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Burdick, James (1744-1807) was born in Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island on 7 Mar 1744 to Hubbard and Avis (Lewis) Burdick. He married Phoebe Choate Smith (1748-1818). During colonial times James and Phoebe Burdick lived in Lanesborough, Berkshire County, Massachusetts near the New York and Vermont lines north of the town of Pittsfield.

When the American Revolution broke out in 1775 against England, James Burdick was a loyal British subject and refused to take up arms against England. He was a local preacher and spoke very strongly against the rebellion. James Burdick was imprisoned for about eight months in Southampton Gaol then escaped after which he made his way to New Brunswick. About 1779 he settled with his family in the Coeymans patent on the Hudson River in Columbia County, New York near Albany. He returned again to Lanesborough where the youngest children were born and moved next to South Hero on Lake Champlain in Vermont where he operated a gristmill and ferry. The James Burdick family settled in West Oxford Township, Oxford County. When the settlement grew, James and his sons built a small 16 square foot grist mill on a spring creek that empties into the Thames River in what became the village of Beachville. James Burdick left Vermont in February 1796 and trekked to Upper Canada. The family lived initially at Ferry Crossing in Bertie Township, Welland County. On 9 May 1796, James Burdick filed an Upper Canada Land Petition requesting a grant of land as a settler.

The genealogy includes five generations in Ontario and Michigan. Descendant surnames mentioned: Jones, Lawrence, Hoy, Brown, Dixon. Piper, Curtis, Morgan, Dodge, Hallick,Veitch, Williams, Klunert, Rose, Carew, Smith, Tennant and many more.

Burgar, Peter (1740-1827) and his wife Anna Nelson (1740-1813) emigrated from England and settled in Newton Township, Sussex County, New Jersey in 1760 where they raised a family of at least eight children. In 1762 this part of Newton Township was set off as Hardiston Township then later the spelling was changed to “Hardyston”. This township situated about 15 kilometers south of the New York state line surrounds the villages of Hamburg and Franklin, and is about ten kilometres northeast of the town of Newton. Peter Burgar came to Upper Canada in 1797 and on 29 Jul 1797 filed an Upper Canada Land Petition stating he lately arrived with his wife, two sons and three daughters. He requested a grant of land and was ordered recommended for 200 acres to be occupied and improved within twelve months.

The Burgar family settled on Lots 238 and 239 in Thorold Township, Welland County. This property located on the Welland River in the north part of the city of Welland was granted to Mathias Chrysler and transferred to Peter Burgar in an undated transaction prior to 1813. This location was situated along the west side of the Welland River between Thorold Road and Woodlawn Road and east of Aqueduct Street. During Peter’s time this property was entirely rural. During the later 1820’s the Welland Canal was constructed through the east side of the farm.

The canal was extended in 1833 to reach Lake Erie and the beginnings of development started to the south of the Burgar farm with a small hamlet called Aqueduct. This grew to the village of Merrittsville named for canal developer William Hamilton Merritt. Welland County was separated from Lincoln County in 1845 and on 25 Jul 1858, the county seat of Welland was incorporated first as a village then grew into a town and then a city. When the canal was widened, the Burgar family cemetery was moved to Hillside Cemetery in Ridgeville, Pelham Township. Subsequently the rest of the farm was subdivided and developed for residential and commercial properties in the City of Welland. Woodlawn Cemetery is located in the northwest corner.

From the early beginnings of Welland the Burgar family took an active part in its affairs. One of Peter’s grandsons Thomas Burgar (1801-1877) lived on Lot 24 Concessions 4 and 5, Crowland Township, Welland County. This was located between Crowland Avenue and Burgar Street (named for this family) and between the east side of the Welland River and the north side of Lincoln Street. Thomas Burgar severed off lots for Welland and served as the postmaster and Justice of the Peace. His home still stands on Burgar Street in Welland as a landmark and for a time was Rinaldo’s Restaurant.

The genealogy includes six generations in Ontario and western Canada and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned: Pettit, Durham, Quider, Burton, Gates, Wright, Bawtinheimer, Chipman, Goodale, Bathen, Driscoll, Raymond, Barrett, Louks, Allen, Parrett/Perrott, Pierce, Lambert, Cridland, Robinson, Lester and many more.

