Part 1 is my November 18, 2012 blog posting. In that posting I relied on Murray (1852) who identified the hematite occurrences on Lots 23, 24 and 25 in the tenth concession of Bastard Township, just south of Delta, and east of Lower Beverley Lake, as the likely source for the iron ore smelted at Furnace Falls (now, Lyndhurst). It appears the Murray (1852) was wrong and that I was wrong, as that deposit was discovered after the smelter at Furnace Falls ceased operations.
In 2018 I was contacted by email by Ken Watson, who for over twenty years has done volunteer work for the Old Stone Mill at Delta, Ontario and has written extensively on the Rideau Canal. Ken told me that he had noticed my November 18th, 2012 blog posting on the hematite deposit between Delta and Furnace Falls (now Lyndhurst) and wanted to let me know that he was investigating the source for the iron smelted at Furnace Falls and that Art Shaw was having archaeological work done on the Lansdowne Ironworks at Lyndhurst. At that time we exchanged a few emails. On January 6, 2022 Ken Watson sent me an email telling me that he and Art Shaw have published three articles on the Lansdowne Iron Works at Furnace Falls and the source for the iron used at the iron works. The three articles are:
Art Shaw, 2018 - The Lansdowne Iron Works NHS Lyndhurst, Ontario
Art Shaw & Ken Watson, 2018 - Delta and Lyndhurst – Forged Together
Ken W. Watson, 2021 - The Source of the Iron Ore for the Lansdowne Iron Works
The three articles can be downloaded from the web site for the Old Stone Mill at Delta, Ontario:
http://www.deltamill.org/history.html All are worth reading.
Ken’s research strongly suggests that the hematite deposits adjoining Lower Beverley Lake that were identified by Murray (1852) were likely not the source for the iron smelted at Furnace Falls. While Murray (1852) identified the occurrences in the tenth concession of Bastard Township as the source for the ore smelted at Furnace Falls, Ken’s research shows that they had not been discovered when Sunderlin’s smelter at Furnace Falls was in operation. Ken’s research suggests that the likely sources close to Lyndhurst include the following:
a) hematite in outcrops of sandstone near Furnace Falls, that were quickly exhausted [see Shaw, 2018, quoting Sunderlin 1807 that “ the ore adjoining the works did not turn out as expected”] ;
b) hematite in outcrops of sandstone on Sunderlin’s property on lots 11, 12 and 13 of Concession XIII of Lansdowne Township, about two kilometers to the east of the occurrences identified by Murray, and only 100 meters to a kilometer east of the outcrop of hematite in sandstone on County Road 42 mentioned in my blog posting, and six kilometers northeast of Lyndhurst;
c) hematite in outcrops on lot 10 of Concession XI of Lansdowne Township (see Wing,1800), about two kilometers southeast of the occurrences identified by Murray, and three to four kilometers northeast of Lyndhurst.
Ken Watson’s (2021) Map 3 clearly shows the location of those deposits in relation to Lyndhurst and to the hematite deposits east of Lower Beverley Lake. For those that don’t bother looking at the map, it is worth noting that Concession X of Bastard Township borders the township line with Lansdowne township, and that Sunderlin’s lots on Concession XIII of Lansdowne Township border the township line with Bastard township.
Ken concludes “What we are left with today is the knowledge of several potential sources of iron in the vicinity of Lyndhurst with a likelihood that the Lower Beverley Lake iron deposit[s] were not known and were not used to supply the furnaces at Lyndhurst.”
What is known for certain is that eight sleigh loads of iron ore were taken from the 2nd Concession of Montague Township (between Smith Falls and Merrickville) and smelted at Furnace Falls. I have deliberately used the word ‘taken’ as Art Shaw (2018) mentions that “In February 1803, Justice of the Peace Thomas Smith, for whom Smiths Falls was later named, took a deposition by John Covell, accusing Wallis Sunderlin, Peleg Sunderlin, Steven Washburn, William Stevens, William Patterson, Abel Stevens Jr and Adam Shook of stealing 8 sleigh loads of iron ore from his property in the 2nd Concession of Montague Township, between Merrickville and Smiths Falls. The circumstances suggest that the ore was probably mined by prearrangement for that purpose, but Sunderlin’s need for the immediate delivery of the ore, at some point overcame all other considerations, including his ability to pay. The extreme of taking eight teams of horses or oxen with drivers, 40 miles north through the wilderness in winter, and returning across frozen rivers and lakes with eight sleighs loaded with ore, is a testament to his desperation.”
