Wolfe Island: A Legacy in Stone

WOLFE

ISLAND

WOLFE

ISLAND

9781554883981_0003_001 A LEGACY IN STONE 9781554883981_0003_002

BARBARA WALL LA ROCQUE

FOREWORD BY KENNETH KEYES

Copyright © 2009 Barbara Wall La Rocque

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanic, photocopying, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

Published by Natural Heritage Books, A Member of The Dundurn Group

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

La Rocque, Barbara Wall

Wolfe Island : a legacy in stone / Barbara Wall La Rocque.

Includes biblographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-55488-398-1

1. Wolfe Island (Frontenac, Ont.)--History. 2. Indians of North America--Ontario--Wolfe Island (Frontenac)--History. 3. Fur trade--Ontario--Wolfe Island (Frontenac)--History. 4. Wolfe Island (Frontenac, Ont.)--Biography. I. Title.

FC3095.W65L37 2009     971.3’71     C2009-900101-2

1    2    3    4    5    13    12    11    10    09

Front cover: Ardath Castle as it appeared during its latter years after being abandoned. Courtesy of Queen’s University Archives, V. 23.

Back cover: (Top): Limestone house. Courtesy of Mable McRae. (Bottom): The first lighthouse at Port Metcalfe. Courtesy of Della Bullis, C.H. Wall Collection.

Design by Erin Mallory

Edited by Jane Gibson

Copy edited by Barry Jowett

Printed and bound in Canada by Marquis

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books and the Government of Canada through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit Program and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

List of Maps

Foreword: A Tribute to Wolfe Island by Kenneth Keyes

Preface

Introduction: The People of Wolfe Island by Charles H. Wall, 1978

Chapter 1 ~ In the Beginning

Chapter 2 ~ Long Island Standing Up

Chapter 3 ~ Enter the French

Chapter 4 ~ Lineage of the Barony of Longueuil

Chapter 5 ~ What’s in a Title?

Chapter 6 ~ Whence Did They Come

Chapter 7 ~ A Teapot in a Tempest

Chapter 8 ~ Establishing Roots

Chapter 9 ~ Early Industries and Livelihoods

Chapter 10 ~ Down to the Sea

Chapter 11 ~ Garden Island: One Man’s Empire

Chapter 12 ~ The Lifeline: Wolfe Island Ferries

Chapter 13 ~ Coping With the Hazards of Isolation

Chapter 14 ~ Establishing Transportation Links

Chapter 15 ~ Marysville Comes Alive

Chapter 16 ~ Achieving Literacy: Libraries and Schools

Chapter 17 ~ Essential Services for an Isolated Community

Chapter 18 ~ History of Wolfe Island Churches and Secular Societies

Appendix I ~ Gravesites: Early Settlers from England

Appendix II ~ Gravesites: Early Settlers from Ireland

Appendix III ~ Gravesites: Early Settlers from Scotland

Appendix IV ~ The Cone Surname

Appendix V ~ Wolfe Islanders and Simcoe Islanders Who Fought for Their Country

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Iam much appreciative of the support and encouragement given by the following:

Dr. Ross Kilpatrick of the Queen’s University faculty and his wife Susan, a long-time friend, both of whom have assisted me with encouragement, research material, and a course of action; Dr. Roger Martin, editor McGill-Queen’s University Press, for pointing me in the right direction; Rob Leverty, executive director Ontario Historical Society, who was a catalyst in assuring me that the book would be published; Barry Penhale, publisher emeritus, Natural Heritage Books of the Dundurn Group, who never lost faith in this project from the moment my daughter Lesley, a librarian, encouraged me to give Barry a chapter to read; Alan Cumyn, Ottawa, author and faculty member of the Humber School of Writing, Creative Non-Fiction; Mark Badham, curator of the Miller Museum of Geology, Queen’s University, for invaluable assistance; Noel P. James, Department of Geological Sciences, Queen’s University, for a map of limestone formations on Wolfe Island; Maurice Smith, curator emeritus, Susan St Cyr, Lena Roosenmaalen, Ben Holthof, curator/registrar of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, at Kingston, Ontario; Mr. and Mrs. John D’Esterre for their proofing of our information on Garden Island and Hank Connell of Wolfe Island for his facilitating; Jeremy Heil, archivist, Queen’s University Archives; Alexandra Cooper, library technician, Queen’s Stauffer Library, map department; Wolfe Island Historical Society, Captain Brian Johnson, Victoria Stewart, and executive. Wolfe Island Business and Tourism Association (WIBTA) for facilitating webpage hook-up to their website. Lisa H. Russell, archival technician, Anglican Diocese of Ontario; James Sweeney, archivist, Anglican Diocese of Quebec; Reverend J. Appelman, archivist, Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston; Adam Burill, archivist, Ontario Archives; Librarians Barbara Love, manager, and Patricia Enwright, manager Rural Sevices, Kingston Public Library; Sharon Hogan, assistant librarian, Wolfe Island Public Library;

