Above is a photograph of Bennett Rosamond the Grand Master of the Orange Order in Canada. Bennett is with members of Lodge 389 in Lanark, or, Almonte. The image on the banner is that of William of Orange who is carried in Orange Parades. That is Bennett on the far right, looking like Gandalf, or, a Levite Prophet.

According to the History of the Rosemond Family by Leland Rosemond, the Rosamond family were members of the Orange Order in Leitrim Ireland, and fled to Canada after a Rosamond son killed a Catholic lad who was invading the Rosamond home with a gang bent on doing my kindred harm.

Bennett may have been a Freemason as well – and an Oddfellow. There is a long history of the Rosamonds belonging to Guilds. They were members of the Swan Brethren.

My grandparents, Royal and Mary Magdalene Rosamond, begat my mother, Rosemary Rosamond, and her sisters, Lilian, Bonnie, and June Rice.

Jon Presco

Almonte’s Oldest Citizen Goes To His Reward
From the Almonte Gazette
A week or two ago we announced the illness of James Rosamond, Sr., little expecting we would so soon be called upon to chronicle the news of his death which took place on Wednesday morning. The old gentleman attended the Orange gathering here on the 12th July and owing to the dampness of the day contracted a cold which was followed by an attack of bronchitis and other troubles and after the wear of so many years his constitution had not the vitality to withstand the attack of the disease and shortly after midnight the end came calmly and peacefully.

Mr. Rosamond was born near Ballinamore, County Leitrim, Ireland on the 14th Feb., 1805. His parents were Bennett and Fanny Rosamond and his father followed the three fold occupation of reed maker and linen weaver and farmer. The subject of this sketch came to Canada in 1827 with his brother. The latter died at Prescott seven or eight years ago. For about two years after coming to Canada, Mr. Rosamond lived at Ogdensburg, New York where he learned the distillery business. In 1830 he removed from New York to Carleton Place. In 1831 he was married to Margaret Wilson of Ramsay, a lady who although of naturally an amiable and retiring disposition, has proved a faithful wife and helpmate for one who has led such an active life as her husband. Some years ago Mrs. Rosamond met with an accident from which she suffered considerably for some time and which prevented her from going out much among her friends but she is still hale and hearty although beyond the allotted three score and ten years. Their marriage has been blessed with seven children, four of whom survive namely Bennett, Mary Ann (Mrs. A. Bell), William (of Cobourg), James and Rosaline (Mrs. De Hurd).

After coming to Carleton Place, Mr. Rosamond was engaged in the distilling business for about three years and then went into the sawmill and gristmill business in partnership with John McEwen. Their mill was the only one in this section of the country at that time. This partnership lasted for four years when it was dissolved and a new one formed with Messrs. R. Bell and Company. The new firm determined to extend their business and had a carding and cloth – dressmaking establishment also the only one in this part of the province. The firm rented the mills in Carleton Place from Mr. Bolton for 16 or 17 years and continued for that time in business in that village, which was then known as “Morphy’s Falls”. In the course of time Mr. Rosamond went into the spinning, weaving and manufacturing of such goods as satinettes, etoffes, etc. These enterprising early manufacturers kept constantly adding to their machinery and increasing their business and towards the close of their lease wanted to buy or rent the water power but the owner Mr. McLaren of Beckwith would do neither. Just then an employee of Mr. Rosamond came to Almonte—at that time called “Waterford”—and succeeded in forming a company known as the Ramsay Woolen Manufacturing Company. Among those who held stock in this company were John Scott and the late John Patterson who about the year 1853 or 1854 one year after the company was formed, went to California but before going, disposed of their shares in the company to Mr. Rosamond. The mill was burned shortly afterwards.

