But O, it was a deplorable condition for a poor man, who, day after day, kept up an unceasing call to his oxen, struggling at the end of a chain. In that lonely forest, without neighbours, penniless, friendless, his home a wretched hovel, his raiment and his fare scanty, his toil endless, no condition out of actual slavery could be more wretched. But, thank God! there was hope, and to that we may attribute his success. - History of Perth County 1825-1902 - William Johnson
Agricultural Timeline 1851-1872:
1827 - Canada Company founded, takes control of Crown Lands for organization to encourage settlement in the Huron Tract (Queen's Bush)
1838 -The Wellington District is established, including parts of the future Wellington, Waterloo, Grey and Dufferin Counties.
1850-51 - The Elora and Saugeen Road (Hwy 9 from Teviotdale to Cliffore) is laid out.
1851/52 -Squatters begin arriving in the new territory with hopes of laying a claim before the land is put up for sale. (Squatters will be given first access to purchase the land they've been clearing)
1852-54 - Survey teams from the Canada Company begin evaluating and marking out the lots and concessions of what will become Minto and Wallace Townships.
1853 - Crimean War begins - wheat prices soar from $0.30 to $2.00 a bushel.
1854 - August 4 - Announcement is posted of land sale in Minto Township, agents in Elora will conduct the auction. A price of Seven Shillings and Six Pence ($1.50 per Acre) for 100 acres payable over 10 years. 2 acres to be cleared per year for a minimum 5 years, and a dwelling no smaller than 16' x 18' to be erected.
1854 - September 10 - Settlers allowed to begin moving into Minto Township
Typically the Minto pioneer arrived on foot with an axe, perhaps a gun, and a pack containing flour, salt, tea, frying pan, blanket, a change of socks and some small tools. First came the punishing job of brushing, chopping, piling, and burning the bush, save only enough logs to put up a temporary slant-roofed shanty... The first seeding was done by hand, between the stumps...gradually they disappeared too, ripped out by ploughs and burned. - History of Minto Township - Clifford Harrison
1855 - After a winter of attempting to clear their parcels of land the Minto and Wallace Settlers begin planting crops amongst the tree stumps.
1856 - July 4 - Crown lands in Wallace Township officially opened for sale at Ten Shillings per acre ($2)
1853 - Crimean War begins - wheat prices soar from $0.30 to $2.00 a bushel.
1854 - August 4 - Announcement is posted of land sale in Minto Township, agents in Elora will conduct the auction. A price of Seven Shillings and Six Pence ($1.50 per Acre) for 100 acres payable over 10 years. 2 acres to be cleared per year for a minimum 5 years, and a dwelling no smaller than 16' x 18' to be erected.
1854 - September 10 - Settlers allowed to begin moving into Minto Township
Typically the Minto pioneer arrived on foot with an axe, perhaps a gun, and a pack containing flour, salt, tea, frying pan, blanket, a change of socks and some small tools. First came the punishing job of brushing, chopping, piling, and burning the bush, save only enough logs to put up a temporary slant-roofed shanty... The first seeding was done by hand, between the stumps...gradually they disappeared too, ripped out by ploughs and burned. - History of Minto Township - Clifford Harrison
1855 - After a winter of attempting to clear their parcels of land the Minto and Wallace Settlers begin planting crops amongst the tree stumps.
1856 - July 4 - Crown lands in Wallace Township officially opened for sale at Ten Shillings per acre ($2)
1856 - Crimean War ends
This, without exception, was the system adopted by all old settlers for a number of years until the stumps could be removed. Destroying these old obstructions was a joyous period for the pioneer. On a dark October night, everything dry as tinder, the spectacle of ten or fifteen acres of burning stumps was a most enjoyable one. - History of Perth County 1825-1902 - William Johnson
1857 - "Panic of 1857" an economic depression causes wheat prices to plummet
1858 - A dry summer and a Wheat Midge plight devastates crops, numerous settlers foreclose on their debts and leave Minto and
Wallace.
1858 - Perth County Relief Fund established to support the struggling setters after the crop failure.
