Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

The Chapel Hill Cemetery, found on Miltimore Road at its intersection with Chemin des Marguerites, offers peaceful views of the surrounding valley and distant hills.  It is here that some of Potton's oldest settlers are buried.  It is also probable that the oldest settlement in Potton was founded in this general vicinity.  It was called Meigs' Corners (1834) or Coit's Corners (1825), about which much is written later in this volume.  Cyrus Thomas tells us that “a large building was erected at this place in 1809 or thereabout^[1] …”

Pioneers such as Peter Perkins, Jonathan Heath, Samuel Clark, David Fullerton, Francis Jersey and members of the Garland family, among many others, have found their final resting place upon this hill.  An interesting feature of the cemetery is that the oldest stones appear to be similar, perhaps installed around the same time.  Each of these is engraved with flowing script of superior quality.  Polished grey marble and stones of red granite, lettered in sharp relief, stand in contrast to the weathered greys and blacks of older markers, inscriptions now barely visible.

Chapel Hill cemetery dates from the 1840's and derives its name from the fact that a meeting house, called “The Chapel”, was built near by the “Female Benevolent Society of Potton”. 

We thought perhaps you might like to read of this Society – the first charitable organization of Potton and “the first organization of this character in the Dominion of Canada”^[2].  The Society has its roots in the United States.  Since most of the early settlers here were American, doubtless some of the ladies were familiar with the Benevolent Society already.

“It is a matter of considerable interest to note that Christian women of the township of Potton, before the first generation of earliest settlers had passed away, banded themselves together for Christian and benevolent purposes… the organization of such a Society took place as early as 1826”^[3]. 

The members of the Society worked diligently to help out less fortunate families, sometimes in most surprising and practical ways.  In 1840, it appears “that the Society is the owner of a cow, and this cow is hired out to Mrs. Hannah Perkins for one year for the sum of $3.75”^[4]. Mrs. Perkins was then assured of milk, butter and cheese to feed her family.  It was later recorded that Mrs. Perkins was credited with having paid for the rental of the cow, in case you were wondering!

“(…) they also decided to make Widow Mills a flannel dress, as she is sick.”^[5]  One year, the Society manufactured, for benevolent purposes, 18 yards of flannel, according to Taylor.  History records that the ladies donated many “knots” of yarn as well. (A knot of yarn was a skein or a hank.)

In 1841, “they decide to appropriate to the building of a meeting house $30.00 in money and $30.00 in other pay, to be paid out of the Treasury. (…)  In 1843 (…) the Society selected a spot on which the House of Worship was afterwards erected.  At this time they took subscriptions to increase their funds.”  The Union Meeting House appears to have been completed in 1844, and became known as the “Chapel”. The first service held in the Chapel was January 14, 1845, after which time Reverend Merriman, the minister, was paid “50 cents in cash and a pair of footings”^[6].  The last recorded meeting of the Society was October 4, 1848. 

The Union Meeting House was located adjacent to the cemetery, though no trace of a building remains.  The Methodists first used the Chapel for worship, although like all Meeting Houses, it was intended for multipurpose use, be it community or religious. 

In 1856, after the sale of the Baptist church then located on the site of the present day Anglican Church in Mansonville, the Chapel became the temporary home of the Baptist Church.^[7]  Evidence points to the fact that the Chapel Hill Cemetery is the only vestige of Meig's Corner, about which more is written further in this book.  Meig's Corner was historically significant in Potton.  It was first called Coit's Corners, after Levi Coit who came to Potton around 1825, built and operated a store, and was postmaster until 1845.  He, too, lies in Chapel Hill Cemetery, with his wife and son, who died at age 17.  Two distilleries and a school, the first in Potton erected in 1809, were once found here.  Distilleries were very common in the earliest days.  C.M. Day writes that “the land was new and generally productive”.  Until a market became available, surplus grains were converted to whiskey, and sold, the whole “recognized as a respectable and legitimate employment”. 

Meig's Corner was also where the home of Samuel Elkins was located, - the location of a significant cross-border skirmish that took place during the Rebellion of 1837-38.  Read further about this incident under the remarks about the Elkins Cemetery.

More is written of Chapel Hill under the headings for Meig's Corner* and Cimetière Jersey.