In 1856 Mr. Rosamond moved to Almonte and bought his present residence from Edward Mitcheson. After the mill was burned, a sale was called and the site—the one on which the #2 mill is built—was knocked down to the late Albert Tesky for about 90 pounds. Mr. Tesky afterwards repented of his bargain and sold the water power to Mr. Rosamond who built the #2 mill on it moving his machinery from Carleton Place to Almonte in 1857. The #2 mill was built in 1856 and additions were made to it afterwards by Messrs. Bennett and William Rosamond who put in more machinery and gradually increased its capacity. In 1861, too close applications to business beginning to tell on Mr. Rosamond’s health, he leased the business to his sons Bennett and William and afterwards sold to them. In 1860, Mr. Rosamond and his sons formed a joint stock company with capital of $100,000 to build a large mill which resulted in the erection of #3 mill. When Mr. Rosamond retired from active business he retained an interest in the #1 mill and at the time of his death was still a share holder in it. He was also fro some time in the tanning business his tannery being situated on the site of the present dye room of #1 mill. Although always widely and actively engaged in business, Mr. Rosamond did not forget his obligations as a citizen and was always ready to assume his share of public duties. He was a member of the Carleton Place School Board from 1833 until he removed to Almonte. He has been an active and useful member of the Almonte School Board for about 35 years and occupied a seat there ever since he came to town, with the exception of a year and a half (about the year 1869) when he moved to Vineland, New Jersey for the benefit of his health. He has filled the position of Justice of the Peace for the County of Lanark continuously for over a half century. He was also a life long member of the board of the Ottawa Protestant Hospital. Shortly after Mr. Rosamond took up residence in Almonte, he took an active interest in the union Sunday school which was attended by churches of all denominations. Later on he founded St. Paul’s Sunday school of which he was superintendent for over twenty years. He has always been a devoted member of the Anglican Church and was for many years church warden or lay representative to the Synod for St. Paul’s Church. He was an enthusiastic Orangeman, a strong Conservative in politics and a great admirer of the late Sir John MacDonald. Though Mr. Rosamond attained to a ripe old age he retained to a wonderful degree the use of his mental as well as physical faculties, his mind to the last being clear.

http://roughian.tripod.com/BennettRosamond.html

Bennett Rosamond
Bennett Rosamond was born on May 10, 1833 at Carleton Place, Ontario. At the age of 26 he joined the family business, the Victoria Woolen Mills at Almonte and in 1862 he took over the business from his father. He served on the township council, served as Reeve and was elected mayor of Almonte. He was elected as the federal Conservative member of parliament for the riding of North Lanark in 1892 and sat in the House of Commons until 1904.
Rosamond was a major employer at Almonte and voting days saw his employees turn out en masse to vote for him. As a major benefactor of the town he donated the money to build a hospital in Almonte which was named after him. He died on May 18, 1910 in England while preparing to return to Canada. Rosamond was a member of L.O.L. No. 389, located at Almonte and had served as master of the lodge. He also served as County Master of Lanark for a number of years.
Rosamond Memorial Hospital, Almonte, Ontario c. 1910

