Up the Gatineau! Articles
The following article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 31.
The Kennedy Road in the 1930s and 1940s
Allan Richens
The Kennedy Road was once a busy link between the villages of Wakefield and Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham in the lower Gatineau Region. For about a hundred years, from the mid-nineteenth century until the 1950s, this road provided access to a series of farms along its length. Then, in the late 1940s, the Federal District Commission (predecessor to the National Capital Commission) began expropriation negotiations with the farmers along the road in order to expand the Gatineau Park, a process that was completed in the mid-1950s. Within the Park, the former road became a trail for hikers and skiers. Parking lot no.17 provided access from Route 105, just north of this highway’s southern exit to Wakefield.
For many years I skied along the Kennedy Road in winter, and I often wondered who had lived on the farms along the road and what their lives were like. Thanks to a number of local people who have shared their stories with me, I now have an appreciation of what their lives were like in the days before they had to leave their homes along this road.
In Wakefield, Mill Road joins the River Road at the outflow of the la Péche River into the Gatineau River. On the south side of the la Péche, beside the Black Sheep Inn (formerly the Chateau Diotte hotel), it leads up to the Wakefield Mill, part of which was once the MacLaren grist mill. Here the Kennedy Road began its climb up to the plateau along the southern watershed of the la Péche River valley. The road then meandered through the fertile, undulating farm land. The road continued for about eight kilometres (five miles) until it reached Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham. Most of the families living at the Wakefield end of the road were of Irish background, while close to the Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham end they were French Canadian. A branch of the road, which continues north to Rupert, was not expropriated.
An imaginary trip along the Kennedy Road in the 1930s and 1940s begins on Mill Road in Wakefield. Up this road were two homes on the north side of the la Péche River. These belonged to the Brooks and the Léger and Nellie Vaillancourt families. The original Peche School was beside them. Then came the MacLaren’'s Mill, where the road divided. From here a road went up to the Mashams, and the other branch, the Kennedy Road, led to the farms along the plateau that follows the la Péche River valley. The Good family home was located on the first part of the road, just past the mill. Edward Good and Mary Ellen (MacNair) had built the house around 1890. In the 1920s it passed to their daughter Laura. Then, in the early 1930s, Fred Hamilton and his wife, Rocksey Good, occupied it for a time. From the mid-1930s, Lester Brown and his wife, Ruth Daugherty, lived there with their son, Clare. In the 1940s J. P. Henderson bought the Good house, and it was subsequently expropriated by the National Capital Commission (NCC).
On the next farm, now the site of no. 17 parking lot, were the Kinsgburys. Charlie, a bachelor, lived with his spinster sister on the property in the 1940s. Leading off to the left after this, in the direction of Brown and Carman Lakes. was a road to the farm of George and Edith Trowsse and their six children. The next farm on the Kennedy Road was on the left, around a bend. It was the residence of Horace (Hod) and Sydney Trowsse, who had seven children. Next, on the right, was the farm of Gordon and Pearl Brown and their six children.
Their barn foundation is still very evident. Just before their farm, looking back to the east, is a vista of the MacLaren Cemetery on the hillside above Wakefield Village. Also, in this area, to the right of the road, is a marker post indicating the boundary between the former townships of Masham and Wakefield.
After this, the road drops down into a valley and crosses a creek, then climbs a hill before it levels off. In this sector, to the left of the road and a little way back in the fields, is a natural spring; it was worth its weight in gold in dry summers. Here on the right are the remnants of the farm where Dalton and Beatrice (Otterson) Kennedy lived with their two daughters. This farm had originally belonged to the Cates family and then the Ottersons, Dalton's grandfather, Robert Kennedy, had arrived in 1841 from Belfast, Ireland. He and his wife, Sarah, worked for a few years as weavers on the Brigham estate in Hull before moving up to Masham Township. There, they farmed on the part of the Kennedy Road between Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham and Rupert. Their original home still stands at 328 Kennedy Road. Janet (Young) Reynolds provides the following information about her grandfather:
Dalton was very musical. He could play the bagpipes, violin, mouth organ and the accordion. He loved to join in the singing of hymns when the family gathered around the piano on special occasions. He had a real thirst for knowledge and his collection of books included titles on veterinary medicine, small engine repairs, combustion engines and calligraphy. Local farmers often called upon him for help with sick animals or maintaining machinery.
