THE COUNTY OF HALIBURTON
Extracted from Pelham Mulvaney's "History of the County of Peterborough" (1884)
Chapter I
ORGANIZATION AND GEOLOGY
The history of the Provisional County of Haliburton embraces only a short period of time, its formation being so recent as the year 1874. In that year an Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario setting off certain townships in the Counties of Peterborough and Victoria, and establishing them as a provisional county. This action was taken in response to the strongly expressed desire of the settlers in those townships, who appear to have been actuated by two motives: the desire to grant a bonus to the proposed Victoria Railway, and the expectation that a more rapid development of their district would take place if they themselves had exclusive control of their own local affairs. At that time the Victoria Railway Company were seeking most energetically to obtain funds to build a railway from Lindsay to some favourable point in the territory to the north, and the company asked for a large bonus from the northern townships. This bonus the settlers were willing to contribute, but the County Council of Peterborough refused to permit the settlers in the townships in the County of Peterborough to tax themselves to the required extent. The settlers took action and asked for separation from the County of Peterborough. This request was granted by the Government of the Province, and twenty townships in the County of Peterborough and three townships in the County of Victoria were constituted a separate municipality under the name of the Provisional County of Haliburton. The Provisional County thus created was attached to the County of Victoria for all purposes connected with the administration of justice; and for all political purposes of a provincial character the entire Provisional County was thrown into the north riding of the same county. The Act constituting the Provisional County provided for the appointment of a Stipendiary Magistrate, who should also be the Division Court Judge; of a Registrar, and of a Municipal Council possessing all the ordinary powers of a County Council. The Village of Minden was named by the Lieutenant-Governor as the site of the registry office, and as the legal meeting place of the County Council. The twenty-three townships thus formed into a Provisional County were the following:--
In Peterborough: Bruton, Cardiff, Clyde, Dudley, Dysart, Eyre, Glamorgan, Guilford, Harburn, McClintock, Harcourt, Havelock, Lawrence, Livingstone, Monmouth, Nightingale, Snowdon, Stanhope, Minden and Sherborne.
In Victoria: Anson, Hindon and Lutterworth.
At the time of the formation of the county fifteen of these townships were already organized for municipal purposes, whilst eight were still unsettled and had no municipal organization whatever. The six municipalities were those of: 1. Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn and Bruton; 2. Lutterworth, Anson and Hindon; 3. Minden; 4. Monmouth, Glamorgan, Cardiff; 5. Snowdon; 6. Stanhope. The Reeves of those municipalities formed the County Council, the first meeting of which took place at Minden, on the 18th of June, 1874, when the following gentlemen took their seats :--
Mr. A. Niven, Esq., Reeve of the United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn and Bruton; James Langton, Esq., Reeve of Minden; William Hartle, Esq., Reeve of the United Townships of Lutterworth, Anson and Hindon; Philip Harding, Esq., Reeve of the United Townships of Glamorgan, Monmouth and Cardiff; John R. Calvert, Esq., Reeve of Snowdon; Joseph Beatty, Reeve of Stanhope. The Council having elected A. Niven, Esq., Warden of the County and appointed S.S. Peck, Esq., County Clerk and Treasurer, proceeded at once to business and took the necessary steps to borrow some money. At two subsequent meetings, on July 2nd and July 14th, the Council considered the proposals to assist the Victoria Railway Company by a grant of money as a bonus, and passed a by-law to be submitted to the ratepayers, authorizing the negotiation of a debt to the amount of $55,000, and the gift of that sum to the Railway Company. For this bonus to the railway, the whole county was not made responsible, but only the portion immediately contiguous to the proposed line from Lindsay to Haliburton. The railway group thus formed consisted of the townships of Snowdon, Glamorgan, Monmouth, Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Grutford, Harburn and Bruton, and part of the townships of Lutterworth, Minden and Stanhope. A vote of ratepayers in the group was taken on the by-law, on the 15th of August, 1874, when 248 votes were recorded in its favour and only 60 against it. At the time of the formation of the county there were 886 ratepayers.
The County Council having provided itself with money, and having duly sanctioned the gift of the fifty-five thousand dollars to the railway, proceeded with its ordinary work, and at first met considerable success; but as time went on, it became involved in difficulties of a pecuniary character: there was considerable internal trouble and dissension; the payments annually due on account of the money given to the railway were not met; the sheriff levied on the County; and the credit of the County fell to a very low point. So great were the financial difficulties, and so gloomy was the prospect, that the County Council in a body, accompanied by its clerk, treasurer and constable, visited Toronto, and interviewing the Premier of the Province, entreated him to grant the county such assistance as would relieve it from the pressure of the taxation incidental to the railway bonus. The Government, though it gave a sympathetic ear to the county’s appeal, could not undertake to give it any money, and the Council returned home very much discouraged. But it went to work with none the less vigour, and looking at difficulties squarely in the face met them with considerable tact and judgment. It has now happily, surmounted all its worst troubles: it has weathered the storm, and is safely and strongly moored in port, and at the meeting of the Council, in June 1884, W. Gainer, Esq., the Warden, in his opening address, congratulated the county on the fact that it had met every engagement, that its only debt was that connected with the railway bonus, and that there was money in the Treasurer’s hands to meet every liability as it matured.
The expectation that the district would make more rapid progress after the control of its affairs was vested in the settlers themselves, has only been partially realized; for hardly had the Provisional County been formed, when the rush to the North West commenced, and a large number of the settlers migrated in that distant territory. It is computed that not less than one thousand souls left the county for Dakota, Manitoba, and the British North West. The migratory desire became almost a mania. Well-to-do farmers, possessing large clearances and good buildings, were seized with so strong a migratory impulse, that , failing to find purchasers for their farms, they abandoned them, and selling their live stock, betook themselves to the lands of the west with the proceeds. This seriously affected the fortunes of the new county, for not only did settlement not rapidly increase, as had been expected by the friends and advocates of the railway bonus, but population actually diminished. This, however, was only temporary, and it is satisfactory to find, not withstanding the large numbers of settlers who abandoned their farms to go west, that the population is increasing. From a statement made to the County Council, in June, 1884, by J. H. Delemere, Esq., the County Treasurer, it appears that whilst the number of ratepayers in 1881 was 1322, it had increased to 1362 in 1883.
Such, then, is the history of the County of Haliburton, since its formation, but thought that history commences so recently as 1874, the history of the townships of which the county is composed goes back to a considerable earlier date. The settlement of the entire district commenced with the construction of the Colonization Road from Bobcaygeon to the north, and so early as 1859 there were a number of settlers in the Township of Minden, and the nucleus of a village had been formed at the point where the Bobcaygeon Road crossed the Gull River.