Burger, Stephen (1781-  ) was born to Jacob and Margaritie (Burkhardt) Burger on 31 Jul 1781 in Rhinebeck Flats, Dutchess County, New York, a town located along the east side of the Hudson River opposite Kingston, Ulster County. Stephen and Sophia Burgar emigrated from New York State to Upper Canada in 1805 accompanied by Sophia’s sister Elizabeth and her husband Frederick Fick.

At the formation of the province, the government of Upper Canada set aside two-sevenths of the land in each township to be leased for rents to support the clergy and government, one-seventh for each. On 17 Feb 1819, Stephen Burger filed a petition requesting a lease for Lot 7, Range 1, Front of Walsingham Township (Concession B).4 This was located on the north shore of Lake Erie at the west side of the West Quarter Line Road. The hamlet of Erie View is located in the northwest quarter of the lot.

The genealogy includes five generations in Ontario and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned: Fick, Dewitt, Louks, Vanderlip, Oliver, Hayes,Fuller, Charlton, Tribe, Murphy, Clark, Abbott, Franklin, Darley, Cool, Barton, Cummings, Hayes, Amo, Hazen, Light, Workman, Gray, Graham, Smith, Howe, Boughner, Chambers  and many more.

Burnett, James William (1832-1908), Moses Burnett (1839-1917) and John Douglas Burnett (1843-1913). The first two were born in Shebbear, Devon County, England and the third after their parents’ arrival in Walsingham Township. Their father, John Burnett died about 1850 or 1851 and the family matriarch, Maria continued to raise her family on the farm. About 1870 the three Burnett brothers arrived from the fourth concession of Walsingham Township in Norfolk County west of the hamlet of Unger’s Corners: 

Manitoulin Island was one of the later settled areas in Ontario. Situated between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, this is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it contains 108 inland lakes and some of those waterways have islands within them.

Approaching Manitoulin Island on the ferry from Tobermory across Lake Huron to South Baymouth on the island, the view of the rugged crags towering behind the village off into the distance is magnificent. Highway 6 wanders through the hills from the south to the arable farm lands in Sheguiandah and Howland Townships and the village of Little Current in the north. It is in this location that the first settlers set down roots in the late 1860’s and early 1870’s.

The genealogy includes five generations in Ontario, western Canada and Michigan and Iowa in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned include Billington, Armstrong, Schram, Howdan, Franklin, Lefler, Pierce, Chisholm, Krawczak, Ribble, Brandow, Ashley, Schell, Lewis,Stringer, Peck, Collins, Garbutt, Gatchell, Lovel, Doan, Wyman, Lowrey and many more.

Burnham, Asa (1774-1813). Among the early pioneers in the area of what became the town of Cobourg on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Northumberland County, Upper Canada were the brothers Asa Burnham (1774-1813) and Zacheus Burnham (1777-1857) who grew up in Dunbarton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire north of Manchester then came to Upper Canada in 1797.

An account of descendant Anne Burnham tells of the arrival of the first Burnham family members in Upper Canada: “Aunt Hannah Burnham and her husband Jacob Choate brought their family first to Glanford Ont [near Hamilton]. From 1796-1798 according to E. C. Guillet, Jacob is said to have “walked back and forth to his old home planting crops in the spring and returning to harvest crops in the fall. In 1798 (sic: 1797) he brought three brothers and two cousins named Burnham with him, the party travelling with ox-sleighs, though the oxen had to proceed singly most of the way over the narrow Indian trails. The sleighs carried tools and other baggage while the men walked alongside, and each night they camped wherever they were when darkness came. For several weeks they were ill with smallpox, contracted when then called at a house to replenish their provisions. Upon reaching the Niagara River the men effected a crossing above the Falls by lashing a pole across an old flat-bottomed boat, fastening an ox’s head to each end of the pole, and forcing the animals to swim across, thus propelling the scow and its passengers and baggage.”

The Burnham brothers continued to Northumberland County east of Toronto under the auspices of their cousin Aaron Greeley, the agent for settlement under a township land grant scheme approved by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. They aided him in surveying some of the townships in Northumberland County then stayed to develop farms. The brothers lived first in Haldimand Township then moved to nearby Hamilton Township.

