His gaze shifted to the brooding pine trees on his left. The bateau moved forward and then past a stretch of open sand fifteen miles east of Stone Mills. He squinted at the shore and saw a small cooking fire. An old man with a long, grey beard was stirring something in a metal pot over the fire. Jeremiah Thacker!
“Cornelius, can we please stop there, near that man,” said John, pointing to the figure on the sand. “Please, it’s very important – I can’t really explain quickly. You don’t even have to tie up the boat.”
Cornelius pulled out a bronze pocket watch. “Ten minutes, John. That’s it.”
John waved to Jeremiah Thacker from the bateau. The old man waved back, uncertainly. Cornelius moved closer to the shoreline and John rolled his pant legs above his knees. Then he grabbed a long crust of bread from the food basket and stuffed it inside one of his vest pockets. The other pocket contained the letter written by Admiral Fortin sixty-nine years ago – the same man who had thrust the letter into a young Jeremiah Thacker’s hand when he was a young boy.
When the water was suitably shallow, John jumped over the side and landed on his bare feet. He ran to shore while Cornelius held the bateau steady. As he sloshed onto the shore, Jeremiah met him half way. John couldn’t wait to tell him they had solved the location of the treasure map in less than two weeks. He’s going to be so excited.
“Well good day, young man. Been thinkin’ about you. Headin’ off to Kingston?”
“Yes, sir…I have to resume my schooling.”
“The bay’s been busy,” said Jeremiah, “what with all that serpent nonsense. Ran into a farmer yesterday who told me ‘bout the American soldiers. Fact is, he heard it was you who played a big part in that.”
John smiled and nodded. He thought he was going to burst if he didn’t tell the old man the news about the hidden cave.
“Well, good for you,” said Jeremiah. “Come and sit down on old Jeremiah’s driftwood for a minute.” They both sat down on the old partial tree that had washed ashore.
“Say, do you have time for a little muskrat soup while you’re here? Might be a little thin this time – it’s the second time I’ve used the bones.”
John’s stomach heaved. “Thank you, but I have to be getting back with Cornelius,” said John, gesturing to the bateau. “Mr. Thacker, I just –”
“Listen, before you say anythin’ I want to apologize,” said Jeremiah. “It was unfair for me to do that to you, givin’ you that map and all. I meant well – but expectin’ a few young ones to find something that took up my entire life, well…that wasn’t a nice thing for me to do.”
“But Mr. Thacker we actually – ”
“And then I got to thinkin,’ you know what might even be worse?” John shook his head.
“What if you were able to find it quickly – what kind of a feeble brain would I be then, huh?” He laughed and shook his head. John winced.
“And who knows – what if there was no treasure at all?” the old man continued. “After all this time of nothin’ but thinkin’ about it! What if there was no treasure to be found?”
John laughed uneasily and stared at his feet. Jeremiah picked up a stick and poked at his fire. “Some days I think I might have imagined that French admiral who died in front of me. Sure, I had the map. So he must have been real. But some days, he just didn’t seem real enough to me.”
The old man turned and looked off toward Stone Mills. John felt the crinkle of the letter in his vest pocket, written by Admiral Fortin long ago.
“Now what was it you wanted to tell me, young man? Don’t tell me you found the treasure already.” Jeremiah laughed and John laughed with him.
Then John reached into his inside vest pocket and hesitated. He pulled out the crust of bread.
“No, sir – we’ve no idea about that map. I just wanted to give you this. I wasn’t sure how much luck you might have had in getting by lately.”
The old man took the bread and smiled through his missing teeth. He put a kind hand on John’s shoulder and they both stood. The grey-bearded man hugged John. “You’re a good lad, you are. Kingston’s a lucky town to have you.”
“Thank you, sir.” John trudged back through the water to the boat and Cornelius extended his hand to help him back on board.
“What was that all about?” Cornelius asked. John watched the old man eating as he waved from the shore. “Cornelius, what’s more important – doing the right thing or telling the truth?”
The boatman thought about it for a moment as he aimed the bateau’s nose for Kingston. “Maybe doing the right thing has its own truth.”
John nodded as they watched the morning unfold.
Wilfrid LAURIER
on the death of Sir John A. Macdonald
“...the place of Sir John Macdonald in this country was so large and so absorbing that it is almost impossible to conceive that the political life of this country, the fate of this country, can continue without him. His loss overwhelms us. For my part, I say with all truth his loss overwhelms me...as if indeed one of the institutions of the land had given way. Sir John Macdonald now belongs to the ages, and it can be said with certainty that the career which has just been closed is one of the most remarkable careers of this century ... As to his statesmanship, it is written in the history of Canada. It may be said without any exaggeration whatever, that the life of Sir John Macdonald, from the time he entered Parliament, is the history of Canada...”
About the AUTHOR
Roderick Benns was the odd kid in class who had memorized all of the prime ministers in order. Born in Peterborough, Ontario and raised in nearby Lindsay, he has enjoyed a varied writing career spanning more than twenty years, with newspapers, magazines, Internet news sites and radio.