The Village of Haliburton dates back to the year 1864, when an English joint stock company, formed for emigration and speculative purposes, having purchased from the Provincial Government ten townships, built a saw-mill on the site of a village plot laid out in the Township of Dysart. Even at that date there was a considerable settlement in the Townships of Minden, Snowdon, Stanhope and Lutterworth, the construction of a colonization road from Bobcaygeon in a nearly northerly direction having been the means of attracting many settlers to the district traversed by the road. The oldest village in the County of Haliburton is Minden, which was laid out by the Government at the point where the colonization road crosses Gull River by a bridge. This village, in 1864, contained an hotel, kept by Mr. Daniel Buck, a blacksmith’s shop, several stores, and a sawmill which was at work about a mile higher up the river. The progress of the village has been only slow, and it in 1879 suffered greatly by a fire which destroyed nearly half the village, but from this fire it has now recovered, and it is now doing considerable business. The population around the village is enjoying a fair amount of prosperity, and there are, it is understood, many depositors in the Post-office Savings Bank. The temperance cause has made considerable progress of late years throughout the county, and this, no doubt, has contributed to the improved condition of the settlers. Twenty years ago, the arrival of a barrel of whiskey at the hotel was an event which was marked by a general meeting of the entire settlement, the meeting sometimes lasting several days, and refreshing itself at intervals with a violin and cotillions. There was a dance at Buck’s hotel, Minden, which commenced on New Year’s Eve, 1864, and lasted with slight intermissions, for four days and five nights. The population in those days was greatly addicted to dancing, and the festive meetings at Buck’s were numerous. The same social characteristics still prevail, but the temperance sentiment is now sufficiently developed to have caused a great diminution in the number and duration of the dance meetings.
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY
The whole of the County of Haliburton lies north of the line of demarcation between the limestone and the granite formations. The former extends very nearly to the southern boundary of the county, but the geology of the district is essentially Laurentian. The rocks are not a pure granite, but are of a kind which geologists have christened “gneiss”, and are formed of feltspar and quartz. These constituent elements, when disintegrated by the action of the weather, are dispersed, the feltspar forming beds of clay and the quartz forming deposits of sand. The clay, being of a close, dense and hard character, underlies the sand, and is known as “hard-pan.” There are numerous boulders scattered on the surface of the land throughout the district, of all sizes and shapes, some of them consisting of immense masses of stone of many tons weight, obviously of a different geological character to the rocks in the vicinity. These boulders have been conveyed to their present locations at a period when the region was beneath the surface of the ocean, by means of icebergs and ice-fields. The icebergs breaking loose from the shores of the northern seas, were laden on their surface with stones which had fallen from the cliffs, and stones were also embedded in the bottom of the icebergs which had formed in shallow water. Both icebergs and ice-fields drifted south with the currents, and, melting in the warmer latitudes, dropped their burden of stones to the bottom of the ocean; gradual elevation of the continent during the lapse of time brought these boulder stones to light, and after remaining for long geological periods at the bottom of the sea they are now one of the chief annoyances of the settler. In many localities there are fine deposits of iron ore, some of them giving as high as seventy per cent. Of metallic iron, and everywhere throughout the district there are rocks of corystalline limestone. Several of the iron deposits have been mined, and the ore exported, for the ores are of a character which make them desirable for the purpose of smelting and blending with the ores of the United States, and there is a general expectation that as time goes on the iron industry will develop into one of great importance to the prosperity of the county. At Irondale, in the Township of Snowdon, large works are in progress of erection, and two firms—those of Pusey & Ivatts and Parry & Mills—are engaged in developing the mineral resources of the neighbourhood. Among the other minerals found in the district may be mentioned plumbago, galena, lead, silver, molybdenum and phosphates.
The land everywhere throughout the county is broken by hills, and the valleys between the hills form lakes filled with the purest and most pellucid water. The whole of the county, with the small portions cleared around the settlements, is covered with a dense forest, consisting chiefly of maple, birch, beech, basswood and hemlock, and before the arrival of the lumberman there was a considerable amount of pine. The pine has now nearly all disappeared, but the construction of the Victoria Railway, which was opened for traffic in 1878, has brought the other woods into demand. The ordinary method of the lumberman is to cut the pine trees into logs, draw the logs to the nearest river or lake, and then float them in the spring to the saw-mills. The mills are many miles distant, and the time occupied in floating the logs is frequently eight or ten weeks. Hardwood logs will not float, and therefore, until the opening of the railway, the vast quantities of birch, beech and maple, which are the chief woods of the forest, were absolutely unmarketable. Hardwood is coming into considerable demand, and though it has not yet developed into a profitable business, there can be no reasonable doubt that within a few years the demand for Ontario black birch will be large and the price remunerative.
The most remarkable topographical feature of the County of Haliburton is the number of lakes and lakelets scattered in prodigal profusion throughout the whole region. It would not be an easy matter to find a hundred acre lot distant more than two miles from a lake. They are of all sizes, --from the diminutive lakelet only an acre or two in extent to the noble sheet of water a mile wide and several miles in length. It was owing to the large number of lakes in the County of Haliburton that the project for the construction of the Trent Valley Canal was revised. This project originated about forty years ago, its object being the opening of a canal from Georgian Bay, on Lake Huron, to the Bay of Quinte, on Lake Ontario. The canal, as projected, ascends the River Trent, from Trenton, and passing through Peterborough, Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls, reaches its summit at Balsam Lake, 600 feet above the level of Lake Ontario. Thence it descends through Lake Simcoe and follows the course of the Severn to Georgian Bay, a descent of 200 feet. At the period named several locks were constructed by the Government, but the whole scheme was abandoned under the impression that the water supply at Balsam Lake, the summit, was insufficient. Mr. C.R. Stewart, at that time interested in Mr. Boyd’s lumbering operations in the County of Haliburton, having occasion to build several dams upon the Haliburton lakes, perceived that every lake in the district might, at a small expense, be converted into a reservoir for the canal, and thus the supply of water be permanently maintained. The idea was developed, a company was formed, of which Mr. Boyd was president, and a charter obtained. The shares were never floated, and the charter expired; but in 1883 and during the present year the Dominion Government have expanded large sums in the construction of locks at Fenelon Falls and other places with a view to the completion of the canal at some future time.
There are at present a great many lakes having dams at their outlets, these dams have been constructed for the convenience of the lumbermen, whose logs could not be floated down the various streams were it not for the water held up by artificial means. These dams control the spring freshets and hold back the water until the dry months of summer, thus maintaining the free navigation of the lower lakes.
The scenery on the lakes in the County of Haliburton is beautiful in the extreme, and when known to the public, will, no doubt, attract at least a portion of the pleasure tourists of the continent. Their utility is equal to their beauty, and the abundance of water renders the County of Haliburton one of the most favourable districts in the Province for the raising of cattle and the establishment of dairy farms.
It may here be observed that the dams in the whole of the northern district are now built and maintained by the Provincial Government, whilst those on the main stream of the Trent are built and maintained by the Dominion Government, the latter Government being represented by Mr. T. Belcher, Superintendent of the Trent Navigation, who has his offices in Peterborough; and the Provincial Government, having as its officer in charge of the works, Mr. Walters, whose residence is in Lindsay.
Chapter II.
