Philemon Wright
Encyclopedia
Philemon Wright was a farmer and entrepreneur who founded Wrightstown, the first permanent settlement in the National Capital Region
of Canada
. Wrightstown later became incorporated in 1875 and renamed Hull, Quebec
, and then in 2002, as a result of a municipal amalgamation, it acquired its present name of the City of Gatineau.
into the family of Thomas Wright and Elizabeth Chandler, a prosperous Woburn family that had been amongst the town’s founders 120 years before. Raised as a farmer, Philemon Wright, as a young man, was thrust into service for two years with the rebel forces in the first years of the American Revolution
.
Feeling the strain of overpopulation in Massachusetts, Wright first came to see the then isolated and unsettled area of the Ottawa Valley
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
, near the intersection of the Gatineau
and Ottawa
rivers, where he found thousands of acres of good soil.
Wright used his natural leadership abilities to convince a group of Massachusetts
settlers to come north with him. He led a group of 5 families and 25 labourers (axemen) to the area in the winter of 1800. With the help of a native scout, who volunteered to help the group negotiate the treacherous voyage over ice from Carillon to the Chaudière Falls, the group arrived on the western shore of the Gatineau River where it meets the Ottawa and began to clear land. At first their objective was to clear what was needed for homes and farmland for their survival. Having been very successful, Wright began to build his village at the foot of the Chaudière Falls the very next year, in 1801.
The process was long and difficult and by 1806 Wright had nearly exhausted his capital. In an effort to earn money and in order to keep his workers busy in the winter time, he began the cutting of timber. Then, he attempted what was then thought impossible: to build a raft of timber
and float it all the way to Quebec City
. There, it would be sold for export to Britain
. The first raft he built, he named "Colombo". Despite taking two months and encountering many hurdles he reached Quebec and sold his 700 logs and 6000 barrel staves. The timber trade on the Ottawa River
had begun.
In Wrightstown, Wright quickly built several enterprises, shops and mills so that the small community would not be dependent on the expensive practice of importing goods from Montreal. He built a lumber mill, a hemp mill and a grist mill to fulfill their needs. He also built built a foundry in a stone building large enough for four fires and four bellows operated hydraulically. He built shops for a shoemaker, a tailor, and a baker, 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 saw to it that there was a teacher to teach school to all of the children in the community.
He founded several companies, amongst them, a limestone quarry, The Hull Mining Company and P. Wright & Sons which, in particular, made him a great deal of money exporting timber, especially during the Napoleonic Wars
when Britain was cut off from its traditional Baltic region
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 several contemporaries, Wright should also be credited with having been the person who first suggested the building of the Rideau Canal
, and once the canal's construction was under way, Wright secured most of the contracts for supplies, materials and craftsmen.
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
. He and his community faced near bankruptcy on several occasions when his town was ravaged by fires, with one fire in 1808 which practically wiped out the village.
Although he and his family spent their lives as lumber barons, Philemon Wright was always a farmer at heart. By 1823, the Wright family had created several lucrative farms. These included the Gatineau Farm, near Leamy Lake, the site of the original clearing by the Wright expedition in 1800, where stood Philemon Wright's first home, called "The Wigwam". This farm was used to raise animals and operate a distillery, and was directed by Sarah Wright, the widow of Philemon Jr., who had died in 1821. There was Philemon Sr.’s farm at the Chaudière, where Wright built his second (Standish Hall) and third homes (The White House). The Columbia Farm of 800 acres (3.2 km²) was located at the junction of the-then Brigham Road (now Gamelin) and Chelsea roads (now boul. St. Joseph), and was operated by Thomas Brigham, who had married Wright’s daughter, Abigail. At the site of the current Collège St-Alexandre in Limbour, Tiberius Wright established a farm in 1816, which his son Alonzo Wright would inherit. By 1823, nearly 800 acres (3.2 km²) at this farm had been cleared. Philemon Jr. had also established a farm at Lac Deschênes in Aylmer and after his tragic death, in 1821, in a stagecoach accident, it came under the supervision of Charles Symmes, a nephew of Wright Sr. As well, there were additional Wright farms along the Aylmer Road, Mountain Road, and on both shores of the Gatineau River. At the end of his life, Philemon Sr. retired to another farm, this time in Onslow Township. In fact, the Wright agricultural community was more developed than other land grants of the time in Lower Canada
, many of which were held only for speculation. Hull’s renown in Canada, the U.S., and Britain as a fine agricultural community was well deserved.
Wright died on June 3, 1839, in Onslow, Lower Canada (now the province of Quebec
) and is buried in St. James Anglican Cemetery, Gatineau (Hull Sector). He was survived by a large family, including his son Ruggles Wright
who would go on to invent the timber slide
.
Philemon Wright is regarded as the founder of both the cities of Ottawa and of Gatineau. Philemon Wright High School
in Gatineau is named after him.
National Capital Region (Canada)
The National Capital Region, also referred to as Canada's Capital Region, is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and surrounding urban and rural communities....
of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Wrightstown later became incorporated in 1875 and renamed Hull, Quebec
Hull, Quebec
Hull is the central and oldest part 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 Canadian National Capital Region, it contains offices for twenty thousand...
, 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, MassachusettsWoburn, Massachusetts
Woburn is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 38,120 at the 2010 census. Woburn is located north of Boston, Massachusetts, and just south of the intersection of I-93 and I-95.- History :...
into the family of Thomas Wright and Elizabeth Chandler, a prosperous Woburn family that had been amongst the town’s founders 120 years before. Raised as a farmer, Philemon Wright, as a young man, was thrust into service for two years with the rebel forces in the first years of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
.