Lesley La Rocque, assistant librarian, Toronto Public Library System, Toronto; David Anderson of Williamstown, for genealogical background on the McDonells of Wolfe Island.

I also wish to thank those many people who so very willingly provided me with a rich array of background information on Wolfe Island: Chris and Connie Carr, endorsement and photos; Reverend Rudy Meier, endorsement; Captain Brian Johnson, endorsement; Captain Richard F. Fawcett and Marette Fawcett, island historians; John and Joan O’Shea, island historians; Theresa Broeders, Mark Benson, Brian MacDonald, Susan MacDonald/Dill and all of the McDonell-MacDonald clan for sharing family histories, photos and information involving Scottish Settlement; the Pyke family, Grant and Margaret, George and Robert, for family history and photos of vessels of the Pyke’s Salvage and Towing Co. in action; Bruce Horne and Rachel Horne, geology reference, Horne lineage and photo; Captain Leath Davis, Davis history and photos; Anne and Edmund Taggart, photos newspaper articles and books; Nicholas Taggart, paper Nursing Alone, Louise Kenney; Theresa Fargo, History of the Catholic Church, tour through old church properties; Gepke Sjonger, photos; Ruth Ann Pearce, Tilbury, Ontario, Ellerbeck family history; Eileen Williamson, Walker family history, photos; Keith Keill, Joyceville, Ontario, Keill family history; Margaret ( Johnson) Commercial, Rochester, New York; and brother James Johnson, Kingston, photos and family history; Darrell and Fern Small, Ottawa, story of Christmas Day sleigh mishap; Rod McKenna, Kingston, family photos; Mable McRae for her wisdom, knowledge and photos; Gord McRae, McRae history and visuals of artefacts; Donalda Parkes, Stevenson family history; Elaine Berry, Berry history and photo, cruse lamp; Catherine (Eves) Lyall, Newtonville, Eves family history and photos; Thelma (Eves) Butler, Newburgh, Simcoe Island photos; Harry Friend, Kingston, Friend family history and photos; Don Lane, Kingston, Kemp family history; Connie and Elwood Woodman; Norma and Isabel O’Shea; Kenneth Keyes and mother Elsie Keyes; friends Linda Bissinger, freelance editor, and Mary Byers, Toronto author, for their support and encouragement; David and Maureen Fortier for the book Built on a Rock by Colonel Louis J, Flynn (David’s uncle); Edward and Gail Kenney, Linda J. Van Hal, Professor Duncan M. McDougall, (Queen’s University), childhood resident with family on Garden Island; Eugene and Reta (Eves) Hulton; Glenn O’Shea; Arthur and Geneva Keyes; Vern Yott; Anita (O’Connell) Janzer; Doreen Joslin; Carmel Cosgrove; Margaret Fawcett; Flora Devlin; Peg White; Billy Bolton; Douglas and Michael Corrigan; Horseshoe Island, Robbie Gropp.