MINERALS AND HALIBURTON VILLAGE
Throughout the whole of the extensive region, of which the County of Haliburton forms only a small portion, there are abundant evidences of the wide distribution of various minerals. Iron is found in many places, the deposits being on the most extensive scale, and some of these deposits have already been worked, but only to a limited extent. The honour of the discovery of the mineral wealth of the north must be assigned in about one equal degree to Mr. W. Robinson, of Bobcaygeon, and Mr. J. B. Campbell, of Port Perry. It was in the year 1870 that Mr. Robinson found a deposit of iron ore in the Township of Snowdon, and took samples of the ore to Bobcaygeon. Mr. Campbell speedily followed with further discoveries of iron, and within a short time numerous deposits of iron ore were found in the vicinity of the Robinson and Campbell discoveries. Mr. Robinson obtained his best samples on lot 20, Concession I, Snowdon, a deposit which afterwards became well known under the name of the Snowdon Iron Mine. In 1876 Mr. Robinson made further discoveries of iron on Lots 25, 26, 27 and 28, concession 4, Snowdon, and sold the right of lot 26 to Mr. H. S. Howland, of Toronto. Lots 25 and 27 are now owned by Mr. T.D. Ledyard, of Toronto. The deposit on lot 20, concession I, was discovered by Mr. Campbell almost simultaneously with the discovery of Mr. Robinson. Mr. Campbell arranged with Robert Gibson, the owner of the lot, and formed a partnership with Messrs. Shertis and Savigny, of Toronto, who purchased the lot and formed the Snowdon Iron Mine Company. The deposit on Gibson’s lot was very extensive, and a portion of it having been purchased by Mr. W. S. Myles, of Toronto, that gentleman proceeded to build a railway from the line of the Victoria Railway, near Kinmount, to the mine. The line is six and three quarters miles in length, and in its construction Mr. Myles expanded about $60,000 of his own money. It was a fairly good road, and for a time was used, about a thousand tons of ore from Mr. Myles’ mine being shipped to the States. The railway took nearly two years to construct, owing to the opposition of some of the parties through whose land the line passed. The operations being on a limited scale, and not being developed systematically, met with the usual result, and Mr. Myles abandoned the enterprise. Mr. Pusey then came in as lessee of both the Snowdon and the Howland mines, and in 1879 and 1880 shipped about a thousand tons of ore to the States, but though extensive buildings were erected and considerable work was done, the mining operations have now been suspended, and Mr. Ivatts, Mr. Pusey’s partner, a gentleman very popular and highly esteemed throughout the district, has gone to Europe awaiting further developments.
In 1880 Messrs. Parry and Mills, two gentlemen from Chicago, conceived the idea of working the Snowdon iron deposits and of converting the ore into charcoal iron. They leased a portion of the Snowdon mine, and proceeded to build a smelting furnace and saw mill on lot 18, concession I, where they obtained a water privilege. The smelting furnace is not yet completed, but the saw mill is in operation and will cut about 6,000 feet per day. There is also a shingle mill, five large dwelling houses, a storehouse, workshops, and numerous other buildings. Messrs. Parry and Mills have expanded about $40,000 in developing the mine, but operations are now partially suspended owing to dullness in the iron trade and other causes. The furnace, when completed, will smelt about ten tons daily.
On lot 17, concession I, Snowdon, Messrs. Trounce and Green possess a fine deposit of iron ore, but nothing has been done to develop it.
In the Township of Lutterworth, Mr. Thomas Baker, whilst logging and burning, discovered a large deposit of iron ore. He sold the lot to Mr. Thomas Paxton, of Whitby, who opened up the mine, worked it for some time, and shipped a large quantity of exceptionally good ore to Cleveland, in the United States. One of the vessels carrying the ore was wrecked when near Cleveland harbour, and being uninsured, the loss sustained crippled the enterprise so much that work was suspended. Mr. Paxton’s appointment as Sheriff of the County of Ontario turned that gentleman’s attention in other directions, and the mining operations have not yet been resumed. The ore from the Paxton mine has to be drawn in wagons a distance of about four miles to the Victoria Railway.
There are in the Township of Glamorgan deposits of iron ore as extensive and of equal quality to those in Snowdon. On lot 35, concession 4, there is reported to be a very fine ore bed, and another extensive bed is reported to exist in lot 20, concession 15.
Iron has also been discovered in many other places in the county, notably on a lot in Dysart, owned by Mr. Thompson, of Harburn, and a rich magnetic iron sand is to be seen on the shores of Hollow Lake, in Havelock. This last named deposit has been found to bear a small quantity of gold.
As regards the last named metal, there is reason to believe it is very generally diffused in small quantities throughout the district, but in no place has it yet been discovered in sufficient abundance to be remunerative to the miner.
Though iron is the only metal which has yet been discovered in large quantities, it is worthy of notice that marble is frequently met with, and a beautiful vein of workable marble was discovered by Mr. Robinson on lot 23, Concession 3, Snowdon.
There has been some fine samples of phosphate of lime found in the Township of Dudley.
THE VILLAGE OF HALIBURTON
The village is located on Head Lake, the most northerly of a chain of lakes known by the Indian name of Kahshagawigamog. The chain is about twelve miles in length, and extends to within three miles of the Village of Minden and the Bobcaygeon Road. In prehistoric periods, which in this locality means about two hundred years ago, there was a great battle fought between the Chippewa and Mohawk Indians on this lake, but the tradition is very vague and quite unreliable. The first settlers in Dysart had no other means of communication with the old settlements except such as were afforded by the water-way of the lakes. Haliburton has now numerous good roads, branching in directions, and it is also the terminus of the Victoria branch of the Midland Railway, which railway has recently been absorbed by the Grand Trunk. The village is most picturesque in all its surroundings, and justly prides itself on the beauty of its location. It has grown slowly but steadily, since its foundation in 1864, when there was but one settler on Head Lake, viz., Mr. C. R. Stewart. The village now contains about fifty houses, several excellent stores, three churches, two hotels, a fine school house, a handsome town hall, two saw mills, a grist mill, and all the usual conveniences of a first-class village. The first church was a small wooden building, 16 by 24 feet, built by Mr. Stewart, the then Manager of the Canadian Land Company, and the first services were read by Mr. Miles, a surveyor, whilst Dr. Peake, a new settler, just out from England, led the choir with an accordeon mounted on a little frame and worked with a treadle. The doctor could play only two tunes – The Evening Hymn and the March of the Men of Harlech – and both were utilized in a rather miscellaneous manner. But the services were altogether very satisfactory, and were attended by the settlers of all denominations or creeds. A Sunday-school was opened at an early period, and about 1865 the Rev. Mr. Bart, a clergyman of the English Church, was appointed to the incumbency of “St. George’s Church.” The little wooden building was in due time superseded, and a handsome church, from a design by Mr. John Belcher, architect, of Peterborough, was erected. To this church Mrs. Haliburton, widow of Judge Haliburton, better known as “Sam Slick,” gave an organ. The judge was one of the original directors of the English Land Company, and his name was bestowed on the village.