The Perth Courier – October 18, 1962
Lanark Orangemen Heard Sir John A. Talk Confederation In District Lodges
Local Lodge One Of Oldest In Ontario East
Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister and “Father of Confederation” first campaigned for Confederation in the Orange lodges of Lanark and Leeds Counties. Confederation was the union of British colonies in North America as a buffer to U.S. expansionism or “manifest destiny”, which saw all North America as one great American country.
Sir John, a resident of Kingston, was an ardent Orangeman who saw the possibility of having one Federal Parliament and separate Provincial Legislatures modelled on the Orange Association, which eight years prior to Confederation had decided on such a constitution for itself.
What the Orangemen had been able to do inspired him to attempt, Sir John gladly admitted, “for the sake of the future of Canada.” Thus, Confederation was born when the Orange Order boasted 1,400 lodges and tens of thousands of members. The year was 1867.
Perth One of Oldest
Perth was there with one of the oldest Orange Lodges in Canada, L.O.L. No. 7, at Drummond Centre. Old records show how politicians stumped up-and-down the rural routes selling ideas in lodgeroom, on the street, over the fence, in parlor and country store. Only five [six] older lodges exist, LOL No. 1 at Brockville, LOL No. 2 at Pine Hill, North Leeds County, LOL No.3 at Foxboro in South Hastings, [LOL No. 4 at Toronto] LOL No. 5 in Peel County and LOL No. 6 at Kingston [the lodge Sir John joined in 1841].
Minutes of these lodges show that Canada’s first Prime Minister or his representative spoke in them all. The first Orange Grand Lodge in North America was founded in Brockville, just 40 miles from Perth, by an immigrant Irishman Ogle R. Gowan, who rose to become Member of Parliament and Colonel of Militia. He was also Grand Master of British America in 1830 – 1846, 1854 – 1855 and 1856.
Although Orange lodges existed in Canada from Wolfe’s conquest of Quebec in 1759, the first Grand Lodge warrant was only granted on April 23, 1832, signed by Field Marshal, Ernest Duke of Cumberland, Grand Master of the Empire. The warrant was brought home to Brockville and given great display about the countryside. The first Grand Secretary of the first Grand Lodge of British America was Alexander Matheson of Protestant Hill, Perth.
Thus almost 140 years after the founding of the Orange Confederacy in 1688, the Orange influence reached into the Perth area. This influence was strongest in the United Empire Loyalist, Army and Navy settlements throughout Canada, the Order having been founded on military lines to protect Protestant interests in troubled Ireland. Perth was a military settlement.
Ruling body for Lanark County Orangemen is the Imperial Grand Council of the World, with Captain Sir George A. Clark, Bart., DL, of Ireland, the Grand Master. Next comes the Grand Lodge of British America with eleven provincial bodies, of which the Grand Lodge of Ontario East is one with 25 county jurisdictions.
The Orange Association of the County of Lanark is part of Ontario East and boasts three districts with 13 primary lodges. The primary lodge is the basic unit of the Orange Order. The lodge in Perth is LOL 115 which meets at the Orange Hall on Gore Street East. Lodge Master is Herbert Campbell and secretary James Kirkham, both of Perth.
cont…..
The Grand Lodge of Ontario East has met nine times in Lanark County since 1830, in Peth 1865, 1933, 1943, in Smiths Falls 1890, 1902, 1911, 1922, 1945, in Carleton Place in 1929. His Honor Judge J.A. Scott of Perth was Grand Master of British America in 1911 – 1914. Reverend Canon J. W. R. Meakin of Almonte, currently is Honorary Grand Chaplain of Ontario East, while Lieutenant Colonel Hon. T. Ashmore Kidd of Kingston, has been Imperial Grand Master of the World, and Grand Master of British America in 1930 – 1933 and 1940 – 1947.
County Master Roy Haveron, of Perth notes a trend to larger lodges in Lanark County which prove more efficient and active. Biggest problem today is lack of publicity and dedicated organizers with the time to devote to the demands of ritual and degree work.
LOL No. 90 of Lombardy won the Duncan Alexander MacLeod trophy for the largest increase in membership – 47 per cent this year. LOL No. 1 Brockville remains the largest lodge in Eastern Ontario with over 150 members. The Orange Order has exerted an influence in Lanark far in excess of its numbers, although its numbers have never been large. It’s a grass roots movement with “few aristocrats” or people with “aristocratic notions” included in its membership. The rural influence has a leveling effect, so it seems.
What do Orangemen do? First, they support the reformed faith. Next comes strong support of British democratic ideals and parliamentary government. The Bill of Rights of 1689 is the Order’s Bible. “Equal rights for all and special privileges for none,” has been the battlecry of the Order for ages. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker used an abbreviated form of this slogan in his 1957 general election campaign.
Orangemen support benevolent causes, including two Orange homes for children. There is an active insurance program and many bands. Perth, Smiths Falls and Carleton Place boast OYB [Orange Young Briton] bands.
District Masters and Officials
District Masters: Kenneth Leacock, Smiths Falls; Wm. Evans, Pakenham; W. H. Shaw, RR 2, Perth; Secretaries, Lyle Jordan, Smiths Falls; W. A. Fulton, Pakenham; Roy Haveron, Perth.
Primary Lodges: [master and secretary], LOL 7 Drummond Centre, Edward Wright, D. A. Devlin; LOL 88 Smiths Falls, Harvey Leacock, Ken Leacock, LOL 92 Innisville, George Gardiner, Gordon James. LOL 115 Perth, Herbert Campbell, James Kirkham. LOL 190 Montague Corners, John Kidd, Elmer Fox. LOL 202 Fallbrook, Cecil Ennis, Russell Fair. LOL 378 Almonte, Glen Ireton, M. Giles. LOL 381 Franktown, Glen Irvine, Milton McCaul. LOL 512 Montague, Russel Burchill, W. Rice. LOL 529 Rusenham, Forbes Evans, E. A. Connery. LOL 749 Wemyss, Carl Larmon, L. J. Patterson. LOL 788 2nd Line of Drummond, O. P. Dowdall, J. B. Hands.
Lanark is bordered by North Leeds with three districts and eleven lodges, Carleton with eight districts and 33 lodges, Lennox and Addington with two districts and 13 lodges, Renfrew with four districts and 21 lodges.

