THE ANNALS (SF THE TOWN OF GUELPH 1.827 TO 1877. INIiKK i'Hl IUKI( CHiN ni C. iuliini (if ihe (luclph lloi.ilil. PRICE, 75 CENTS. err: LI' II. Canada, .8/7. I Yf.^iS^ -iO iiir-i— I r,ii>ii Day's Block. Day's Block. a-xj:£iXi:E^i3: NOTED TEA STORE J. E. M«ELDERRY Announces with pleasure that he is in a better position to serve the pub- lic with GOOD GOG.OS ^ OBCE^^I' IF'OIi C.A.SS: THAN EVER. Buying entirely for Cash and selling for Cash he can ensure his CUSTOMERS A SAVING IN EVERY ARTICLE NEEDED. In TEAS it is a well know fact he gives the best value in Youn^' Hyson, Old Hyson, Gunpowders, Japans, Souchong Congous, P^keos, Assams, &c., TO BE hAr> IN GUELPH. A Complete Assortment of GENERAL GROCERIES all New Goods, arriving daily and sold at the lowesv price for cash. A LARdE LOT OF BACON, HAMS, SHOULDERS, BREAKFAST BACON. &€., Sugjar Cured and Extra Choice. Goods delivered promptly and carefully in any part of the town. J. E. McELDERRY. 2 Day's Block, Guelph. .^ar-THE Noted Tea St»jre.-*5s » : THE ANNALS .)i nil' TOWN OF GUELPH 1827 1877. < )F 7Ml'll,r.D UNDKU I III. DlRECTKtX « I'.nnOK OF 'rilK (llKII'II IlKK \i.i>. I) Lci.^ht ir.d tal! llic linr:- of -.jj'^ ^'Ovv, VVhile all is lonohnc.^ and n-asic 'clow ; There, as the massy foha^c, fav aloof ruci. Displayed adarl., i ir.ipenetral'.i; ir.tcrwound, So, gnarled cr.i r:j:d, clispt and __ An uncouth vAa;.e of roots embossed the ground. —MOtNTGOMEJlY. ' And when these toila rewarding. Inroad lands at length they'll claim. They'll c.ill the new posscbsiuu By some familiar name." —AGNCi Stwcki-axd. --anjjiisa* GUELPH, CANADA HERALD STEAM PRINTING HOUSE. 1877. lDEr)lC-A.TI03Sr. — »a,'»"A« TO HIS WORSHIP FREDERICK JASPER CHADWICK, MAYOR OF GUBLPH : Di'.AR Mr. CHAnwiCK, :-In issuiiig this little work, which I hupe will prove of interest, not only to my fellow townsmen, but to all who are glad to see such material prosperity as is evident in the growth of iJuelph, allow ])ersonal mc to dedicate it to you, from whom I have rereixed many kindnesses. Believe me, Yours sincerely, C.ACTON BURROWS. GUELPH, April, 1877. J* PREFACE. In the preparaiiuii (it iliis liiUc wDik. tlie obie( I lias been to .Ljixe, as suocimly as possilile, a i^'eiieral outline of tlie liislorv of the I own ol' < luelpli, with some relerciKC tt) the principal events ^\hi^h have, tlinin;..; the jitlN' years of it^ e\i>>le'iii-e. ahsorJH'il the piiblir attention. That many matters, wliich niiyht be of interest to some of the older resi- dents, ha\e been omitted, will be seen at a ;4la'"ic:e ; but this has been done for \vhal were considered, after cureful rellectinn, to be ;^ootl ;nid snllicient reasons. In the earlier \ears of the settlement, as is the ease in all newly settled ilistricts, nian\- thinj^s occurred which, under more favorable circumstances, could not have ha|)pcned, and which, while they formed fertile themes of ;.;ossip at the time, it would serve no j'ood pur- pose to rei)roduce now, even if all that is said to ha\ e taken jilacc < Mdtl l)e substantiated, which is far from bein;^ the case. In fact, so con- tradictory are the recollections of sonic t)f the e.irly settlers with rei,Mril to many allej^^cd c\cnts. more espcci<dly in reference to matters of a pii- \ate and personal nature, that it was felt to lie the wiser plan to reject the great bulk of these tratlitions, and to adhere to what could be reasonably relied u])un as beinj^- the truth. Ihul c\ en this bet n all made use of, tlic work woultl li;ne mrown to at least ten times iis ))resent si/e, and would, probably, not ha\e L;i\en so much satisf.iction as it is liopcd will be afforded now. On the otiier hand, there may be, and doubtless. are some thin;^s omitted nuM^e worthy of notice than many o.*" the c\ents rcfcrreil to, and for this defect it is hoped the reader will show some in- tlul^vnce, in consideration of thci^reat dilliculty which attends the t^lean- ini; of information rela.tin'j" to times so loni; past, when few or no records were kept of even public i)roceedin;.4s. All that j)erse\erin<4- etVort a nil discrhiiinatinfij research could do to make the work reliable, has Ijeen done, and thou;4h some may feel disposed harshly to criticise it. the ;4en- eral puijiic, it is ho])e(l, w!,I extend to it a .generous reception. I o those o'i the ear!) settlers, esitecially to Mr. Robert I hom])son. Mrs. Keough, Limit. -Col. fames Armstrcaii.j and Mr. James Lynch, who ( is the oldest resident of "uelph. the warmest thanks and acknowlei'ye- mcnts are due, and are hcrei^y tcnderefl. .