Allan Cameron (1805–?) and William Withers (1802–1886) were the co-founders of Penetangore ( ''Kincardine''),

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Allan Cameron

Allan Cameron was born November 16, 1805, in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, Ontario, to

Scotsman The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

Alexander Cameron and Sarah Parks. Allan was nicknamed 'black prince' due to his dark complexion.

William Withers

William Withers was born September 21, 1802, in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, England, to Ebenezer Withers and Sarah Warriker. On December 31, 1827, William Withers married Sophia Cameron, sister of Allan Cameron. On December 30, 1886, William Withers died near

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, USA.

Founding a Town

The Brothers-in-law spent the winter of 1847/1848 in Oxford County gathering the equipment they knew necessary for a settlement in the wilderness of the Queen's Bush. Captain A. Murray MacGregor and others who plied the lake in all seasons, taking heavy catches from the fishing island to the Detroit and Buffalo markets knew that midway between Goderich and the mouth of the Saugeen River ( Port Elgin), where Natives had lond traded, the waters of a stream of fair size merged with Lake Huron. This agreed with Withers and Cameron and offered promise of an ideal site for a settlement since it would provide water power, was not too far from Ashfield, Wawanosh and the northern fringe settlement in Huron and in the direct path of the anticipated northward course settlers who would flock in as soon as the land was offered. Shortly after the breaking of the ice on the lake, Withers and Cameron headed into the

Queen's Bush The Queen's Bush was an area of what is now Southwestern, Ontario, between Waterloo County, Ontario and Lake Huron that was set aside as clergy reserves by the colonial government. It is known as the location of communities established by Black se ...

in the spring of 1848 he exact date is said to have been March 5, 1848. William Withers and his brother in law, Allan Cameron landed by ship ("The Fly", owned and sailed by Captain A. Murray MacGregor)on the shores of Lake Huron at the mouth of the Pentangore River. Close to the spot where they landed they built a log house, in which Allan Cameron kept hotel, William Withers built a dam and a sawmill. Cameron and Withers named this settlement Penetangore, in reference to the river. In the next couple of years more settlers saw the potential in the land that Withers and Cameron saw. By the winter of 1848/1849 seven families inhabited the settlement of Penetangore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Allan And William Withers Kincardine, Ontario 1802 births 1805 births 1886 deaths Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of Scottish descent People from Cornwall, Ontario People from Portsmouth