H e e n e y G e n e a l o g y
F i r s t G e n e r a t i o n
William Heeney Sarah Howard Born 10/04/1811
County Meath, IrelandBorn 02/01/1811
Northern IrelandDied 28/01/1891
Danford Lake, Quebec, CanadaDied 30/01/1884
Danford Lake, Quebec, Canada
Married 04/09/1834 Dublin, Ireland
Children:
Luke Born 19/06/1835 Northern Ireland Thomas Born ?/ ?/1837 Northern Ireland Eliza Born 06/03/1840 Northern Ireland Robert Born 23/11/1842 Northern Ireland Henry Born 05/12/1844 Northern Ireland Anne Born 01/12/1846 Huntley Township, Ontario, Canada Charles Born 18/07/1848? Huntley Township, Ontario, Canada William Jr. Born 16/02/1850? Huntley Township, Ontario, Canada
The following is taken from H.B. Heeney's "From Roots to Twigs - Book 1" (pg. 5-10):
William was born April 10,1811 in county Meath, Ireland. His father apparently died when he was very young and when his mother remarried, young William was packed off to school in Dublin where he remained apparently until he graduated. Little else is known of young William's life other than that he married Sarah Howard. According to family stories handed down, Sarah, was a descendant of Lord Howard, the High Admiral of England whose family had been given land grants in Ireland by Elizabeth I. Sarah was born in North Ireland on January 2, 1811, and married William in Dublin on September 4, 1834.
Little is known of what happened in the next ten years in Ireland. It was during this period of Irish history that the population grew very rapidly, reaching 8,500,000 by the 1840s. This is more than twice the present population of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Almost half this population used potatoes as a staple diet because they were cheap and easy to grow. In the mid 1840's Late Blight hit and destroyed the potato crop and the population faced starvation. It was at this period of time that William and Sarah made the decision to emigrate to Canada. A further incentive to leave has been passed down through family stories. Family legend suggests that he was involved in some troubles in which a person was killed. In the spring of 1845 William and Sarah left for Canada with their five children, when Henry was only six months old. The children were Luke, Thomas, Eliza, Robert, and Henry.
William and Sarah Heeney and their children settled on Lot 18, Concession 5, Huntley Township, Carleton County, about 25 miles from Ottawa. The area was settled largely by Irish and English Protestant immigrants many of whom had served with Wellington's armies. Nearby were many Howards, Greenes, and Carrys so that while there was much that was strange and forbidding about the new surroundings there was also much that was warm and familiar. William seems to have settled quickly into teaching, first at the 9th line school and later in nearby Huntley. During these early years in Canada Sarah gave birth to three more children, Anne, Charles H., and William.
At the time of the 1851 census the family was listed as living in a shanty with a flat roof. It is interesting to note that in this census the family name was spelled Heney. By the 1961 census William (surname spelled Heaney) was well established as a farmer on a 100 acre farm. The agricultural census showed that William and his sons cultivated 24 acres of land, grew 1 acre of garden, and maintained 75 acres of woods.
Cropping consisted of:
Crops Livestock Market Products
It would seem that William made the transition from schoolteacher to farmer rather successfully in 15 years.Even though the farming operation was obviously successful, the older boys, Luke and Robert started working for the lumber companies whose limits were on the Gatineau watershed of Quebec. When the boys were settled in the lumbering business they persuaded their father to leave Huntley Township and settle at Danford Lake. At this time, 1865, Danford Lake was surrounded by magnificent stands of White Pine. It should be remembered that wild though the country was land could be secured from the province for 30 cents per acre, with a 10% down payment. Although land purchase records indicate that Luke purchased land in the area as early as 1860, the first record of land purchase by William was on April 14, 1869. This purchase consisted of 269 acres in lots 32 & 33 in the 11th range of Aylwin Township. The land bordered on the shores of Danford Lake. William built a house on the lot overlooking what is now known as the Narrows of Danford Lake. The house although modified somewhat is still standing and in use in 1989.
