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| Last Page Activity: October 6, 2011 |
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NOTE: Max Sutherland, a long time researcher on Darling Township in Lanark County, Ontario is writing a book. We look forward with anticipation to its publication. He has kindly shared some of his findings on Hugh O’Brien. Our thanks is heartfelt. To paint a broader picture, addition information has been added to that given by Max Sutherland. |
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Hugh O’Brien arrived in Darling County Ontario in the late summer of 1822 with 31 other settlers and their families (these families were the first people to get land in Darling and Hugh stayed far longer than any of them - in fact, he lived the rest of his life there and outlived all the others who’d come with him. Most of them took one look at the quality of the land, which was made of mostly "muddy swamps, rocky terrain and steep slopes" and although the intention of the original settlers was to farm, it soon became apparent that the only lands that could be cultivated were those that were located in flood plains, along rivers or adjacent to lakes. Hugh O’Brien went to the office of the Bathurst District Land Board at the corner of Foster and Gore Streets, Perth in October 1823. He applied for land and identified himself as being 26 years old, a native of County Donegal, Ireland and as having arrived in Canada the year before. The new Township of Darling, about 20 miles north of Perth, had just been opened to settlers in the summer of 1823. Hugh was given a location ticket authorizing him to settle on 50 acres of land, namely the South-West Quarter of Lot Number 4, Concession 4 of Darling. That 50-acre ticket signifies that Hugh was classed as an "indigent settler", also know as a "50-acre settler", the fifty-acre system being reserved for the more needy immigrants, or those who said they were penniless. Once they had cleared the required number of acres, built a habitable dwelling, cleared half the road allowance in front of their lots, they could then obtain the deed free of all charges, including the "patent fee" (a service charge covering the government’s expenses in preparing a legal description and filling out the deed on costly parchment). |
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By 1831, Hugh O’Brien was living with Laura Ann (aka Laurie, aka Laury) Tooley, daughter of Samuel Tooley, a next-door neighbour. One has to suspect that Hugh was a lapsed Roman Catholic, or converted to Protestantism, because in approximately 1835 Father John MacDonald of Perth, in making his horseback trips around the townships collecting tithes, wrote down notes on Hugh O’Brien in his diary. Nowhere does he ever mention a Protestant in the part of his diary reserved for lists of Catholics with who he visits. When he reaches Darling, he visits Michael Nicholson, Hugh’s neighbour, noting Nicholson’s wife and children; and Michael’s contribution to the church. He then notes Hugh on Lot 4 Concession 4 with obvious disapproval as follows (in Father MacDonald’s poor spelling): "Hug O’brien his woman was never baptised nor married to him Hug O’brien". In 1836 or 1837 Father MacDonald makes another circle tour, repeats the comment about Hugh (this time finishing his first name with an "h") and adds "children Edward 3, Lary 1/4". On none of the 3 occasions when he visited Hugh did he get any tithes from him, and it appears Father MacDonald eventually gave up on him. The Tooleys were radical Methodists, and since Father MacDonald was a very traditional Roman Catholic priest, he might have disputed the legality of the Methodist marriage if there had been one. |
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| There is little that can be said about Hugh O’Brien’s personality or temperament, or about his family life beyond mere names and dates. There is one petition on which he signed his name himself, usually he signed with an "X", and in all cases had more literate neighbours or officials write his petitions, letters and affidavits for him - a practice which was standard among these early settlers, some of the "writers" making useful pin money, or obtaining food or labour in exchange for the service. He is described by the census taker in 1861 as a "poor farmer" and in the 1871 census as "poor, doesn’t farm much", and it is difficult to avoid the impression that life was not particularly kind to him. Whether he viewed it that way one may never know. |
