The Grace Brothers – John, Thomas Ringrose & William Patrick – were born in Clarendon Township in a log cabin on a 200 acre farm that today borders Hwy 148 west of Shawville. The brothers moved to the Upper Gatineau at the urging of their cousin Patrick of Gracefield followed by their sisters Maggie & Nora. With the exception of Thomas, all are interred with their mother in St. Gabriel’s Cemetery, Bouchette. They were children of John Grace the younger C.E. (Canada East) and Honora Ringrose who emigrated from Silver Mines, Tipperary, Ireland.
Honora survived a shipwreck on the brig Minstrel which set sail from Limerick, Ireland April 21, 1841. The disastrous shipwreck occurred on the Red Island reef outside of Quebec City in the lower St. Lawrence River. Miraculously, Honora was able to cling to a rope while in the freezing waters of the St. Lawrence. She was one of only four passengers who survived but could do little but watch as her brothers Rhody & Michael drowned. One hundred & forty-eight passengers & crew perished. You can obtain additional information on the website link: www.theshipslist.com/ships/Wrecks/minstrel1841.htm.
John Grace the younger emigrated from Tipperary, Ireland in 1840. As a pioneer, his clearing of the land no doubt contributed to his early death at age 48 years. Being one of the few Catholics in the Shawville area which consisted of mainly Orange Protestants, he helped build the Catholic Church named St. James the Greater in Portage du Fort. He is buried in the parish cemetery overlooking the Ottawa River. After his death, Honora lived with her unmmarried daughters in Bouchette until she died in 1912 at age 87 years.
According to Thomas Grace’s grandson, Tom Van Dusen, word got out that they were opening up the Gatineau. No different from today, young people jumped at the chance to explore new territory. So most of the Grace Family relocated from Clarendon to the Upper Gatineau. The only Graces to remain in the Ottawa Valley was Martin who served as Postmaster & had the General Store in Vinton; and sister Bridget who married John McDonell. Brother James Grace ended up in Denver, Colorado. Other young people who emigrated to the Upper Gatineau from Clarendon were from families such as Draper, Brown, Carr and Lambert now in the Northfield area.
The eldest Grace son John chose Bouchette. At 24 years old, he was the first Postmaster in 1874 and with his wife Catherine Johnston from Portage du Fort, operated the general store for 43 years. Having no children to carry on the tradition, he sold the business in 1917 to Leon H. Merleau of Lac Ste Marie. The Grace home was eventually turned over for $1.00 to the town of Bouchette where the present day school is located. John Grace was editor of United Canada.
The youngest of the Grace brothers – William Patrick – arrived in 1885. He operated yet another store, however he died in 1897 at age 34 from typhoid fever. Bouchette has a history of drinking water contamination that has resulted in fatal illness. His young widow Pacifique McComber and two children moved on; but his sisters Maggie & Nora Grace and mother Honora remained.
Patrick Grace’s grandson John Grace, a former editor of The Ottawa Journal and Privacy Commissioner of Canada, considered the Bouchette area his second home despite the fact his mother had moved to Ottawa. He was quite involved as President of the Gatineau Fish & Game Club. He and his sisters’ families still cottage on 31 Mile Lake. At the 100th Anniversary of St. Gabriel’s Parish in 2007, the first of the series of Masses for Founding Families was dedicated to Grace & Merleau – a good example of the Irish & French connections prevalent in Quebec society.
Thomas Grace was a shining example of how the natural resources of the Gatineau Valley could transform the lives of young adults in the late 1880’s & early 1900’s. He had left the log cabin in Clarendon Township to educate himself at the University of Ottawa; then settled at Kazabazua in 1882 to open one of the first stores at age 26 years. After marrying Elizabeth Doyle – daughter of Mickey Doyle and Anne O’Malley of Martindale – they began raising a family in Kazabazua where the present day Crites Wood & Vending Stall is located.
Business in the small towns was so good, that he opened a second store in Gracefield in 1892 and another in Maniwaki in 1893. He was Postmaster for Gracefield area in 1891. Besides operating Graces’ Ltd stores, Thomas gained financial success in the mining and lumber industry; served as Justice of the Peace; and was asked to run as Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party – but declined. Tom & Elizabeth had 12 children. Two were twins that lived for only 5 days and are buried at Visitation Cemetery in Gracefield.
