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Understanding Macdonell-Williamson House through four artifacts

Aerial photograph of Macdonell-Williamson House with the Carillon Dam in the background (Photo: Carl Bigras)

By

Sam Wesley

Buildings and architecture, Cultural objects

Published Date: Dec 05, 2014

Photo: Aerial photograph of Macdonell-Williamson House with the Carillon Dam in the background (Photo: Carl Bigras)

It is tempting, while admiring Macdonell-Williamson House’s centuries-old stone walls, Palladian grandeur and picturesque setting, to conjure up an era defined by continuity – when long-standing traditions were strong, when travel and communications were slow, and when people’s lives and livelihoods were firmly anchored to the land on which they lived. Pastoral, quaint, cyclical and fundamentally local. In other words, an era very unlike our own. But a closer look at four objects from the site tells a different story.

The house (then called Poplar Villa) was constructed in 1817 in the wake of a devastating war. Its owner, John Macdonell, was a retired fur trader and soldier who had experienced his share of travel, upheaval and adventure. Although his Highland Scots Catholic roots ran strong, Macdonell spent much of his youth in the Mohawk Valley, New York, before his Loyalist family (they had been Jacobites in Scotland) fled to the Canadas after the American Revolution. Macdonell’s wife, Magdeleine Poitras, who he met while living in the Qu’Appelle valley (in present-day Saskatchewan), was Métis and their grand new house on the banks of the Ottawa River was located in a predominantly French-speaking community that straddled the border with Lower Canada. The general store and freight forwarding business that Macdonell operated on his property attracted visitors and customers from distant regions, making the site more public in nature and contributing to a rich confluence of cultural influences.

General store ledger

Despite its proximity to the Ottawa River – the super transportation route of its day – this was a frontier household in a frontier community. Traditional social structures, relationships and practices were often undermined, or at least complicated, by the pressures of frontier life. Attempts by the Macdonell family to establish order, traditions and decorum were sometimes remarkably successful, given the context. Other times, they proved idealistic and ineffective.

An examination of several representative artifacts from the household and property provide insight into the Macdonells’ efforts to establish order in an environment characterized by movement, flux and fluidity.

In addition to his freight forwarding business, Macdonell operated a general store at Poplar Villa that offered a variety of goods to the local community and to those travelling along the Ottawa River. More than 100 years later, in the mid-20th century, the house’s occupants opened a drawer and found an original ledger documenting hundreds of transactions at the store during the 1820s and 1830s.

This 275-page ledger offers fascinating insights into Macdonell’s business and clientele. Information recorded about account holders often includes their occupations (e.g., boatmen, hatters, voyageurs and vinters), as well as anecdotal information about their health (for instance, Bernard Courville died of cholera), their whereabouts (Darby Byrne married Jock Judah’s daughter and ran away) and physical characteristics (Isaac Thompson, “Big nose”). It also indicates that barter was common, as accounts were often paid in goods and services instead of cash. Many accounts appear not to have been paid at all, which could help explain Macdonell’s own financial difficulties in the later part of his life. Willingness to extend credit would have been a sign of wealth – but the practice may, ironically, have helped drive status-conscious Macdonell into financial distress.

Isaac Brock half-penny token 1816

Isaac Brock half-penny token 1816

This half-penny token, unearthed at Macdonell-Willliamson House, reminds us that the impact of the War of 1812 was still being felt across Upper Canada as Macdonell was establishing his home and business at Poplar Villa. The copper coin was issued in 1816 to commemorate the death of General Isaac Brock, who was killed leading the defence of Upper Canada in 1812. The inscription, “SR ISAAC BROCK THE HERO OF UPR CANADA” encircles an image of two cherubs crowning an urn with laurel wreaths. The reverse reads “1816: SUCCESS TO COMMERCE & PEACE TO THE WORLD.” Commercial success and peace were exactly what Macdonell sought as he retired to his Ottawa River estate.

War and conflict had plagued the Macdonell family for generations, driving them from their homes and disrupting their livelihoods. John Macdonell had himself participated in the War of 1812 as a commissioned captain in the Corps of Canadian Voyageurs, and was likely taken prisoner at the Battle of St. Regis. His efforts to obtain compensation for losses suffered during the war dragged on into the 1840s and were ultimately unsuccessful.

