"In solving the question as to who were the real pioneers of Simcoe County, one important event readily furnishes us with a key. The Rebellion of 1837 is a distinct dividing line, in relation to which those who settled before it were the real pioneers of the county, the period to which they belonged standing out by itself, sharp and clear. It is with this period that the contents of this second volume mainly deal, except where it became necessary to comlete the History by introducing such persons and events of the subsequent years as seemed requisite, especially the more prominent of those who took part in the public affairs of the county.
Two or three years after the troubles of the Rebellion were at an end, other settlers began to flock in once more, and the stream of immigration and settlement was kept up to present times. But the hardships of those who settled after the Rebellion do not compare in severity with those of the people who came before it. In so far, then, as this volume is a monument to the memory of the early settlers and pioneers of the county, however imperfect it maybe, its scope is clearly defined as to time by the Rebellion, and by the cessation of the flow of settlement to the district for a few years thereafter, which marks off the preceding time into a distinct period by itself---the period of the true pioneers.
To build a monument to any group of persons, and complete it, there is at least one thing necessary, viz., to give their names. This is not so easy in the present case as it may appear to be, but the following collection of about 1800 names makes some approach to completeness, and at all event will be a useful working list for the benefit of other workers in this line of research.
In seeking for a basis of the pioneer lists, the writer found that George Walton's Home District Directory for 1837 contained somes lists of those who were believed to be actual setlers at the date of its publication. The lists in this directory, however, had many mistakes and needed much editing, which was not an easy task after the lapse of more than seventy years. They were full of misprints, misspelled names and other errors, and did not contain full lists. Besides, no lists appeared for two townships, which at the time the Directory was prepared, had been outlying areas with only a few settlers, viz., Nottawasaga and Tosorontio, so it became necessary to construct entirely new lists for these two townships.
Amongst the various sources of information that the present writer had to use for the further improvement of Walton's lists, which were adopted as the basis, the Patent lists for the various townships proved to be helpful, and were used to supply fuller particulars as well as a number of corrections. But the Patent lists contain the names of many who were not actual settlers, being merely the owners of the land in its wild condition, and accordingly this source of information was of limited value for making the lists complete. In most cases also, the actual settler received his patent long after settlement, so the lists were not serviceable as to date of settlement, although they showed frequently who the original settler was.
It is to be feared, therefore, that these lists as they here stand have still a few errors, but they are an approach to the truth. Doubtless, they still contain a few names of U. E. Loyalists, who received lands but did not become actual settlers. As it was not easy to distinguish these in the lists in every case, from actual settlers, it was deemed advisable not to elide any name but such as was actually known to be not an original settler at any tme."
The Villages
SETTLER
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Con.
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Lot
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