sentences:  However, the town was not incorporated until 1885, some 40 years later.In 1837 James W. Little, a militia officer and land speculator of neighbouring Raleigh Township, purchased land at the intersection of Ridge Road and Communication Road, the latter planned by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe to connect the town of Chatham with Lake Erie.The area consisted of fertile farmland noted for sugar beets, tomatoes, tobacco, and corn.