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THE ORANGE LODGE IN MEGANTIC COUNTY, QUEBEC

By Brian McConnell

Megantic County, Quebec is located about 40 miles south of Quebec City. It is an isolated farming community in the north-east corner of the Eastern Townships. All of the County’s settlers came from Ireland and Scotland in the period 1819 - 1835. The settlement of the County began and ended in this period, with no later influx of settlers from Britain or elsewhere. The Orange Lodge has been part of the history of the County since 1837, when the first settlers applied for the formation of the a lodge. A transfer certificate, dated April 10, 1840, reads in part:

"We the Master, Deputy Master, Treasurer and Secretary of the Loyal Orange Association, No. 1439 held in Ballemagroerty in the Kingdom of Ireland, do certify that brother John Lowry has regularly received the degree of a true Orange and Purple man in this our association and that he has conducted himself during his stay amongst us to the entire satisfaction of all our Brethren. We therefore request that all our regular Associations in the Universe do recognize and admit him as such."

This first Lodge No. 297 met at Hill Head on the 2nd Range of Leeds and became known as the Purple Hill Lodge. Other Lodges instituted early in Megantic’s history were:

L.O.L. 558 Glen Murray

L.O.L. 559 Kinnear’s Mill

L.O.L. 659 Belsher Range, later moved to 8th Range of Leeds which became know as Bracken’s Lodge

L.O.L. 663 Leeds Village

L.O.L. 678 Campbell’s Corners

L.O.L. 699 Lower Ireland

L.O.L. 3016 Lemesurier

L.O.L. 1010 1st Range, Leeds

L.O.L. ? Adderley Lodge

Traditionally, Lodge meetings were held the first night after the full moon, to allow sufficient light for those who had to walk great distances. In the early years, before roads were built, men would walk as much as 10 miles by lantern and moonlight to Lodge meetings. Winter storms often forced members to stay overnight with the family of an Orange brother along the way. With the gradual decline of the English population of Megantic County due to westward migration of children in hopes of a better economic future and the departure of many to enlist in WWII who did not return, the original ten lodges amalgamated into four, namely numbers 297, 559, 659, and 678.

The Orangemen of Megantic County celebrated the 12th of July each year since the Lodge was formed there. In the days before transportation was available, families congregated in may locations and celebrated with family picnics. People arrived at these family gatherings on foot, or in some lucky cases, by oxen and dump-cart. In later years (1855-60) horses became more common in the district, families began to travel by horse and two-seated buggy to celebrate the picnic at one central picnic. A picnic where everyone could gather was first started in 1854. The first picnics were held in Leeds, above the village, on the road to Lemesurier. It was later alternated between the MacLean Grove at Leed, Henry Lowry’s land at Kinnear’s Mills and Lambly’s Grove at Inverness.

Since 1906, the picnic has been held yearly at the Ross-Scott grove, now known as the the McCrae grove. This picnic, organized by the local Orange Lodge has always had a large attendance. It has been and still is, an annual community reunion, bringing Megantic descendants by the hundreds from all over North America. It has served as a link with the past, giving many people a feeling of roots and pride in their pioneer heritage.

Source: This article is based on information that appears in "The Pioneers of Inverness Township, Quebec" by Gwen Rawlings, Boston Mills Press, Cheltenham, Ontario, 1979