| Church,
John
Cowan,
Peter
Eldridge,
Freeman Leonard
Nesbitt,
George Knight
O'Halloran,
James
Ruiter,
Jacob
John
Church (1757-1839)
John
Church, a Loyalist, was born in the valley of the Hudson River,
New York, September 30, 1757. During the American Revolution,
he went to Canada to offer his services to the British Crown.
In 1784, he went to Caldwell Manor (Clarenceville) following the
defeat of the British Army.
In
1799, he settled in Dunham County on a land located just east
of where Jacob Ruiter had settled the year before. John Church
built a log  cabin
on the site of the present Maison St-Louis, Larouche Street.
He
soon after opened a small general store. This store became very
busy and he added a blacksmith shop and a distillery. In 1814,
with the help of his son John Jr, he opened a small inn. In 1819,
they built a huge brick house, one of the first in the area and
it became known as the "Old Church Tavern". This place
was very popular for a long period and was the place where important
reunions and mariages were held.
John
Church was somewhat of a curiosity. He journayed to Montreal in
those days to purchase his goods for the store.The wholesale dealer
of whom he was demanding credit inquired what percentage
of profit he proposed to make on his goods, to which Mr. Church
replied, "Two percent".
"Oh!"
said the wholesale dealer, "I cannot sell you goods on credit
if you  are
only going to get two per cent on them. That is not a living profit."
"
Well", replied Mr. Church, "I don't quite understand
this conversation about percentages, but what I buy for one, I
sell for two."
Mr.
Church obtained the goods and the desired line of credit.
In
1830, his son John Church Jr became the first postmaster and the
small village was named Churchville. The name Chuchville was changed
to Sweetsburg in 1854.
John
Church was married to Tryphena Huntingdon and they had five children.
He died in Churchville, October 19, 1839.
Peter
Cowan (1817-1880)
Born
in 1817, of Irish descent, Peter Cowan came to Nelsonville in
1836, with his brother Andrew. They are both merchants from Montreal,
even if both of them are quite young. Peter knows the region quite
well since he
has been coming here often on fishing trips.
In
1839, he builds (on the corner of South and William Streets),
the Eureka Block where he operates a general store. On April 6, 1841, the Sweetsburg post office is transferred to Nelsonvillel into Peter Cowans' general store, and Peter Cowan becomes the first postmaster of Nelsonville. He will remained the postmaster until April 29, 1861.
Sometimes
the mail adressed to Nelsonville is sent by error to the village
of Nelson in Upper Canada. So in a meeting of local people, it
is decided  that
the post office will be called Cowansville, from
the name of the postmaster. And slowly, people start calling the
place Cowansville, even though the legal name will remained Nelsonville
until January 1, 1876.
During
the same period, Peter Cowan is also a merchant and the clerk
of the Circuit Court for 16 years. And in 1864, he becomes Sheriff
of the District of Bedford, job he will occupy until his death.
He
also had a military career. In 1836,he was Captain of a company
of volunteers formed by him, officer in the 2nd Battalion of the
Missisquoi Militia in 1847 and Major in the same battalion in
1863.
In
addition, Peter Cowan contributed financially for the construction
of the Anglican church, the first Congregational church and the
old Court  House.
He
was married to Jane Elizabeth Hackett and they had 3 children.
He died in Cowansville on May 18, 1880. He was 63 years old.
Freeman
Leonard Eldridge (1808-1891)
He
was born at Tibbits' Hill in Brome County (now part of Town of
Brome Lake), April 22, 1808, the second of a family of 19 children.
He went to school at Bondville (also part of Town of Brome Lake)
and after his school days, he became a carpenter.
In
1842, he built the first anglican church of Knowlton (part of
Town of Brome Lake). In 1845, he bought a piece of land from a
son of Jacob Ruiter and built on it a sawmill and a woolen and
pale factory. The area where he built the sawmill became known
as Freeport (taken from his given name). Freeport is now part
of Cowansville.
In
1852, he was the contractor for the construction of the first
church in Cowansville for the Congregationalists. This church
was built on the same
site of the present Emmanuel United Church on Main Street. In
1855, he also built the first anglican Church, Christ Church,
in Sweetsburg (near the Court House).