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On September 2, 1880, Hugh O’Brien went to or was taken to the doctor’s office in Perth and kept overnight by Dr. Kellock. Hugh O’Brien’s death certificate information 1880 #007587 (Microfilm at Ontario Archives, Toronto, and at Latter-Day Saints collection Salt Lake City): Hugh O’Brien. Died 3 September 1880. Age 83. Occupation: Yeoman. Born Ireland. Cause of death: disease of heart and brain - chronic. At residence of doctor (Perth). Religion: Presbyterian. Dr. J. D. Kellock, physician. Unanswered questions: Who brought him to the doctor’s office? Perth is nearly 18 miles south of his Darling farm. Why was there no obituary for him that can be found? Why no record of burial? His nearest known relative was Levi Brian in Carelton Place, but there is no record one can find of burial there. Update: Hugh O’Brien’s farm has since grown over with bushes, there are lots of rocks, thin soil, burdocks and thorny brambles. Hugh seems to have farmed, or at least pastured his cattle, wherever he pleased since as he grew older he had fewer and fewer neighbours and didn’t seem to have many fences to bother him. The area - which is actually larger than his legally owned or leased lot - was know to Darling residents as recently as the 1950's as "Huey’s Plains" - but no one locally seems to know who Huey was. "Plains" is a very old and almost extinct Lanark County expression meaning "back fields" - ie: fields that are separate from the immediate area of the homestead and its immediate fields by intervening bush. |
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Max Sutherland writes: "One can argue that mere survival into old age is not a noteworthy accomplishment, or an indication of personal worth; but much depends on context and circumstances. Hugh O’Brien grew up in a notoriously poor area of a notoriously poor country, and left amidst the worst depression the British Isles had known. Yet he must have had a nutritious diet, and came to Canada in 1823 as a healthy young man. And he outlived all of those who had come into Darling Township before 1830, and many of those who came before 1840. By 1880 when he passed away, he must have been viewed as a bit of a landmark which probably explains why the "Historical Atlas of Lanark and Renfrew Counties (1881) speculated that he had been the "first settler" in Darling. He may not have been the first to camp overnight, or cut the first tree, but he spent more years in Darling, where he had started, than anyone else. He spent some 57 years on land that is officially rated today as "Class 4" (unsuitable for agriculture). And ... remarkably when one considers the childhood mortality in the families of his neighbours - there is no provable record of young deaths in that family. Fifty-seven winters? A statistician could reason that heating even a small shanty required cutting, sawing and splitting about 350 cords of wood over that period. And there were a lot of mouths to feed. Who knows what strengths such a person would have .... "poor farmer" or not? " |
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A 2003 visit to Hugh O’Brien’s homestead: Terry and Sherrie (Bryan via Hugh’s son James Colin) Thorne went on a North American Drive in 2003. Their journal for September 14 reads: With some daylight left, we ventured out in search of Hugh O'Brien's (Sherrie's great-grandfather) homestead property. |
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| On the opposite side of
the open pit mine from where we had stood at the viewpoint, Willie drove
through tall piles of aggregate and down into the quarry itself. The
fading daylight seemed to return as we became surrounded by white
rock. Willie shared with us some of his knowledge about the site
where both he and his geologist son both work.
When we came back out of the valley of limestone marble and weaved our way through trucks and loaders that work around the clock, Willie stopped and said, "Maybe your Dad would like a rock from here too." With that Terry jumped out and grabbed a small piece. "That one will grade out with only about 2% impurities." |
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| With the luck of the Irish, great-grandfather Hugh O'Brien ... or as we have taken to calling him "Hughy" ... was sitting on rock worth millions more than the small amount he made eking out to keep himself alive on the little amount of soil that lay on top. Hugh probably cursed the white rock each time he dug a hole for a well, an outhouse or a fence post. Hugh sold his original homestead and consequently, years later, some other owner became very very rich. Oooooh Huuuughy! |
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| While dropping off a thank you gift
to Willie and Linda for their time and hospitality Willie mentioned that a
number of people from the area were buried in the Clayton cemetery and
that we might want to take a look there for Hugh's grave. The
daylight was fading quickly as we made our way to Clayton and there were
sprinkles of rain. By the time we reached the cemetery gates the
sprinkling of rain had turned into a torrential downpour. We waited
.... but darkness came before the rain let up. IF Hughy was there,
he was going to have to be found another day. Follow-up - The questions of his burial may have been answered by a neighbour who has seen crosses on the land suggesting a family burial place. Another visit is in order. |
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Sources 1. Max Sutherland 2. Darling Township Land Records 3. Census Records for Darling Township, Lanark, Ontario. |
