X.                           INTRODUCTION

     In the year 1800 Ancaster, a little west of Hamilton, and Dundas, on a small bay at the east end of Lake Ontario, were the most northern little villages this side of the Niagara River.  Between Dundas and Waterloo Township there was an almost impenetrable swamp, called the Beverly swamp, which remained for decades the terror of teamsters.  Yet Dundas was, and remained, the market for the entire district northward for 80 to 100 miles until the era of railways was ushered in.
     As near as can be ascertained the first Catholic settlers came into Waterloo Township about the year 1826 or '27, after a large number of people from Pennsylvania, mostly Mennonites, had taken up the greater part of the land.
     This brings us to the point where the history of the Catholic Church in the district may be said to begin in an embryonic way.