This sacred heart pendant, uncovered during archaeological excavations at Macdonell-Williamson House, most likely dates from the time of John Beverly Polifax. The sacred heart is a predominantly Roman Catholic devotion in which the physical heart of Jesus Christ is venerated as a symbol of Christ’s love for humanity. Visual representations of the sacred heart are central to the devotion and often appear on badges and pendants. The sacred heart symbolism on this pendant, as in most representations, includes a heart in flames encircled with thorns and topped with a cross (signifying Christ’s burning love and His suffering). On the reverse is a crucifix.

The devotion is closely linked to the notion of family and family love. The Macdonell family was renowned for their devotion to Roman Catholicism. Although Upper Canada was dominated culturally and politically by Protestants, the Macdonells were able to achieve status and influence in a region populated mostly by French-Canadian Catholics. While employed by the North West Company, Macdonell was known for his piety and his insistence that employees in his charge observe the feasts of the Catholic church. This earned him the nickname of “le prêtre” or “the priest.”

In the early 1820s, David Thompson, one of the most prolific surveyors and map-makers ever to work in North America, was hired to survey the border between Upper and Lower Canada, which ran south from Pointe Fortune on the Ottawa River to the St. Lawrence River, east of Cornwall.

Thompson, like Macdonell, had worked for the North West Company and had retired to Upper Canada following the War of 1812. The two men, who certainly would have known one another, both suffered severe financial losses when the remains of the North West Company declared bankruptcy in 1825, following amalgamation with the Hudson’s Bay Company. Stone markers, such as this one found near the Macdonell-Williamson property, were laid along the border in 1860. Upper Canada is inscribed on one side and Lower Canada on the other. It is a reminder of the proximity of Macdonell-Williamson House not only to the Quebec border, but also to French-Canadian cultural influences. Thompson’s meticulous survey and the presence of these stone markers contain a certain irony, given the site’s social and cultural ambiguities.

Sacred heart pendant

Photo: Sacred heart pendant

Stone boundary marker 1860

Photo: Stone boundary marker 1860

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The past empowered

The buildings, structures and landscapes that comprise our cultural heritage are products of the intricate interplay between people and place over time. What is preserved...

The Sir Aemilius Irving House, Hamilton

Have you seen this building?

In November 2007, the Sir Aemilius Irving House in Hamilton was demolished by its owner to make way for a new building. Unfortunately, local heritage...

Enoch Turner Schoolhouse

Enoch Turner Schoolhouse – a citizen’s legacy

When the province of Ontario introduced the 1847 Common Schools Act, municipalities were given the power to introduce taxes to fund public education. Toronto city...

St. Raphael’s Ruins

Counting our blessings

Built in Glengarry in 1821, St. Raphael’s Church was one of Ontario’s earliest Roman Catholic churches. Constructed under the supervision of Alexander Macdonell – Upper...

Traditional building materials (McMartin House, Perth)

Building assets

Which is more sustainable – an artificial or live Christmas tree? This is an environmentalist’s conundrum, and it illustrates the paradox of “sustainable” building materials...

Repairs to the Gordon Block, Stratford (2007)

The guiding principles of sustainable architecture

In the late 1990s, the Ontario Ministry of Culture introduced Eight Guiding Principles in the Conservation of Built Heritage Properties, which are in common use...

Sheppard’s Bush, main house

Inside Sheppard’s Bush

Charles Sheppard (1876-1967) moved to the Town of Aurora in 1921, after making his fortune in the Simcoe County lumber industry. Brooklands, his modest estate...

View of the Don Valley Brick Works site, looking south (Photo courtesy of Evergreen)

Evergreen Brick Works: Rethinking space

Evergreen – a national charity – builds the relationship between nature, culture and community in urban spaces. With its revitalization of Toronto’s Don Valley Brick...

A 1930s view of the town site taken from the north, looking towards the mill (Photo courtesy of The Ron Morel Memorial Museum, Kapuskasing)

Discovering the City Beautiful

On July 25, 2007, the Ontario Heritage Trust and the Town of Kapuskasing unveiled a provincial plaque to commemorate the town plan that helped shape...

401 Richmond Street, Toronto – an example of a green roof

Fact or fiction: Demystifying the myths around going green – Moving toward a more sustainable architecture

Sustainable: able to be maintained at a certain rate or level . . . conserving an ecological balance by avoiding a depletion of natural resources...

Tip Top Lofts, Toronto (Photo: Context Development)

Sustainability for old buildings: A developer’s perspective

Adaptive reuse provides a sound and sustainable approach to the renewal of our urban fabric, as illustrated by the conversion of three Toronto buildings to...