William Henry Boulton
William Henry Boulton was born on April 19, 1812 in York [Toronto], Upper Canada, the son of D’Arcy and Sarah Ann Boulton [nee Robinson, daughter of Sir John Beverley Robinson]. Boulton was born into one of the most prominent families of Upper Canada; his grandather, D’Arcy Boulton Sr. Was chief justice of Upper Canada and his uncles included John Beverley Robinson. Boulton studied to be a lawyer and was called to the bar of Upper Canada at the age of twenty-three.
Boulton was to become one of the social leaders of early Toronto, his estate “The Grange” being the setting for many of the young city’s most prominent social gatherings. As a member of parliament for Toronto from 1844 to 1853, Boulton supported conservatives William Henry Draper and Henry Sherwood. As a member of one of the old established families he was a strong defender of the privileged position of the Anglican Church with regards to the clergy reserves and education.
Aside from provincial politics Boulton was heavily involved with Toronto affairs. He served as an alderman for St Patrick’s Ward from 1838 until 1842 and after a two year absence from municipal politics he again served as alderman for the same ward from 1844 to 1847. During this time he was elected mayor of Toronto for three successive terms, from 1845 – 1847. After his terms as Mayor Boulton continued to sit on council as an alderman in 1852 and 1858, again being elected Mayor of the city in 1858.
During his term as mayor an agreement had been made between the province and the city over the distribution of judicial powers. The Mayor and aldermen had now ceased to act as magistrates and cases were heard by police magistrates. Boulton got into a fierce argument with the chief constable of Toronto, Samuel Sherwood, and resigned as mayor. He then ran again for Mayor in 1859 in the first election that was held by popular vote, but lost to Adam Wilson.
He then retired from politics and lived at the grange. After his death on February 15, 1874, his wife continued to live there and she later married author Goldwin Smith in 1875. Today “The Grange” is owned by the Art Gallery of Ontario. Boulton had served as the Master of Enniskillen L.O.L. 387 in 1858 and was the Deputy Grand Master of Canada in 1854.

LANARK’S ORANGE LODGE.

It was in the fifties too that the first secret fraternity unfurled its Orange banner in this village. An elevated site was chosen for the Lodge room of the Loyal Orange Lodge, the exact spot being near where Mr. William Spalding’s storehouse now stands. The lodge succeeded in gathering beneath its colors a large and flourishing membership and it looked for a time at least that this was one of Lanark’s permanent institutions. But something happened one night that stopped a lodge career. From Buffam’s tavern to the lodge room the brethren cleaved the air with their discontent. An eye-witness says it was certainly a rough night and obviously he was not referring to the weather. When you hear a brother shout “Paice, bhoys, paice and brotherly love,” while he belabors you with a drum stick it is high time to call a halt and that is exactly what the Orangemen of Lanark did. They held no more meetings, the building fell into disuse and later was removed to its present stand where it serves the public faithfully day after day and is known as Darou’s bakery. The Buffam’s Tavern referred to stood where the residence of Mr. R.F. Robertson is now. At one time this building was occupied by the McLaren family as a store, the scene of many boyhood experiences of the Hon. Peter McLaren, of Perth, whose father was the merchant.

FREEMASONRY ESTABLISHED.
           The outstretching hand of Freemasonry laid upon a building in this locality for the meeting place of a lodge and in 1869 on July 15th Evergreen No. 209 A.F. and A.M. was established. The charter members were Chas. Esdale, Robert Pollock, Thomas Watchorn, Alex. G. Dobbie, William Caldwell, David Munro, James Wilson and Chas. E. Field. Chas. E. Field was elected worshipful master, Robert Pollock senior warden and Thomas Watchorn junior warden. Few of these men are now living and the last remnants who had not moved away from Lanark, Mr. W.C. Caldwell and Rev. James Wilson, have been called away during the past year to join above with the great architect of the universe. For a number of years regular communications were held in the Lamont building, the lodge room was in the loft of an outhouse which long ago was converted into a stable and is used for that purpose to this day. The craft moved to more commodious and comfortable quarters in the Young block opposite the Town Hall where the mysteries of the fraternity are handed down from master to apprentice.
           Evergreen Lodge has had a career of vicissitude and change, sometimes pitched on the crest of prosperity, sometimes in the trough of adversity. Nevertheless the mother lodge has reared sons of whom she might well feel proud in the Masonic circle and the names of Chas. E. Field and John H. Bothwell stand out like great shining lights amid a multitude of lesser forms. Brother Bothwell enjoyed the distinction of possessing a fund of Masonic lore and learning enjoyed by few men of the craft and during his deputyship of the district had a most enviable reputation for his knowledge of Masonic ritual law. But the times have changed and Evergreen droops and pines from lack of attention. The signs however are hopeful and after a long rest who knows but greater things than have been are in store for the compass and square in Lanark.
           While dealing with fraternities we might state that Lanark has had a full share of them. Oddfellows, Foresters, Workmen, Sons of England, Sons of Temperance, Select Knights and others have set up shrines inside our gates and all of them have had their seasons of plenty and years of famine. The Oddfellows after a long period of inertia have taken upon themselves fresh comeliness which has attracted a number of young men with an eye for the beauties of the order. An at home held by the Oddfellows recently was taken as an evidence of the coursing new blood that is beginning to flow. The Workmen and Foresters are in the dolarums with never a sail flapping and the Sons of Scotland — fie upon Lanark — are unworthy the name. In a village whose ancestry was intensely Scotch we find the thistle drooping and the heather dry and shrunken. The Sons of Temperance have seen ups and downs like the rest of societies, and at the present time are almost bereft of that vitality and power that once were theirs