About the year 1865 Mr. Erskine opened a blacksmith’s shop in the village site, and Messrs. Lucas and Ritchie got a saw mill running. The forest began to disappear from the principal street of the village, and during the next year or two there was about twenty acres of the site of the village partially cleared up. The next step was the opening of a village store. This was initiated by a son of Mr. Stewart, who retired from business in about three weeks, transferring stock, good-will, premises, and future prospects, to Mr. Adam Garratt, for a sum of about ten dollars. The business was not very extensive, but Mr. Garratt increased the stock, in fact he doubled it, and at the same time opened a boarding house. The business of both boarding house and store increased rapidly. Mr. Garratt accumulated considerable property, and finally followed some members of his family to the North-West. Mr. Samuel Picket was the next to appear upon the scene, and he opened the tavern. The building of a grist mill followed. Mr. Young opened a store in 1868, and Mr. Dover in 1867. The progress of the village was only slow until the opening of the Victoria Railway, after which it increased rapidly in both size and importance. It now contains a population of about 300, and is the metropolis of an immense district, parties covering distances of forty and fifty miles to purchase at its stores. Of these, there are several, those of Mr. Young, Mr. Anderson, Mr. James Dover, Mr. Frederick Dover, and Mr. J. M. Irwin being remarkably well supplied. Dr. Spilsbury, the resident M.D., has also a drug store; Mr. Kellatt and Mr. Sleeman keep the two hotels; Mr. Bowen has a temperance boarding house; Mr. W. Miller is a builder and contractor; Mr. J. Read is constable and gaoler; Mr. Wooley is the painter; Mr. Grogan keeps a well supplied butcher’s shop; Mr. Dewing is the watchmaker, and a barber’s shop is open at uncertain intervals. Mr. Young is postmaster, and the mail is daily; the first postmaster was Mr. C. R. Stewart, the mail being carried twice a week in a punt.
In the autumn the village is visited by numerous parties of sportsmen, who avail themselves of its advantageous location for hunting. The deer are very numerous, sometimes being seen in the immediate vicinity of the village. Mr. Spilsbury found a deer in his yard during the month of June in the present year. Robert McKelvie has acquired a wide celebrity as a guide to hunting parties, and keeps dogs, tents, canoes, etc., always ready for sportsmen. The village promises to become a favourite summer resort, and during the present year a very handsome building, known as “Newnham,” has been opened for the accommodation of summer visitors on the lake shore about half a mile from the village.
The three churches belong respectively to the Church of England, the Methodists, and the Presbyterians, the former having the Rev. Mr. Ledingham for pastor, whilst Rev. Mr. Eves is the Methodist minister, and the Rev. Mr. Cameron officiates in the Presbyterian church. The first duly ordained clergyman in Haliburton was the Rev. Mr. Bart, and successively there has been Mr. Mackenzie, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Rooney, Mr. Jupp, and Mr. Ledingham.
The village is distinguished for its social gatherings, and under the management of Mr. Crosthwaite its Amateur Dramatic Company acquired more than a local fame.
Chapter III.
THE TOWNSHIPS
The Township of Minden ranks first in the list of the municipalities of the county in population and in agricultural development. It was first surveyed in 1859, and immediately began to be settled. In 1858, Mr. Francis Kent had settled in Minden, and the following year there were numerous arrivals, among them being Mr. Malachi Campbell, Mr. Harry Dawkins, the Murrays and the Burns. Mr. William Gainor soon after arrived, and built a saw mill on Beaver creek on lot 9, concession A. a saw mill was built on the main stream of the river in 1862. Mr. Richard Smith also built a saw mill on a creek running into Lake Kushog, at Austin’s Narrows, but it was not run to any extent. The lakes furnished a convenient means of access to land, and settlers continued to arrive steadily for several years after the survey of the township, and many of these settled along the shores of Lake Kushog, among the latter being Mr. Jacob Porkel, an Englishman from Gloucestershire, who, with his sons, speedily made a large clearing. Mr. Porkel had been accustomed to farming in the Old Country, and his experience enabled him to conduct his operations with almost unfailing success. He still resides on his farm, and has accumulated a very handsome competence, whilst his sons and daughters have all settled comfortably, some in Ontario and some in Manitoba. In 1861 the two Townships of Minden and Stanhope contained a population of 230; in 1873, twelve years later, this number had increased to 1,175, an increase which if not very rapid is a least satisfactory and encouraging. In the year last named, 1873, there were 204 ratepayers in Minden, and as this number had increased in 1883 to 244, it is clear that the increase in population has been continuous. The first hotelkeeper in the township was Mr. Daniel Buck, who kept tavern in the Village of Minden, and who was the first postmaster, the office being opened in 1860 with a weekly mail. There are now two mails daily to the Village of Minden. When the County of Haliburton was provisionally formed there was great jealousy between the villages of Minden and Haliburton as to which should be established as the County Town. In this contest Minden was victorious, but as Haliburton succeeded in establishing itself as the terminus of the railway, it bore its defeat in the County Town contest with great equanimity, confident that sooner or later its railway advantages would make it the metropolis of the north country. But at the present date the Township of Minden derives considerable pecuniary advantage from the village being the seat of the County Government, and the whole municipality is in a sound financial condition. During a great portion of its municipal existence the township has been represented in its Councils by Mr. William Gainor, who on all occasions has taken a prominent and active part in public business. The Village of Minden has also been for a lengthened period the residence of S. S. Peck, Esq., whose talents and energy have contributed, in no small degree, to the progress made by the entire district. The settlers in the township are all doing well, and anyone who visited the village in the month of July, in the present year, could not fail to be struck by the great quantities of butter which were being daily exported to Toronto – a fact showing that the farmers of the district had extensively adopted stock raising and dairying as a remunerative pursuit.
TOWNSHIP OF SNOWDON
This township was surveyed by M. Dean, Esq., P.L.S., in 1859, and his report was so favourable that it was the means of attracting many settlers to the township. Among the earliest of these were S.S. Peck, Esq., who located on a farm about two miles from the Village of Minden, where he ultimately removed, Richard McCracken, A. Scott, R. Ritchie, Stephen Moore, David Chalmers, and J. B. Edmison. From 1860 settlers continued to arrive in rapid succession, and by 1864 about half the township was taken up. In 1863 the first schoolhouse was erected near Mr. Peck’s residence, and the first teacher was Miss Peck. A Methodist church was erected in 1863, on lot 15, concession 13. The arrival of Mr. J. B. Scott, who speedily became one of the most successful farmers in the district, added materially to the progress of the township, and the opening of the Victoria Railway, which traverses the township diagonally from the south-west corner to the north-east corner, has given to the township advantages, which have been very generally utilized. Large quantities of forest produce, formerly of no value, have now become merchantable, and railway ties, telegraph poles, cordwood, cedar posts, basswood and poplar for paper mills, shingle bolts, elm for staves, and other materials, are now exported from Snowdon to the great advantage of the settlers. The progress of the township is shown by the assessment rolls to be as follows: In 1866, the ratepayers were 83; in 1873, 100; in 1883, 190. The North-West fever, in 1881, materially affected the increase of population, and somewhat retarded the progress of the township, but now that the fever is over the township is again going a-head.
