Andrew Leamy
Andrew Leamy (1816 Drom, County Tipperary, Ireland - April 21, 1868 in Hull, Quebec) was a pioneer industrialist and community leader in Wright's Town, Lower Canada, which became Hull, QC and is now incorporated into the City of Gatineau, Quebec in the National Capital Region of Canada.
Andrew Leamy was the son of Michael Leamy and Margaret Marshall, who emigrated to Wright's Town with Andrew, his two brothers James and Michael and his two sisters Catherine and Anne in the 1820-1830 time frame.
His Life
The name Andrew Leamy is as commonly associated with the commercial and industrial development of the City of Hull as is the name of Philemon Wright. Like most of the other illustrious names of that pioneer era - names like Nicholas Sparks and J.R. Booth - Andrew Leamy began his business life as an employee of the Old Squire Wright, in 1830, living and working on Wright's Columbia Farm and learning his future trade as a lumber baron.
In 1833, his close ties with the Wright family - and Nicholas Sparks no doubt - led to his eventual marriage to Philemon Wright Jr.'s daughter, Erexina, who had become Nicholas Spark's adopted daughter after Wright Jr.'s death.
In 1835, after a few years of frugality and good economy in Wright's employ, Leamy had saved enough to purchase 200 hectares of land from Philemon Wright - land that included Wright’s original Gatineau Farm. In 1853, Leamy began his own enterprise as a lumberman by building a mill on the south shore of Columbia Pond, as it was first named, and the lake became known as Leamy Lake thereafter. Leamy dug a canal to connect the lake to the Gatineau River to facilitate the transportation of logs to his sawmill. The mill, which was the first steam powered mill - one of only two ever operated - in the region, was entirely destroyed when a boiler exploded and was never rebuilt.
Andrew Leamy was also devout Catholic and, in the tradition of the Wright family, gave much of his time to the social and cultural development of the small developing village of Wright's Town. He worked hand-in-hand with Père Reboul to achieve the emancipation of school governance for the county. The result was the creation of the county's first independent School Commission in 1866, of which he was elected its first President.
Leamy Lake, Leamy Road and the Leamy Farm
Leamy's farm, including his home, contained several buildings located on the north side of Leamy’s lake between the lake and the Gatineau River. The long road that led from the farm went all the way to the intersection of Chelsea Road (now St. Joseph Blvd.) and Brigham's Road (now St. Raymond Blvd.). The whole road still exists to this day, although a good part is blocked to traffic, but it now ends at the boul. de la Carrière. At some unknown time, with people no longer living on it, the Leamy Road’s name became francicized by the city to its current designation: Chemin du Lac-Leamy. The Leamy road was identified in all city directories up until the middle 1950s when the Leamy home itself was moved from its foundation to parts unknown in Hull. Today the lake, the park and the very popular Casino du Lac Leamy still carry his name.
The foundations of his home became buried over time and were the subject of an archeological dig in 2006, commissioned by the National Capital Commission. What was found was a significant structure, quite remarkable in its construction because of the substantial width of the stone walls.
A log building that was still standing in 1884 on Leamy's farm was probably the first home Philemon Wright built on the banks of the Gatineau River when he first arrived in the area in 1800. The Wright family called that home "The Wigwam"[1]. It was the conclusion of another archeological dig at that site that the foundations of that house dated from the early 1800s. The location was reburied for preservation and protection and the NCC has plans for future commemoration of the site. [2]
His Character
Anson A. Gard, author and historian, wrote this about Andrew Leamy:
- "It is told of him, as showing his strength and endurance, that when repairs were needed for the mill, that he would mount a horse and carry the part – often of heavy iron – to Montreal, get it mended and without stopping to rest, would ride back to Hull, making a journey of 240 miles through a wild country, under the most tiring conditions."
- "I recently met an old resident of the Township, who remembered many of the pioneers. He was one of those rare beings who seemed to remember only the good qualities of the men he had known. "Another kind hearted man" said he "was Andy Leamy. I’ve known him to be driving along the road with a load of supplies for his lumber camp, and passing the hovel of a family in need, throw off a barrel of flour and pass on as though he thought nothing of it. Andy didn’t make much pretense of being a saint, but he did a whole lot of good all the same."[3]
His Death
Through the night of April 21, 1868 on the Leamy Road, the road that led to his home, Andrew Leamy’s death occurred under suspicious circumstances, which, despite an inquest, remained shrouded in mystery for ten more years. In an article that first appeared in the Toronto Globe on August 15, 1878 and reprinted in the New York Times four days later, it was learned that a Henry Maxwell and his unnamed brother-in-law were arrested for the murder and robbery of Andrew Leamy.[4]
Andrew Leamy is buried in a piece of land that he had donated to the Church for the purpose of creating Notre Dame Cemetery in Gatineau, Quebec. His resting place can be found in a rear portion that overlooks the lake that today, still bears his name.
References and External Links
- ^ Wright Carr-Harris, Bertha: The White Chief of the Ottawa, page 28. William Briggs, Toronto 1903.
- ^ Archaeological Excavations and Collections on NCC Lands: [1].
- ^ Gard, Anson A.: Pioneers of the Upper Ottawa Valley and Humors of the Valley, section "Genealogy of the Valley" page 34. The Emerson Press, Ottawa 1906.
- ^ The New York Times, August 15, 1878: [2].