The south-eastern part
of Windham was settled at a very early period, more especially in the
vicinity of what is now the village of Colborne. Here the Beemers,
Culvers, Bowlbys and other, had settled at the close of the last century.
Soon after this a settlement was established at Round Plains, but it was
many years before the interior portion of the township was occupied.
| The following
list is believed to contain the names of most of the families that
had located in Windham about fifty years ago -- say 1825. |
| 2nd |
concession |
Winegarner
and Smoke |
| 3rd |
" |
Oliver
Edmunds, John Lake |
| 4th |
" |
Chas.
Pettit (who died on the same farm a few weeks ago), Matthew Lowry,
Geo. Edmunds, John Sumner, Chas. Malcolm, ___ Raymond (on the
site of what is now Teeterville), Wm. Hagerman, John Matthews, ___
Book (where Bookton stands), Samuel McCurdy, Wm. Marlatt, Mark
Reavely |
| 5th |
" |
Ephraim
Searles, Henry Sovereen |
| 6th |
" |
John
Robbins, Geo. Brown |
| 7th |
" |
Joseph
and Philip Sovereen (at Round Plains), Jesse Munro |
| 8th |
" |
Jeremiah
Green |
| 9th |
" |
John
Cline, William Forse, ___ Vale, John Ogden, Jacob Powell, Samuel
Wood, Caleb Wood |
| 10th |
" |
Jacob
Langs, Abram Youngs, Ezra Powell, J. B. Culver, Abram Powell, Tice
Trombly |
| 11th |
" |
John
and Benjamin Culver, John McInally, John Robbins, David Hunter, Wm.
Powell, Jonathan Axford, Fred Sovereen, ___ Budd |
| 12th |
" |
Philip
Vastbinder, Gabriel Culver (and other Culvers), Martin Millard, John
Horning |
| 13th |
" |
Philip
Force, Wm. Dell, Wm. Ferguson, Martin Boughner, John Winans, Peter
Boughner |
| 14th |
" |
John
Kirkpatrick, John Davis, James Derrickson, Joseph Wilson, Robert
Waddel, Jas. Richardson, Benjamin Whitehead, John Mills, John
Pettit, John Butler (near the school house known as Log Salem),
Joseph Lawson |
During the last five years of the
last half century, the course of settlement has flowed steadily on. In
1817 there were but 48 houses and 293 inhabitants. In 1850 the population
had increased to 2716.
In the south-west part of the
township is a large tract, settled mainly by Roman Catholics from Germany
and Ireland. They came in first about 1846. Joseph Dirtinger and Michael
McDonald were the earliest settlers. Here is a church (and a separate
school) in charge of Rev. Father Jas. Japes, who has also a church in
Simcoe. He is the only Catholic priest in Norfolk, and his charge includes
about 206 families.
|