TOWNSHIPS OF GLAMORGAN, MONMOUTH, AND CARDIFF
These three townships, on the formation of the County of Haliburton, were included in one municipality, and were represented at the first meeting of the County Council by Philip Harding, Esq., the Reeve of the Municipality, a gentleman who afterwards gave up agricultural pursuits, took holy orders in the English Church, and officiated as clergyman at Apsley, on the Burleigh Road. The settlement of Glamorgan commenced about the year 1869 or 1870, on the opening of the Monk Road as a colonization road by the Provincial Government. Among the first settlers were Mr. W.F. Ritchie, Samuel Wiley, of the famed Wiley Hill, on the Bobcaygeon Road, Thomas White, Charles Way, and Samuel Whittaker. Mr. Way took up his location at a point now known as Gooderham, where he is now postmaster and proprietor of the hotel. The township has made fair progress. It is a free grant township, and the settlers who take free grants are usually poor, but the settlers all appear to have done tolerably well. Between 1876 and 1880, Mr. J.J. Hunter built a saw and grist mill at Gooderham, and Mr. Charles Orser and Mr. Anthony Hall have between them a portable saw and shingle mill. This mill is a good one, is of about twenty horse power, and cuts lumber for local consumption. In the course of time it may possibly export lumber to the front, as the timber around is exceptionally good. In addition to the post-office at Gooderham, there is a second post-office at Ursa, Mr. Stephen Kettle being postmaster; Mr. Kettle is also township clerk, having taken the place of Mr. J. B. Palmer, who returned to England in 1882. There are two mails each week to Gooderham, and once a week there is a through mail to Chedoar in Cardiff. Among the settlers whose names deserve mention as having materially contributed to the progress of the township, special note should be made of Mr. Lidley, and Mr. Crogan, both of whom have served the township in the capacity of Reeve. From Gooderham there is a good road to Haliburton, and the Monk Road extends east and west respectively to Chedoar and Kinmount. There is a road direct to Buckhorn, in the Township of Harvey, but this last name road is but little used.
Extracts from the Report to the Honourable the Commissioner of Crown Lands of the Survey of the Township of Glamorgan, made by E.R. Ussher, P.L.S., in 1861-2.:--
“The land in Glamorgan, is, in general, undulating, and intersected with numerous lakes, beaver ponds, etc. …..
The principal branch of Burnt River flows through the township. The water of the river is of a darkish colour, and, strange to say, fish are not to be found in it. The river averages about a chain in width throughout the township, and has an average depth of four feet. There are numerous falls and rapids on this river, many of which, with a little labour, could be made very good mill sites. There is on lot 26, in the 6th concession, a fine site for a mill, having a fall of some fifteen feet.
“The lakes are deep and connected with one another by small streams; the banks of the lakes are higher and rocky, mostly fringed with pine and hemlock. The rocks are chiefly granite or gneiss, and boulders of the same description of rock are often met with on the surface.
“The land in the center of the township, south of Burnt River, is of an inferior description, being a light sandy loam, timbered mostly with pine of a dwarfish size. In the south-west and south-east corners of the township the land is of a better quality, being a good sandy loam, timbered with maple, beech, birch, hemlock, elm, basswood, and scattered pine of a large size.
“ The portion of the township north of Burnt River, from lot 28, concession 5, to lot 3, north boundary, abounds in pine, mostly of a fair description; the soil is light and unfit for cultivation. The land east of this, and extending to the east boundary, is a deep sandy loam timbered with hardwood, and well adapted for a large settlement, having some of the largest lakes in it, and being well watered. The pine throughout is of a dwarfish size, and quite unfit for mercantile purposes.”
In the Township of Monmouth settlement commenced about the same date as in Glamorgan, and foremost among the early settlers must be mentioned the Ritchie family—Samuel, Robert, and Mitchell Ritchie being among the first to settle in Monmouth, and they all did well. Mr. Samuel Ritchie, in the course of time, opened a store, was successful in business, and being desirous of extending the field of enterprise, removed to Lindsay in the present year. Mitchell Ritchie built a saw-mill at the foot of Providence Lake, and is doing well. The Ritchie settlement is now large and prosperous, and the Ritchie’s have all comfortable houses. Mr. William Hadley was another of the early settlers, and he also has done well. He built a saw-mill on lot 4, concession 8, in 1882, and cut lumber for local purposes. There are two post-offices, Hotspur, of which Mr. Thomas Clark is postmaster, and Wilberforce, of which Mr. Riley is postmaster. There are no churches in the township, but clergymen occasionally visit it and perform services in private houses.
Extracts from the Report to the Honourable the Commissioner of Crown Lands of the Survey of the Township of Monmouth, made in 1862-3, by J. W. Fitzgerald, P.L.S.
“From concession 1 to 7, and from lot 26 to 35, inclusive, the country is undulating, and is chiefly covered with a stout growth of beech, maple, basswood, and other varieties of hardwood timber. A number of very large hemlock trees are scattered through this tract, and are for the most part dead. These trees when found in hardwood land are generally indicative of rich loamy soil; such trees are usually met with in flat table-land, very seldom in lands of a higher or lesser elevation; large birch trees are also generally found in this land, and when met with under such circumstances are likewise a sign of heavy productive soil, composed a good deal of earthy matter.
“From concession 7 to 9, although the hardwood predominates, some large groves of very large white pine occur. They appear to be of good quality, and very sound, as pine found in hardwood land generally turns out to be.
“The remainder of this part of the township extending from concession 10 to 17, inclusive, is covered with a mixed variety of timber of average size. The hardwood, however, predominates, and where it occurs the soil is heavier, of greater depth, and of course more productive. Where pine, hemlock, etc., prevail, the country is more broken and hilly, and not so well adapted for agricultural pursuits, neither is the pine fit for square timber, but it is nearly all useful for ordinary saw-logs.
“The soil in this description of a country is generally light and sandy, and of a yellowish colour.
“Of this part of the township I should say that fully 60 to 70 per cent. Is well suited for farming purposes, a proportion sufficiently great to ensure all the requirements of a prosperous settlement.
“The south-east branch of the Burnt River flows through this tract in a south-easterly direction. Its banks are generally low, though in places steep, offering very fair mill sites. Along its banks are some very fine flats of land of deep alluvial soil, and timbered chiefly with a growth of average-sized beech and maple, the ground being entirely covered.
“The country along the boundary from lot 15 to the lake, which commences on lot 22, presents a very favourable appearance, for, with the exception of an occasional swamp, the land is almost exclusively covered with hardwood timbers. The surface gently undulates, and the soil is deep and of a rich loamy nature.
