April 15, 2005: The Town of Almonte (now called Mississippi Mills) was originally called Shipman's Mills when the Peter Robinson settlers arrived there in 1823. Beginning in 1820, Scottish immigrants settled in the immediate area. These Scots came mostly from the lowlands around Paisley and Glasgow. Many were weavers who organized Emigrant Societies, chartered ships and came to this area.An old Mill on the Mississippi River at Almonte A thriving textile industry developed along the Mississippi River, combining the skills of the Scottish immigrants with the natural local water power. Some of these newly-arrived folks from Scotland built the Auld Kirk. See photo of another old mill at Carleton Place. (dated April 23, 2005). Mr. Michael Dunn has a great web site where you can take a virtual walking tour of the town. He's preserving the town's history in digital photographs. Before him, his Father and Grandfather were both historians in the Almonte area and produced (among other works) an important history of the settlers who attended St. Michael's Church in Corkery. You can reach Mr. Dunn by e-mail from his web site.
August 14, 2001: I have found your site very interesting and useful for my research into my Loyalist Shipman ancestors who founded Almonte and my Irish Halpenny ancestors from County Wicklow who moved to Bowesville. Do you know of anyone else who is researching these families? Sharlene Shipman Baker, Irvine, California ================== Sharlene: Thanks for your e-mail. I've posted it to my web site. Do you have a (brief) write-up on the Shipman family who founded Almonte? Also, do you know the names of the original Halpenny pioneers in Gloucester? I have listing of some early Halpennys who were on the Methodist circuit in Bowesville, but no ages are given. It's possible that one of my CHRISTOPHER (surname) ancestors married into the Halpenny family of Bowesville: 1. RICHARD HALPENNY He married ESTHER MITCHELL. Notes for RICHARD HALPENNY: resident of Ottawa (LDS record for daughter's marriage to Jerome Christopher) Child of RICHARD HALPENNY and ESTHER MITCHELL is: i. MARY HALPENNY, b. 1878; m. JEROME JOSEPH CHRISTOPHER; b. October 1878. He was the son of Patrick CHRISTOPHER and CATHERINE McGEE Notes for JEROME JOSEPH CHRISTOPHER: sponsor at St. Mary's for confirmation in 1892 was Robert FINAN. witnesses at marriage were William Little and Ellen Little, both of Ottawa. Sponsor for baptism were Dennis McGee and Alice HUGHES (grandparents). Is this Mary Halpenny one of your family? If so, there are some interesting stories. She married into a "colourful" family. Do you have a record of any CHRISTOPHERs? ... Al
August 19, 2001 Yes, Mary Halpenny Christopher was a cousin of my Halpenny ancestors. Here is what I have for her family: William Halpenny d. 1815 Arklow, County Wicklow, Ireland m. M. Esther Giltrap b. 1880 d. 1841 Boyds Settlement, Ontario William 1805 m. Eleanor Lewis John m. Mrs. Henry Richard m. Ann McGill Jacob 1812 -1876 m. Mary Jackson d. 1890 Mary m. Thomas Watchorn Margaret m. Mr. Minions, rem. William Reilly Jacob Halpenny b.1812 County Wicklow d. 1876 Mount Forest, Ontario m. Mary Jackson b. County Wicklow d. 1890 Mount Forest, Ontario (see below, dated March 12, 2003) Jane m. Thomas Stephenson Jacob b. 1842 d. 1925 m. Lizzie Loughton Richard d. 1925 m. Esther Mitchell Susan m. Richard Parslow Mary m. Thomas Plester Richard Halpenny d. 1925 m. Esther Mitchell of Smiths Falls Jacob m. Emma Roosevelt Armanella m. W.J. Church of York, North Dakota, USA Mary m. Mr. Christopher, rem. Mr. DeGroot of York, North Dakota Jennie m. W.J. Wakefield Ethel m. Arthur Buriss of York, North Dakota Mary Halpenny m. Christopher George Margaret Johanna The families of three Halpenny cousins came from County Wicklow to Gloucester Township in the 1830's. The cousins were William married to M. Esther Gilltrap, Joseph married to Catherine Styles and David married to Eleanor Dickson ( my ancestor ). William and Joseph had already died in Ireland but their widows came with their children. Joseph was killed in the 1798 Rebellion where he fought with the British army. My branch of the Halpennys settled at Bowesville where the Ottawa airport is now. I have the original deeds to their property from the 1830's. My great grandmother was Elicia Halpenny who married Montague Alexander Buckingham Shipman of the Almonte Shipmans. His parents were Sylvanus Keeler Shipman and Amelia Smythe of Smiths Falls. Elicia's parents were John Halpenny and Martha Carter. Her sister Sarah married John Shipman of Almonte. Their brother Joseph Halpenny was one of the 1862 Overlanders to the Cariboo gold rush. I have a dozen letters that he wrote from the trail and from the gold rush. Along with him were his cousins William, John and Joseph Giltrap Halpenny, who were great grandchildren of William and Esther Giltrap Halpenny, and so were second cousins of Mary Halpenny Christopher. I would be interested in the information you have on the Christopher family. Sharlene Shipman Baker