In 1802, Asa and Zacheus settled on a crown lease in Lot 21 Concession 1, Hamilton Township. Asa built a saw mill on the property and a village named Amherst grew up, later to be amalgamated into the west part of Cobourg. Burnham Street, named for this family, runs along the east side of the former Burnham farm. By 1803, Asa Burnham was a Justice of the Peace and the district courthouse was built on his land. A store soon followed then hotels and houses. In 1807, Asa helped establish a grammar school and served as a trustee. Asa drowned on his farm in 1813. The development he initiated in Amherst prospered and eventually became part of the Town of Cobourg.

Two younger brothers followed. John Burnham (1779-1840) came about 1800 and farmed between Cobourg and Port Hope in Hamilton Township, Northumberland County. Mark Burnham (1791-1864) came in 1832 and settled in the village of Port Hope, Durham County.

The genealogy includes ancestry, biographies and six generations in Ontario, western Canada and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned include Scott, Turner, Sutcliffe, Birdsall, Ermatinger, Rogers, Ham, Stimson, Revell, Peck, Rose, Nickels, Tytler, Geale, Wilson, Newmarch, Moore, Boswell, Bouchder, Gilmour, Pentland, Curry, McKinley, Hodgson, Helm and many more.

Burtch Charles (1750-1834) and his brother Nathan Burtch (c. 1752-1829) were born in Beekman (later Pawling), Dutchess County, New York to Jonathan and Mary (Rathbun) Burtch. During the American Revolution Charles Burtch was loyal to the British cause and served with Colonel DeLancy in the Corps of Refugees in New York. Nathan Burtch was loyal to the British cause and enlisted in 1777 in the Corps of Loyal Americans commanded by Colonel Beverly Robinson. He was served in the Battle of Fort Montgomery on 6 Oct 1777 and was taken prisoner soon after then remained in different prisons until the end of the war.

Charles Burtch came to Upper Canada in 1788. He settled on a Crown Grant of 500 acres of land in Lots 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, Concession 2, Burford Township, Brant County and erected a sawmill and a grist mill on Big Creek in the south half of Lot 10 where he made his home. This was located on the north side of Norwich Road between the East Quarter Townline Road and the Middle Townline Road about 1 kilometre west of the village of Scotland. He also had 100 acres of land in Lot 10, Concession 1, and 400 acres in Lots 11, 12, 13 and 14 in Concession 2, Oakland Township, Brant County. The Concession 2 lots were located along the north side of Oakland Road and Lot 10 Concession 1 was on the south side of Oakland Road east of the village of Oakland. Later in life, He made his home on Lot 11 on the north side of Oakland Road and about ½ kilometre east of CKPC Road.

Following the war, Nathan Burtch married Lucy Hinckley and lived in Harpersfield, New York. Nathan Burtch came into Upper Canada in the fall of 1797 and was given a grant of 300 acres of land as a military claimant. He located this in Blenheim Township, Oxford County. Nathan’s family then came to Upper Canada in 1798 except daughter Rhoda Spalding and youngest son Calvin who lived with his sister in New York. In 1816, Nathan Burtch settled on Lot 75 ENTR in Westminster Township, Middlesex County.

The genealogy includes six generations in Ontario and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned: Mount, Corlis, Matthews, Gates, Baker, Millard, Berry, Marshall, Dow, Hicks, Dell, Hammond, Lemon, Spalding, Chase, Dean, Doyle, Lewis, Batrem, Tomlinson, Ayers, Sanagan and many more.

Burtch, Edee  (c. 1757-1812) was born in Beekman (later Pawling) Precinct, Dutchess County, New York came to Upper Canada in Jun 1793. He was preceded by his brother Thomas (1768-1852), then in 1788 or 1789 by his brother Israel Burtch (c. 1763-  ), in 1790 by his brother Stephen (c. 1766-1833) and followed in March 1800 by his brother Zachariah Burtch (c.1759-1822).

Just south of the City of Brantford, the Grand River makes a major loop to the east then the west before it continues southward on its way to Lake Erie. On the western loop is a small hamlet called Newport, originally named Burtch’s Landing for its first settler. Named for his uncle Zachariah Eddy, “Edee” Burtch (c. 1757-1812) lived in Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York about four kilometres west of the Hudson River and ten kilometres south of Poughkeepsie. In June 1793 he made the trek across New York to Upper Canada with his wife and two sons, one of them an infant, and joined his siblings on 16 Mile Creek in Louth Township, Lincoln County near the south shore of Lake Ontario.

