To write the history of a single township may to some appear a matter of small moment, while others would consider a record of the local events of the past very desirable. How are the many legends, names and memories which enshrine the deeds of our pioneer settlers and friends to be preserved but in such a history? Who is there that would not be pleased to look upon, or have his children examine, the pages of a book in which are recorded the events of his early days and the cherished associations of departed friends? And how should strangers settling in a township so readily obtain a knowledge of its affairs as through the medium of such local publications? Many historical facts of vital importance to our people are living now only in the memories of a few of our early settlers who are fast nearing the evening of life, whose race will soon be run; and after they have passed from among us these facts will be buried in the oblivion of the past, unless rescued now by the pages of history. The object therefore, of the following pages is to preserve for the people of Crowland Township a lasting record of these facts; and although the full importance of the step may not be realized by the most advanced in years of the present generation, their children and their children’s children will yet fully appreciate the value of this work, which alone retains for them an account of the customs and early days of their ancestors, and the country they reclaimed from its primeval wilderness, over which the wild animals and untamed Indians had for ages held dominion.

Crowland is bounded on the east by the Township of Willoughby; on the south by the Township of Humberstone; on the west by the Township of Wainfleet, and on the north-west and north by the River Welland, which separates it from, Thorold and Stamford Townships. Crowland contains nineteen thousand and two hundred acres, of which upwards of fifteen thousand are under cultivation. The woodland—about four thousand acres—is distributed very evenly over the whole of the township, the predominant varieties of timber being white, red and swamp oak, the sugar and red maple, beech, ironwood, linden, sycamore and butternut. The soil is generally a clayey or sandy loam and produces the cereals and roots usually cultivated in this part of Canada. At Doan’s Ridge is a streak of sandy soil admirably adapted for the orchard and market garden. White, blue and red clay are found in some localities and bog ore has been discovered. The territory is drained by the Welland River and its tributary, Lyon’s Creek, which flows in the north-easterly direction through the township and joins the larger stream near its mouth.

Settlement

Like other portions of Welland County, Crowland was settled by United Empire Loyalists, a number of whom came into the township soon after the close of the American revolutionary war. Our researches, however, have proved the fallacy of former historians’ statements that the earliest settlers did not locate in Crowland until 1788. At least a decade before that date some of the giant forest trees of the township had succumbed to the pioneer’s axe. Osias Buchner was born on lot 1, in the 4^th concession of Crowland in 1779. His father, Henry Buchner, together with his wife and three unmarried brothers, Peter, John and Jacob, left their home on Staten Island in the early days of the American revolutionary war and came to Canada. Peter and Henry settled in Crowland as early as 1778.¹ Among the very early settlers were the Youngs, the Miseners, the Cooks, the Yokoms, the Benders, the Wilsons, the Pettys, the Braileys, the Brookfields, the Everinghams, the Browns, and the Doans. The Young family settled in the township as early as 1785. Leonard Misener, the grandfather of Messrs. Robert and David Misener, came into the county in 1789. A log house still standing on the bank of the Chippawa, in Thorold Township, was erected by him and was the first habitation constructed along the river. The section of country bordering along the Welland River, and the choice farming lands situated in the vicinity of what is now known as Doan’s Ridge, were the portions of the township most eagerly sought after by the pioneers in their search for homes in the British dominions. Although, as previously stated, the first settlers came in at a very early date, the process of settling was comparatively slow; a census taken in 1803 only giving a total population at that date of two hundred and sixteen people, one hundred and twenty of whom were males. In 1801 the first road was surveyed from Zavitz’s Mills in Bertie through the Township of Crowland to the Welland River. The survey was made by Charles Fell.

Municipal Organization

The first attempt at municipal organization was made in 1803, when a town meeting was held and the following officers were elected to manage the affairs of the young township—Joseph Current, Clerk; William Cook and John Gainer, Assessors, Aaron Stringer, Collector; Christopher Buchner, Wm. Current Sr., Jacob Brookfield, Samuel Cook and John Farr, Roadmasters; Gideon Dudley, Poundkeeper; Captain Henry Buchner and Wilson Doan, Town Wardens.