Lieutenant Baddeley’s (1831) Report on the Lower Beverley Lake Deposit
Ken’s email reminded me that since I published my original blog posting on the subject I had come across an article by Lieutenant Baddeley of the Royal Engineers published in 1831 discussing the occurrence at Lower Beverley Lake. Lieutenant Baddeley (1831) agrees with Ken’s analysis that the deposit adjacent Lower Beverley Lake (then known as Henderson's Lake or Beverley Lake) was discovered “long after” the smelter at Furnace Falls was abandoned. Here is part of Lieutenant Baddeley’s (1831) report:
“Red Oxide of Iron [hematite] has been noticed in two or three places in Canada, but most abundantly in the neighbourhood of Henderson's Lake, on the Gannanoqui, where it forms apparently an extensive bed in a ferruginous sandstone (old red sandstone).
At the Furnace Falls about three miles below this deposit there was formerly a smelting establishment, where some few articles were manufactured, not however from the ore above alluded to, as that was discovered long after these works were deserted, and none of it appears to have been smelted for any other purpose than experiment, which is said to have been favorable. ...
The deposit here alluded to is situated on the eastern shore of Beverley or Henderson's lake, an enlargement of the Gannanoqui, in the upper portion of its navigable waters. It is about one quarter of a mile from the lake, on the opposite side of a cedar swamp, and on the summit of a small hill. An inhabitant of Beverley [now called Delta] desirous of ascertaining whether it was in abundance or not, opened a portion of the ground about ten feet every way, and found a considerable quantity. He seems to have struck a vein of it at the depth of about eight feet, which dips towards the north-east. But it also appears in the section he has made in large heavy blocks on and near the surface. I examined the ground in several places to the northward and eastward of this excavation, and always found it near the surface, it was also met with to the westward. As I remained on the spot only twenty minutes or half an hour, it is not possible to pronounce as to the quantity in which it occurs, it however, appears to be considerable. To obtain positive information on this point, it would be necessary to cut a few sections or sink a few holes on the hill, which might be done at a trifling expense— an expense amply repaid by even the chance of finding an extensive bed of ore in so desirable a locality.”
Lieutenant Baddeley also provided an extensive report on the iron minerals present.
Pilon (2003), who prepared a short biographical note on Baddeley (Lieutenant, then Captain, Major and Major General), mentions that Lieutenant Baddeley was posted to Quebec in Lower Canada in 1821, and comments that “Baddeley was one of the original members of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec in 1824 and served as its president in 1829. He read numerous papers before the society describing exploring expeditions he undertook in Canada and giving his observations on the geology of the country.” I have not been able to determine when between 1821 and 1830 Lieutenant Baddeley visited the occurrence at Lower Beverley Lake.
Iron Ore Taken by Sunderlin from Montague Township, Lanark County
In a separate email Ken mentioned that he had not followed up on the iron ore occurrence in Montague Township, other than to note the it is mentioned in Glenn Lockwood ‘s history of Montague township. This was a reference to:
Lockwood, Glenn J. 1980 - Montague: A Social History Of An Irish Ontario Town Ship 1783-1980; Publisher: Township of Montague, 639pp
Lockwood (1980, page 242) quotes from an article from the July 20, 1865 edition of the Smith’s Falls Review discussing the proposed iron mine stating “That ore exists there in inexhaustible quantities cannot be questioned. In various parts before coming to Roseville "surface indications," ... are plainly observable, and the beds of it can generally be traced as far as the elevated land extends.” Lockwood (1980, page 242) also notes that “despite further assurances from the Review editor that the fine quality of the ore was beyond dispute, that analysts in New York and Montreal affirmed samples to be seventy-six percent iron ore in content, and that the proprietor of the Burgess mines was "organizing a company with the view of having the rights of mining opened forthwith", in the end no such development occurred.”
That the 1865 proposed iron mine was at Roseville means that this deposit was likely the source for the eight sleigh loads of iron ore were obtained from John Covell’s property in the 2nd Concession of Montague Township. This is because Roseville is a small village that is shown on Miles & Co.’s (1879) map as falling in Lot 21, Concession II of Montague Township. The bedrock at Roseville, and underlying all of the 2nd Concession of Montague Township, is mapped as the March Formation on the Ontario Geological Survey’s Map P2494 (Carson , 1982). It is worth noting that all occurrences of hematite ore bodies in Eastern Ontario are found in the Potsdam Group sandstones or the underlying Precambrian Marbles. None have been found in March Formation sandstones.
Another reference that I located dealing with iron ore in Montague Township is by James Bell (1889) who mentioned that “I have also an interest in an iron ore property in Montague, county of Lanark about 1,000 acres, there is bog ore on that property. I took out about 800 or 1,000 tons of the bog ore; some of it was sold in the United States and was smelted there, and they told me at the furnace it turned out 5l per cent. The country there is full of springs, and the ore is always found where there has been a flowing spring. I think there was some manganese in the iron.” I believe that there is a good chance that James Bell’s (1889) reference to bog iron ore in Montague Township relates to the 1865 report in the Smith’s Falls Review of ore at Roseville, and could be the source for the eight sleigh loads of iron ore were taken from the 2nd Concession of Montague Township by Sunderlin, but further research would have to be undertaken in order to link bog ore to the 2nd Concession of Montague Township. Right now there is a foot of snow on the ground in Eastern Ontario and the weather (minus 15 degrees Celsius) is not conducive to looking for outcrops.