Casement windows of the Oval Boardroom

In praise of older windows

Façade: a word of double-edged meaning. Architecturally, it refers to the face of a building. In literature, more often than not, it connotes a front...

Fraserfield, South Glengarry

Building on our successes

The Ontario Heritage Trust’s heritage conservation easements conserve some of Ontario’s most significant heritage sites. Good stewardship of easement properties includes regular maintenance and periodic...

Barnum House

The story of Barnum House

Barnum House, on the north side of Highway 2 (Danforth Road), west of Grafton is historically significant for its association with the Barnum family. It...

$29 million restoration of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre by the Trust in 1987-89 (Photo: George Pelekis)

The R’s of conservation

An earlier generation spoke of the three R’s as “Reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic.” They were the fundamentals of education in the 19th century and considered...

Battlefield House

Battlefield House Museum and Park – A pioneer in the history of preservation

Nestled under the Niagara Escarpment and situated in a park connected to the Bruce Trail, Battlefield House Museum National Historic Site in Stoney Creek is...

The Mason-Girardot House – a Victorian Italianate house built c. 1879 in the former town of Sandwich – is one of the properties participating in Windsor’s heritage property tax relief program

Leading the way in municipal heritage planning

What’s happening in your community? With significant amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act in April 2005 and a strengthening of the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS)...

Clark-McCleary House, rear elevation

Exploring Country Heritage Park

In March 2006, the Ontario Heritage Trust acquired a cultural conservation easement on Country Heritage Park. Located in Milton, this designed heritage attraction was created...

Simcoe’s headstone located at Wolford Chapel, Devonshire, England

Celebrating our first Lieutenant Governor

On October 26, 2006, commemorative events were held at Fort York in Toronto and at Wolford Chapel in Devonshire, England to mark the 200th anniversary...

Born a slave in Maryland in 1789, Josiah Henson escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad. Settling in southwestern Ontario, he worked to improve life for the black community and helped to establish the Dawn Settlement. Henson would go on to become an internationally recognized abolitionist, preacher and conductor on the Underground Railroad. His former home is now part of Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden.

Carving out a place in our history

Josiah Henson travelled to London, England in 1851 to attend the first World’s Fair – also known as the Great Exhibition or Crystal Palace Exhibition...

Fulford Place

Heritage conservation at our front door

The term “porte-cochère” has continental flair, though humble origins. In French, it means “carriage door” and originally referred to a covered entryway into a courtyard...

Homewood Museum in Maitland

Heritage by numbers

Ontario’s heritage is an immense and complex jigsaw puzzle. Every individual element of heritage creates a whole . . . a sort of heritage by...

An offset awl

Underground discoveries

In a wooded area near Coldwater, an archaeological site known as Thomson-Walker lies beneath the forest floor. The property on which the site is situated...

Parading into the Spencerville Mill grounds is the Glengarry Pipe Band (Photo: The Spencerville Mill Foundation)

Saving the Spencerville Mill – Preserving community heritage

The Spencerville Mill, a fine cut-stone flour and grist mill, is located on the bank of the South Nation River in the small rural village...

The Ashbridge collection held by the Trust includes these diaries. Artifacts like these are carefully preserved under archival conditions.

Keeping a paper trail – How to preserve your paper artifacts

Books, cards, certificates, letters, diaries, manuscripts, maps, paper currency, newspapers, deeds, paintings and photographic prints ranging from the late 1700s to the late 1900s all...

Marriage certificate (Photo: Gordon Pim)

Digging in the archives

Genealogical research can be challenging, frustrating and ultimately rewarding as you wade through hundreds of records and personal artifacts. If you have reached an impasse...

This vase – and many other fine ceramics – is on display at Fulford Place

Our porcelain past

Fulford Place in Brockville was the residence of Senator George T. Fulford – an important businessman, politician and philanthropist. When completed in 1901, the house...

Today, the Ashbridge Estate is widely known in Toronto’s east end for its lush gardens. The Estate is owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust. Its extensive collection of artifacts and archaeological discoveries celebrate the evolution of the Ashbridge family.

The biography of a house: If these walls could speak

Researching family history is a popular pastime for many who want to uncover their family’s unique past and discover how they contributed to Ontario’s growth...

Peterborough's Market Hall, before

Winning the battle

There are countless examples across the province of successful restorations of Ontario’s treasured heritage sites. Although the challenges are great – funding being the primary...