“Side line 20-21 commences in a swamp, which continues along the line for a quarter of a miles; the line then enters a fine tract of land, gently undulating, and covered with maple, beech, basswood, and hemlock. On concession line 2-3 the land is of the same undulating character from lot 16 to lot 25. On concession line 4-5 the land is broken and rocky.
“In the 8th concession the land improves again, and from this concession to the north boundary is a fine tract of land covered with maple, beech, basswood, and elm of very large growth. This tract extends from lot 10 to lot 25 in all the concessions from the 8th northwards. The soil in this section is of excellent quality, of a dark colour, great depth and very free of stone. The surface of the country is undulating and in some places rather hilly. The country is well watered by large streams.
“There is a large lake, called Otter Lake, in the north part of the township; it is of a long, narrow shape, and its shores in most places rise abruptly from the water. In the vicinity of this lake is an excellent tract of farming land, the soil being of the most fertile nature, composed of a dark, rich sandy loam; it is everywhere of great depth and generally rests on a substratum of gravel and coarse sand. Large, healthy elm is very abundant in this section, and the other timbers also grow to a great size.
“With exception of the rough tract to the south-west, this township is well adapted for settlement, a greater portion of the area being one unbroken tract of hardwood land, in which the soil is rich and fertile. The country is well watered with lakes and streams, and there are numerous mill privileges on Burnt River and its tributaries. Pine is in sufficient quantities to supply all the wants of the settlers, and large, healthy elm is very abundant throughout the township.”
So early as 1862 several settlers found their way into the Township of Cardiff. Among them were Mr. Armstrong, Mr. George Patterson, and Mr. Joseph Dunlop. The latter gentleman settled near Paudash Lake, and for a lengthened period his hospitality and geniality were much better and more widely known that the merits of the township in which he resided. It was not until 1870 that settlers commenced to arrive in any considerable numbers; but about that date there was a steady influx and the township began to be well settled. The Deer Lake settlement has been among the most prosperous of those in the County of Haliburton, and Mr. W. Ogilvie and Mr. McInroy have each been successful as settlers and have represented the people at the County Council meetings as Reeve. In 1873 Cardiff had only thirty-one ratepayers, whilst in 1883 it had 137, showing fair growth for the years of its existence. At Cheddar Mr. Wood keeps a very comfortable house of entertainment, and a post-office has been opened for a considerable period.
Extracts from the Report to the Honourable the Commissioner of Crown Lands of the Survey of the Township of Cardiff made in 1862-3, by F. W. Fitzgerald, P.L.S.: --
Referring to the west half, which was surveyed in 1862, Mr. Fitzgerald says:-- “This portion of Cardiff may be divided into three sections, and generally described as follows: Section I extends from the south boundary or concession No. I. Up to concession No. xiv., and from lot I to 15 in an easterly rolling, while in a few instances small isolated patches of broken land are met with. The granite rock is seldom seen on the surface except in such places and in the neighborhood of lakes and streams, where it crops out and where the stratification can be distinctly seen.
“The soil is a sandy loam of a fertile character and free from stone. It averages of twenty inches on the plains and tablelands while in the valleys it is much deeper and richer; but on the higher elevations it is lighter and more sandy. It generally rests on a stratum of coarse sand and gravel, but sometimes on a thick, yellowish compact mould containing granite boulders; these boulders in many cases differ in colour and in the proportion of their constituent parts from the native formation.
“ Around the shore of Eel Lake are several heavy pines capable of squaring 25 to 30 inches for a length of 75 feet. The timber on this tract is chiefly composed of beech, maple and basswood of average size.
“From concession xiv. To concession xix., in Section No. 2, the county is more uneven and hilly, and ridges of small white and red pine in a northerly direction frequently occur. The valleys between, where dry, are very fertile. Some few fine patches of hardwood land are also met with in this tract, the soil being like that of the preceding section.
“Section No. 3, extending from concession xix. To the northern boundary, is in every respect similar to Section No. I, the character and quality of the soil and timber being as nearly as possible the same.
Speaking of the survey of the eastern half of the Township of Cardiff, which was made in 1863, Mr. Fitzgerald says:--
“I commenced the survey at sideline 20-21, at its intersection with the south boundary. The country between this boundary and concession vi., and sideline 20-21 and the east boundary, is undulating, and in places considerably broken by low ridges of granite only partially covered with a shallow soil; in the valleys, however, occasional tracts of fair land occur , sufficiently extensive to induce settlement thereon. The prevailing timber in this section is white pine, of a good quality; hemlock, maple, beech, birch, etc., of average size, are also frequently met with in this tract.
“Between concession vi. And Paudash Lake is a tract of land presenting a much more favourable appearance. The surface is gently undulating, gradually sloping to the lake. The soil is composed of sandy loam of good depth, resting generally on a bed of coarse sand, and covered with a healthy, stout growth of hardwood timber. On the west shore of this lake, from concession vi. To concession xi., is also a tract of land of very good quality, and covered with heavy beech, maple, basswood, birch and hemlock. Small, isolated patches of healthy, average sized pine also occur. With the exception of a part of the east shore of the north bay, and a portion of the north shore of the east bay, the land around Paudash Lake offers every inducement to the settler; the soil is rich and fertile.
“To the north and north-east of the lake, extending to concession xiii., the land again is broken by low granite ridges; the soil is shallow, and the timber of a stinted growth. To the west of this section, and along sideline 15-16, is an excellent tract of land, extending northwards to concession xix. The surface is generally undulating, and grows stout beech, maple and basswood; the soil is of great depth, loamy nature.”
STANHOPE AND SHERBORNE
The Township of Stanhope is intersected by three chains of lakes, and the area of the township is consequently very much cut up, access to some portions of the township being difficult except by water. The township is hilly. The valleys have a very rich soil, and Stanhope wheat is admitted to be the best in the county. Several of the settlers on Lake Onishkonk passed a portion of their lives as sailors, and their “yarns” are both interesting and amusing. So early 1855 Mr. Isaac Hunter settled in this township, and in 1859 Mr. G. A. Mason settled at “The Point,” in Bushkonk, and there built a very handsome residence. In 1860 Mr. J. Melville, afterwards Reeve of the township, and W.R. Clarke, located themselves and in 1861 the following settlers took up land: Wm. Welsh, S. Sims, B. Clarke, J. A. Ferguson, T. Mason, Caleb Davies, and R. Sturgeon. Mr. Welsh has now a very fine farm and residence, and Mr. Davies has been equally successful in his undertakings. About 1862, Mr. Daniel Buck, of Minden built a saw-mill on Little Kushog, and at nearly the same date Mr. W. Cameron built on one on the river running into the north part of Bushkonk. Later on Mr. Wright and Mr. Jervis settled at the junction of the Peterson Road and the Bobcaygeon Road, and settlement proceeded steadily until there were sufficient settlers in 1866 to be “set off” as a separate municipality. In that year there were 51 ratepayers. The progress can be easily traced. In 1874 there were 77 ratepayers, and in 1881, 106. There is now a good school at Maple Lake, at which Miss H. Illman has taught for some time with great success, and the Rev. Mr. Jones, from Minden, has established periodical services of the Church of England. The present Reeve is Mr. Henry Ferner who has served the township in that capacity for several years. The township is subjected to invonvenience through the bridge over Bushkonk Narrows being out of repair, and it is expected that the County Council and the Provincial Government will jointly rebuild the bridge, which is of great length. Several of the Stanhope lakes contain salmon trout in abundance, the average weight being about six or seven pounds; but fish of twenty pounds are commonly caught, and they have been captured, according to report, of a weight exceeding thirty pounds.