In particular, I would like to acknowledge those people (many deceased) who made valuable contributions during Charles’s research through interviews, correspondence, and photographs: Leonard Mosier, 1930; Theresa (La Fleur) McGarvey, 1930; Mabel (Woodman) Eves, 1931; Ethel (Sudds) Eves, 1931, early Eves history; Beulah (Watts) Flynn, 1956; Mary (Brophy) Darling; Mildred Hawkins-Walton, 1970s; Captain Lewis Orr, 1970; Flora King, notes on Hitchcock lamp, 1970; Bessie (Holliday) Kenney, 1971; Weir McRae, 1978; Hugh Horne; Lillian Niles; Della Bullis; Buck Mullin; Helen Holliday, 1970s; Norma Horne; Kathleen (Kenney) Wall.

I also wish to thank my nephew Greg Dubchak, who created and maintained my web page and prepared photo CD for designer. His wife Diane, who both assisted with marketing ideas and photography; Lloyd, my husband, for all his computer assistance, editing skills, and patience; my daughters, Karen and Lesley, champion researchers; Kenneth Keyes, a long-time Wolfe Islander who wrote the foreword to this book and who shared valuable wisdom and insight throughout this journey.

And a special thank-you to my editor, Jane Gibson, for her considerable skill and patience in supporting me through a challenging editorial process, and to my copy editor, Barry Jowett, who so commendably helped to make this book a reality. Also, my gratitude to Shannon Whibbs, senior editor, for her assistance and support during the last phase of this journey.

LIST OF MAPS

Map 1: Wolfe Island, 1878.

Map 2: Wolfe Island and Surrounding Islands from Survey of Lake Ontario, 1783.

Map 3: A Section of Burleigh Fortification Map of 1869, showing the northwest shore of Wolfe Island including Mill and Cone Points.

Map 3A: The head of Wolfe Island from J.G. Chewett’s Map of 1822 indicating Crown and Clergy Reserves.

Map 4: 1784 Township of Cataraqui surveyed by Messrs. Kotté and Peachey.

Map 5: Early Ferry Routes, Overland Passages, and Native Burial Grounds, circa 1800.

Map 6: Detail from Walling Map of 1860, featuring: Point Alexandria, Ontario; Cape Vincent, New York; Carleton Island, New York; and the International Boundary.

Map 7: Marysburgh Vortex, Eastern Lake Ontario.

Map 8: Depicting Landowners’ Requested Roadway to the Foot, July 1841.

Map 9: Adaptation of Railway and Canal Proposals, circa 1836.

Map 10: Marysville, Wolfe Island, from the 1878 Meacham Atlas of Frontenac County.

Map 11: Wolfe Island, Showing Schools, Churches, Cheese Factories and Early Quarries.

FOREWORD

9781554883981_0003_001 A Tribute to Wolfe Island 9781554883981_0003_002

How does an author condense and convey the history of settlement, economy, and civility of a community into a stimulating, readable text that will capture the imagination of the reader? Such has been the task undertaken by Barbara La Rocque, and admirably achieved in this major publication.

Special recognition must be given to the dedication of the author in fulfilling a personal commitment to ensure that her father’s research efforts over an extended period of time would not be lost. When his manuscript of several hundred pages came into her possession, Barbara was determined to see that his work would be preserved and shared with any and all who have a personal or passing interest in the history of Wolfe Island.

Who will read this publication? It will have a widespread appeal to the broad spectrum of the Canadian, American, and European population. For many it will be a must read for students at all levels of the educational system, from the senior students and the staff of elementary panel through to the doctoral students of our leading universities. It will be sought after by current and former residents of the island — from newcomers who want to know more about their adopted community to those who left the island generations ago and now have a keen interest in the genealogy of their ancestors and others who have lived on the island in the past. The list of those who will seek to peruse the in-depth study displayed herein is boundless.

This publication comes at an opportune time in our island’s history. As we embark on the most expensive undertaking ever to have been initiated in this area — a $480,000,000 renewable energy wind-farm project — it is appropriate to look back and see where we have been and how we have developed to better prepare ourselves for the challenges of the future. It is also befitting to the island’s namesake, as the publication of this thirty-year research project comes on the eve of the 250th anniversary of General James Wolfe’s victory on the Plains of Abraham. May his spirit of adventure and dedication energize you as you enjoy this comprehensive study of the gem and largest of the St. Lawrence River’s Thousand Islands, Ganounkouesnot, Grande Île, Wolfe Island.