1859 - Perth County Relief Fund distributes 75% of the flour and 55% of wheat requested by Wallace Township for relief. Wallace Council submits application to leave Perth County in response.
1859 - After years of complaints from residents in Minto an investigation is conducted finding that 20,000 acres of land has been left unoccupied and un-cleared due to illegal purchase by speculators (primarily the Land Agents from Elora in 1854). The land is seized and re-opened for sale. The "Second Wave" of settlers begins.
1859 - Minto Agricultural Society establishes the first weekly produce market and monthly cattle and livestock fair in Harriston.
1861 - First Agricultural Census for Canada West (Ontario)
Wallace Township produced:
58,403 bushels of spring wheat from 3,112 acres
1,742 bushels of barley from 89 acres
11,499 bushels of peas from 664 acres
24,946 bushels of oats from 881 acres
20,660 bushels of potatoes from 242 acres
69,747 bushels of turnips from
398 acres
38,000 lbs of butter
667 lbs of cheese
20,852 lbs of maple sugar
3,389 yards of flannel
2,782 lbs of wool
This, without exception, was the system adopted by all old settlers for a number of years until the stumps could be removed. Destroying these old obstructions was a joyous period for the pioneer. On a dark October night, everything dry as tinder, the spectacle of ten or fifteen acres of burning stumps was a most enjoyable one. - History of Perth County 1825-1902 - William Johnson
1857 - "Panic of 1857" an economic depression causes wheat prices to plummet
1858 - A dry summer and a Wheat Midge plight devastates crops, numerous settlers foreclose on their debts and leave Minto and
Wallace.
1858 - Perth County Relief Fund established to support the struggling setters after the crop failure.
1859 - Perth County Relief Fund distributes 75% of the flour and 55% of wheat requested by Wallace Township for relief. Wallace Council submits application to leave Perth County in response.
1859 - After years of complaints from residents in Minto an investigation is conducted finding that 20,000 acres of land has been left unoccupied and un-cleared due to illegal purchase by speculators (primarily the Land Agents from Elora in 1854). The land is seized and re-opened for sale. The "Second Wave" of settlers begins.
1859 - Minto Agricultural Society establishes the first weekly produce market and monthly cattle and livestock fair in Harriston.
1861 - First Agricultural Census for Canada West (Ontario)
Wallace Township produced:
58,403 bushels of spring wheat from 3,112 acres
1,742 bushels of barley from 89 acres
11,499 bushels of peas from 664 acres
24,946 bushels of oats from 881 acres
20,660 bushels of potatoes from 242 acres
69,747 bushels of turnips from
398 acres
38,000 lbs of butter
667 lbs of cheese
20,852 lbs of maple sugar
3,389 yards of flannel
2,782 lbs of wool
1863 - Gravelling of the Elora and Saugeen Road is completed making the trip to the closest large markets (Elora and Guelph) for farmers significantly easier.
1863 - The wheat midge devastates the spring wheat crop again, the introduction of winter wheat (impervious to the midge) becomes the favoured crop.
1864 - An Act of Parliament approves a proposal to build two railway lines from Guelph to Southampton and Stratford to Kincardine, rumours begin circulating in Minto and Wallace about the economic boom a railway could create.
1866 - The first Post Office is established at Dryden. Managed by Richard Johnston
1867 - The first Clyde Horses are imported from Scotland into Perth County, up to this point oxen were the common work animal of choice.
1867-1868 - The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway, supported by the Great Western Railway actively promote the benefits of the railway to farmers in Wallace and Minto Townships in the hope they will pressure for large bonuses to pay for the building of lines.
1868 - Listowel declines providing a financial incentive to the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway to build a line through the town.
1870 - First mechanized farm implements appear in Minto. Horse drawn reapers, threshers, binders, mowers etc. start becoming more common as the fully cleared fields can finally accommodate them.
1870 - Wallace Township provides $25,000 and Minto Township provides $70,000 in bonuses to the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway as incentive to build their line through the townships.
