0 @NI0975@ NOTE
1 CONC The first white settler in Erin Township was Nathaniel Roszel, a nati
1 CONC ve of Pennsylvania of German origin.  He came with his father Charles a
1 CONC nd family about 1800, to the Niagara Peninsula, settling near Smithvill
1 CONC e.  He and four brothers server in the 1812-14 War, under Sir Isaac Broc
1 CONC k.  Nathaniel, Eldrick and George Roszel recieved grants of 100 acres eac
1 CONC h, on payment of $26 to defray expenses of deeds, etc.  George and Nathani
1 CONC el came to Lot 1, Con. 7, arriving in November 1820.  George did not li
1 CONC ke the country, so sold his half to Nathaniel; and returned home, taking t
1 CONC he team of horses as they were of little use in the forest.  Later they we
1 CONC re brought back.  The journey north of Georgetown was difficult, as c
1 CONC an be judged by the fact that the path they cut, was nince miles in lengt
1 CONC h, as compared to the present journey of less than six miles.  Brother, El
1 CONC drick Roszel, came in the spring of 1821, and settled on his grant of lan
1 CONC d, W1/2 Lot 2, Con. 7.
1 CONT
1 CONT Nathaniel served with the 4th Lincoln regiment in the war of 1812.  He w
1 CONC as born on July 3rd, 1778, so would have been 34 in 1812.  He was in the t
1 CONC hick of the bloodiest fighting in the Battle of Queenstown Heights and Lun
1 CONC dy's Lane.  He was the first settler in the Township of Erin, Wellington C
1 CONC ounty, and it was in the fall of 1820 that he settled on the west ha
1 CONC lf of Lot 1, Con. 7.  He and his brother George cut their way through t
1 CONC he bush to the site from Georgetown, a trail nine niles in length.  They b
1 CONC rought horses with them, but had neither feed nor use for them.  Nathani
1 CONC el sent them home to Gainsborough with George to be brought up again late
1 CONC r.  They were probably the first horses in the township.
1 CONT
1 CONT He was a Methodist in religion, and his home was headquarters for the mini
1 CONC sters in the early days.  He gave land off his farm for a church, cemeter
1 CONC y, school, Temperance Hall, and parsonage.  And at this corner of the 7
1 CONC th line of Erin, and the townline between Erin and Esquesing Townships, t
1 CONC he hamlet of Ballinafad sprung up.
1 CONT
1 CONT The Roszell families were hardworking people, and did their utmost to assi
1 CONC st other early settlers.  Descendants have spread to all parts of the coun
1 CONC ty.  The land was a grant for their part in the War of 1812-14.
1 CONT
1 CONT
1 CONT He was aged 84 years 5 months at the time of his death.