An award-winning journalist, Roderick captured a first place national newspaper award in the 1990s for journalistic initiative through the CCNA.
As owner of Fireside Publishing House, Roderick chose to kick-start the Leaders & Legacies Series with its first two books – the award-winning Mystery of the Moonlight Murder: An Early Adventure of John Diefenbaker, and The Legends of Lake on the Mountain: An Early Adventure of John A. Macdonald.
Roderick is also Senior Writer with the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat of the Ontario Ministry of Education.
Family life is integral to Roderick. He is married to Joli Scheidler-Benns, who serves as the Leaders & Legacies Series editor. Roderick has two wonderful children, Eric and Alexis. They live in the Greater Toronto Area with their silver toy poodle, Sirius. The family also likes to spend time in the country with their young horse, Gaelin.
Author VISITS
Roderick is available to speak to your class or service club on any of Canada’s prime ministers and Canadian history topics in general. In the classroom, he has a strong understanding of curricular and cross-curricular priorities and can work with teachers to cover the angles needed in presentations.
For your service club, Roderick focuses on Citizenship, Leadership and Canada’s Prime Ministers.
Fiction or FACT?
The Legends of Lake on the Mountain:
An Early Adventure of John A. Macdonald
Don’t read on if you haven’t read the book yet!
Spoiler Alert!
This is a book which imagines an adventure about our greatest founding father, Sir John A. Macdonald.
However, there is ample historical truth in here as well.
While all ages will hopefully enjoy the adventure, it should also provide a suitable launch point for rich discussions about early Canada, the War of 1812, the Rebellions of 1837, the Seven Years War, responsible government, citizenship, perseverance, and, of course, the destiny and life’s work of Sir John A. Macdonald.
Macdonald was instrumental in bringing Canada West (Ontario) and Canada East (Quebec), as well as
Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick together in 1867 to form Canada. He would soon after also negotiate British Columbia, PEI, and the vast North West Territories into the national fold. Macdonald was also the driving force behind the Trans-Canadian railway (the longest in the world). He was adept at handling relations with the United States during its expansionist phase and his ability to balance French and English interests was formidable. Macdonald also had to confront the challenge of the Northwest rebellion and created the North West Mounted Police, forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Events and truths within this book I have attempted to render Macdonald’s personality in youth from various anecdotes gathered over the years, while also keeping in mind the adult personality for which there is more of a public record. It is my hope you will have found the fun-loving, ambitious, emotionally-intelligent man we know from history within these pages.
The opening scene of this book was borrowed and adapted from a story E.B. Biggar tells about a young John A., who “aroused the displeasure of one of his companions.”
“The aggrieved boy, who was larger than he, caught Johnny in the flour mill, and having laid him prostrate, proceeded to rub flour into the jet locks of his hair until it was quite white.”
This formed the basis for the Owen Boggart flour incident which opened the first scene.
John A.’s dreams about being in a Kingston tavern with his little brother were true, overall. We know that John’s younger brother, James, was struck by a man named Kennedy, who was an employee of Hugh Macdonald’s at the time. James died from this incident while John watched helplessly.
George Cloutier was meant to symbolically represent George Étienne-Cartier, one of our most important fathers of Confederation, along with Macdonald. He became a close friend of Macdonald’s later in life. Since they didn’t actually grow up together, I could not include the real Cartier. However, I thought it was important to hint at the importance of the man who had helped Macdonald guide Quebec into Confederation.
The idea that a French admiral hid his treasure somewhere in the Glenora (Stone Mills) area in a cave is a famous local legend from Prince Edward County. I took liberties to explain how this French admiral may have come to the area and what his intent for his treasure was. I weaved the storyline to hint at a vision of a united Canada.
The lake serpent of Lake on the Mountain is also culled from local myth. For more information on these and many other legends in Prince Edward County, the author recommends The Legendary Guide to Prince Edward County by Janet Kellough.
Everything about John’s family was rendered as truthfully as possible based on available research, including Lieutenant Colonel Donald Macpherson. The reader may wonder why Lieutenant Colonel Donald Macpherson’s name was sometimes written as ‘Colonel Macpherson’ and sometimes ‘Lieutenant Colonel Macpherson.’ In military tradition, a lieutenant colonel can be “Colonel” in conversation. In dialogue, everyone spoke of him as Colonel Macpherson or ‘the colonel.’
But in attribution, his full rank must be spelled out.
In real life, the colonel would become increasingly ill and then die just one year after the events of this book.
The colonel’s son, Allan Macpherson, was an entrepreneur who really did live in Napanee. Today, the same Georgian-style mansion exists as a museum called Macpherson House.
The author took liberties with the size of Stone Mills at this time for dramatic effect, rendering it a bit larger then it likely was at this time.
Virtually all names in this book were created through birth and marriage records of the time in Prince Edward County. Instead of using the actual names, the author mixed and matched first and last names to retain the true flavour of the time period and locale without actually using real names, other than historical figures, such as Macdonald and his family.