September 3, 2001 Al- When we exchanged emails a few weeks ago you asked me to send a brief history of my Shipman ancestors who founded Almonte. They were descendants of Edward Shipman/Shipton one of the earliest settlers at Saybrook, Connecticut, who sailed from England as the orphan child of religious refugees in about 1639. His great grandson Daniel Shipman was a Loyalist in the Revolutionary War and was one of the early settlers at Elizabethtown, Ontario. Daniel's grandson, named Daniel Harvey Shipman 1791-1853, was the founder of Almonte. The original settler at what is now Almonte was David Shepard, also a Loyalist, who built a mill there and operated it until it was destroyed by fire. At that time it was called Shepard's Falls. The concession then passed to Jehoida Boyce, the father-in-law of Daniel Harvey Shipman, who was married to Prudence Boyce 1793-1842. Daniel Shipman rebuilt the saw mill in 1821 and added a grist mill in 1822. In 1823 he moved his family there, where he also built and ran a licensed inn. The settlement was renamed Shipman's Mills, and grew into a town which was later called Ramsayville and Waterford, and then was named Almonte in 1855 after Juan Almonte, a famous Mexican general and diplomat. Daniel Shipman and Prudence Boyce had 15 children, most of whom lived and worked in Almonte, Sarah, Eliza 1812, Stephen Boyce 1814-1852, Sylvanus Keeler 1817, Millicent Boyce 1819-1854, Daniel Harvey 1821, Catherine 1823-1897, Norman 1826-1863, Debora 1827, Samuel McLean 1828-1875, Rachel Alvina 1831-1901, Olive 1833, Unknown son 1834, Jehoida Boyce 1836 and Birdie 1840. Sylvanus Keeler Shipman, my great great grandfather, ran the saw mill, the lumber yard and a distillery in Almonte. He and his father Daniel were also principal shareholders in the Ramsay Woollen Cloth Manufacturing Company. Norman Shipman ran the flour mill and was constable of Almonte in 1861. Catherine Shipman, who was married to Henry Ryan Rose, turned the family home into the Almonte Hotel. Jehoida Boyce Shipman managed the Almonte Hotel and worked in the grist mill and the flour mill before moving to St. Joseph's Island, Algoma, where he had a farm and a saw mill. Samuel McLean Shipman was a farmer in Almonte. Stephen Boyce Shipman was a merchant in Kingston and married the grandaughter of Benedict Arnold, Charlotte Montague Arnold. My great grandfather Montague Alexander Buckingham Shipman was the son of Sylvanus Keeler Shipman and Amelia Smythe, the great granddaughter of George Montague Smythe, who was a surgeon for the Loyal Rangers and a spy for the British in the Revolutionary War, and the granddaughter of Thomas Smythe, who founded Smith's Falls. Montague married Elicia Halpenny 1842-1920 from Bowesville, Gloucester Township. Her family were Irish Protestants from County Wicklow, Ireland. Montague and Elicia had four sons, Ernest George Montague Shipman 1871-1931, who was a theatrical and silent film producer and was married to silent movie actress, writer and producer Nell Shipman, Frederic John Waverley Shipman 1873-1963, who was a theatrical producer for opera stars, Joseph William Carter Shipman 1875-1947, who developed a process to print huge photographs to be used as backgrounds in silent movies, and Montague Arthur Shipman 1879-1969, my grandfather, who was a Methodist minister and patriotic speaker. Our branch of the Shipman family moved out to California from 1900 to 1917. I knew nothing about any of my ancestors in Canada or Connecticut until I began to do genealogical research about a year and a half ago. I have lots more information on all generations going back to Edward Shipman of Saybrook if anyone is interested. Sharlene Shipman Baker
January 9, 2002 The sister of my greatgrandmother Elicia Halpenny Shipman, Martha May Halpenny Gabie moved from Gloucester township to Kazabazua. I have her obituary which says she married William Gabie of Kazabazua and was buried there in the Methodist graveyard. She died April 24, but there is no year. It was after 1870 and before 1920. I had wondered what she was doing in Quebec. Sharlene Shipman Baker Note: The lands around Maniwaki and Kazabazua were opened up for settlement later than the Gloucester area. Some second-generation people from Gloucester, both Catholic and Protestant, moved there because land was available. Also, when people made a major move to a new area, they often had friends or relatives who were already established in the new area. ... Al See, for example Maniwaki and Kazabazua.
