Laurentian Heritage WebMagazine

After Champlain and the first Europeans appeared in the New World some 400 years ago, the Algonquins became embroiled in the fur trade and in the bitter British-French-Indian wars of the seventeenth century.In 1653, the Iroquois drove the hunters of the “Petite Nation” into a corner on the shores of Le Petit-Lac-Nominingue where they, with their families, were massacred. A little more than a hundred years later, loyalist refugees and soldiers fleeing the American Revolution in 1776 fetched up in the lower Laurentians where they began farming.

Born Maude Babin in St. Andrews East in 1869, Maude Abbott was orphaned as a young child by the death of her mother. The first cousin (once removed) of that other distinguished native of St. Andrews East, Prime Minister Sir John Abbott, Maude Abbott was adopted by her maternal grandmother, who had Maude’s family name legally changed to Abbott.

“I hate politics… I hate notoriety, public meetings, public speeches, caucuses, and everything that I know of that is apparently the necessary incident of politics - except doing public work to the best of my ability.”
John Abbott (1891)

Born in 1821 in St. Andrew’s East (now Saint-André-d’Argenteuil), John Abbott was the son of an Anglican minister. At the age of seventeen, Abbott went to work in the dry-goods trade, where he learned bookkeeping and business. In 1849, he married Mary Bethune (1823-1898). The couple had nine children.

Born in Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse in 1803, Augustin-Norbert Morin was one of eleven children of a prosperous farming family. Though not robust physically, he showed quick intelligence and was encouraged by the local priest to study at the seminary in Quebec City. Morin had great academic success and chose to study law.

(Continued from Part 1)

Very, very long ago – over a billion years at least – the first mountain range on Earth was squeezed upward by the movements of tectonic plates deep beneath the surface of the planet. These first mountains are still here, although altered by ancient volcanic activity and worn and scraped by several ice ages. In Quebec, this mountainous area is called the Laurentians.

Morin Heights has been celebrated as a centre for cross-country skiing for many years. Much of this reputation can be credited to the Viking Ski Club, established permanently in Morin Heights since the 1950s and active in that part of the Laurentians since its beginnings in the winter of 1929-30.

The Argenteuil Agricultural Society, best known for its sponsorship of the Lachute Fair, celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2000. Founded in 1826, the Society has held an annual fair ever since. Today, the Lachute Fair is one of the oldest continuous fairs in Canada.

Author’s note: This is the product of the combined efforts of three people. Without the assistance of Daniel Parkinson as researcher and editor, this would be just another history of Rawdon. Thanks to his unwavering support and generous input, I am able to claim that this is the most accurate history of Rawdon available. The second person is Glenn Cartwright, who supplied information, leads to pertinent documents, and who was responsible for this article being posted on the Internet. To these two gentlemen I extend my thanks and appreciation.

Before the mid-19th century, there were only seasonal Indigenous hunters in the Morin Heights region, most likely Mohawks.Government minister Augustin-Norbert Morin came with his Indigenous guide, Simon, in 1850 to survey the area. In the same year the first permanent settlers --three Seale brothers, originally from Connaught, Ireland -- arrived from Lachute.