It was Thursday, June 7, 2012 and I had just three days left on my trip to Ontario and Quebec. I had to be in Ottawa in the evening so I wanted to make the most of my tour from Cornwall to Glengarry to Ottawa.
As usual I was up early and had the car packed. I gave the key to the owner and realized she had a nice pot of coffee in the lobby so I took advantage and poured myself a cup. I said my goodbyes to her, a very nice lady, and started to explore the area where the Monte Carlo Motel is located.
The St. Lawrence River is right there across Hwy #2 and there isn’t much land between Hwy #2 and the river. As I crossed over being careful to watch out for the morning commuters, I was surprised to find a dock area. Apparently you can dock your boat at the Monte Carlo Motel and stay the night.
The St. Lawrence River across from the Monte Carlo Motel
Here is a website with history and interesting information about this great river: http://www.vsr.cape.com/~powens/riverhistory.htm
An of course, Wikipedia has this to say and it does have pictures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lawrence_River
Cruising the St. Lawrence wouldn’t that be nice: http://www.stlawrencerivercruise.com/index.cfm?page=cruise_ktq
I didn’t wish to disturb the man who was on the docks enjoying the sunny morning air and view. I love mornings especially this kind of morning. It was so peaceful and lovely.
A lone man on the dock
The St. Lawrence to the east.
The St. Lawrence to the east.
The St. Lawrence to the west sort of…
The St. Lawrence to the west, sort of
Just before I arrived at South Lancaster you will find the Cooper Marsh Conservation Area http://www.rrca.on.ca/view.php?id=52 Try using Google Images to take a look at some really great pictures of this area. I would have loved to explore it with my sister a docent at the Woodland Park Zoo here in Seattle.
The park of the Cooper Marsh area
I had been by South Lancaster earlier in the week but this time I didn’t just follow Hwy #2 which curves up leading you into Lancaster and then east paralleling Hwy #401 MacDonald-Cartier Freeway, I stopped at the sign announcing South Lancaster and proceeded along the Old Montreal Rd.
The sign to South Lancaster
I turned south on Cairn View Rd. and came to the South Lancaster Wharf.
The Wharf in South Lancaster
The wharf juts out into Lake St. Francis. http://www.cruiserswiki.org/wiki/Lake_st_francis
The Wharf is very long
There were two men walking their dogs and we visited briefly while I introduced myself to their companions a beautiful Collie and a cute little white dog.
South Lancaster’s Wharf
About this location near the wharf, Ms. Dumbrille writes in her book Up and Down the Glens on page 8:
“It was in the midst of these hard times that two ships bearing a body of emigrants from Scotland set out for Upper Canada (or Canada West as it was now called). One of these, the Macdonald, it carried 560 passengers –the entire parish of Knoydart, in Glengarry — in charge of their priest, Father Alexander Macdonell. Brought up the St. Lawrence from Quebec in military bateaux, they landed at a sport near Lancaster, and were piped ashore and welcomed by their kinsmen amid scenes of rejoicing.”
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onglenga/ShipMcdonaldSettlers.pdf
Lake St. Francis, South Lancaster
So far I have not found a plaque or anything indicating where in the area of South Lancaster they actually landed. The descriptions are vague as to the actual events.
I left the area of the wharf and proceeded along Water Street and on my left was a stone wall and fence surrounding a cemetery. I believe this to be the Old Cemetery in South Lancaster on Waters Street.
The Old Cemetery, South Lancaster
On Church St. I found the church and graveyard. St. Andrews Presbyterian Church founded in 1787 by Rev. Bethune, this is not the original church: http://pccweb.ca/standrews-southlancaster/
St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, South Lancaster
A little humor. (Click and the photo will get larger, use your back button to return to this blog.)
Notice the sign!
The cemetery next to the St. Andrews Church is surrounded by a white metal fence. I have more photos which I will upload when I finish posting for this trip.
The cemetery next to St. Andrews, South Lancaster
A memorial plaque 1787 to 1855 to 1987 :
In Honor of the Church
Update 7/8/2012: Here is a link of all the photographs I took of these two cemeteries in South Lancaster which were a few blocks apart. These are overview photographs to give an idea of the location of these cemeteries.
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| Old Burial Ground & St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church & Cemetery |
My tummy was calling so I continued on my journey, saying Good Bye to the St. Lawrence River, for now. I headed north up Hwy #2 across the big freeway #401 and over to the right was a very shiny new Travel Plaza that housed a Denny’s? It also had a store called “Flying F,” which had just about anything in it that you might want. Exit #814 on the north side of the freeway. I found my T-Shirts that had just “Canada” on them. It was a good thing, I needed clean shirts. They have a whole line of Shell gasoline pumps. So I stopped had breakfast and filled up the Caliber. The Denny’s has WiFi. They also have showers in the other part of this complex.
The Flying J, Exit 814 of 401
I was now content. I could continue on my tour of Glengarry.
BJ MacDonald