About 1796, he received a 999-year lease from Six Nations Chief Joseph Brant for 200 acres plus another small parcel of four acres on its south side, stretching back from the south and west sides of the loop in the Grand River south of Brantford. As more settlers arrived, the community became known as Burtch’s Landing and was later renamed Newport when it was laid out for settlement by Thaddeus Smith in l857. Newport became a thriving shipping port on the Grand River offering passenger service to Buffalo on the Red Jacket and Queen paddle wheel steamers that operated on the Grand River. There were also facilities for handling general freight. The village with several hundred people had two wagon and carriage shops, two blacksmith shops, brickyards, several general stores, a post office, two churches, a school, a tavern/hotel, a sawmill, grain warehouses and a grist mill.

To the southwest of  Newport, Edee’s brother, Stephen Burtch (c. 1786-1833) farmed on 180 acres of land in Lot 5 Range 2 East in Brantford Township on the south and north sides of Burtch Road (named for him) and the east and west sides of Cockshutt Road. At this intersection is located the hamlet of Burtch, also named for him. Seen below is an aerial view of the hamlet of Burtch, the Burtch Road (County Road 26) and Cockshutt Road (County Road 4). Beside it is a part of the 1875 Historical Atlas map of Brantford Township with David Burtch named on his farm in the lower left corner. Newport on the Grand River is at the lower right and Brantford in the upper right.

The genealogy includes ancestry and six generations in Ontario, western Canada and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned: Bradt, McIntyre, Almas, Brown, Clark, Rowell, Sage, Canfield, Perry, Landon, Blow, Howser, Young, Konkle, Sanns, Disher, Smith, Eadie, Rouse, Cowles, Willits, Darby, Lee, Eddy, Donaldson, Nelles, Lawrence, Flummerfelt and many more.

Burtch Families of Norfolk County. The genealogy includes three unrelated Burtch families who lived near Boston, Townsend Township, Norfolk County and in the area of Atherton, Windham Township, Norfolk County.

Philo William Burtch (c. 1804-  ) , Adolphus Burtch (c. 1811-1846) and Sybil Burtch were said in family lore to be children of a William or Nathan Burtch and his wife Sarah Simmons. After her husband died, Sarah remarried to Dennis Shoff of Townsend Township See the Shoff/Shaw genealogy for her continuation. The sister Sybil Burtch was said to have married a Shoff or Walker. They farmed on about 25 acres in the east half of the northwest quarter of Lot 8, Concession 12, Windham Township This is located southwest of the village of Lynnville and northwest of the town of Simcoe.

Archibald Burtch (  - after 1943) and his wife Jane Mathes (c. 1800-  ) farmed on 100 acres of land in the north half of Lot 19, Concession 14, Windham Township, Norfolk County on the south side of Concession Road 14 and west side of the Windham West Quarter Line Road.

Matthew Burtch (1838-1914) and his wife Hannah Stirtzinger farmed on 100 acres of land in the west half of Lot 21 Concession 14, Windham Township, Norfolk County. The farm was situated between the north side of Lynedoch Road and the south side of Windham Road 14 and along the west side of Fertilizer Road about ¼ kilometre west of the hamlet of Atherton. Talbot Road (Highway 3) angles through the south part of the lot.

The genealogies include four generations in Ontario and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames included: Silverthorn, Smith, Ireland, Ireland, Clinger, Trudell, Grant, Haviland, Blayney, Woodruff, Jennings, Woolley, Mitchell, Butler, Steinhoff, Lefler, Jacobs, Cummings, Willie, Thomas, Gehring, Withrow, Mercel, Moore, Hillier, Quance, McCarthy

Burwell, Adam (1748-1828). During colonial times, Adam Burwell and his wife Sarah Vail resided in Pequannock (now Rockaway) Township, Morris County, New Jersey. This is a rugged forested area west of the city of Hackensack and includes Mount Hope Historical Park in the southwest and Farny State Park in the northeast. During Burwell’s time Pequannock Township included a large area in north central New Jersey and the part in which the family lived was designated Rockaway Township in 1844.

