Written By JoAnn Galbraith and Marilyn McCallum
Researching the Hamlet of Middlemiss sources for information was from hand-me-down stories from the descendants of the early pioneers and three area newspapers. Following the Centennial Celebration, the existence of diaries of an early pioneer by the name of John A. McDougald who was born in 1844 came to light. He was a Justice of the Peace, an Advisor, a Lawyer of Sorts, a Drover and a Business Man. His diaries recorded the area where he lived beginning in 1871, the beginnings of the Hamlet, and the rail line being built that would pass through the property owned by George Middlemiss. This 146-mile spurline called an Airline connected Fort Erie to the Grand Trunk Rail line north of Glencoe. George’s property was situated in the most southerly tip of Ekfrid Township which was referred to as the Ekfrid Peninsula. At this time George wasn’t getting any younger and opportunity was at his doorstep. The saga of Middlemiss began when George registered a site plan for a village November 21, 1876.
The location of the village was unique to say the least. Located on the boundary line between the Townships of Ekfrid and Caradoc in Middlesex County, within seeing distance of the Township of Dunwich in Elgin County, nearly surrounded by the Thames River and flanked to the eastward by the Chippewa 1st Nation and Muncey Reserves the site of the Hamlet was as unusual as that of any rural community in western Ontario.
In the 1878 Middlesex Atlas, just years after the founding of the village there were a number of residents whose occupations were listed, a station agent, a postmaster, a cabinet maker, 4 carpenters, a joiner, a blacksmith, 2 millers and a hotel owner. In 1879, George donated a lot for a building that would be used as a school, a church and a meeting place. The closest school to the Hamlet was SS#1 Ekfrid which one would have to walk the rail line through the bush to attend in an area called Riverside. Unfortunately, George didn’t live long enough to see the growth and prosperity of the tiny hamlet he had founded and that bears his name. While travelling from London he missed getting off the train in Glencoe and ended up in Newbury. He decided to walk the tracks back to Glencoe and was killed when he was hit by a train. He died March 11, 1880 and is buried in Longwood Cemetery, north of Melbourne.
The first railway bridge to be built spanned the Thames River and then a second bridge was built over the townline. The third bridge would be as the first and spanned the Robinson Creek. Wooden trellises joined all three bridges making one complete wooden structure reaching from the Southwold side of the Thames to the 4th range sideroad in Ekfrid Township. On the north side of the river a pumphouse and a large water tank was installed for the steam engines to aquire water from the Thames River. The pumphouse was closed in August 1930 and the trains then got their water from Glencoe. Arthur Farrington was the last person to work at the Thames River Siding. Today two of the iron railway bridges still exist, one covering the Thames River, and the cement overpass that allows traffic under the old rail line on Melbourne Road. The third iron bridge covering Robinson Creek is still visible today.
Prior to 1900 the Only bridge to connect Elgin County besides the Railway Bridge was situated south of the hamlet. The main street of the hamlet was extended by a dirt road to Robinson Creek where a log bridge was built over the Creek and the dirt road would end at the river. A wooden bridge called Low Water Bridge over the Thames River would connect Ekfrid Township to Dunwich Township. This would enable residents in Dunwich to shop in the hamlet.
Another dirt road would follow the rail line to Robinson Creek, a log bridge covered the Creek and the dirt road continued to the range road divider. Folks in Riverside would also use this route to shop in the hamlet. In 1919, due to the cost of replacing the bridge over the river, damaged by spring floods, it was deemed unsafe. The abutments during the summer months even today are visible.
To be continued...
