The Cyclone of 1805
From the Archives – Mary Anne Ducharme (April 2010)
Andrew Gentles neighbours, James Gilfillan and Oliver Hubble were clearing land for Nicolas Sweet when Nicolas noticed a funnel cloud in the northwest; it was mowing down trees in a roaring swath and the men scrambled for Gentles shanty. In the rush, the team of oxen ran abeam of a rock and the yoke snapped. The first blast of the cyclone lifted off the roof, and in the maelstrom of flying debris, they flung themselves outside on the ground, hearing all around them the howl of wind, and crashing trees. Afterwards they found one of the oxen dead. Two days later, they found one alive, but pinned in a hollow by a fallen tree.
This was June of 1805 on what was later called Robson Street, then Covey Hill Road. Before Andrew emigrated from Scotland in 1784 he had been a brewer of malt beer. He was among the first settlers arriving in the township in 1800-1801. According to G.A. Rogers in “Hemmingford’s First Settlers,” a few earlier settlers came from New York and the New England states, including a Dutchman Jonathan Wettson as early as 1795, but they moved elsewhere after a short stay.
Contact: Mary Anne Ducharme, 450-247-3193
e-mail: mducharme117@sympatico.ca