Agriculture has always been important in the Millgrove community, for some of the best soil in the province occurs in the area. Market gardens specializing in the production of fruit, vegetables and cut flowers for the Hamilton, Burlington and Guelph markets bring recognition to the village today. A century ago, the village was known across North America through the enterprises of two Millgrove brothers, Daniel Cummins Flatt and William Delos Flatt, who established farms on either side of the Flamborough townline specializing in the development of high quality Canadian livestock.
The brothers were sons of John Ira Flatt and Rachel Cummins and descendants of several other early Flamborough settlers. Their father was a pioneer in the lumber trade and after completing their education in Millgrove and Waterdown, they joined him and two other brothers, William and Jacob, in the family’s lumber exporting business. The company began its logging in Muskoka, but the timber was of a poor quality and operating expenses high so, after joining with a Québec firm to supply a half-million dollars worth of timber for export to the United Kingdom, the brothers and their operations moved to the United States. At the height of its success, the company was managing four lumber camps in Michigan and Wisconsin and grew to become “second to none on the North American continent” and “the largest export timber business in America.”
Both Daniel and William left the company as the twentieth century began. William founded the ‘Trout Creek Stock Farm’ in 1900, on property he purchased and inherited from his parents on the east side of the townline, Lot 13, Concession 5 in East Flamborough. He imported and bred shorthorn cattle, earning a high reputation among North American breeders with his numerous successes at exhibitions. During a visit to England, he purchased a heifer named Cicely from Queen Victoria’s prize herd. After winning numerous championships in both Canada and the United States, she was sold for the record-breaking price of $5,000 at the Illinois State Fair.
In 1901, Daniel also returned to live permanently in Flamborough and he too established a livestock farm. Known as ‘Summer Hill Stock Farm’ on Lot 21, Concession 4 in West Flamborough, the two hundred and thirty-three acre property had also been part of the Flatt family holdings. In 1885, Daniel and his wife Jugertha Carey had this large and unusual brick house built, with a turret that appears to be guarding the long driveway, together with several large barns and outbuildings, to house the pedigree livestock that were later purchased.
Between 1901 and 1922, Daniel Flatt became the largest Canadian importer and breeder of Yorkshire hogs and Holstein cattle. During these years he imported a total of several thousand hogs and through breeding, developed an entirely new type of pig which made Canadian bacon famous and a product that was in high demand by the British market. His show herd of hogs won every first prize at the Toronto National Exhibition for ten successive years. They were also shown in 1914 at the Chicago International Exhibition, where they won every first prize and at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, where they won seven out of ten first prizes.
The farm’s herd of Holstein cattle was also a successful and profitable business venture. In 1907, Flatt established a dairy company to market and distribute the ever-increasing output of products from the farm. The new enterprise, called the ‘Hamilton Dairy Company Limited’, began as “a little horse stable and dairy joined together in a back yard.” With only five employees, the business expanded rapidly until it was serving some 10,000 Hamilton homes each day “before breakfast with milk, cream and butter.” In 1913 a new dairy was built on Vine Street in Hamilton. This was expanded in 1917 and again in 1920, when the stabling alone was for one hundred horses. By 1924, the company had begun using motor trucks for their deliveries and the number of employees had grown to one hundred. Six years later, the Hamilton Dairy Limited became the Hamilton Dairies Limited as the company, with over a million dollars in capital, absorbed most of the surrounding dairies in Wentworth and Brant counties including the Wentworth Dairy Ltd., and creameries in Caledonia, Jarvis and Selkirk. In 1930 Daniel Flatt retired and the company was sold to Bordens Limited.
Soon after the dairy company had been established, the family moved to Hamilton, where Daniel became involved with overseas missions serving the leper colonies in Africa. Although his connection and involvement with the Millgrove community gradually ceased, he still retained an interest as the founder and strong supporter of the Millgrove Old Boys’ Reunions which were held at ‘Summer Hill Farm’ in Victoria Day weekends, between 1904 and 1911. The three-day event consisted of a Saturday concert, Sunday Church services in the morning and evening and one in the afternoon at the cemetery, and concluded on Monday, with concerts and various sports events. It was a weekend for all members of the community, young and old, and always featured many “old boys” who had traveled considerable distances to attend the event to “share their talent of music, sport and elocution” and to visit family and friends.
