Lanark Legacy, Nineteenth Century Glimpses Of An Ontario County

Lanark Legacy is an authoritative history of an important Eastern Ontario county. Howard M. Brown has plumbed deep the sources of Lanark County's history to provide a detailed account of its development before 1900. His narrative dwells on typical and unusual aspects of frontier life to reveal how the society and economy of Lanark County were transformed during its first century. In the first of the book's four sections, the early years of settlement are covered. Settlers' contacts with Indians, emigrant's account of crossing the ocean, descriptions of how townships and the smaller communities within them received their names and a summary of early emigration into the area are capped by a close look at the uproarious Ballygiblin riots. Life in the county town of Perth is covered in the second section. Later developing industrial towns of Almonte, Carleton Place and Smith Falls are covered in the third section. In the final and largest section a variety of aspects of local life throughout the county are dealt with. Chapters on agricultural fairs, distilleries and the lumber industry reveal the changing economic base of Lanark society. Chapters on local transportation, threatened military invasion, and crime and punishment variously reflect hazardous aspects of nineteenth century existence. These are balanced by a chapter on hunting and fishing, and a reflective closing chapter emphasizing the virtues of the Victorian age. The anecdotal charm of the text is reflected in the handsome sketches, photographs and maps that accompany it. Many of the illustrations, together with much of the information in the text, have not previously been published. They are presented in this book published by the Corporation of the County of Lanark to celebrate the 1984 Ontario Bicentennial.