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Eastern Townships· CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTOHY I)F THE EASTERN TOWNSHIPS· A WOltK COX'L\IXIX~; AN ,\lTOl'XT OF TIlE EARLY SETTLE)IEXT OF ST ...:\.R~L\.XD, DUNHA~I, SUTTON, BROME, POTTON, AND BOLTON: WITH'\' HISTORY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS TIlAT HAVE TRANSPIRED IN EACH OF THESE TO\\')/­ ~IIIPS l:P TO THE PItE~E~'1T TDIE. I.:Y C. THOUA~. ;!\tollt\'Cltl: PRIXTED BY .JOH~ LOVELL, ST. XICIIIIL.\S SnEET. 181~1~. PREFACE. SA YS the poet: " He that writes, Or makes a feast, more certainly invites His judges than his friends j there's not a guest But will find something wanting, or }II drc,t." Conscious that much truth is contained in the above lines, the writer does not present this .work to the public with the expectation that it will meet the approval of all who read; but literary fame not being the object for which it was written, he trusts that he will be in no wise disconcerted by the criti· cisms it may call forth. He would say, however, to the individual inclined to regard the work as one unworthy the attention of the public, that it will be far more becoming in him-considering the want of histories of the Townships-to employ his time and talents in preparing one which/fliTl lIe entitled to PREFACE. respect, than only to indulge in fault-findings with the one HOW issued. In the . (l'paration of this history, it has been the desire of the writer to " give credit to whom credit is due;" yet, he doubts not that there are worthy Hons of worthy sirC':;, living in the townships about which he has writtell, whose names do not appear in these pages; but by the intelligent, the impossibility of noticing all the pioneers and their posterity, in a volume of this size, will at once be seen. :.\1orC' lengthy biographical sketches of many who arc notice;l in the following pagC's would gladly have been given; but this could be done only by swelling the work tu a large volume, or by excluding many names which now appear. Much kindness and politeness has generally been extended to the writer, by those with whom he has come in contact in collecting material for this work, and for which he would embrace this opportunity to acknowledge his gratitude. SUTTON, C. E., 15th Dec., 1866. ERRATA. By an oversigbt of tbe printers, tbe words History of St. Armand instead of History of Dunbam have heen printed at the bead of tbe pages from page 11 0 to 137. On page 47 in the 21st line, for prOSl'fct read project. INDEX. l'.Ha:. ;;T. ARMAXD ..... l'HILIPSnUUu. ~T ArC\IA"Xn ST.\TIO~. PIGEON BILL ................... .. 41 ,., ST. ARMAXD EAST.. "- ST. AR)[AND ('E;O';THl:: ..••••••••••••..••..••• ,................. r)7 LAGRANGE ... " }'RELIOHSBURG· . •. .. .• . .. .. .. .. .• •. • . .. j~ ABBOTT'S CORNER................... .. .. .. .. ... .. ... 95 NORTH r]X~A(,LE 104 DUXHA)I . .. 110 DUNHA)I FLAT ........ , 130 );EL:::'OXYT LLE ..•. 14ll :SWEETSBUn(i .... ] r) ~ I EAST DUNHAM ............ 161 St;TT( 1:\. AgEr:.(·()n~. SUTTON Fr.A1' .. NORTH SUTTON ................. GLEN Sl~TTn~ . BROME ......................................... WEST BROME ............................................ Bno::\IE l'()n~ER ..•...••••......••....•• ' •. ,.,.,' .... ~".-, ]iNOWLTON....... .....•••..... , .... , ..... ~tj4 :FULFORD ..... 2i7 BRO)lERE ..... BnO:ME 'Vnnvf.1, . POTTON ...... 300 l\IEIGS' Con::-;Er.:-: .. ;)(~4 l\IANRONYILLE •••••••..••••.•. 314 NORTH POTTON ..... 3~ij BOLTON ................ 333 EAST BOLTON ...................... 338 BOLTON FOREST ............................... · .... ·· .. ···· 354 WEST BOLTON.. ................ ................... 361 SOUTH BoLTON...... ............................. .......... 3U1 MUNICIPAL AND JUDICIARY SySTEMS ................ ·· .3.2 CONTRlBUTIOSS TO THE HISTORY OF THE EASTERN TOWNSHIPS. ST. ARMAND. THAT part of Canada which now forms St. Armand; with the exception of a tract of land four miles square which has since l)oen added, was formerly included in the Seigniory, described below :- ROLLAND MICHEL BARBIN, &c. FRAN~OIS BIGOT, &c. On the petition presented to us by the Sieur Nicolas Rene Levasseur, builder of the King's ships in this colony, praying that he would be pleased to grant him a tract of la!ld of six leagues in front along the Missis­ kouy, in Lake Champlain, by three leagues in depth on both sides of the same, the said six leagues in front to be taken at a distance of eight arpents below the first fall situate three leagues up the said river, as­ cending the said river Missiskouy; the whole in fief and seigniory, with the right of superior, mean and B 10 HISTORY OF ST. ARMAND. inferior jurisdiction (haute, rnoyenne et ba88e jut­ tice) and that of fishing, hunting and trading with the Indi:ns, as well