Philemon Wright

Philemon Wright (September 3, 1760 – June 3, 1839) was a farmer and entrepreneur who founded what he named Columbia Falls Village, mostly known as Wright's Village and Wright's Town to others, the first permanent settlement in the National Capital Region of Canada. Wright's Town later became incorporated in 1875 and renamed Hull, Quebec, and then in 2002, as a result of a municipal amalgamation, it acquired its present name of the City of Gatineau.

Wright was born in Woburn, Massachusetts into the family of Thomas Wright and Elizabeth Chandler, a large and prosperous Woburn family that had been among the town’s founders, 120 years before. Philemon Wright was raised as a farmer. At the young age of 16, he was thrust into service for two years with the rebel forces in the first years of the American Revolution, leaving service as a sergeant. He fought in several battles including the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.

On May 16, 1782, Philemon Wright married Abigail Wyman, a Woburn woman whose ancestors were among the founding families of Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1628. Charlestown would later become Boston. Philemon and Abigail would have a large family of 9 children. Their children (ages listed as of 1800, when they arrived in Hull Township) were: Philemon Jr. (Phil) 18, Tiberius (Bearie) 13, Abigail (Nabby, who died at 7 yrs.), Mary (Polly) 10, Ruggles (Rug) 8, Abigail (Abbie) 6, Christopher Columbus (Chris) 2, Christiana (Chrissie) b. 1803 and Susana b. 1805.

Feeling the strain of overpopulation in Massachusetts, Wright first came to see the isolated and unsettled area of the Ottawa Valley in 1796, returned again in 1798, and once more in 1799. He finally decided that the best location for a new settlement would be next to the Chaudière Falls, near the intersection of the Gatineau and Ottawa rivers, where he found thousands of acres of good soil.

Wright used his natural leadership abilities to convince a group of Massachusetts settlers to come north with him. He led a group of 5 families and 25 labourers (axemen) to the area in the winter of 1800. With the help of a native scout, who volunteered to help the group negotiate the treacherous voyage over ice from Carillon to the Chaudière Falls, the group arrived on the western shore of the Gatineau River where it meets the Ottawa and began to clear land. At first their objective was to clear what was needed for homes and farmland for their survival. The 'Gateno', as he named it, and the Columbia Farms were the first farms created. Then, in 1801, the Columbia Falls Farm was created at the foot of the Chaudière Falls and there, construction began on other enterprises. Wright preferred to call the falls the Columbia Falls, but the name never stuck. The name Columbia, however, was repeatedly used throughout the new settlement: Columbia Pond (now, Leamy Lake), the Columbia farm, the Columbia hotel and Columbia road (now, St. Joseph blvd.).

...
Wikipedia