Kenneth Keyes,

Fourth-Generation Wolfe Islander

PREFACE

The following pages contain a story of passion for a place with a healthy measure of history. My parents, Charles and Kathleen Wall, should have been the protagonists, but that was not to be. Happily married for sixty-one years, my father had, all the while, been courting Wolfe Island, Ontario. His research, encompassing several centuries, included stories, pictures, and documents provided by a variety of archives, libraries, and many Wolfe Island residents.

In 1930 my father was posted to Wolfe Island when he was a captain in the Church Army, a branch of the Church of England. As diocesan funds were insufficient to support a resident priest, he was employed as the lay-incumbent for the Trinity Anglican Parish with occasional assistance of a priest from Kingston. During his tenure, he met, fell in love with, and in 1932 married Kathleen Kenney, one of the island’s daughters. They subsequently moved to Toronto where, out of necessity, he shared a business partnership with his father during the prolonged Depression.

Wolfe Island, situated about three miles south of Kingston, separates the north and south channels of the St. Lawrence River. My father travelled over the island’s approximately fifty-square-mile stretch of limestone, visiting and ministering to his parishioners. History of the island began to take shape as he visited cemeteries, families, friends, and historic sites, all of which whetted his appetite to such a degree that, upon retirement in 1964, he and my mother bought a house in the village of Marysville. At last, he was able to live amidst the history about which he was writing. While raising their family during the previous years, they made countless trips to the island’s beloved shores for vacations, weddings, and funerals as my mother had left numerous family members behind when she moved to Toronto.

During retirement his love affair with Wolfe Island blossomed to the extent that he kept notes on its history, anecdotes, and folklore, eventually researching as much as possible about his paradise. Unfortunately, after collecting sufficient material to write this book by the mid-1980s, he was only able to complete about two thirds of the manuscript before succumbing to cancer. After his death, through the encouragement of my family, I decided that I needed to see his project become reality. My father felt very strongly about dispelling the myths, untruths, and inaccuracies that had been published over time. He was striving to create not just a factual record, but a comprehensive history of Wolfe Island and its people. Some readers may feel that facts pertinent to their families or other aspects of the island’s history have been overlooked. The yield from our combined research far exceeded that which could be incorporated into this volume, and so, inclusive emphasis has been given to the island’s early history. Although limited space has precluded our moving into the twenty-first century with our findings, we hope that what has been documented will be enlightening.

My quest for information to expand upon recent church history led me to Reverend Canon Christopher Carr, the priest in charge of Trinity Anglican Parish. He willingly complied with my request for an endorsement of my venture:

One of the wardens of this parish refers to the persons living behind the church. The cemetery? I asked for clarification. For him and others here, the cemetery is much more than the place where we lay our departed to rest. Our Wolfe Island cemeteries represent the living presence of unforgotten history continuing to impact on daily life.

Ms. La Rocque is completing research begun by her father many years ago when he served as lay pastor of this community. This work of completion is in the spirit of her father’s efforts: extremely detailed and conscientious, always to the fact that every story can be further spun. Her work reaches far out into the history of the island, and out beyond the present shores to get stories from descendants who remember but who have moved away. Her work promises to tell parts of the Wolfe Island story not so far written. Having read several of the histories of the island and had some special conversations with the author, I can attest to that. She has made a serious effort to get the stories of those many souls, not least, that of her own father who lives behind the church.

There are frequent references made to my father throughout this history as he tells of his personal experiences and as I relate others concerning him. With support from my family, I have done much further research and hope that our efforts will open the readers’ hearts and minds to the story of Wolfe Island, and its importance in the history of Canada and in the hearts of the generations who have lived there.

Map 1: Map of Wolfe Island, 1878, reflects the island’s population explosion of the 1860s. From the Illustrated Historical Atlas of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, Ontario, 1878.