HISTORY OF LANARK VILLAGE
COVERS AN 85 YEAR PERIOD

The Trials, Difficulties, Slow but Steady Progress and
Finally Success of the Hardy Pioneers Written
Especially for the “Courier” — Inter-
esting Sketches.

FIRST SCHOOL-HOUSE AND KIRK — THIS IS LANARK.

Written By Mr. C. M. Forbes.

Published in The Perth Courier, Dec. 15, 1905 through Feb. 9, 1906.
Transcribed for the LCGS website by Charles Dobie.
           Eighty five years ago the Village of Lanark came into existence. A band of Scottish emigrants hailing from Glasgow arrived at the eminence overlooking the valley of the Clyde in the month of September, 1820, and viewed for the first time their new Canadian home. These hardy progenitors were mostly weavers and spinners in the old land, who, at a time when the industry in which they were engaged suffered from general depression, were induced under the British Government’s colonization scheme to leave their native heath and seek homes in Canada. This was but a part of the great tide of emigration which, beginning at the termination of the American War of 1812-15, continued unabated for a decade.
           It was no trifling impulse that led these people to separate themselves from the ties and associations of Auld Scotia but rather the resolute determination of men and women bound by tradition and national sentiment to the principle of “glorious” independence. To them pioneering was an experiment fraught with trials and experiences to which they were unaccustomed.

https://rosamondpress.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/history-of-the-rosamond-family/

Leland E. Rosemond

March, 1938

Scarsdale, N. Y.

THE NAME ROSEMOND

Some confusion seems to have resulted from the fact that more than
one origin for this name has existed. The oldest, perhaps, is the
Teutonic “Hrosmond”, conspicuous as far back as the 6th century in
the history of the Gepidae and the Lombards of northern Italy. “Mond”
in the Anglo-Saxon signified the protection given by a noble, or
chieftain, to this dependents of every kin, and the name signified
among them strong, or famous, protection. The form “Rosenmund”,
usually reckoned as German, has been interpreted as “rose of the
world,” form the Latin “mundus” for world. In Danish the name appears
as Rozamond; in French, as Rosemonde, in Italian, as Rosmonda, and in
Latin and Spanish, as Rosamunda.

“The Huguenot tradition in the family, confirmed by such sources as
O’Hart’s Irish Pedigrees and Agnew’s French Protestant Exiles,
suggests a French origin also and this has been found in the
name “Rougemont”, still perpetuated by the name of a village in
southeastern France, near Switzerland, and another village in
southwestern Germany. Why this source seems preferable for our origin
will be mentioned again.

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“Such a name, transported to other countries and dealt with in other
languages, was certain to be changed and even distorted. Our own
people have at times adopted the form “Roseman”, or “Rosman”,
or “Rossman”, or “Rosmond”, or “Rosmon”. The first three forms are
common in Germany although wholly unconnected with our family. Elders
in the family have held the view that the presence of the “d” is
significant and, since it is the equivalent of the “t”
in “Rougemont,” that seems reasonable. As many as thirty variations
are found, and yet the name in any form is not a common one in this
country if the German forms above are to be disregarded.

“In the Southern states among those identified with our line in
Ireland, the form “Rosamond” prevails as it does in England and
Canada, but the legends of “Fair Rosamond” Clifford which popularized
it there have no significance for us. It is, in one form or another,
the name of towns, but inquiry has developed that our family had
nothing to do with giving them.

