The Early History Of Elora Ontario And Vicinity

Elora: The Early History of Elora and Vicinity provides little-known details about the settlement and development of the Elora area in southern Ontario from the earliest settler in 1817. Then, as now, people were drawn to the Elora Gorge and the rocky banks of the Grand River. The book is a compilation of material that appeared weekly in The Elora Express between 1906 and 1909 with some additional material from the 1920s. Connon traces the settlers as they arrive and reports on the development of the town as they acquired a grist mill, a store, a bridge, and inevitably a railway. Rich with genealogical information, this is an important historical document. Introduction by Gerald Noonan.

Excerpt from The Early History of Elora, Ontario, and Vicinity There is an element of romance about first things. They have a charm of novelty and freshness. As items of biographical interest they cannot be superseded, for however important any similar later experience may be, it can never be the first of that kind. That place is permanently occupied. There can be no second first. For this cause, if for no other, a history of the first settlers in Elora and vicinity may not be without interest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Elora is located in Wellington County on the Grand River and is about twenty kilometres north of Guelph, and twenty kilometres northeast of Kitchener-Waterloo. Elora was founded in 1832 by Captain William Gilkison, a British officer recently returned from India. Originally called Irvine Settlement, the village was renamed Elora when the post office was established in 1839. Gilkison named the community after his brother's ship, which was itself inspired by the Ellora Caves near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. The Elora Gorge, located at the western edge of the village, is one of the most scenic areas in Southern Ontario with its limestone cliffs descending 80 feet into the Grand and Irvine rivers where small caves, rapids, falls and quiet waters beckon visitors. At the foot of Mill Street stands the Elora Mill, one of the few early Ontario five-storey grist mills still in existence. David Boyle, born in Scotland in 1842, came to Canada in 1856 and settled in this area. As a local school teacher, he began an extensive collection of native artifacts and became an archaeological authority. In 1886, Boyle was appointed the first curator of the Provincial Archaeological Museum in Toronto. He was dedicated to the study and retention of artifacts and he initiated an active programme of excavation and acquisition. Through his work on Ontario prehistory, Boyle gained international recognition as a leading Canadian archaeologist and anthropologist.

The Canada Company was responsible for the opening and settling of over two million acres of land in Upper Canada. Author Robert C. Lee focuses his attention on the extensive parcel of land on the shores of Lake Huron that became known as the Huron Tract. His comprehensive research explores the underlying forces leading to the formation of the Company, the intriguing mix of people charged with responsibilities for the Company and the overall impact of its operations, leading to its present-day legacy. The politics of the day, coupled with diverse and colourful personalities – such as John Galt, Tiger Dunlop, William Allan, Thomas Mercer Jones, Frederick Widder, Sir Peregrine Maitland, Bishop Macdonnell and Bishop Strachan – introduce an interesting blend of vision, intrigue, mischief and day-to-day survival strategies that make for compelling reading. Add to this the shareholders perspective of the Company versus the settlers perspective and you have a fascinating glimpse of pioneer conditions. Included are descriptions of early towns such as Guelph and Goderich, as well as background on the Huron Tract township names. "Robert Lee’s outstanding book brings to life the unusual assemblage of characters who were instrumental in the development of Upper Canada’s largest private settlement scheme – the Huron Tract. Their relationships with each other, and especially with the Canada Company for which many of them worked, make a great story." – Lutzen Riedstra, Stratford-Perth Archivist "Robert Lee has vividly recreated the personalities and the political intrigues that were part of the Canada Company’s operation – the largest one of its type in Ontario’s history. The most comprehensive work to date on this fascinating era, this book is eminently readable and a must-have for history lovers. – Ron Brown, author of Ghost Towns of Ontario

This comprehensive history of Ontario's agricultural development, first published in 1946, is a classic of scholarship and readability. It will appeal not only to agriculturalists and historians but also to anyone interested in life in early Ontario.