Ontario Canada

Biography of Robert A. Lyon, M.P.P.

Robert Adam Lyon, who represents the Algoma District in the Ontario Legislature, is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, having been born October 21, 1829. His father, John Lyon, was a gardener in the old country, and a farmer in this, coming to Upper Canada in 1832, settling on bush land at Esquesing, county of Halton, and cultivating the soil until his death in 1877. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Catharine McFarlane, died in 1856. Mr. Lyon attended a common school until seventeen years of age, and then went into the general mercantile business at Milton, the … Read more

Biography of Hon. George Sherwood, Q.C.

George Sherwood, Judge of the County Court of Hastings, was born in Augusta, County of Leeds, Ontario, May 29, 1811, his parents being Levius P. and Charlotte (Jones) Sherwood. His father was a Judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench, Ontario, and a prominent man, dying May 19, 1850. His grandsires on both sides were United Empire Loyalists, and settled in the township of Augusta. He was educated at the Johnstown Grammar School; studied law at Brockville and Toronto; was called to the Bar at Michaelmas term in 1833; opened a law office at Prescott; was in partnership a year … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William E. Merner

Merner, William E.; wall paper business; born, Ontario, Can., April 29, 1865; son of Christian Merner, mother’s maiden name Young; educated, Canadian High School, Commercial course at The Northwestern College, Naperville, Ill.; married, June 18, 1902, Effie S. Pratt; issue, two daughters; director The Western Reserve Land Co.; owner The Economy Wall Paper Co.; Mason, Ellsworth Lodge, Hillman Chapter; member Chamber of Industry.

Biography of Ephraim Cook, M.D

Ephraim Cook, the oldest physician in. the County of Oxford, is a native of Hadley, Mass., dating his birth, June 14, 1805. His father, John Cook, a farmer, was born in the same town. His mother was Sarah White. In his youth he aided his father in tilling land, and attended a district school, finishing his literary education at Hopkins Academy, in his native town. There also he commenced the study of medicine; attended lectures in Boston Mass.; in 1830 came to Upper Canada, finished his professional studies at St. Thomas, and in the spring of 1831, located in a … Read more

Biography of John L. McDougall

John Lorne McDougall, Auditor-General of the Dominion, is a son of the late John L. McDougall, senior, and Catharine Cameron, both of Highland pedigree. His father came from Argyleshire, Scotland, in 1821; was connected for several years with the Hudson Bay Company; afterwards settled in the County of Renfrew, Ontario, and was there engaged in the mercantile and milling ‘business. He sat for Renfrew in the Canadian Assembly a short time in 1858, and resigned; he died in 1860. His widow is still living. The subject of this brief biography was born at Renfrew, November 6, 1838, and was educated … Read more

Biography of Thomas Kirkpatrick, Q.C.

Among the early settlers in what is now the Province of Ontario, few men in a semi public capacity have filled a more honorable place that the subject of this brief sketch. Upper Canada was still a country in its infancy, when, as a youth of 17 years, in 1822, Thomas Kirkpatrick made his home in Kingston. He was born in the parish of Castleknock, in the county of Dublin, and was led to think of Canada as a field in which to seek his fortune, by the fact that a connection of his own was already there in the … Read more

Biography of William S. Campbell

William Sternberg Campbell, son of Archibald Dougall and Catharine (Stern berg) Campbell, who came from the United States at the close of the Revolution, and settled in the County of Glengarry, where the father of our subject lived until 1818, when he came westward to the County of Kent, where he had drawn land on account of the loyalty of his mother, afterwards moving to Hamilton. In 1838 Archibald Campbell settled in the town ship of Brantford, on a farm of 170 acres, four miles from the present city of Brantford, where William was born, February 2.5, 1840. His mother … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William D. Dean

William Warren Dean, county judge of Victoria, is a descendant of an English family that emigrated to the new world, and settled in one of the Provinces long before the American Revolution. On his mother’s side the family were United Empire Loyalists, moving at first into Nova Scotia and thence into Upper Canada, in 1797. His parents were Horace and Ruth (Tisdale) Dean, living in London, Ontario, at the time of his birth, October 25, 1830. His father was a Methodist minister, preaching for more than thirty-seven years, and dying in 1867. His mother died in 1862. Judge Dean was … Read more

Biography of George Stephens

George Stephens, late United States Consul at the port of Cobourg, was a native of Schoharrie County, N.Y., and was born December 27, 1805. His parents were George and Sarah (Wood) Stephens, his paternal ancestors being from England; his maternal from Wales, both great-grandfathers coming from the old world. His grandfather fought for the independence of the American colonies. Our subject received a common school education; at seventeen years of age came to Canada, located at Colborne, and manufactured furniture for several years, till he was burnt out, when he removed to Cobourg. With the exception of two or three … Read more

Biography of Robert Edmondson, M.D.

It is safe to say that no physician ever living in Brockville, was more generally beloved than the late Robert Edmondson, the skilful physician and surgeon, and the christian gentleman, whose death occurred May 7, 1871. He was born in Ballymena, county Antrim, Ireland, September 22,1802, was educated at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, graduating as master of surgery, in 1827, and was in surgical practice in the county of Down, Ireland, until 1829, when he came to Canada, and shortly afterwards settled at Brockville, then a very small village. Here he practiced his profession more than forty years, having … Read more

Biography of James Cattermole, M.D.

