Joseph Keeler, a United Empire Loyalist and land agent who brought 40 families with him from Vermont, settled in the area in 1793. The first 100 years of settlement in the Colborne - Lakeport area were dominated by the Keelers, father, son and grandson. The prominent Keeler names were Joseph Keeler, "Old Joe," 1763-1839; Joseph A. Keeler, "Young Joe,” 1788-1855 and Joseph Keeler, MP, 1824-1881. Undaunted by the primeval forest that awaited them everywhere north of the shores of Lake Ontario, Joseph Keeler and his descendants were leaders in the establishment of the communities of Lakeport and Colborne, nearly midway between York (Toronto) and Kingston. Christie Mills was one of a number of flour and saw mills as well as other business ventures that the Keeler family built.