![]() LCGS Online Resource Library Transcribed Documents & Lanark County Research Homepage for Genealogy Resource Centre | Visit LCGS Website |
A PROGRESSIVE PAKENHAM PIONEER |
---|
Sketch of the Life of Sheriff Dickson, who was practically the Founder of Pakenham Village -- A Many Sided Citizen, who "Did His Bit" in His Time -- A Physical Giant, who Left His Mark on the Country Side -- Farmer, Stockman, Lumberman, Merchant, Geologist, A Mighty Nimrod, and a "Progressive" in Every Line -- Curled on the Tay in Perth, Back in The Forties -- Some History That is Worth Preserving. |
One of the outstandingly strong men of Lanark County in its pioneer days, and to whom the people
of Pakenham in an especial manner are indebted for his enterprise and progressiveness, was the
stalwart "Sheriff Dickson," as he was best known by those of his generation. Through the
kindness of two of his grand- |
A sketch of the career of this unusual man will be of interest to the present generation, and is well worth the space we give to it. |
A Remarkable Career. |
Andrew Dickson was born in Elginhough, Perthshire, Scotland, November 11th, 1797. He was the son of William Dickson, (born 1739, died 1841 [the last "1" in death date hand-written over another number on clipping -- Ed.]) and Jean Wallace (born 1777, died 1851). Andrew Dickson came to Canada to take charge of a lighthouse at Kelbourne, Nova Scotia, in 1819. From Kelbourne he came to Perth in 1821, and in 1823 settled in the township of Fitzroy, where he engaged in farming for several years. He was one of the few aggressive and progressive stockmen hereabout in the early days. About the year 1831 he purchased the mill where the village of Pakenham now stands, from Hervey & Powell, and while in Pakenham carried on an extensive lumbering and mercantile business. His mills were probably the site of the flour mills destroyed by fire a fortnight ago. |
Hervey & Powell (James Hervey and John Powell) were the first actual settlers in Pakenham village. About 1825 they built a small log cabin on the east bank of the Mississippi river -- close to the site of what was afterward for many years the home of Sheriff Dickson. At that time the Pakenham of the present was nothing but a dense forest. From the time of Mr. Dickson's advent the little place began to grow apace. Soon it had the advantage of a periodical mail, under the official name of "Dickson's Mills", by which it was known for years, and Andrew Dickson was Pakenham's first postmaster. Prosperity waited on the village. In 1838 Mr. Dickson built the first church in Pakenham (Presbyterian). In 1844 he added a carding mill to his other enterprises. In 1856 he laid out the village plot and registered it under the name of "Pakenham", was for many years reeve of the township of that name, and in a variety of ways aided in laying the foundations for the present pretty and prosperous village that has had its ups and downs as the years went by, and which is now holding its own with the other villages in the fluctuations of war-time. |
He Held Many Offices. |
In 1835 Andrew Dickson was appointed Commissioner of the Courts of Bequests for the District of Bathurst, and in 1842 Registrar for the County of Renfrew. In 1842 he was also appointed Sheriff to succeed the late Sheriff John A.H. Powell, and although his duties required his presence in Perth the greater part of the time, he did not change his place of residence from Pakenham. He held the position of Sheriff for ten years, and in 1852 (when he was succeeded by the late Sheriff Thompson) resigned it to accept the office of Inspector of the Provincial Penitentiary, when he removed to Kingston with his family and resided there until July, 1858, when he was appointed Warden of the Reformatory Prison of Lower Canada, situated at Isle Aux Noix. There he remained until May 19th, 1860, when he returned to Pakenham and resided there until his death on 10th September, 1868, in the 71st year of his age. |
Mr. Dickson was a many-sided man. He held the rank of Lieutenant- |
As a Geologist |
Mr. Dickson not only acquired a provincial reputation, but his labors have been favorably noted in several of the scientific works of Europe. A few years ago, when Dr. Ami, the Ottawa geologist, returned from a business trip to the British Museum, he reported that some of the specimens there were known as the "Dicksonia" specimens, in honor of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Dickson also made a complete collection of the various woods grown in Canada, for which he was awarded medals and diplomas at the World's Fair at London in 1851, at Paris in 1855, at the Provincial Exhibition at Kingston in 1856, and at Montreal in 1860. He was also corresponding member of the Historical and Literary Society at Quebec. |
His Sporting Characteristics. |
Mr. Dickson was an ardent hunter, and in his home at Pakenham, and on the verandah around it, he had an accumulation of his trophies of the chase of which he was quite proud. It is said that he was almost tireless as a pedestrian. In the early days it was a common thing for him to walk to Ottawa and back, following the old trails. And it was no ordinary Nimrod who would follow him throught the woods on one of his hunting trips. |
Mr. Dickson may be said to have been the first curler in Perth. He had a pair of old
curling stones, and used them on the Tay river in our county town away back in the forties, we
are told, establishing a record. His only surviving child, Mrs. McArthur, of Toronto, and
formerly of Almonte, still has possession of these curling stones and they will fall into the
possession of Mr. Jas. L.P. McLaren's young son, Master Gay McLaren, grandson of
Mrs. Geddes, Perth, and great- |
Some Family Information. |
On March 3rd, 1824, Andrew Dickson, of Pakenham, and Elizabeth Forbes of Bathurst
Township, were united in marriage, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Wm. Bell, of
Perth, the pioneer Presbyterian clergyman of Lanark County. Their family consisted of six
children, all of whom are now deceased with the exception of Mrs. McArthur, Toronto,
well- |
An Old Friend's Appreciation. |
We cannot do beter than close this sketch by giving the following extract from an obituary notice that appeared in the Perth Courier of Sept. 18, 1868, and was written by one of Sheriff Dickson's intimate friends, the late Mr. John A. Gemmill, of Pakenham, (brother of Lieut.-Col. Gemmill) who was a writer for the Almonte Gazette for many years prior to his death. We quote Mr. Gemmill's tribute: |
"The late Andrew Dickson was a man of powerful frame, and well qualified to grapple with
the hardships and privations incident to the pioneer life in the Canadian woods of
half- |