Near Fingal in Elgin County, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

Col. Mahlon Burwell

Veteran of the War of 1812

Photographed by Tim Boyd, August 23, 2024

1. Col. Mahlon Burwell Marker

Inscription.
Burwell, a surveyor, was a militia officer during the War of 1812 making him a prime target for enemy raiders who plundered Southwestern Ontario unopposed for most of the last year of the war. He moved to Port Talbot in 1809 with his family to survey roads and townships for Col. Talbot. He was taken prisoner on August 16, 1814 and held in Chillicothe, Ohio for four months. (The diary he kept during his confinement is now in the collection of Library and Archives Canada.)

His house, barn and registry office were all burned in a raid two weeks after he was taken prisoner forcing his family to move back to Niagara until after the war. He joined them there when he was paroled in December, 1814. By signing a parole, one gave their word that they would not take up arms again for the duration of the war. Burwell signed his parole on December 22nd and left for Fort Erie the following day. The Peace Treaty was signed at Ghent on the 24th.

Following the war he built a new brick house on the northwest corner of the crossroads which served as both home and Registry Office. He served as Registrar of Deeds, Justice of the Peace

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and Member of the Legislative Assembly. He gave the land for the St. Stephen's Anglican Church and for Anglican churches in Port Burwell and in Caradoc Township. Mahlon Burwell and his wife, Sarah, who died in 1870, are both buried in St. Stephen's grave yard.

Erected by Elgin County Museum.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Settlements & Settlers • War of 1812. A significant historical year for this entry is 1809.

Location. 42° 39.799′ N, 81° 21.3′ W. Marker is near Fingal, Ontario, in Elgin County. It is on Fingal Line (County Road 16) 0.3 kilometers west of Iona Road, on the left. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 33105 County Rd 16, Fingal ON N0L 1K0, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Southwest Ontario Area

and in Southwestern Ontario.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At

Photographed by Tim Boyd, August 23, 2024

2. Col. Mahlon Burwell Marker

least 8 other markers are within 10 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Burwell’s Corners (here, next to this marker); Southwold Earthworks/Les Fortifications en Terre de Southwold (approx. 1.3 kilometers away); Southwold: The remains of an indian village/Southwold: Les vestiges d’un village amérindien (approx. 1.3 kilometers away); The Talbot Settlement / La Colonie de Talbot (approx. 2.8 kilometers away); Col. Thomas Talbot (approx. 2.8 kilometers away); RCAF No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School (approx. 3.4 kilometers away); John Kenneth Galbraith (approx. 8.2 kilometers away); Ellis Wellwood Sifton, V.C. (approx. 9.4 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fingal.

Also see . . . Colonel Mahlon Burwell (pbhistoricalsociety.ca).

Mahlon Burwell was born in New Jersey in 1783 and came to Upper Canada with his family in 1796. He was largely self-schooled and was employed by the government of the province to survey the Talbot settlement and the Talbot Road in 1809 and settled near Port Talbot some time after that. During the War of 1812, he served in the 1st Middlesex Militia, was captured

3. Col. Mahlon Burwell
by raiders and his property was destroyed. After the war, he continued his survey work in Kent and Essex Counties, and on the Talbot Road. This difficult work took its toll on Burwell's health. He was often paid in land, rather than cash, and acquired large land holdings scattered across the southwestern part of the province.

(Submitted on August 28, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario.)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 29, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 28, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 231 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 28, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.