INTRODUCTION

9781554883981_0003_001 The People of Wolfe Island 9781554883981_0003_002

On this pleasant July day we are standing on the upper deck of the Wolfe Islander III, which left Kingston, Ontario, about fifteen minutes ago, headed in a southerly direction across the north channel of the St. Lawrence River. We have just passed Garden Island to our right, and in the distance further to the west we can see Simcoe Island. Ahead lies our destination, Wolfe Island. These three islands, together with the smaller Horseshoe and Bayfield islands, comprise the Township of Wolfe Island.¹

From our vantage point on the ferry, we can see an outline of low-lying trees bordering each of these islands. Two hundred years ago, our eyes would have seen huge timbers and dense forests, and probably we would have speculated as to why Europeans would ever have chosen to set down roots in such a forbidding place. That such early ventures did take place is evidenced by descendants of pioneer families flourishing into their sixth and seventh generations, while the giant trees of the forests have perished.

Much has been spoken and written concerning these islands and their people, but the story of the way of life of these particular Canadian pioneers remains largely untold to this day. What motive drew people from such diverse origins as France, the British Isles, Lower Canada, and the United States to these prohibitive, windswept, isolated islands when mainland life would have been so much more inviting? This location offered little more than timber, soil, and fish coupled with the opportunity for relentless toil. Elements such as these were part of the pioneer scene everywhere in Upper Canada, but the added dimension of living so isolated from the mainland for long periods of time deserves recognition.

In pioneer times there were physical, mental, and spiritual components to the segregation experienced by Wolfe Islanders. These factors are no less apparent today when the ferry is in dry dock for repairs, or needed for an emergency trip to Kingston during the night. What inner urge prompted the first settlers to forsake the mainstream of life and lay down roots in island isolation with only a rowboat to connect them to the mainland? Early Wolfe Islanders and newcomers alike mysteriously persisted in clinging to this mode of living, albeit somewhat more technically advanced today. The ferry is the lifeline to these islands. There have been many times when that lifeline has been broken, necessitating an airlift of food, supplies, and passengers. Is the ferry the best means of contact with the mainland in this day and age? Why not a bridge? Would it mean the end to a special way of life?

This island is actually closer to the United States than to mainland Canada, yet its history reveals that, subsequent to the lengthy aboriginal tenure, it has always been part of Canada and the people have remained true to Canadian tradition. During the early 1800s, ever-vigilant islanders sought out and captured or routed British militia deserters and armed American invaders. Whether motivated by self-preservation, loyalty to their country, or both, successive generations of islanders experienced, on occasion, the need to repel those who posed a threat to their safety.

The islanders have always been a closely knit society, irrespective of political or religious background. Surnames that once were representative of solely Protestant families are now Catholic, or both, and viceversa. Political meetings can still muster enthusiasm and bring out hecklers. Nevertheless, islanders have generally been able to transcend social differences. In the not-too-distant past when temperance groups were fighting the taverns, and the wets were fighting the drys, enmity was temporarily put aside for the sake of community, church picnics, dances, and socials, because all were united in a common endeavour.

Regardless of periodic tragic setbacks such as the great depressions of the late nineteenth century and the 1930s, or the loss of lives through the ice or the perilous, immobilizing ice storms, the islanders’ modus operandi has not been altered greatly by the passage of time. New methods of communication, granted, have enhanced the islanders’ way of life, but sadly, Wolfe Island still lacks some basic mainland infrastructure. Survival of pioneers in this, their chosen piece of the New World, required many skills to initiate industry. These early settlers provided much-needed timber for Europe, island-quarried limestone for construction, commercial fishing, cheese production, and shipbuilding — the list ever expanding as the need arose. Necessity became the mother of invention on Wolfe Island. One of the early settlers created and patented the Hitchcock Lamp, which travelled all the way to the Arctic in 1881 on the noted Greely Expedition. Another early settler, Mr. Shirley Going, a dedicated farmer, devised and patented a mowing machine before 1857.

