page_title: Puslinch, Ontario
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Puslinch, Ontario / History
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a scan of a 1821 survey from Public Archives of Canada
context_page_description: Puslinch is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, in Wellington County, surrounding the south end of Guelph. The main source of production is agricultural, spring water bottling and mining. Aggregate mining has been dominant throughout the county. About half of the township is forested, and a conservation area lies to the southwest. Near the western edge of the township, just outside Cambridge, Ontario is Puslinch Lake, the largest kettle lake in North America. It is part of the Guelph census metropolitan area.
  The township has its own Strategic Plan, with the current version dated 2015 to 2020. Its mission statement is as follows: "Progressing together to provide reliable and sustainable services to our residents, businesses and visitors. We will protect our resources while respectfully building upon our heritage as a safe, fun and prosperous rural community."
context_section_description: Before colonization, the area was a "neutral" zone and was inhabited by the Neutral Nation, in a village of 4,000 in what is now the Badenoch area of Puslinch, near Morriston. Other First Nations settlements were at Puslinch Lake, Arkell Springs and Morriston Pond. 
  The township was named after Puslinch House in Devon, England, where Elizabeth Yonge, the wife of Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada Sir John Colborne, was born. The name was given by Lady Seaton after her birthplace in Devon, England. Sir John would later be the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1828 to 1836. An historical plaque indicates that the township was surveyed in 1828-1832 by David Gibson and was originally known as the Church Lands. Many people arrived in the 1830s via Stone Road from Dundas to Galt toward Killean in Puslinch. A settler, Edward Ellis who arrived in 1839, donated land for the construction of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, also known as Ellis Chapel, in 1861. Records from 1846 indicate a population in the township of 1500, most of whom were "Highland Scotch".
  The township was an important source of granite used in the construction of homes as well as of limestone and sandstone provided by quarries. 
  The Arkell area was named after John Arkell (from an originally Dutch family) who emigrated from Kempsford, South Gloucestershire, arriving to the township in May 1831. He established the small community, but returned to England three years later. His first cousin Thomas Arkell remained, built a home, bred sheep and cattle, and was a Magistrate for three decades. Henry Arkell, a breeder of sheep was heavily involved with the Puslinch Agricultural Society and was a Director of the Guelph Central Exhibition and the Fat Stock Show.
  The settlement of Aberfoyle was named by John McFarlane from Aberfoyle, Perthshire, Scotland who arrived in 1841 and ran the first general store. A small mill had been built earlier, in 1831, by George Schatz who built a sawmill and also laid out lots of land at a time when the area was called Schatzville, inhabited mostly by German families. Schatz also operated a foundry and brickyard over the years in the Aberfoyle area. The post office did not open until 1854 with Samuel Falconbridge the first postmaster. The first church, Mount Carmel, was built in 1877.
  Many of the Germans lived around Morriston, also part of Puslinch. By 1857, Morriston had established the “Victoria Fire Company of the United Village of Morriston and Elgin” with a single fire wagon. In that year, Morriston had a "daily male population of about 400".
caption: Thomas Ridout survey of 1821, designating the present area of Puslinch as a "Clergy Reserve for the County of Lincoln".
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