I have enclosed a excerpt from The Sellers History of HUNTINGDON and the seigniories of Beauharnois and Chateauguay. by Robert Sellar. His writings of 1885 when he was Minister of Agriculture for Canada.
As told by Elizabeth (Cairns) Cunningham 1802-1890
"My father, William Cairns, belonged to county Derry and we sailed for Canada in 1823. On landing at Montreal, my father fell in with an Englishman who had a small contract of land on the Lachine Canal and who said he had bought a lot on the Chateauguay(River) the summer before and offered it for 50 pounds. My Father bought it and we drove to Lachine on our way to take possession. The Captain of the Steamer agreed to leave us at the Basin. but on the way something went wrong with the engine and she returned to Lachine. The freight house was full of rough men, so we camped on the wharf and had to stay there for two days before the steamer was repaired . On reaching the Basin, Gregory Dunning agreed to cart our baggage, and we started after it on foot, Grandmother, nigh a hundred years old, on top of the load. For she had insisted on accompanying father TO THE TRIP TO canada. When we got to Reeves we found the road unfit for wheels and so stayed there all night and left next morning in two canoe, which landed us on our lot. On which was a small meadow, made by the Americans, and on the river bank was the shanty the Englishman had started to build and which was ready for the roof. He has sown that spring some peas and turnip. We got the shanty finished and we had brought a cow with us from Montreal and a good stock of provisions , we were not poorly off Grandmother died 3 weeks after our arrival. David Bryson was our nearest neighbor. Robert Williams came the following year and the settlers came crowding in after that. The year of the Miramichi fire it was so dark that we had candles burning and even the pigs were like to die from the smoke. One woman came to our house in terror of being burned, and she said she would "dook" in the river gin the fire came up.
As per my grandfather Elmer George Cairns, William and his wife, Nancy Emberson are interned close to our family marker in Union Cemetery, Ormstown Quebec. There was not any grave marker put down for them. Union Cemetery was established in 1890, many stones were moved from other cemeteries to Union. This was mentioned by my Grandfather Elmer George as told to my uncle Dalton Hamilton. Dalton was married to Rhoda Elizabeth Cairns, Elmers only daughter. Please see Ormstown Union Cemetery Notes.