PATTERSON LAKE NEWSLETTER
August 2008
http://www.pattersonlake.ca
Annual General Meeting
The next AGM of the Association will be on Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 2:00 PM, at the Watsons Corners Hall. Check in for property owners will start at 1:30 PM. Although the meeting is open to all, voting will be restricted to one vote per property owner, with voting cards. Please pick up your card before the meeting starts at 2:00 PM.
The annual dues of $20 may be paid at the meeting with a receipt being sent out with the October newsletter.
In this Newsletter
The history and development of the Patterson Lake area was researched and written by Lorne Bowerman for inclusion in the Lake Management Plan. Parts of it will be used in the newsletters as there is much general interest in the subject. This newsletter answers why we are called Patterson Lake.
Patterson Lake Area
The European settlement of the area started in
1812 when the British Government designated
all of Lanark County as a potential settlement
land for European immigrant settlers. With
the establishment of Perth as a military town
in 1816, Lanark Township, Dalhousie
Township and North Sherbrooke Township
were opened for even greater settlement in 1820.
The first wave of settlers to the area were Scots from Glasgow and Lanarkshire around 1820. Lanarkshire is the area next to Glasgow in Scotland. Glasgow is on the River Clyde. In the 1830s and 1840s a wave of Irish settlers arrived. Although the Scottish and Irish settlers tried to open up the land, much of the terrain was not conducive to farming, and in the end many ended up in timber related trades. Much of the land returned to native forests.
1846 Electoral District
One of the earliest records of the area is Smith's 1846 Canadian Gazetteer, which gives an interesting description of the electoral district of Bathurst, which today we would normally call a riding.
http://www.censusfinder.com/ontario-canada-census-records4.htm
BATHURST DISTRICT Consists of the
counties of Lanark and Renfrew, which are
united so far as relates to representation in
the Legislative Assembly, and return one
member".
DALHOUSIE. A Township in the Bathurst
District: is bounded on the north-east by the
township of Lanark; on the north-west by
Levant; on the south-west by Sherbrooke;
and on the south-east by Bathurst. In
Dalhousie 23,440 acres are taken up, 8,112*
of which are under cultivation. Two small
branches of the River Clyde stretch across
the north of the township, and the north
branch of the Mississippi runs through the
south of the township from west to east. At its
entrance into the township it expands into a
lake, containing about 1,200 acres, and its
course is very tortuous and irregular. Several
small lakes are scattered over the township.
The base of a large portion of the north and
east of the township is marble of different
shades of colour, varying from pure white to
dark grey. In Dalhousie 17,200 acres of
Crown lands are open for sale, at 8 shillings
per acre. In the township are one grist and
two saw mills. Population in 1842 : 1,258.
Ratable property in the township : £17,601.
* These include the township of Levant, no
separate assessment having been made.
1901 Census
In the 1901 Census, the name of Lanark (North/Nord) and Lanark (South/Sud) is used to describe the political division at the time. Dalhousie Township was in Lanark North.
European Settlement of Patterson Lake
Patterson Lake lies within the Township of Dalhousie in Lanark County in Eastern Ontario. The lake straddles Concession 5 on the eastern end, Concession 6 in the middle, and Concession 7 on the western end. In a north-south division of surveyed land, Lot 15 is on the northern side, Lot 14 in the middle section and Lot 13 on the southern side. The lake is positioned on an angle, with the western end higher and the eastern end lower, on the square grid of the concessions and lots layout. Note that each lot is 200 acres, or 100 acres on the east half and 100 acres on the west half. Legal descriptions may say West half Lot 15, or part of West half Lot 15
Concession 8 is also important to Patterson Lake because the Purdons settled there. Concession 8 starts just a short distance from the end of the lake, and is on the western side of what we would call today the 8th Concession and Umpherson Mills Rd South.
Archie Patterson
The man who lent his name to Patterson Lake was Archie Patterson. He is listed in the Settlers to Lanark County as arriving in 1821 and settling in Concession 6, Lot 13W, which would put him just below the large bay on the south shore of Patterson Lake. The record is contained in:.
http://www.granniesgenealogygarden.com/Granny1/settler4.html
Patterson Archibald Dalhousie 6 13W 7 26 1821 (July 26, 1821 - which appears to be the date that a settler was "located", i.e. allocated land. The reference is not clear on the meaning.). A good guess would be that he came in the first wave of Scots from Glasgow and Lanarkshire.
Pioneer Cemetery
Further evidence that he was there is a record of burial sites on Concession 6, Lot 13, of Dalhousie Township. This would put the burial site just south of the bay. The notations are "M.P 1925." and "Believed to be a child of a Patterson Family".
Keith Thompson who lists the burial site said that he has never found the site. His record is at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~onlanark/cemeteries/Patterson/patterson_lake_burying_site.htm< /P>
Other burials on Concession 6, Lot 13W are James Hay Fair, born April 17, 1785, died 1854 and his wife, Jane Watson, born 1806, died 1862. Apparently there is a plaque marking the graves. Keith Thomson noted that apparently there are five burial plots at this site. The record is at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~onlanark/cemeteries/Fair/fair_private_burying_site.htm
Archie Patterson's land was Concession 6, Lot 13W. If the Patterson child were buried there in 1825, and the Fairs were buried there in 1854 and 1862, and if there are five at this site, then it strongly suggests that part of the land was considered a cemetery at that time. It would not be typical to bury all over the place. It would be far more likely to have a place set aside for burials. A good example from another place is Albury Cemetery in Prince Edward County. From family tradition and records, the land was given in 1825 for a Church and a burial ground. But by 1825 there had been three recorded burials, (the first in 1812), in what would become the cemetery. These three show up in the proper place in a cemetery plot layout. It is a mystery still today. (http://www.bowerman.ca/albury/).