It is impossible to fully describe with the pen the hardships which the early settlers of Crowland—in common with those of other parts of Welland County—endured. The average boy of to-day who finds fault with his life on the farm—where work is made easy by the use of the many labor saving machines, which the genious of the latter part of the nineteenth century has put in the hands of the farmer—can never fully realize the hardness of the lot of the pioneers, nor the extent of the vicissitudes through which those brave men and women who made Crowland the home of their adoption, passed. To go into a forest country where bears and wolves abound and by his unaided exertion make for himself and family a home, is unequal. If the reader can realize the hardness of the lot of the frontiersman of to-day, can think of the many difficulties that beset the paths of those who go as lumbermen or settlers into the North American forests nowadays, when the railroad, the telegraph and the daily newspaper, convey the comforts and luxuries of civilization to the cabin door of the settler, and carry back to the eastern markets the products of his toil, let him consider how much greater the difficulties of those people who settled in Crowland a century ago, whose sole possessions were brought into the country on pack horses, when railroads and suspension bridges were unheard of, when the Niagara River could only be crossed by riding a horse strong enough to swim its rapid current. Those early settlers were obliged to subsist on the products of their rude farms. They were without the luxuries of life, and even what now are considered some of the necessaries were beyond their reach. Railroads and steamboats did not bring their teas, sugars and spices, articles considered indispensable by the housewives of to-day. Even when the crop of grain had been raised by hard labor upon the partially cleared land the difficulty yet to be overcome before it was ready for culinary purposes would be considered by the young men of to-day insurmountable. After the building of the mill at the Falls and the one in the Short Hills known as Beckett’s the grain could be taken to one of those places and there converted into flour. The means of getting it there were to cross the Chippawa by means of rafts or canoes and carry the bag on the back through the woods those long weary miles, or to take it on horseback. In going to Street’s mill at the Falls, the usual way for the Crowland pioneer was to take his “grist” down the Chippawa in a boat; the latter he would leave opposite the mill and carry the grain the rest of the way on his back. By this route, the grain only had to be carried three miles, providing the owner was fortunate to live along the bank of the river. If he were one of the inland residents of the township he would, of course, have to get his “grist” from his home to the River and back again, in addition to his walk from the mouth of the Chippawa to the mill. Great as were the difficulties after the building of the two mills above mentioned, still grater were those of the few people who settled in the township before any mills existed in the county. Then the grain was got ready for baking purposes by hollowing out the end of a log, and pounding it in the cavity thus formed until it was reduced to a meal, out of which bread could be made.

Cook’s Mills

Great must have been the rejoicing of the Crowland settlers when those pioneers industries known as were erected in their midst. The building of them was the enterprise of Noah and Calvin Cook, two brothers who came into the township at a very early date. The built both a saw mill and a grist mill along the bank of Lyons’ Creek, thus starting a small village, which to the present day is better known as Cook’s Mills than as Crowland. The village now contains a postoffice, a store and a hotel, all three of which are conducted by “mine host, “ Luther Boardman, a most accommodating landlord. There are also in the place a town hall, a school house, and the shops usually found in a small hamlet. Geographically, the village is the centre of the County of Welland, and at the time of the separation of Lincoln and Welland, there were many who advocated the building of the Court House here. About four of five years after the building of the mills, this part of the township was the scene of one of the battles of the war of 1812-14. On the 29th of October, 1814, a detachment of one thousand Americans, under command of General, Bissed, were met at Cook’s Mills by five hundred of the Glengarry light infantry and 104th when a sharp skirmish ensued. The British loss was nineteen men, and that of the rival army sixty-seven. Elias Doan, who was born in the township in 1800, on the premises where his father, Elijah Doan, had settled three or four years before, has a distinct recollection of this battle, and remembers visiting the battle ground on the following morning. Mr. Doan is still hale and hearty for a man of his years. Another old resident of the township is John Bender Buchner, who was born in 1802. His father was Peter Buchner, whom we mention as one of the very early settlers of Crowland. George A. Darby, another of the old men of the township, was born in Lincoln County, in the year 1800. These old men, fast nearing the evening of life, are in possession of many of the details of the early history of the township. They have lived to see many changes in Crowland, as well as the rest of Welland County. The territory that in the days of their boyhood was a partially cleared wilderness where human life was endangered by the proximity of savage beasts, has become a fine agricultural country. On every hand may be seen fine farms and substantial farm buildings, and at convenient intervals comfortable churches and school houses. Within the scope of their memory the Welland Canal has been contemplated, constructed and enlarged to its present great dimensions. Within what was once the territory of the township, they have seen built three aqueducts for conveying the water of the canal across the river. The first of these was in its day considered a great work, but the second was far superior and the third, greatly surpassing the second in extent, is an example of the strides made during the nineteenth century. These oldest inhabitants can remember the time when bridle paths were the best thoroughfares the country afforded, and have lived to see a network of railroads which makes a journey from any part of the country to the outside world a matter of small moment.

