the lower corners of the township early in the nineteenth century possibly
between 1815 and 1820.As settlers pushed toward the
interior of the area they were confronted by steep rocky hills leading to
a plateau before the mountains, and two rivers that created waterfalls where
they tumbled over the rocks heading down to the flatlands. There were four
falls of varying heights in the RawdonTownship,
three on the OuareauRiver,
and one, Mason’s Falls on the Red
River. Although
Mason’s Falls is neither the highest
nor the lowest of these, as well as being very picturesque it is the most
accessible of the three remaining falls.
Although the Red
River was dammed
just above the falls about 1921, this intervention has not detracted from
their beauty. In spring, when the snow melts in the mountains above, the
water rushes and roars over the rocks, misting and foaming.
Summer brings
a more sedate fall with the water tumbling headlong over the rocks to the
river beyond and winding its way down to St. Liguori
de Montcalm.
In winter the
banks are cloaked in a mantle of snow and ice while the falls are white
and misted in the cold air.
If you know where
to look the remains of foundations from a sawmill
can be seen on one bank. This mill was known as Mason’s Mill as the Mason
family owned the landaround
this section of the river and supposedly built this mill about 1865. To
learn more about this Mason family read on.
THE
MASONS of MASON’S FALLS, RAWDON, QUEBEC
Richard E A Mason
INTRODUCTION
My great-grandparents Edward and
Mary Mason lived at Mason’s Falls, in a house
that is still in use. This article contains and updates information about
them that has been passed down through our branch of their family. A primary
source is a 2-page ‘Mason Genealogy’ document written by my father, Harry
Edward Mason, in about 1978-79. Most of the direct quotations in the following
are from his document; however, his information was based on the recollections
of his own father and aunts, and its details don’t always agree with the
information now being uncovered by genealogists and local historians.
Other dates and places mentioned
below come from letters and clippings, and from the very comprehensive
Copping Cousins website of Neil Broadhurst, http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com,
which has been most helpful, as well as another site, www.jinman.org/inman/dat915.html.Important
details have also been very kindly provided by Beverly,
by Neil and, most especially, for the very early years by Daniel Parkinson db.parkinson@sympatico.ca.
I am greatly indebted to them all.
This article works backwards in time
through the 1800s. The first part is about Edward and Mary and their family,
whom we know lived at Mason’s Falls. The
second tells about Mary Armstrong and James Mason, Edward’s parents. Was
James the ‘Black James’ Mason of local legend? A short final section introduces
the earliest Masons at Rawdon.
There are plenty of gaps and guesses
in the story of the Mason’s Falls Masons. I have tried to give a flavour
of what is not known, as well as what’s known. I would very much
like to hear from anyone who can supplement, verify, disprove or elaborate
on any part of the story of the Masons of Mason’sFalls.
Newspaper clippings, photos and personal recollections of stories about
my ancestors are especially welcome. And, who knows, we may find the truth
of the story of ‘Black James’ Mason!
Sarah Alice Mason was the 6th child
of Edward and Mary Copping Mason. Late in her life, in retirement, she
took up painting, and produced this evocative scene of the family homestead
at MasonFalls
from memory. She also kept many interesting old letters, newspaper clippings
and the like, and a daily journal from late
1899 to (sporadically in later years) the 1920s, which have helped us understand
our family history.
Aunt Alice seems to have been a favoured
pupil at school in Rawdon for many years – one of her many school award
cards is reproduced here; her teacher seems
to have been her aunt, Elizabeth Ann Sharpe.
Aunt Alice went on to train as a
teacher herself, at the McGillNormal
School 1890-92. There
she won the prize for French and was co-winner of the Prince of Wales Medal
and Prize. She taught French and other subjects for three years at the CoaticookAcademy,
south of Lennoxville. In 1895-6 she taught
in Montreal,
at the Protestant District School de St. Louis du Mile End – which seems
a good Canadian name! Her salary was $300 per year.
Meanwhile, her husband-to-be John
Alexander Copping worked in Ottawa
for his brother James, a builder and contractor. Aunt Alice kept a January
1896 letter from him, in which he told her
he had arranged a farm, so she could let the school know she would not
be teaching that fall; they were married that July and moved to the home
farm in Rawdon, where Alice
taught school until 1898-99.
Looking for a place to relocate in
the spring of 1899, John wrote from Lennoxville
where, he told Alice, “they say there are lots of farms for sale out here
at from $1,000 up – I have not been up to see that one with the orchard
yet.” He must have liked it when he finally saw it, for on May 4th that
year they moved to a farm at Compton,
which had an orchard. Early that December Alice began her daily journal.
Her mother joined them for the winter of 1899-1900, helping with household
chores and with making the new house comfortable.
Alice and John farmed at Compton
for seven years before moving again to a farm at Sand Hill, where they
lived and worked together for another 39 years, to 1945, when he and Alice
retired to Lennoxville. John Copping had
also served as a municipal councillor for
about 20 years. He died in the summer of 1949, from complications following
an operation.
At 85, Alice
was still very alert in all respects. She enjoyed reciting long passages
(she claimed she could do all) of Walter Scott’s works from memory. She
also demonstrated that she could still nab an annoying fly in her hand!
Quick with her hands; quick with her wit; she enjoyed showing off to a
youthful grand-nephew with a new camera.
