Bruce County Genealogical Society - Saugeen Township
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Bruce County Genealogical Society

Box 1083, Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada N0H 2C0

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Saugeen Township

A map of Saugeen Township can be found on the Bruce County GenWeb website. 'Saugeen' is a corrupted form of an Ojibway word for the mouth of a river.


Saugeen Township Places

  • Aberdour - An early post office at Lot 26 of the 4th Concession. Later replaced by the Turners post office, on Lot 27.

  • Burnt Corners - An early name for Sparks' Corners

  • Burgoyne - A post office and village on the Saugeen and Arran townline. It is the crossroads of the Elora and Saugeen  Road (County Road 3) and the Saugeen and Owen Sound Road (County Road 17).

  • Chantry Island - In Lake Huron, at Southampton

  • Denny's Dam - on the Saugeen River, near Southampton. Named after  John Denny, who operated a grist mill, sawmill and woollen mill at the location.

  • Dunblane - A post office and hamlet on the Elora and Saugeen Road. As the post office cancellation stamp had been misspelled 'Dumblane', it was also known by that name.

    Dunblane Presbyterian ChurchDunblane Presbyterian Church, built 1859
    Dunblane Presbyterian Church plaqueDunblane Presbyterian Church plaque
  • Goble's Grove - On Lake Huron at the 6th Concession, south of Port Elgin

  • MacGregor Point - On Lake Huron, south of Port Elgin

  • McNab Point - On Lake Huron, between Port Elgin and Southampton

  • Normanton - A post office, opened in 1854. Was renamed Port Elgin in 1874

  • North Bruce - A post office and hamlet located at the 1st Concession and the Goderich Road (Highway 21). The post office opened in 1864.

    St Andrews Church plaqueSt. Andrews Church plaque
     
  • Pipe Clay - a name once given to the hamlet of Turners, on the 4th Concession

  • Port Elgin -  a town on Lake Huron. Named for the Earl of Elgin, Governor General.

    Port Elgin plaqueThe Founding of Port Elgin plaque
    Port Elgin CemeteryPort Elgin Sanctuary Park Cemetery gates
  • Queen Hill - The post office opened in 1877 on Lot 15 of the 14th Concession of Bruce Township. In 1907 the post office moved to Lot 19 of the 1st Concession of Saugeen Township.

  • Saugeen - This post office was opened in 1851. It was renamed Southampton in 1889.

  • Southampton - The village, located where the Saugeen River flowed into Lake Huron, was incorporated in 1858.

    Aunt Annie Longe's cottage'Aunt Annie' Longe's cottage, Southampton
    Aunt Annie Longe's cottage plaque'Aunt Annie' Longe's cottage plaque, Southampton
    Southampton Pioneer Park plaqueSouthampton Pioneer Park plaque
     
  • Sparks' Corners - Where the Elora and Saugeen Road meets the Goderich Road

  • Turners - A hamlet on the 4th Concession. The store was located on Lot 27. A post office opened in 1931.

  • West Arran - A post office north of Burgoyne, opened in 1853. Originally, it was on the east side of the Elora and Saugeen Road, in Arran Township, but later it was moved to the west side of the Elora and Saugeen Road, in Saugeen Township.


Saugeen Township Notable People

John Bell, born on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, was Hudson Bay Company chief trader and explorer. After retiring from the HBC in 1860, he settled in Saugeen Township, where he farmed until his death in 1868. His biography appears in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.

Thomas Bryce emigrated from Scotland in 1852 and settled on Lot 17 of the Elora Road. He was a talented woodworker, and made clocks, miniature soldiers and horses, and over 100 violins.

Thomas BryceThomas Bryce

Gordon Cummings, born in Saugeen Township, was a private with Kitchener's Horse Guards, and died in South Africa in 1900. He was the only Bruce County person to die in the Boer War.

Trooper Gordon Cummings statueTrooper Gordon Cummings statue
Trooper Gordon Cummings plaqueTrooper Gordon Cummings plaque

Robert Douglass, A.B. M.D., Port Elgin, "the oldest physician and surgeon in Port Elgin, is a native of this Province, dating his birth in the Township of Nelson, County of Halton, June 8, 1833. His father, Robert Douglass, senior, was from the State of New York; his grandfather from Scotland. His mother was Jane McGill, from Belfast, Ireland. ... [He] settled in Port Elgin in the spring of 1861.
"Dr. Douglass is an earnest Reformer, and in 1867 was the candidate of his party for the House of Commons, for the North Riding of Bruce, and came within seven or eight votes of being elected. He is President of the Reform Association of Port Elgin, and a man of much influence among his political confreres, and of prominence as a citizen.
"September 30, 1857, Miss Eleanor Sproat, of Milton, county town of Halton, was joined in wedlock with Dr. Douglass, and died July 18, 1877, leaving four daughters, all yet living. Their names are Jennie, Marion E., Eleanor, and Helen Sproat."
From The Canadian biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men: Ontario volume. (Chicago ; Toronto : American Biographical Pub. Co., 1880.) 

