Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 9.
Philemon Wright's Gun-Shed
Dr. H.T. Douglas
The name Philemon Wright stands out in the history of the Ottawa River Valley. He is known as the founder of Hull City across the river from Ottawa, our National Capital. He it was who brought the first party of settlers to Hull Township in the early spring of 1800. At that time both banks of the Ottawa at the Chaudiere Falls were a "wooded wilderness", and there would be many who would refuse to challenge the unwelcoming shores.
Mr. Wright was born in New England. After two exploratory trips to the Chaudiere Falls, one in 1797 and another in 1798, Mr. Wright started out from Woburn, Massachusetts, with a party of some sixty persons, about twenty of whom were children. ln March, 1800, they are to be found travelling adventurously over the ice of the Ottawa River, arriving at Hull township on March 20th of that year. The remainder of that year was spent in clearing land and starting farm operations. In the following year, or perhaps it was in 1802, a saw-mill and a grist mill were opened close to the Chaudiere Falls. Wright's Village and the future industrial city of Hull were on their way!
In mid-June of 1820, the Earl of Dalhousie landed at Quebec to take up his duties as Governor-General. lt must have been in his mind to take an early inspection tour up the Ottawa, as at August 20th of that summer, he is to be found spending a few days with Philemon Wright, Esquire, at Hull. Before leaving the district, a day or so later, he left a note for Wright expressing surprise at the progress made in his enterprises, and requesting Mr. Wright to send him written answers to certain specific questions. One of the questions concerned the estimated population of the whole settlement, including Wrightstown itself. Wright's reply was that there were an estimated 704 persons, of whom 229 were children. He went further to say that there were 94 men fit to bear arms.
There is a legend that, when Dalhousie arrived at Hull on the trip, Mr. Wright ordered an ancient French cannon to be fired in honour of the event. The gun exploded, no doubt causing embarrassment to the welcomers. In any event, whether that story is true or not, Dalhousie was aware of a lack of equipment at the settlement, and made promise to send some guns to Hull, and these arrived not long afterwards, likely in 1821. lt is not stated where they were placed immediately on arrival, but by 1822 a home had been made for them.
In a report to a committee of the Legislative Assembly in 1824 Wright says “1822, Built a stone gun house 28 feet x 38, 12 ft. high, finished complete, having arched magazine and other apartments, a good well-painted roof to cover the same, which cost me 200 pounds, for the deposit and safety of two handsome pieces of brass cannon, three pounders. And l also raised a company of 75 men which are commissioned by His Excellency the Earl of Dalhousie." There were also a number of muskets in the shipment.
Wright does not say where the gun house was placed, but, when reporting on other matters in February, 1825, Major G.A. Eliot of Kingston supplies a sketch-map showing the gun-house, or gun-shed, to be on land now known as Philemon Island. So that is where the gun-shed was, housing the two brass cannon.
It is said that in the summer of 1827, after Lieut-Colonel John By had received the Governor-GeneraI’s sanction to throw a bridge across the main channel at the Chaudiere Falls, one of Wright's cannon was drawn up to the bank of Philemon Island, and a cannon-ball with rope attached was discharged across to the land opposite. That was the first bridge-contact between Lower and Upper Canada at that point.
Next, in the fall of 1849, after Philemon Wright had been dead for ten years, there is further mention of the Wright gun-house in a transpontine episode. By that time, opposite growing Hull, the Rideau Canal had been for some years completed, and the town of Bytown (Ottawa) had arisen. Lord Elgin, who earlier in the year had sanctioned the Rebellion Losses Bill, planned to visit Bytown in September. However, the inhabitants of Bytown were in two different camps: as to whether he should be made welcome (the "Reform Party” view), or whether discouragement should be offered to his coming (the “Tory” view).
On September 13th,1849 (Stony Monday), and on the following day, conflict broke out in Bytown. Sticks and stones flew through the air, and a certain number of muskets appeared on the streets, a few of which were said to have come from the gun-house in Hull. Rather than take a chance on further weapons being spirited into Bytown from the lonely gun-house, the officer of the garrison detachment in Bytown took possession of the remaining arms and brought them back to the Bytown barracks. Actually, Lord Elgin did not come to Bytown at all at that time. Dr. Lucien Brault, Ottawa historian, says that Lord Elgin did come in 1853, and received a good welcome.
It is likely that September, 1849, was the last appearance of the brass cannon in Hull. Whether any of the Wright muskets found their way back to the gun-house seems uncertain.
At this point it might be as well to explain the position of the gun-shed in relation to present-day (1956) landmarks. From the Ontario side of the Ottawa River, the Chaudiere Bridge crosses over to the west end of Philemon Island in Hull. About a hundred yards from the end of the bridge, a plank roadway turns off abruptly to the right and bisects Philemon Island. The deserted forlorn stone residence of the late Charles B. Wright stands south of this roadway on somewhat elevated ground. The windows of the C.B. Wright house, now boarded up, overlooked the main channel of the foaming Ottawa River. Across the roadway from the C.B. Wright house was the gun-shed, the subject of this story. It should be mentioned that, a number of years ago, Philemon Island was bought by the E.B. Eddy Company and it is their property.
Miss Rosa Wright, who lived in Ottawa and was a descendant of Philemon Wright, has stated that the gun-house was relatively intact up to the time of the wide-spread Hull-Ottawa fire of 1900. A new roof was placed on it after the fire, and the small building was still in existence in 1928. Probably at some time not long after 1928 it went on its final way. It is not there now.
Miss Wright said that there were double doors on the front, 38 foot, side of the building, which faced to the west. There was a raised roof. ln R.S.M. Bouchette's interesting drawing of the Chaudiere region, dated 1828, there is a building placed somewhat prominently on the Hull side which may be meant to represent the gun-house. Apart from that drawing, the gun-house appears to have been overlooked by artists and photographers.
Philemon Wright's gun-shed is gone, but it holds a place in the history of Hull.
This article is from a collection of the writings of the late Dr. H. T. Douglas on Ottawa and the Ottawa area entitled ‘BITS AND PIECES, THAT'S ALL’ dated 1969.
Permission to reprint this article was kindly granted by Dr. Douglas's daughter, Mrs. Frank Packard of Bobcaygeon, Ontario.