Glenelg

Along the Garafraxa Trail Series

Part 1 - The Hills of Glenelg (History DVD Ebook)

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. There were approximately 210 lots [EGR] East of the Garafraxa Road in Glenelg. The first Glenelg township pioneers north of Durham had their Location Tickets registered as early as 1842. Early records indicate that a Mr. Boulton drove the first horse and wagon up the Garafraxa Trail in the summer of 1842. We believe that he was an early locatee near Sideroad 18 of Glenelg.

The earliest settlers in the pioneer lines of Glenelg had originated on the Isle of Mull, Argyleshire, Scotland. In the earliest times it is claimed that over 90% of the settlers on Concession 1-2-3 East Garafraxa Road [EGR] were Gaelic speaking. Their children learned to speak English when the first school sections were formed. Also arriving about the same time was a small group of Black Pioneers who had escaped slavery via the Underground Railway. They settled just north of the Rocky Saugeen. The settlement dissipated over the next few decades and most of these settlers went to Owen Sound.

Landmarks along the Garafraxa north of Durham included: Rocky Saugeen at Sideroad 15, Tobermory Hotel at McCormick's Sideroad [Sideroad 12], Latona Community, and Dornoch at the north end of the township.

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The Durham Road was surveyed through Glenelg about 1847. It met the Garafraxa Colonization Road at Durham and extended westward to the Lake Huron Shore. Three pioneer lines were developed on the north [NDR] and south side [SDR] of the road. The road extended eastward to Priceville. By 1851 the pioneer lines of Glenelg had been taken by Scottish settlers predominately from Mull, Argyleshire, Scotland. Many had been renting farms in Vaughan Township while they waited for the Durham Road to be opened for Free Grants. There were also two other small pockets of Black settlers in Glenelg - one just west of Priceville [7 families with a population of 30] and one just east of Durham [8 families with a population of 25]. Most of the Blacks had come from the Peel-Wellesley Settlement near Elmira at the time the Durham Road opened. They had been petitioning the government for Land Grants near Elmira as late as 1847 and some had given up hope that the land grants would be realized. Consequently they moved north where Free Grants were becoming available on the Durham Road. There was also a colony of Black settlers living east of Priceville from Lot 7-30 north and south of the Durham Road in Artemesia. There were about 17 families with a total population of 105.

Landmarks along the Durham Road in Glenelg included: Darkies' Corner at Con 2 EGR, Rob Roy at Sideroad 10, Bunessan at Sideroad 20, The Glen at Sideroad 30, and Priceville at the Townline.