Art Shaw (2018, page 14) mentions that during excavation at the furnace “a layer of iron bearing material found in one of the pits during archaeology in 2017, was tentatively identified as bog ore.” If it turns out that the iron ore at Roseville is bog iron, then the material found in the pit could relate to the ore taken by Sunderlin in the winter of 1802-1803.
Bog-iron ore, also known in the 1800's as brown hematite, limonite and hydrous peroxide of iron, was smelted in Upper and Lower Canada in the early 1800's. Logan (1863, page 510-511) mentions that bog iron ore was found in great abundance in many localities in Upper and Lower Canada. Yellow ochre, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand, was often associated with and derived from bog iron deposits.
Other Reports of Iron Ore and Iron Minerals In Leeds County
There have been other reports of iron ore and iron minerals from Leeds County. However, I found no indication that any of these deposits was known when the smelter at Furnace Falls was in operation. Gourlay (1822) mentioned that “Yellow ochre also is dug up in Gananoqui.” and that ironstone (a sedimentary rock that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore) was found in Bastard Township. Bigsby (1829, page 268) mentioned that ‘Magnetic iron ore occurs high up the Gananoque River, and on an islet in the St. Lawrence, one mile south-west from the mouth of the Gananoque.” Murray (1852, page 82) reported that “ A bed of bog ore was observed on the twenty-first lot of the seventh concession of Bastard, not far from Beverley [now Delta]. It was found to be about two feet thick in one spot;”. Hunt (1852) provides an analysis from bog iron ore from “Bastard, twentieth lot, second concession” in Leeds County containing 77.8% peroxide of iron, that had been found by Murray. The twentieth lot of the second concession of Bastard would now be at the west end of the Village of Portland, and is nine miles north of Delta. Murray (1852, page 82) also reported hematite on the the 9th Concession of Lansdowne Township.
R. C. Sherret (1889) mentioned that “At Charleston lake, in the county of Leeds, there is hematite. The deposit is 15 or 16 feet wide and is rich. I have seen a piece that was taken out and analysed something about 70 per cent. The lot belongs to the government and has been covered with water. Some 300 or 400 tons of it have been taken up and crushed for pigment by Mr. Ramsay.”
More recently Baker (1922) reported hematite in Potsdam sandstone on lot 13, Concession IX, Bastard township where test pits were dug. Fréchette (1923) commented that “In Leeds county there are a number of small deposits of iron ochre in swampy ground, in most cases adjacent to Potsdam sandstone or Beekmantown dolomite. The deposits probably owe their origin to iron leached from these rocks. Such deposits were seen on lot 20, concession II, and lot 21, concession VII, Bastard township, and lot 24, concession X, Leeds township. None of these can be considered of commercial interest. On lot 18 or 19, Broken Front, Yonge township, there are two deposits which, about forty years ago, were exploited for raw material for paint making. One is composed of earthy hydrated oxide, which has been deposited in a swamp by a spring issuing from rocks carrying-much iron pyrites.” Lockwood (1996, page 214) mentions that “by the early 1850s it was reported that mining for an unspecified mineral, possibly yellow ochre pigment, had taken place on one of the islands of Charleston Lake” relying on Smith (1852) and a notation by Art Shaw.
While Ken Watson and I both assumed that hematite from Potsdam sandstone in Leeds County was smelted at Furnace Falls, the possibility that the iron ore from Montague Township smelted at Furnace Falls was bog iron suggests that bog iron ore occurrences in Leeds County are also possibilities. The bed of bog iron ore observed on the twenty-first lot of the seventh concession of Bastard is a mile east of Phillipsville, anywhere from two to four miles north of Delta, and about eight miles north of Furnace Falls. The bog iron ore observed on the twentieth lot of the second concession of Bastard is now at the west end of the Village of Portland, nine miles north of Delta, and 17 miles north of Furnace Falls. Both of those areas were settled before the smelter at Furnace Falls was constructed. Art Shaw (2018) has also considered whether the bog iron from Leeds might have been smelted.
Joseph Bawden’s (1893) Report of Iron Ore in Leeds Township
Joseph Bawden was a Barrister and Solicitor, Mining Engineer, mine owner and lecturer on the law of mines at Kingston’s School of Mining, who lived and practiced in Kingston, Ontario. He was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor in 1867 and died in 1906. He was on the faculty of the School of Mining as the Lecturer on Mining Law from 1894 until he passed away in 1906, and played a part in the founding of the School of Mining.