One of the most experienced and skilful physicians and surgeons in the County of Middle-sex, Ontario, is James Cattermole, who has been in practice forty seven years. He is a native of Suffolk, England, son of James Cattermole, senior, and was horn October 13, 1807. His father was a farmer and belonged to a family of agriculturists, and landed proprietors of the County of Suffolk, whose record is traced back to the reign of “Good Queen Bess” or beyond. At thirteen years of age our subject left home for London; received a fair literary education; at sixteen was apprenticed to … Read more

Biography of Daniel McDonald

Daniel McDonald, one of the younger class of county officers, and a very capable man, is a native of Huron county, and was born in the township of Stanley, August 19, 1844. His father, Donald McDonald, is a native of Inverness-shire, Scotland, and came to Canada in the year 1831. He settled on the London road in the township of Stanley, where he has since lived, linking the very earliest settlement and pioneer hardships of the “Huron Tract” with the now highly developed and flourishing County of Huron and being one of the very few remaining witnesses who can refresh … Read more

Biography of John J. Hoyt, M.D.

John J. Hoyt, the oldest medical practitioner in Ingersoll, and a man of marked skill, dates his birth at Sidney, Delaware county, New York, April 3, 1824. His parents, Daniel and Mary (Simpson) Hoyt, were both from Connecticut. The branch of the Hoyt family from which our subject sprung was from Wales. John Jay supplemented a district school education with several terms at the Delaware Academy, Delhi, N. Y.; taught school two winters, studying medicine at the same time; finished his professional studies with Dr. A. Fitch, of Delhi; attended lectures at Pittsfield, Mass., and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and … Read more

Biography of Hon. C.F. Fraser, Q.C.

Hon. Christopher Finlay Fraser, Q.C., member for Brockville, and Commissioner of Public Works in the Executive Council of Ontario, is a native of Brockville, this Province, where he was born in October 1839. He is of Scotch Irish descent, his parents being John S. Fraser, a Scotch Highlander, and Sarah nee Burke, of Irish extraction. His father early emigrated to Canada and settled at Brockville, where he engaged in business, and where his home has since been. Our subject studied law with Hon. A. N. Richards, Q.C., of Brockville, and was called to the Bar, Upper Canada, Trinity term, in … Read more

Biography of Thomas Benson

The subject of this sketch, one of the most public spirited and energetic men that ever lived in Port Hope, was Thomas Benson, son of James and Ann (Robinson) Benson, of Fintona, County of Tyrone, Ireland, where he was born January 11, 1804. The family came to America in 1816; settled at first at Lansingburgh, N. Y., three years later removed to Kingston, Upper Canada, and there James Benson died December 24, 1828, his widow dying at St. Catharines, August 30, 1854. They had a family of ten children, of whom only four are now living. Hon. James Rea Benson, … Read more

Biography of Hon. George Crawford

The Late George Crawford, who was in the Parliament of Upper Canada, a member of the Legislative Council of Canada, and of the Senate of the Dominion, was born about 1795 in the county of Leitrim, Ireland, his father being Patrick Crawford, a farmer. His mother was Miss Jane Manse, of the county of Sligo, same country. He received only an ordinary English education; was in business for himself as a cloth merchant until 1820, when he left the “Emerald Isle,” came to Canada and halted at Trafalgar, county of Halton, Ontario. After farming there a few seasons, he removed … Read more

Biography of John McRae

John McRae, the oldest merchant in Port Colborne, was born in Poolewe, Ross-shire, Scotland, September 15,1800, being the son of Donald and Julia Ann McRae, and the seventh child of a family of ten children. It is a family remarkable for its longevity. The mother of John, whose surname was McRae, lived to be ninety-three years old; the grandfather of our subject was nearly 100 at his death, and his father was drowned by accident at sixty-five. During the boyhood of John, the family made one or two moves; he secured a district school education; farmed and herded, until in … Read more

Biography of Rev. Micail Boomer, LL.D.

Dean Boomer, son of George Boomer, a linen manufacturer of Huguenot descent, and Mary Knox, of Scotch ancestry, was born at Hill Hall, near Lisburn, County of Down, Ireland, January 1, 1810. The name was originally spelt Bulmer, and the progenitor of the family in Ireland was Rene Bulmer, who with his wife fled from France about the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and settled at Lambeg, in a house now called the Priory. The name was finally changed from Rene Bulmer to Rainey Boomer. An interesting anecdote is told of him in the Ulster Journal … Read more

Biography of Ellis Walton Hyman

Ellis Walton Hyman, one of the most successful merchants and best businessmen who ever traded in London, was born in Williamsport, Pa., December 2, 1815, he being a son of Jacob Hyman, an architect. He received a business education in his native town, learned the trade of a tanner and currier, and in 1834 came to Canada and settled in London. He went into business for himself at the old Morrill tannery on Ridout street, three or four years later removing to Talbot street. Shortly afterwards he added a large tannery at Tilsonburg, and at the same time enlisted in … Read more

Biography of George Ball, P.M.

George Peter Man Ball, treasurer of the county of Lincoln, a descendant of the Ball family who came from Saxony, in 1692, is a grandson of Jacob Ball, a United Empire Loyalist, who left the Hudson river country, New York, with four sons, Jacob, Peter, John and George, and four daughters, at the time of the struggle of the Colonies for independence, settling in the Niagara District; and son of George Ball, in his day successfully engaged in farming, milling and lumbering, and was born in the township of Louth, county of Lincoln, September, 19, 1815. His mother before her … Read more