Lemuel Cushing

Lemuel Cushing (April 29, 1806 – May 18, 1875) was a businessman and pioneer in the Ottawa valley.

He was born in Trois-Rivières, Lower Canada, the son of Job Cushing, who came to the Eastern Townships from the United States. Cushing moved to Montreal with his parents at the age of eight. In 1821, he moved to Vermont for a short time but returned to Chatham Township in Lower Canada after a few months. There he established himself in business in the location which later became the municipality of Cushing. In 1836, Cushing married Catherine Hutchins. Cushing operated a hotel at Caledonia Springs, the site of springs thought to have medicinal properties. He organized a group of volunteers during the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837 which protected the village of Saint-Eustache and the registry office at Saint-Benoît from pillaging. In 1859, he bought Cushing Island near Portland, Maine. Cushing was mayor of Chatham township from 1861 to 1872 and then warden of Argenteuil County from 1872 until his death three years later.

Lemuel Cushing, Jr.

Lemuel Cushing (1842 – March 1, 1881) was a lawyer and politician in Quebec. He represented Argenteuil in the Canadian House of Commons from 1874 to 1875 as a Liberal member.

He was born in Chatham, Canada East, the son of Lemuel Cushing and Catherine Hutchins, was educated at McGill University and was called to the Lower Canada bar in 1865. He practised law in Montreal. In 1869, Cushing married Ellen Myra Macdougall. He was president of the Montreal Y.M.C.A. from 1869 to 1870. Cushing was defeated by John Abbott in the 1874 federal election. After Abbott was unseated after an appeal, Cushing won the subsequent by-election in October 1874. The results of the by-election were declared void after an appeal and Thomas Christie was elected in December 1875.

In 1877, he published The Genealogy of the Cushing Family.

Cushing died in Montreal at the age of 39.

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