It begins with a river
Hagar took charge of some undevel- oped property from Col. Fortune, the original surveyor of the township, to cancel some debts that the colonel had incurred from the Montréal merchant. Along with the property deeds came a “water power privilege” which Hagar was quick to seize on. He invested some of the profits from his mercantile affairs to build a dam across a wide part of The Nation River. By 1812 the dam was fin- ished and providing power to a sawmill that Hagar had built in partnership with Chesser. Chesser was a United Empire Loyalist, whose American property was confiscat- ed by the new colonial government after the British Empire agreed to a peace set- tlement with the Thirteen States. Chesser first moved to Québec and then to On- tario where he became, first, construc- tion superintendent on Hagar’s sawmill project and later a partner in that ven- ture and others.
Hagar later suffered some losses in his Montréal affairs and sold out his inter- est in Plantagenet Mill to Chesser. But he stayed on in the area and took up farm- ing, which proved a profitable new area for him. His son, Albert, after learning trade and business skills through fam- ily and friends back in the United States, returned home to Plantagenet and re- gained possession of the sawmill for his family. He also later built a woolen mill. But before the return of Albert Hagar to the area, John Chesser, then-sole own- er of the sawmill, continued to prosper and also entered into politics, becoming the MP for the area at one point.
lantagenet is one of several vil- lages in the Township of Alfred and Plantagenet, a creation of the provincial government in 1997, but its history ex- tends farther back in time. In a way, Plantagenet’s birth begins with The Nation River, and its tributar- ies like the The South Nation River. The Nation was a stream of “considerable size” as some personal histories note. The springtime flood period often saw it swell to immense width and depth, suitable for floating down log booms to the sawmills along the Ottawa River. Vi- sionary men like Abner Hagar and John Chesser foresaw a busy and prosperous future potential in The Nation River. Plantagenet began with the founding of Plantagenet Mills in 1812 soon after P GREGGCHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Charles and Alfred Chesser
Albert Hagar also went into politics, first local, as the township clerk, later a councillor, then the reeve, and later war- den for Prescott County. In 1867, the year the Dominion of Canada was proclaimed, he became an MP and served two terms in that post. He also served two terms in the provincial legislature but declined pleas to run for a third term. He retired, more or less, to his business and his last political office was a Sheriff to the United Counties of Prescott and Russell in 1887. His main contribution during his final years to Plantagenet’s future agricultural prosperity was the introduction of thor- oughbred stock raising.
Anew addition to the Chesser Cemetery is a memorial plaque in honour of the founding families of Plantagenet.
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