Wallace Township and Listowel

Towns and Hamlets

Besides the town of Listowel, there are the following hamlets and villages in Wallace township: Kurtzville, Brotherston, Gowanstown, Wallace, Trecastle, Dryden (beware, there's another Dryden in northern Ontario!).

Books specific to Wallace township and Listowel

Magnified Memories: A History of Wallace Township was published in 1993, edited by Eric Bender. It goes into a lot of detail on many of the families of the township. It doesn't have an index, and is arranged by lot and concession, so it helps to know where the person you're looking for lived.

Glimpses of the Town of Listowel, Charles Lee, published by the Stratford-Perth Archives in 1985 is mainly photographs of Listowel.

A very good book on Listowel is Centennial at Listowel, 1875-1975, published in 1975. It has lots of information on past and present, not to mention tons of photos. Unfortunately, it doesn't have an index; the history parts are arranged chronologically.

There is also a Wallace township book in Vera McNichol's series Reveries of a Pioneer. There's more information on this series on my Perth County Books page.

Pioneers of Wallace Township

Wallace township was the last of the townships of Perth county to be settled, and it was not officially opened for settlement until 1855. The book Centennial at Listowel says that the first settler was John BINNING, who took up residence in 1851. The 1879 atlas mentions J. P. BROWN, a MEWHINNEY (William Johnson says McWHINNIE), John WILSON, James BRADY, and a Mr COPPERTHWAITE. James STINSON and sons arrived in 1851, and Richard STRONG and John McDERMOTT in 1853.

See also the new Perth County Pioneers page for visitors' submissions of their pioneer info.

History of Wallace Township

Murder of Jessie Keith

Jessie Keith was thirteen years old when she was brutally murdered by a tramp on Aug 19, 1894. The Keith family lived in Elma township and Jessie was buried in Fairview Cemetery, Listowel, where there is a large monument for her. Jessie was well liked and had lots of friends. Her death came as quite a shock to the farming community.

Wallace Township Links

Listowel Public Library is now part of North Perth Public Library, and as far as I know it's still located at 260 Main St West, Listowel.

History of Listowel, Milverton and Millbank

Meg Fuller Perth County Coordinator

Photos in banner courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, LC-USF34-051862-D and LC-USF34-031979-D.

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