There are several theories about the naming of the Garafraxa Trail. Garafraxa is said by some to be a corruption of the word Sassafrax, a shrub that grew in the district. Others believed it was from an Indian word meaning 'panther country'.
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On April 13,1837 the Government of Upper Canada commissioned Charles Rankin P.L.S. [later of Owen Sound] to lay out the Garafraxa Colonization Road from Oakville to Owen Sound [then called Sydenham] under direction of Surveyor General John McAuley. The British wanted to open a Colonization Road to allow access to the Queen's Bush by newly arriving immigrants. This land had been acquired through Indian Treaties in 1830's. Rankin's team proceeded as far as Garafraxa Township at which time the Rebellion of Upper Canada brought the venture to a halt. The government felt that Rankin's course was too long and set about to make some adjustments. Finally in 1841 the government sent John McDonald P.L.S. [later of Goderich] to rework the earlier survey. The route was straightened somewhat and was moved eastward in its course through Normanby. Rankin's intial course had moved west almost as far as Concession 3 in order to by pass the Long Swamp. About thirty 150 acre Lots were set out and each was divided into 50 acre Divisions and numbered from the north end of the township. Beginning in 1841 the settlers were permitted to take out their location ticket on one fifty acre parcel and the next lot was reserved for them for later purchase. This scheme of Free Land Grant was experimental. It was highly successful in populating the new settlement area. However the government misjudged the capability of the early settlers to finance the purchase of their reserved lot. About 1845 Robert W. Kerr P.L.S. added the two backlines north of Mount Forest in Normanby and Egremont. Lots on the the backlines [Concession 2-3] were divided into 100 acre lots; sometimes divided into an east and west part. In all there were approximately two hundred 100 acre Free Grant Lots west of the Garafraxa Trail in Normanby. The Crown Land Agent Captain Andrew Montague Isaacson Durnford II of Arthur administrated the first allocation of land in Normanby and Egremont.
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John Telford was the Crown Land Agent in Owen Sound in the early times. He administered land allocation in Bentinck , Glenelg and the northern townships of Grey. An early record indicates that a Mr. Boulton brought the first horse and wagon team up the Garafraxa Trail in the summer of 1842. We believe he was an early locatee near the Rocky Saugeen.
Archibald Hunter and his party arrived in the Town of Durham in May 1842 and took up land on the Glenelg side north of the Durham Road.
Earliest Locatees West of the Garafraxa Road in Bentinck
(by 1851)
Aldred, Allen, Backus, Barnes, Beaton, Black, Blake, Boulten, Boyd, Burgess, Cameron, Campbell, Clark, Connor, Corlett, Crispen, Cuff, Deadman, Douglas, Dunsmoor, Deans, Ellison, Edge, Enright, Fletcher, Flood, Hooper, Hopkins, Hunter, Hutton, Jamieson, Johnston, Laybourne, Lee, Livingstone, McArthur, McAssey, McCallum, McClinton, McCoskery, McDonald, McDougall, McFarlane, McGillivray, McKechnie, McKinnon, McLance, McLean, McLennan, McPhail, McQuarrie, Morden, Morton, Mountain, O'Donnell, Patterson, Petty, Roy, Schofield, Skene, Smith, Storrey, Stewart, Strang, Turner, Vollett, Waddell, Wright
Earliest Locatees East of the Garafraxa Road in Glenelg
(by 1851)
Allen Andrews Appleby Bell Boyd Brogan Cameron Campbell Carson Clayborn Collier Condon Cope Craig Craigen Crispen Daly Davis Dunsmoor Edge Falkingham Farr Firth Foley Graham Greenwood Griffen Halfpenny Hall Henderson Hunter Jamieson Jasper Jessiman Ledingham Legate Leitch Lindsay Malone Matthews McCallum McCormick McDonald McEachern McFadyen McFarlane McGillivray McGirr McInnes McIntyre McKechnie McLean McPhail McQuarrie Morden Morrison Nichol O'Donnell Polson Pryle Putherbough Ritchie Scott Shup Smith Spry Vollet Watson Wilkie Williams
Earliest Locatees West of the Garafraxa Road in Normanby
(by 1851)
Allen Armstrong Baillie Barbour [Barber] Barnak Beatty [Batey] Bentley Black Briggs Brown Crozier Dobson Dukes Flood Fox Fraser Godfrey Gribney Hampton Harley Hart Heaney Hurley Irvine Jones LaLonde Lackey LaRose Logan Mann McEvoy McFarlin McKinnon McNulty McTavish Mearns Mitchell Moffat Munro Orchard Parrish Peterman Rowe Sharp Simpson Sirr Smith Souster Taylor Turner Watt Whitley Zess
Bailey Blaney Bogle Cannon Carson Chilton Dukes Elder Ellis Enright Flynn Fox Gant Gibson Green Hastings Hatcher Holliday Jardine Kearns [Cairns] Kenney LaLonde Long Mack McCalmon McCormick McDermid McFarlin McGillivray McGrath McPhee [McFee] Moffat Mullin Munro Neville Nolan O'Brien Ovens Peter Reagan Reid Robertson Semple Sirr Smith Stevenson Stewart Stoddart Tilson Williamson Wilson Zess
Butchart Gant McCalmon McDonald Osborne Reid Robertson Sockett Taylor
Earliest Locatees East of The Garafraxa Trail in Egremont
(by 1851)
Agnew, Armstrong, Atcheson, Avery, Barnak, Beatty [Batey], Black, Blaney, Bradley, Briggs, Brock, Brown, Bryans, Cameron, Campbell, Casey, Chapman, Chesnut, Cleaver, Cochrane, Cowan, Crittenden, Dawson, Donovan,Doyle, Fitzpatrick, Fleming, Foster, Gardiner, Gordon, Grey, Heath, Hendershott, Hike, Hill, Hilts [Hiltz], Hulley, Hunt, Irvine, Johnston, Kenny, Kidd, Kirk, Kirkland, LaLonde, Langan, LaRose, Leppard, Lindell, Loyer, Lucas, Malloy, Marville, McAnalty, McAuley, McCallum, McDermid, McGrath, McGregor, McIntee, McLellan, McNab, McTavish, Morrison, Muir, Murphy, Neal, Neilson, O'Hara, Orchard, Paget, Parish, Pollock, Pinder, Quigley, Rawn, Ray, Reddick, Reid, Rogers, Schell, Scott, Sharpe, Shearer, Sirr, Smith, Spence, Squires, Stevenson, Stinson, Sturritt, Swanston, Taylor, Traynor, Vollett, Watt, Weaver, Weir, Williams, Wilson , Wright