\lso, to I lis Honor Jud^e M.icdonald, Mrs. (lalt, M.ijor .Macdonald. Ills \\'or.ship Mayor Chad wick, Messrs. IL Hacking, John .Smith and A. M. Mowat, of Cuelph L ; Messrs. V.. M. Chadwick and \V. R. .Strickland, of Toronto, and others, for the loan of valuable ijooks and documents, and to Mr. IL W. Peter- son, County Crown .Attorney of \\'eIlin<4lon : .\Ir. John lie.ittie, Coiinu c/lerk of \Vellin;_;l.)n and .Mr. John Uar\ey, Clerk of the Town of (lueiph. lor their courtes\ i-i i;i\ ini^' access to the records in their otfices. 3iJI^I^.A.T.A.. o "'"\^- lo the sh order to se /^^'^'^J^'e tnv the ^iire its"l^r|)ubnrnt preparation of Kin '^y April tl "^ U'ork. ;p-of(Juelph-sA>un;i 23rd. lU-- II) »". '• t'le th \fif 1 / / I'ilficth -" I A niiiver- F"..^.s^'.hi,"^:;":-;;;;':-'™".?i' "nj.ossible onic errors ; to th oroiii 'ou-int,rnrethepr i "> re\i so . 'iicipaJ U-c orriirred. tl le fol- "e (h'd '^ "loniioned not pinvh, "^ ISO It. P'lrchasiim j),- \,| " '>^'iim- in s still ;.; iioiiso. 'f'" read ^:^^T!;'."^yJWr^Ma;ron a.qe 1 Dr. y\i| 1 7 ) n'>-. or'MJr. (I n;i(| or t^'ouncil iteisoii. ."';;;\^":?M^""-<u^ad Dr. a.i.'"c ; re, I\ I'rod 44- I- or I'l i(. \V. / 'eter son. ^•»f' T. Witt, rca( Dr. llollid i\-. f| ""•it, " aiul f or i'ai,^f I. n "/ii(ia\-, 145 J, or itM\-eiue)ier. 'i.s,'"e (ad 149 i-- or Sv\ uvciwr. i\ irrl read Vprij 231.^1 ©' TSCE .A.ISr3Sr.A.3LS -OF THE TOWN OF GUELPH. Onk of the many beneficial results which accrued from the war of 1812, was the increased attention which the peoj)le of England were in- duced to give to tlie claims and advantages presented by Upper Canada. Previous to this the knowledge of this colony possessed by the public, and to a large extent also by the Government, at home, was conveyed principally through the medium of .the limited commercial relations which then existed between the two countries, the information relating to the physical advantages of this country and its adaptability for purposes of emigation, meagre though it was, being confined almost exclusively to official dispatches, and iimitc.l altogether to the Lower Province. Nor can this be greatly wondered at, when it is remembered that even to the oldest and best informed colonists in (Quebec, the Upper I'rovince had for many years I^ecn a lUeral terra /,'iu{<;/i//i7. During the agitation which preceded the division <.if the Prt)vince of <)iiebec, which then comprised the whole of the country, into Upper and Lower Canada, delegates were sent to I'^ngland to represent to the Government the merits of the case, pro and ro /I. The opponents of the proposed change deputed a Mr. Adam Lymburger, a prominent Ouebec merchant,to represent them, and at the bar of the House of Commons he said that the new Province would be entirely cut off Irotn all communication with Great Britain, and the inhabitants would have few op[)ortunities of mixin.; in the society of Britons, He also said that " Niagara, whicli must be considered as'the utmost limit westward of the cultivable part of the Province, was 500 miles distant, and the falls of Niagara must be considered an inseparable bar to the trans])ort of such rude commodities as the land might pro- duce ;" and, though there were a few settlers in the nciiihborhood of D^^ THE ANNALS OF THE TOWN OF GIJELPH. troit, " such a confined market must greatly impede the progress of settlement and cultivation /or in^cs /o co>j!g." That this was an honest expression of belief there can be no doubt, when it is borne in mind that for some years afterwards the mail communications between the two sections of country were both infrequent and irregi'ar, some- times not oftener than once a year; and, though, in response to an invitation published by Governor Simcoe in 1791, a considerable number of settlers from New Jersey and Pennsylvania had come to the Upper Province, they were widely scaucred, and consequently unable to take any concerted measures to make their influence felt, all the newspapers being published in Montreal and Quebec, Whatever accessions of emigrants were gained, therefore, must be attributed to private influences, rather than to any action taken by the public authori- ties, and it is not surprising that the prevailing opinion at home was, that Canada was simply a vast field of snow and ice, convenient as a fur producing country, and, as yielding some very good pine for masts and building purposes, to some extent valuable, but certainly not the place to which a man should emigrate to better his fortunes.