The Shiners’ War: Social Violence in the Ottawa Valley in the 1830s

MICHAEL S. CKOSS The Shiners' War: Soczal Violencezn the Ottawa Valley inthe 1830s BYLATEMAYOFI835, unrestin Bytownhad reachedunprecedented proportions . Allwinterthepeople ofthetown,theentrepSt oftheOttawatimber trade,hadbeenbracingthemselves, awaitingthe annualvisitation, the annualaffliction , oftheraftsmen whocameeach spring fromhighuptheValley toroisterandriotin thestreets ofBytown.Like thefreshets in thestreams, the raftsmen andsocial disorder arrivedeachApril andMay. But neverbefore hadtheircoming brought suchorganized violence asit didin •835. For the Irishtimberers nowhadaleader, andapurpose. Peter Aylen,run-away sailor, timberking, ambitious schemer, had sethimselfat the head of the Irish masses, had moulded theminto a powerfulweapon.He had giventhem a purpose: to drivethe FrenchCanadians off the riverand thusguarantee jobsandhighwages in thetimbercamps totheIrish. Confident in theirnumbers, Aylenandhisfollowers swaggered thestreets ofBytown,brawlinganddrinkingonthesidewalks, savagely beatinganyone who daredchallenge them.The townsuffered underthisreignof terrorfor weeks. TheIrishmob,glorying inthenameoftheShiners, seemed in complete control. Butthiswasa stratified society; therewasa class linebeyond which eventheShiners wentat theirperil.WhileFrench-Canadian labourers were beingabused, the gentryof thecommunity shook theirheads in disgust and grumbled abouttheIrishmisbehaviour. Whena respectable lawyer,Daniel McMartin of Perth, wasassaulted by PeterAylen, however,the forcesof social ordersprang intoaction. Aylenwaspromptly arrested. Theruleofthegentility inthetown,andtheaspirations oftheShiners, had come intodirect conflict. xIn •835theforces of orderanddisorder werein x On thegentryofBytownandthesurrounding CarletonCounty,seeMichaelS. Cross, .'The Age of Gentility: the Creationof an Aristocracy in the Ottawa Valley,' CanadianHistoricalAssociation, HistoricalPapers,x967. Later classconflictin Vol. xavNo I March I973 2 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW finebalance. The authorities wereableto holdAylenbyincarcerating him in the sturdygarrison cellsand thensending him overland, underheavy guard,to the districtjail at Perth.However,in Bytownitselfthe furious raftsmen were inalmost complete control. Theyparaded thestreets, screaming threats at themagistrates, boasting theywouldburn downChitty'sHotel, where theinjuredlawyerMcMartinwasinresidence. Onlythereading ofthe RiotAct andthecalling-out ofthegarrison prevented thedestruction ofthe hotel.Thwartedin theirsearch for revenge on McMartin, the Irishturned tothoughts ofrescuing PeterAylen.Fromoneunkempt raftsman toanother, therumourspread thattheirleaderwasto besentto Perthby boat,along theRideauCanal.Operating onthiserroneous assumption, several hundred Shiners swarmed aboarda steamer anchored at Bytown.Furiousat their failuretofindAylen,theysmashed theinteriorof theboatandbeatseveral crewmen whohadattempted to resist them.: The arrest ofAylenwasonlya temporary check. He wassoon outof jail, and the disorder went on. G.W. Baker,a Bytownmagistrate, wroteto the government on •5 June,offering hisresignation in lightof thefutilityof attempting tocheck theShiners withthefeeble forces available tothemagistrates .In hisdespair, Bakereffectively summed up the crisis in Bytown: 'I cannotSir describe to youthesituation of thetown.If I could,youwould deemit incredible and it is becoming dailyworse... No Person whatever canmovebydaywithoutinsult,or at nightwithoutriskof life- thuswhole families ofunoffending people areobliged toabandon theTown,andnothing except a MilitaryPatrolwillsucceed in arresting theevil,anddissipating the general alarm... I havenotmoved without Armssince thex4thMay ...,s The originsof the Shinermovementare obscure, as is its pattern of organization. Eventhe source of the nameis difficultto determine. The Shiners wereIrishimmigrants who,forthemost part,worked intimbercamps andfiverdrives. The namehasvariously beendescribed asa corruption of theFrench 'ch&neur,' orcutter ofoak;asaself-designation meaning theywere to 'shine' above others; asa nickname derived fromtheshinysilkhatsworn bygreenhorns arriving atBytown; orascoming fromthenewly-minted halfcrowncoins with whichtimberers werepaid.Whenthe Shiners emerged is similarlyuncertain. The dateusuallycredited is •828, whena St Patrick's DaybrawlatBytown resulted in thedeathof anEnglishman, ThomasFord. the areais described in Michael S. Cross, 'StonyMonday,x849: The Rebellion Losses Riotsin Bytown,' OntarioHistory,LX•, 3, Sept.x97x. The eventsare described in Public Archivesof Canada [PAC], Upper Canada Sundries, vol. •52, George Hamiltonto Lt-Col. Rowan,x Junex835;ibid.,G.W. Bakerto Rowan,x5Junez835;BathurstCourier,5 Junex835 UpperCanada Sundries, vol.x5•,Baker toRowan,x5Junex835 THE SHINERS' WAR 3 However, evenif thebeginning ofShinerism isplaced soearly,it wasnotan organized forceuntilthemiddle•83os.'At first,'a contemporary remarked, 'theseruffiansactedindependently of one another,and without concertjeeringand insultingthe defenceless and unprotected, and occasionally "pounding anenemy" ,4 The Shiners' War, theperiodof wide-scale, organized violence, extended intothe •84os,but wasat itspeakfrom •835 to •837. The emergence of a leaderprecipitated theoutbursts ofthese years. Theleaderwastheself-styled 'KingoftheShiners,' PeterAylen.Aylencameto CanadafromIrelandasa sailor.He jumpedshipat Quebec, changed hisname,and disappeared into the forests of the Ottawa.Enteringthe timbertradein •8•6, he rapidly became a wealthy merchant? Bythetimeof theShiners' War, Aylenowned propertyin Bytown,NepeanTownship,and Horton Township,and had large timber operations on the Madawaska,Bonnechere, and Gatineau rivers?He clearlywasno hungryne'er-do-well, but rather one of the wealthiest menin the district.Presumably economic motivations werenot centralfor him.His actions seem explainable onlyby oneof two causes: a genuinedesire to aid hisIrish countrymen; or a drivefor personal power. Asastudy oftheShiner movement willshow, hisoftencynicalmanipulation of hisfollowers belies anyunselfish motives onAylen'spart. He...