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 Historical Highlights of Norfolk
 
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Historical Highlights Of Norfolk County by
Bruce M. Pearce

First Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada

 

The important contribution made to Norfolk County by General John Graves Simcoe, first Governor of Upper Canada, entitles him to recognition as one of the builders of Norfolk and therefore to an outline of his connection with this county in its early years. It is fitting that the county should bear his name, the only Canadian town to do so. Moreover, it was Governor Simcoe who gave the name of Norfolk to this county when the original counties of Upper Canada were laid out under his direction in 1792. During his term of office as Governor from 1791 to 1796, General Simcoe made at least one visit to Norfolk County, traveling along lake front from Fort Erie to Turkey Point and thence northward along the old Indian Trail to the Grand River. That journey was made in 1795 towards the close of his tenure of office. According to legend, Governor Simcoe and his party camped overnight in what is now Lynnwood Park and ate watermelons provided by one of Simcoe's earliest settlers, Aaron Culver, who later built the first gristmill on River Lynn and who owned farm property embracing the area now occupied by Simcoe District Composite School.

It was on this trip that Governor Simcoe selected the brow of Turkey Point hill as a town site, which he clearly intended to make the commercial and governmental metropolis of this part of Upper Canada. He was greatly impressed with the admirable location and surroundings of Turkey Point for this purpose.


"He was pleased with Long Point, which he called Charlotteville; the banks on the lake 150 feet high; on the shore grew weeping willows, covered with vines He gathered some grapes, already sweet .


The new municipality was to be called the Town of Charlotteville in honour of Queen Charlotte and a survey was ordered for a road to connect it with the Governor's Road to the north. He proposed to create a military establishment there as well, to aid in defence of the province He claimed that the Long Point area was "admirably adapted for settlements" and that it was the only good roadstead on Lake Erie.�

Governor Simcoe ordered a survey made for government buildings and called it "Charlotte Villa." On this town site was erected a courthouse where the London District courts were held for fourteen years, prior to their removal to Vittoria. Here was erected Fort Norfolk to strengthen the area defences. The Governor's foresight in this regard was amply justified during the War of 1812-14 when British Regulars were stationed there to take a key role in the defence of Upper Canada.

In her very interesting diary of the Simcoe family's years in this country, Mrs. Simcoe described the Governor's trip through Norfolk in a paragraph dated Sept, 12th, 1795: "The Governor returned and is far from well. He was pleased with Long Point, which he called Charlotteville; the banks on the lake 150 feet high; on the shore grew weeping willows, covered with vines He gathered some grapes, already sweet.�

The fortification of Turkey Point was only one part of the extensive program carried out by Governor Simcoe All around the perimeter of Upper Canada's borders; he strengthened the military defences in anticipation of ultimate hostilities with the United States. His vision was rewarded by the successful defence of Canadian soil a few years later. As a strong Britisher, too, Governor Simcoe always had in the back of his mind the reclamation of the American colonies for the British Throne.

Governor Simcoe retained the friendship of the Six Nations Indians, who had remained on the British side after the Revolutionary War and who had been granted by the government a large concession along the Grand River. He was an intimate friend of Captain Joseph Brant, the distinguished Six Nations chieftain, who had great influence with his Indian compatriots. The Governor visited Capt. Brant on the Six Nations Reserve and took part in their councils. 

One outstanding fact about the early origins of Norfolk County was that a large segment of its first settlers were United Empire Loyalists. They had fought on the British side during the Revolutionary War, their lands and possessions were confiscated by the new American government and they had fled the country, many of them heading northward to take up new homes in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

 

Himself a veteran of the Revolutionary War, in which he had headed the famous Queen's Rangers and in which he was wounded, Governor Simcoe had the warmest sympathy with the U. E. Loyalists. He turned his attention to attracting large numbers of them to come to Upper Canada, offering them substantial tracts of land from the Crown. In this way he hoped to open up the new country and to encourage development of agriculture. From 1795 onward many thousands of U. E. Loyalists came to this province, of whom Norfolk County derived numerous families. In the next few years these excellent settlers spread into virtually all townships of Norfolk and they became the forbears of many of the most prominent families in the county's history. In this connection an excerpt from the volume, "The Life and Times Of General Simcoe" by D. B. Read, Q. C., reads:

"On the 20th June, 1796, a list of applicants for lands in the townships of Walsingham, Charlotteville, Woodhouse and Long Point Settlement was filed in the office of the Acting Surveyor-General Smith, and to this the Governor appended his sanction as follows: 'Approved and to be complied with as far as existing regulations will permit'. The names of applicants for land in the townships above named included families well known in the province such as Ryerse, Maybee, Backhouse, Secord and numerous others. In the case of Mrs. Maybee, a widow about whose patent there was some delay in the department, the Governor was very peremptory in his order that she, being the widow of a Loyalist, prompt attention must be given to her application."

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Bruce M. Pearce
Bruce M. Pearce was the editor and the author of a number of books and publications.

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Created 99 12 08 Updated