Joseph Bawden was an authority on mines and mining in Eastern Ontario. He owned and operated a graphite mine, at least one mica mine, an apatite mine, and had interests in two iron ore mines. Ingall (1902) mentions J. Bawden a number of times in his publication ‘Report on the Iron Deposits along the Kingston and Pembroke Railway’ as the source for information on the Glendower Iron Mine and the Foley Iron Mine, and as owning a property on the north shore of Birch lake, Frontenac County on which hematite had been found. He is mentioned and relied on numerous times in the Report of the Royal Commission on the Mineral Resources of Ontario And Measures for Their Development (1890).
Joseph Bawden authored a number of papers including one published in 1893 that I don’t believe anyone has referred to in over 100 years. That paper is entitled ‘The Iron Ores of Frontenac and Leeds, Ontario.’ In that paper Bawden noted that “Along the outcrops on the shores of Charleston Lake,... red hematite ore is met, but in what quantity no thorough exploration permits the statement.” He also discussed red hematite of the Potsdam formation noting, among others, the following occurrences:
“Lansdowne - Lot 13, 10th Con.; lots 17, 18, 8th Con., lot 20, 7th Con., rear of Lansdowne, Lot 11, 12th Con. Bastard- Lot 23, 10th Con.”
The occurrences in Lansdowne are all within six kilometers of Lyndhurst. The three on the 8th and 7th Concessions are just west of Charleston Lake. The occurrence in Bastard is the one discussed by Lieutenant Baddeley (1831) and Murray (1852).
Bawden also noted two occurrences of Limonite falling on “Lot 1, 11th Con., Rear of Lansdowne, lot 21, 7th Con., Bastard.” The latter occurrence is the bog iron ore noted by Murray (1852); the former is a kilometer or two northwest of Lyndhurst.
The most interesting part of his paper is the sentence “The first furnace and forge built in Ontario at the beginning of this century, were supplied with ore from Lot 11, 12th Con. Rear of Lansdowne. Tradition does not speak well of the character of the material made. [My emphasis.]" I’m not sure what to make of his placing the source for the ore on “Lot 11, 12th Con. Rear of Lansdowne.” It certainly muddies the water, as that lot is just southwest of Sunderlin’s lot 11 on Concession XIII and northeast of lot 10 Concession XI where Wing found ore. It is hard to discount his statement as Bawden was an authority on iron ore in eastern Ontario. However, the statement was made 83 years after the Sunderlin’s furnace closed and I can’t rule out that the “12th” was a typo and should have been the “13th”.
Joseph Bawden’s above paper was presented at the meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers held in Montreal in February 1893 and was published in both The Journal of the General Mining Association of the Province of Quebec (1893-94) and in the Canadian Mining & Mechanical Review (1893).
Intriguingly, in 1896 Joseph Bawden donated to Queen’s School of Mining a “Map of Locations of Hematite and Magnetic Iron Ores in the Counties of Frontenac and Leeds, Ont.”. I have not been able to locate the map but I have a lead on where it might be found.
Hiel Sliter
Most who write on the source of the iron ore for Furnace Falls invariably mention Hiel Sliter. In 1858 Hiel Sliter wrote that “The ore was of inferior quality and had to be drawn a considerable distance, consequently the enterprise was not a financial success...” (See: Leavitt,1879, pages 61- 62). Another version is “ Sliter recorded that the "attempt to cast hollow ware (pots, kettles, etc.). ..was a failure [because] the ore was poor, a great distance to draw" in winter, "and the road was bad." (See Lockwood, 1996, page 66, and his footnote 31)”. Hiel Sliter would have had personal knowledge that the ore smelted a Furnace Falls came from a “considerable distance.” Sly (2014) reports that “Born in Vermont in 1795, Jehiel (Hiel) Sliter came with his family to Upper Canada where his father Nicholas Sliter was the collier at the Lansdowne Iron Works. “ Hiel Sliter arrived at Furnace Falls in 1804 (see anonymous, 1994; Lockwood, 1996 ) served in the war of 1812 and died in 1890. Hiel’s ‘considerable distance’ would cover the occurrences from south of Delta to Roseville.
Henderson's (1870) Report
A reference that I am having trouble with, and that I don’t believe anyone else has ever referred to, is a report by Henderson (1870) in which he describes a trip taken in January and February, 1804 from Montreal, Lower Canada to Kingston, Upper Canada, and back, with a stop in Gananoque. He mentions that near the source of the Gananoque River, “in the Township of Bastard, I am told that there is a valuable iron-mine, where iron-works have been constructed and iron manufactured a few years ago; but for some unexplained cause it is now abandoned. The ironstone, in lumps of all sizes, constituted a moderate-sized hill, some half a mile long and eighty to one hundred feet high-something in the shape of an oval dish-cover -situated on a level plain isolated from all other elevations, consisting wholly of this ironstone, which, from the specimen shown to me, from color and weight and magnetic power, had the appearance of pure iron.” As Henderson has mistakenly placed the iron works in Bastard township, I would be loath to accept his description of the ironstone as being in Bastard township.