During the American Revolution Adam Burwell was loyal to the British cause and enlisted in Skinner’s Brigade, three battalions of British refugee volunteers raised by the fifty-year-old erstwhile attorney general of New Jersey, Brigadier General Cortlandt Skinner and headquartered on Staten Island, New York. In this unit, Burwell served as a pilot guiding other loyal men from New Jersey to the British lines on Staten Island.

In a deposition to his 1810 land petition, Jacob Willson wrote, “that the said Adam Burwell was employed by Cortland Skinner to pilot detachments of the British into New York and that the deponent saw the said Adam Burwell on Staten Island several times during the War”. Joseph Willson wrote in another deposition, “that he joined the British standard in the year 1777, and was Piloted to the British by Mr Adam Burwell, and others in company with 75 Men a considerable distance over the New Jersey Mountains”.

In 1787 Adam Burwell came to Upper Canada and settled on 200 acres of land in Lot 18 Concessions 2 and 3 from Lake Erie, Bertie Township, Welland County. This was located along the east side of Bernard Avenue between Dominion Road and Garrison Road (present Highway 3) east of the village of Ridgeway. About 1818, Adam and Sarah Burwell settled with their son Mahlon in Lot 1A and the north half of Lot 1B in the Gore of Southwold Township at the Dunwich Township line on the west side of Iona Road and north and south sides of Fingal Line northeast of the village of Port Talbot.

The genealogy includes five generations in Ontario and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned include Everitt, Bonnel, Harvey, Johnson, McCormick, Brush, Willets, Little, Youell, Dampier, Hallowell, Brock, Williams, Atherton

Burwell, James (1754-1853) was born to Samuel and Abigail (Arnold) Burwell on 18 Jan 1754. In colonial times, James Burwell lived in the part of Pequannock Township that has since become Rockaway Township in Morris County, New Jersey west of the City of Newark. It is a scenic area including lakes, rivers, expansive rante of mountains, covered with trees and wildlife and hiking trails, including Farny State Park, Wildcat Ridge, Mount Hope Historical Park and Splitrock Reservoir.

During the American Revolution, James Burwell was loyal to the British Crown and joined the New Jersey Volunteers in which he served as a Corporal. He saw service in the battle of Yorktown, Virginia where he was slightly wounded. Following the war, James went with his regiment to New Brunswick in 1783 where he received his discharge and was granted 200 acres of land. After four years he returned to Pequannock Township to care for his aging father.

James Burwell brought his family to Upper Canada arriving about 10 Jul 1798 and settled in Bertie Township, Welland County in the area of Fort Erie. James Burwell moved to the Talbot Settlement soon after his 1810 petitions and settled on Lot 12, North of Talbot Road East. This is now called Fingal Road and the location was a short distance west of Burwell Road and the village of Fingal.

The genealogy includes ancestry in New Jersey and six generations in Ontario and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned include Benedict, Bissell, Berry, Tiffin, Phillips, Gibson, Jaques, Logan, Roberts, Potts, Gough, Ross, McLaren, Page, Brush, Stevenson, Johnston, Howard, Johnson, Helm, Kennedy, McTavish and many more.

Butler, Ira (c. 1809-  ) was born in New York and came to Upper Canada before 1830 when he married Sarah Brown. On 25 May 1833, Ira Butler purchased from Samuel Horton, Sr. 100 acres in Lot 19, Concession 2, Windham Township, wit. Josiah Brown of Charlotteville and Harvey Butler of Windham. This was located along the west side of Fisher’s Glen Road between Highway 24 and Charlotteville Road 2 south of the village of Vittoria.

He sold his farm in 1842 and 1851 then moved to a farm in Lot 19 Concession 2, Windham Township, Norfolk County near the village of Kelvin. He then moved to Caradoc Township, Middlesex County near the village of Mount Brydges.

The genealogy includes five generations in Ontario and Michigan. Descendant surnames mentioned: Heron, Alderson, Elliott, Stoddart, Osborne, Force, Kuhlmann, Johnston, Holland, Devall, Lester, Fike, Dale, Larson, Wright, Burkhardt, Kinnie

Butler, John (Colonel) (1728-1796) was born to Walter and Deborah (Ely) Butler in New London, New London County, Connecticut. John Butler lived on his father’s estate in Butlersbury near present Fonda in Albany (Now Montgomery) County, New York and inherited it in 1760. He developed knowledge of the Indian languages and like his father had a friendship with Sir William Johnson, the Superintendant of Indian Affairs. In 1753, he was on duty at Fort Hunter on the south side of the Mohawk River and about 1754 he married Catalyntje Bratt.

