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PRELUDE Whitney, Hogeboom, Wells, Penfield and Clark - all of the Niagara district, did nothing to develop the area. But on July 3, i8i6, an event took place that was to encourage settlement hereabouts. On that date, the Honorable William Dickson of Newark, a Loyalist and a member of the Legislative Council, ob- tained from Thomas Clark the rights to Block No. i, in return for £15,ooo and the assumption of a mortgage of £8,841. In July, Dickson and his right-hand man, Absolom Shade, rode to the Forks of the Grand; and then, guided by an Indian, continued on their way up the narrow trail that wound north along the east bank of the Grand, until they arrived at the site of Galt. Since the location there seemed favorable for the establishment of a mill, Dick- son decided to found a village. Soon afterwards, he hired Adrian Marlett of Ancaster to survey the new township (which he called Dumfries after his home in Scot- land). Marlett, on the first page of his field-notes, made the follow- ing entry: Left Dumfries Mills (three miles south of Galt) on Wednesday, 2 October, with my party . . . and proceeded towards the forks of the Grand River, and there in company with George Hamilton examined the forked elm tree at the confluence thereof. The George Hamilton mentioned above was the son of Robert Hamilton, one of the most influential Loyalists in the early history of Upper Canada. In 1812, George had moved his family from Queenston to the site of Hamilton, and had there laid out the first streets of the city that today bears his name. He had evidently bought Canby's lease to the plaster beds at the mouth of the Nith, and was accompanying Marlett to make sure that his interests did not suffer. After the township had been surveyed, a few settlers, mostly from Scotland, took up land. By i818, the population was not more than 150o; by 1822, not more than 500o. In 1818, Absolom Shade had a road cut along an ancient Indian trail that ran from 'Shade's Mills (Galt) to the Forks of the Grand. This road ran down through what is now Penmarvian to William Street, westward along William through a dense, spongy swamp to a bridge across the Nith that was built by statute labor, and then up Laurel Street to Dundas Street. In 1821, the first settler arrived at the Forks. His name was Wil- liam Holme. With him came five or six hired men and probably some women and children. He was thirty-seven years old, a Quaker, and a gentleman. Holme was born in Carlisle, England, in the year 1784. His family was wealthy. One wonders why he and his brothers, John and Chris- topher - all educated men - emigrated to the United States and settled for a time near Lansingburg on the Hudson River; and why they later emigrated to Canada and settled on the edge of the wilder- ness; and why William came to the Forks to endure hardship and 7