Secord had cleared 10 acres (4 ha) and planted apple trees, which were already bearing fruit, when the Loyalist and Quaker Samuel Beckett arrived on the scene.

The fast running streams of the Twelve Mile Creek system were a source of power and the soil was excellent for farming and growing wheat.

By 1854, however, the effects of the second Welland canal, more railways and American imported wheat from Ohio forced the community to change to cash crops of fruit, vegetables and dairy products.

The poem "Effingham" by Brown from 1912 captures the spirit of the hamlet: Low nestled in the Pelham Hills Where angrily the Twelve Mile spills, Her crystal flood o'er earth confine Then rushes on as if on time: And not unlike the sportive steed It races down through vale and mead Impatient in its onward flow To swell Ontario's tide below.

Here let me rest, 'neath maple shade Of charming bowers of nature made, And whether I gaze on vine-clad hill Or two-fold pond and rustic mill In all around I find a scene For artist's brush and poet's theme.