John and Mary Cleaver came from Catawissa, Pennsylvania to Aurora, York County in 1805. In 1806/1807 they acquired land through a land lottery in the Township of Nelson. They settled on a farm on Walker’s Line in an area that later became the Village of Alton.
They had several daughters and one son, James Cleaver. During the War of 1812 he was 13. His father’s horses were requisitioned for the war, and he agreed to accompany them to ensure their return. Notably, he was at the battle of Stoney Creek in 1813 with the Cleaver horses. He is known as one of the War’s youngest veterans. James was also a Provincial Land Surveyor. As a young man he traveled to Hamilton to study at an academy. According to family lore “he sometimes shortened the horse ride there by leaving his horse with a farmer and swimming across the bay, pushing his clothes ahead of him on a log” (Cleaver 1983:142). After he completed his surveyor’s exam, he worked in Halton and Wellington Counties. He also surveyed in Tuscola County, Michigan where he acquired large portions of land.
The Lowville Mill, built in 1834 for James Cleaver, 1988James settled close to his parents’ farm and married Angeline DeMond. He choose land on Twelve Mile Creek in Lowville where he used local limestone to build a house and a large flouring mill. Cleaver abided by his parents’ Quaker beliefs and was known as “a strong temperance man”. Apparently, “his barn was the first to be raised without whiskey as an incentive” (Machan 1997:109).
At the height of production, the mill ran 24 hours a day. People traveled thirty miles or more to mill their grain at the Cleaver Mill (Brass Tracks 1979).
At the time of his death in 1890 Cleaver had a vast estate. Not including his property in Michigan, the estate totaled $13,485.00. His seven daughters were left the interest and lease money from his mill and his eight sons were left land (Cleaver 1983).
James Cleaver Grist Mill, 6247 Guelph Line, Lowville, 1992In 1934 the mill suffered a fire and was reconstructed. The original mill was four stories, the reconstruction was only three stories with a replacement roof and dormer windows (BHS n.d.). The mill operated until 1957. In 1963 it was converted into a private residence by the Wright family.