Dalton had a tractor and threshing machine, and each fall he made the rounds of local farmers at harvest time. He was also a blacksmith, and sold wood, logs, maple syrup, hides and wool produced on the farm. Dalton was a part owner of the “Club House” on the hill by the school in Wakefield. Dances were held there every Saturday night from late spring until the end of October.
After crossing another creek, on the left are the remains of the Daugherty farm, where Bill and Jennie Daugherty lived with their seven children. Across the road from their farm was a sand pit from which gravel was taken for road maintenance. A heavily forested area then extends for more than a mile until we reach a farm on the left. This belonged to Jim and Minnie MacNair and their four children. Here the road crosses MacNair's Creek, a good spot for trout fishing.
Past the MacNair property is an intersection. A road to the left leads to Lac Philippe, while the Kennedy Road, on the right, proceeds toward the village of Sainte-Cécilede-Masham. The road rises along here, with no openings for a considerable distance, and then there is a long downhill run beloved by skiers. We are probably about four miles from Wakefield at this point. Here, on the right, was the farm of William John and Elizabeth (whose married and maiden names were both Hyndman) Hyndman and their three children. Down a lane, still on the right and across the field was the farm home of Robert and Anna (Hyndman) McCorkell, and their nine children.
The next farm after the McCorkells' was the home of Adeline and Colice Biron, a sister and brother. Then came Anatole and Dora (Marleau) Gosselin, who had a family of six girls and three boys. At a point near here, on the left of the road, is a natural cave (still evident today) with two small entrances. This natural phenomenon was a source of many stories. Some young explorers could squeeze in, if they dared, and imagine all sorts of scary things. A little further on was the Philippe family farm: Emile, his wife Florence (Ramsay), and their four boys and eight girls, Next to them were Josephat Moreau, his wife Ella (Googan), and their two daughters. Finally, at the Masham end of the road lived Denis Coderre, his wife Marie (Labelle), and their family of five boys and two girls.
Cora (McCorkell) Hodgins wrote out her recollections of the period 1923 to 1943, when she lived on the Kennedy Road:
I have some fond memories of growing up on what is now called Kennedy Road. Back then I think we just called it “our road.”
We lived about four miles from Wakefield, and we were the last English-speaking family on the road. We attended school and church in Wakefield, and I must say it was a long, cold walk in the winter. There were times when we had a big snowstorm when we were unable to get out until my Dad would “roll” the road. He would roll it out part way and then one of the other neighbours would continue on from there. There were no snowplows then. In the summer the neighbours did the road work, brushing it out along the sides and hauling gravel as needed. If I can remember correctly, I think they were allowed a discount on their taxes for this work.
I remember sometimes on very cold mornings our neighbour Mrs. Daugherty would watch for us and call us in for a cup of hot cocoa — it was a very welcome treat to warm us up.
Things were very different back then — no radio, no electric lights, and we didn’t get a newspaper either — as a matter of fact the war started about a week before we knew about it. We did get a couple of farm magazines, the Canadian Countryman and the Family Herald, and now and then my aunt [who lived in Wakefield] would send us some newspapers.
Except for our grandparents, who lived across the field from us, there were no close neighbours. The MacNairs lived about a mile away, but their family was grown up so we didn't have anyone to play with. We made our own fun, playing tag ball, hide-and-seek and so on. Of course, we didn’t have too much time for games, as we all had chores to do. Our toys were mostly home-made, and we always had cats and a dog for pets. In summer sometimes our cousins from Ottawa would come to visit and we enjoyed that. Until we went to school, we had very little contact with anyone outside of our family.
When my family asks what we did for entertainment, I remember the house parties we used to have in winter when we were older. The different families would take turns in hosting the event. A number of neighbours would gather at the home, and children would play together while the adults would spend the evening dancing and visiting. Many of us had large kitchens, which could accommodate a square dance. Often there was a fiddler, but if not, there was a record player. At the end of the party we all enjoyed a beautiful lunch of sandwiches and cakes, which the ladies had prepared, and everyone had a great time catching up on the local gossip.