The Township of Sherborne is still almost unsettled, there being but ten ratepayers on its assessment roll. It is most easily reached by water. It is hilly and rocky, and it is reported to contain only a small percentage of land fit for settlement. It is , however, well known to sportsmen, as its lakes teem with fish, and the deer in its woods are easily driven to water.
THE TOWNSHIP OF DYSART
The Township of Dysart, in which is located the village of Haliburton, is associated municipally with eight other townships, all being the property of the Canadian Land and Emigration Company, of London, England. Consequently the history of the Company is, in a great measure, the history of the settlement. The Company was formed for the purpose of buying land in Canada, and selling it a profit to emigrants from England. The capital was L 250,000 , but only 20,425 shares at L 5 each were taken up, and in these shares about L 3,15s. was paid up. The only return ever made to the unfortunate shareholders, was the odd fifteen shillings, which reduced the amount paid up to L 3 per share. On this no dividend has ever been paid, and the Company financiall has been a most lamentable failure. It commenced business in 1861, when it agreed to purchase ten townships of the Government, the nine townships which it now possesses, and one in the County of Victoria, Longford, which it sold to Mr. Thompson, a lumberman, for $20,000.00. Mr. Thompson realized a handsome fortune by cutting the pine in the township, and at his death, which took place recently, the mills he built for cutting the Longford pine had a high value by reason of the pine limit in Longford, which is attached to the mill. The Company paid down about $95,000.00 to the Government, but in the last report of the Directory of the Company, the original cost of the property and the expenditure upon it, is stated to be L60,318, or $300,000. The nine townships were surveyed by Mr. Gorsage, P.L.S. The whole property contained 403,000 acres, but the company were only called upon to pay for 362,125 at 50c. per acre. Some further allowances were afterwards made, and ten per cent. Of the purchase money was refunded to the company for the construction of roads. The settlement commenced in 1863, and among the earliest settlers were Richard Thompson, James Holland, J. Lepar, John Erskine, Willett Austin, and William Elstone. Mr. David Sawyer had been resident in the township for some time hunting and trapping, fur-bearing animals at that period being very numerous. In 1864, Mr. John Lucas purchase the water privilege at Haliburton, and erected a saw-mill. He had for a partner Mr. W. Ritchie, who afterwards left the district. In 1864 Mr. Miles was the Company’s surveyor, and Mr. C. R. Stewart the resident manager. A considerable number of settlers arrived during 1864 and 1865, and great progress was made. The grist-mill was opened in 1865 with a banquet, and many hopeful speeches were made on the occasion. But, though settlement went on favourably, the cash sales of the land were comparatively insignificant, and those who were acquainted. With the facts said that the Company’s speculation, so far as regarded primary profit, was almost hopeless. In 1866 Mr. Hicks and Mr. Stewart ceased to have any connection with the Company, their posts being filled after some time by the appointment of Mr. Niven as resident agent and surveyor, and Mr. Bromfield as manager. The annual reports of the Company since 1867 have been little more than detailed statements of the manner in which the capital was being distributed, the chief, indeed almost the only source of revenue being the sale of the timber. Mr. Boyd, of Bobcaygeon, purchasing the timber in several townships and carrying on extensive lumbering operations, paying a royalty of 30c. for each standard log. The Company’s reports annually exhibited a steady progress from bad to worse until in April, 1883, the Directory announced that Messrs. Irwin and Gordon, the one gentleman being a lumberman in Peterborough, and the other a lawyer in Toronto, had been appointed the Company’s commissioners to carry out an agreement, the nature of which is explained in the following extract from the report::
“Under the agreement, Messrs. Irwin and Gordon are constituted the commissioners of the company in Canada, and undertake the whole expense and responsibility of the Canadian management in a payment of $2,500 per annum. They are bound to use their best endeavours to realize for the company, within eight years, a sum of $80,000, with interest on that amount at the rate of five per cent. Per annum. This sum is to be applied in paying off the debentures and other liabilities of the company, and distributing the remainder among the shareholders. The sum left for distribution will, it is estimated, yield them about ten shillings per share. When the amount of $80,000 with interest has been paid, the remaining property of the company is to be divided into two halves, one half to belong to the shareholders, and the other half to belong to Irwin and Gordon, or their representatives. This half share of surplus will, practically, be their remuneration for realizing the Company’s property.”
Messrs. Irwin and Gordon felt so assured of realizing a profit that they became the purchasers of a majority of the shares, being over eleven thousand, paying ten shillings sterling per share. By this means they secured a preponderating influence in the Company, and they are now engaged in carrying out the terms of the agreement. The chief liability of the company was a debt incurred in giving a bonus to the Victoria Railway Company. A large portion of this debt is now paid off.
It may be here stated that the whole of the Company’s land is under municipal assessment, and the taxes amount to about $6,000 a year. The Company, therefore, has to pay a very considerable proportion not only of the township expenditure , but also of the county expenditure, and this has produced a large amount of litigation, and still more contention, between the company and the various municipal bodies. The litigation was carried so far that in 1883 the sheriff of the county had to collect a rate, and at the present date the company have procured an injunction restraining the township council from collecting the rates levied for township and county purposes. The result of these actions is very detrimental to settlement, and the township of Dysart appears to be retrograding for the assessment rolls show that whilst the number of ratepayers in 1874 was one hundred and thirty-nine this number has been reduced in 1883 to one hundred and twenty.
Extracts from the Report to the Commissioner of Crown Lands of the Survey of the Township of Dysart, made in 1861-2, by F. F. Francis, P.L.S.:--
“I am happy to be able to report that the greater part of this township is composed of excellent farming land. To the north of Lake Kahshagawigamog the soil is principally light and sandy, with considerable loose stones and boulders; but to the south of these waters the soil is much richer, being a rich sandy loam, in some places very dark, varying from six inches to two feet deep and generally free from stones. The soil throughout the township partakes of a light character and will be easily worked.
“ The timber is principally hardwood of sound description, such as beech, maple, birch, elm, basswood, ironwood, oak, hemlock, and balsam, and is uniformly distributed throughout the township, with the exception that there may be more hemlock, balsam and pine to the north of Lake Kahshagawigamog than to the south. The timber grows to a considerable size and is of a first-class quality. There is not much merchantable pine, but sufficient for local purposes.
“The township throughout is well watered by fine, clear running streams and lakes, those in the north half discharging into Lake Kahshagawigamog, and those to the south into the Burnt River waters. The streams abound in fish, so likewise do the lakes.
