A frequent visitor to Dunvegan died on Saturday, May 2nd in Ottawa. Elinor Linney (P.Eng), mother of long-time Dunvegan resident Robert Linney, loved tending the large garden she shared with her son. I intentionally included Mrs. Linney’s academic credentials because she was a trailblazer in her field. Mrs. Linney was the very first woman to be accepted into McGill’s Electrical Engineering program and, upon graduation, became the first woman to be licensed as a professional engineer in the province of Quebec. Despite these achievements, her gender made it impossible to find work as an engineer, so she took a job as a switchboard operator at Bell. Seven years after donning her iron ring, she was finally offered a position at Shawinigan Engineering in Montreal. The only catch was that she couldn’t inspect any of the projects she was working on because, at the time, there were no accommodations for women at the remote work sites. She lobbied for years to have this inequality changed. Mrs. Linney was transferred to Calgary in 1974 and became very active in the Business and Professional Women’s Club mentoring other professional women. In 1990, after a 35-year career as a professional engineer, Mrs. Linney retired, moved to Ottawa and enjoyed frequent visits to her son’s home, and garden, in Dunvegan. Which is how Terry and I made her acquaintance. Our sincere condolences, Mr. Linney. Your mother was a unique lady.
Building boom in Dunvegan?
As those of you have passed through the hamlet over the winter have no doubt noticed, a charming new house is being constructed at the corner of Alice Street and Dunvegan Road. The over-sized lot used to be home to a square log house built well over a century ago. After years of neglect, the structure was finally demolished in September of 2014, leaving behind one of the most expensive septic systems in North Glengarry. It would appear that this construction activity has sparked a bit of a building boom.
I received word this past weekend that a second residential building project is now underway in the hamlet. This other building lot is located two properties north of the brick manse on Church Street, right beside the little white house that Louise Quenneville purchased from Leslie Clark. The last structure that Robert Campbell remembers being on this site was a house trailer that Donald C. Fleming moved there in 1966. Mr. Fleming died in the mid1970s and the 110’ x 66’ lot has been unoccupied for many years
I’m told that a young man from Casselman was given the land by his aunt. He hopes to start to building in the fall, with the intent of selling the new house upon its completion. While Louise Quenneville accepts that the now denuded plot is the price of progress, it pains her not to hear the birds that used to call the woods home. “Hopefully they will return,” Louise told me in an email. On the positive side of the ledger, the septic system for this new house will not have to be built at taxpayer expense.
Dry ice storm of 2020
I always appreciate feedback from readers and this item is based on one such suggestion I received as a voice message a few weeks ago. The caller wondered if I saw a parallel between the present Covid-19 lockdown and the 1998 Ice Storm. Her comment struck a chord with me. I too had felt faint echoes of the epic freezing rain event twenty years ago. With both, there was a dramatic hush in the normal hustle and bustle of life. There was also the hollow feeling of isolation. Back then because of impassable roads. Today because of government decree. As well, the “snapped” connections with family and friends were as disturbing as the constant cries of ice-covered trees branches cracking under their load. When these similarities, and others, struck me at the start of the lockdown, I nicknamed our present predicament the “Dry Ice Storm.” I feel sure the reader who kindly reached out would understand the association.
Sign for all time
I am also grateful to Tammy Johnston-Jodoin for contributing our final story of the week. While Tammy has never lived in Dunvegan, she has a long association with our hamlet, having contributed to the success of the Harvest Fall Festival’s annual horse parade for many years.
Tammy’s family roots are in what used to be called Cornwall Township. In fact, her grandmother, Hildred Thompson, grew up in the family’s grand old stone farmhouse on the King’s Road (a.k.a., Post Road) west of St. Andrew’s West. Her grandmother’s two bachelor brothers, Clifford and Everard Thompson lived and farmed there all their lives. When a young girl, Tammy and her family used to visit them on Sunday drives. She fondly remembers sitting on the front lawn sipping lemonade under the immense shade trees and sneaking off to the barn to pet Larry the bull. She also recalls great uncles Cliff and Eff (“their names were Clifford and Everard, but everyone called them Cliff and Eff,” Tammy told me) telling her that the floorboards in the carriage shed behind the stone house were “salvaged from the old Inn.” While the inn is long gone, the stone house is still with us. If you’d like to take a peek, just place your Google Maps street view icon at the intersection of County Road 36 and Richmond Drive.
The inn that Cliff and Eff were referring to used be located on the south side of the Post Road right across from the former orchard to the east of the stone house. The inn was built in 1814 on Lot 24, Concession 4, Cornwall Township by Cliff’s and Eff’s great-grandfather, Henry Empey, who came to Lancaster in 1784. Known as H’empey’s Inn, it was an important rest stop for stagecoaches travelling the King’s Road. The barn that was no doubt used to stable fresh teams of horses is still there. But there’s no trace of the inn itself.
In addition to the floorboards incorporated into the carriage shed, one other artifact from the old inn remained in the family’s possession: its original hand-painted sign. When it was discovered hidden away in the rafters of the carriage shed, the two bachelors decided it should be offered to the Museum of Man in Ottawa. Museum officials were over the moon when they learned about the piece of historic advertising art. As W.E. Taylor from the National Museum stated in his October 1978 letter to the two brothers: “We are surprised and delighted that such an object has been preserved by your family for so many years. By placing it in the National Museum of Man, you have ensured its preservation for all time. Present and future generations of Canadians will be able to see it and thereby learn of their heritage. You will be interested to know that Dr. J. Russell Harper, Canada’s foremost art historian, has stated that this sign is one of the most important pieces of its type in existence. Its excellent documentation adds much to its historical and museological value.”
As the day approached for the sign to be turned over to the museum, these two sweet old gentlemen (as Tammy describes them) began to have reservations about the sign’s poor state of repair. They decided they couldn’t possibly donate it in its present condition. So they broke out their paintbrushes and tidied it up with a fresh coat of paint… no doubt to the silent horror of the museum staff. Luckily, they used water-based paint and the experts were able restore it to its original condition. It is now proudly on display in the Museum of History.
-30-