normanby

Part 6 - The Settlement of Normanby (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. 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.

The first settlers of the Garafraxa Trail in Normanby were predominately Irish Catholic with some French-Canadian Catholics who were following the Free Grant land movement westward in the continent. Chapel Hill Cemetery just north of Orchard near Sideroad 12 holds the remains of some of those family members who were left behind in the migration. Missionary priests such as Father Gaspar Matoga and Father Blettner provided for the spiritual and ceremonial needs of the group. About 1863 the smaller French-Canadian group including the LaLonde, Zess and Munro families went to Charlevoix County, Michigan when it opened for settlement. The present village of Varney [near Sideroad 3] was initially called Enniskillen in the early days in honour of some other Irish pioneers who established here.

Landmarks from the north include Grasby's Corner, Enniskillen near Sideroad 3, Maplewood Cemetery at Sideroad 6, Barlow's Tavern at Sideroad 9, the Orchard Community south of Sideroad 12, Orchard Mill at Sideroad 15, Bachin's Corner at Sideroad 18, the Long Swamp, and the Letterbreen Community at Sideroad 24. South of Letterbreen the road veers to the southeast and several part concessions were developed to delineate the remnant lots. Notable communities on the backlines included: Knox-Normanby at Sideroad 6, Nenagh on Sideroad 18, and Gleneden at Sideroad 27.

Over the next 10-15 years predominately German settlers took up lots west of Sideroad 15 and the present flavour of the township as we now know it today began to evolve. Many of the Germans were second generation farmers who had been raised in Waterloo County. This gave that particular group of settlers a significant advantage because they were already fairly well situated in the south and were able to wait for choicer land to become available. This was quite a different scenario from the Irish and Scots who were moving towards these Free Land Grants as their first home. As luck would have it ---- the farms in the west part of the township were of higher quality.