Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

Montée Aiken, or Aiken Hill, is named for Martin Aiken (1860-1938) whose farm was located here.  Martin Aiken married Mary Dubé and had two children: a daughter, Catherine, who married Charles Newell and brought up a large family; and a son, Wallace, who married Bessie Sargent, and had only one child.  Both Catherine Aiken Newell and Wallace Aiken lived their entire lives in Potton, not far from where each was born, as did each of their children.

The Aiken family of Potton actually began with the arrival of Thomas Aiken, Sr., in 1825, to what is now called Glen Sutton (Potton's close neighbour).  Thomas Aiken, Sr. was born in 1786, in Bradford, Vermont.  He homesteaded in Glen Sutton with his wife, Mary Barnett (1782-1853), and together they brought up several children.  As was the tradition of the time, the family farm was passed from father to eldest son, Samuel Aiken (1809-1882), and subsequently to his son, Alonzo H. Aiken.  Alonzo Aiken married twice.  In his first marriage to Anna Wright, one son and two daughters were born.  Candace, one of their daughters, married Abel Irving White (see White Road).  It is from this branch of the Aiken family that the White and Bedard families in Potton are descended.  Alonzo's second wife was Mary L. Jersey (1866-1947), from Potton (see notes for Jersey Cemetery).  One of their daughters was Edith Amelia Aiken who married R. F. Cowan (see Cowan House).  Mr. & Mrs. Cowan had one daughter, Mary Frances (see history of the United Church in Mansonville), who married Merton Bailey (see Highwater Customs).  Alonzo Aiken and Mary Jersey also had a son, Arthur Aiken (1899-1967), whose son was also named Arthur Aiken (1922-2003).  He married Mavis Fullerton, and they had a family of four (see Fullerton Pond).  Their only daughter, Lorna, married Royal Lamothe.  Lorna and Royal's daughter married Réjean Laplume (see Chemin Laplume) of Potton.  Another branch of the same Potton family tree involves Charles Aiken, yet another great-great-grandson of Thomas Aiken.  Charles also had two families and several children.  One son of the second family was Pete Aiken, who lived in Dunkin for many years with his wife, Bridgett (an Irish war-bride).  Their son, John, lives in Glen Sutton and married Lorraine Rouillard (see Chemin Alphonse-Rouillard), adding further branches to the Aiken family tree.

“The Aikens in Potton may lay claim as well, to the English/Scottish heritage that is the Aiken name – one of the oldest names of the English-Scottish border, and its history is closely interwoven into the rich and beautiful tapestry of the chronicles of that border.  The family are believed to be of Strathclyde Briton origin – a race of Gaelic, whose territories ranged from Lancashire in the south, northward to the south bank of the River Clyde in Scotland. Clansmen played an active role in the politics of Scotland as that country moved toward parliamentary unity with England in 1707.

Many of the clansmen were encouraged to migrate to Northern Ireland.  Here they formed the nucleus of what is now Ulster.  Many migrated to the New World, and eventually at least one of their number found his way to Lower Canada, and through the labour of generations, helped to build the beautiful Eastern Townships and our own Township of Potton.”^[1]

Thomas Aiken and wife Mary Barnett Aiken repose in the Aiken Cemetery of Glen Sutton, so named because Thomas Aiken, Sr. donated land for the original burying ground.  Today it is commonly known as the Brock Cemetery.