Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 1.
The "King of the Gatineau" & St. Alexander College
Maurice Gobeil c.s.sp.
Alonzo Wright, son of Tiberius Wright and Lois Richer, was born at Chaudiere (Hull) on February 28, 1825. Because the school at Chaudiere Farm was nearest his home it seems likely that, with other girls and boys of his age, this is where he got his early education. During these years both John Shedden and Paul A. Lucas taught Chaudiére Farm School.
He was a brilliant student and with the love of work and the tenacity so characteristic of the Wrights, Alonzo threw himself wholeheartedly into his studies. Later, his father sent him to Potsdam, N.Y. to finish his education. Alonzo had finished school when his father died on April 29, 1841, at the age of 55. Two days before his death Tiberius Wright had added a codicil to his will stating that his two youngest children should share “in common” with his other heirs and he named his son Alonzo his testamentary executor jointly with Thomas Brigham and George Jacob Marston.
Handsome, young and politically ambitious, young Alonzo Wright became well known in the business milieu of Ottawa and Hull and much sought after socially in both towns. With the settling of his father's estate, he became owner of several properties in Hull and Aylmer as well as a vast tract of land on the east side of the Gatineau; part of this is now owned by St. Alexander College.
Tiberius owned a second farm on the east side of the Gatineau; it was let to a family called Farmer and was situated near the rapids which now bear their name. Mr. Farmer found himself in financial difficulties and was obliged to return the farm to Alonzo Wright in 1843. For a time Alonzo tried to make a go of the Farmer Saw Mills, but the lumber business was in a slump and so he rented all this property, first to a man called McNeil and then to Willie Main, and finally sold it.
In 1850 Alonzo married Mary Sparks, oldest daughter of Nicholas Sparks. She brought him a large dowry. Ten years later we find them living in a comfortable house on the right side of the Gatineau facing the first rapids, and from this dates Alonzo Wright’s title: “King of the Gatineau".
Under the Union in 1863, Alonzo Wright was elected member of Parliament for Ottawa County. Thus the gentleman farmer becomes politician and eventually distinguishes himself in both roles.
The Wright House in 1880
Driving from Hull along the east road, visitors were charmed by the setting of Wright’s house. Known as the "Chateau", it was guarded by large double gates and a wide tree-shaded driveway swept up from the river road to the cream colored two-storied brick house with bright red window frames. The tin roof sloped downwards to form a platform on which sat a square glassed tower crowned by an iron railing. Because of the lighting this attic was used as a green house. On each side of the porch were three wooden steps that reached up to a recessed entrance. The main door faced the hand turned wooden stairs, an excellent example of the craftsmanship of the era. These stairs led to Wright's study, a spacious room; from its three windows he could see the gates, the arbor and the Gatineau.
Downstairs the front part of the house was divided into two drawing rooms. The plastered walls were decorated with a light lacy pattern near the top while the ceilings boasted rose medallions in relief. Two white marble fireplaces lent an air of elegance to the large drawing room and a grey marble fireplace graced the smaller room.
One door of the large living room opened on a 28-foot passage which led to a green house built in 1874. Outside spread a gem of a garden. The servants’ quarters close by lengthened out into a second green house used exclusively for grapes; they no doubt helped fill the wine casks in the cellar.
A great wood burning furnace in the middle of the basement kept the house warm, and the rest of the cellar space was used for vast supplies of wood, barrels of beer and kegs of wine.
Near the Chateau and to the north a small red building with a painted roof and stone foundation housed a dairy on the first floor, and space above stairs Wright used for a library. Servants who knew him tell us this was his favorite haunt. From this room he had an excellent view of his apple orchard. He grew Mclntosh and several other kinds of apples. (Great numbers of these trees were killed by winter frost during 1933-34.)
The best cared for buildings on Wright's place were the stables. Some of the servants lived in the mews above these buildings. While the cow sheds were primitive, the herds were pure Ayrshire. From a well in the corner of the orchard, animals and garden, masters and servants got all the water they needed.