When we were younger, my mother seldom went out to shop. My dad would take a grocery list, hitch up the horse and buggy (we didn’t own a car), and ride out to MacLaren’s or to Chamberlin’s store, to buy what we needed. Mom did all our own baking, including bread, and we had our own meat, butter, eggs and milk, as well as garden vegetables, and so we didn't buy a lot.
As for clothes, they were ordered from Eaton's Catalogue. However, we didn’t obtain too many new clothes in those Depression days; we were just as happy to have hand-me-downs from our cousins.
We attended the old school in Wakefield, just downstream from MacLaren’s grist mill, until 1941, at which time the present school was built. On the first day of school we were given a list of books. We would buy as many as possible from the other students, and then get the others from MacLaren’s store. We had to buy everything, from textbooks to pencils — no free books in those days.
There were three teachers in that old school. Room 1 held students in grades 1 to 3, room 2 had grades 4 to 6, and room 3 grades 7 to 9. The room 3 teacher was the Principal.
The Christmas Concert was one of the highlights of the year. We had a concert at school and also another at our church. We would begin to practice early in November to be ready for mid-December. We would practice at school until closing time, and then go to Wakefield United Church for an hour or so before heading the four miles home. Many times it would be dark, and we would walk home in the moonlight.
Cora’s sister Margaret (McCorkell) Reid remembers the sale of their farm, in the mid-1950s:
The farm was sold for approximately $8,000. Our auction sale was held in October 1956. I do not remember much about the sale except that it was very difficult for our father to see the horses and cattle go.
My parents, Robert and Anna McCorkell, bought a house on Burnside Ave. in Wakefield and moved there with me and my twin sister Marion. By this time the other members of our family had moved on to start their careers. Three children had died in infancy, two sons and one daughter moved to Toronto, and Cora moved to Ottawa and then to Merrickville.
In the fall of 2004 a group of us arranged with the NCC to go in one of their vehicles up the Kennedy Road. Janet (Young) Reynolds, Margaret (McCorkell) Reid and her sister Marion (McCorkell) Kelly, all of whom were born in farms along this road, came on the outing.
During the trip they were remembering details of their early lives along this road. They talked about the long walks to and from school, accompanied by their friends who also lived along the road. The McCorkell children had the longest walk, and also had to pass through a rather long stretch of heavy forest before arriving home, a sometimes-frightening walk, particularly in the fall when bears were about.
Janet (Young) Reynolds remembered the times when families would get together, particularly on the weekends, and enjoy music played by family members. Margaret's dad didn't play an instrument himself, but he always had a violin on hand for anyone to play when they came to his home, ensuring that music and dancing could be enjoyed. Margaret remembered the visits by a neighbour Hercule (nicknamed Arthur) Biron, who lived in Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham. He traded haircuts with her dad: they cut each other’s hair for more than 40 years. He also helped Cora with her French schoolwork from time to time.
We stopped at the sites of several of the farms and tried, not always successfully, to find the old foundations. When we got to the McCorkell farm we all got out of the vehicle and walked some distance to where the old farmhouse had been, and stood on the site and admired the view from what would have been the front yard.
As I spoke to various people about their lives when they lived along this road in days gone by, one thing that stood out was the effort that was made by the wives and mothers who lived on the farms in those days. There was no electricity and scarcely any of the other amenities that we take for granted today. These women devoted much of their life to keeping their families fed, clothed and healthy, and most days they were busy from morning to night. It was only on Saturday nights and Sundays when, apart from caring for the livestock, family, friends and neighbours could enjoy some rest and relaxation.
The NCC expropriation had forced all the Kennedy Road families to move from their farms, but the road continued to be open for a number of years. Norma Geggie remembers times in the early 1960s when she and her husband, Dr. Stuart, would drive up the road and see Dalton and Beatrice Kennedy sitting in their car beside the place where their farm used to be, just gazing out over their former home and fields and watching the deer in the distance.
In the early 1990s, the Municipality of La Péche claimed ownership of the Kennedy Road allowance, and closed it in the winter to permit a snowmobile trail. The NCC has contested this, and the matter has been before the courts ever since. The skiers have had to go elsewhere.