Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 21.
Notes on the Early Days of the Parish of Martindale
Compiled and edited by Joan Brownrigg Barrow
At the turn of this century, Father L.S.D. Blondin wrote A Little Memorandum of 1900, describing the beginning of the parish of Martindale up to 1900. A copy of the original version has been handed down through the family of my mother, Jane Ann Sloan, of Venosta, a daughter of one of the early pioneer families. Fr. Blondin writes, as follows.
A parish, let it be so small as it may, has had a beginning as well as the largest cities, and it is always interesting to hear of the hard worlk, the trial, the hopes and the heroic struggle of it first settlers.
Though this parish of St. Martin of Martindale, is a small back-wood country place, far from the large cities, the inhabitants are not the less happy for that. For instead of the deafening noise of crowded streets, of the suffocating heat and of the corrupted atmosphere of the large cities; this parish being situated, in the midst of the beautiful, and salubrious Laurentide mountain ranges, always enjoys the fresh breeze, that blows from crystal-pure waters of it numerous lakes, embalmed with the sweet fragrance of the large pine and balsam groves.
There is a fine, comfortable little church where the labourer, after his hard day's work and on Sunday, can come and adore his creator, thank him for his goodness and ask him new favours. There is a residential priest, to minister to the spiritual want of the parishioners, and pray at the bedside of a dying person.
There are schools, where the children can leamn, along with their catechism, the first principles of language. The soil is good, the crops are generally abundant, so what else is wanted to make the people happy? Everybody is content with his station in life, (the great secret of happiness). They have no craving desires for things that cannot be gratified, so they are happy.
But, if they are now so well provided with everything which makes life worth while, it has not always been so. For the beginning was hard, the old people well rememtbhe etrim e, when there was no road and no other means of conveying home their provision, but to carry them, sometimes for long distances on their back; in a small winding path, through the bush, in swamps and over hills.
They well remember also, when the nearest resident priest, was between thirty and forty miles distance. Who among the old people, does not remember the time when the men, old and young, and even women, had to walk to Wakefield, if not to Chelsea, to hear mass on Sundays, sometimes carrying in their arms a child, upon whose forehead the regenerating water of Baptism had not been poured.
But thanks be to God, this time is passing, and the young generation can hardly believe that this now prospering little parish, has had such a hard beginning. However, in a note left by His Lordship Monseigneur Guigues, during his pastoral visitation in 1864, that there was then, 105 families, and theisr neow , 36 yealatrer son ly 120 families. It has not even increased half a family a year. (Nothtoi nbogast of.)
But what I mean to say, is that, the people live now, with far more comafnd olessr htard ,tim e, than they had in the beginning.
I am not writingon the township of Low, but simply on the missionof Low, which is now knownas the parish of Martindale. The inhabitants of this parish, who are all of Irish descent, came and settled in this township of Low during or shortly after the great famine of Ireland. Those who came and settled in this parish, came chiefly from the counties of Mayo, Clare and Falway in the Province of Cannought [Connaught] and from Waterford and Tipperary in the Province of Munster.
At the time they emigrated there was plenty of work here, in the shanties, both men and horses, and the wages were fairly good at the time. The shanties were always an open market for the produce of the farm, so it was enough to induce them to settle in this little spot, where with their steady work and great economy they have never been in want, have always found the means of being generous, and have provided for their old days and for their children who will never know the hardship of their fathers.
The beginning of Martindale parish [formerly Low parish] is intimately related with that of Farrellton [formerly Wakefield parish]as the settlers came from the same place and emigrated at about the same time.
In 1858, the inhabitants of the mission of Low had bought a lot to build a chapel, but they were a long time divided on the choice of the site for the chapel. In 1864 there was 105 families, but they had not yet agreed on the site of the church: some wanted to have it further north towards the Manitou, on the Gatineau road, and the others wanted it toward Venosta.
At last in 1869, seeing that they gained nothing by remaining divided they became more reasonable and both gave in a little of their pretended rights, and accepted 39 acres of land which Mr. Patrick Sullivan offered Jree for the church. The place where the present church sits was chosen and they immediately went to work and a small wooden church was put up, to the great delight of the parishioners who were proud of their chapel, which cost $2,845, which was mostly all paid cash. This church was blessed by his Lordship Mgr. Guigues, on the 12th of August 1872, under the title of St. Martin. It was 20 years later before they could afford to have a resident priest. In the meantime this mission continued to be attended by the priests stationed in Wakefield/Farrellton.
Father Blondin's closing words in his little memorandum were: “If strangers do not know where Martindale is, let them learn it.”
The parish of St. Martin in Martindale flourished from 1900 onwards, and the people in the surrounding area made the parish the centre of their lives. However, the Irish immigrants who had settled in Venosta still found it a hardship to get to church.
