| Welcome To A History Of Malahide Township
Hint: To search this page for a particular name or location try using the "Find" command in your browser. Just click on "Edit" then "Find On This Page". We are proud to live in Malahide Township and would like to tell you a little about its history. The first article "Malahide Township" was taken from "Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Elgin, Ont". Published by H. R. Page & Co., Toronto, 1877. This article was written from a personal perspective by the author who actually traveled the area. Local residents will recognize the names of many of the personalities mentioned in the article. The second article presented is from a paper, " An Analysis of Early Development & Settlement, written by M. B. Boughner. This article is written from an overview perspective of the early history of the Township. We hope you enjoy. - Our thanks to the Aylmer Museum for providing this material. Here is a link to some interesting reading regarding " The Port Bruce Harbour Company" Finally, I have included a link to a poem called "Old Timers of Port Bruce as it was in 1896" by Violet Reid Reavie, 1961 UPDATE - On 01 January, 1998 Malahide Township amalgamated with the former Township of South Dorchester and the former Village of Springfield. The newly created municipality, population approximately 8900, decided to keep the name of Malahide Township. Malahide Township Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Elgin, Ont. Published by H. R. Page & Co., Toronto, 1877 This Township lies between Yarmouth and Bayham, and is bounded on the north by South Dorchester and on the south by Lake Erie. It contains about 6,000 acres of land, and received its name from Col. Talbot in honour or remembrance of the baronial Castle of Malahide in Ireland. The earliest settlers were the brothers, William, Andrus, Daniel, Simeon and Joseph Davis, who emigrated from the State of New York about 1810. A few others came before the War of 1812, the writer is not certain how many, but among these were Noah Davis, cousin of the former brothers, Stephen Leek, Henry House, Isaac Crane, Daniel Mckinley, Isaac and Thaddeus Ostrander, Onesimus, G. and Thaddeus Bradley, Wm. Teeple and John Vanpatter. Little more than a brief mention of their names can be given here; volumes would be required to give in detail the story of their privations and their labours before causing this wilderness to bloom. They were worthy fathers and their dames were worthy mothers, and their descendants now, numerous, wealthy and respected, inherit the paternal estates and reap the golden harvests. William Davis emigrated from Albany in 1809 and settled on Lot No. 2, north side of Talbot Street, west of the Teeple farm. His first house was a log one, and the mill which he built for the supply of flour and meal for home consumption, was of a pattern not seen as present. His family consisted of nine sons and three daughters, and a traditionary description of this mill was thus given by one of the sons, A J. Davis Esq.: A large sound stump with the top as nearly level as possible was first selected, a fire kindled in the centre of the top and the circumference kept wet while the fire was burning. This plan, of course, soon hollowed a mortar, which had a very solid foundation. In this hollow was placed the wheat or corn to be brayed into flour or meal. A spring pole in the position of an old-fashioned well sweep was then rigged above the mortar, and to the end of this pole at a proper angle with it was fixed another a sort of dependent pestle reaching nearly to the grist. The motive power was not steam or water, but human muscles. A rope ending in a sort of stirrup reached from the spring pole which was worked with the feet and hands. The New England Mills, now in St. Thomas, will grind 300 bushels of grain per day; this mill will not grind as much. There were at the time , however, no better ones nearer than Long Point or Port Talbot. Deacon William Davis lived on this farm until his death at the age of 80 years. He helped to chop the trees in the roadway between St. Thomas and Aylmer; served in the War of 1812; organized the first Baptist church in the county, and lived an honourable and exemplary life. Anfrus Davis once remarked that his effects when he came to Talbot Street consisted solely of a one dollar bill and an axe. At his death he possessed 900 acres of excellent land, personal property, money at interest, &c., all made by enterprise and honest industry. His neighbour, Wm. Teeple was also the Deacon Teeple of whom we have all heard - his farm was the one now owned by his son, L. D. Teeple, Esq. Samuel Harper settled on the street east of Aylmer, and also with Mr. Bradley, served in the war of 1812. The lot selected by Mr. Vanpatter was on the north side of the street, and is now occupied by the flourishing portion of Aylmer, known as Walkertown. About the year 1816 three or four families of settlers carried their scanty luggage across the gullies from the Long Point country to the Lake shore, first concession, now Nova Scotia street. They were Nathan Lyon, Elija Saxton, - Griflin, Gilbert Wrong, and colonel Backhouse. Mr Lyon, then a small boy, came to Grimsby from New Brunswick in 1801 - he lived respected by all who knew him, to the ripe old age of 86 years, on the homestead at