Publisher's Synopsis
Clinton Township included the villages of Beamsville, Vineland, Campden and Tintern. Many of the early settlers were Mennonites who emigrated from Pennsylvania.Beamsville, Ontario was named after Jacob Beam, a United Empire Loyalist. Jacob and Catharine, along with their daughter Catharine and son-in-law Samuel Merrell, immigrated to Canada from New Jersey in 1788, and founded Beamsville. It was located on the Great Western Railway. In 1898, hockey players in the town of Beamsville were the first to make use of a hockey net.In 1970, the Town of Beamsville was amalgamated with Clinton Township and half of Louth Township to form the larger Town of Lincoln. Beamsville is in the heart of Ontario's wine country in the Niagara Peninsula. Many wineries from the area have received top awards, including Grape King at the Niagara Grape & Wine Festival, as well as international awards.Vineland is bordered by the Twenty Mile Creek and Jordan to the east, Lake Ontario to the norther, Beamsville to the west, and Pelham to the south. Vineland is primarily an agricultural community with many fruit farms and wineries. Vineland's fruit crops include cherries, peaches, apples and pears.Most of the early settlers of Jordan were German in origin, and were devout practicing Mennonites. With a large natural harbor at the mouth of Twenty Creek, Jordan became a busy shipping center for the export of logs for boat masts, tan bark, hides, ashes used in industrial centers for the manufacture of soap, as well as grain, flour, fruit and fruit products. A small ship building industry existed for a time on the banks of the Twenty.Ball's Falls, Ontario is a historical ghost town located in the Niagara Region and dates back to the early 19th century when it was established by Jacob Ball, a United Empire Loyalist. After the American Revolution, Jacob and his family were forced from their home and potash works in New York. Twenty Mile Creek, which runs through the area, has two waterfalls. The Ball brothers built a grist mill, a saw mill at the lower falls and a woolen mill at the upper falls. In the late 1850s, the Great Western Railway was established and many industries moved away from here to be closer to the railway. In 1962 Manly Ball sold the land to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Area and the town, now known as Ball's Falls, is a tourist attraction.The first settlers of Campden were former members of Butler's Rangers who were granted land for their services to the Crown following the American Revolution. Benjamin Doyle was one of these and he severed part of his land to the newly arrived Pennsylvania Dutch, which included Jacob Moyer and his seven sons. In 1862 when a post office was established, the hamlet was named Campden.
