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Explanation of Book
In this booklet I have tried to call the roll of
the families who lived near the center of the Township of North Dorchester
Middlesex county, Upper Canada, for Canada West. later named Ontario, from about
the year 1850 to 1874. In noted numbers, these years cover the period of
my residence there during childhood and youth.
When I began to write them down in 1921 after
fifty years of absence, I could recall about 24 people, parents and children
living in that region within that period. since then, by much
correspondence with old schoolmates there have been added 100 more who lived
within two or three miles of "The Corners," where Mosley Post office
was established about 1805.
In the middle of this booklet there is a little
plot of the farms, drawn to scale with the 100 acres farm as a unit. The
following list includes names from the 2nd concession south, some as far as the
6th. The Elgia Road graveled by the government ran north and south thru
the center of the Township. Other north and south roads were called
"side roads." I think they were 480 rods apart Calmont a mile
and half. the distance from Mosley to London, by way of the Elgia and
Hamilton roads, north and northwest was estimated at 15 miles. The
distance to Ingersoll, north and northeast was estimated at 10 miles.
The Samuel Ward Family moved from Dorchester to
Park Hill in April 1871. I made a hasty visit back to the old home region
in 1880 after 18 year absence. Again, in 1901, I went thru Canada and
stopped off a couple of days. These visits aroused recollections and
thoughts that have proved some of life's lasting lessons. We should we not
keep better track of our friends? No friendship are so intense, none could
be so valuable as those formed in youth. I remember these children and
their parents with great interest. I have compiled their families as tangible
evidence of my respect.
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Early Dorchester
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