Français
Welcome Page
Regional History
Laurentian Place Names
What's It Worth
Associations
E-mail us

I

n the late 1870's the Laurentians was experiencing a period of growth and prosperity. A Canadian currency had been created, successfully stabilizing trade, and the railway era was in full swing. As a result, lumber was becoming a more important product along the routes serviced by rail. Up until the trains arrived, the lumber industry was more dependent upon the river systems, and that meant that the forests further away were in less demand. Since it was uneconomical to transport lumber from where there were no river or rail links, the trees were burned and the ashes, transformed into potash, were carried out for sale.

The Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway arrived in St. Jerome in 1875. The railway terminus enabled the surrounding countryside to grow, allowing exports of sawn wood. It also left the rivers free to power the mills. A typical mill had a waterwheel that supplied as much as 100 horsepower, dependent upon a seasonally fluctuating flow of water, but this horsepower could be the backbone of a community, allowing dozens of families to make a living, firstly working the mill, secondly, lumber jacking to supply it and thirdly, supplying the first two groups with their needs.

In 1878 the Conservative party was re-elected in Ottawa, after four years in opposition, and John A MacDonald, its leader, had to find a seat through a by-election. He found it in Victoria, B.C. Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière was elected Québec's premier, head of a weak Liberal government. He lost a vote of non-confidence a year later after the opposition leader Adolphe Chapleau courted several of his members away.

Elsewhere, Gilbert and Sullivan auditioned the H.M.S. Pinafore and Karl Benz, the inventor of the motor car, built a motorized tricycle with a top speed of 7 miles per hour. This was the time of Rodin, Renoir and Cézanne. Ibsen, R.L. Stevenson and Dostoevsky were producing their great works. The three-year period commencing in 1878 saw the first large-scale skiing contest in Norway, the invention of Bingo, the electro-static generator and the microphone, the manufacture of the first bicycles in America, the development of the first practical domestic light bulbs, the first repeater rifle, and Pasteur's discovery of a cholera vaccine. It was an age of optimism and growth. It was the golden age of the British Empire, the middle of the reign of Queen Victoria and a period of rapid scientific development.

In a corner of Morin Township where the Campbells, Hammonds, Newtons and Davis's had homesteaded, the Hammonds and Davis's accepted the Christie brothers, David and Ebenezer into their fold, both through marriage. These two brothers, entrepreneurs and promoters, soon became synonymous with this corner of Morin Township, and it became known as Christieville. They controlled the lumber trade and converted the gristmill to a sawmill. They took advantage of the latest technologies and transport links and contributed to the growth of a thriving agricultural and lumbering community.

Most of the English-speaking settlers in this region were of Irish and Scottish descent, and the Christie name, while reputedly Irish, was not to be confused with Dr. Thomas Christie, Member of Parliament for Argenteuil from 1875 to 1880 and again from 1891 to1895, and resident of Lachute. While the Commission de la Toponymie proposes that Christieville is named for him, it seems that the evidence is stronger in favour of the Christie brothers.

Unknown to the Christie brothers, living, as they were, on the frontiers of civilisation, history was just about to turn a page. That same three-year period saw the births of Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, George Elliot (Mary Ann Evans), Upton Sinclair, Albert Einstein, Douglas MacArthur and Lord Beaverbrook.

Today, there are no Christies listed in the phonebook in Christieville. None of the Christies in the general area profess connection to David or Ebenezer. The neighbourhood is part of the municipality of Morin Heights and seems destined to lose its distinctive identity, just as it has lost the thread of its original namesakes.

-Thanks to Sandra Stock of the Morin Heights Historical Association and Bob Murray of Montfort

Joseph Graham has written a book that features a select number of stories of Laurentian places and how they got their names. To learn more, click here.

Return to Laurentian Place Name Index

This material may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the author. © Joseph Graham