Grovesend. John Marr, Sen'r, settled in 1821 on the farm now owned by Asa Marr, Esq., on Nova Scotia street. A few from the Long Point settlement drew lots of Col. Talbot, on Lake Shore, but did not become actual settlers. These were the Butlers, Wyckoffs, and others who sold to the settlers from Nova Scotia, who came later, - the Chutes, McConnels and Saxtons - two or three families only, but pretty extensive families, as it now appears - families, however, who came for a purpose, and it may be truly said that the county is better for their coming. The first drive enjoyed by the writer down the Nova Scotia street from Copenhagen to Port Burwell, chanced to be an exuberant month of June, when farms put on their richest and most promising attire. The timothy grass was as high as the fences - a green sea of verdure - dark hollows were chasing sunny ridges on waving wheat fields - rich and cozy farm houses were seen half hidden by fruit and evergreen trees, with now and then the blue like in the distance, all making a picture that caused these lines of Mrs. Hemans to make music in our ears, "We will rear new homes under trees that glow The Summers Casaddens and Laurs were the early settlers on Talbot street east Aylmer, and in 1830 David Hunt and Thomas Kilmer located on the 8th Concession. In 1816 John W. Peemer, Esq., settled on what is now known as the Tozer farm. The first saw and grist mill in the settlement except of the kind previously described was built in 1817 on Catfish Creek by Andrus Davis Esq., John D. Brown. They were sold to James Brown Esq., and are now or rather others upon the same site, the property of Hiram Johns, Esq., of Orwell. The first frame house was erected by Simeon Davis for a "way-side inn," not the one of which Longfellow wrote; it is now used for a barn and driving house, and may be seen near the white cottage of Mr. Baker, a little west of Aylmer. In 1817 the lots on Talbot street were all taken up, nearly all of the 1st Concession, also nearly all of the 8th and 9th Concessions. There were then about 775 persons in the Township. The shore of the broad blue lake skirting the south of the township tells a tale of early promise - promise that was not wholly fulfilled. As early as the year 1812, Colonel Backhouse, then living at Port Rowan, purchased a lot at the mouth of that beautiful and romantic stream called Silver Creek; built a saw mill in 1814 and grist mill in 1816. These were the first mills, besides stump mills, in the township, and were for a time a great assistance to the settlers. They were standing in 1827, but now have gone down to decay; the mill wheel has fallen to pieces, and a quiet broken only by the purling waters, hangs over the ruins. The lot is now a farm of one of the grandsons of the Colonel, and the mouth of the creek is the fishing grounds of the eccentric and comical Jake Berdan. The vicinity of the mouth of the larger stream , a little west, was settled in 1917 and possess some historic interests, from the fact that it was the early home of the late Dr. John Rolfe. The natural scenery along the bank of the lake here , before white man ever set foot upon its shore, was magnificent and picturesque, indeed worthy of the pencil of the painter or the pen of a poet. There is good reason for believing that this was one of the streams that afforded a landing place for Charlevoix, the romantic and enterprising French traveler, in 1720. It is certain that this gentleman with his attendants, journeyed the distance of the Lakes Ontario and Erie in those small boats, used by the French habi ans, called batteaux. Theses were so light that they could be carried along the shores of the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers, which from falls and rapids were not navigable. To him we give the credit for the early name of this stream, "River Barbu", which though at present less expressive than Catfish, is certainly as euphonious. I am not aware who first applied the name Catfish Creek, but many of us have seen taken from it the scaleless dark looking specimens suggestive of this. About two thousand acres on the west bank of the creek, came in possession of Col. Hale, father of the late Edward Hale, Government Secretary in India. The Colonel made over the land to his sons and refused to sell any at the mouth of the creek, as this being the best lake outlet of the rich timber region to the north, he saw there a city in futuro. Henry Dalley purchased a farm on the hill about half a mile west of the present site of Port Bruce, and by advocating the feasibility and great advantages of cutting a new channel for the stream to make a better harbour farther west managed to sell a number of lots, lay out a village and call it Davenport. In 1835, there was a general store kept by James Mihell & Co., hotel,
tailor and blacksmith shop, &c. &c. In the same year a line of railway was
surveyed by Daniel Hanvey, Esq. of St. Thomas, from Davenport to London. The ruins of the
village are there now, and on one of the old buildings the half effaced sign of the above
firm, in fact Davenport was a place of great promise, but small fulfillment. The Dalley
farm now invites the second look from the passer by, and with its hedges and beautiful
trees of cedar and chestnut seems to require only money to make it like one of the
"stately homes of England."
