Higginson horde in Vankleek Hill
The Higginson Tower, a local landmark in Vankleek Hill, is the remains of a grist mill operation of Lt.-Col. Thomas Higginson, who was also an avid astronomer and kept an observatory at the top of the tower. It proved a popular stopping site for many of the 300-plus visitors to the village for the 200th Anniversary Higginson Reunion.
“The first Higginsons to arrive in 1817 were headed for Baltimore,” explained Bill Byers, chairman of the Higginson Reunion 200.
George Higginson and his family were emigrating to America but their plans to settle down with other Higginson family members in Pennsylvania got sidetracked when the port at Baltimore, Maryland, was closed because of a typhus outbreak. Instead, their ship sailed up the coast and down the St. Lawrence River and docked at Québec City.
During their stay there, Byers noted, they met with members of the Hamilton family, which owned and operated several large sawmills in the Hawkesbury area of what was Upper Canada.
“They were the biggest sawmills (operations) in the British Empire,” said Byers.
In the end, the Higginsons settled in what would become the Vankleek Hill area, bought and cleared some land, and settled down, farming their lots, working in the sawmills, or setting themselves up in one
sort of business or another. From then on, the Higginson family grew and grew.
“Our people are everywhere,” Byers said, with a grin. “My great-grandmother was a Higginson.
During the Aug. 12 weekend reunion, estimates are that at least 300 or more Higginsons, whether by direct descent or related by past marriages, descended on Vankleek Hill for one of the biggest reunion gatherings in the family history. The community centre served as Higginson central for the reunion, with one wall occupied from end to end with a history of the Higginson family, from the early settlements until today.
“John William Higginson built many of the first old buildings around here,” Byers said. “Thomas Higginson, nephew of Lt.Col. Higginson, was an MP from 1863 to 1867. There have been Higginson doctors and lawyers, I can’t think of an area of life where they haven’t been involved. You name it, they did it.”
Along with casual meet-and-greets, Higginson clan members went on guided or self-guided tours of the area to visit heritage landmark sites in the family history, including visits to the Higginson Tower in the centre of the village. Built originally by Lt-Col. Thomas Higginson as a grain mill, the top of the tower also served as an observatory for Thomas Higginson’s passion for astronomy.
It may also be possible that Thomas Higginson still studies the stars at night. Rose Lightle, towerkeeper this summer at the heritage site, noted that one question she is always asked is whether or not the tower is “haunted” and she will give a definite “maybe” in reply.
Two of the uppermost windows of the tower are always partway open when she arrives in the morning to open up the structure for visitors. Always the same two windows, which she always makes sure are closed at night before she leaves. The windows are not just open an inch or two and she is sure that it’s not vibrations or something else that keeps opening them.
“They’re really hard for me to open and close,” she said, smiling.
Which suggests there will always be a Higginson in Vankleek Hill.