The Scarab scenery flats c. 1920s

Historic scenery makes second debut

After being in storage for over 75 years, a dynamic set of theatre scenery will be displayed again at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre...

Peel Heritage Complex, Brampton

Our cultural heritage places: how heritage buildings adapt

Although heritage remains a year-round activity for many of us, Heritage Day is celebrated annually on the third Monday in February. This year’s theme speaks...

George Brown House

Snapshots of the past

A flash of phosphorus. A whiff of smoke. And an image is captured. Photographs have chronicled our lives for over 150 years, remaining one of...

Detail of reproduced George Brown House central hall wallpaper

Historic wallpaper: Finding what’s beneath

Wallpapers first appeared in Canada as early as the mid-17th century. These oldest papers were block-printed, hand-painted or stenciled. Pattern and colour was applied to...

Penetanguishene Centennial Museum and Archives

Small-town museums key to small-town success

For 18 years, my wife and I raised our two sons in the Town of Richmond Hill just north of Toronto. When we moved to...

Upper Canada’s first parliament buildings

Breaking news: Saving our First Parliament

It was announced on December 21, 2005 that the site of Ontario’s first parliament buildings in Toronto has been saved. The Ontario Government, in partnership...

17th-century French trade axe

Digging up yesterday

Reesor live on a property near Bass Lake, Ontario that is protected by an Ontario Heritage Trust natural heritage easement. They lovingly care for this...

Macdonell-Williamson House

Unearthing the past: Discoveries at Macdonell-Williamson House

Built in 1817, Macdonell-Williamson House in eastern Ontario reflects the ambitions and aspirations of retired fur trader, John Macdonell. His life was fraught with financial...

The earliest brick structure in the City of Hamilton – the Book House, located in Ancaster – was recently lost to a suspected case of arson. (Photo: Sharon Vattay, City of Hamilton)

Moving forward with heritage conservation

Thirty years ago, when the Ontario Heritage Act was new, I was a young planner with about a year’s experience working in London, England and...

This decorative cupola adorns McMartin House, a Foundation property in Perth

The healthy roof: Staying on top of heritage preservation

The following excerpt appears in Well-Preserved: The Ontario Heritage Foundationʼs Manual of Principles and Practice for Architectural Conservation (Third Revised Edition), by Mark Fram (Boston...

Mrs. Greenwood donated this property in the memory of her late husband; it will be known as the John Edward (Ted) Greenwood Sanctuary (Photo: Sylvia Barkman)

New natural heritage easement properties

John Edward (Ted) Greenwood Sanctuary On March 30, 2005, the Ontario Heritage Foundation received – from Mary Greenwood of Nakara, Australia – a 100-acre (40-...

Coldwater Grist Mill – serving the community since 1833; an active part of Doors Open Huronia since 2002

The new Ontario Heritage Act: The evolution of heritage conservation

An important shift has occurred in Ontario’s legislative framework for heritage conservation. On April 28, 2005, the Ontario Heritage Amendment Act (Bill 60) received royal...

Trent University, Peterborough

Trent University under the modernist microscope

Throughout the developed world, attention is being given to the built heritage of the modern era. Organizations such as UNESCO's World Heritage Center, the International...

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre (Toronto). In 1987, a basement is excavated under the lobby corridor, and the grand staircase is suspended in the air.

Working with superstructures: The framework for Ontario's heritage buildings

Last issue, we discussed the importance of a solid foundation when preserving heritage structures. In this issue, we see how a buildingʼs skeleton holds everything...

Leidra Lodge

Leidra Lodge – A new conservation easement

June Ardiel has been a patron and leader in Ontario's arts community all her life. She has authored a book on the public art of...

Toronto-Dominion Centre (Photo: The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Ltd.)

The changing face of heritage: The International Style – Toronto’s Toronto-Dominion Centre

In the second quarter of the 20th century following the First World War, Europe saw the emergence of a significant movement in architecture. This “modern”...

Homewood Museum in Maitland

The Homewood collection

As you drive east along Highway 2 between Brockville and Prescott, you will find the robust Georgian Homewood Museum deeply set back from the road...

Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site

Inside Uncle Tom's Cabin

At a bend in the Sydenham River near the town of Dresden stands Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site. The museum – built on the site...

The Sharon Temple

The Sharon Temple and the heritage of faith

While most of Canada celebrates Heritage Day on the third Monday in February, Ontario celebrates Heritage Week. The theme developed for Ontario Heritage Week 200...

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