The channel of the Catfish was not changed, and Port Bruce from 1840 to 1860 was a village and a shipping port of considerable importance. In 1851, Amasa Lewis, Esq., commenced buying grain there, bought that year at 621/2 cents per bushel and built a dock from which to ship it. There was a large trade in lumber and staves, (this was a staving period in the history of Malahide and Bayham), but the roads were very bad and teams had to unload on the bank of the creek a long way this side of the Port, and the cargoes were from here scowed down to the vessels; finally a bee attended by forty men cut the road so that Lewis dock was approachable. In 1855 a Government agent visited Bruce and the result was a gratuity of $6,000 for the improvement of the harbour. In the same year the Aylmer and Port Bruce gravel road was completed. It was built by a company several of whom are living in Aylmer at present, and although they made no shekels by building it, the enterprise was a great help to the township and marked an era of its prosperity. The "Gravel" is a good road yet and toll gates are abolished. The company mortgaged it to the township, and the corporation, about the year 1860 took it in payment of the debt - sold it with the harbour in 1869 to Sheriff Munro and others - bought it back it back and removed the gates in 1874. If these sketches are faithfully written they must tell of places that are not what they once were, though triumphant progress has been made by the county as a whole. One of these places is Port Bruce - its glory and wealth have departed and gone to Aylmer. The Davis's, Martins, Lewis's, Nickersons and others no longer haunt its historic shores, the schooner Netti Davis though built there comes there no more - the warehouses are deserted- there are no more jollifications at boat launches, and no more do long processions of wheat laden wains go down the gravel road. The reason for this is the simple fact that the staves and the lumber are gone, and the railways carry the grain. This completes our notice of the points of the earliest settlement. The
Vannelsors and others settled near the Bayham line, 4th Concession, in 1830, and the
McCauslands, staunch and reliable men all of them, near Centerville in the same year.. The
Hill brothers located in 1840 where they now are - they found the locality a wilderness,
they have by skill and industry made it what it is; they have well cultivated farms -
excellent water power - have cut a great amount of lumber, and are now doing a flourishing
business. The concessions were settled from time to time, very few lots remaining in 1845.