The Gentleman Farmer at Home
On their 200-acre domain the Wrights, who had no children, led a simple life. All their leisure and much of their money went toward making their place “an earthly paradise" for their own pleasure and the enjoyment of their friends, rather than a farm from which they could make money.
With this idea in mind, to enhance the beauty of his forests and to add variety to his garden decor, Wright imported: Virginia juniper with blue berries, larch, Douglas fir, blue spruce, linden, weeping willows, Canadian yew, golden cedar, Lombardy poplar and magnolia. These trees were Alonzo's pride and joy and no one was allowed to clip a twig from them without his permission. He would not even notch a maple for fear that a gash would do it permanent damage. He loved to walk through his own woods with his two great St. Bernards at his heels.
Wright idolized his horses and horse breeding was one of his favorite pastimes. His stables were full of handsome animals that never were harnessed or ridden. He rode into the city in well appointed carriages and sleds drawn by the finest horses of every color and size. His coachman, David Rolland, was expert at driving — and at sensing his master’s mood.
While Wright kept in close contact with his servants, he was an autocratic and exacting master. He supervised all farm work personally and, in cases of insubordination, threatened his men with imprisonment. He allowed no servant in the garden or in the arbor, and no farm wagon was allowed to pass in front of the house.
When he was in good humor, that is when all was prosperous in his county, he often condescended to chat with his employees during his walks around the farm — but let no farm-hand talk to the master without first removing his hat and his pipe from his mouth.
Saturday was payday but sometimes the servants got only a promise to pay at a later date. Some of his servants said that he was charitable when he expected some monetary return for his generosity, and others say he was miserly. It is easy to imagine that his seigneurial way of life, his economies and unexpected demands on his purse, all contributed to keep him occasionally short of cash. Wright had borrowed heavily from his wife's dowry to build his “Eden of the Gatineau", and he seemed obsessed by a desire to make a great fortune to leave to his wife.
Most of his servants spent many years in his service; they seem to have liked him, to have respected him and to have considered him affable and honest.
People who knew Mrs. Wright described her as a “grande dame”, kind and generous to the poor. She had many protegés. Her chief interest was her garden.
The Wrights were a happy couple and there is no doubt that Mrs. Wright contributed much to Alonzo’s celebrity. But all these intimate details, while they acquaint us with the farmer, the master and the husband, should not keep us from studying Alonzo the Politician.
The Public Figure and the Politician
Alonzo Wright was elected to the Legislature of Lower Canada from the County of Ottawa in 1862. After the Confederation he was returned to Parliament by acclamation and in the next election won a comfortable majority of 1624 votes. (He kept his seat till 1891.) He was a Colonel in the Militia, President of the Agricultural Society of his county, and the director of the same society in Ottawa.
He is quoted as being: “in politics a liberal-conservative but a broadminded man esteemed by Tories and Grits. Wright’s popularity is not due to his politics but to his sterling qualities. He over-estimated neither his intelligence nor his merit. He is quicker to praise his friend's success than to underline his own. When he speaks in the House people listen. He has a flair for making the driest Problems interesting because he takes the trouble to study them. Ottawa County holds him in great affection because he is not only its parliamentary representative but its benefactor."
Wright‘s popularity was indeed great. In 1881 his colleagues had his portrait painted and presented it to him with a most eulogistic address signed by every one of them. The portrait now hangs in one of the reception rooms at St. Alexander.
Forty-eight signatures were appended including that of Father A. Labelle, the celebrated Colonizer Priest.
This document proves the esteem in which Wright was held by his county and his friends and explains to some extent why he was known as the “King of the Gatineau”. This title must have been dear to his heart, he whose dearest dream was to live near the Gatineau, and he must have seen some analogy between his political life and the ebb and flow of the Gatineau.
Wright knew how to make friends. He was a diplomat. Electioneering in those days, when most electors expected to profit from the candidate's largesse, gave him a chance to prove this talent.
He gave banquets that are still remembered in the Gatineau Valley. Royal feasts they were and well attended. Tables groaning with food and drink and kept plentifully supplied by butlers engaged for the occasion, were set up on the lawn. The gates, wide open, welcomed one and all.
