History Articles

The following is our third excerpt from the "Private Journal" of Henry Joseph Martin, a resident of Stanstead, Quebec.

Funding for transcription and research into this unique historical document has been provided in part by the Bélanger-Gardner Foundation of Bishop's University, Townshippers' Foundation, and through the Heritage Online Multimedia Enrichment Initiative of the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN).
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The following is our second excerpt from the "Private Journal" of Henry Joseph Martin, a resident of Stanstead, Quebec.

Funding for transcription and research into this unique historical document has been provided in part by the Bélanger-Gardner Foundation of Bishop's University, Townshippers' Foundation, and through the Heritage Online Multimedia Enrichment Initiative of the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN).
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The following is an excerpt from a "Private Journal" kept by Henry Joseph Martin, a resident of Stanstead, Quebec. It is the first excerpt in a series of six to be published in Townships Heritage WebMagazine. Martin's diary, a large, leather-bound volume that has remained in private hands since it was written a century and a half ago, spans the period from 1859 to 1868.

Did you know that maple syrup is the oldest agricultural product in Quebec? It all began with the native Indians who called it “Sweet Water.” When spring returned and the maple sap was running the Indians offered the boiled thickened syrup as a sacrifice to the Great Spirit. “Sugaring off” was largely a woman’s function in Iroquois communities. The men cut notches into tree trunks and small wooden troughs were stuck into the bark. In the early stages of European colonization the natives showed the arriving colonists how to tap the trunks of maple trees during the early spring.

On Thursday October 7, 1875, the readers of the Stanstead Journal read the following notice :

"DEATHS: Way -- At Way’s Mills, Q., Sept 22d, Daniel Way in the 83rd year of his age."

1) What is the former name of Magog?
a) Cherry River
b) The Outlet
c) Magog Mills

2) Which of the following is Magog’s oldest house?
a) The Bowen House
b) The Merry House
c) The Moore House

3) The outlet of Lake Memphremagog, located in Magog, is which of these rivers?
a) Cherry River
b) Magog River
c) Tomifobia River

4) Who was the first mayor of the village of Magog?
a) Alvin Moore
b) Erasmus Smith
c) L. A. Audet

1) b); 2) b) The Merry House, recently acquired by the city, was built in 1821; 3) b); 4) a); 5) b); 6) a); 7) c); 8) c); 9) b) This church was built as the Union Church in 1830; 10) a) The Park House was built by Horace Park in 1865, and destroyed by fire in 1905.