Robert Leith 'Dinny' Hanbidge, barrister and politician, and eventually Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, had roots in both Southampton and Arran Township. For more information about him, see the Arran Township page.

William Kennedy was one of the founders of Southampton, where he and John Spence purchased a fishing company in 1848. The business was not successful, and he left Southampton to lead an 1851 expedition in search of Sir John Franklin. His biography appears in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.

David Brown Milne, artist, was born on Lot 19 of the 10th Concession of Saugeen. He was the youngest child of William Milne and Mary Doverty, who had emigrated from Aberdeenshire, Scotland. When he was 8 years old, the family moved to the village of Paisley, in Elderslie Township. He obtained teacher training, and taught school at United School Section No. 7 & 8, Elderslie and Saugeen, on the Elora Road from 1900 to 1903, before leaving to study art in New York. He died in 1953. A memorial plaque was erected in Paisley in 1962 in his honour. Many of his paintings are in the National Gallery of Canada's collection.

David Brown Milne, 1900David Brown Milne, 1900
David Milne plaqueDavid Brown Milne plaque in Paisley, Elderslie Twp.

W. Mitchell, a lieutenant in the 32nd Bruce Battalion of Infantry, was a member of the Canadian rifle shooting team, and was winner of the Prince of Wales Prize at Wimbleton in 1882. The Globe newspaper, under the headline "Port Elgin Welcomes its Wimbleton Hero" reported on a banquet held in his honour. A Globe article of the previous year noted that the 1881 Canadian team included four brothers: Sergeant D. Mitchell, 13th Battalion; Sergeant T. Mitchell, 10th Royals; Private C. N. Mitchell, 10th Royals; and Lieut. W. Mitchell 32nd Battalion.

James Rowand was Member of Parliament for West Bruce in the 1890s. He farmed at Dunblane, on Lot 18 of the Range West of Saugeen Road. He died in 1897 at age 67 and is buried in Port Elgin.
"Family came from Paisley, Scot., and settled in Can. 1832. B. in Paisley, 1830, and ed. in Toronto. M. 1854, Elizabeth Gowanlock, of Saugeen. A Farmer. Was a Municipal Councillor and Reeve of his Tp. for ten years. Is now mem. of the Agricultural and arts Assoc. of Ontario. First returned to Parliament by acclamation at bye election held 19 Oct., 1867; re-elected at last g.e.. A Liberal. - Dumblane, Ont." From The Canadian parliamentary companion, 1891 Gemmill, John Alexander, 1847-1905. (Ottawa : J. Durie, 1891.)
 

Alexander Smith, "political organizer, is the s. of the late Peter Smith, a pioneer settler in Saugeen, Co. Bruce, Ont. B. in Saugeen, 1866, he was ed. in Walkerton, at the Collingwood Coll. Inst., and at the Univ. of Toronto, where he graduated B.A., 1889, with honours in several depts. Joining the reportorial staff of the Toronto Mail, 1889, he at the same time followed the course of lectures at the Law Sch., Osgoode Hall, and was called to the bar, 1893. In Nov., same year, he was apptd. Secy. of the Ont. Lib. Assn., and organizer for the Lib. party in Ont., both for Provl. and Dom. purposes, which positions he still retains. In religious faith he is a Presb. -34 Victoria St., Toronto. "Has a cool head, a great deal of resource, and a judgment that is rarely at fault. During the great campaign of 1896 he showed first-class generalship."-Globe" From The Canadian men and women of the time: a handbook of Canadian biography Morgan, Henry J. (Henry James), 1842-1913. (Toronto : W. Briggs, 1898.)


 

Saugeen Township - Some Early Names

 

Statement of Sales of Crown Land in Bruce County Previous to 1853 on which arrears are due - Saugeen Township

 

Date of Sale or Lease

Name of Purchaser or Lessee

Lot

Con

Acres

Sale Number

1852

James Hendry Jr

12.13

4

200

1655

1852

Alex Wallace

32.33

W Saugeen R

1

200

1656

1852

Robert Bell

18.19

7

200

1659

1852

John Burgess

4

River Range A

81

1660

1852

Peter Nicholson

24.25

7

157

1661

1852

Wm Gowanlock Sr

21.22

7

242

1662

1852

Wm  Gowanlock

23

23

7

8

197

1663

1852

Wm Gowanlock Jr

24

7

152

1664

1852

James Gowanlock

27

W Saug Rd

1

100

1665

1852

Thos Turner

11

4

100

1668

1852

James Turner

10

4

100

1669

1852

David Martindale

13

11

100

1743

1852

Saml Robinson

34.35

W Saug Rd

1

200

1744

1852

John Thompson

12

7

100

1745

1852

Geo Graham

12.13

8

200

1746

1852

James Turner

11

5

100

1747

1852

Thomas Turner

12

5

100

1748

1852

Louis I. Louis

43.43

Lake Range

197

1749

1852

Coll Lamont

27

3

100 school

1750

1852

Gilbert Lamont

28.29

3

200

1751

1852

Don Lamont

25.26

3

200

1752

1852

John Currie

24.25

1

200

1753

1852

Alex Currie

24.25

2

200

1754

1852

John Goble

32

Lake Range

70

1755

1852

Geo Ferrin Burns

James Craig [crossed out]