1870 - The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway purchase 12 acres of land from Thomas McDowell and William Thompson on the border of Wallace and Minto Township.
1871 - April - The Wellington, Grey & Bruce Railway announce they will be building a station on Lot 19 of Concession 11 of Wallace Township. The land owner Thomas McDowell and adjacent farms immediately begin having their land surveyed for town lots in what would become Palmerston.
1871 - October - Wallace Station, renamed Palmerston is officially opened.
1872 - January 25 - County of Perth establishes a monthly public fair (market) to be held in Palmerston.
1872 - February 8 - First cattle fair held in Palmerston, the community hosts social events such as dinners, tea meetings, speeches and a choir performance for the travelling buyers.
The train whistle signified a change of pace in Minto... a much greater and more meaningful change occurred, the change from farming at a subsistence level to a cash crop position. No longer did the wagon trains with their meagre loads bump over the long road to Guelph, three days down and back... Surely no one would ever refer to the 1860s as the good old days.
Now the farmer could herd his live cattle the few miles in to town where he sold them for cash on the hoof. And in the same towns the freight cars waited to load his surplus wheat and his salt pork. And the same train would soon bring industry to his neighbourhood, industry dependent on the produce and raw materials which only the farmer could provide.
So each became dependent on the other - the farmer on the town and the town on the farmer - and the trains were responsible for it all. - A History of Minto - Clifford M. Harrison
1863 - Gravelling of the Elora and Saugeen Road is completed making the trip to the closest large markets (Elora and Guelph) for farmers significantly easier.
1863 - The wheat midge devastates the spring wheat crop again, the introduction of winter wheat (impervious to the midge) becomes the favoured crop.
1864 - An Act of Parliament approves a proposal to build two railway lines from Guelph to Southampton and Stratford to Kincardine, rumours begin circulating in Minto and Wallace about the economic boom a railway could create.
1866 - The first Post Office is established at Dryden. Managed by Richard Johnston
1867 - The first Clyde Horses are imported from Scotland into Perth County, up to this point oxen were the common work animal of choice.
1867-1868 - The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway, supported by the Great Western Railway actively promote the benefits of the railway to farmers in Wallace and Minto Townships in the hope they will pressure for large bonuses to pay for the building of lines.
1868 - Listowel declines providing a financial incentive to the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway to build a line through the town.
1870 - First mechanized farm implements appear in Minto. Horse drawn reapers, threshers, binders, mowers etc. start becoming more common as the fully cleared fields can finally accommodate them.
1870 - Wallace Township provides $25,000 and Minto Township provides $70,000 in bonuses to the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway as incentive to build their line through the townships.
1870 - The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway purchase 12 acres of land from Thomas McDowell and William Thompson on the border of Wallace and Minto Township.
1871 - April - The Wellington, Grey & Bruce Railway announce they will be building a station on Lot 19 of Concession 11 of Wallace Township. The land owner Thomas McDowell and adjacent farms immediately begin having their land surveyed for town lots in what would become Palmerston.
1871 - October - Wallace Station, renamed Palmerston is officially opened.
1872 - January 25 - County of Perth establishes a monthly public fair (market) to be held in Palmerston.
1872 - February 8 - First cattle fair held in Palmerston, the community hosts social events such as dinners, tea meetings, speeches and a choir performance for the travelling buyers.
The train whistle signified a change of pace in Minto... a much greater and more meaningful change occurred, the change from farming at a subsistence level to a cash crop position. No longer did the wagon trains with their meagre loads bump over the long road to Guelph, three days down and back... Surely no one would ever refer to the 1860s as the good old days.
Now the farmer could herd his live cattle the few miles in to town where he sold them for cash on the hoof. And in the same towns the freight cars waited to load his surplus wheat and his salt pork. And the same train would soon bring industry to his neighbourhood, industry dependent on the produce and raw materials which only the farmer could provide.
So each became dependent on the other - the farmer on the town and the town on the farmer - and the trains were responsible for it all. - A History of Minto - Clifford M. Harrison