In 1755, John Butler was appointed a Captain in the Indian Department. During the French and Indian War (the Seven Years War), 1856-1763, Butler was active against the French incursions under Sir William Johnson, the Superintendant of Indian Affairs in New York.

In the American patriotic unrest, Butler maintained his loyalty to the crown and in May 1775 left for the British held Montreal in the company of Daniel Claus, Walter Butler, Johannes Yost Schuyler and Chief Joseph Brant, the leader of the Six Nations Indians.

Governor Guy Carleton sent him to the British outpost of Fort Niagara at the confluence of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. Butler led the Indians and a small number of Loyalists in a successful ambush of rebel militia and Oneida warriors in the Battle of Oriskany. As a result, after this expedition he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel and given authority to raise his own regiment, which became known as Butler's Rangers.

Colonel Butler’s 551 acre home property was situated between Two Mile and Three Mile Creeks in the southwest part of what would become the capital town of Newark (present Niagara-on-the-Lake). This irregularly shaped block ran along the south side of what became the Lakeshore Road and from the west side of Niagara Stone Road to Niven Road in the east. The Two Mile Creek Conservation Area is in the east part. Butler Street leads to Butler’s Burial Ground and the modern residential street named Colonel Butler Crescent named for him runs from north to south through the estate.

The genealogy Includes biographies and six generations of descendants in Lincoln, Welland, Norfolk, Brant and Oxford Counties in Ontario and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned: Muirhead, Crooks, Cameron, Rolls, Clement, Casselman, Ball, Freeland, Goodall, McLaren, Hannay, Goodman, Aitchison, Johnson, Vanderlip, Tarter, Linder, Spittle, Clark, Yates, Hardy, Gruenberg, Henry, Rodney, Lawson, McAlpine, Barter, Sloat, McKinnon, Molloy, Belshaw, Eckenswiller, Sheridan, Houston, Ebbole, Zemla, Berrie, Haycock, Ault, Deagle

Butler, John of Walpole Township (c.1792-  ). Springvale pioneer John Butler was born in Ireland about 1792. He and his first wife, whose name has not been learned, lived in Ireland where their four oldest known children were born, then came to Upper Canada sometime between 1827 and 1832. This was more than a decade before the potato famine that resulted in many more Irish families coming into the province. The one storey Butler log cabin stood on a 50 acre farm in the south half of Lot 4, Concession 14, Walpole Township located on the north side of the Concession 13 Road about one kilometre east of the hamlet of Springvale. John’s first wife died by 1849 and on August 3 of that year, he married his second wife Mary Coulter a widow with five children. His own children had moved to homes of their own and he now raised his second family.

The genealogy includes four generations in Ontario, Michigan and California. Descendant surnames mentioned: Hewson, Aldridge, Smith, Austin, Marr, Cuthbert, Wilson, Lambert, Addy, Perkis, Watson, Bennett, Fleming, Mandeville, Bowyer

Butler, John (c. 1790-  ) of Windham Township was born in New Brunswick and came to Upper Canada by 1809 when he purchased from John Symington 200 acres of land in Lot 11, Concession 14, Windham Township, Norfolk County. This was located between Windham Road 14 and Highway 3 about ¼ kilometre east of the hamlet of Nixon and about 5 kilometres west of the town of Simcoe.

Following their marriage, John and Sarah settled on the Windham Township property. John Butler was a Grand Juror on the London District Court on 8 Mar 1814 then the next day appointed Path Master for Windham Township. A year later on 14 Jun 1815, he was appointed Pound Keeper for the township. On 9 Apr 1817, he was again a Grand Juror. John was listed in the 1826 Collection Roll of Windham Township. In April 1846, John Butler of Windham Township filed an Upper Canada Land Petition noting that he served in Captain Abraham Rapelje’s Company during the late War with the United States [War of 1812] and requesting a grant of land for his military services. He located this grant on 100 acres of land in Lot 14, Concession 4, Woodhouse Township and John and Sarah made that their subsequent residence. The farm was located between the DeCou and Lynn Valley Roads east of Cockshutt Road near the hamlet of Marburg and north of Port Dover.