“It is not to be thought surprising, therefore, if persons bearing
the name be found whose ancestry traces back along a line quite
different from the Huguenot line.”

THE “ROUGEMONT” ORIGIN

The gracious and intelligent aid of Peter Rosemond of Flushing,
Holland, who lived for some years in Basle, Switzerland, was a large
contribution to the writer’s* investigation of the Huguenot
tradition. His family went from Basle to Holland in 1754. Researches
he made over many years, including 1911 to 1917 in Basle, furnished
him with material which he regarded as identifying us with a James
(or Jacob) Rosemond, born in Basle, January 1st, 1654 (which date is
not far from our traditional date of `about 1655′) who left home and
who did not reappear there even for the reading of

_______

*Fred L. Rosemond

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his father’s will in 1679 nor thereafter. This James (or Jacob, for
these names were once interchangeable) was the son of Hans Ulrich
Rosemond, born 1623, a weaver; who was a son of Hans, a weaver, born
1581; who was a son of Fred Rosemond, born 1552, a weaver, member of
town council and a local captain; who was the son of another Hans
whose date of birth is not known, but he too, was a weaver and became
a citizen of Basle in 1534. His father was Erhart de Rougemont who
bought in 1495 “the house called Rebleuten-Zunft in Basle in the
Freistrasse.’ Peter Rosemond further reported information from the
Records Office in Basle that “before Basle the family resided in
Holland up to 1338, and it is said they descended from the estate
Rosemont, near Belfort, in France, where also the village Rougemont
is found.” A family coat-of-arms was registered in Basle about 1537
when the first Hans became a resident there. A reproduction of this
coat-of-arms in the writer’s possession shows a weaver’s crook
conspicuously, and it will be remembered that in Ireland our people
were linen weavers and farmers, and that Edward, the elder, was a
weaver in this country. Peter Rosemond had seen in print the letters
from Erasmus to Gotschalk Rosemondt. He noticed that a seal used by a
Rosemont in Holland, bearing a jumping fox, was like an emblem he had
noticed in a wall of the house Rebleuten-Zunft in Basle. This seal
dated back to 1430, whereas the coat-of-arms above mentioned dates
from 1534, it seems. Peter Rosemond died September 22, 1930. This is
but a sketch of what he wrote.”

THE HUGUENOT ANCESTRY

One northern line and two southern lines of the family have been
traced back to a “Sergeant” Rosemond, first name unknown, name of
wife unknown, who, according to a tradition confirmed in different
lines of the family, was born and married in Europe, was a drill
sergeant in the Army

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of William III, Prince of Orange, went with that army through Holland
and England to Ireland, and settled in Ireland, in County Leitrim in
the neighborhood of Drumshanbo and Ballinamore. The tradition is that
he was born about 1655 and William’s invasion may be dated 1688. He
is said to have been offered and to have refused the township of Mayo
in Leitrim. While the tradition is silent beyond these matters of
nativity and pedigree, investigations, aided by correspondents in
Europe, identify the family name back to the 14th century, and
indicate that our ancestor was a French Huguenot, born in Basle,
Switzerland of Hans Ulrich Rosemond in 1654, on New Year’s day, who
left home and did not appear when his father’s will was read in 1679,
or thereafter so far as appears.

His name was James, or Jacob, these having once been practically
interchangeable. The name is believed to have originally been
Rougemont, meaning “red mountain”, which is perpetuated by villages
in southeastern France and nearby in Germany. The Basle family took
citizenship there in 1534, and the ancestry there runs back to 1495.
In Holland the name goes back to 1338. Family archives show that one
Gotschalk Rosemond (or Rosemont) was a correspondent of the
celebrated Erasmus (1466-1536), Dutch scholar and theologian, and
that the two studied together about 1483 at Bois le Duc and at
Louvain, Belgium.

“The inference that the `drill sergeant’ was a Huguenot exiled from
France at the time of the revocation of the edict of Nantes may be
correct, but not if James of Basle is accepted as the ancestor ,
because it is evident that his family had long before that been in
Basle. But their being citizens of Basle does not at all contradict
their being

Huguenots. Being one of the army of William III, Prince of Orange, is
an indication of such sympathies. In Ireland, the Rosemonds were, so
far as the writer has heard or read, Protestants and Orangemen. That
fact had much to do, according to tradition, with the emigration of
both Philip, the elder, and Canada Ed. A descendant

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of a brother of Philip, the elder, has told the writer that a lodge
of Orangemen regularly met in the home of the former in Leitrim. The
recognition of the family name in Ireland as a Huguenot name carries
with it the weight of contemporary knowledge and opinion.

