December 7, 2004:

Dear Mr. Lewis:
I have enjoyed your "Bytown or Bust" site and have some information you 
may find of interest.  My great grandfather, Michael McDermott, was a 
surveyor in Bytown from 1842 to 1849.  He keep a collection of notes and 
observations from this period that he later put into a rough compilation 
for autobiographical usage.  He became a respected surveyor and civil 
engineer in Milwaukee (Wisconsin USA) and Chicago (Illinois USA) and these 
notes were sent to the United States Library of Congress for historical 
preservation.  Nothing has really been done with them for over a hundred 
years until I took an interest in organizing family fact and fiction.  
I have since been transcribing his memoirs from old copies of the original 
handwritten notes, and have attached the preliminary draft of the pertinent 
section for your perusal.  Please let me know of any glaring errors or 
omissions that might make it a more readable piece; or point me to where 
I might further my research.  You must also feel free to use whatever you 
find useful for your own purposes.  As you will discover in these pages, 
these are the notes of a man who lost most of his fingers to the Canadian 
winter and my interpretation of his writing leaves some room for improvement.
I hope you find this interesting and useful.
Best regards,
Francis McDermott
fom7072@comcast.net

 Arrival in Canada

(In the Summer of 1842,) I sailed up the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers to 
Bytown, then a growing town in the woods; but now called "Ottawa," the seat 
of the Government of British Provinces in America. Finding that I could not 
survey without my Canada commission, I engaged as teacher of the Aylmer public 
school, at 75 dollars per month. Aylmer was nine miles from Bytown (now Ottawa). 
Egan, Doyle, and Blackburn were interested in the school management. 

Doctor Church was the physician of best repute (in Aylmer, and) I was here 
two days when my beloved wife, Mary, was safely delivered by Church of 
a fine boy. She felt well for 10 days until 1st August 1842 (when) 
inflammation of the womb set in, and she died. The (newborn) child 
lived six weeks after her. The Christian people of Aylmer were as kind 
to as if she were born there.

	
Mary Connolly McDermott died August the 1st, 1842 (and is) buried at 
Aylmer (Ville D'Aylmer), near Ottawa, Canada. With her I have living 
Ellen (McDermott) Foley and one grandson, Francis Foley, (one granddaughter) 
Hattie Foley, and (Ellen's) husband, Philip in Chicago, USA. (September 17th, 1888).

	1.
	Adieu, my dear and loving wife,
	May your pure soul in Heaven rest;
	When I depart this dreary life,
	May you and I in Heaven be blessed. 

	2.
	Nine years we lived in health and joy
	Blessed with two daughters and a boy.
	They are now dead, except all but Ellen,
	May I meet them with you in Heaven.

Catherine Fitzgerald

In May, 1843, I married Catherine Fitzgerald, daughter of James Fitzgerald and 
Catherine Rochford of Feighmore, Parish of Cloona (Clooney), County Clare 
(near Quin Abbey).  
Catherine ("Kate") Fitzgerald was sister to: 

	-Doctor Patrick Fitzgerald of Ennis (County Clare)[ ]; 
	-James Fitzgerald of Ennistymon (County Clare), a dry goods merchant;
	-Thomas Fitzgerald, who died at Beech Ridge near St. Andrews, Lower Canada 		
    (now St.-Andre-Est, Quebec, Canada);
	-Anne Fitzgerald Murray, who died on Mill Ridge Farms, Washington Territory.  
	 Her husband, John Murray, was a soldier when she married him. She left a son 	
     who was educated in a convent. Murray moved . . . probably to the mines.  
	-Timothy Fitzgerald was a private tutor to families in Ireland and America. 
     He died suddenly and no one knows what became of his long 	earnings.  
	-John Fitzgerald died a few days after Tim's death. He took cold at the 
     funeral. 	John's 	family were at Shrub Oak, West Chester County, New York 
     (Shrub Oak was a hamlet that is now part of Yorktown, Westchester County, NY).
	-William Fitzgerald died (leaving children). 
	-Bridget Fitzgerald became Mrs. Edward Thyne ("Thynne" is a north Clare name).  

Receiving My Canadian Commission

Although I had my diploma for Great Britain and Ireland, the law of Canada 
required that I should serve three years with a Provincial Surveyor and (then) 
be examined, give bonds, and in Upper Canada my time was reduced to one 
and one-half years on account of my diploma. I entered with John McNaughton, 
Esquire, land surveyor and Justice of the Peace, at the end of my (school) 
term (in Aylmer) of three months. (Mr. McNaughton was) an old man, a model 
man and (a) Christian of Scotch descent. He did not take my time as fees. 
He treated me as a brother (and) paid me well for my services in making a 
large map of the Ottawa River Valley and other surveys since published.  

I passed my examinations (and) got my diploma as Provincial Land Surveyor 
for Upper Canada, dated December 16, 1843, and my diploma, or commission, 
for Lower Canada, dated September 12, 1844.

I surveyed and partitioned the Wright (PW) estates in the Townships of 
Hull and Templeton, on the River Ottawa, near then-Bytown (now the Seat of 
Government and is called Ottawa). I made an everlasting survey here. Drove 
long 2" iron bars with fox wedges for landmarks. All lines referred their 
angles to the true meridian. It was noble to see all that great family 
partition their large estates without a dissenting word. (Tribute here 
to be inserted. MMCD)

In my bonds for Provincial Land Surveyor were Christopher Forbes of Cumberland 
and Bishop Phelan of Kingston. My being many years connected with the Royal 
Engineers in Ireland and England made way for me amongst that learned corps 
in Canada, with whom I spent 4 years making a detailed survey of the City 
of Ottawa, and of the Rideau Canal from Ottawa (then "Bytown") to Kingston. 
The maps were duplicated: one for Canada and one for the Home London Office of 
the Ordnance Department. 