17.18

 

6

199

1758

1852

John McGillivray

14.15

2

200

1759

1852

Robert Coulson

4

Lake Range

107

1762

1852

Don Wilkie Jr

14

3

100

1766

1852

Thos Burgess

5

A

106

1767

1852

Peter Mcarthur

34.35

1

200

1770

1852

John Cameron

20

4

100

1771

1852

James Stewart

29

Lake Range

79

1772

1852

Wm Stirton

17.18

9

200

1773

1852

James Stirton Jr

19

10

110

1776

1852

John Cameron

14

4

100

1778

1852

Hector Mcarthur

31.32

1

200

1780

1852

D  McGillivray

16.17

2

200

1781

1852

John Smith

13.14

6

200

school

1784

1852

Wm Kennedy

15.16

15.16

8

9

239

1838

1852

Wm McKellar

12

2

100

1843

1852

Christopher McRae

19

5

100

1853

1852

Peter Smith

14

13.14

8

9

177

1861

1852

John Goble

31

Lake Range

74

1862

1852

Allan McLellan

11

3

100

1863

1852

John Wallace Sr

25

7

110

1966

1852

John Wallace Jr

26

19

7

1st W Saugeen R

87

90

1967

1852

John Rowand

18

1 West Saugeen Rd

111

1968

1852

Martin Cook

14

5

100

1976

Transcribed from: Province of Ontario Archives RG 1-21-1-41

 


Bibliography

Building in faith : one hundred and thirty-five years of Presbyterianism in Port Elgin 1861-1996 : Knox Presbyterian Church 1861-1925, Tolmie Memorial Presbyterian Church 1926-1996 by Tolmie Memorial Historical Committee, 1996. Amicus No. 15338603

Dunblane.ca A website about Dunblane's history.

Down Petticoat Lane by Mary I. MacKay, 2004. See Publications page.

Forgotten Lives, Early History of a Coastal Village by John Weichel, 2001 Southampton's first public burying ground. See Publications page.

History of the County of Bruce by Norman Robertson, 1906. Available online.

Light through the years : 125 years with Knox Presbyterian Church, Burgoyne, 1862-1987 and Dunblane Presbyterian Church by the Burgoyne Historical Society, 1987. Amicus No. 7250382

History of Port ElginThe History of Port Elgin by Heather Robertson, 1975. Amicus No. 2234837

 

 

 

 

Roots and Branches of Saugeen by Saugeen History Hunters, 1984. Amicus No. 6589702

St. Andrew's Saugeen 1870 - 1962. Amicus No. 80733

Skeely Skipper: Southampton's Master Mariner, Captain John Spence by John Weichel, 1998. Amicus No. 20207377


 

Bruce County's Townships (before  1998 amalgamations)

Albemarle Township
Colpoy's Bay United Church, Colpoy's Bay, Albemarle Township, Bruce County

Amabel Township
Wiarton, Amabel Township, Bruce County

Arran Township
Christ Church Anglican Cemetery Record, Tara, Arran Township, Bruce County

Brant Township
Walkerton town clock, Walkerton, Brant Township, Bruce County

Bruce Township
Underwood United Church, Underwood, Bruce Township, Bruce County

Carrick Township
Mildmay church, Mildmay, Carrick Township, Bruce County

Culross Township
Salem United Church, Culross Township, Bruce County

Eastnor Township
Barrow Bay, Eastnor Township, Bruce County

Elderslie Township
Memorial plaque, hamlet of Williscroft, Elderslie Township, Bruce County

Greenock Township
Plaque, village of Pinkerton, Greenock Township, Bruce County

Huron Township
Huron Township Hall, Ripley, Huron Township, Bruce County

Kincardine Township
Mural, village of Tiverton, Kincardine Township, Bruce County

Kinloss Township
South Kinloss Presbyterian Church

Lindsay Township
War Memorial, Lindsay Township, Bruce County

Saugeen Township
Dunblane Presbyterian Church, Saugeen Township, Bruce County

St. Edmunds Township

Lighthouse, Tobermory, St. Edmunds Township, Bruce County
Bruce County Genealogical Society
PO Box 1083, Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada N0H 2C0
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