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MILL CREEK, SHADE'S MILL, GALT - NORTH AND SOUTH DUMFRIES
Description of the city named for John Galt
Galt is now part of the City of Cambridge but once it was a thriving city in its own right. It was founded by William Dickson and Absalom Shade. The land in Block 1 of the Six Nations Reserve (eventually the Townships of North and South Dumfries) had been sold in 1798 by Joseph Brant to Philip Stedman, who had been at one time the owner of the rights of the Niagara Portage when it was located on the east bank of the Niagara River. A few years later, Stedman died and his heir, his sister, sold the land to Thomas Clarke. In 1815, Clarke found himself unable to keep up the payments so he sold the land to William Dickson.
Dickson, originally from Scotland and a cousin of Thomas Clarke and Robert Hamilton, decided to call the whole block of land Dumfries after his hometown in Scotland. His goal was to build a community in his new property so he asked Absalom Shade to help him. Shade was a 22-year-old builder and Dickson wanted him to build a sawmill and gristmill that would be the foundation for the new community. In 1816, they left for a tour of the property and, at the junction of Mill Creek and the Grand River, they found the perfect spot. Near Mill Creek they found an old abandoned gristmill that had been built for Alexander Miller around 1800. The mill had been abandoned for two reasons: John Erb's mill at the junction of the Speed and Grand Rivers in Preston was better, and Miller had sided with the Americans in the War of 1812 and had forfeited his property. Later the same day that they discovered the mill, they noticed a small hut in the fields on the other side of the Grand River. So they crossed the river to see if they could spend the night there. The owner turned out to be Nathaniel Dodge, a carpenter and millwright, who happened to be the man who built the mill for Miller.
On Dickson's behalf, Shade rebuilt the abandoned mill and so started Galt. Later, he built a new mill, the Dumfries Mill, at the intersection of Mill and Ainslie Streets; this mill was demolished when the Armouries were built in 1914. He also built a store, known as the Red Store, on the southwest corner of Water and Main Streets. In the early days when money was scarce, the chief way of doing business was barter. Later, when money was more available, Shade built another store, the White Store, across Water Street on the southeast corner of the intersection. Its prices were lower than the Red Store's but it was strictly cash only.
By 1819, the new gristmill, the Dumfries Mill, was working. Dickson called on John Telfer to go to Scotland and recruit settlers for his land and by 1832 every plot of land was taken. At first, the community was called Shade’s Mills by the settlers but eventually became known by its official name, Galt, after the Commissioner for the Canada Company, John Galt.
On the 1852 Census of Dumfries North, Waterloo, Ontario are:
Archd Henderson, Farmer, Born Scotland, Presbyterian, Married, Aged 32, Male
Jennet Henderson, Born Scotland, Presbyterian, Married, Aged 32, Femald
Issabella Henderson, Born Scotland, Presbyterian, Widowed, Aged 73, Female
Mina Henderson, Born Upper Canada, Presbyterian, Single, Aged 7, Female
Issabella Henderson, Born Upper Canada, Presbyterian, Single, Aged 3, Female
Margaret Dunbar, Spinster, Born Scotland, Presbyterian, Single, Aged 19, Female
Thos Wood, Labourer, Born Canada, Presbyterian, Single, Aged 12, Male
Waterloo Deaths, North Dumfries - Henderson Janet, Female, March 20th 1898, Lot 30, Concession 10, Farmer's Wife, Born Scotland, Cause of Death Pneumonia, Duration 7 Days, Physician Dr. Meldrum, Presbyterian, Informant Henderson Thomas, Registered March 23rd 1898
Wentworth Births, Town of Dundas - November 16t 1878, Ethel Mildred, Female, Father Archibald Henderson, Mother Isabella Cleghorn, Occupation of Father Machinist, Informant Archibald Henderson, Machinist, Dundas, Registered December 14th 1878, Accoucheur Dr. Allan Halford Walker, Edwin Woodhouse Division Registrar of Dundas
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Rainham Builders
1776 - 1848 (72 years)