GARDEN GATEWAY TO CANADA

by Neil F Morrison (library 971.331 MOR)

COPYRIGHT, CANADA, 1954, BY THE ESSEX COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
First Printing 1954 Second Printing 1973 third Printing 1982

These are direct references to Comber in the book (Garden Gateway). When possible I copied the
paragraph to put Comber into the context of the chapter. The book is obviously more comprehensive
that what is offered here. I have simply offered this as a reference material.
By Michael Gallerno, descendent of Benjamin Galerno living in Comber c1857-1901

SETTLEMENT
From the Comber and Harrow sections of the county's interior some similar stories of religious
devotion and related pioneering activities. About 1840 a rude log building was erected as a Methodist
church some two miles east of present day Comber on the Middle Road, now King's Highway No. 98.
This building served its purpose well for a long
period. Its seats, made of bass rood logs, flat side
up, had no backs and stood on wooden legs. On the
walls providing light for the evening services were
candles placed in holders with reflectors. To this
typical bush meeting house came the faithful
people who liked to sing their beloved hymns and
did not mind long horseback rides to attend divine
which afforded them this opportunity. Long sermons
and vent prayers throbbed with spiritual ardour.

A similar record of devotion was true for the

Presbyterians of that section who, in the early
1850's, erected a log church on a bit f his farm
donated by Thomas Gracey in the vicinity of the
then infant Comber. This Was replaced by a frame
church in 1855. Monthly services were considered
inadequate and in 1857 a student minister was
inducted. Comber itself was described as follows in
The Canadian Directory For 7857-58: "A small
village in the Township of Tilbury West and County
of Essex. Distant from Sandwich, the County
Town, 32 miles. Mail four times a week. Population
about 50," According to the same source its
inhabitants included a store keeper and reeve,
postmaster and store keeper, the township clerk and
four councillors.

The course of settlement in the interior of the county

warrants consideration. Following the survey of the
Talbot Road in 1818 and of the Middle Road a
decade later there was limited settlement along these main arteries. A flood tide of land patenting
activity affected these roads in the 1840's; this extended to some contiguous areas and even to some
remote sections....The spread of settlement during the decade is further revealed by the opening of post
offices. While these conveniences follow settlement, they are not too long delayed as a rule, and are,
there are, indicative of the general trend. In 1851 post offices were listed for Essex County at
Amherstburg, Colchester, Comber, Gosfield (Albertville), Maidstone, Mersea (a short distance east of
present day Leamington), Sandwich, and Windsor. The only ones far removed from the water
boundaries of the county were it Comber and Maidstone. By 1861-2 offices had been opened at the
following points scattered throughout the county-Blythes wood, Harrow, Kingsville, Leamington,
Rochester (Belle River), and Woodslee.

TELEPHONE
In 1882 a local company was organized with John Curry as president and j. W. Tringham as manager.
This company built long distance telephone lines from Windsor to Essex, Belle River, Comber,
Kingsville, Leamington, Tilbury, Chatham, and London. These lines were purchased by the Bell
Telephone Company of Canada in 1885 when its long distance lines were connected into one network
from Windsor to Montreal.

OIL RESERVES
Many incidents pertaining to oil occurred in the 1880's and 1890's. As early as 1882 Belle River people
were reported using local oil for their machinery. At Comber a Toronto man put down wells with
disappointing results.
RAILWAY, Lumber and Agriculture
In the first part of the 1870's a second railway, the Canada Southern (now part of the New York Central
System), was constructed between the Niagara and Detroit rivers. This line had connections with the
United States at either end. It cut diagonally across Essex County from Tilbury to Gordon just above
Amherstburg and opened up the interior of the county to lumbering operations and agricultural
settlement. Comber, Woodslee and Essex Centre on its line of travel experienced rapid growth, and
Amherstburg, which had suffered a decline following the completion of the Great Western Railway to
Windsor, enjoyed renewed prosperity.

Another railway built in the 1880's was the Lake Erie, Essex and Detroit River Railway (now part of
the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway). Constructed by the Walkers to serve their extensive Interests in
South Essex, it provided the inestimable boon of railway service to a potentially rich part of the county
(including Harrow, Kingsville and Leamington) which had been seriously handicapped by the absence
of such facilities. Perishable fruits and vegetables, for the production of which that section of Essex
County is well ldapted, could now reach the Windsor and Detroit markets promptly. A remarkable
development of such specialized agricultural production quickly followed. The Lake Erie, Essex and
Detroit River Railway reached Leamington in 1889 two years after a line had been completed
connecting that place with Comber m the main line of the Michigan Central....

The opening of the Canada Southern Railway to Gordon, just down river from Amherstburg, in 1873,
brought new life to those communities and indeed to the townships of Anderdon and Malden, and
caused the development of settlements at points on its line, such as, McGregor, Essex Centre, and
Comber.

Agriculture increased in volume and

variety of production as the clearing
of the forests proceeded . Grain crops
and livestock were the mainstay of
the industry, but after the
construction of the Walker railway
through to Harrow, Kingsville, and
Leamington (1889), there was a
marked increase of specialized crop
production in that section. The
Leamington area also benefited from
the railway connection with
Comber, completed in 1887. As the
nineteenth century neared its close,
tobacco growing assumed major
importance in South Essex leading to
the establishment of tobacco
factories at Leamington and
Kingsville.

On its Essex County branch lines connecting Leamington with Comber, and Amherstburg with Essex,
the New York Central discontinued passenger service at the time of the depression in the 1930's.

LIBRARY SERVICES
The Essex County Library Co-operative functions outside the City of Windsor. Its purpose is to build
up a reference service as ell as supplement the reading material owned by the various county libraries.
It employs two professionally trained librarians. :y means of a bookmobile it serves not only the
regular libraries of Amherstburg, Comber, Cottam, Essex, Harrow, Kingsville, Leamington, Roseland,
and Peke Island, but also three deposit stations at Colchester village, Stoney Point, and Walker Road,
eight member high schools, and 230 elementary school classrooms.

NOTE
To better view the images above get the book from the library.
I will also try to publish them via The Gallerno Genealogy on Facebook,
Scribd and other sources.