Publisher's Synopsis
Burford is in the County of Brant and is located eight kilometers west of the City of Brantford along Highway 53, and seventy kilometers east of London. In 1793 Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe granted to Abraham Dayton the entire Township of Burford. Dayton was a native of Milford, Connecticut. The township was to become the "new Jerusalem" for a religious sect with which he was affiliated. Dayton broke his ties with the sect and settled just west of the present village of Burford. He was responsible for bringing several families into the township and by the spring of 1797 the new settlement consisted of twenty-one families. Abraham Dayton died March 1, 1797 after a prolonged illness. Abigail Dayton, Abraham's widow, later married Colonel Joel Stone and moved to Gananoque where she lived until her death in 1843 at the age of 93. The Dayton's only child, Abiah, was the wife of Benajah Mallory and she and her husband followed her parents into this township. Benajah Mallory became a man of considerable influence and by 1805 was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada representing Norfolk, Oxford, and Middlesex. In June 1812, war was declared against Upper Canada by the United States. During the course of the war, Mallory accepted a commission in the U.S. forces and was considered a traitor back home. Benajah Mallory became outlawed and his land was forfeited to the Crown. John Yeigh, his wife Mary and their children Jacob, John Junior, Adam, Henry and Eva arrived in Burford from Pennsylvania by covered wagon in June 1800. The family cleared land, farmed and established the first pottery in the Burford area. Jacob and Adam distinguished themselves in the War of 1812 and were also active participants in the 1837 Rebellion.
