Tension coursed through the five valleys that converge on Franklin, Vermont. It rose with each consignment of munitions and men as yet another Fenian invasion was in progress. Munitions embodied the method: Rifles, shot and an odd cannon, bought by money from zealous support of the ever enlarging Irish communities of New York and Boston. The men embodied the will: Newly branded Civil War veterans, all Irish under General Spear 's command and bent on liberating The Canadas from British rule to form New Ireland. Sensible men, the valley farmers and labourers, understood what the would be emancipators wanted alright, but for them only a mad Irishman could see the sanity of it, for the invasion plan, including its general location, had been published
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Through parentage - by the maternal great grandfather being wholly British and his paternal grandfather 's peccadillo’s and through geography - by proximity to the U.S. Border and its wealthier, land owning ex-Americans.
The British great grandfather, Thomas Anthony Willis (b 1796, Windsor, Berkshire, UK) came to Granby, Quebec as a teenager just before the War of 1812 threatened British North America. With clear, strong feelings for England, he joined the Militia for the Township of Granby in March 1813, serving 2 years. As he became a young man he took up farming and then falling for a local Quebeçoise Elizabeth Boutille dit Bonnieville (b May 14, 1797, Longueil). She, of course, was Catholic, he, of course was not. He was uncertain about whether he even been baptized, for his adventure to Canada severed any efficient connections back home. So, two months before his marriage to Elizabeth, Thomas got baptized, just in case, joining with his new wife on July 7, 1817. Being more ambitious than being a farmer, Thomas trained to become a master tailor and merchant and later an Innkeeper in Marieville. He retained a small farm on his 90 acres growing a sole crop of potatoes, and a modest number of animals. Over their 19 year marriage, before Elizabeth 's untimely death, the Willises would have a least 10 children, 5 being …show more content…
Lawrence River down to the U.S. Border was populated mainly by Loyalists fleeing their loss in the American War of Independence The British gave out land grants to them in this region starting in 1790. Hence, just to the south of the Guillets in Farnham, there was a good many successful farms all owned by English speaking ex-Americans and their descendants that could use extra labour in terms of servants or farm hands. Previous to 1790 the French seigniorial system apportioned land to Quebec farmers mostly on each side of the St. Lawrence River, typically 3 lots deep. Many young unmarried Quebec boys and girls, starting as young as 10 years of age, took up this opportunity and Milo 's father, aunt and uncle, were part of
Through parentage - by the maternal great grandfather being wholly British and his paternal grandfather 's peccadillo’s and through geography - by proximity to the U.S. Border and its wealthier, land owning ex-Americans.
The British great grandfather, Thomas Anthony Willis (b 1796, Windsor, Berkshire, UK) came to Granby, Quebec as a teenager just before the War of 1812 threatened British North America. With clear, strong feelings for England, he joined the Militia for the Township of Granby in March 1813, serving 2 years. As he became a young man he took up farming and then falling for a local Quebeçoise Elizabeth Boutille dit Bonnieville (b May 14, 1797, Longueil). She, of course, was Catholic, he, of course was not. He was uncertain about whether he even been baptized, for his adventure to Canada severed any efficient connections back home. So, two months before his marriage to Elizabeth, Thomas got baptized, just in case, joining with his new wife on July 7, 1817. Being more ambitious than being a farmer, Thomas trained to become a master tailor and merchant and later an Innkeeper in Marieville. He retained a small farm on his 90 acres growing a sole crop of potatoes, and a modest number of animals. Over their 19 year marriage, before Elizabeth 's untimely death, the Willises would have a least 10 children, 5 being …show more content…
Lawrence River down to the U.S. Border was populated mainly by Loyalists fleeing their loss in the American War of Independence The British gave out land grants to them in this region starting in 1790. Hence, just to the south of the Guillets in Farnham, there was a good many successful farms all owned by English speaking ex-Americans and their descendants that could use extra labour in terms of servants or farm hands. Previous to 1790 the French seigniorial system apportioned land to Quebec farmers mostly on each side of the St. Lawrence River, typically 3 lots deep. Many young unmarried Quebec boys and girls, starting as young as 10 years of age, took up this opportunity and Milo 's father, aunt and uncle, were part of