George E. Tillson was an industrialist best known for founding the town of

Tillsonburg Tillsonburg is a town in Oxford County, Ontario, Canada with a population of 18,615 located about 50 kilometres southeast of London, on Highway 3 at the junction of Highway 19. History Prior to European settlement, the present site of Tillso ...

. Tillson was born on November 25, 1782 in

Enfield, Massachusetts Enfield was a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The town was lost as a result of the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. History Incorporated in 1816 from portions of Greenwich and Belchertown. It was named in honor of one of its early s ...

. In 1808 he married Nancy Barker. Tillson moved to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

in 1822, and founded a small iron forge within Norfolk County with Hiram Capron and James and Benjamin Van Norman. In 1825 Tillson bought approximately 600 acres of land in the south-end of Oxford County along the

Big Otter Creek Big Otter Creek (alternately Otter River, Big Creek) is a waterway that empties into Lake Erie at Port Burwell, Ontario. It is long, and the area of its drainage basin is . The creek's headwaters are north of the Horseshoe Moraine, and its m ...

using the funds earned from the forge. Tillson constructed a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

and another iron forge in the area. Originally called the “Dereham Forge", the town was renamed ‘

’ in 1837 after its founder. Tillson died on March 15, 1864 in the town of

. His son E. D. Tillson constructed the Annandale House which has since been renovated and currently houses the Tillsonburg museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillson, George 1782 births 1864 deaths Canadian city founders People from Enfield, Massachusetts American emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario