This plaque stands at the center of seventy-nine five-acre lots laid out by the government in 1833 for the use of needy immigrants. Pioneer families, Islay Scotch, some Irish and German, settled here but soon found these "free" lots too small and moved to larger farms. Many of them and their descendants are buried here in this cemetery. The road which passes to the south was part of the Sydenham Trail or Old Mail Road from Bowmore (Duntroon) to Owen Sound.