The population in 1848 was 4,034; in 1853, 4,050; in 1861, 5,320 and in 1871 5,550. The
population by places of birth is from England 350, Ireland 154, Scotland 82, New Brunswick
54, Nova Scotia 146, Ontario 4,448, Quebec 26, Germany 13, United States 257. The records
of the township and other documents have been twice burned during Aylmer fires or other
interesting statistics might be given. Luton is a post village in about the geographical center of the township, on the 5th Concession. The school house here is a brick one, with class-room, improved furniture and apparatus. The present teacher, R. C. Ingles, Esq., has brought the school to a superior state of efficiency. Mount Salem is a small post village on the 4th Concession, and on the Stage Road from Aylmer to Gravesend. Springfield is the second village is size in Elgin, and the third place in size and importance in the whole county. It is situated on the line between Malahide and South Dorchester - 5 miles from Aylmer and 17 Miles from St. Thomas - is an important Station on the Canada Southern Railway - its modern growth is coeval with the railroad, and has been almost unprecedented sine 1871. At about the same time it was the first known that the C.S.R. would pass through Springfield, Mr. James Garret purchased a farm on the Malahide side of the town line. This farm now contains the Station grounds and many fine buildings and well settled village lots, and Mr. Garret in all probability made many shekels by the operation. The Clunas and Yoder families were among the first settlers, and for a long time it was only a small post village known on the maps as Clunas Post Office. There are now oatmeal and flouring mills, lumber and shingle mills, hotels and many fine stores and shops. The Methodists bodies have churches here and the farm of John Cooke Esq., a little west is the resort of the mammoth camp meetings. The school house is a noble two story brick one with four excellent rooms, and it is only simple truth to say that Mr. Burdick, the principal, stands at the head of his profession. The manufactories will be noticed in another place. On the whole, Malahide is a good township. Its assessment is nearly two millions, and that does not of course represent the true value of the property. The belt of soil along the lake is a sandy loam, timbered with oak, chestnut and other hardwood. An extensive belt of pine runs through the center east and west and the north is a heavier soil of clay and gravely loam, timbered with beech and maple, at one time interspersed with gigantic white pines. The timber alone of the township, had it been spared and sold at the ruling price of 1870-71, or the Cleveland and Albany prices of 1865, would have brought much more than the assessor's roll represents at present. This, however, is no just cause for regret, as civilized homes are of more value than money. The central part of the township near the Yarmouth line, contains yet a valuable tract of pine timber nearly all owned by Albert White Esq. This locality, before saw mills were built, was the paradise of the hunter and the trout fisher. Crystal springs gush from the hill sides and form clear purling streams that wind through romantic ravines westward to join the Catfish. All these literally swarmed with fine trout, but the sawdust , and the deceminations by the angler's hook have made them few a far between. An Analysis of Early Development & Settlement of Malahide Township The Malahide area was originally settled by the Neutral Indians who up until 1651 claimed the entire part of land north of Lake Erie from Niagara to Detroit. Their name Neutral was derived from their stand of neutrality between the Huron's and the Iroquois. They were described by De Laroche - Daillon, a Recollet father in 1626, as being warlike and growers of tobacco. In 1651 the Iroquois forces attacked the Neutrals leaving very few survivors. Those who remained alive merged with Huron's, Wyandots and Senecas. Under Treaty Number One (May 19, 1790) and Treaty Three (December 7, 1792) Malahide Township was surrendered to King George 111. No other true form of settlement occurred in the area until Thomas Talbot received his land grant on Lake Erie, of five thousand acres of land in 1803. By 1836 Talbot had the control of twenty-eight townships in the London and Western District, of which 540,443 acres were under patent or cultivation. The Talbot lands were granted by the British government to encourage compact British settlement in Canada. Great Britain, especially after the War of 1812, wanted Canada to provide her own defense spending and a compact settlement was a first step towards this goal. In return Thomas Talbot was entitled to reserve for himself two hundred acres of land, for every settler who he placed upon fifty acres of his own land. In actual fact Talbot placed settlers on fifty acre lots and then reserved the surrounding one hundred and fifty acres. Under these stipulations the Talbot Settlement commenced and according to Edgar McInnis , in his book Canada: A Political and Social History, Talbot succeeded in attracting thirty thousand settlers to this area. The ethnic make-up of the settlers of the Malahide area was strongly that of the British Isles and United Empire Loyalists. The main problem with the Talbot Settlement was the fact that it was not a compact settlement. Robert Gourley in his work A Statistical Account of Upper Canada, reports of a meeting held in Malahide