Dutton / Dunwich
Colonel Talbot got us started...
When Col. Thomas Talbot landed at the mouth of a creek on the north shore of Lake Erie, in what was later called Dunwich Township, in 1803, there were no producers, directors or cameramen! The settlers that followed were totally dependent on themselves. No big box store for lumber needs, no associates to assist you, no power tools... nothing but muscle, bone and ingenuity. Part of the entitlement duties each settler was obligated to do to get clear title to his land was to clear 10 acres, build a dwelling/or barn, plant a crop, and clear the road allowance in from their property... or no land! Imagine, no chain saws, no log splitters, only a handful of horses and oxen in all of Canada West (Upper Canada - Southern Ontario)... so most had to chop with axe or a two man saw... many trees were sweet chestnut, ash or oak... some bigger than several men could span linked arm to arm. This road built by these men was later referred to as the Talbot Trail. The very beginnings are here in Elgin on the Fingal Line just west of Burwell’s corer (at Iona Road) at the top of the hill at Port Talbot where a stone chair now stands. Today that trail is blazed through Elgin with eye catching emerald green and amber reflective signs going east to the county line outside Port Burwell and west to the Elgin-Kent Line on Highway 3. The westerly route then led to Fort Malden (Amherstburg) and in the east to Longpoint and the settlements and Fort at Niagara and Fort Erie. Want to experience even a portion of what these settlers had to deal with? Park your car and hike the Trans Canada Trail in Dutton/Dunwich and see what it’s like to hike a few kilometers in a Carolinian Forest. Or... challenge yourself to walk the Talbot Trail on the grassy road allowances. Start at Port Talbot, walk what you can... mark where you ended and begin there next time. How long will it take you? Can you do it? What if you had to carry a 30 pound sack of wheat to the mill at Longpoint... the only mill left after the Yankee’s raid in the War of 1812? Don’t forget... you must keep the wheat/flour dry and you have no plastic. Interested in hearing more about the settlers and their hardships? There are several books on the Talbot settlement. Backus-Page House is a living museum in the heart of the Talbot settlement, Dutton/Dunwich. It’s a great place to learn about Elgin’s beginnings and see some on the lifestyles of bygone days... or take the family on the Spicer Trail for a more sedate hike where the various tree specimens are labeled... Now that’s life! www.duttondunwich.on.ca
Reprinted/used with permission of the St. Thomas Times-Journal
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