535-03 Page 138MarnI1 illson
Church To
119th Birtl4ayLinked
Family Closely
With Settlement
,AN set up a tempor&ry base of o er
TILLSONBURG, April 11 'o1y stamped, like
—ppn almost every
Next Sunday the congregation of I'vrg's developmen
St. Andrew's P r e s b y t e r l a nil ltury is the name
trade- tions In Port Burwell. From this
rate of headquarters, he back -tracked to
n the Oxford and chose a site near the
[son— Otter, just inside the county limits,
m mat contributed reh- for the farm he intended to build.
Church, oldest In the town, will P
commemorate 'their 118th anni- spade -work to the d n's In stela Tillson bought er acres
ons, stayed to build ana of constructed
from the government
-oratory with special.. services, '-d with its growth, and constructed a log cabin, us- �
The Rev, R. D. MacDonald Is 'an responsible for Tillson- wally located by historians at the
establishment as a settle. point where Simcoe street and the '
the presentminister of theasGeorge Tillson, an mr. Vienna Road, now intersect. Short -
church and next Sunday the Rev. from New York State, ly afterwards, he brought his wife
R. G. MacMillan, of Knox Pres- volled across the southern and six children to thefarm.
byterian Church, Goderich, will of Oxford County in 1825 At the time of Tillson's arrival
be guest minister and Mrs. Redge h for a homesite and pros- in the district, there were only six
Bradfield, of Trinity United ' iron ore deposits, settlers in Dereham Township,
.Church, Ingersoll, will be guest followed the meandering most of them living in the north,
soloist. 1f the Otter River through ern section. The next six years -
In 1820 George Tillson, founder d] apttlement of Otterville witnessed little expansion. By 1831
of he'i; --t w¢ arrive -here Ilan ih to Lake Erie where he the total number of landholder
Boston and in 1888 erected the
amounted to a scattered 12. s
first 11111IMnAlIfl, Presby-____ I
Erection of a sawmill, forge 4nd
terians on the banks of the Otter
Riven f C
axe factory in the early 30's trla
ed the industrial beginnings Tijlf�.
The Tillson family SOily have always J
of
sonburg and led to an increasing E -q
flow Y
been prominently connected with
of prospective citizens to the �I
the congregation. Mrs, E. V. Till-
membersl
town. }
For several years the new set- t
son is one of the oldest
of
dement was known as Dereham
the congregation, and her only
Forge but it assumed the name
son Victor H. Tillson, QC, is
s
of Tillsonburg, in recognition of f:
member of the kirk session.
its founder, following a survey of
In I& the present site at the _
a
the community carried out in 1836.
corner of Bidwell and Brock
The village was incorporated as a
streets was purchased on
town by an act of Parliament in P
,and
Easter Monday %of the Name Year
the first
1872, with E. D. Tillson, George's S'
Youngest youngest son, sl
sod was turned by An- ,_
elected as its first
drew 4Scott and John A. Dar-
mayor. w
'•''`'
row, Sr. On April 17, 1931, thee,
An interesting sidelight to this to
present church was dedicated by `
incorporation was the hue and cry in
the Rev. W. A. McConnell, BA, of `
caused among the community's cit. it
Paris, on May 18, 1946 Mrs. John, ' 9
izenry by mispelling the town a.
name. In the words of a historian
Darrow, Sr., one of the present i
s1
of the time."somebody blundered"
oldest living members of the con-e
in drafting the bill of incorpc-a-
gregatlon had the honor of binn.r
lion, dropping ad"L" fromthepro- of
if
ing the church monr;,;,r,
posed name and leaving the "gha-
..,,„..
stly" result of "Tilsonburg". M
Rp
I Disgruntled townsmen roundly yi '
•'-"
criticized the mistake for over 30 cr
.years. They talked about the in hr
justice to the Tillsons at great
<...,
length but apparently no effort Is
was made to do anything to correct ni
urchased the famed Annandale form for an un-
the situation until 1902, when sev- M
oral citizens petitioned the legis- gyp,
rty will be used for building lots and tobacco
lature to put the second "L" in
the large born, above, one of the largest in Oxford
Tillsonburg. A short time later In
County. Ste rrioris abvul Tlw% 6—
the necessary addition was made fu
t and the error rectified.
'-
i Start of the rebellion in -Upper nc
Canada
in 1837 created a great wi
nandale Farm is Sold
deal of interest in the town and at
' led to a new industry. Records of of
that
period indicate that most of wi
Tillsonburg's citizens lined up a. mt
.t barn, built of brick The place Is served by a Crum-
gainst the government and backed
up their stand by manufacturing
In places more than a her of tree -shaded drives, one of
ammunition for the rebels, an un-
still looks solid as a them known as "lover's lane."
dertaking which was evidently not
shaped and about 120 Natural springs over the estate
as serious tgen as it would be now.
This ammunition making, coup. '
long side and 100 on have been piped and once supplied
led with the governmeht's fear,
and is more than 60 all the community water. The
that the town's regidents might[
ght. Ventilators with layout of the old Tillson farm is
take up arms and fhster an open
,st stacks line the front one of Western Ontario's agricul-
revolt, led to numerous arrests.
The including
It the appearance of a tural spectacles and a source of
prisoners, George
Tillson, were hauled away to Lon-
tory, community pride,
don where they stood trial.
Dior is partitioned with Sought Iron
Leniency was the main feature
,in the virgin forest, In 1828, George Tillson and Ben-
of the London trial as all the pri- c
,ge and nearly flawless, jamin Van Norman were connected
soners were released with the pro -
are of matched boards with the pioneer bog iron smelting
vision that they would lay down
--
rem more handsome in industry in Normandale. They
I--" ---
their arms and cease anti.govern-
than those going into came to Tillsonburg in search of
ment activities. Weapons made
a. Inside are the another deposit of iron ore they
angin
angular built-in silos believed was located in Dereham
available through compliance with)
•this
order were collected in Tillson-
enormous quantity of Township.
'burg by the government and taken
laid to have been the A furnace was established here
]to Sirocco for safe -keeping.
scale silos ' Ontario. for iron ore processing and the I Following this curtailed flare-up,
ad flo01,h airy town was originally cgs
3 and con- Dereham forge. Cou '. c
life in Tillsonburg returned to nor-
mal and citizens went back to
a throldeto Tillson name in eery •' ` *6'B-
their usual routine. In later years,
r, anotheeb,ipt of brick ments were those of C1 '�ater
imilar in :..
Industrial development, largely
by the Tillsons, continued
s#e and qua]- pitominent in the fo of
)fostered
to Pace the progress. This
>arn, The conduit sup- Paris, and Elijah Leo' ar , later
, as a
expansion was accompanied by
iggery with by-products active in iron manufacturing in
g
similar agricultural development
Y. London.
I in the surrounding countryside.
Sell 4%6 pdyv . ly