Cheesemaking was in full swing throughout southern Ontario in the 1800s, but Wolfe Island is credited with producing the first cheddar cheese in the province. The spirit of competition, an outstanding trait of islanders, has been evidenced not only in social and sporting events, but also in business and agriculture. Wolfe Island competitors consistently went beyond the local level to achieve victories at the county, provincial, and national levels. Whether the event was rowing, hockey, baseball, ploughing, cheese-making, or honey culture, Wolfe Islanders have earned their laurels. This know-how and ability to perform at a high level of competence is the product of ingenuity born of isolation.

In spite of deficiencies in formal education on these islands, and still the lack of a public library or reading room,² younger generations by and large aspired to higher education obtainable on the mainland. Over the years, secondary school and university education prepared many young islanders to return and practise their professions within their community. Others, influenced by the economy of their time, of necessity went further afield to gain employment. Whether inspired by the resident schoolteachers, clergy, physicians, or parental encouragement, islanders have demonstrated independence, resilience, and the ability to change with the times.

Though this township has been poor in cultural amenities, it has been rich in the quality of mercy. Whether in sickness or need, the islanders’ will and ability to cope were evidenced with actions rather than words. In spite of this spirit, one might wonder why it took 150 years for medical facilities to evolve from the care provided by one lone midwife to those offered by a modern medical clinic. Could it have been the dedication and skill of the resident midwives and doctors throughout the years, coupled with the unusual good health and longevity of these hard-working pioneers, that made such a venture seem unnecessary? Change and improvement of facilities, medical or otherwise, on Wolfe Island have always required financial assistance from at least one level of government, often resulting in an impasse. One needs to live the life of isolation in order to become acutely aware of these needs. Decision-making government officials have rarely walked in the shoes of Wolfe Islanders, and, consequently, timely and adequate funding for necessities has been difficult to obtain. The residents of these islands, though hampered at times by social and economic inadequacies, have accepted these challenges and made them work to their advantage. They are an unassuming, quiet people with a heritage of which to be genuinely proud.

We began this introduction to the Wolfe Island Township aboard the ferry crossing from Kingston to the village of Marysville on Wolfe Island. Our trip, which two centuries ago would have occupied the better part of a morning, has taken only twenty minutes. Now, as we walk toward the main street, I invite you to step back in time while I introduce to you some of the island’s illustrious visitors: Champlain, Frontenac, Montcalm, and Sir John A. Macdonald. As we proceed, I should like you to meet some of the township’s more prominent residents: Baron de Longueuil, a member of the legislative council and owner of Longueuil (Ardath) Castle on Wolfe Island; Dileno D. Calvin, owner of Garden Island’s timber and ship-building enterprise; Coleman Hinckley, one of the earliest Loyalist immigrants, builder of the first steamer, Pierrepont, which linked Kingston to Cape Vincent, New York; and Samuel Hitchcock, owner-proprietor of the first passenger ferry, launched in 1802, which travelled between his home wharf on the island and Kingston. But more especially, I would like to acquaint you with the rank and file whom we would probably meet at church or in a pub. Saints or sinners? Hardly. They are merely individuals, busily involved in living, who, along with their fellow neighbours, helped to create a historical heritage worthy of preservation.

Charles H. Wall, 1978

CHAPTER 1

9781554883981_0003_001 In the Beginning 9781554883981_0003_002

For countless decades, Kingston, Ontario, has been referred to as Limestone City. Much of the limestone for its buildings was quarried from nearby Wolfe Island and the Kingston area and used to create an array of architecturally diverse buildings. A stroll through the downtown streets, surrounded by the bluish-grey countenance of churches, the city hall, and old hotels, is a reminder of the city’s history.

During early surveys, geologists found Wolfe Island’s limestone to be of very fine quality, much revered for its high tensile strength. This stone was hauled on barges during the 1800s and early 1900s and used in the construction of the Rideau Canal and the repair of the Welland Canal. Portions of the Kingston Penitentiary, the tower of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Kingston, and countless other substantial structures were also fashioned from the bowels of the island.

