We spent a very enjoyable afternoon, last week, discovering a few things about our property. Over the last 176 years we think this property has been owned by 5 families. There are some things to be sorted out.
I mentioned in another post that the land in this area was doled out in lots. If you were fortunate you could get a 200 acre of great farm land. In 1836 a fellow by the name of Samuel Smith received Lot 40 in Southwold. The Talbot Road cut through the lot. Samuel began to divide the lot into smaller portions. One 50 acre piece, called Part of Lot 40 south of the North Branch of the Talbot Road (SNBTR) was sold to William Drake the Elder in 1836. This piece was at the very south end of the lot. We believe this is our Part of Lot 40 SNBTR.
The Drake family was the first to clear the land and begin farming. William the Elder sold or gave it to his sons William and Thomas in 1842. The land records sometimes tell the money that changed hands but those bits of information were not included for these two transactions.
In 1846 The Drakes sell the land to Richard Nicolls. We found Richard and his family in the Canada West's 1851 Census. Richard and his wife Lucy, who came from Ireland were in their early 30s. They had seven children ranging in age from 1 to 16 years old. All the children were born in Canada.
In August of 1868, one year after Confederation, the land registry shows the 50 acres being sold or given, to Anne Drake by Isaac Graham. This stymies us some what because who is Issac Graham? How did he get the land from Nicolls? We can't find his name on the Land Registry as buying the land. We need to find out more and get it sorted out. It is a great puzzle to occupy us on cold winter nights. More to come.