Map of Possible Sources for the Iron Smelted at Furnace Falls
Below is an extract from Keith et al.’s (1946) map M1946-09 of Part of Southeastern Ontario showing the distribution of Potsdam sandstone, an Ontario Geological Survey publication, upon which I have marked the location of Lyndhurst and Delta, a number of surrounding towns, and the possible sources for the iron smelted at Furnace Falls. Lyndhurst is shown by a light blue hexagon, Delta with a dark blue hexagon, Perth with a black square and Smiths Falls with a black square. Potsdam sandstone is shown in yellow on the map.
Ken Watson (2021) believes that hematite found in small outcrops in Potsdam sandstone just south and north of Lyndhurst, that were soon exhausted, furnished the early ore. The outcrops are shown in yellow on the map (but can be best seen on Ken Watson’s (2021) Map 3.)
I’ve used a red hexagon to locate Roseville in the 2nd Concession of Montague Township. Art Shaw determined that in the winter of 1802-1803 Sunderlin stole iron ore from here. Art Shaw suggested that the occurrence is 40 miles north of Furnace Falls. The scale on my maps suggests that the distance is closer to 30 miles as the crow flies, but as there was no direct path between Furnace Falls and Roseville, the trip could easily have covered 40 miles in each direction. Not an easy journey in the winter of 1802-1803.
Ken Watson (2021) believes that Sunderlin’s property on lots 11, 12 and 13 of Concession XIII of Lansdowne Township, which I’ve shown by the upper green hexagon and Wing’s property on lot 10 of Concession XI of Lansdowne Township, which I’ve shown by the lower green hexagon, are likely sources for ore. Ken relies on a petition by Wing in 1800 to get “the privilege of one half of the Iron ore found on Lot No. 10 in the 11th Concession” and a petition by Sunderlin In 1807 stating “iron ore having lately been found on Lots No 11, 12 & 13 in the 13th Concession of Lansdowne”. Lot 11, 12th Concession, Rear of Lansdowne, which was identified by Joseph Bawden as the source for the ore for the furnace, falls between those two green hexagons.
Murray (1852) observed “streaks and patches of specular ore” on Lot 9 of Concession XII of Lansdowne, which lies between Sunderlin’s and Wing’s occurrences. Interestingly, the outcrop that I mentioned in my November 18, 2012 blog posting on County Road 42 is close to Sunderlin's property, being 100 meters to a kilometer west of any outcrop of hematite on Sunderlin’s property.
I have used a coral pink hexagon to mark the location of the occurrence east of Lower Beverley Lake falling on Lots 23, 24 and 25 in the tenth concession of Bastard Township that was discovered after the smelter closed. This was described by Lieutenant Baddeley (1831) of the Royal Engineers, by Alexander Murray (1852), Ingall (1901), Ells (1903), Wright (1921) and Wynne-Edwards (1967) of the Geological Survey of Canada, and by Baker (1922) and Brinsmead (1975) of the Ontario Department of Mines.
I have also marked the locations of two early reports of bog iron ore that were found by Alexander Murray: Hunt’s (1852) analysed bog iron ore occurrence on the twentieth lot, second concession of Bastard (i.e. at Portland) is shown with a brown hexagon; Murray’s (1852) bog iron ore occurrence on the twenty-first lot of the seventh concession of Bastard is shown with a purple hexagon. Both of those areas were settled before the smelter at Furnace Falls was constructed.
I have used an orange hexagon to mark the location of Baker’s (1922) report of hematite in the Potsdam sandstone on lot 13, Concession IX, Bastard township where test pits were dug.
In the end, I have to agree with Ken Watson’s conclusion that “What we are left with today is the knowledge of several potential sources of iron in the vicinity of Lyndhurst with a likelihood that the Lower Beverley Lake iron deposit[s] were not known and were not used to supply the furnaces at Lyndhurst.”
The Origin of the Hematite Deposits in Potsdam Sandstone
For those interested in the origin of the hematite deposits in the Potsdam sandstones and conglomerates of Eastern Ontario I would recommend two Ontario Geological Survey publications by Carter (1984) and Di Prisco and Springer (1991). Professor Selleck (2005) commented on the association of hematite and the Potsdam sandstones and conglomerates in New York State as follows: “The hematite deposits also share the common presence of nearby or directly overlying inliers of Potsdam Sandstone . The paragenesis of the hematite deposits is generally interpreted as multi-stage with pre-Potsdam surface weathering of Proterozoic iron sulfide leading to accumulation of locally thick gossans of limonite/hematite prior to Potsdam Sandstone deposition. Post-Potsdam reconstitution of the iron oxides involved hydrothermal fluids that dissolved and re-deposited hematite within Potsdam Sandstone as thick botryoidal masses, specular crystalline aggregates, veins and disseminated cements in sandstone and highly altered Proterozoic basement gneiss.”