Eva Henry Desjardins and Muriel McLaughlin Henry described those early days in the fiftieth anniversary booklet produced for Qur Lady of Sorrows Church in Venosta:
The Irish laughed so that they would not cry, but that is the beautifil courage that comes with the Irish heritage. Life in the new land was far Jrom easy for the Irish imumigrants. One of their greatest challenges was to Jind a place to worship. Often it involved walking about thirty miles carrying a baby whom they wanted baptized. When St. Martin’s of Martindale was established, things became a little easier. Nevertheless, it was still a hardship for many to get to church. Roads were closed in winter and travelling by horse and sleigh in the bitter cold was particularly difficult, if not impossible, for the very young and the very old.
The settlers of Venosta had not given up their dream of a church of their own. Kevin. Henry who was born and raised there continues his sister Eva's story:
Early in this century the good people of the village decided to build that church. On land donated by a local merchant, Dave Havron, the job of erecting the church began. A foundation was dug directly in_front of what is now the McCambley-Henry homestead. Lumber and timber donated by local farmers was delivered and piled high beside the newly-dug Jfoundation. Unfortunately, a dispute over where the church should be located resulted in cancellation of any further activity. The inability to agree on a site led to the abandonment of the enfire project. The timber and lumber was subsequently removed but the dug-out foundation remained. The hole filled with good clean water, forming a pond.
According to Kevin Henry, the pond became very popular with the local residents:
The welcome arrival of spring was always joyously announced by the chirping of many frogs who were happy to call the pond home. In the summer, bluebirds, robins, canaries, butterflies and many other species of birds could be seen fluttering in and out among the cattails. In the long cold winter the pond became a magical place, covered by a smooth sheet of ice. All the children in the neighbourhood took their first shaky strides on skates on this pond. Although the initial intent of the foundation was never realized and the pond has been subsequently filled in, we owe a very real debt of gratitude to our ancestors who had the courage to try and build a church in Venosta way back then.
The people persevered in their desire for a church. Church services commenced in Venosta on Christmas Eve, 1941, and were held in the upper level of the blacksmith shop. Within a year the parish priest of the church in Martindale, Father Francis Tierney, received permission from the Ottawa Archdiocese to commence construction of a chapel in Venosta which would be a mission church of St. Martin's.
Construction of the new church began on September 21, 1942. The Second World War was being fought and to reflect this sad time in our history, the new church was named Our Lady of Sorrows. The cornerstone was blessed by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Ottawa, Alexandre Vachon, on Sunday, October 11, 1942, The first mass was said in May 1943. This parish celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1993. The dreams of the early Venosta settlers had finally been fulfilled.
Historical milestones of the Wakefield /Farrellton and Low/Martindale missions:
| 1857 | - | 300 souls in Wakefield/Farrellton; 500 souls in Low |
| 1858 | - | lot bought for Low mission; Church building delayed |
| 1864 | - | 105 families in Low mission |
| 1869 | - | small wooden church built, Low mission: cost $2,845 |
| 1874 | - | first cemetery at Low mission, now called St. Martin |
| 1878 | - | church in disrepair. Snow shovelled off altar before mass |
| 1880 | - | church repaired and greatly improved |
| 1881 | - | magnificent altar purchased: cost $130 |
| 1885 | - | steeple purchased |
| 1885 | - | bell purchased/named Mary Ann Alice: cost $153 |
| 1892 | - | Father Blondin first resident parish priest/salary $600/yr. |
| 1893 | - | St. Martin's parish house built |
| 1893 | - | new post office in area; area renamed Martindale |
| 1898 | - | complete restoration of church: cost $1,800 |
| 1900 | - | St. Martin church: 150 families, 740 souls, 500 communicants |
| - | annual church collection: $509 - 119 contributors | |
| - | 6 marriages/18 baptisms/19 funerals | |
| - | new graveyard purchased/land belonging to Martin O'Malley and small portion from Wm. Farrell. Grave lot price: $4 | |
| 1943 | - | Our Lady of Sorrows, Venosta built. Church bell named Francis. Two wells were blessed on the Borough Road, Venosta where a spring-fed well and a salt well were traversed by Brandy Creek to form a cross (the well coverings remain now, though in disrepair). |
| 1963 | - | St. Martin's pioneer cemetery levelled; memorial proposed |
| 1977 | - | Martindale Pioneer Cemetery Memorial erected, with names inscribed of 164 early settlers from 1874 to 1900 |
| 1992 | - | 100th anniversary St. Martin’s Church, Martindale |
| 1993 | - | 50th anniversary Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Venosta |
Note: a complete copy of Fr. Blondin's text, the fiftieth anniversary booklet Jor Our Lady of Sorrows Church and other relevant material have been placed in the Historical Society of the Gatineau archives office.