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In 1849, H.B. Rathbun of Aurora, New York, opened a branch of his mercantile business at a small hamlet at the southeast corner of Hastings County. The little settlement had gained prominence as an easy landing place for freight. A man by the name of Culbertson had acquired a parcel of land from the Mohawks of Tyendinaga. The Town of Deseronto occupies the site today. H.B. Rathbun did not move to Canada until 1856, and only 10 years later, ill-health necessitated a move back to the States, but he was represented in Canada by his son, Edward Wilkes Rathbun, a man of no mean ability.