Christopher Brett
Ottawa, Ontario
Addendum (January 31,2022) : On January 31 I added the references to Joseph Bawden's paper. I have directed Ken Watson's attention to the papers by Lieutenant Baddeley and Joseph Bawden. Baddeley's (1831) paper had not been cited by anyone in well over 150 years; Bawden's (1893) paper, in 100 years. I do have a lead on the 'Map of Locations of Hematite and Magnetic Iron Ores in the Counties of Frontenac and Leeds, Ont.' donated in 1896 by Joseph Bawden to Queen’s School of Mining and will post if I find it. [I didn't. See below.]
[Added February 22, 2022:] I conducted an online search of Queen’s Archives and found “Correspondence Between M.R. Allison and Joseph Bawden with Iron Ore Analysis (1882)”, “Bawden, Joseph Notes relating to Charles Sangster [a poet]”, “Lot 3, 13th & 14th con., Portland twp.; agreement, J.M. Machar to George Bawden”, and “Letters to Joseph Bawden, administrator of Herchmer Estate”, but no map. I also found a file entitled “Maps to accompany report on the Iron Ore deposits”, part of the A. W. Jolliffe fonds. In reply to my email Queen’s Archives looked at that the file and told me that it did not contain Bawden’s map. Professor Jolliffe will be familiar to many older Queen's graduates, as he taught geology at Queen’s University from 1950 until his retirement in 1972. When I attended Queen’s he was still fondly remembered for his lecture on water witching given yearly to the first year engineering class.
A water filled polygonal structure that is about 100 meters wide by 120 meters long can be seen in Google satellite view (44.596759, -76.088919). It lies north of County Road 42 at the junction with Lyndhurst Road. It straddles lots 9 and 10 of Concession XII of Lansdowne Township. It possibly an abandoned quarry. It is just south of Sunderlin’s property on Lots No. 11 & 12 in the 13th Concession of Lansdowne, and just west of the lot identified by Joseph Bawden as the source for the iron ore smelted at Furnace Falls.
References and Suggested Reading
Akenson, Donald Harman 1984 (First Edition), 1999 (Second Edition) - Irish in Ontario, A Study in Rural History. - McGill-Queen's University Press; Second edition, 448 pages, Furnace Falls at pages 82-86
Anonymous, 1827 -- Localities of Canadian Minerals, with Notes and Extracts, Chiefly collected from the Writings of John Bigsby, M.D., F.L.S., M..G.S.. The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. 73 pages https://books.google.ca/books?id=rNdhAAAAcAAJ
Anonymous, 1893 -- Iron Making in Ontario. Pages 13-30, Second Report of the Bureau of Mines 1892. https://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/ARV02//ARV02.pdf
Anonymous, 1994 -- Lillies Baptist Cemetery: An Historical Sketch. https://lilliescemetery.ca/history/
Baddeley, Frederick Henry, Lieutenant, Royal Engineers, 1831 - An Essay on the localities of Metallic Minerals in the Canadas, with some notices of their Geological associations and situations etc. Transactions of the Literary & Historical Society of Quebec, volume 2, 332- 426 at pages 336-7, 347, 383- 386 [Baddeley is incorrectly spelt as Baddley in the publication. ] https://archive.org/details/transactionsofli02lite/page/332/mode/2up
Bell, B.T. A., 1896 -- Iron and Steel. The Canadian Mining, Iron and Steel Manual, 286-346 at 291
Baker, M. B., 1922 -- Geology and Minerals of the County of Leeds , Thirty-First Annual Report of the Ontario Department of Mines, Vol. XXXI, Part VI, 24 pages
Bartlett, James Herbert, 1885 - The manufacture, consumption and production of iron, steel, and coal in the Dominion of Canada. Montreal: Dawson, 167 pages at page 25 https://archive.org/details/cihm_03006/page/n37/mode/1up 1886: Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, Volume XIV, pages 508–542
Bawden, J., 1893 - The Iron Ores of Frontenac and Leeds, Ontario. Canadian Mining & Mechanical Review : [Vol. 12, no. 4 (Apr. 1893)], page 71 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_04199_28/22?r=0&s=1 The Journal of the General Mining Association of the Province of Quebec, 1893-94 , 341
Belden, H., & Co. (1880) - Lanark Supplement in Illustrated atlas of the Dominion of Canada. Toronto : H. Belden & Co., 1880. https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/showtownship2.php?townshipid=montague Illustrated Atlas of Lanark County 1880, Renfrew County 1881, H. Belden & Co., Toronto
https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/showtownship2.php?townshipid=montague
Bell, James, 1889 -- in John Charlton, Robert Bell, William Coe, William Hamilton Merrit and Archibald Blue, Report of the Royal Commission on the Mineral Resources of Ontario 52 Victoria, Sessional Papers (no. 67), A. 1889 , 556 pages at page 141-142
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/NSP011//NSP011.pdf
Bigsby, John J., 1829 -- A sketch of the topography and geology of Lake Ontario. The Philosophical Magazine. New Series, vol. 5, 1-15, 81-87, 263-274, 339-347, 424-431, map
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53111#page/15/mode/1up
Brett, Christopher, 2012 -- An Iron Ore Deposit in the Potsdam Sandstone of Eastern Ontario: The Hematite Deposit Between Delta and Furnace Falls. Blog posting dated Sunday, 18 November 2012
http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-iron-ore-deposit-in-potsdam.html
Brinsmead, R.A., 1975 - North Leeds Planning Area: North and South Crosby, South Burgess, Bastard and Rear of Leeds and Lansdowne Townships, Leeds County, Ontario. Ontario Division of Mines Geological Branch, Open File Report 5142. 16 pages 1 map.
