Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 5.
Roots in the Gatineau
Lillian Walton
The Gatineau Hills were ablaze with color! We chose Thanksgiving weekend, October 8, 1978 for our “heritage” tour. Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided to give us our first snowfall, with chilling winds, but this did not hamper us. The scene of the countryside with its leaves in full color was breathtakingly beautiful!
Our two grandchildren, Russell and Sheryl, aged 15 and 13, with their parents, were to be shown the resting places of their paternal ancestors. Our first stop was the cemetery in Old Chelsea where their great-great-great grandparents, Isaac and Sarah Cross are interred. This is an old cemetery where many of the first settlers of the Gatineau are buried, the oldest burial, in 1801, being that of Thomas Wright, elder brother of Philemon Wright who founded Hull. From there we went on to Moorside, Kingsmere, situated in the beautiful Gatineau Park, the former summer residence of Wm. Lyon Mackenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada for 22 years, who bequeathed his estate to the people of Canada. It was fitting to show Russell and Sheryl their legacy. The Museum on the second floor is quite interesting. It and the tearoom have been operated by The Historical Society of the Gatineau. As our original plans were to have a “picnic lunch” we did not stay there. The dining rooms had filled with the people who were waiting for the 12 o'clock opening, and a line-up had already formed when we left. Moorside is a most popular place not far from Ottawa. Unfortunately, it is open during summer months only.
Our next stop was Hall's Cemetery, Wakefield. Here the grandchildren saw the graves of their great-great grandparents, William and Mary Ann Cross, who were lifelong residents of Cascades. We proceeded on to a small park opposite Orme's Bakery. Had it been sunny and warm we would have lunched there, but with the weatherman not co-operating we sought refuge in the car to eat our sandwiches. Of course the big treat at this location was to finish off our lunch with goodies from the bakery. The proprietors, Jean Choquette and Denis Quinn might share the blame for adding extra pounds to our weight that day. Who could resist the doughnuts, chocolate eclairs, cookies, tarts and many other fresh baked items?
We still had one more cemetery to cover where the great-grandparents, Alice Cross and Samuel Ernest Wilson, were buried — MacLaren‘s Cemetery which is situated on a hilltop overlooking the Gatineau Hills. A beautiful spot! The Flight Honorable Lester B. Pearson, Prime Minister of Canada, is also buried there. Since his death, in 1972, many people have driven to Wakefield to view the little country cemetery he chose as his last resting place. We did not leave without pointing out to our grandchildren the plot reserved for their grandparents, Lillian and Fred Walton!
This completed the cemeteries, which, including the six of us, covered six generations.
We then drove over the Wakefield covered bridge, a single lane structure, built in 1915. We stopped at the Mont Cascades Golf Course which overlooks the Gatineau River. The Brucite mine, operated by the Aluminum Co. of Canada (originally owned by Stephen H. Cross - my uncle) can be seen, on the west side, at Farm Point.
We proceeded from there to the “Superslides” at Mont Cascades. The rides were exciting for Russell and Sheryl, a 2,000 foot descent through woods and ski trails, the speed of the “cart” being controlled by each rider. This was the fun part of our day but, unfortunately, with snow-flakes falling, the rides had to be stopped because of danger when wet. But not without their parents, Gary and Sue, promising to return with them next summer!
Everybody enjoyed “the grand tour" in spite of the cool weather. I'm sure there are many more Gatineau residents who could take their grandchildren on as interesting a drive. Why not? Indeed... our roots are definitely buried in the beautiful Gatineau!