Henry Franklin Bronson

Who was Henry Franklin Bronson?

Henry Franklin Bronson was a Canadian lumber baron known as one of Ottawa's early entrepreneurs establishing a large lumber mill at Chaudière Falls on the Ottawa River. Bronson's efforts helped to convert a fledgling small town into a prosperous city.

He was born in Moreau Township, Saratoga County, New York in 1817 and studied at Poultney Academy in Vermont. Bronson was hired as a clerk in John J. Harris' lumber business; he become a junior partner in 1840. Harris, a friend of Bronson's, had land in northern New York state, and mills on the upper Hudson River lakes. He had been impressed by "the integrity, resolute will, sound constitution and capacity for hard work" of Bronson.

In search of new sources of timber, Bronson visited the Ottawa Valley in the summer of 1848. With Bytown's Chaudière Falls as a potential source for power, and the large amount of timber in the area, he decided "on the spot" that the islands located there would be a good location for a sawmill.