April 3, 2002: Subject: Mary Halpenny / Thomas Plester You mention this marriage in a note dated August 19, 2001, which I found on the Internet. I am particularly interested in Thomas as he is my G Grandfather. Mary Halpenny was his first wife. I have two questions I hope you can help me with. First, do you know when and where Mary died? Secondly, do you have any information on Thomas as he seems to have vanished from any records. I am trying to find when and where he died, but have had no luck at all finding this information. Any assistance you can provide would be appreciated. Regards Dennis Lawrence lawrend@shaw.ca
July 24, 2002: hello! i am absolutley amazed! i was surfing the internet and decided to find somthing about my grandmother ethel Halpenny Burns. I ran into your web site. mary was my aunt! I just came back from rugby n.d. a few days ago. my uncle Cecil (86) and i were talking about ancestors. He was telling me about aunt marys first husband, john. Apparently he was a rogue!!! Now to find out the whole story youd have to contact him. Also marys sons son is visiting him right now. george christopher? From Spokane. you are talking about my relatives!!! also one of the amazing things is... sharlene baker from irving california.. my name is charlene baker cameron. My eyes popped out for the second time hahah. please contact me and i'll dig out the genealogy my cousin kathy has dug up so much. In fact this has gotten the whole family in a tizzy! i just got off the phone with kathy in north carolina. also i called relatives in north dakota! we are excited! Now kathy wants you to e-mail her ...kjbgh@aol.com she is in contact with a man in texas who is a Halpenny. so, my e-mail is.. char26118@yahoo.com. So, is Sharlene Baker a distant cousin of mine ? And im charlene Baker from the Bakers in Cando, n.dak.Who came from Chicago!! please contact us ! thank-you char
September 11, 2002: I came across the posting regarding George Keyes and Elizabeth Rose which questioned whether there might be a connection with Catherine Shipman Rose of Almonte. Catherine Shipman married Henry Ryan Rose whose ancestors were Loyalists (UEL) from New York. I doubt that his family was related to Elizabeth Rose's family from Kilkenny, Ireland. Henry Ryan Rose's sister Charlotte was the second wife of Catherine's father, Daniel Shipman, the founded of Almonte ( Shipman's Mills ). I have a lot of information on this Rose family if you are interested. I am curious about which Shipmans were located on Lot 10, Concession 8 of Ramsay township, as they probably were related to the Almonte Shipmans. Sharlene Shipman Baker
October 25, 2002: My mother, who does not have e-mail, has been researching the Shipman family for 40 years. She is a Shipman whose family (way back) were UEL and settled in the Ottawa / Kemptville area. I think she says that the Dan Shipman who helped to found Almonte was a great-great-uncle. If you are interested in corresponding with her, you could send me your address and I will give it to her. Janice Kennett
March 12, 2003:Thomas Jackson and Margaret Tomlinson Greetings: My ggg grandparents were Thomas Jackson and Margaret Tomlinson who came to Canada from County Wicklow Ireland at an unestablished date (after 1813 ?). Their children, according to the 1907 Wellington County Atlas, were: John (my gg grandfather) b: abt 1813 in Ireland who married his cousin Margaret Jane Tomlinson William who married Eliza Appleby Jane b: abt 1804 who married Samuel Wellwood Mary who married Jacob Halpenny Ann who married Reuben Giles Eliza who married William Giles I'm trying to verify that the information above on Mary/Jacob Halpenny is in fact my family line. Do your records give Mary's parents' names which could be compared to above Thomas Jackson and Margaret Tomlinson? (see posting dated July 24, 2005 by Margaret Hall ... Al) Look forward to your reply Gloria Poissant
March 21, 2003: I have Shipman's in our family line, One married William Henderson of Brockville, Ontario, canada. One married Michael Row, Lydia Shipman daughter of daniel shipman of Elizabethtown, Ontario, canada. in the 1700's. Abby shipman who married wm. Henderson, I think she's buried at Read's cemetery. I need a cementery list from there can you help? ... Carl Bradshaw My other e-mail address: cjbrad1@yahoo.com
April 9, 2003: Hello: This group address is all I have left now that my data is transferred to a new computer. I'm actually trying to contact a Sharleen Baker who lives in California, and is a Shipman descendant. I have a problem with John Shipman (s/o of Samuel McLean Shipman), and about Montague Arthur Shipman (s/o of M.A.B. Shipman). Where can I get in touch with Sharleen? Thanks. Max Sutherland (researching WHITTEN and related families of Almonte area) E-mail MaxandMarilynSutherland@rogers.com