“If Rougemont be accepted as the origin of the line from which the
drill sergeant sprung, that location is in harmony with the Huguenot
tradition. There is a Rougemont parish in Department Doubs, and there
is a Rougemont village in Department Haut Rhine (Upper Rhine), near
Belfort, with two destroyed castles. There was a time, it seems, when
this territory was a part of Pfirt, in Austria, as a part of what was
locally known as `the Sundgau’, extending form Basle to Belfort. Maps
show another Rougemont village in southwestern Germany not far away.
The name means `red mountain’ and is accounted for by local mountains
of reddish color; therefore having a purely logical significance and
being distinguishable from other origins of the name. The variations
in the family name in these records illustrate strikingly how readily
Rougemont could become Rosemond, especially in view of the French
pronunciation.

“After this lapse of time the writer* does not expect the origin of
the name to be susceptible of strict proof, but is disposed to accept
the view shared by Peter Rosemond in Holland, that our family
originated in the Rougemont region in southeastern France and were
Huguenots. In one of his last letters, Peter Rosemond wrote that he
was inclining to the belief that the coat-of-arms relates to the
Crusades and that the `weaver’s cross’ is that worn on the shoulder
by some Crusaders.”

“Rougemont village is said to have been at one time embraced in
Neufchatel, which was a principality of William III of Orange, which
suggests a reason why this James (or Jacob)

_______

*Fred L. Rosemond

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should be disposed to attach himself to the forces of William when he
recruited them for his British conquest.

“Some sixty years elapsed after his settling in Ireland before any of
his descendants came to this country. Three sons, Thomas and
Nathaniel, and one whose name is unknown, have been traced here, but
no other children if any. About 1740 Thomas and Nathaniel settled in
Abbeville District, South Carolina, and the name is traceable from
Virginia south and southwest, as far as Texas, and up into Illinois,
then Missouri. The unnamed son, born about 1690, never left Ireland
and is taken to be the ancestor of the northern line to which Fred L.
Rosemond, Leland E. Rosemond, and others of the name in Ohio belong,
with branches of descendants in various northern states.

“This unnamed progenitor had a son James, believed to have been born
about 1730, who married Nancy Cook, never left Ireland, and died
about 1813; said to have had fifteen children, ten of these having
been positively identified namely: James (1759-1836); Philip (1765-
1831); Edward (1770-1850); William (1775-1841); Thomas, born 1785;
Bennett, died 1852; Anne, Mary Margaret, and Fanny. It is likely
there was a John also, who emigrated with his brother James to
Pennsylvania and thence down the Ohio to the neighborhood of
Cincinnati. They spelled the name “Rossman,” and descendants still
live at Franklin, Ohio. Philip and Edward are believed to have come
either together or about the same time. Edward landed August 30th,
1794, form Ireland, according to naturalization papers taken out by
him March, 1820, at St. Clairsville, Belmont County, Ohio.” (A
photostatic copy of these naturalization papers will be found in this
booklet.) (NOTE: a photostatic copy is placed between pages 14 and 15
of the booklet.)

“This was a time of wide unrest in Ireland, and the tradition among
the descendants of Philip is that the was “warned out’ by Roman
Catholics, hastily converted his property into gold coin, and brought
the coin with him secreted in deep holes

Book shows end of Page 8 here

bored in the corner supports of a wooden chest. William did not come
until 1841 and died soon after arriving at Fairview, Guernsey County,
Ohio, which was a Rosemond headquarters for many years with as many
as five families of the name in the village at a time. Bennett,
father of the family at Almonte, Ontario, woolen manufacturers on a
large scale, and of Edward, known as “Canada Ed’, came over once with
some ideas of remaining, but returned to Edentenny, near Drumshanbo,
and died there. Thomas lived and died in Ireland, leaving numerous
descendants, some about Carrigallen, and some in Canada. His location
was known as Aughalague, east of Ballinamore. The available
information as to the other children of this first James is scanty.
For the present purpose, the general relations of the line of this
Edward, the Elder and Philip, the Elder (so called to distinguish
them) are followed.”