Gracefield, Quebec is named after Patrick Grace who was the Mayor from 1885-1890. He opened the first store and donated the land for the train station which eventually aided the extension of the railway line to Maniwaki. Gracefield was officially created in 1904.
Alonzo Wright M.P. – a lifelong friend of Patrick – called the town Gracefield at the request of its citizens as a tribute to its founder and leading citizen. (from Patrick Grace Obituary The Ottawa Journal Thursday August 25,1898).
Patrick died at age 59, apparently after being struck by a wagon wheel that had come loose. He and his wife Jane O’Brien are buried in La Visitation Cemetery in Gracefield. Several of their children also married local politicians: Stella to J.B. Merleau MPP from Bouchette; and Patricia to William Perras M.P. widower of another Grace sister, Gertrude who died in 1920.
Patrick Grace’s store in Gracefield was purchased by his younger cousin, Thomas Grace and it became known as Grace Bros. Tom & his brothers would become known as pioneer businessmen who were influential in the development of the Upper Gatineau.
The Grace Brothers were born in Clarendon Township in a log cabin. The property today borders Hwy 105 west of Shawville. They were the 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 one of four passengers who survived but her two brothers did not. 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 died at age 48 years and is buried at St. James the Greater Cemetery in picturesque Portage du Fort . Honora lived to be 87 years old and is interred at Bouchette.
According to Tom Grace’s grandson, Tom Van Dusen, word got out that they were opening up the Gatineau. So gradually most of the Grace Family relocated from Clarendon to the Upper Gatineau. One brother – Martin Grace – remained in the Ottawa Valley as Postmaster in Vinton where he operated a general store.
The eldest brother – John Grace – moved to Bouchette in 1874 at 24 years old. He became the first Postmaster and owned the general store for 43 years when he sold the business to L.H. Merleau in 1917. He built one of the first homes – which was eventually turned over for $1.00 to Bouchette in order to build a new school. He was also editor of United Canada.
The youngest of the Grace brothers – Patrick William- arrived in Bouchette in1885. He also operated a store starting in 1890 . However he died in 1897 at age 34 from typhoid fever.He left behind a young widow with two children; as well as his two sisters Maggie & Norah and mother Honora – all who had relocated to Bouchette by 1886.
Patrick Grace’s grandson John Grace, a former editor of The Ottawa Journal and Privacy Commissioner of Canada, was quite involved as President of the Gatineau Fish & Game Club. His family and those of his sisters’ Diana Lebrun and Margo McKimm still cottage on 31 Mile Lake.
Thomas ( Tom ) Grace first settled in Kazabazua in 1882 at age 26 when he started one of the first General Stores of the area . He married Elizabeth Doyle in 1886. She was the daughter of Mickey Doyle and Anne O’Malley of Martindale. Tom & Elizabeth ( Muddy ) had 12 children. Two were twins that lived for only 5 days and are buried at Visitation Cemetery in Gracefield.
At an early age, Tom had left the log cabin in Clarendon Township to educate himself at the Univ. of Ottawa. Besides operating Grace Bros. stores in Kazabazua, Gracefield, Bouchette and Maniwaki; Tom was successful in the mining and lumber industry. He was one of the Gatineau’s major landowners, with large tracts of land in the Gatineau such as Little Whitefish Lake ( Lac Heney ) and Blue Sea Lake in the early 1900’s ; and in the Quyon area. Thomas Grace served as the Justice of the Peace; was Postmaster in Gracefield in 1891; and was asked to run as Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party – which he declined. He started one of the first stores in Kazabazua in 1882 at age 26 ; opened another in Gracefield in 1892; and then one in Maniwaki in 1893. The Grace Family had one of the first cottages at Blue Sea Lake in 1900 ; and started Northfield Lodge in 1925 – the first Fish & Game Club at Little Whitefish Lake ( Lac Heney ) . Once established in business, Tom Grace built a grand house for his family in Ottawa’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood where he owned other properties.
After his death in 1923, his son Gerald Grace and son-in-law Frank Van Dusen,who married Irene Grace, ran Graces’ Ltd. in Gracefield, established the Chateau de Grace Hotel ( where the Metro store sits on Hwy 5 ) ; summered at the large cottage and other properties at Blue Sea Lake ; and operated Northfield Lodge Club on 500 acres of land below the mountains at Little Whitefish Lake ( now Lac Heney ). Then tragedy hit. A large fire completely destroyed Graces’ Ltd. Store and all its contents and goods – estimated loss of nearly $75,000. The year was 1931. 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; serving Mass with the Van Dusen Altar Boys who lived across from the Church; stocking the ice house for the day’s catch at Northfield Lodge with the Russell & Harris kids; and spending grand summers with the entire Grace family cousins at the 3 storey cottage on Blue Sea Lake.
Descendants of Tom Grace & Elizabeth Doyle still have cottages and homes in the area: the families of Dan Pittman , Sue Briard , and Kathy Soper have cottages at Blue Sea Lake ; cousin Barry Grace of the Vinton Grace clan as well as decendants of Gerald Grace cottage at Lac Pemichangan ; Bradley cousins near Lac Cayamant ; Harris cousins at Lac Caya ; and the new Northfield Lodge on Lac Heney. Great grandson Jim Harris built a log home in the hills near Bouchette in the 1970’s to raise a family with his wife Hanny Panek, a former member of the Bouchette Council. They are retired school teachers and Jim was a Principal in Maniwaki. Sister Lynn Harris and her husband Barry Ambridge – who grew up in Alywin – live nearby in a beautiful log home overlooking the hills.
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.
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