June 1, 2004:Surnames: ELLIOTT, ROSE, FULFORD, HARRIS, SHIPMAN, CLUTE, QUACKENBUSH Particularly to Sharlene Shipman Baker -- My husband's ancestor, Catherine Elliott married a Shipman - Interested in all related genealogy and would like to hear from anyone receiving this e-mail. This is your line ----- Especially would like to find info on Jacob Elliott married Mary, Rebecca German; Luther (1) married Mary Jackson; and Luther (2) married Roseanna Duffy - have many surnames, including ROSE, FULFORD, HARRIS, SHIPMAN, CLUTE, QUACKENBUSH and more. - Will share information - Eager to communicate with any receiving this message. THANK YOU! grasriv9@twcny.rr.com - address follows: NANCY ELLIOTT E-Mail: grasriv9@twcny.rr.com NY, USA
July 24, 2005: To Gloria Poissant: (in reply to above posting dated March 12, 2003) My grt grt grandparents were Thomas Jackson and Margaret Tomlinson. I am at odds with everybody else researching them because I have a baptismal date and have viewed the Bishops transcripts of Margaret Tomlinson's baptism in England and have a record of their marriage in England in 1794. The article in the Wellington County Atlas says (Thomas Jackson married Margaret Tomlinson) and came to Canada in 1795. The children could not have been born in Ireland if he came to Canada in 1795. Most of my info originally came from Eileen Jackson and she had decided that the Mary Jackson that married Jacob Halpenny was our family because she had settled who the other Mary Jackson had married. Dr. Bob Jackson happened to mention that our Thomas Jackson family went to Quebec first. I have been doing some research in Quebec, a John Jackson petitioned land there in 1795. I have always felt that Thomas father was a John. Nobody ever shows any proof of them coming from Ireland. My line is from Reuben Giles and Ann Jackson. ... Margaret (Giles) Hall
August 1, 2007: Hello, Has anyone documented proof that any member of the Shipman family was a United Empire Loyalist? Was Daniel Shipman born 1732 in Connecticut, USA, died 1809 Leeds, Ontario, Canada a United Empire Loyalist? I have seen him referred to as UEL but have also seen that According to the Directory of Loyalists on the UELAC website, Daniel Shipman was suspended. What this means is that he was removed from the early Loyalist lists, usually by an Order in Council, but with some doubts and a clear opportunity to be reinstated. Does anyone have information regarding this? With thanks in advance, Nancy Whyte
May 23, 2009: Linda Hanly Reid has written a short biography of her Great Grandfather, Dr. John Frederick HANLY, who was an early physician and surgeon in Almonte.Doctor John Frederick HANLY of Almonte
November 15, 2009:Roman Catholic Church in Almonte, Ontario Picture Source: Lanark Legacy, by Howard Morton Brown, page 49
February 22, 2010:Rosamond Textile Mill in Almonte in 1863 Source: Walling's Maps of Lanark County
Names of Peter Robinson Settlers in 1823 in the Almonte area: Click here for Surnames from A to G Click here for Surnames from H to N Click here for Surnames from O to Z
February 27, 2010: In 1942, a horrific train crash near Almonte claimed the lives of 33 persons. It was a head-on crash involving a troop train from the army base at Petawawa, Otario and a passenger train.
Read the complete articles in the Ottawa Citizen, December 28, 1942 Source: Google Digital Archives
July 7, 2011: The village of Rosebank, now Blakeney, was settled primarily by Lowland Scots in the early 1820's.
April 27, 2012: Martha Gordon, Born in 1874, came to Canada in 1885 on the SS Sarmatian. I believe she was brought here by Maria Rye, and was a British Homechild. Martha lived in Almonte Ontario. She married my grandfather in Saskatchewan In 1904, had 8 children and died in 1942. There is a Martha Gordon shown in the 1901 Census for Almonte as living as a boarder with the William Anderson family. ... Elinor Hinds
January 30, 2014: Almonte was the centre of the Canadian textile industry in the 19th century. Many of the Scottish immigrants before 1850 had been weavers in Scotland and they brought their looms with them to the Ottawa Valley. The Mississippi Valley was ideal for the development of the textile industry -- skilled artisans, fast flowing rivers to run the mills, and a topography suitable to raising sheep. Many of these weavers came to Canada following the end of the Napoleonic Wars when the British market for soldiers' uniforms slowed down. Visit the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte. It is a museum which punches well above its weight. They have also digitized the copies of the newspaper the Almonte Gazette starting about 1860. Visit their web site (above) and click on "Collections". The records are searchable online.
E-mail Sharlene Shipman Baker, Dennis Lawrence, Janice Kennett, Charlene Baker Cameron, Gloria Poissant, Carl Bradshaw, Max Sutherland, Nancy Elliott, Margaret Hall, Nancy Whyte, Linda Hanly Reid and Al Lewis
Back to Bytown or Bust - History and Genealogy in the Ottawa, Canada area
