Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 4.
The Gatineau Falls Farm
Paul Benoit
We are accustomed to imagine that lite up the Gatineau must have been a hurly-burly affair animated by enterprising businessmen and strong-armed lumberjacks striving to conquer nature and to push back the frontier. This picture is true, however, only in part: for there also could be found in this region the elements of a more civilized way of life, or of what could be called a tradition of gentility. And perhaps nowhere along the river was this tradition better implanted, nor did it bear more fruit, than on that parcel of land situated on the east bank of the river, “opposite the principal obstructions of the Gatineau", and known originally as the Gatineau Falls Farm.
In a century and a half of settlement, that two thousand acre property has had only two owners: the Wright family and the Fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost. And while each can be taken separately to exemplify the apport of the English and the French respectively in this region, the two together present interesting similarities. Of both the Wrights and the Fathers, it may be said that they dedicated themselves in outstanding fashion, to embellishing their surroundings, to welcoming their neighbours, and to serving their fellow men.
In an article on Alonzo Wright published in 1961, Father Gobeil concluded:
Monsieur Wright était venu s'installer sur les bords de la Gatineau pour y jouir du calme nécessaire a la réflexion et au murissement des solutions aux nombreux problèmes de son comte, pour y refaire ses forces au contact de Ia nature après les longues séances du Parlement ou les harassantes heures de bureau en ville. ll serait heureux de voir que sa propriété, devenue le collège Saint-Alexandre, a permis a des milliers de jeunes gens d‘imiter son geste depuis cinquante ans. C‘est ainsi que ce petit coin de terre les aura aidés à devenir des émules du députe Alonzo Wright, de bons et valeureux citoyens.
Starting from Father Gobeil‘s concluding remark, we shall attempt to outline in this essay the continuity of tradition which has prevailed at the Gatineau Falls farm with regard to property maintenance, hospitality and service.
At the death of Tiberius Wright in 1841, Alonzo, his young son, inherited a number of properties. One of these was the Gatineau Falls farm, which Tiberius had let for a number of years to an immigrant from Shropshire by the name of William Farmer. For a few years, Alonzo continued to let the farm; but around 1860, he and his wife, Mary, the eldest daughter of Nicholas Sparks, decided to settle on the banks of the Gatineau. There on his property facing the first rapids of the river, Alonzo built a magnificent chateau which soon became a centre of attraction for the society of the day.
The château was a well-proportioned house of red brick, painted over in cream. The lower story of the front wing was a pilastered vestibule flanked on either side by a gallery extending the length of the house. The upper story was Alonzo Wright's study, a pleasant room with windows on three sides. Over the main body of the house was a truncated roof of tinned sheet iron, on which rose a square cupola, with windows all around, topped by a wrought iron railing. The attic area, illuminated by this splendid skylight, was one of the Wrights conservatories.
Inside, in the hall. fine hand-turned bannisters rise towards the upper story. On each side stands a drawing room. The larger of these, on the right, was restored recently by the Fathers to its original elegance. Two handsome fireplaces of white marble on the long outer wall each enclose an elaborately wrought coal stove. The wide floorboards and pine mouldings give warmth to the room. The plaster cornice and the two rose medallions on the ceiling, reminiscent of intricately-carved ivory, add a pleasant lightness. On one wall, the Fathers have hung an oil painting depicting the College and the château as they appeared before additions were made in 1938, a photograph of Alonzo Wright, and an address presented to him by his colleagues in Parliament. As the Guide Michelin would say, a visit to the room is worth a special side trip. The small drawing room on the left has a single fireplace of very beautiful grey marble.
Mr. and Mrs. Wright had no children. After her husband's death in 1894, Mary bravely maintained the property for ten years until her own death in 1904. During these years, events were taking place in France which would affect the future of the Gatineau Falls farm.
Born out of the Dreyfus Affair, a coalition of left-wing parties called the bloc des gauches had come to power in 1899. Under the ministries of Waldeck- Rousseau (1899-1902) and Combes (1902-1905), the Republic enacted anticlerical legislation — even made it illegal, for a time, for religious congregations to teach. A school abroad became desirable if an institution such as the Congregation of the Holy Ghost were to continue its work of teaching and training prospective missionaries. And so in 1904, the Superior-general, Mgr. Alexandre Le Roy, sent out Father Amet Limbour to find another home for the Congregation.