In
1863, he sold his sawmill and moved with his family to Roxton
Falls, Quebec, where he became, for nearly twenty years, the owner
of an important sawmill.
He
married Julie Ann Mansfield, January 27, 1855 and they had two
children. He died in Roxton Falls, December 16, 1891.
From
1840 to 1860, F. L. Eldridge was a important builder in Cowansville.
George
K. Nesbitt (1836-1909)
He was born in the Parish
of Sherrington, Napierville, Province of Quebec,on September 29,
1836. His father, of Irish descent, was a farmer and a mill owner
and the early portion of George's life was spent on this
father's mill. Then in early manhood, he spent some years in milling
operations in Havelock, Huntingdon County, after which he moved
to Pennsylvania where he resided for 4 years.
Returning to Canada
in 1869, he settled in Cowansville where in 1870, he purchased
the flour mill built in 1839 by Andrew Cowan, the brother of Peter
Cowan and William Carter, Andrew's brother-in-law. He became a
successful business man and also the owner of mills in Frelighsburg
and Mansonville.
In 1891, with the help
of his son Albert, he installed at his mill, a generator with
enough power for 300 lights, the first electric lighting in Cowansville.
In 1903, he was the first owner of an automobile in Cowansville.
He was the second Mayor
of Cowansville in 1877 and 1878.
He was married to Mary
Jane Dunn and they had 3 children. He died in Cowansville
in 1909.
James
O'Halloran (1821-1913)
Born near Fermoy, in
Cork County, Ireland, on September 25, 1821, he came to America
with his parents about 1828 and they settled in Vermont. He studied
law
at the University of Vermont where he graduated in 1843. He served
in the American Army during the Mexican war.
He came to Cowansville
in 1849 and was admitted to the Bar of Lower Canada on December
6, 1852. He was one of the first lawyer in Cowansville. He was
named Queen's Counsel (Q.C.), February 12, 1864.
He was elected a member
of Parliament representing the Missisquoi County in 1861 and re-elected
in 1863. Opposed to the Confederation, he did not present himself
to the 1867 election.
He was one of the promoters
for the arrival of the railway in Cowansville. He was president
and vice-president of the South Eastern Railway (SER) for 12 years.
Afterwards he was the legal counsel of the Canadian Pacific Railway
for the Province of Quebec after the SER was bought by the CPR.
In 1876, he became the
first Mayor of Cowansville. He was Mayor for
9 years, 1876, 1882-1883, 1886-1891.
He married Mary Ann
Finley, daughter of Edward Finley of Dunham, on January 15, 1851.
They had 14 children. He died in Cowansville, June 1, 1913.
Jacob
Ruiter (1772-1840)
Born in 1772, near Pittstown,
New York State, he came to Canada with his family during the American
Revolution. They first settled in Caldwell Manor (Clarenceville)
before moving near the Missisquoi Bay (now Philipsburg).
In 1794, his father
who was a land agent for Thomas Dunn, gave him a piece of land
in the Dunham County, which included the area where we find Cowansville.
During the summer of 1798, Jacob left his family at Missisquoi
Bay and went to claim his land. He built a temporary shelter where
we find today the seniors residence, Manoir Cowan, on Main Street.
He went back to his family for the winter.
The following spring,
he came back with his wife, daughter and his baby boy, John. They
traveled on a trail he had blazed the year before. During that
summer, he built a log house on the south side of the Yamaska
River (near the bridge on South Street).
In 1800, Jacob built
a flour mill and saw mill that what used by the people in the
surrounding areas for several years. This place was known then
as "Ruiter's Mill". In 1805, Jacob
named this new settlement, Nelsonville, in honor
of the British Admiral Lord Nelson who died during the Battle
of Trafalgar.
In 1811, Jacob gave
a piece of land for the building of the first school and later
he gave another lot for the Union Cemetery on Main St.
He was married to Eunice
Freeman and they had 12 children.Their son, Philip was born March
29, 1804 and he is probably the first white child to be born in
Cowansville.
Jacob Ruiter died in
1840. He was the first settler in Cowansville
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