Township on Dec. 10, 1817 with the settlers of the area. When asked what in their opinion "retarded the improvement" of their township, their reply was that:" the Lots reserved for the Crown and Clergy, constituted two-seventh's of the township, and prevent the settlement from being compact." The fact that settlement was not compact was a definite retardation factor to growth and development. Instead o being able to concentrate in one area, the township was characterized by a smattering of developments which heightened the rural nature of the township. Early Economic Development Malahide Township fits in very well with the staple theory of Canadian history. The area developed economically by exporting the indigenous staples (raw materials}, each in their turn. As the timber ran out Malahide producers turned to the agriculture export and have for the most part remained in this mode. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century agricultural and forest products comprised seventy-five percent of Canada's total exports. Between 1849 and 1866 agricultural exports grossed approximately one hundred and eighty million dollars. There was a growing American market for sawn lumber owing to three major factors: the demand for building supplies for her fast growing cities; exhaustion of her pine forestry which was the preferred building material; and the developing inland water transportation system of the Great Lakes which was directed at the eastern American markets. By 1851 there was a pattern of small saw mills along the shores of Lake Erie and Ontario- such was the case of Malahide Township. Malahide Township held a bountiful supply of large white pine trees. In 1810 Mahlon Burwell, Thomas Talbots surveyor, reported passing pine trees on the third concession of Malahide that measured "three to four feet in diameter." In 1887 the report of the president of the carriage builders' guild of London, stated after inspecting lumber yards at London Chatham, Ottawa, Aylmer, Hull and New Edinburgh that " only at Aylmer did I see hard and tough timber suitable for carriage building purposes." The township was covered with pine and hardwoods at one time, however as no conservation was practiced, Malahide experienced a boom lumber exporting period until all of the lumber was finally depleted. As in the other areas of Malahide's development, there was once again a short period of profitable exploitation of a superior product only to be followed by a bottoming out period. The next staple developed by Malahide Township was wheat. While wheat was never the export item that timber was, it was definitely in big demand with Great Britain. The continual fighting between France and Great Britain caused great problems for Great Britain to obtain wheat upon the continent. As such the grain fields of Canada were turned to in order to fill the corresponding gap. As timber supplies waned Elgin County farmers specialized in wheat farming. By 1880 however, they were forced to turn to mixed farming as the demand for wheat declined as the world moved into a relative state of peace. The population of Malahide Township did not turn to manufacturing as this demand declined, but rather to another area of farming. This trend can also be seen upon examination of the occupational disparity of Malahide Township over time. In examining the census material of 1851, 1861 and 1871 one can find a steady increase in the number of people turning to farming as a full-time occupation. By computing the occupational base of the population, it can be found that in 1861 forty-two point two percent of the work force were farmers where by 1871 fifty-five point seven per cent were farmers.In this ten year period there was only an increase of point two per cent in the occupational base. From 1861 to 1871 the segment of the population listed as labourers dropped drastically as the occupation dropped from thirty-two point four per cent of the working force to nine point six per cent. there was a definite trend within Malahide Township to move away from a readily available work force which was needed for industry, to a rural work force of self-employed farmers. There was also a significant flux in the occupational group of servants. In 1851 Malahide Township had zero per cent of its work force employed as servants, however by 1861 one point six per cent of the work force were servants and by 1871 two point six per cent were employed as such. Of the sixty-nine occupations listed in 1861 and of the eighty-five occupations listed in 1871, none were industrial in nature. The occupational force of Malahide Township was not designed to attract industry on any large scale as it was predominantly an area of moderately prosperous farmers. While the labour force of Malahide was not conducive to large scale industry, neither was its form of currency. as the Canadian economy was based upon staple extraction for predominantly British markets, so also was its early colonial banking system. As such Canadian banking became a " branch plant of English commercial banking" - the type of banking least suited to an agricultural area. As a result of this type of banking system, Ontario witnessed the rise of private banks in the towns of rural areas. In Malahide Township the first half of the nineteenth century saw the main currency of the area to be Malahide dollars. One Malahide dollar in1837 was worth seventy-five cents in store goods or fifty cents in cash |
