The Scots
In 1790, a land reform took place in Scotland with the introduction of sheep breeding. The poorest farmers, who were also tenants, had now become a nuisance as they stood in the way of the expansion of sheep pastures at a time when wool and meat were becoming a lucrative commodity. Some of the more cruel land owners burned down family homes and forced people out to sea during the night. Between 1820 and 1840, there was an exodus of the population, composed mainly of farmers and artisans, away from the Highlands and the Scottish Islands.
In 1828, the duke of Hamilton, who owned a substantial amount of land on the Isle of Arran in Scotland, wanted to reclaim the properties he had rented to farmers and fishermen. He offered to send twenty-seven families to Canada and pay for half of the travel cost. In those days, the cost for crossing the Atlantic was 4 pounds sterling per passenger, which was equivalent to around $20. In addition, the duke negotiated with the Colonial Office for concessions of free land: one hundred acres for each man 21 years of age or older.
On April 25th, 1829, eighty-five people, mostly natives of the north of the Isle of Arran, leave Scotland. They arrive at the port of Quebec City on June 25th, 1829 after a difficult crossing that lasted two months and made many passengers ill. The group spent two days in Quebec City before going to Montreal where they camped for two weeks. The families were expecting to settle in the Renfrew County in Ontario (McNab Township) on land that had been heralded with enthusiasm back home in Scotland. Yet, on the advice of their immigration agent, A. C. Buchanan, a small group of explorers headed by Captain Archibald McKillop, Alexander and William Kelso decided to visit Inverness Township in July.
Upon getting the positive report from the delegates to that region, other heads of families decide to follow suit and agree to settle there. From Montreal, they navigated upstream to reach Saint-Nicholas, located about 24 kilometres from Quebec City on the south shore. They travelled along Craig road on foot, and then moved deeper inland. Some French Canadians helped them carry their belongings on horse-drawn carriages (kitchen utensils, wool clothing, furniture, books, spinning wheels). It took approximately two days for them to cover a distance of 65 kilometres and reach the chosen place for their settlement near Joseph Lake.
The Scots settle
The first twelve Scottish families settled on John Hart’s clearance near the intersection of the Bécancour River and the Pollock stream (later named Bullard). They refer to part of the Bécancour River as Thames. The one hundred acres they were promised have still not been granted by the government and the immigrants are forced to spend the summer and part of the fall in makeshift tents while they begin the construction of their homes. Dugald McKenzie McKillop, whose parents were part of this group, left behind an account of this period.
Each family constructed a tent by stretching blankets, quilts, etc., over poles suitably disposed and tied together at the top with withes and ropes. It was very foolish of the settlers to use such tent coverings, as – though possibly they did not know it – bark would have been easily procured and would have peeled nicely in July. One family – Archibald McKillop’s – had even stretched a nice piece of carpet over their wigwam. Fortunately the season of the year was favourable, and fires were needed only for cooking (Dugald McKenzie McKillop, Annals of Megantic County, 1902, p. 16).
In September, after two months of camping on the shores of Joseph Lake, they finally obtained the deeds for their land and began the work to clear it. By that time, it was already too late for sowing and famine and illness had afflicted many and caused several deaths. The colonists owe their survival to a few loyalists from the region who sold them supplies such as milk and potatoes. The Abenaki, who lived along the Bullard Stream, also provided their support by teaching them their way of life and showing them how to hunt, fish, trap and build shelter. Five more families from the Isle of Arran joined them. In the fall, before the tents were abandoned, the Scottish camp site counted one hundred and seventeen people, or seventeen families, among them the McKillops, Kelsos, McKinnons, McMillans, Brodies, McKenzies and the Stillers. Dugald McKenzie McKillop also left behind an account of the first winter the Scots spent in Inverness:
During the first winter there was not a stove in the whole settlement, and owing to the imperfect fire-places, and the rude construction of the dwellings, the people suffered much, even when indoors, from the severity of the cold. But far more troublesome than cold was the smoke, which, owing to their construction, often pervaded the houses. A few flag-stones, such as were easily obtained, were laid at one end of the floor of the dwelling, and on these the fire was made. […] No chimney was constructed, but an opening or large hole was left in the roof, directly above the fire-place, through which the smoke was expected to escape, but in doing so it often first made the circuit of the room. As there was no direct draft from the fire to the hole in the roof, the smoke, especially when there was a contrary wind, sometimes “laid low”, and filled the house. […] The cellars, which were simply large holes dug in the ground, on many occasions served as a place of refuge from the smoke. […] Many instances are related of how the rigorous climate at first annoyed, and perhaps in some instances amused, the settlers. The bed-clothes would often be covered with frost in the morning, and pieces of food, potato peelings, etc., would freeze to the table in the course of a meal, and we are assured that even when tea – which was supposed to be hot – was being drunk, the cup and the saucer would sometimes be found frozen together (Dugald McKenzie McKillop, Annals of Megantic County, 1902, p. 27-29).
In the following three years, a dozen additional Scottish families joined the nascent colony. About one quarter kilometre away, under what is now the bridge over the Bécancour River on Hamilton Road, was the Scottish settlement, first known as New Hamilton. This designation was quickly changed to Scotch Settlement. With the arrival of the Scots between 1829 and 1831, the population of Inverness grew from 60 to 840 people. The colonization of Inverness truly began with them. At that time, over 90% of the population of Inverness was protestant and all the Catholics present were Irish.
A Scottish couple (Celtic Route Collection)
Hamilton Road landscape. The region reminded them of their native Scotland, hence the name Inverness from a town in northern Scotland considered to be the capital of the Highlands (Picture by MRC de l’Érable).
Reverand Ronald McKillpo and his family, descendants of the first colonists, circa 1888 (Collection of Celtic Road).
Hamilton Road near Joseph Lake (picture by MRC de l’Érable).
At the time of their arrival, almost all the Scottish colonists read both Gaelic and English, but the preferred spoken language was Gaelic, a Celtic dialect still traceable in Ireland, on the western coasts of England and in Scotland (Collection Sylvia Dacres Champagne).
The Scottish monument was erected on a maple grove on the shores of Joseph Lake in 1919 marks the site of the first Scottish pioneer cemetery. It was located on a hill looking over Joseph Lake. Between 1829 and 1844, around seventy people whose graves are only identified with a simple wooden cross were buried there. At the beginning of the 20th century, certain tombs were unearthed and relocated to the Congregational Chapel Cemetery on Gosford Road south, while others were taken to Saint-Andrew’s Cemetery (Picture by Gilles Pelletier).
Congregational Chapel Cemetery on rural route 3, near Gosford road south (Photos Gilles Pelletier).
Saint-Andrew’s Cemetery was founded in the center of the village of Inverness around 1840. During that period, there was another church there affiliated to the Church of Scotland and named Old Kirk (Picture by Gilles Pelletier).
Saint-Andrews’s church (1938). In 1862, the Presbyterian population is large enough to see its small wooden church replaced with what is now the current Saint-Andrew’s church on Dublin Road, (Collection Sylvia Dacres Champagne).
