By the time the War of 1812 hit, the early pioneers had just been getting settled in the fledgling settlement of Mount Pleasant which had its beginnings only 15 years before. Mount Pleasant in 1812 was a small, self-supporting hamlet composed of approximately 12 families who, with a few exceptions, were mostly opening up farm properties. The exceptions were Morris Thomas who was a blacksmith, Roswell Stevens, a carpenter and Thomas Perrin, a miller. The Perrin Mill on the Mount Pleasant Creek was one of the first commercial milling operations in what became Brant County.
Mount Pleasant was situated on The Long Point Road (trail) which was a major military corridor between the Mohawk Village on the Grand River (in what is now the Eagle Place area of Brantford) and Port Dover. The corridor saw considerable troop movements, military couriers and wagon trains of provisions for the troops engaged in the War of 1812.
In reaction to the American threat of invasion, the British began to organize the local militia. Mount Pleasant residents who served in the War of 1812 included Thomas Perrin, Thomas Racey, Amos, William and John Sturgis, Henry, John, David and Allin Ellis, John and Asa Secord, William Nelles and Robert McAlister.
American general D. McArthur’s raid through this area in November 1814 was particularly devastating and resulted in the burning of Perrin’s Mill and other Mount Pleasant homes. Before moving along to Malcolm’s Mill to engage the militia assembled there, the invading troops took everything they could carry and destroyed that which they couldn’t carry. Horses were taken and livestock driven off. This destruction served McArthur’s aim of destabilizing the British colony, destroying the mills, and depriving the troops of supplies. It took several years for the Mount Pleasant settlers to rebuild and receive reparation for their losses.