Among the reminiscences of Cook’s Mills is that of a Masonic Lodge, the ancestor or one of the ancestors of the present Welland Lodge, No. 36, of Fonthill. Practically this, the first Masonic organization in the county, was first established at St. Johns, this county, under the name of Hiram Lodge, about the year 1815, under a warrant from the Grand Lodge of England. It was moved from St. Johns to Cook’s Mills, and became dormant about the year 1826. The Lodge was revived at Chippawa in 1851, and subsequently removed to Fonthill, where the organization exists to this day. Whilst located at Cook’s Mills the meetings of the fraternity were infrequent, but when held they drew an attendance of the craft from farm and near, and the calls from labor to refreshment were scrupulously observed.

Crowland Churches

The only religious denominations that have extended their ramifications into the township are the Presbyterians, the Methodists and the United Brethren, About the year 1833 the Rev. Angus McIntosh, an ordained missionary who was sent to Canada by the Church of Scotland, began his labours in a parish which extended from Fort Erie to Port Dalhousie. He held regular services for some years in the school houses situated at Cook’s Mills, Doan’s Ridge, and the sixth concession of Crowland. In 1850 the congregation build a church in Crowland. In it the Presbyterians have worshipped ever since. The services have for many years been held by the various ministers who have been pastors of the church in the Town of Welland.

The Methodists were the first to conduct religious meetings in the township. They had erected a church at Lyons’ Creek in the early part of the present century. The Ryersons are the best remembered by people now living as early ministers of the Methodist church who preached in Crowland. Previous to 1850 the American branch of Methodism, known as Episcopal, was separated from the Wesleyans. This led to the building of a church for each of the divisions at that date. The United Brethren erected a place of worship in the McKinney settlement and another in the Argyle settlement, about the year 1863.

Municipal Affairs

At the time of the organization of the county in 1850, Solomon Doan was elected Reeve. Leonard Matthews was Reeve for several succeeding years. A complete list of the Reeves of the township may be found in our chapter on Representatives to the County Council. The office of Clerk was held by D. F. Brown in 1850. From 1851 to 1861 Alex. Reid was Clerk. In 1861 the office was held by E. W. Brookfield. Mr. Reid was again Clerk from 1862 to the end of 1865. G. W. Cook performed the duties of the office during 1866 and 1867. He was succeeded by E. W. Brookfield, who held the office until the end of 1872. Geo. Benedict filled the office during 1876 and 1877. Since the latter date the duties of the office have been performed by Alex. Reid. The present Township Treasurer is Luther Boardman.

In this connection we might add that in 1865 a vote was taken upon the proposition to bring the Dunkin act, a local option partially prohibitory measure, in force in the township. The proposition was negatived by the electors.

Crowland Agricultural Society

Crowland Agricultural Society was organized in 1846. The annual show was held at the village of Crowland or Cook’s Mills. The usual number of entries is about four or five hundred.

Schools

The public schools of Crowland are efficient. The school houses are, all of them, comfortable buildings, while some of them are what school buildings should be—of tasty architecture. The high school in the Town of Welland is within reach of a large number of boys and girls of the township. From the time of the separation of Lincoln and Welland until the close of 1865, Alex. Reid, Esq. was Local Superintendent of Schools for the township. Mr. Gilbert W. Cook filled the office during 1866 and 1867. Mr. Reid was again Superintendent in 1868 and 1869, and in 1870, the last year that the office existed, the duties were performed by E. W. Brookfield, Esq.

1. Transcriber’s Note: Ozias Buchner was born in Crowland Township on 30 Jan 1789 not 1779, according to his gravestone in Doan’s Ridge Cemetery. His father Henry Buchner served in De Lancy’s Company of the 1st Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers and was listed in the Company muster rolls in as late as August 1783. Jacob Buchner gave an arrival date of 1787 in his Upper Canada Land Petition and Henry likely also arrived at that time. The Buchner family’s colonial home was actually in Sussex County, New Jersey and Henry Buchner enlisted in the forces on Staten Island.