Grace was among the first generation Irish & Scottish pioneer businessmen in the Upper Gatineau. These entrepreneurs were not only responsible for initial stages of economic development in lumber, mining and general merchants – but also the first form of tourism – hunting & fishing camps; and then cottagers. They had opportunities to purchase – or acquire – large tracts of land from the Crown. As a major landowner in 1900, Thomas Grace owned quite a bit of property at Blue Sea Lake .He built one of the first cottages at Blue Sea ; and sold property to other first cottagers Mlle Sparks 1901 and Bishop Snowden 1904, at the south end of the lake. The builders of the 3 storey Grace cottage would have been the same who constructed the Gatineau Fish & Game Club. The cottage bears a striking resemblance albeit a shrunken version: the wrap around porch & pillars; 2nd storey verandahs, board & baton exterior and dental tooth-like trim on the brick fireplace.
Over at Little Whitefish Lake (now Heney Lake : Named for the first cottage family in 1902) Grace owned 500 acres of property in the early 1900’s at the foot of the hills overlooking Baie de la mine. This would eventually become the site of Northfield Lodge Club – the first commercial fish & game club on the lake established by son Gerald Grace in 1925. There was the main residence; separate dining cottage; and at least eight sleeping cottages on a large property overlooking the lake. The views were as spectacular as the day’s catch. The Lodge’s customers were mainly Americans from northern New York, Pennsylvania and area.
Like many others, once established in business, Grace moved to be among the financial successes of other lumber and business people in the big city. By the time he was 45 years old, he had a grand house built and relocated the family to Goulburn Ave near Sir Wilfred Laurier’s residence in Ottawa’s Sandy Hill.
After the death of Thomas Grace in 1923, son Gerald and brother-in-law Frank Van Dusen, who had married daughter Irene Grace, operated Graces’ Ltd. general store in Gracefield; and injected new excitement in the town with the trendy European styled Chateau de Grace Hotel (where the Metro Store now sits on Hwy 105). They rocked the establishment when they sought and obtained a license approval from the Gracefield Council to serve alcohol as part of the daily menu!
Then tragedy hit. A large fire completely destroyed Graces’ Ltd. store and all its contents – goods valued at $75,000. The year was 1931. The store was a major loss for the community which had survived the disastrous Gracefield fire of 1924 that had gutted much of the main street. The next decade would be difficult with the Depression years and the lack of business from American tourists at Northfield Lodge and at the Chateau de Grace Hotel.
Today, the children of Gerald & Monica Grace or Frank & Irene Van Dusen recall stories of the past: Travelling by horse drawn sleigh in the wintertime – covered by bearskin blankets – from Little Whitefish Lake to La Visitation Church in Gracefield; Tom Van Dusen serving Mass as an Altar Boy living across from the Church.( He would eventually run for M.P. for the Gatineau – but ended up as an Assistant to Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. His book The Chief is one of Canada’s most notable accountings on Diefenbaker ); Stocking the ice house for the day’s catch at Northfield Lodge with the Russell & Harris kids; Spending grand summers with the entire Grace family cousins along with their grandfather Mickey Doyle at the 3 storey cottage on Blue Sea Lake. Pets included horses from the riding stables; spoiled red-headed Grace daughters frolicking in long dresses in the wooden skiffs on the lake; Gershwin period music playing in the background. Classic memories from a classic era of romance & privilege. And it all started at the log cabin.
Beyond the memories and stories, descendants of Thomas Grace & Elizabeth Doyle still have cottages and homes in the Upper Gatineau at Blue Sea Lake, Lac Cayamant, Lac Caya and Lac Heney. Great grandson Jim Harris and his wife Hanny Panek built a log home in the hills near Bouchette during the 1970’s. Their children Adam & Kmore have married locally. Jim & Hanny are retired school teachers; Jim was Principal of the English elementary school in Maniwaki. Hanny was a member of the Bouchette Town Council. Like the Graces, involvement in the community is still a priority. Even after a hundred & thirty-eight years there is still lots to do! It seems that the communities of the Upper Gatineau have come full circle. Facing new economic challenges, residents have launched rejuvenation projects to attract new interest in their towns. Ironically, themes centre around the efforts of our ancestors. These include the recent development of le Parc des Batisseurs de Bouchette along the Gatineau River; or Place Heritage in Gracefield.
Article by : Peter J. Harris, Great Grandson of Tom Grace & owner of the new Northfield Lodge. He is a Former Ottawa City Councillor & resident at Lac Heney.