Carson, D. M., 1982 -- Paleozoic Geology of the Merrickville Area, Southern Ontario; Ontario Geological Survey, Map P.2494, Geological Series - Preliminary Map, Scale 1:50 000. Geology 1981
Carter, T.R., 1984 – Metallogeny of the Grenville Province of Southeastern Ontario. Ontario Geological Survey Open File Report 5515, 422 pages. Hematite at 165 -170, 414-422.
Cruikshank, E. A. 1934 - “The Settlement of the U E L on the Upper St. Lawrence and Bay of Quinte in 1784”, Ontario Historical Society, 1934. [cited in Art Shaw, 2018; not found]
Cruickshank, Ernest Alexander, 1936 - The activity of Abel Stevens as Pioneer, Ontario History, volume 31, pages 56-90. https://ontariohistoricalsociety.ca/ [ not available - cited in Akenson, 1984, 1999; Art Shaw, 2018, etc.]
Di Prisco, G. And J. S. Springer, 1991 – The Precambrian-Paleozoic Unconformity and Related Mineralization in Southeastern Ontario. Ontario Geological Survey Open File Report 5751.
Ells, R, W. 1903: - Ontario with adjacent parts of Quebec, p 129-139, at p. 138A. in Summary Report of the Geological Survey Department for the Year 1900, Part A, Geological Survey of Canada, Ann. Rept. 1900, vol. 13, 769 pages
Fréchette, Howells, 1923 - Iron Oxide Pigments in Ontario. . Summary report of investigations made by the Mines Branch during the calendar year ending December 31, 192a; Canada Mines Branch, Publication no. 586, 1923, 346 pages, pages 9-12 https://doi.org/10.4095/20739
Gourlay, Robert, 1822 - A Statistical Account of Upper Canada: compiled with a view to a grand system of emigration / . London: Simpkin & Marshall, 660 pages
https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.35937/3?r=0&s=1
Henderson,W., 1870 - A Winter Journey Long Ago. The New Dominion Monthly, February, 1870, page 28-34
https://www.google.ca/books/edition/The_New_Dominion_Monthly/e9IhAQAAIAAJ
Hunt, T. S., 1852 - Report of T.S. Hunt, Esq., Chemist and Mineralogist to the Provincial Geological Survey, addressed to W. E. Logan, Esq. Provincial Geologist. In Geological Survey of Canada. Report of Progress For the Year, 1851-52.
Ingall, E. D., 1901 - Report on the Iron Ore Deposits along the Kingston and Pembroke Railway in Eastern Ontario With Map No . 626 , Geological Survey of Canada, Annual Report vol. 12, (1899), pt. I, 1901, 91 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/287887. Geological Survey of Canada, Separate Report 723
https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.84251/1?r=0&s=1
Keith, M.L., 1946 - Sandstone as a Source of Silica Sands in Southeastern Ontario. Fifty-fifth Annual Report of the Ontario Department of Mines Being Vol. LV, Part V, 1946, 36 pages
Keith, M.L, M.B. Baker, J.F. Wright, A.E. Wilson and M. Wilson, 1946 - Part of southeastern Ontario showing distribution of Potsdam sandstone, Ontario Geological Survey, M1946-09, 1900 Series Map Scale: 1 :2 miles
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/M1946-09//M1946-09.pdf
Leeds & 1000Islands Historical Society (2013) - Hubert Sly Fonds, 2013-032 Fonds n.d. : “John Hurd Covell vs Wallis Sunderlin, Peleg Sunderlin, Steven Washburn, William Stevens, William Patterson, Abel Stevens Jr & Adam Shook, Copies of letters regarding land matters involving Benjamin Slack, Joseph Wiltse, & Wallis Sunderlin,” Leeds & 1000Islands Historical Society. LTI Archives https://www.ltiarchives.ca/index.php/merchant-billheads
Leavitt, Thad. W. H. ,1879 - The History of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario, from 1749-1879. Brockville: Recorder Press, , https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100252372
Lockwood, Glenn J. 1980 - Montague a Social History of an Irish Township 1783-1980 Publisher: Township of Montague
Lockwood, Glenn J 1996 - "The Rear of Leeds & Lansdowne : the making of community on the Gananoque River frontier, 1796-1996". Lyndhurst, Ont. : Corporation of the Township of Rear of Leeds and Lansdowne https://archive.org/details/rearofleedslansd00lock
Logan, W.E., 1863. - Geology of Canada. Report of Progress from its Commencement to 1863; Geological Survey of Canada, 983 p. [accompanied by an Atlas of Maps and Sections.] doi:10.4095/123563
MacKenzie, George Cleghorn, 1908 - The Iron and Steel Industry of Ontario, Report of the Bureau of Mines - Volume 17 - Pages 190-342 Ontario Department of Mines,
McKenzie, Ruth, 1967 - Leeds and Grenville: Their First Two Hundred Years. McClelland and Stewart, Grenville (Ont. : County) - 243 pages at psge 32
Miles & Co., 1879 Counties of Leeds and Grenville. - Scale 1:126,720. - Toronto : . 1861-62
https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/Images/Maps/TownshipMaps/lee-m-bastard.jpg
https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/showtownship2.php?townshipid=lansdowne
Murray, Alexander, 1852 - Report of Alex. Murray, Esq., Assistant Provincial Geologist, Addressed to W. E. Logan, Esq,., Provincia.l Geologist. Pages 58- 91, in Geological Survey of Canada. Report of Progress For the Year, 1851-52.