After months of searching for a suitable location, from Acadia to Manitoba, Father Limbour finally came upon Alonzo Wright‘s estate on the Gatineau. And on January 21, 1905, the Congregation, with the help of a wealthy Parisian benefactrice by the name of Mme. Jules Lebaudy, bought the property for the sum of $69,317.50. Along with the property, the animals and the tools were bought for an additional sum of $3,500.00. The outbuildings were repaired, and work began almost immediately on the handsome brick school building whose bell tower still dominates the horizon.
Both Alonzo Wright and the Fathers of the Holy Ghost can be considered gentlemen farmers. Between them they cultivated the ground for over a century, not with a view to what its produce could fetch at the local market, but with an interest in providing good food for their, and their dependents‘, tables, in maintaining a tranquil site on which to enjoy the beauties of nature, and in experimenting with new strains of seed and livestock which would thrive in the Gatineau and Ottawa Valleys.
In the article already quoted, Father Gobeil described Alonzo Wrights farm. Mr. Wright was proud, we learn, of his livestock, and kept, in addition to many horses, a fine herd of purebred Ayrshires. In his orchard, he grew over two hundred apple trees of various species. He made his own wine, and, unlike to» day’s oenophiles who start from a juice concentrate, he grew his own grapes. An enormous catalpa prominently situated in front of the old chateau reminds us of Alonzo Wright's love of trees and of the many species he had imported. Finally, as president and director of the county Agricultural Society, he worked to improve local farming practices.
There were two farming areas on the Gatineau Falls farm: the first. in the immediate vicinity of the residence was referred to as the “Home Farm"; while the other, situated much further back from the river and on higher ground, was called the “Back Farm". The land, which had been neglected for a few years, was redeveloped with such success by the members of the Congregation that during the second World War it became a model farm.
The College records reveal that in 1905, their first year of operation, the Fathers had one bull, seventeen cows, seven steers, twelve heifers, and ten calves. In 1913, there were fifty one head of cattle, and by 1947, one hundred and ten. Nancy, a prize Holstein, would have delighted Alonzo Wright as she did the Fathers when, in 1948. she ranked second in milk production in allot Canada and fourth in butter fat content.
From the start, the Fathers kept pigs and poultry and, from 1907, a flock of sheep as well. There were always horses on the farm, and many draught-horses now kept in the Gatineau Valley are the descendants of Nero and Flora, the Fathers‘ two huge purebred Belgians.
Oats and hay were grown to feed the livestock, while a kitchen vegetable garden was maintained to feed the human occupants of the land. During the war years, over 1,5OO sacks of potatoes were collected annually. At this time, the College also began to bake its own bread.
An interesting scene of activity on the farm was the apiary. It began in 1917-18 with about thirty hives. In 1919, 600 pounds of top quality honey was produced. ln the mid 1920's, the apiary was discontinued, only to start up again in 1941. By 1947, 7,000 pounds of honey were being produced and fifty—three hives were kept over the winter season.
Orchards were maintained and, in the spirit of Alonzo Wright, a large vineyard was cultivated in addition to a smaller garden vineyard. An entry in the College journal for April 22, 1945 relates that “Deux Frères restent a la vigne jusqu'à minuit pour entretenir des feux afin de faire de la fumée pour protéger les bourgeons contre la gelée qui s‘annonce pour cette nuit.“ In 1946, 6,685 pounds of grapes were harvested from the large vineyard, while 720 pounds were harvested from the garden vineyard.
For a variety of reasons, most of the farming activities came to an end early in the 196O‘s. Today there is no more livestock. Crops, however are still grown on the “Back Farm" and there is still a kitchen vegetable garden. It is probably safe to say that the most glorious moment in the farms history occurred on September 7, 1943, when it was awarded a silver medal at the provincial agricultural fair at Quebec. Out of 58 contestants, the Fathers‘ farm at Gatineau Falls came in eighth place, with 901 points out of a thousand. The following comment on its performance was recorded: “La ferme en générale a été bien tenue, le taureau laissait à désirer." It should be borne in mind that all this work was done not by professional farmers, but by members of a college.
