New Dublin- A Hamlet in Elizabethtown

New Dublin (Lamb’s Pond; Dublin Corners)

Lamb’s Pond was the original name of this settlement, the name being taken from a mile long body of water on the Lamb Homestead.

Nicholas Burns was born in Dublin, Ireland and as a lad of 19, migrated to Canada in 1820. He settled at Lamb’s Pond in Elizabethtown Township and when a community was developed there he was instrumental in renaming the hamlet “New Dublin”, obviously in honour of his own birthplace. Burns did not remain long in New Dublin, for history records that he established his permanent home on Gosford Road, east of the community known as Gosford, about 1822.

When the municipal form of government came to the townships and villages of Leeds and Grenville Counties in 1850, New Dublin was chosen as the township seat. Jacob A. Brown, the area’s first school inspector, was named as the first clerk of the township and he was succeeded some 20 years later by his son Nicholas.

New Dublin had a mill that was set up around 1840 and was operated for years by Byron Cadwell. At the same time, it is probable that the Eyres had a grist mill on their homestead east of New Dublin. Cadwell’s mill was taken down in the 1890’s by Ira Mallory, who used it as a saw mill and cheese box factory until 1923, when he closed it. Orville Brundige ran the mill with steam power for several years, but it was abandoned around 1960. It was subsequently demolished and nothing remains of the old factory. The village also boasted a tannery, cheese plant and other small industries that turned out various products.

In 1830 Christ Church was opened and this house of worship served the community for 64 years, until the present St. John the Evangelist was dedicated on the same site. The first church was built as an outpost of St. Peters in Brockville, since many of the residents of the area attended St. Peter’s and required a house of worship of their own. The church was built with tall Grecian pillars and when the building was torn down in 1893 to

make way for St. John the Evangelist, the front pillars were rescued. They were moved, and graced the front porch of the Webster homestead at Bellamy’s.

The congregation took the step of demolishing the old church because it was too small and in a bad state of repair. It was decided that renovations would be too costly and a new church was erected. On July 6, 1893, the cornerstone of the new church was laid with the appropriate ceremonies. The land for this church was donated by John Burns Sr. and John Burns Jr.

Families of New Dublin

The names of the Rowsome, Bolton, Moore, Eyre, Bissonette and Horton families dominated the early history of this area.

Thomas and Jane Eyre emigrated from County Wexford, Ireland in 1817 and settled just east of New Dublin. With them came their sons, Henry b.1801; Thomas b.1803; and William b.1809. The Eyre’s had three more children after they arrived here, John, Samson and Thomasiana. The original Eyre homestead stands near the Bellamy’s crossing of the CPR line between Brockville and Smiths Falls. The house was build by Thomas Eyre, from stone that was quarried from a field a short distance away. (Recorder and Times, Darling Collection Book 3)

There is an inscription on the back of this photo that reads: “From left to right standing Joshua Bolton and his wife Caroline Mott, William Henry Bolton. Seated: L-R George Milward Bolton and Mabel Bolton nee Blanchard, George Bolton born 1821. George is the son of Henry “Harry” Bolton who was the blacksmith at Greenbuch. George died on May 3, 1901 and Mabel died May 14, 1902. Both are buried at the New Dublin Cemetery.” Note- Caroline Mott does not match historical records for the wife of either Joshua Bolton or Will Heney Bolton, (comments by Barton J.Breen)

“By the 1880’s, New Dublin was a busy industrial village, with a grist mill and sawmill nearby and roads in all directions. Accordingly, in a spirit of civic pride, the village had a building boom. This was when the infrastructure was built, four stone buildings, all in miniature: a new Anglican church and a Methodist Chapel, a school, and the crowning glory, the Township Hall. About the same time, in an effort to clean up New Dublin, a general store replaced the tavern where Ogle Gowan used to drink with the lads. Nevertheless, the backbone of New Dublin remain the Irish settlement of John Burns and Nicholas Horton.”(Elizabethtown: The Last of the Royal Townships by Alvyn Austin pub 2009)

“Edna’s Scrapbook”

is a paperback book written by Edna B. Chant and was published in 1998. Edna Chant was a reported with the “Athens Reporter” for 23 years and she is the author of four books.

Her book, which is made up of news clippings from various sources, from which we have taken excerpts, gives us a glimpse into life in our area for over a hundred year period ending with stories from 1975.

