Philip VanKoughnet
Colonel Philip VanKoughnet | |
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| Born | 11 April 1790 |
| Died | 7 May 1873 (aged 83) |
Colonel The Hon. Philip VanKoughnet (April 2, 1790 – May 7, 1873) M.P., landowner, businessman and political figure in Upper Canada.
Career
Born in New Johnstown (Cornwall), 2 April 1790, he was the son of Michael VanKoughnet (1751–1832), 'a large landowner' and United Empire Loyalist. He was educated at the elitist school run by John Strachan which automatically placed him among the Family Compact. He fought at the Battle of Crysler's Farm during the War of 1812. In 1816, he was elected to the 7th Parliament of Upper Canada representing Stormont & Russell. In 1833, he was part of a commission to establish a canal at Cornwall to improve transportation along the Saint Lawrence River, that brought him a personal profit of £10,000. VanKoughnet Island, off the canal, was named for him.
In 1832, Philip VanKoughnet inherited his father's extensive lands in Upper Canada (which he bought in 1783 after the Americans had put a price on his head for his loyalty to the Crown) adding to them over time until at his death he owned the entirety of the district. His father had named the original settlement 'New Johnstown', after Johnstown (New York) where the Colonel's grandfather, John, or Johann Eberhardt von Gochnat (1712–1770), had lived on arriving from Alsace in 1751.
In 1836, VanKoughnet was appointed to the Legislative Council of Upper Canada by Lieutenant Governor Sir Francis Bond Head. In 1838, he commanded a battalion of militia (2nd Stormont Regiment) at the Battle of the Windmill. In 1870, he was appointed chairman of the Canadian Board of Government Arbitrators. It was said of the Colonel that he had, ‘all the stubbornness of a German, with the patriotism of a Briton’. He had ‘earned the respect of his contemporaries for his sterling qualities and honest patriotism’, holding little regard for the American revolutionaries.
Family
On 1 April 1819, he married Harriet Sophia Scott (1795–1854), daughter of Mathew Scott (1775–1812), of the Scotts of Scottsborough, Co. Tipperary; a nephew of the notorious John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell and descended on two sides from Nicholas Purcell, 13th Baron of Loughmoe. VanKoughnet's father-in-law had been 'a very eminent, affluent and respectable merchant' of Carrick-on-Suir, but following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, he was publicly flogged and then wrongly imprisoned for giving grain to the starving Catholic population in his home town. Scott declared himself bankrupt after a lengthy Lawsuit against the man who flogged him, during which time the price of grain fell. He briefly took his family to America to regenerate his business, but this failed and back in Ireland he took his life in 1812 [1]. Mrs VanKoughnet's sister, Catherine (Scott) Pack (1785–1863), was the great grandmother of the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes.
Philip and Harriet left thirteen children, who after his death on 7 May 1873, divided Cornwall, Ontario (which New Johnstown is now known as) between themselves. Their eldest son, The Hon. Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet, became the Chancellor of Upper Canada (Ontario), and among others they were the grandparents of Lady MacDonald, Lady van Straubenzee and Mrs F.E. Meredith.
