Alvinston, Ontario
Archibald was born on September 2, 1814 in Kilsyth, Scotland. Archibald, brother Robert, and their mother emigrated to eastern Ontario, Canada (near to Port Dalhousie) in 1822, about one year after their father, sister Mary, and brother William. At 17, Archibald built his first mill by following the direction of his father. Six years later Archibald went on his own, moving to southwestern Ontario. In Alvinston, Ontario he built a gristmill in 1837 on the east end of the sixth concession of Brooke township. As was common to the technology of the period, Archibald Gardner's gristmills were "built without nails. Wooden pins and mortises were used instead. All shafts, bearings, cog wheels, etc. were of wood..." Gristmills often formed the economic center of a community, producing flour to bake bread. The gristmill area was on a hill that faces Alvinston. The area was called Gardner's Mill for several years. Archibald also built a saw mill in this area to produce shingles. Under business pressure, mostly based on his joining the LDS Church, Gardner sold his Alvinston area mills at a reduced price. Archibald fled Canada in 1846 for the United States, documenting a miracle escape across an ice flow filled river.
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