History of Kemptville
The Town of Kemptville began to emerge from the forest in the Township of Oxford, as early as one can tell, when Lyman Clothier, a resident of New England, bought 100 acres of land from a John Boyce, for the price of a yoke of oxen, and a fusee.
Mr. Clothier had lived in the general area since 1804 or 1805, and between 1812 and 1814 he made the afore-mentioned transaction with Mr. Boyce, in order to establish a lumber mill. In 1815, Mr. Clothier began construction of a saw mill with the assistance of his 4 sons, and they built two dwellings in what is now present-day Kemptville. This mill was extremely important for the settling of the community, as in order to construct a crude dwelling, lumber was required - and so, the mill began to facilitate the construction of dwellings for settlers all over Oxford Township.
The location chosen by Mr. Clothier was a location that became a point on the Ottawa - Prescott Road. As a result, and as a direct consequence of the many travellers passing through the settlement, one of Mr. Clothier's sons, Asa, made a habit of opening his home to these travellers - as a resting place, and as a meeting place - thus, the "Clothier Hotel" was born.
The next major industry to be established was that of a grist mill in 1821, when the Clothiers placed some rock stones in the lower part of their saw mill. As a result of this, rather than taking their grain to a site on the St. Lawrence River, which would be a daunting hike in the best of conditions, or grinding the grain in an extremely ineffective and crude fashion, the settlers could now take it to this grist mill. After this was established, a blacksmith's shop was then established, inevitably run also by the Clothiers. Next was a harness shop by one Crouch. Then a second blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, and a general store were built - all necessary for a farming community.
Education was also an issue, and so a schoolhouse was established in 1823, and this served the surrounding communities for quite some time. In terms of medical care, the first physician arrived in the community the following year after the school was established.
The small village was fast expanding - and the residents of the region were beginning to think about officially giving a dignified name to the location in which they lived. Initially, the community was known as "The Branch", and later, for obvious reasons, "Clothier's Mill". So, during a public meeting at this time, the name "Kemptville" was suggested, in order to honor Sir James Kemp, the Governor General of Upper Canada in 1828 who had been said to have camped on the banks of the river near the settlement. The name was adopted in 1829 and the first map with the name "Kemptville" was produced in 1830.
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