The story of Wolfe Island begins with the origin of this fifty-square-mile mass of rock lying in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, three miles south of Kingston. Around one billion years ago this area consisted of a huge mountain range stretching from Labrador in the northeast to Mexico in the southwest. Approximately five hundred million years ago these mountains had been substantially eroded, leaving behind the basement, or oldest rocks in the area.¹ Some 470 million years ago, Wolfe Island, Kingston, and indeed most of the North American continent were submerged under the Ordovician Sea. Over a period of ten million years, layer upon layer of lime mud was deposited on this ancient ocean floor, ultimately forming the sedimentary limestone rock that makes up the present-day surface of the island.²

The most recent major geological event to shape Wolfe Island occurred during the last Ice Age when the remainder of the glacial ice sheets advanced across the region. At their greatest extent, around fourteen thousand years ago, the ice sheets flowed in a southwesterly direction across present-day Kingston as far south as the Finger Lakes region south of Lake Ontario.³ The incredible weight of the mile-thick sheets of ice formed great cavities in the earth’s crust, and, as the ice melted, the resultant water filled these depressions, ultimately creating the Great Lakes.⁴ Huge glacial lakes formed around the present-day site occupied by Lake Ontario. Periodically, new drainage routes would open up as the ice melted and these lakes would empty. When the ice sheet blocking the St. Lawrence River drainage route finally retreated from the area, the water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Valley were drastically lowered, allowing approximately seventeen hundred islands to lift their heads above the waters, thus forming the world-famous Thousand Islands, the largest of which is Wolfe Island.

Originally, the configuration of Wolfe Island was two islands with a narrow strip of slightly submerged land between them. In the mid-1800s a channel was cut through, creating the Wolfe Island Canal. The island’s irregularly contoured shoreline boasts many points and bays, but the waters obscure the dangerous presence of rocky or sandy shoals. The points reach out, appearing to beckon vessels to safe harbour, but the irregular depth of the water has damaged many sailing vessels and caused the loss of many lives.

GEOLOGY

The billion-year-old rocks of Ontario’s Precambrian Shield underlie the entire Kingston region, and likely form the nucleus of Wolfe Island itself, under its limestone cover. The city of Kingston and the islands in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River are all situated directly on top of this rock formation, known as the Frontenac Axis.⁵ Geologists examining the strata from bottom to top have found the layers in the Kingston area to be from the Ordovician Period. Each strata or layer, mostly limestone, is identified by the fossilized fauna known to have existed during the same time frame. As the Frontenac Axis was submerged during this era, the variety of sedimentation, deposited layer by layer over millions of years, caused the diversity in limestone discovered in surveys of Wolfe Island.⁶

The date of the first geological survey of Wolfe Island is not known, but evidence indicates that the south shore from Carpenter Point to Bear Point was surveyed in 1874. The first survey report, completed in 1903, confirmed the presence of an abundance of the Cambro-Silurian limestone that was highly valued in the construction of public buildings.⁷ Several other surveys of Wolfe Island and the surrounding territory culminated in the reports compiled between 1959 and 1969 by geologist B.A. Liberty and his team. Liberty’s studies set the benchmarks for subsequent investigations. They state that Wolfe Island’s limestone, known as Trenton, dates back over 450 million years into the Paleozoic Era.⁸

Charles Wall, my late father, had been puzzled about the age of a piece of fossilized rock he turned up on his property on Wolfe Island in 1976. He sent the rock to the Royal Ontario Museum for identification and was told that the rock was limestone of the Trenton variety and 460 million years old. In cross-section, about fifty percent of the rock was actually fossilized coral and a prominent fossil exhibited on the limestone surface was of the genus Actinoceras, a squid-like animal known from the Ordovician-aged rocks of the Kingston area.⁹

LIMESTONE FORMATIONS

Liberty describes the bedrock structure as being of three limestone formations known as Gull River, Bobcaygeon, and Verulam. While each formation outcrops in different parts of the township, they actually recline one on top of the other. Gull River, the oldest, is situated at the bottom and Verulam, the youngest, at the top. The appearance of older formations at the earth’s surface indicates that the younger formation was probably scraped away by glacial action and other agents of erosion.¹⁰ The Gull River formation, which includes Garden and Horseshoe islands, covers all of the foot of Wolfe Island east of the canal as well as a one-half-mile-wide strip along the north shore from the canal to the Head. This formation, varying in thickness from twenty-five to fifty feet, is fossiliferous and well-exposed on the northwest shore. Because of this limestone’s high quality, compact structure, and tensile strength, eight of the ten Wolfe Island quarries of this Gull River formation were located toward the north shore.