Alonzo Wright and the Fathers were not ones to keep the gates of their property closed to their friends and neighbours. The picnics in Alonzo's park have been justly celebrated. Gaily festooned barges brought the fashionable society of Ottawa and Hull up-river almost to his door. In this century. the domain continued to be a haven for city dwellers, as those members of the Congregation stationed in Montreal and elsewhere would spend their summers at the farm, thus getting healthy physical exercise as well as finding the tranquillity necessary for their calling.
But each owner had his own special event which, perhaps more than anything else, contributed to the farm's tradition of hospitality. The Wrights held grand banquets at election time; the Fathers, sugaring off parties in the early spring. At the former, cold meats were served on the lawn; at the latter, hot toffee on the snow. On both occasions, thousands of people would swarm to the estate for food and fun.
One of the first things the Fathers did on acquiring the farm was to make use of the thousands of maple trees situated at the northern end of the property. On March 20, 1905, less than two months after the date of purchase, a wooden cabin was constructed to house the sugar-works, and the necessary equipment was bought. Two thousand pails were fixed onto 1.300 maples. While waiting for Nature to do the rest, Father Limbour composed the following lines, which were inscribed on the gable of the cabin.
Sous l'écorce
De Ia force
A jailli la douceur.
De l’érable
Délectable
A coulé la liqueur.
Toi qui goutes
De ces gouttes
Rends en grâce au Seigneur.
On April 24, 1905, the installations were officially inaugurated. Mgr. Duhamel, the Archbishop of Ottawa, was one of the first guests to sample the sweet |lqL{0r. Since then, sugaring-off at the College has become something of a Spring ritual in the National Capital Region. Among the guests to have attended this annual social event, we find Sir Charles and Lady Fitzpatrick, Lady Grey, a"d_ Lady Byng of Vimy, the last named having left us a lyrical description of Springtime on the Gatineau in her book, Up the Stream of Time:
Last, but not by any means least in beauty, is the Gatineau, that laughing child of the Laurentians, dancing in endless little whispering rapids round rocks which halt the tide of logs, where in spring, lumbermen in their bright clothes tread catlike against a background of woods whence the epithalamium of courting frogs sounds the knell of “sugaring" and the death of the long months of winter's harsh grip.
In addition to the socially eminent, the many came out in force. Palm Sunday, On April 6, 1941, found between three and four thousand people in the bush, including thirty busloads, all of which resulted, according to the College records, in “un embouteillage épatant”. ln succeeding years, even this remarkable record was surpassed.
Come the middle of March, every member of the College would cooperate in preparing to receive the thousands of expected visitors. Released from classes, the students strode out into the bush, shod in snowshoes, to help bore the holes, place the spigots and affix the pails. With such a willing and accessible resource of manpower, the number of trees involved in maple syrup production steadily increased. Of course, Nature did not always cooperate with the collegians, and in some years the sap collection was disappointingly low. We infer from the following comment that 1955, the fiftieth anniversary of sugaring at the College, must have been a disappointing year: “La classe de cinquième chez les Petits Scolastiques ont établi un record, le seul pour l’année cinquantenaire: celui de laver tous ces pots (plus ou moins 9,475) dans une journée.”
In addition to developing their property and entertaining their neighbours, Alonzo Wright and the Fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost served their community: the first through his statesmanship and the second through their teaching. lt is to this more public dimension of their careers which we now turn to complete our survey of the gentler aspects of life up the Gatineau. Alonzo Wright was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in 1862 as a member for Ottawa County (as his grandfather, Philemon, had been before him). After Confederation, he continued to represent that county in the Canadian House of Commons until 1891. He spoke only rarely in the House, but when he did, his wit, his knowledge and his eloquence commanded the utmost attention. ln one such speech, made in 1880, he urged that official abuse of fishing privileges on the Ottawa River be brought to an end; in another, made in 1885, he supported further subsidies for the CPR. ln these speeches, classical quotations and poetical allusions were blended into the matter at hand.
More important than Alonzo Wright’s eloquence, however, was his generosity. In an article in L'Opinion pub/ique of March 30, 1882, A.D. De Celles wrote: “Le comté d‘Ottawa, grand comme un royaume, l‘entoure de son affection. Il la lui doit, car il n'est pas seulement le représentant de ce comte, il en est surtout le bienfaiteur.”