The genealogy includes five generations in Ontario, western Canada and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned include Marr, Anderson, Stringer, Betts, Clark, Person, Whitehead, Sowersby, Austin, Lampkin, Cooke, Helmer, Atkin, Youmans, , Ronald, Mattice, Trusdale, Adams, McLeod, Campbell, Code, Horne and many more.

Butler, Philip (c. 1788-1866) was born in New Brunswick and came to Norfolk County, Upper Canada by 14 Oct 1818 when he purchased from Daniel McQueen of Woodhouse Township, Norfolk County 100 acres in the south part of Lot 24, Concession 8, Charlotteville Township, Norfolk County. This was located along the west side of Hillcrest Road between Concession 9 Road and Concession 8 Road. He sold this to Timothy Wood on 2 Feb 1826.

On the same date, Philip purchased the rights of Timothy Wood to the Clergy Reserve in Lot 3, Concession 12, Windham Township, Norfolk County.  One seventh of all land in Upper Canada was set aside by the provincial government to be reserves for lease to prospective settlers. The rents paid were applied to the support of the government (Crown Reserves) and church (Clergy Reserves). The applicant petitioned for and was then given permission to occupy the land. In the 1830’s, the government transferred ownership of the reserved lots to the Canada Company which then sold the properties to the public with the expectation they were to perform settlement duties developing the land and make payments over time. When the conditions and payments were completed, the title was transferred to the occupant. The Philip Butler property was located between Windham Road 12 and Windham Road 13 about 1 kilometre west of Highway 24 and the hamlet of Colborne north of the Town of Simcoe. Having performed the settlement duties, Philip purchased his lot on 7 May 1831. He received a patent for the lot in 1850.

By the time of the 1861 Agricultural Schedule of Windham Township p. 8, Philip Butler was listed on 172 acres of land in Lot 3 Concession 12 Windham Township with 102 acres cultivated including 75 acres in crops, 25 acres in pasture  and 2 acres in gardens or orchard. The remaining 70 acres were wood or wild. The farm was valued at $5000.

The genealogy includes four generations in Ontario. Descendant surnames mentioned: Scott, Fonger, Freeland, Todgham, Fox, Wilkinson, Wright, Prosser, Pettit, Maxwell

Byer, Jacob (est. 1775-) came from Pennsylvania by 1801 and settled in Charlotteville Township, Norfolk County north of the village of Walsh. He married Mariah Hutchinson. Includes children and grandchildren in Norfolk County and in Michigan. Also includes the Byer family of Willoughby Township, Welland County. Descendant surnames included: Washington, Folamsber

Byerlay, George (c. 1781-1864) and his first wife Jane lived initially in Wainfleet Township, Welland County, Upper Canada then moved to Middleton Township, Norfolk County settling on 200 acres of land in Lot 25, Concession 1, South of Talbot Road. This was located along the west side of Byerlay Side Road (named for this family) between Talbot Street and the First Concession Road about two kilometres east of the village of Courtland.

In the 1825 Assessment of Middleton Township, George Byerlay was listed on Lot 25, South of Talbot Road Concession with 196 acres uncultivated, 4 acres cultivated, 1 cow and 3 calves all valued at 49.4sh. In the 1850 assessment of Middleton Township, George Byerlay was listed singly on Lot 25, Concession 1, South of Talbot Road with 15 acres uncultivated and 10 acres cultivated, 2 horses and 2 milch cows all valued at 35 pounds. In the 1852 Agricultural Schedule of Middleton Township, George Byerly was listed on 50 acres of land in Lot 166 Concession 1 (later renumbered lot 25) with 4 acres cultivated including 2 acres in crops and 2 acres in pasture. The remaining 46 acres were wood or wild.

The genealogy includes four generation in Ontario and coast to coast in the United States. Descendant surnames mentioned: 1. Truefitt, Ryan, Monaghan, Hague, McKerlie, Fisher, Philmore, Chamberlain, Sebring, Vail, Lewthwaite, Ferris, Hansler