The various limestone formations found on Wolfe Island. The types of limestone and the accessibility of the finest (Gull River) along the northern shoreline are shown in the legend. The diagram is from Black Riverian and Trenton Fossils of the Kingston Area, published by Queen’s University.

In 1900, a geologist observed that this formation contained boulder-like masses near the water level in the western part of Marysville. These masses may be quartzite cobbles that were sitting on the eroded Canadian Shield surface when seas flooded the continent. The boulders were surrounded by lime mud and eventually cemented into the lowermost limestone beds in the area.¹¹

The Bobcaygeon formation takes in Simcoe and Horseshoe islands and about one half of the head of Wolfe Island. It stretches from the canal to the west shore and lies between the Gull River formation on the north shore and an irregular line running in the same direction as, but south of, Reeds Bay Road. Being younger than the Gull River formation, the Bobcaygeon contains more identifiable fossils. Liberty stated: the fauna is reasonably abundant and varied¹² and named twelve different kinds known to this area. He observed: This formation varies from twenty to thirty feet in thickness and can readily be seen two miles southeast of the village … and on the south shore of Simcoe Island.¹³ The Wolfe Island location would be near the old quarry at Seventh Line and Base Line Road. The third formation, the Verulam, includes all the area south of Reeds Bay Road, and, although millions of years old, is the youngest bedrock formation in the Kingston district.

THE RIDGE

A scarp, which islanders refer to as the Ridge, is evident on Wolfe Island in the general vicinity of the Ridge Road or the Eighth Line. However, surveys indicate that it rises near the north shore a few hundred yards south of the spring (Cold Springs), located a mile and a half east of Marysville, and is traceable in a southwesterly direction to the western end of the island. Its average height is eight to ten feet throughout its length, with an approximate depth of seventy feet. During times past, the Ridge has been mostly drifted over with soil, however, it marks nature’s boundary between the Black River Group of limestone to the north of the island and the Trenton Group to the south.

GLACIAL SCRATCHES

Wolfe Island has remained relatively unscathed by erosion except for glacial striations left behind on smoothly polished rock surfaces as the glaciers retreated. Despite their rigidity, the limestone beds have recorded the paths of these moving glaciers. Wolfe Island’s prime exhibit can be found at Bass Rock (the flat rocks) on the north shore just west of the village, where grooves measure twelve or more inches in width. Water levels, which have risen over the past forty years, now obscure visibility of this wide expanse of rock at the shoreline. Throughout my childhood, the area was accessible to all for many purposes: picnics, sunbathing, car-washing, wiener roasts, and the like. Liberty has also indicated that many glacial markings similar to Bass Rock are evident on the shoreline outcroppings near Murray Bay, Holliday Bay, Chub Point, and McDonell Bay, between the Seventh and Eighth lines at Reeds Bay Road, as well as at the mouth of Reeds Creek. Numerous additional locations were noted just off shore.¹⁴ During the process, a mixture of pebbles, clay, and boulders called till were deposited in the Kingston area by these melting glaciers,¹⁵ along with boulders or glacial erratics transported from elsewhere and deposited over a stretch of the foot of the island. These pinkish granite-like boulders may have travelled from the Lyndhurst area, approximately thirty miles north of Kingston.¹⁶

Bass Rock, pictured here, depicts glacial striations etched in the flat rocks found along the shoreline of the Front Road on Wolfe Island.

WATER QUALITY

A seemingly limitless supply of fresh water was available to people who lived on or near the shoreline. As forests were cleared and people began