An exception to this rule was Pastor Macdowell, who was a real pastor in the Hallowell (Picton) area. He came across from the U.S. at the invitation of Peter Van Alstine, who had led many United Empire Loyalists to the Adolphustown area. One other exception was ferryman Jacob Adams, who really did operate the ferry during 1828.
The story of the great drowning in Prince Edward County is true, including the verse from the actual song which many people memorized and sang, including school children.
History tells us that Kingston actually was in the middle of a typhoid outbreak when the colonel visits the Macdonald’s.
The author found several conflicting sources on just when Hugh Macdonald, John’s father, moved from Hay Bay to Stone Mills (or present-day Glenora). The age in which John A was said to have moved to Stone Mills ranged from 10 to 14. The author chose the age 13 for the storyline and references John having lived in the Stone Mills area “for a couple of years” to reflect the vagueness surrounding this move from Hay Bay.
More well documented is the fact that John A.
Macdonald was articled to a young Scottish lawyer, George Mackenzie, of Kingston, in 1830. Later that same year he went to York (Toronto) to appear before the Law Society. Following the exam, he was given his law certificate and formally admitted to the society as a student at law. He opened his own law office in Kingston on August 24, 1835.
– Roderick Benns
Bellevue House National Historic Site is located in Kingston, Ontario, and is a short drive from Sir John A.’s childhood home in Glenora.
Now owned and operated by Parks Canada, Bellevue House was home to John A. Macdonald and his young family in 1848-49. Already a successful lawyer, Macdonald lived at Bellevue House while balancing his law practice, political ambitions and the needs of his ill wife and young son.
Today, Bellevue House National Historic site welcomes thousands of visitors every year. The house has been restored to the 1840’s time period, so you can experience what life was like for John A. The site also includes enlightening exhibits, a multi-lingual video, historic gardens and knowledgeable staff who delight in sharing their favourite stories about Sir John A. Macdonald.
For more information including rates, hours of operation, curriculum based learning programs and special events, visit us on the web: www.pc.gc.ca/bellevue
Areas for Further STUDY
The Family Compact
The Family Compact was the unofficial name of the small group of individuals in Upper Canadian political life who were more properly called Tories. They were the local elite and occupied positions such as administrators, businessmen, judiciary, clergy, landowners and lawyers in the 1820s and 1830s.
The fact that the commercial and personal interests of the Family Compact were put ahead of the interests of the people of the colony was a key reason for the Rebellions of 1837.
The Loyalists
When the U.S. decisively severed its ties with Britain through a bloody revolution, this had a cascade effect in many ways. For pre-Confederation Canada, it literally meant rewriting our very boundaries for the great influx of people who wanted to continue living under the British umbrella.
By 1783, thousands of Loyalists left the newly-created United States. Most set their course for Nova Scotia, as well as the unused lands above the St. Lawrence rapids and north of Lake Ontario. Such a massive influx of settlers was effectively the first real wave of immigrants by English-speaking settlers. It was so large, in fact, that their arrival had immediate consequences for the British colonies.
Nova Scotia and the inland colony of Quebec had to be reorganized to reflect these new realities. At this time, Nova Scotia included the wild forests to the west of the Bay of Fundy. In 1784, this area was established as a separate colony known as New Brunswick. In total, about 35,000 Loyalist immigrants settled in Canada’s Maritimes.
Another sizable group of about 5,000 United Empire Loyalists chose land north and west of Lake Ontario and along the north shore of the upper St. Lawrence. This included the watery
inlets and reaches of Prince Edward County, where a young John A. Macdonald once lived with his family.
The Durham Report
One of the most important reports ever written in British history occurred less than ten years after the timeline of this book. Queen Victoria, new to the throne in 1837, was worried that her North American colonies would crumble without British intervention. The Rebellions of 1837 had just occurred, in large part because of Family Compact policies. She soon requested that John Lambton, the earl of Durham, analyze what was wrong in Upper and Lower Canada. Upper and Lower Canada had many challenges during the early 19th century. Both colonies contained political cliques, like the Family Compact, and both existed under anti-democratic conditions.
Lord Durham arrived in the spring of 1838 and after much investigation he made three key recommendations. They were:
responsible government should be granted to the British North American colonies
Upper and Lower Canada should be amalgamated to form a united Province of Canada
French Canadians should be assimilated
The last of his recommendations was obviously the most controversial. It was the ‘fatal flaw’ in terms of gaining widespread acceptance and political support. The report was certainly reviled by French Canadians and even to this day, it is this last recommendation that continues to be remembered the most.
Yet the Durham Report’s first two important recommendations would come to pass and were important evolutionary milestones in the nation’s development. Durham recommended that Upper and Lower Canada be united with a single parliament. He noted that freer colonies would create more loyalty to the Mother country, not less. They just had to be given the freedom to do so. Lord Durham even went so far as to predict the notion of a union, one day, of all the British colonies in North America.
The Legends of Lake on the Mountain Page 13