While her book covers many areas of Leeds and Grenville we have only focused on the area within Elizabethtown-Kitley Township.

New Dublin

 Robert Bolton, aged 20 years, of New Dublin, was drowned in the St. Lawrence River on July 31, 1895. He and a friend, Leslie Row, took a canoe, and started out for a paddle but the wind came up and they decided to turn back. However, as they attempted to turn the canoe capsized and both were thrown into the water. Both could swim a little but they clung to the boat, calling for help. A Mr. Stevens heard their cries and went out in his boat to help them. Just as he reached them, Bolton slipped beneath the surface and did not reappear. Row was rescued and they spent an hour looking for Boulton. His body was not found until August 6^th, a mile away at Morristown, NY.

The following article was written on May 12, 1985 by Stanley W. Cadwell of Solvay, NY in his 90^th year:

“The first man to settle at New Dublin was named Lamb and as there was a small body of water nearby, the settlement became known as Lamb’s Pond. Not long after this several Irish Immigrants moved in and the hamlet was named “New Dublin”. The store at the four corners was owned by a man named Sheppard Rowsome, who also ran the post office in the store. Directly across the road was the home of a Mr. Barry. The house between that and the old school, which was built in 1890, was the home of a stone mason, Aaeron Sherman. Between there and Glen Buell were settlers named Bolton, Walker and Davis. These people were farmers. At the four corners lived a man named Kendrick. He raised bees and sold honey. On the same road was the blacksmith shop, owned and operated by Len Orr. At the foot of the hill on the same side of the road lived the father and mother of Len Orr. Directly across the road lived a family named Sheridan. My father, Byron Cadwell, and my mother lived in Athens and were married in 1872. Dad and his father operated a carriage shop where they made wagons, sleighs and some furniture. At that time, there was a sawmill for sale in New Dublin and dad purchased it in 1886 and they moved to New Dublin. He bought a piece of land across from the mill, where he built a home in 1887. I wish to say at this point that there was probably no better constructed house anywhere. Dad used to say if there was anything worth doing, it was worth doing right. And at that time he fully expected to spend the rest of his life there. He used only the best materials, and even then realized the importance of insulation, as he filled the walls from foundation to the eaves with the course sawdust from the mill. My mother used to say it was the warmest in winter and the coolest in summer of any house she had ever known. He guilt an addition to include a grist mill, and he also made cheese boxes and shingles. All this was done before I was born. The youngest of four children, I was born September 24^th, 1896 and attended the old school. In 1903 my father was badly injured when a truckload of lumber fell on him at the mill. This made it impossible for him to carry on the business and in 1904 he sold it to Ira Mallory of Brockville. We then moved to Brockville where we lived for four years, and then moved to our present address in New York State.”

It is quite unusual to have a wedding at two o’clock in the morning, nut it happened in April 1907. Miss. McConkey of New Dublin was to marry Mr. Justus of Chesterville at her father’s home at seven o’clock in the evening. It started to snow about four o’clock and soon turned into a real old fashioned blizzard. The guests began to arrive and Rev. Cannon Grout who only had to come from Lyn, also got there although the roads were rapidly filling in. However the groom didn’t come. But the bride didn’t loose faith and said he would come. Games were played and every effort made to make the waiting plesant and at midnight the wedding supper was served. Then about 1:30 am the groom arrived very cold and tired but ready for the ceremony which was held as soon as hot drinks and warm kisses had revived him.

On February 27, 1911 J.H. Rowsome’s store and outbuildings burned at New Dublin.

A very unusual occurrence took place at the home of William Rowley of New Dublin on October 21, 1913. His aged mother Mrs. Solomon Rowley had been ill with heart trouble, and his youngest child Margaret, aged eight months, had also been ill for several days. On Tuesday, October 21^st, they both died in the same room at the same minute of the same hour.

On September 2, 1948 Ivan Stewart of New Dublin drowned at Cornwall.

On February 21, 1966 an early morning fire destroyed a home in New Dublin and claimed the life of seven year old Frederick Donald Meilleur.

Arner Brundige, 62, of New Dublin was killed in a truck crash on October 10, 1974.

Clifford Crummy, 43, was killed by a train at New Dublin on December 23, 1975.