Feeling the strain of overpopulation in Massachusetts, Wright first came to see the then isolated and unsettled area of the Ottawa Valley
Ottawa Valley
The Ottawa Valley is the valley along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec along the Ottawa River. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield...
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
Chaudière Falls
The Chaudière Falls are a set of cascades and waterfall in the centre of the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area in Canada where the Ottawa River narrows between a rocky escarpment on both sides of the river. The location is just west of the Chaudière Bridge, northwest of the Canadian War Museum at...
, near the intersection of the Gatineau
Gatineau River
The Gatineau River is a river in western Quebec, Canada, which rises in lakes north of the Baskatong Reservoir and flows south to join the Ottawa River at the city of Gatineau, Quebec...
and Ottawa
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
rivers, where he found thousands of acres of good soil.
Wright used his natural leadership abilities to convince a group of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
settlers to come north with him. He led a group of 5 families and 25 labourers (axemen) to the area in the winter of 1800. With the help of a native scout, who volunteered to help the group negotiate the treacherous voyage over ice from Carillon to the Chaudière Falls, the group arrived on the western shore of the Gatineau River where it meets the Ottawa and began to clear land. At first their objective was to clear what was needed for homes and farmland for their survival. Having been very successful, Wright began to build his village at the foot of the Chaudière Falls the very next year, in 1801.
The process was long and difficult and by 1806 Wright had nearly exhausted his capital. In an effort to earn money and in order to keep his workers busy in the winter time, he began the cutting of timber. Then, he attempted what was then thought impossible: to build a raft of timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
and float it all the way to Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
. There, it would be sold for export to Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. The first raft he built, he named "Colombo". Despite taking two months and encountering many hurdles he reached Quebec and sold his 700 logs and 6000 barrel staves. The timber trade on the Ottawa River
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 destined for British and American markets...
had begun.
In Wrightstown, Wright quickly built several enterprises, shops and mills so that the small community would not be dependent on the expensive practice of importing goods from Montreal. He built a lumber mill, a hemp mill and a grist mill to fulfill their needs. He also built built a foundry in a stone building large enough for four fires and four bellows operated hydraulically. He built shops for a shoemaker, a tailor, and a baker, 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 saw to it that there was a teacher to teach school to all of the children in the community.
He founded several companies, amongst them, a limestone quarry, The Hull Mining Company and P. Wright & Sons which, in particular, made him a great deal of money exporting timber, especially during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
when Britain was cut off from its traditional Baltic region
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
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 several contemporaries, Wright should also be credited with having been the person who first suggested the building of the Rideau Canal
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal , also known as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today, with most of its...
, and once the canal's construction was under way, Wright secured most of the contracts for supplies, materials and craftsmen.
Wright was elected to the legislature of Lower Canada
Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada
The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791...
to represent Ottawa County
Ottawa (County of)
Ottawa was a federal and provincial electoral district in Quebec, Canada, which was represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1830 to 1867, in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1892, and in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1867 to at least 1919.The...
in 1830 and he and his settlement both saw great success. He voted against the Ninety-Two Resolutions
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....
. He and his community faced near bankruptcy on several occasions when his town was ravaged by fires, with one fire in 1808 which practically wiped out the village.
Although he and his family spent their lives as lumber barons, Philemon Wright was always a farmer at heart. By 1823, the Wright family had created several lucrative farms. These included the Gatineau Farm, near Leamy Lake, the site of the original clearing by the Wright expedition in 1800, where stood Philemon Wright's first home, called "The Wigwam". This farm was used to raise animals and operate a distillery, and was directed by Sarah Wright, the widow of Philemon Jr., who had died in 1821. There was Philemon Sr.’s farm at the Chaudière, where Wright built his second (Standish Hall) and third homes (The White House). The Columbia Farm of 800 acres (3.2 km²) was located at the junction of the-then Brigham Road (now Gamelin) and Chelsea roads (now boul. St. Joseph), and was operated by Thomas Brigham, who had married Wright’s daughter, Abigail. At the site of the current Collège St-Alexandre in Limbour, Tiberius Wright established a farm in 1816, which his son Alonzo Wright would inherit. By 1823, nearly 800 acres (3.2 km²) at this farm had been cleared. Philemon Jr. had also established a farm at Lac Deschênes in Aylmer and after his tragic death, in 1821, in a stagecoach accident, it came under the supervision of Charles Symmes, a nephew of Wright Sr. As well, there were additional Wright farms along the Aylmer Road, Mountain Road, and on both shores of the Gatineau River. At the end of his life, Philemon Sr. retired to another farm, this time in Onslow Township. In fact, the Wright agricultural community was more developed than other land grants of the time in Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
, many of which were held only for speculation. Hull’s renown in Canada, the U.S., and Britain as a fine agricultural community was well deserved.
Wright died on June 3, 1839, in Onslow, Lower Canada (now the province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
) 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
Ruggles Wright was a Canadian lumber merchant, the 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 business in the timber trade. In 1829, he built the first timber slide on the Ottawa River to...
who would go on to invent the timber slide
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 camps to ports such as Montreal and Saint John, New...
.
Philemon Wright is regarded as the founder of both the cities of Ottawa and of Gatineau. Philemon Wright High School
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 school also offers an Enriched French program course to...
in Gatineau is named after him.