Philemon Wright was a farmer and entrepreneur who founded the first settlement of what would later become Ottawa.
He was born in Woburn, Massachusetts in 1760. He lived there until, feeling overcrowded, he began to scout further north for land. In 1799 he came upon the intersection of the Gatineau River and the Ottawa River and found good soil there. At six feet tall and a natural leader Wright was an impressive figure and he recruited a group of other settlers back in Massachusetts to head north into Canada. The group of a few dozen settled on the north side of the Ottawa River in 1800, where now sits the community of Gatineau, Quebec. The group began to clear land in the region of the virgin forest that covered it. The clearing process was long and difficult and by 1806 the group had almost exhausted the capital they had earned from selling their farms in the US. In an attempt to earn money Wright attempted to do what was then thought impossible, to build a raft of timber and float it to Quebec City to be sold for export to Britain. He was successful and despite taking two months and encountering many hurdles he reached Quebec and sold his 700 logs and 6000 barrel staves. He founded Philemon Wright & Sons and made a great deal of money exporting timber, especially during the Napoleonic Wars when Britain was cut off from its traditional Baltic suppliers. Wright was later elected to the legislature of Lower Canada and he and his settlement both saw great success.
Wright died in 1839 but was survived by a large family, including his son Ruggles Wright who would go on to invent the timber slide. Wright is regarded as the founder of the cities of Ottawa and of Gatineau and Philemon Wright High School in Gatineau is named after him.
