Doctor John Sweetland

John Sweetland was born in 1835 in Kingston. Like many other medical professionals to arrive in Mississippi Mills, he studied medicine at Queen’s University. While studying he met and married Isabella Dickson, the daughter of the founder of Pakenham, Andrew Dickson. The couple moved to Pakenham after his graduation in 1858, and Doctor Sweetland opened his first practice in the community on the corner of MacFarlane and Elizabeth Street in the village. He was also appointed coroner for Lanark and Renfrew Counties at this time. The doctor worked in Pakenham until 1865, when he moved to Ottawa and became involved in politics, rising to the top of Ottawa’s social scene, all while remaining devoted to the medical profession and working as a surgeon with five different organizations. He passed away in May 1907, and was remembered as a man of “kindly, sympathetic nature, [who] readily lent himself to every good word and work.” [“Dead Causes Much Regret: Demise of Sheriff Sweetland of Carleton County.” The Ottawa Journal, 6 May 1907].