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This survey was started Sept. 20, 1866 by P. L. S. Fitzgerald. Next, the area to be offered had to be divided into Townships. A survey in 1866 established the boundaries of Croft and Chapman Townships. Then the townships had to be divided into lots. Croft was surveyed by P. L. S. McFadden in 1869 and Chapman by O. L. S. Lillie in 1870. Finally in 1868 the government passed another Free Grant Land Act offering Croft and Chapman Townships for settlement. Under the terms of the act the person applying for land had to be eighteen years of age or older and could apply for only one hundred acres. Only under certain circumstances was a greater acreage allowed. A patent - the equivalent of a deed - would be issued five years later if the following conditions had been met. Fifteen acres had to have been cleared and under cultivation, and a house built at least sixteen feet by twenty feet in which the settler had actually resided for five years and continued to reside up to the date of the issuance of the patent. Lumbering and settlement proceeded hand in hand. The lumber companies were dependent on the settlers to supply labour in the camps in the winter and the settlers welcomed the chance to earn extra money in the winter when they couldn't work on their land. It must have been a hard lonely time for their wives who had to look after their homes, families and livestock with no husband around to help. In his field notes and diary of the survey of Chapman into lots in 1870, Provincial Land Surveyor Lillie made the following remarks that may clarify or verify statements made in the following stories. "At the foot of the lake {Cecebe} are Miller's Falls where the water is divided into three branches, each branch affording abundant water power for extensive mills and manufacturing. The water here is durable at all seasons and the site affords great natural facilities for manufacturing purposes. From its situation I think it is destined to become the centre of business for a large circle of the surrounding country. They {the falls} are claimed by and in possession of Mr. James Miller. He emigrated to this Township in 1868, then a total wilderness, all the way from Rosseau, a distance of nearly thirty miles. As the first pioneer, he is certainly deserving much encouragement from the government for his indomitable perseverance. He has already constructed a dam and head gate at his falls and contemplates erecting a saw mill early this season. I may remark that one of my party {the survey crew to that township} with a large family, has settled there. In conclusion I would remark that there are but few settlers as yet and most of them have respectable clearings for the time. They have already located a school site and intend opening a school very soon." The census of 1871 lists thirty-five farmers and their families in the area. It is interesting to note that even though the Townships had been surveyed as Croft and Chapman, this census lumps them together as Aumick Lake Township. The preceding is a summary of fairly well known facts. It is presented in order to provide a setting for the stories offered. The area they cover includes Croft Township with its village Ahmic Harbour; the western part of Chapman with the village of Magnetawan; a bit in the north parts of Spence and of Ryerson. The stories will be presented as written for our history. Credit will be given, where known, to the author of the story or the person who supplied the information. There will be mistakes and discrepancies because human memory is apt to be faulty. These have been corrected as much as possible. The stories were up to date at the time they were written. Updating in the Tweedsmuir History will be done at a later date. 3