Bethune-Thompson House

There are two plaques at this location.
Both can be seen on this page.

Photos by contributors David & Kellie Clifford - March, 2009

Plaque Location

The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry
The Township of South Glengarry
In Williamstown, on Road 17 east of Bridge Street

Coordinates: N 45 08.633 W 74 34.505

Plaque Text

Built by Loyalist settler Peter Ferguson in 1784, the original log cabin on this site is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Ontario. The cabin walls were constructed using a French Canadian technique called poteaux sur sole where vertically placed, squared logs were held together by horizontal plates located along the top and bottom. The larger home adjoining it was built in 1804 by Reverend John Bethune (1751-1815), the first Presbyterian minister in Upper Canada. This home also incorporated a French Canadian construction technique, colombage pierroté, which used a timber frame filled with masonry rubble. The fireplace overmantle installed by Bethune is one of few remaining in the province. In 1815 David Thompson (1770-1857) acquired the house and lived here until about 1836. Thompson was an explorer and cartographer who surveyed much of what is now western Canada and mapped out the Canada-United States border. The house presents a unique architectural and historical record of early Ontario.

Photo by contributors David & Kellie Clifford - March, 2009

Photo by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted December, 2009

Plaque Text

Historic construction techniques and classic design are combined in this early Ontario home. The vertical log south wing may date from the 1780s when Loyalist Peter Ferguson settled on the site. The central part was built ca. 1805 as a manse for Rev. John Bethune, the first Presbyterian Minister of Upper Canada and was later the residence of the explorer David Thompson. Beneath the stucco of the main block, the timber frame has three walls infilled with rubble stone and a fourth with "stick and mud". The five-bay facade, formerly flanked by similar wings, expresses the British classical tradition.

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