On occasion the guests were boorish and destructive. During the election of 1874 the Wrights gave a banquet and ball. While most of the guests were dancing, some youngsters jumped on the tables smashing dishes and glasses. They raided the cellar and helped themselves to a hogshead of beer which they opened up and then sent rolling down the hill. As the beer splashed about in all directions these young vandals cheered. Mr. Lenix (Lennoch ?) Blackburn, employed by Wright, at this time, said that for years after they kept finding pieces of porcelain and glass in the park.
Besides these election banquets, Wright often organized picnics for his friends and their families. Invitations were sent out and on the great day the cream of Ottawa and Hull society would arrive at “Sand Point" (which is downstream from the Alonzo Wright Bridge) in barges bedecked with flags and awnings. The people watched all this with interest. At the Chateau there was lots to eat and drink, and while the young people disported themselves on the green the older ones relaxed in the quiet of the arbor.
Wright’S Last Years
In 1891, after 28 years of public life, Alonzo Wright retired. His health was poor and he passed away in 1894. His funeral was attended by many friends and he was buried in St. James Cemetery in Hull.
Although Mrs. Wright was not in excellent health, she decided to stay on at the Chateau and with the help of Mr. Nun, her farm manager, she kept the place going. She took charge of the gardens and they were never more beautiful. The well proved insufficient for the extra water that was needed so they pumped water from the river to a reservoir from which the Chateau was supplied. With the years Mrs. Wright became overweight and unable to garden or take any exercise and she died in 1904 on the 28th of February. She is buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.
Wright’S Successors
At the turn of the century, Father Limbour (a Holy Ghost Father for whom the village of Limbour is named) was looking for a location to open an Apostolic School for the Missions. He wanted something in the Ottawa district and finally decided on the Alonzo Wright place. He signed an option to buy for $69,317.50 with Mr. Burke, the administrator of the property. At the Paris headquarters of the Holy Ghost Fathers the sum was considered exorbitant but Bishop Roy, then the Superior General, replied: “We must have something worthy of France."
In Hull Wright's niece, Mrs. Janet -Louisa Scott Lord, heard that the property was to be sold to Frenchmen who were not only Catholic but priests, and she did everything in her power to keep the transaction from going through. Other heirs, more realistic than she, preferred to collect the money rather than start long legal procedures. The sale was signed January 25, 1905 before Notary Tetreau of Hull. Broadminded Alonzo Wright would surely not have condoned his niece‘s conduct and time would have vindicated him for the Holy Ghost Fathers have perpetuated the memory of Alonzo Wright in the district.
With the property, the Holy Ghost Fathers bought stock and farm implements for $3,500. The farm, long neglected, now yielded bumper crops. The stables, repaired and stocked with Belgian work-horses, were soon the pride of the district. Nero and Flora, two enormous Belgian thoroughbreds, were the ancestors of all their breed now in the region. The Farm is still in operation under the name of Limbour Farm and under the direction of gentleman farmer Father H. Beaulieu. Besides realizing many of Wright's dreams, Fr. Beaulieu has added Holstein cows to his herds and has carried off numerous prizes and medals for his excellent stock.
The traditional warm hospitality of the Gatineau is extended to all visitors at St. Alexander College and, while none of the Fathers have followed Wright's example and become members of Parliament, these priests feel that they have made a tremendous political contribution to their country since they have educated dozens of young men who represent their fellow Canadians in both Federal and Provincial governments.
Wright found the tranquility necessary to serious reflection and the peace that fosters wise decisions at his farm on the Gatineau. The soil was his strength and his refuge when cares weighed him down. I am sure that he would rejoice that his property under its new name is doing for hundreds of young men what it did for him.
Father Gobeil presented this paper to a meeting of the Society in its 1964- 65 season. At that time he acknowledged the assistance of his colleagues at St. Alexander College, Father Louis Taché and Brother Epiphane. Father Gobeil is now in Quebec City.