This was also the opinion of his colleagues in Parliament, who from both sides of the House joined together in 1881 to present Alonzo Wright with an oil portrait of himself and the following address:
Alonzo Wright, Esq., MP. —
Sir,
Your many friends in Parliament, without distinction of party, have united to present you with this portrait, as a souvenir, and also as a token of esteem.
Your admirable qualities of mind and heart have ever entitled you to the respect and friendship of all who have enjoyed the pleasure of intercourse with you, and who have been enabled to feel the charm of your generous, never failing and most courteous hospitality.
On all public occasions and whenever, under special circumstances, an appeal has been made to your heart you have never failed to respond with a liberal hand to the relief of distress, nor have you ever hesitated at any sacrifice of trouble, time, or exertion to take the lead in every movement, whether benevolent in its character or calculated to promote the interests of the public.
It is with the liveliest pleasure that we recognize in you the possession of true merit not only in private life but also in that public career in which you have made so many friends.
We have had a large number of copies of this portrait prepared with a twofold object: that each of us may keep one as a souvenir and that every homestead in the County of Ottawa, which you have for so many years faithfully represented may possess your picture, so that the rising generation may be reminded of the services you have rendered and may be animated with the desire of emulating the example of a man sans peur et sans reproche.
Permit us in conclusion to repeat the expression of oursincere esteem and regard to your excellent and worthy lady, Mrs, Wright, with the heartfelt prayer, in which we all most cordially unite, that you may both together long enjoy the gifts of Providence. which you have so well deserved, and which you so generously and so unostentatiously impart to all around you.
There then follow, in three columns, the signatures of the forty-eight public figures who made the presentation.
Alonzo Wright's service to the community took the form of directing its political affairs; the Fathers‘ that of educating its youth.
The Congregation of the Holy Ghost was founded in Paris in 1703. lts purpose was to train future priests to serve as clergy in the poor and neglected parishes of France and as missionaries in the colonies. During the ancien régime,, more than sixty missionaries trained at the Congregations Seminary exercised their apostolic ministry in Acadia. On the quality of their training, we have the testimony of Pierre de la Rue, better known as l’l’abbé de l'lsle-Dieu, who wrote in 1768 that:
Pendant trente-huit ans que j’ai été charge en qualité de vicaire général de toutes les missions françaises et sauvages du vaste et immense diocèse de Québec, dans l’Amérique septentrionale, je n‘ai jamais fait passer que des sujets élevés et formes au Séminaire du Saint-Esprit, et tous ont surpassé nos espérances, sans que jamais aucun se soit démenti.
At the turn of this century, the Congregation hoped that Canada, having received the benefits of its missionary training in the past would now be in a position to make its own contribution. For the first few years following the Congregation‘s purchase of Alonzo Wright’s estate, the place served as a training ground for prospective farmers. Father Limbour began at the same time to exercise his ministry in the surrounding countryside. Following in his footsteps, the Fathers have devoted much of their holidays to helping the clergy of the nearby parishes.
But what the Fathers were especially interested in was the training of missionaries. Hence, in 1912, the place opened its doors to both English and French speaking students as the Collège Apostolique Saint-Alexandre de la Gatineau. College-trained missionaries went far afield, mainly to French speaking west Africa; but Saint-Alexandre made its contribution to church life in Canada as well: both John Cody, bishop of London, Ontario, and Michael Harrington, bishop of Kamloops, British Columbia, received their early education there. Of course, not all the youths who studied at the College became members of the clergy. One of the College's best known graduates is the Honorable Paul Martin.
Eventually, it was decided that the school would have two sections: a collegial section for those interested in a classical education, and a small seminary section for those interested in a clerical and possibly a religious vocation. On the average, there were about one hundred students in each section. All were boarders. Until 1967, graduates of the College received a B.A. from Laval University.
The College is now a private secondary school. Students are bused back and forth to the College every day from the neighbouring municipalities. Still administered by the Fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost, the property “opposite the principal obstructions of the Gatineau" today continues to serve the community of the region.
Footnote
I wish to thank the director of the College, Father Henri Lestage, for courteous/y answering my questions and a//owing me to see records of the College's history. If there are any inaccuracies in this essay, the responsibility is entirely mine.
Paul Benoit
This article by Paul Benoit of Ottawa was awarded First Prize in the sixth annual Essay Contest sponsored by The Historical Society of the Gatineau — 1977.