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PHOTO: CITY OF OTTAWA
Lamira Jane Billings’ painting of main house.
Born in Massachusetts in 1783, Braddish Billings I was the son
of Dr. Elkanah Billings, who had served in the American
Revolutionary War. The doctor moved with his wife and seven
children to Elizabethtown, now Brockville, in 1792. At the age
of 18, Braddish took the Oath of Allegiance to the British
Crown and then seven years later left home to pursue the timber
trade along the St. Lawrence River.
The next year, he partnered with William Marr in a disastrous
lumber operation near Merrickville, which was wiped
out by a storm. The massive loss of timber left him and his
partner in debt. In 1812, Braddish began to work as a lumberman
for Philomen Wright of Hull, but when the war broke
out that same year, his boat was seized and his debt increased.
In need of a stable base, he built a log shanty on 998 hectares
of fertile land with abundant timber, close to the Rideau
River, which officially belonged to the clergy reserve. He
cleared the land and planted crops, at the same time continuing
to lumber for Philomen Wright.
In 1813, he married Lamira Dow, a teacher from
Merrickville, whose father, a blacksmith, had moved his family
to Upper Canada in 1805. The farming and lumbering
operations expanded, and Braddish employed many hired
men and some of his relatives. Although he encountered
some initial misfortunes, the two enterprises provided security,
and the increase in the number of settlers in the area provided
a ready market for goods. In 1814, Braddish was able to
build a frame barn and a frame house; and in 1818, he began
A House with History
Exploring Ottawa’s History at the Billings Estate
Due East Magazine • Page 22 • Summer 2008
The Billings House.
BY MADELINE KALLIO
the lengthy process of petitioning the government for the
rights to the property.
During the 1820s, he built his own sawmill, opened a tavern
and became an overseer of construction for the canal that
was being built by Colonel By. In 1827, he decided to concentrate
on his farming business and consequently abandoned
the lumber operation. This same year he built a large
house on the hill to accommodate his family of nine children.
He continued to purchase more land and add buildings to
the property. Between 1825 and 1848, Braddish became politically
involved and held various political offices in the municipality
and the county, served as a magistrate and was one of
the first six justices of the peace for the Dalhousie District.
Braddish died in 1864 and at age 71, in 1867, Lamira built a
schoolhouse and resumed teaching. She died in 1879.
Two of the children, Cynthia and Hiram, died in infancy.
Sabra, the eldest, was the first child born to settlers in
Gloucester Township. An educated woman, she chose not to
marry, travelled frequently and contributed to running the
farm by selling produce, managing the dairy with her sister,
Sally, and making cloth. The Knox Church was built under
her initiative. Lamira, the second child, married and moved
to Brockville. Braddish Billings II, the well-educated eldest
son, moved to Prescott with his family at age 35.
A founding member of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’
Club and an original fellow of the Royal Botanical Society, he
identified almost 2,000 plant species in the area and became
PHOTO: CITY OF OTTAWA