1) Mother and daughter were the first of the settlers in Levin block.
Other women who set example by tenacity and courage.

Into the unknown they came - the wives of the pioneers. Here was a strange land - rough, untamed, bush-clad country. But there was no time to ponder over the comforts they had left behind. There was work to be done. The land must be cleared and a home must be built to shelter them and their families. They worked alongside their husbands for they were a sturdy breed and were undaunted by the lack of home amenities, hospitals, medical services, places of entertainment and suchlike. Mostly it was a long track to the nearest neighbour.

1) One of Levin's early sawmills.
Prouse family moved into Levin sawmill: sons tell of walk into settlement.

It was a bright sunny day following a hard mid-winter frost in the year 1891 when two young lads walked down the railway line through areas of dense bush into the settlement of Levin. Accompanying them was their father, Mr. James Prouse, who, together with his brother, Mr. Richard Prouse, was to establish a sawmill in the large tract of bush they had acquired.