The following information is from the book "Calvin Remembers One Hundred Years, 1887 - 1987" by Richard Gould and the research and help of the Calvin Township Clerk-Treasurer, Kathleen Moore. This is one of the most complete and interesting local histories I have read. The book is available from the North Bay Public Library file #971.31470 Gou

Calvin had a steady flow of white men throught the area since the 1600's but settlement of the area was only started c1850-60. The railway reaches the Amable du Fond River in 1881 and brings most of the settlers including railway workers who would settle in areas as the rails reached them. Many railway workers built homes near the rail line and were able to cut pulpwood to sell to the railway.

The first white man through the area was Etienne Brule in the employ of Samual de Champlain.

The second in 1615 is believed to be Joseph Le Caron a Recollet missionary Champlain brought over from France to christianize the Indians. He was possibly 8 days a head of Champlain.

The first words written about the area are from his diary. (If you have been in Northern Ontario in the spring you might be able to guess.)

He wrote: "If I had not kept my face wrapped in cloth I am almost sure that they would have blinded me, so pestiferous and poisonous are the bites of these little demons. They make one look like a leper, hideous to behold. I confess this is the worst martyrdom I suffered in this country; hunger, thirst, weariness and fever are nothing to it. These little beast not only persecute you all day but at night, they get into your eyes and mouth, crawl under your clothes....."

It seems he missed mentioning the beauty of the area.

Calvin's northern border is the Mattawa River, Canada's earliest route for the white man and for over 9000 years the route of the North American Indian. The bed rock along this beautiful river has deep paths wore into it from man and animal alike walking around the rapids.

The main river running through Calvin is the Amable du Fond named after Amable Ignace du Fond chief of Montagnais Indians an Algonquin sub group who fished, hunted, farmed and trapped the Calvin area. Amable du Fond, his wife (Old) Suzanne and his twin brother Francis du Fond spent much of theirs lives in Calvin. The Fort Mattawa fur company agents mentioned the brothers often in the 1848-80.

The Nipissing Indians who lived mainly in the Lake Nipissing area, hunted and fished these surrounding areas. Several Indian families settled in Calvin and were some of the first farmers and business people selling food, furs and clothing to the settlers.

Logging companies were the first to work in Calvin and stay for any length of time. From the 1840's they set up camps and cut and squared timbers which in the spring were floated down the Amable du Fond and Mattawa Rivers, then down the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers to Quebec City. Many of these men drowned as they floated the 25ft x 400 or 500ft rafts of logs over some of the roughest water in the country. 150 years later you can walk or canoe these rivers and see remains of log chutes that bypassed the worst rapids so the logs would not get damaged.

The big timbers of this area were wanted by Britain for a booming shipping industry in 1840-1870. They were cut almost square so they wouldn't roll and move in the ships that carried them to Britain. A few of the loggers settled in this area. The logging industry changed as saw mills opened and less logs were exported. The area saw mills meant a supply of lumber for settlers and stores. As mills and workers settled Calvin, the need for more farms increased and with no winter roads or railways yet local food was needed all the time.

Joseph, Isaac and Jacob Smith were driving logs down the area rivers in 1848 and earlier. They were also trapping and farming at their camp during other months of the year.

An 1865 coin was found between the bottom logs of Mr. Benjamin Shields log home when it was demolished. This method of dating would make this home one of the earliest permanent home in Calvin.

Mining was done in and around the area but never brought in many people. A mica mine on the border of Calvin produced the best grade, clearest sheets in North America an maybe the world. The United States contracted to buy all that was mined. It employed approx. 50 people in Calvin's early days.

Some of the best records of the area were from the Fort Mattawa (Fort Mattawoin) Hudson's Bay Co agent's diary and later from the surveyer who noted what the area was like in the summer of 1881.

This book has an extensive record of names and dates of the early years plus the more recent years also. It lists schools, teachers and residents. It is worth a read if you have family from Calvin.