Brewer's Mill on Cataraqui Creek

I recently came upon these images while searching online for some general information on Cataraqui.

Brewer's Lower Mill - view down the Cataraqui Creek and clearing made for the Rideau Canal, 1829

The lock at Lower Brewers nearing completion in 1831

View on the Cataraqui Creek, Brewer's Upper Mills in the background, 1830

All three are water color paintings by Thomas Burrowes. According to his Wikipedia entry, Burrowes was a Captain with the Corp of Royal Sappers and Miners, and worked as a surveyor and overseer during the construction of the Rideau Canal in Ontario, Canada. He was also an artist, and documented the work, as well as scenes of the area, in water color paintings.

The location known as "Cataraqui" was a settlement for displaced Loyalists after the American Revolutionary War. It is today, Kingston, Ontario, in southeastern Ontario, across the St. Lawrence River from Clayton, Jefferson Co., New York.

According to History of the Rideau Lockstations, the mills referred to as "Brewer's Mills," were built by a John Brewer who had obtained water rights in 1819 and had mills built by 1826. They were located on Cataraqui River. The webpage states that John Brewer, due to financial difficulties, quit the mills in 1831, and left Canada. I suspect that this John Brewer is the son of Aaron Robbins Brower (or Brewer) and Elizabeth Cooper (Loyalists originally from New Jersey) born 24 April 1787, probably at Kingston. His wife was Ann Warner, and a descendant has participated in the Brewer DNA Project. The results demonstrate that he is a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island.

BGB 239