Pilon, Henri, 2003 - Baddeley, Frederick Henry, in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed January 17, 2022, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/baddeley_frederick_henry_10E.html.
Rose, E. R., 1958 - Iron Deposits of Eastern Ontario and adjoining Quebec; Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 45, 132 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/100563 Hematite at 59-66
Selleck , Bruce, 2005 - Trip A-2 Exploring the Root Zone of an Ancient Fault-driven Hydrothermal System in the Adirondack Lowlands, New York. New York State Geological Association. 77th Annual Meeting, Field Trip Guidebook, pp. 12–31.
Shaw, Art 2018 - The Lansdowne Iron Works NHS Lyndhurst, Ontario, 22 pages.
http://www.deltamill.org/history.html
Shaw, Art & Ken Watson, 2018 - Delta and Lyndhurst – Forged Together
http://www.deltamill.org/history.html
Sherret,, R.C., 1889 - At Charleston lake, in the county of Leeds, there is hematite. in John Charlton, Robert Bell, William Coe, William Hamilton Merrit and Archibald Blue, Report of the Royal Commission on the Mineral Resources of Ontario 52 Victoria, Sessional Papers (no. 67), A. 1889 , 556 pages at page 139-140 http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/NSP011//NSP011.pdf
Sliter, Hiel 1856 - Pioneer Privations: A Sketch by the Father of S.P Sliter, Morton. Unpublished manuscript . [Lockwood’s (1996) footnote 31]. See: Sliter Family, File, Part of Research Collection, Leeds and 1000 Islands Historical Society. File contains a copy of "Pioneer Privations: A sketch by the Father of S. P. Sliter, Morton. https://www.ltiarchives.ca/index.php/sliter-family
Sly, Keith, 2014 - Jehiel Sliter, 2nd Regiment Leeds Militia. | Graveside Project .
https://gravesideproject.ca/?paged=3&tag=2nd-regt-leeds-militia
Smith, W.H., 1852 - Canada: Past, Present and Future being a historical, geographical, geological and statistical account of Canada West. Volume 2, Toronto: Thomas Maclear,
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001445015
Walling, H.F., 1861 - Map of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Canada West
https://maps.library.utoronto.ca/hgis/countymaps/leeds_grenville/LeedsGrenville_merge.jpg
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/collectionsearch/Pages/record.aspx?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=3997726&new=-8585897987553385587
https://images.ourontario.ca/lakesandislands/2299848/image/912613
Walling, H.F., 1863
Map of the Counties of Lanark and Renfrew, Canada West : from actual surveys under the direction of H.F. Walling [provides lots and Concessions in Montague Township]
https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:4m90fh65g
Watson, Ken W., 1981 - Geological History of the Rideau Canal, pages 72-74 in Watson’s 2021 Guide to the Rideau Canal, available at http://www.rideaufriends.com/whatsnew.html
Watson, Ken W., 2021 The Source of the Iron Ore for the Lansdowne Iron Works, 10 pages
Wright, J. F., 1921 - Brockville-Mallorytown Map-Area, Ontario. Geological survey of Canada Summary Report, 1920, Part D, 78D-83D, https://ftp.maps.canada.ca/pub/nrcan_rncan/publications/STPublications_PublicationsST/297/297670/sum_rep_1920_d.pdf
Wynne-Edwards, H. R. 1967 - Westport Map-area, Ontario, With Special Emphasis on The Precambrian Rocks. Geological Survey of Canada , Memoir 346
