Stephen Burroughs is infamous for his counterfeiting activities back in the 1790s and early 1800s. It was in the Eastern Townships, at Burroughs’ Falls among other locations. But flash forward to about 1835: Then almost 70, he had converted to Catholicism and was headmaster of a school in Three Rivers, as Trois-Rivières was then known. A visitor reported, “I inquired if his health was feeble at that period of life. ‘No,’ said he, ‘but everyone then said I should be hanged before I was forty!’”
Indeed, Burroughs barely escaped hanging after a volatile life that included impersonating a minister, posing as a ship’s surgeon, and functioning as a revolutionary soldier, a schoolteacher, a rake, a confidence man, and a counterfeiter. Fed up with the rampant counterfeiting of American bills in the Townships, the Vermont legislature sent a delegation to the Governor of Lower Canada, asking for the death penalty for counterfeiters. After several arrests and escapes, Burroughs was captured and found guilty at last, but was “pardoned on giving heavy bonds for his future good conduct.”
All this, Bernard Epps recounts in detail in his An Eastern Townships Adventure, Volume 1. Epps leaned on Burroughs’ own memoir, newspaper reports and personal correspondence of the day. But he also tells about Stephen Burroughs’ connection with two Haut-Saint-François townships, Eaton and Newport.
The occasion was an outbreak of smallpox in the fall of 1802.
It was recorded that Burroughs “set to work with untiring energy and in almost every instance treated the disease successfully.”
Smallpox broke out again in the fall of 1810. Newport appointed a committee to watch out for any cases within the township, and to quarantine those families to prevent it spreading. The History of Eaton recorded, Epps wrote, that “when but 17 years old Mr. [Ward] Bailey was taken sick at La Baie [on the St. Francis 18 miles from Three Rivers] and was given over by his physician, when Stephen Burrows [sic] happened to come along and told them what to do and how to treat him, and brought him through all right.”
It seems Stephen Burroughs had learned a few things during his stint as a ship’s doctor (“There were directions, he explained, on all the bottles of medicine.”).
Burroughs’ story is one of many narrated in the two volumes of An Eastern Townships Adventure set to be published in December by the Townships Sun, Shoreline Press, and the Eastern Townships Research Centre, supported by the Bélanger-Gardner Foundation. Look for it!
EATON CORNER
In a former congregationalist church built in 1840, the Eaton Corner Museum at 374 Route 253 offers a permanent exhibit, “A Tale of the Townships.” Temporary exhibits in the church building as well as displays across the street in the Old Academy building include the Bill “The Glass Man” McCallum’s glass exhibit, with an added feature. Also on display are quilts and linens, a full British Home Children Display, the Bobbin Lace-Making Machine, a few artefacts from the Sherbrooke Protestant Hospital School of Nursing, and more.
During September, the Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Info: 819-875-5256 or eatoncorner59@gmail.com.
BULWER GOLDEN AGERS
If it’s Tuesday, it’s Bulwer Golden Agers! Every second Tuesday, that is, starting September 10, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., at the Bulwer Community Centre, 254 Jordan Hill Road. On the agenda are card parties, carpet bowling, and a light lunch, accompanied by general friendliness. “New members are welcome,” said Peggy Grapes, who prepares the lunch.
Info: Peggy & Leigh Grapes, 819-875-3543.
CANTERBURY POTLUCK
A potluck supper is planned for the Canterbury Centre on Saturday, September 14, from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Corn-on-the-cob, salads, meats, desserts, and delights from the kitchens of you and your friends. Everyone is welcome; RSVP to Candace Coleman, 819-657-4661.
BROOKBURY HALL
Brookbury Hall hosts a “this ‘n’ that” garage sale on Saturday, September 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 571 Brookbury Road (aka Route 255). Info: Brenda Bailey, 819-884-5984.
VIACTIVE
Two bilingual Viactive groups meet Wednesdays in Sawyerville and Newport: Bring water. Wear good shoes and comfortable clothes.
The Newport group starts September 18 at 1:30 p.m., led by France Demers and Lyne Maisonneuve at the Newport Municipal Hall, 1452 Route 212, Island Brook. Info: 819-889-1340.
Sawyerville recommences at 10 a.m. on September 11 or later, depending on the availability of the space. Gérard and Denise Nault lead the sessions in the basement of the Saint-Rosaire Catholic Church, 4 Randboro Road, Sawyerville. Info: 819-889-2630.
CULTURE IN BURY
The United Cultural Centre, 560 Main Street, Bury, plans a series of music and art events, starting with a dance workshop on Sunday, September 15, at 4 to 5:30 p.m., and a crafts workshop on Sunday, September 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. On Friday, September 27, at 7:30 p.m. is a Cabaret, with a jazz show by the Trio du Haut beginning at 8:30 p.m. (bring your own drinks). On Saturday, September 28, are poetry and drawing workshops from 1 to 4 p.m. Info: Centre Culturel de Bury’s Cultural Center Facebook page.
CHURCHES
United. Sunday, September 15, Trinity United Church’s 161st Anniversary Worship Service is planned for 10:30 a.m. On September 22 at 10:30 a.m. is a service at Sawyerville United, and September 29 at 11 a.m., a joint service for all United Church communities at Lennoxville United Church, followed by a potluck lunch. Info: 819-889-2838. For pastoral care, call Rev. Spires at 819-452-3685.
Baptist. Sunday services are in French at 9 a.m. and in English at 11 a.m. at the Sawyerville Baptist Church, 33 Cookshire St. For information, please contact Pastor Michel Houle at 819-889-2819.
Anglican. A Sunday service is on September 15 at 9 a.m. at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Cookshire. St. John’s in Brookbury is closed for the season. To find services in the deanery, check the schedule at deaneryofstfrancis.com/calendar/. Info: 819-887-6802, or quebec.anglican.ca.
Do you have news to share? Call 819-640-1340 or email rawrites@gmail.com by September 12 for publication September 25.