The Early History of Elora, Ontario and Vicinity

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Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 1975 - 222 pages

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 Rich with genealogical information, this is an important historical document.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.

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Contents

PART 1FIRST THINGS
3
WHO THEY WERE AND WHERE THEY CAME FROM
19
ELORAITS EARLY HISTORY
46
LETTERS BY WILLIAM GILKISON
53
HOW ELORA RECEIVED ITS NAME
58
THE BONACCORD SETTLEMENT
64
INDIAN VISITORS
97
THE SEARCH FOR A LOST SETTLER
105
A SYNOPSIS OF ELORAS HISTORY
169
NOTES FROM CAPTAIN GILKISONS DIARY
175
LIST OF VOTERS WHO WERE PRESENT AND VOTED AT THE FIRST CONTESTED ELECTION IN THE TOWNSHIP OF NICHOL IN 1842
191
NAMES FROM ASSESSMENT ROLL OF NICHOL FOR 1850
192
NAMES FROM ASSESSMENT ROLL OF NICHOL FOR 1851
195
A LIST OF THE LEADING MEN AND HEADS OF FAMILIES LIVING IN ELORA IN 1853 WHEN THOMAS CONNON CAME WRITTEN AS H...
197
LIST OF NAMES FROM ASSESSMENT ROLL OF ELORA FOR 1855
198
MEMBERS OF THE ELORA MECHANICS INSTITUTE ORGANIZED THURSDAY EVENING 26TH NOVEMBER 1857
199

ELORAITS EARLY HISTORY CONTINUED
110
THE FOUNDING OF SALEM
123
FIRST NEWSPAPERS
136
THE VOLUNTEER RIFLE COMPANY
137
HISTORY OF CHALMERS CHURCH
159
ELORA POEM BY ALEXANDER MCLACHLIN SIC McLachlan 18181896 was a pioneer poet from Scotland whose work is still being republished ...
200
INDEX
201
CORRECTIONS AND ORIGINAL PAGE 31 12
208
Copyright

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Page 182 - Where is now the merry party I remember long ago! Laughing round the Christmas fire, laden by its ruddy glow. Or in summer's balmy evenings, in the fields among the hay? They have all dispersed and wandered far away, far away. Some have gone from us forever; longer here they could not stay — Oh, change it, buddy; don't make gloom gloomier. Who was it, what bastard laughed in that harsh, red way? One or two of the tents had a ukulele-player, who could be heard strumming out lively notes, with, maybe,...
Page 19 - ... that the loyalty of the Indians should be suitably acknowledged, so, accordingly, on 25 October, 1784, Governor Haldimand granted them a tract of land six miles wide on either bank of the Grand River. Some years later, finding this land exceeded their requirements, the Indians, on 5 February, 1798, executed a formal power of attorney to Captain Joseph Brant, one of their principal chiefs, by which they authorized him to surrender certain portions of this land to the Government that it might be...
Page 19 - ... requirements, the Indians, on 5 February, 1798, executed a formal power of attorney to Captain Joseph Brant, one of their principal chiefs, by which they authorized him to surrender certain portions of this land to the Government that it might be sold and the proceeds invested for the benefit of the Nation. Under this authority several blocks of land were sold, among them being one to Richard Beasley, James Wilson, and Jean Baptiste Rousseau. This was known as Block No. 2 and contained by estimate...
Page 157 - A nightingale has taken up his quarters just outside my window, and works away every night. He is at it very fierce now. At night the owls relieve him, softly sighing after their fashion. I have made an instrument for seeing into the eye through the pupil. The difficulty is to throw the light in at that small hole and look in at the same time ; but that difficulty is overcome, and I can. see a large part of the back of the eye quite distinctly with the image of the candle on it. People find no inconvenience...
Page 157 - Ask,1 which sits quite steady and seems to like being looked at, and I have got several men who have large pupils and do not wish to let me look in. I have seen the image of the candle distinctly in all the eyes I have tried, and the veins of the retina were visible in some ; but the dogs...
Page 182 - There are still some few remaining who remind us- of the past, But they change as all things change here, nothing in this world can last; Years roll on and pass forever, what is coming, who can say?
Page 182 - ... herself be asked twice, for fear of being thought shy, led off with a pathetic ballad. She sang in a thin, quavering voice, staring into vacancy with glassy eyes like the blind beggars at the corner, dragging the tune till it became a wail — a dirge for lost souls. Some are gone from us for ever, Longer here they might not stay; They have reached a fairer region, Far away-ee, far away — They have reached a fairer region, Far away-ee, far away. The guests listened with a beery sadness in their...

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