second Gatteno Farm (east side of the Gatineau) and the Onslow farm (Township of Onslow). In fact, Wright's agricultural community, at the time of his death in 1839, was the most developed of Lower Canada. From Onslow Township (present-day Wyman) to present-day Buckingham, Philemon Wright owned 36,978.5 acres (over 150 km2) The fame of Hull as an agricultural community in Canada, the US and Britain was well deserved. The Gatteno Farm was the site of the original clearing by the Wright expedition in 1800, where stood Philemon Wright's first cabin he affectionately called "The Wigwam". His second home, a bigger home with a stone foundation, was built just north of the Wigwam. In 1801, at the Chaudière Falls, Wright & his sons created the Columbia Falls Farm and that is the location where Wright's Town grew up. In 1810, Philemon Sr. moved to his third home, built on the Columbia Falls Farm, on its 800 acres.Brault, Lucien. Hull 1800-1950. Ottawa: Les Éditions de l'Université d'Ottawa, 1950, pg. 26 He lived in that home until 1818, when he handed it over to his son Ruggles, along with the reins of all of the family's Chaudière operations. Eventually this property was purchased by E.B.Eddy and he tore down the Wright home and built a mansion named "Standish Hall". That 1st mansion burnt down in 1900 and he built another that ultimately became the very popular Hotel in Hull by the same name, where Louis Armstrong and many big bands came to play. Philemon's 4th home was built just west of the Standish Hall near the Chaudière Falls and was a grand home he named "The White House". The White House closely resembled the Wright Farm home in Winchester Massachusetts where Wright grew up. Almost a perfect copy of Wright's White House can be found at the Billings estate in Ottawa and given that Braddish Billings started his career in the employ of Wright, it may be no surprise that Billing's "grand, genteel" home, as he called it, would have been modeled after The Squire's, as Philemon was often referred to by his friends. When Philemon Sr. moved to the Columbia Falls Farm in 1810, the Gatteno farm was put in the hands of Philemon Jr. and Sarah Wright, where Sarah, principally, raised animals and operated a distillery. It eventually ended up in the hands of Andrew Leamy who married Erexina Wright, the daughter of Sarah and Philemon Wright Jr. The Columbia Farm of was located at the junction of what would be the Brigham Road (now Gamelin) and Columbia Road (now boul. St. Joseph), and was operated first by Philemon Jr., then eventually owned by Thomas Brigham, who had married Philemon Sr.'s daughter, Abigail. The Britannia Farm, on the road leading to Aylmer, was owned by Philemon Jr. as was the Dalhousie Farm, south of what is now Leamy Lake. The Britannia Farm is now the site of the Royal Ottawa Golf Club, the Champlain & Château Cartier golf clubs. A farm at Lac Deschênes in Aylmer, called the Chaudière Farm, was established in 1818 by Philemon Jr. also a store and Inn was built at the landing. After Philemon Jr.'s tragic death in a stagecoach accident on Dec. 5th, 1821, Philemon Jr.s' heirs ended up losing ownership of the Britannia Farm and only retained ownership of the Gatteno Farm because of some dubious paperwork that Wright Sr. had fabricated. He confessed to this in a codicil to his Will, dated 1838. In 1826, Philemon Jr.'s widow, Sarah (Sally) Olmstead Wright, married
Nicholas Sparks (politician) Nicholas Sparks (1794–27 February 1862) was an early landholder of Bytown, Upper Canada who owned most of the lands in the present day commercial core of Downtown Ottawa. Biography Sparks was born in Darrah parish, County Wexford in Irelan ...
, who was then in the employ of P. Wright & Sons. Sparks would become a wealthy landowner & politician in the future Bytown. In 1822, Philemon Sr. gave the Chaudière Farms to Tiberius and Ruggles, and in 1823, he put the Chaudière Farm under the supervision of Charles Symmes, his nephew. The Dalhousie Farm went to Ephraim Chamberlain who was married to Philemon Sr.'s daughter Mary (Polly) Wright. As well, there were additional Wright farms along the Mountain Road. Tiberius Wright established the (second) Gatteno Farm in 1816, which his son
Alonzo Wright Alonzo Wright (April 28, 1821 – January 7, 1894) was a Canadian member of Parliament and businessman commonly known as "King of the Gatineau". He was born in Hull, Quebec in 1821. He was a grandson of Philemon Wright, and son of Tiberius ...
would inherit. By 1823, nearly at this farm had been cleared. It occupied the site of the current Collège St-Alexandre in Limbour.


Retirement & death

At the end of his life, Philemon Sr. retired to another farm, this time in Onslow Township, Lower Canada (now the province of
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
). Wright owned 12,000 acres that spanned the entire width of the County in the first six ranges of Onslow Township. In Wright's papers, in the National Archives of Canada, he frequently refers to his properties in Onslow, both his timber cutting operations and his farming activities there, listing acreages of oats and potatoes and his numbers of cattle. Unfortunately he did not state who was living on the properties or looking after his interests in the township. Joseph Bouchette's map, dated 1831, shows a few buildings and a road in the easternmost lots on the river, which is most likely to be the location of Philemon's Onslow Farm. Philemon Wright's brother-in-law, Joseph Wyman, and his son Joseph Jr., who also came from Woburn, obtained several hundred acres in the west end of the township through Wright. They named the new settlement Woburn after their New England home, and brought in other settlers. Woburn was later renamed Billerica (after Billerica, Mass.) and the name was eventually changed to Wyman. Wright died on June 3, 1839 in Wright's Town, and is buried in St. James Anglican Cemetery, Gatineau (Hull Sector). He was survived by a large family, including his son
Ruggles Wright Ruggles Wright (1793 – August 18, 1863) was a Canadian lumber merchant, the second youngest son of Philemon Wright. He was born in Woburn, Massachusetts but moved to Canada with his parents while still young. He later joined the family busin ...
who invented the
timber slide A timber slide is a device for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls. Their use in Canada was widespread in the 18th and 19th century timber trade. At this time, cut timber would be floated down rivers in large timber rafts from logging c ...
. Philemon Wright is regarded as the founder of both the cities of Ottawa and of Gatineau.
Philemon Wright High School Philemon Wright High School is an anglophone high school located in the Hull sector of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is administered by the Western Quebec School Board and named after Philemon Wright, founder of Hull. Philemon Wright High scho ...
in Gatineau is named after him.


Genealogical relationships

Interesting research through the years has established that through his own family and that of his wife, Abigail, Philemon Wright's family members are related to every President of the United States with the exception of Martin Van Buren and Donald Trump, and also related to the English Royal familyThe Wrights. A Genealogical Study of the First Settlers in Canada's National Capital Region, Patrick M. O. Evans, National Capital Commission, pg 169


References

Bibliography * *


External links

* *
The Family of John and Priscilla Wright
Philemon Wright (1760-1839); Article on Outaouais Heritage WebMagazine by Bruce S. Elliott *Archives of Philemon Wrigh
(Philemon Wright and family fonds, R4074)
are held at
Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Philemon 1760 births 1839 deaths American emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople Settlers of the National Capital Region (Canada) Canadian people of English descent People from Woburn, Massachusetts Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada History of Gatineau Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Immigrants to Lower Canada Anglophone Quebec people