The Founding of Sparta, 1813

The Founding of Sparta, 1813. Elgin County in the War of 18 12. , As the War of 18 12 began Sir Isaac Brock, Upper Canada's military governor, called all men for the militia to assist with the defense of the colony. Because of their historic Peace Testimony, and the understanding established when they came to Canada, the Quakers refused to take up arms. They were permitted to avoid service by paying set fees, however, this they also refused to do as these funds ultimately supported the war. As a result their possessions were confiscated. As the war approached the Quaker settlement near Port Colborne in Niagara, one member, Jonathan Doan, began to seek land to continue the Quaker migration westward., In 1813 Doan set out with his nine year old grandson, Jonathan Steele. Midway along Lake Erie he found the fertile Oak Plain between the Catfish and Kettle Creeks, bound to the north by a rise of land, now Fruit Ridge. Most of Yarmouth Township, now part of Central Elgin had been granted to the Honorable James Baby, a legislative councillor living on the Detroit River. Jonathan Doan became his land agent. He then purchased Lot 19 Concession 4, and spent the winter in a cave he dug in the ridge. In the spring, while the war continued, he returned to Niagara to encourage Friends (Quakers) to settle in the area now known as Sparta. During the next few years Quakers purchased and settled over 3000 acres. They came from Upper Canadian settlements to the east, and from New York and Pennsylvania., The Quaker community grew. Regular meetings for Worship began in 1817.They built three successive meetinghouses, the first two at the Friends Burying Ground on the Sparta Line, and the third here on Quaker Road in 1865. Built in the eastern North American meetinghouse style it is a timber frame of local wood. Beautiful in its simplicity and proportions, the Yarmouth Monthly Meeting House still serves the community established by the Religious Society of Friends two hundred years ago. , Jonathan's son Joshua joined a number of other Quakers of his generation in rebelling against the power of local unelected officials in 1837. Arrested in Windsor he was later convicted of treason and executed. He and Amos Perley, also hanged at London, were brought to the settlement and laid to rest in the Friends Burial Ground.