City honours Mountain’s earliest settlers

With all of the growth that’s taken place in the last several decades, some may find it hard to believe that the Mountain was once a prosperous farming area.

Among those who worked the land more than 200 years ago was the Rymal family, who came to the west Mountain following the American Revolution.

Joseph Woolley, 79, is one of a handful of surviving blood relatives of the Rymals.

His grandfather Peter Woolley married Elizabeth Rymal, one of the five daughters of Joseph Rymal, who was a long-time Liberal MP from South Wentworth.

Known as Honest Joe, he participated in the Confederation debates and was instrumental in ensuring a rail stop was established on the east Mountain in the late 19th century.