535-03 Page 141stab -'his owp saw logs. In due
]]s, a became owner of a fine s
i Jac- to which was added planin
vardiland_a sash and door lac
Other than the Fngersoll broth
ers' distillery and barrel facto
in Oxford village, in 18N, ther
was no other industry in Oxfor,
county until 1825. This was a bla
furnace erected on the Big Otte
creek in the south part of Der
ham township. For a decade th
site was known as Dereham Forge
but in 1835 the name was changed
to Tillsonburg to honor the nam
of its founder... George Tillson.
Mr. Tillson was born in Massa
chusetts, in 1795, and as a your
lad he showed remarkable ability
as a mechanic, carpenter, an
mason. His natural bent was iron
working and to further this k1low
ledge he journeyed to Canandaigua
N. Y., and secured employment 1
a foundry at that place. Here h
met Jospeh Van Norman and Hir.
am Capron, two skilled foundry.
men. Having interests in common,
a strong attachment soon spran
UP between the three.
in itsel From Canandaigua the three
f E. D. went to Manchester, N.Y., and
the tow built a small furnace, which they
the imi successfully operated for t W
within tb Years. Mr. Van Norman married
r cut and a Miss Roxilana Robinlon,of Hert-
rded pind lord. Vermont, and Mr. Tillson re-
ade thet sided with them. In 1819, Mrs. Van
stumps r Norman introduced another New
the who, England lass, a Miss Nancy Bark-
: of quiet er of Berwick, Maine, to Mr. Till-
t now p, son, and this introduction led to
marriage.
I OXFORD SETTLEMENT
In 1820, the settlement of Ox-
ford -Upon -the -Thames was produc-
Ingasurplus of crops and because
transportationof difficulties t h e
produce became non - profitable.
Flour and grains had to be trans-
ported by team to either Lake On-
tario or Lake Erie to gain a mar-
ket.
From New York state a swarm
02 new' settlers were arrivingat
the Lake Erie ports to take up land
in Oxford. With no cargo offered
for the return voyage the captains
Of the sailing vessels were con-
fronted with the, problem of load-
ing ballast because of the sudden
squalls forming in shallow L a k e
Erie. This problem was overcome
by ,loading a heavy substance
known as bong -Iron found in t he
township of Cbarlotteville, in Nor-
folk county. Upon arrival in Buff-
alo the ballast was dumped on the
Shore as being useless.
Joseph Van Norman heard o t
this and he secured a cartload to
experiment with and discovered,
time he ments, the editor writes "Thereilo test Four store steers were Fed
gill of E.^D.^Tillson, the ^bess perhaps during the season on ensilage only,
fnr that this surface ore could be in 1863, he had one
ofthelar r stied on
g t third
_ made profitable providing the funerals ever witnessed in the dis-iration
ry smelter was constructed near the EDWIN D. 77LLSON ked as
e iron bog. Mr, Van Norman visited Although Mr. Tillson was com-end of
d the Long Point settlement, in 1821, paratively rich he did not believe)t been
st and after seeing the deposit of in rearing his family in the lap
r bog -iron he made preparations to of luxury. When Edwin D. Tillson ite in.
e- purchase the land and erect a fur- was in his early teens his father'1rown'9
e, nace. He nfimed the place Norman- implanted in him that all must ws. At
dale. (toil for their daily bread. At 14 read-,
The following year he was join-, years of age young Edwin made I. At
e ed by Hiram Capron and George several trips on the windjammers�'ed by
Tillson and the three of hetm com- that sailed the Great Lakes. On s short
_ pleted the furnace which proved one trip to Sandusky, in 1842, he llson's
g an immediate success. In t h e journeyed to Norwalk, Huron coun- Irs and
all of 1822 Mrs. Van Norman and ty, Ohio, to attend school for one it be
Mrs. Tillsonjoined their husbands ,year and he paid his tuition and lay be
_ and, to their surprise ,they discov- board by doing chores for the di,,-: which
_ ered that the men had been too trict farmers.
busy to construct lhouses so for Upon returning home, he work-,Tillson
- . _....cu .-.....ya curing Dec-