The Heeney homestead is situated in the county of Gatineau, Quebec, half way along the west side of Danford Lake. It is approximately 85 kilometres north of Ottawa, Ontario. The original house was of log construction, but was later covered with vertical, board and batten sheathing. This photo was taken in 1954. (photo and text taken from Wesley W. Heeney's brief, "Heeney")
The William Heeney home on Danford Lake 1985.
William acted as magistrate, but there were only a few court proceedings. He dealt with problems that arose more as a clan chief than as a federal agent. On one occasion a group of Irish settlers in the back woods defied the law and refused to pay taxes. Some of the officials wanted to send in the Militia. William Heeney said,"If you do that, people will be killed. Let me handle it." He sent for the headman of the settlement to come and see him. They discussed the problem man to man, one Irishman to another and it was settled, if not to everyone's satisfaction, at least without bloodshed.
Family records do not indicate whether or not Sarah Heeney had any training in nursing, but apparently she had great skill, and was often sought out for help in treating fevers, wounds, and setting bones. On one occasion an Irish settler came at night, roused William and asked that his wife Sarah come and attend his sick wife. William said, "Have you a conveyance?" "I have a torch, Sir", replied the farmer. "You fool, that woman cannot ride upon the torch," William said and he got a horse from the stable for Sarah to ride.
William and Sarah were very religious and were deeply involved with the Church of England. While living in Huntley the Heeney's were strong supporters of the church, and there are many evidences of this devotion in the early records of the church, including a stained glass window over the altar of St.Paul's Church in Fitzroy Harbour presented in memory of Fredrick Heeney who died in a logjam on the Gatineau River in 1885.
Probably the best record of the impact of the Heeney's on the church is to be found in an article "The Gatineau" written by Rev. W. Percy Chalmers and printed originally in the Montreal Diocesan Theological College Magazine and later in the Church Evangelist.
"It was truly a Macedonian cry that lead to the foundation of the missions on the upper Gatineau. Some twenty miles up the river from Ottawa the Church had pushed her outposts by the end of the fifties, but beyond this point, so far as the church knew, there was only the Township of Low populated by a colony of Irish Romanists, and beyond these a few Frenchmen and Indians. What the church did not know was that the Heeney's had arrived north of Low and were well established as lumber managers and farmers. The old schoolmaster and parish clerk (William) was not satisfied. There were no services of the church within 40 miles, and the morning and evening prayer read by him were in no sense substitutes for the regular administrations of the Church. So it was that Bishop Fulford was troubled with a succession of letters from the far away portion of the Diocese."
The events that were to follow were best described in a letter written in 1912 to Canon Bertal Heeney by his sister Elizabeth. In this letter she relates the following story told to her by the Rev. Chambers who was in charge of the Parish from 1881-1885.
"The first missionary here was Archdeacon Lonsdale and he came after William Heeney had written the Bishop of Montreal to send a missionary. The reply was, "they had no one to send". William wrote back again saying that if they did not send one he would write the Archbishop of Canterbury and if that did not do he would write the Bishop of Dublin. The Bishop of Montreal sent Lonsdale to see who this man was who knew the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lonsdale arrived with a team and a driver."
"They were shown the road to Danford Lake but missed it and took the shanty road. Dark came, the horse played out, and Lonsdale left the driver on the road and walked on. After a while he saw sparks in the air and heard voices. The words were "Glory to the Father and to the Son etc." It was Luke's shanty and his father was at home, Luke in his place was reading the evening prayers and the Heeney boys were responding. Lonsdale stayed the night at the shanty and in the morning was sent to see William. He remained three weeks. After returning to Montreal, Lonsdale told the Bishop that if he had no one else to send he would return to the Gatineau. The Bishop, however, in 1865 appointed Rev. A.C. Nesbit, the first incumbent of Aylwin and Alleyne."
The influence of The Heeney's, William and his sons, on the Anglican church was reported in the history of the Parish of Alleyne and Cawood prepared for the meeting of the Archdeaconry of Clarendon in 1908, They, along with other area families aided in the construction of the first Anglican Church in the area, Holy Trinity Alleyne in 1867.The church became known as the "Old Heeney Church" and a centennial was held in 1963.
