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Dally Journal - Record Centennial Edition, Friday, Sept. 1, 1MT 16 Pioneers Describe WUderness T H A M L G A R T O W N S H IP I N The past of most of the ter ritory in present-day Oakville does not belong to Oakville at all -- it belongs to old Trafal ga r Township, and to commun ities like Bronte, Palerm o, Drumquin and Munn's Comers. Settlers were scratching out a living in Trafalgar Township a full 20 years before Col. Wil liam Chisholm began to develop the mouth of The Sixteen and lay out the streets of Oakville. And until the town was incor porated in 1857, it was through Trafalgar Township that Oak ville residents were represented on Halton County council. JOINS TOWN The township continued to function as a municipality un til 1962, when it amalgamated with Oakville to form the town's present boundaries. What was life like for the farm ers of old Trafalgar, back before there was any civiliza tion to ease the hardship and boredom of the frontier life? For most of our detailed know ledge of Ontario's young town ships, including Trafalgar, we are indebted to the pioneer sta tistician Robert Gourlay. COLLECTS DATA Interested in promoting set tlement in Upper Canada, the young Scot set about com piling statistical data for the inform ation of the folks back home. In an advertisement in an 1817 issue of the Niagara Spectator, he listed 30 com prehensive questions about everyday life, and invited the leading citizens of each township to submit their answers. Sixteen o f Trafalgar Town ship's leading citizens m et on N ovem ber 27, 1817, at Daniel Munn' s inn on Dundas Highway Pine (very large) o f the white at the Sixth Line, to draft their kind; Beech; Maple; Ash, two kinds, the black or swamp Ash reply to Gourlay's questions. and the white Ash; Hickory; They were Daniel Munn him Elm ; white and red Hemlock; self, Justice of the P eace James Basswood; some Birch Suckling M cBride, Charles, Jam es and Ash; some Cedar; som e Butter Am os Biggar, Duncan McQueen, nut; and a little Tam erack. The Absalom Smith, M ichael Buck, tim ber is m ostly large and stands Timothy Robbins, Jam es Thom thick on the land. son, Benjamin Smith, Nathaniel llth. Respecting m i n e r a l s , Cornwall, Jam es Hopper, Henry Loucks, Lawrence H ager a n d there is considerable quantity ol Joseph Smith. Here are their the mineral of iron called Bogg Orr; also a few salt springs ol answers: an inferior kind. 1st The name of our township 12th. Building stones, we have Is Trafalgar. It is situated in the County of Halton, District of none, excepting a few which m ay be found over the land of a very Gore, in the province of Upper indifferent kind. Canada, about 21 m iles from little York. It is 8% m iles in 13th. A few brick have been length and about seven miles in m ade; their price is six dollars breadth. per thousand. It Is bounded on the northwest and north by a large tract of land yet in possession of a na tion of a nation of Indians called M isisauga. Northeast o f the township is Toronto. It is bound ed on the east and southeast by Lake Ontario, and on the south west and west b y the township of Nelson. 14th. No lim e has been burnt in this township, nor have any limestone quarries been discov ered. 15th Blacksmiths here most generally work by the pound that is ll-sd per pound, when the iron and steel are found, and Is. 3d. when the blacksmith finds the materials. T o this there are some exceptions, but not many. The rest they girdle and kill with an axe; in that state, it will produce nearly as good a crop as if all were cut down, and this only costs six dollars per acre, in both cases boarding and lodging included. The rest of the timber is cut down by degrees, for fencing and firewood. 19th. A good work horse m ay be had fo r from 50 to 60 dollars. A good cow from 18 to 20 dol lars; a yoke of oxen four years old from 50 to 70 dollars; a good sheep o f the sam e age from two to three dollars. cropping on new land is wheat It is then plowed up, after which buckwheat or peas are generally sown first, and then wheat perhaps the same season and then peas, or buckwheat or oats. Little or no manure is used, but new lands and orchards re quire it most. 1817 1867 ·1967 Besides, w e have two very com m unicate with ou r m ills on the first year, harrowed in, and fine stream s called the Tw elve Dundas Street. sometimes a crop of oats are and the Sixteen Mile creeks. The mouth o f the Sixteen, harrowed in the spring on the These can be m ade navigable where it empties into Lake On stubble, then it is sown down for boats som e part of the year, tario, is navigable for vessels of a considerable burden, and form s with timothy o r clover, or both four m iles from the mouth, to a safe and com m odious harbor. together, and is used for m ea dow for three o r four years until the roots rot in the ground. It i* divided into 210 lots, m ost o f which contain 200 acres each, excepting on the lakeshore, Carpenters work by the day where they are irregular accord ing to the bearings of the lake. o r by the job ; by the day it is The lots are 21 chains in breadth a dollar and boarding included; and 10 chains in length. (One by the job it is according to the quantity of the labor to be per chain was 66 feet). form ed. 2nd. The first settlement of 16th. Laborers, one hundred our township began in the spring and sum mer of 1807. Number of dollars per annum; by the win people is 548. Number o f houses ter months, eight dollars; per sum mer months, 14 to 15 dollars. inhabited are 97. F or day in harvest, to such as Srd. N o churches. There are can cradle wheat, or can rake two preachers who preach alter and bind after a cradler, it is a nately. They belong to the Sec bushel o f wheat or, its price, tary called Methodists, according prompt payment. For those who to the institution of the late Rev. can only rake or bind, it is half price. Women servants have John Wesley. mostly a dollar per week, in all 4th. O f m edical practitioners, these cases boarding and lodg we have none. ing included. 