In 1820, the prerequisites to permit a new community to develop were in place and in 1823 Rawdon began to take off, as more settlers arrived and the early ones received title for the land they were clearing. The ranges at this time were mostly farmers of British origin. Businesses processing the raw materials of the area such as sawmills, flour and grist mills are established.
In 1823, the Reverend James Edmund Burton became one of the first residents to be granted Letters Patent. He was a clergyman of the ruling class but also an active citizen in the community. While in Rawdon, he published an Essay on Comparative Agriculture. In that same year, farmers also became land owners. Between 1825 and 1835, 118 settlers were given their letters patent and thus became legal owners of their land. It was a period of considerable progress.
In 1825, Joseph Bouchette, the Surveyor General of Lower Canada, published a report entitled “Official Tour Through the New Settlements of the Province of Lower Canada”. It stated the population of Rawdon was 75% Irish, that 796 acres of land had been cleared, of which 546 were cultivated, and the settlers owned 44 houses, 25 barns, 19 horses, 85 cows, 27 pigs and 7 sheep.
From 1825 to 1832, Rawdon continued to develop and progress. New lands were cleared, new roads and bridges were built, and the population continued to grow. In 1832, surveyor Bouchette published a new document in which he once again referred to Rawdon. This text provides a better measure of the progression that the Township experienced between the years 1825 and 1832. Here is what he wrote:
“The population is chiefly composed of emigrants from Ireland, and the settlements are in a state of tolerable advancement. The inhabitants derive much advantage from Mr. Dugas's excellent corn and saw-mills in lot 24 in the first range, whence the road winds into and traverses the interior of the township up to the 7th range. From the Manchester mills one mile s. (south) of Dugas's mills, the road…traversing…part of Rawdon…of which one-third is a footpath."
“Few townships are so well watered as this, which has no less than 4 rivers besides smaller streams. The rivers are the Ouareau, the Rouge, the Blanche and a branch of the St. Esprit... Every river is crossed by one or more bridges… There are 5 bridges in all, which were built by the settlers.”
“The Grand Voyer (the title held by the inspector general of roads around 1850) has laid out several roads from the front to the rear of the township, all of which are at present passable for carts... A road is opened from this T. (township) to Berthier through the Grand Rousseau (of St. Jacques – ‘the great range’).”
“Considerable quantities of maple sugar are produced in this T. and flax has been cultivated with some success. The cattle are, generally, of the small Canadian breed. In this T. is one public school... The best mode of effecting connected settlements in this T. would be the establishment of settlers on the borders of the river Lac Ouareau, which presents many advantages, viz. the excellent quality of the soil."
Rawdon had industries that included 3 corn-mills, 4 saw-mills and 8 potasheries. The population was 850.
Joseph Bouchette, A Topographical Dictionary of the Province of Lower Canada, London, 1832
Rawdon underwent renewed growth in 1837 when Bishop Lartigue, bishop of Telmesse and coadjutor of the bishop of Quebec for the ecclesiastical division of Montréal, established a catholic parish in Rawdon. From then on, many French-Canadian settlers left the overpopulated parishes of the south to settle in Rawdon.
The 1844 census established the population of Rawdon at 2,607 persons. It was composed of 926 French Canadians, 883 English Canadians, 695 Irish, 64 English, 23 Scots, 2 Americans and 14 “others”. For more information on the population in Rawdon, follow this link.
Rawdon’s growth was not limited to its population. Industry and commerce were also progressing. There were then 465 houses, 13 corn-mills, 9 saw-mills, 21 potasheries, 1 blacksmith’s shop, 1 tannery and 4 inns.
If the presence of a few French-Canadian families in Rawdon can be traced back to the beginning of the 1820s, it wasn’t until 1850 that a francophone community developed. Many families then left the St. Jacques valley to settle on the Rawdon plateau. The establishment of the two new and growing parishes of St-Liguori and Ste-Julienne, with predominately francophone citizens, who were no longer counted as Rawdon citizens, meant Rawdon Township continued to have a high percentage of English speakers until the early twentieth century as English speakers continued to leave the area for the Eastern Townships and Western Canada. The French-Canadian community actively participated in the development of the settlement, notably thanks to Father Landry who succeeded, after a hard-won fight, in getting the railroad up to Rawdon (1910). This railroad significantly contributed to the tourism and industrial development of Rawdon.
In the years that followed, Rawdon continued to grow and created various institutions such as municipal and school councils, and churches of different faiths appeared. Then, from 1920-1930, Rawdon experienced a new wave of immigration. Russians and Poles were the first to make Rawdon their new favoured land and establish significant communities. They were soon followed by Hungarians, Ukrainians, Germans, Czechoslovakians and others who were ravaged in the two great wars (1914-18 and 1939-45).
These populations with their diversified background have formed the foundation on which Rawdon has built its rich multicultural heritage.