“ Upon some of the streams are to be found some excellent mill privileges; Drag Creek especially affords some of the finest privileges desirable.”
ANSON, HINDON, AND LUTTERWORTH
The Township of Lutterworth, in the early days of the settlement of the district, enjoyed exceptional advantages, inasmuch as it was easily reached by both road and water. As soon as the Bobcaygeon Road was constructed as far north as Burnt River, settlers began to locate themselves in Lutterworth, and about the same date settlers also began to arrive in the western portion of the township by means of its water communication. Gull Lake and Gull River have their outlet into Balsam Lake, and that lake connects with Cameron Lake, and gives dual communication with Fenelon Falls. These means of transport were for a considerable period largely use, and indeed to the present day the settlers in Lutterworth frequently avail themselves of the water facilities to visit Coboconk, the terminus of a branch of the Midland Railway, and Fenelon Falls. Among the early arrivals in Lutterworth was Mr. William Hartle, who has for a period of more than twenty years been intimately connected with its history, filling many of the municipal offices with credit to himself and advantage to the people. Mr. Killatt was also an early settler, locating on the Bobcaygeon Road, and contributing by his musical abilities largely to the social enjoyments of the entire neighbourhood. The township has a considerable percentage of good land, and some of the river flats along Gull River are of unexceptionable quality. As early as 1860, there were numerous settlers in Lutterworth, which at that time, was associated municipally with Galway, Snowdon, Minden and Anson, and was represented by Mr. Charles Austin, who gave his name to the narrows on Lake Kahshagawigamog, in the Township of Minden, at which point he resided. But settlement in Lutterworth proceeded so steadily that by 1882 it was separated from the other townships and was organized as a new municipality, having Anson and Hindon attached to it. This arrangement subsisted until 1878, when the great county contest supremacy between the eastern and the western portions led to Anson and Hindon being erected into a municipality, as by that means the western section obtained another Reeve in the County Council. The first election for the United Townships of Anson and Hindon was held in January, 1879, when J. H. Delemere, Esq., was elected Reeve. Lutterworth has made very strong progress. In 1874, it had seventynine ratepayers, and in 1883 that number had increased to one hundred and thirty-eight. It is now represented by Mr. D. Galloway, one of the settlers on the lake shore, who has a fine location and some excellent land, celebrated for the production of vegetables and fruit at an early period in each season.
The water communication in Lutterworth was at one time made use of so largely, that Mr. Pearce, a storekeeper in the Village of Minden, built and run a small steamboat from Minden to the falls on the river below Gull Lake. The opening of the Victoria Railway, to Kinmount, furnishing a cheaper mode for the transport of freight, led to the steamboat’s route being abandoned. Gull River and Lake contain an abundance of remarkably fine salmon-trout. The township is also believed to possess very great mineral wealth, and at Miners’ Bay there have been found samples of iron and other ores which at some future period may be further developed. The Paxton iron-mine in the south-east of the township has been already referred to. Gull Lake is a favourite point for camping parties in the summer, and the shores of the lake, in August, are studded with the tents of the pleasure-seeker, whose watch-fires at night lend a wild brilliancy to the silent forest shores.
The Townships of Anson and Hindon have always been a little behind in the rate of progress. In 1874 Anson had sixty-four ratepayers, and Hindon eleven; these had increased in 1883 to seventy-two in Anson, and twenty-four in Hindon. The municipality has been represented for the past two years by James Mortimer, Esq., a gentleman who located on his farm a short distance from the Village of Minden, about seven years since, removing from Dunsford, where he was well known and respected.
RETURN OF RATEPAYERS.
The following is a return of the number of ratepayers in each Township in the Provisional County of Haliburton, for the years 1874 (the year of the formation of the county), for 1881 (the year previous to the North-West boom), and for 1883 (the year after the North-West boom burst):
1874. 1881. 1883.
Minden…………………………………. 228 237 244
Snowdon………………………………. 109 167 190
Dysart………………………………….. 139 120 120
Harcourt……………………………….. 19 14 7
Guilford………………………………… 18 35 46
Harburn………………………………… 8 10 13
Dudley…………………………………. 12 19 19
Bruton…………………………………. 2 2 2
Havelock………………………………. 2 2
Eyre…………………………………….. 1 1 1
Clyde……………………………………. 1 1 1
Lutterworth……………………………… 79 133 138
Anson……………………………………. 64 68 72
Hindon…………………………………… 11 20 24
Stanhope……………………………….. 77 106 99
Sherborne………………………………. 0 9 10
Cardiff…………………………………… 55 139 137
Monmouth………………………………. 18 115 104
Glamorgan……………………………… 44 124 133
McClintock………………………………. 0 0 0
Nightingale………………………………. 0 0 0
Lawrence………………………………… 0 0 0
Livingstone………………………………. _____ _____
886 1322 1362
The following figures are taken from the assessment rolls of the several municipalities in the year 1873 – the year previous to the formation of the county:--
No. of
Ratepayers. Souls. Cattle. Sheep. Horses. Hogs. Dogs.
Cardiff……….. 31 115 68 36 18 24 14
Monmouth…… 7 16 11 .. .. .. ..
Glamorgan….. 27 54 12 4 3 7 ..
Minden………. 204 901 387 424 87 202 ..
Snowdon……. 100 372 333 183 57 92 ..
Stanhope…… 71 274 197 193 31 73 49
Dysart……….. 139 585 392 130 29 66 ..
Guilford……… 13 47 42 .. 3 10 ..
Dudley………. 6 13 9 .. .. 3 ..
Harburn……… 12 40 39 .. 2 7 ..
Havelock…….. 15 85 48 56 10 31 ..
Bruton……….. 2 2 .. .. .. .. ..
_____
Total: 627
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Upper Canada (Western Ontario) Burial Database
Upper Canada Land Petitions 51000 Records Indexed
Upper Canada Land Leases and Miscellaneous Petitions 10000 Records Indexed
Upper Canada (Ontario) Sundries Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) Toronto Insane Asylum Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) Kingston Insane Asylum Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) London Insane Asylum Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) Malden Insane Asylum Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) Hamilton Insane Asylum Database
Ontario Genealogy Historical Newspaper Collection Historical Newspaper Files from various regions of Ontario
Newspaper Genealogical and Historical Records - Thousands of entries
Ontario (Upper Canada) Map Collection Great site for locating your ancestors in Ontario
Ontario Genealogy Postcard Site - Great old-time landscape views
Upper Canada and Ontario CRIMINAL Database
Ontario Genealogy Database Index Site 500000 Genealogy Records Indexed
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Northumberland County Genealogy and History
Victoria County Genealogy and History
Durham County Genealogy and History
Haliburton County Genealogy and History
Peterborough County History and Genealogy
Newcastle District (Upper Canada) History and Genealogy
Ontario County History and Genealogy
Upper Canada History and Genealogy
Echoes of the Past - Ontario Genealogy Home
Search the Ontario (Upper Canada) Genealogy Website - Make sure to use all known variations of a family name in your search!
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