I spent my time about equally divided between making surveys for the Home 
(British) Government, and the Provincial Government, and the private citizens, 
until I left Bytown in September 1849, having thrown up[ ] an excellent 
situation on the Ordnance Department. I never can forget the happy days 
I have been employed on Ordnance Surveys in Ireland, under  Lieutenants 
Broughton and Lancy. In Canada, under the supervision of Lieutenants White 
and King, and Colonel Thompson, of the Royal Engineers. In my surveys for 
the Provincial Government of Canada, I always found (the) Hon. Andrew Russell 
and Joseph Bouchette, Surveyor-Generals, and Thomas Devine, Esquire, Head of 
Surveys, my warmest friends. They are now -- October 7, 1878 -- living at 
the head of their respective old Departments, having lived a long life of 
usefulness, which I hope will be prolonged. To Sir William Logan, Provincial 
Geologist, I am indebted for much information. I lived nearly eight years in 
Ottawa, Canada, where my friends were very numerous. The dearest of all to me 
was Alphonso Wells, Provincial Land Surveyor, who was the best surveyor I 
ever met. He had been so badly frostbitten on a Government survey that it 
was the remote cause of his death. 

Frostbite and Amputation

On February 1st, 1845, on a survey of part of the Riviere Deserte, a branch 
of the Gatineau, at Maniwaki. I was severely frostbitten (eventually) losing all the 
toes on my left foot, first joints of all the fingers of my left hand and 
top joints of the right hand. The thumbs escaped. Under the care of Doctor Hill, 
an able English surgeon, I soon healed and began to work on 25 April.  

Making my boot about ½" shorter and boxed with a piece of thick sod between the 
insoles made me feel no difficulty in walking. I attribute much to good nursing 
and never using any intoxicating drinks, snuff, or tobacco. It was then I knew 
what it was to have a kind wife (and nurse): almost sleepless, ever cheerful 
and ready to change (the dressings on) my aching limbs. My Christian brother, 
John McNaughton, (also) watched over me, all along relating pleasing stories 
and anecdotes. Hail, snow, frost or rain, he (would) attend 6 o'clock Mass. 
Wise was he.
The day came that I should undergo amputation of the toes, Doctors Hill, Stewart, 
Morrison, and Sims the military doctor were in attendance. In those days we had 
no chloroform, so that by faith and patience I faced the ordeal. 

I had three amputation days viz. Thursday, Monday, and Wednesday. I was 
several days returning home (and) kept inflammation down by Tamarac bark boiled, 
and washed the sores with the decoction. It is the best to be found. 
When at home, I applied a poultice made of oatmeal and charcoal. This 
removed all the foul flesh and soon showed the lines of separation. 
On the right hand, my dear Kate asked (them) to spare my small finger 
on the right which she saved with long and delicate care.[ ] After the 
amputation, I soon healed, which I attribute to my strictly temperate habits, 
for I never drank spirituous liquor nor used that narcotic weed - tobacco.

On My Being Frostbitten 

I have written:

We left our camp at four o'clock,
With one axe, two flints, spunk and steel.
In hopes to reach the Picanoc[ ]
Before the sun would down be sunk.

The air was light, the sky serene,
All Nature seemed in ice then clad.
The North West breeze was very keen
And Jack Frost used the power he had.

At night fall in a cedar swamp,
We halted a minute or two,
Where I spoke to him as follows:
"Francois, Francois fait le feu."

"J'ai froid, j'ai froid," kind Francois cried
"J'ai froid et malade, mon Dieu."
We will make haste to the Picanoc,
And bid these cold hills adieu.

Away again we started
Without the least dismay;
In hopes to reach the Picanoc
Before it would be day.

The night got dark, the air was moist'
Heart rending was the piercing cold;
We lost our knives and all our flints
Because our hands could nothing hold.
May 8, 2005:

See also the Geological Survey of Canada headed by Sir William Logan.

October 30, 2006:

Mr. Randy Martinez is researching the biography of William McDermott, a son
of Michael McDermott. William McDermott became a Senator and the 8th 
U.S. Marshal of the District of Montana, USA.
 April 27, 2007:
Dear Al,
 
On July 20, 2005, I  wrote you requesting information on Michael McDermott, 
a Provincial Land Surveyor who lived in Bytown in 1845. I later received 
useful information on him from Francis McDermott. 
 
I am now pleased to tell you that the results of my research have recently 
been published by the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The title of the 
publication is "William E. Logan's 1845 Survey of the Upper Ottawa Valley, 
Edited and Introduced by Charles H. Smith and Ian Dyck". Copies of the 
publication can be ordered from the CMC.
 
The publication is based on Logan's 1845 journal, written on a geological 
expedition up the Ottawa River from Lachine to Lake Timiskaming, and is 
sprinkled with stories of daily life and the people he met along the way.
 
Thanks to "Bytown or Bust" for the assistance!
 
Charles Smith
________________________

Note:
Google "Canadian Museum of Civilization", click on "Boutique", then click on
"Publications" to find this book.

... Al