The devotion of William Heeney to his church is probably best described in a story reported by Rev. W. P. Chambers in the pages of the Aylwin Parish Magazine as follows:"It was years ago, and then, as now, preparations were being made to give Christmas 1865 a merry welcome. An old man jogging along through the keen winter air, had something of the world's cares on his shoulders as a result of his some fifty odd years progress through it. Hearty he seemed to be, but none too healthy for the sixty odd miles on horseback through rough country, along roads little traveled, and the weather was cold too. But the traveler was in the spirit of those who made God's church beauteous with the gorgeous ceremonial and rich service, which rightfully belonged to it. And then, for he had, and still has, the weird habit of talking to himself, he would mutter, "No, Sir, they will have no teacup or pottery on the Altar, I'll promise you." The horse would get a reminder then, that he had a part to perform, and would proceed more briskly for a time, and so on until Ottawa was reached. But there was little time to delay there, for soon the pair were on the road again--a bag placed across the saddle now bulging out in peculiar prominences--going in the opposite direction now, a satisfied smile forever lurking around the ruddy face of the rider. The way was long, very long, but it was all over at last. Christmas Day dawned at last, and for the first time in that remote district, a real Christmas service was held in the little Union Church building. Church people and others for miles around attended and our old friend was there too with his good wife, the Grandma of the district, beside him. But how astonished the congregation, how delightfully surprised the clergyman, when the Oblation was made, and the bread and wine were set upon the altar in bright silver vessels, the contents of that mysterious bag for which our friend had taken that long and arduous ride to Ottawa, and for which his hard earned money had been given."
Rev. W. P. Chambers in recording this story finished the narrative in the following manner "Perhaps I need hardly add that it was Mr. Heeney who had been disturbed by a report that a bottle and tea cup and saucer had figured in a service held by nonconformists some time previously."
There are many stories of the close relations of William and the church. He and his sons helped establish and build the first church in 1867 on land donated by Henry Heeney. In 1898 this early church was replaced with the Present Holy Trinity Church. The majority of the early members of the Heeney families including William and Sarah are buried in the church cemetery. It was for these and many other reasons that the church became known as the "Old Heeney Church". In 1963, a centennial celebration was held. The bell that was donated by Luke, William's eldest son, was still in use.
The Heeney's were also strong supporters of the Orange Order. Rev. William Shearer in an article "Reminiscences of the Gatineau" printed in November 1898 in the Gatineau Beacon, relates the story of his visit to the area. A portion of the article indicates how important the Orange Picnic was to the area. "It was about the 12th of July and I was to attend the Orangeman's picnic in Heeney's grove. This picnic is one of the institutions of the district. It is looked forward to and prepared for weeks ahead. The whole day is given up to pleasure, and a right good time is had by all who have the good fortune to be present. I verily believe that there has been more matchmaking in Heeney's grove on picnic days than in any other spot of similar size on the whole river."
Sarah Heeney died in the family home on Danford Lake, January 30, 1884, in her 74th year and was buried in the cemetery of Holy Trinity Church. William died in his 80th year on January 28, 1891, and was buried at Sarah's side. The resting-place of these two pioneers is marked by a simple cross in the cemetery. William's memory is commemorated by a beautiful stained glass window over the altar of Holy Trinity Church. The window was presented by his grandsons.
Most family histories have a mystery In the case of the Heeney family the mystery appears at the bottom of the second page of a letter to Canon Bertal Heeney from his sister, dated October 15, 1912, and found in the papers of Canon Heeney in Archives Canada. The letter quotes a story told by Rev. Chambers who was the incumbent in Holy Trinity Church from 1880-1890. Rev. Chambers makes reference to a conservation he had with William Heeney when William thought that he was on the point of death. According to Chambers, William was telling him the story of his life. He said that "Heeney was not his name at all------------". The mystery arises as these are the last words on page two of the letter and page three is missing. One possible explanation for this may be found in his early History. It appears that William's mother was married twice. Is it possible therefore that when William got into trouble with the Law, he took the name of his stepfather when he came to Canada???
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This page was last updated on April 23, 2002.