It is not beyond reason that there is a pioneer cemetery there containing the graves of the Patterson family, the Fair family, and Mary from Mary's Island. It would be very useful to find this pioneer cemetery and have it properly located using a GPS. Any takers? Phone Lorne at 613-278-2813 or 613-225-7904.
Do not miss the connection with Fairs Creek, Fairs Way, Fairs Lane, and Nelsons (Fair) Way.
Robert Purdom
Another well know name found in the same settlers list as Archie Patterson is:
Purdon Robert Dalhousie 7 8E 7 18 1821 (Consession 7 Lot 8E, July 18, 1821) This location is south of the western end of the lake. The record is contained in:.
http://www.granniesgenealogygarden.com/Granny1/settler4.html
1880 Settlement
The H. Belden Atlas of Lanark County in 1880 shows a stylized map of the lake with the title of Patterson's Lake. There were three men listed as farmers with acreage around the lake. These were James Reid on the north eastern side, David Machan on the north western side, and Donald Purdon on the western end. The details are:
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/images/maps/townshipmaps/lan-m-dalhousie.jpg
David Machan, Concession 7, Lot 13 & 16, 225 acres
James Reid, Concession 6, Lot 15, 20 acres
Donald Purdon, Consession 8, Lot 14 & 15, 180 acres
1905 Voters' List
A voters' list dated June 13, 1905 gives a listing for the Lake. These would be only property owners and it would be their residences so if any had a cottage, it would not be recorded. The details are:
http://www.globalgenealogy.com/LCGS/voters/V-LK1905.HTM
For the Municipality of The United Townships of DALHOUSIE and NORTH SHERBROOKE in the COUNTY OF LANARK in the PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
Names for Dalhousie Township Concessions 5, 6,or 7; Lots 13, 14, or 15, and for Concession 8 Lot 14:
BARRIE, James Dal C 5 L13 021 j MF&O Fa WC
HARPER, Hugh Dal C 7 L13 031 j MF&O Fa MC
PURDON, Donald Dal C 8 L14 E 031 j MF&O Fa MC
021 or 031 are polling divisions; "E" is east half; "j" is eligible for juror duty; "MF&O" - married with family and owner; "Fa" is farmer; "WC" is Watsons Corners and "MC" is Macdonalds Corners.
1918 Directory
The 1918 Dalhousie Township Directory provides the next set of data.
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~cdobie/1918dalhousie.htm
Barrie James 13 1 O 5 13 (Concession 5 Lot 13). James Barrie is the only one listed from Concessions 5, 6, or 7 and Lots 13, 14, or 15.
Purdon Rufus 174 2 O 8 14 (Concession 8 Lot 14)
Hugh Harper is not listed in this 1918 Directory.
The most noticeable missing piece of data is the farmstead of Archie Patterson. The 1880, 1905, and 1918 do not contain any listing for anyone on Concession 6 Lot 13W.
On the positive side, the most consistent data of long loyalty to the area are the Purdons.
The Unusual Year at the Lake
It has been an unusual year:
The Creek (and Lake) Bed
While doing some research for the water level part of the Lake Management Plan, Lorne, Connie, and Joy Bowerman and Trevor Dee did sampling of the bottom of Fairs Creek on the lake side of the Creek. It ties back to the question of a possible change of lake level with the installation of the culverts, first in 1972, and then the present ones probably in the late 1970s. We had a few surprises.
The apparent bottom for most of the creek is certainly not the actual bottom. At the creek mouth the bottom was 101" with a visual bottom of 27". After the visual bottom, there is 53" of floc, then 21" of fine light gray "mud" at the bottom that looks like clay. But it is not clay. And it is not sand. Our best guess was that it is ground up limestone/marble leftover from the Ice Age. It vigorously reacts with acetic acid to form a new granular brownish coloured compound. MVC's Doug Nuttall and Susan Lee agreed with our guess. They added that the gray colour was the colour of marble in our area.
The actual and visual creek bottom become closer together as you move toward the culverts. The bottom becomes firmer and firmer until at the culverts it is a mixture of rocks and hard black dirt. It almost looks like the fine black dirt of the Prairies. You can only penetrate the bottom at the culverts a few inches.
On our way back, we took a sample from off the dock at 151 Lakeside Rd where it looked like sand or ground up shells. But it turned out to be about 18" of the same "mud".
Interesting to say the least..
Membership Dues
The 2008-2009 membership dues were set at $20 per property owner.
Please send your cheque to our Treasurer at the address below. Make cheques payable to the Patterson Lake Association. :Receipts will be sent out in Newsletters.
Howard Stanley
313 Hinchey Ave
Ottawa, ON K1Y 1M1
If you happen to pay twice in one year, (and that has happened), do not worry. You will be credited with the $20, and it will be applied as dues for the next year or years. You will only pay once per year.
Newsletter
This Newsletter was written by Lorne Bowerman. As usual, Connie did the proof reading and polished it up a bit. Comments, suggestions, or articles are welcome.
613-225-7904
lorne@bowerman.ca