8th. We have three schools in this township. The price per quarter is two dollars and board ing found. 6 th. town. 7th. We have no stores in this We have four taverns. 17th. The price for mowing grass for hay and reaping grain is from four to five shillings per day, according to the price of wheat (as the greater part of wages here is regulated by the price of wheat) cra d "n g of wheat is a bushel of wheat or its price, as above. 20th. The average quantity of 27th. Land is frequently let on wool produced by a sheep is two shares on the following terms: pounds and a half. Its price is If the new leasor finds the leasee one shilling and ten pence half in term in boarding, in farming penny per pound. utensils and in half the seed, 21st. Beasts are turned o u t and then receives one half the about the first o f May, and taken produce; if old land and the leasee finds everything, the lea in about the first of D ecem ber. sor has one third of the produce. 22nd. Sleighing lasts about Enough of land can be had on three months, that is beginning either o f these ways. about the first o f January and 28th. Land at the first settl ends about the last of March Plowing begins about the 20th oi ing of our township sold at a dol lar and a half per acre. It now April. sells for from four to five dollars 23rd. Seasoning of sowing per acre, and 110 acres cleared wheat, it is from the 25th of Au in the custom ary way m ay be gust to the first of October. The had for 1,500 dollars; if fram e time of harvesting said grain is buildings Eire upon it, a greater from the 20th of July until the price, but seldom in proportion end of August. to the buildings. 24th. The quantity of wheat to be sown on one acre is from a bushel and a peck to a bushel, an average crop is from 15 to 25 bushels per acre. 29th. The quantity o f land for sale w e cannot justly describe, but we suppose three or four thousand acres, and there sire but few farm ers in our township who would not even sell their im proved farm s if they had the offer of a good price. ( iA N A O W i COMFEDf-RAnON C O N G R A T U LA T IO N S TO CANADA ON HER B IR T H D A Y W e a re p ro u d to b e p a r t o f C a n a d a 's H u n * d re d th A n n iv e rs a ry . W e h o p e w a w ill p la y o ven a b ig g e r p a r t d u rin g C a n a d a 's n e x t 100 y e a rs . 25th. Respecting pasture, as the wild woods constitute our principal pasture lands, we have not yet made sufficient experi 30th. The state of the public ments to enable us to answer to roads at present is but indiffer your query, but our meadow ent, but they are capable of im lands will generally produce one provem ent at a moderate ex ton per acre, and an ox of four pense, as the face of our coun years old will gain two hundred try is generally level. weight by a sum m er run in our Great im provem ents might be woods and his m eat will be well flavored. Our dairy produce is of m ade by means o f canals and an excellent quality; butter sells locks respecting our navigation. for a shilling per pound, cheese We are situated on the coast of Lake Ontario, and thence we the sam e price. have the benefit of all the ad 26th. The ordinary course of joining waters. C. E. WRIGHT CO. ESTABLISH ED 142 CROSS AVE. IN 194V 845-2481 O AKVILLE DIES -- TOOLS -- M E TAL STAMPINGS STRIPPIT METAL, FAB RIC ATIN G EQUIPMENT LAST REEVE -- A lec Phil lips was reeve o f Trafalgar dur ing the township's busiest years, just before it m erged with Oakville in 1962. Before being elected reeve, a position he filled capably fo r five years, he was a township councillor and deputy-reeve. In 1961, on the eve o f amalgamation, he was elected reeve o f the new municipality of Oakville, mak ing him the old township's last reeve and the new town's first. Now retired, he is shown above at his favorite pastime, gatf'dening. 8th. We have one grist mill 18th. Clearing and fencing of and four saw mills. The rate of grinding is one-twelfth. The rate land when all the tim ber is cut o f sawing is one-half, when the off, costs twelve dollars per acre; saw logs are carried to the mill. so that a field containing five 9th. The surface of the land acres would cost 60 dollars, but is level. The topsoil is clay m ix the com m on custom of our town ed with loam and a little gravel; ship is to cut down no m ore at under that is clay, m ostly of a first than the tim ber which is a foot in diam eter, measured ared color. bout two feet and a half from the JOth. Our timber consists oi root of the tree and all under Oak, two kinds, white and red; ` that size. WHEN ACCIDENTS HAPPEN You're. , . HOBO HEAVEN B ack in 1880, town council picked up the tab for meals for m ore than 500 tramps who ought a handout. HEAD FIRST IN FASHION When you've visited . - , . CarLess? Call Hertz. F o r h a ir t h a t'* s u n s h in e BARBARA'S Featuring our new RILLING ROLLER See the experts at PERMANENT in a Friendly Spacious Atmosphere b r ig h t c o m e in and see us now . TRAFALGAR COLLISION SERVICE We take Trafalgar Collision Service is proud to have played an important role in the growth of the community and of Canada for the past nine years. pride in the fact we employ 10 men all g o o d responsible citizens of Oak ville. We know that by using quality products and the v a s t experience of these 10 men we can offer your car bodywork and painting unequaled any O u r e x p e rts , E d ith , A n n a n d K a re n a ra re a d y to s ty le , c u t, set a n d c o n d itio n y o u r h a ir f o r a c tiv a s u n n y w e a th e r liv in g . OPEN Tues., Thurs., Fri. 'til 9 M o re se rvic e. Less nonsense. A ll business. T h a t's H e rtz . where. Why not join our many satisfied customers by g i v i n g us a try? OPENING 7 a.m. 'til proprietress -- 1 Saturdays You'll be glad you d id ! MBS. JEANETTE UDELL · BEAUTY LOUNGE · EXPERT P A I N T I N G AND BODYWORK call Hertz 845-0621 O A K V I L L E BARBARA'S 845-2212 328 KERR ST. GUARANTEED W O R K M A N S H I P 2 BIG L O C A T I O N S 3 1 2 Davis Rd. at Trafalgar OAKVILLE 845-7579 827-1 891 4 4 6 T r a f a lg a r R oad 615 3rd Line