opposite as within the said tract of land; having regard to the same petition, We, in virtue of the power jointly entrusted to us by His Majesty, have given, granted, and conceded, and do give, grant, and concede to the said Sieur Levasseur the said tract of land of six leagues in front by three leagues in depth, as herein above described; to have and to hold the same unto the said Sieur Levasseur, his heirs and assigns, for ever, under the title of fief and seigniory, with the right of superior, mean, and inferior jurisdiction, and that of hunting, fishing, and trading with the Indians throughout the whole extent of the said concession; subject to the performance of fealty and homage (foi et hommage) at the castle of St. Louis de Quebec, to which he shall be held under the customary rights and dues, agree­ able to the Custom of Paris followed in this country; and on condition that he shall preserve and cause to b@ preserved by his tenants, the oak timber fit for the building of His Majesty's ships; that he shall give notice to the King of the mines, ores and mineral~ which may be found within the extent of the said con­ cesllion ; that the appeals from the judge who may be established there shall lie before the royal jurisdiction of Montreal; that he shall keep thereon house and home (feu ct lieu), and cause the same to be kept by his tenants; that he shall immediately clear and cause lIISTORY OF ST. AIDIA~D. 11 to be cleared the said tract of land, and satisfy us of the works which he shall have caused to be performed from this day till next fall, in default ,,"hereof the said concession shall lll' and remain null and of no avail; that he shall leave the King's highways and other roadways necessary to the public, and cause the same condition to be insl'l'tc,l in the l'ollees~io!l;; which he may grant to his tenants, subject to the customary cens et rentes and dues for each arpent of land in front by forty in depth; that he shall allow the beaches to be free to fishermen, with the exception of those which he may require for his own fishery; and should His Majesty hereafter require apy portion of the said tract ofland to erect thereon forts, batteries, military places, stores, and public ~()rks, His Majesty shall have the right of taking it, as well as the timber necessary for the said works, and the firewood for the garrisons of the said forts without being held to pay any indemnity; the whole under the pleasure of His l\Iajcsty by whom he shall be heIcl to have these presents confirmed within one year. In testimony whereof, &c. Given at Quebec, the twenty-third day of Septem­ ber, one thousand seven hundred and forty-eight. (Signed) LA (J ALIC:SOXIEHE, and BIGOT. Countersigned and scaled. (True copy,) BIGOT. 12 HISTORY OF ST. AR:'IIA~D. The preceding grant was ratified by the King of France, on the 30th of April, 1749. This Seigniory was 81l!J:,e'luently purchased by the Hon. Thomas Dunn, who was once a member of the LeO'islativeo and Executive Councils for the Province of LI)w<:l' Calla,la, and one of the .J n<lgC's of the Court of King's Bench, for the District of Quebec. When the boundary line between the United States and Call:1,la was determined, much of the Seigniory became a part of the territory that now constitutes the State of Yermont; hence was lost to the Seignior. A tradition is extant, that the Provincial Govern­ ment compensated the Hon. l\Ir. Dunn for this loss by a grant of certain tracts of land situate in this Eart of the Province. A letter addressed to the Crown Land Department inquiring as to the truth of this tradition, elicited the following reply: DEPARTIIIENT OF CROWN LANDS. OTTAWA, 22nd October, 1866. SIR, In revly to your letter of the Hlth inst., in reference to the information requested in your previous -commu­ nication of the 26th uIt., I beg leave to inform you that there is no record in this office of any grant ,-, HISTORY OF ST. AH~L\Xll. 1oj especially distinguished in the light of:1 <:umpellsatiull to the Hon. Thomas Dunn, for deficiency of territory in the Seigniory of St. Arm:1nd. However, a ,~l'allt ,,-as made by Letters Patent from His Excellency Lord Dorchester, bearing date of 2nd February, 1;%, to Thomas Dunn, E8q" and :1ssociates, of 40,;i~~,i acres in the township of Dunham. If any such compensation was ,C!:ralltl',l, the record of it would easily be found in the archives of the Province, deposited in the vaults of the Government House, at ::\lontroa1. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient sen-ant, A. RC:'SELL, A"" ist (Ill t (~))!l)}/ is sio 1IC1'. Se:1rch was m:1cle in the vaults :111udecl to in the above lette;, but an answer was returned th:1t no records relating to the matter in question could be found.
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