History of the name
The VanKoughnets originated during the Middle Ages in Switzerland, when their name was spelt Von Gachnang after acquiring the lands of Gachnang and Schellenberg in 1336. They remained loyal to the Princes of Austria and were guests of the Holy Roman Emperor at Zurich in 1443. They later entrusted their considerable land holdings to Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, but he and the succeeding Holy Roman Emperors used the money raised to fight a series of unsuccessful wars, leading to the loss of their land by 1556. They maintained their noble name, but were forced to move to Zurich and its surrounding villages. They remained prominent citizens there and as the Germans came to dominate the area they began to spell their name von Gochnat. During the Thirty Years War Philip VanKoughnet's ancestor fled to Turckheim and then Colmar in Alsace, where the next three successive generations of his family were members of the Grand jury. When the French regained possession of Alsace, Philip's pro-German grandfather was stripped of his status and in 1751 emigrated to North America, where the Dutch settlers, who did not understand the German pretext of 'von', corrupted the name to VanKoughnet as it has remained. Im a descendant of the Vankoughnetts in Kingston Ontario. My grandmothers name is Rhoda and her father was John ,,son of George whom was the son of George Wilheim Vankoughnett ,son of Solomon who had 16 children mostly boys. Like my mother had 9 boys and one girl,My mothers name is Ada, Pople was her father Henry who married Rhoda Vankoughnett.Ada my mother married David Hoover and later 1956 divorced and married William Sutton aka Slawco(Yaroslav) Kochanowsky(his mother was from Ukraine and fathger Bachynsky as well from Ukraine) My name is Richard Bachynsky Hoover. Film executive producer creator writer of The Bitter Harvest( as well known previously as The Devils Harvest film based on Ukraines Holodomor genocide and Cossack and Red Army wars 1930 first ever in English to be premiered this summer London England and Toronto Canadas TIFF film festival. othres related in Kingston are the Carsons Tina my sister children Jamie and Amy and Megan and grandchildren Cameron ,Evelyn, and Aiyden a new arrival.The many Hoovers in Kingston and Poples and other relatives to add that are said to be in at least 400 relatives approx in the Kingston Ontario Canada area alone and some still have remained in Upstate New York ,known as Dorothy Candino and daughter.
I reside in Kyiv Ukraine where the film was shot on location just before the Maidan revolution eruupted ,I als have a 6 year old son named Genya Rikovich Nyanchenko .He will be proud to read this history of my family bloodline in Canada ,the loyalist connection we also stem from besides Ukrainian on my fathers side and a connection to Sir Conan Doyle author of Sherlock Holmes and many more great novels.Proud to be a Vankoughnett ,midevil times known as Von Gochnat from Switzerland ,,we are direct descendants.The famous Mohichan Indian Molly Brant and brother Chief Joseph Brant(Brantfort Ontario) were close to this family living on Ridieu street Kingston where they settled from America upstate New York and previously Wisconsin and were close to Sir John A Macdonald who was born on that street near where we were all raised with many cousins in a few blocks radius .This is where we have heard the coined phrase ,,"we have Native Indian blood in in our family "stemmed from im sure or when they were in the War of 1812 against America and were scouts and soldiers alongside with the Mohichan Indian tribes that joined bravely fighting shoulder to shoulder with their allied Empire Loyalist and inter married or mixed during the long wars and harsh winters up the Hudson over the years and as well as being Superintedent of Indian affairs in Johnstown upstate New York and later Cornwall Ontario ( Upper Canada )once called New Johnstown after Micheal Matthew Johnston Vankoughnetts best friend who frequently mixed with Indians and his Vankoughnett best friends .This is probably how Micheal Matthew Vankoughnett of Osgoode Hall retained his name from Johnston his fathers best friend .His painting his about 15 feet high on the second floor of Osgoode hall in Toronto on Queen Street at University avenue . He was a prominent Laywer and contributor to the Church Steet iconic St,James Cathedral Church located just off Front street.A huge brass memorial plaque commemorated to his father British Navy Canadian Commander Mr.Philip Vankoughnett seen in sketch on this page above hangs on the left side of the churches door way entrance . They were instrumental in the devepment of Toronto and Kingston and Cornwalls rich deep rooted history with close friendship and marriage connection with Sir John A Macdonalds Canadas first Prime ministers son Mr.Hugh Macdonald who married Gertrude Vankoughnett,,known as Gertie.,,quite a mixed but interesting trail of European immigrants that struggled and fought and farmed and hunted and trapped and traded and some studied hard and climbed the polictical ranks and in both diffrent but adventurous ways and journeys all helped risking their lives and homeland in USA and Europe to eventually build Canadas wonderful culture and charming landscape of Ontario being so Loyal to The King gf England ,,here comes the Loyalist ,,but more now!