Ontario Canada

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 Charles and Ormond Jones

Among the early and prominent families to settle in the county of Grenville, Upper Canada, now Ontario, were the Joneses, figuring largely in the history of Brockville. About the time of the opening of the struggle of the American colonies for their independence, Ephraim Jones, United Empire Loyalist, left the United States and his property there, came to Canada, and was an officer in the King’s service, settling in Augusta, Grenville, eight miles east of where Brockville now stands. There he died in 1811. He was the father of eight children, one of whom, Charles Jones, born in 1781, was … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Adam Oliver

Adam Oliver, one of the leading manufacturers and business men of Ingersoll, is a native of Queensbury county, New Brunswick, dating his birth December 11, 1823. His father, John Oliver, whose business was that of a carrier, was born in Roxborough, Scotland, and his mother, whose maiden name was Jeannett Armstrong, was of the same country. Our subject was educated in a country school; at fourteen years of age he came to Canada West, and learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner at London; there he worked at his trade until 1850, and then settled in Ingersoll. Here, 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 Hon. William H. Draper, C. B.

William Henry Draper, late Chief Justice, who died at his residence in Yorkville, on the 3rd of November, 1877, was a native of Surrey, England, born March 11, 1801. In his youth he went to sea, and, as we learn from the Canada Law Reporter, showed the stuff he was made of, “when, alone at his post, a young cadet, he defended it from mutineers until assistance came, felling one of his assailants dead at his feet with a blow from a handspike, his only weapon.” At the age of nineteen he abandoned a seafaring life, and came to Canada, … Read more

Biography of William Lees, M.P.P.

William Lees, the new Member of Parliament for the South Riding of Lanark, is a son of William Lees, senior, who came from Scotland in 1817 and settled at Bathurst, County of Lanark, in the following year. The country was then called the Bathurst District. The mother of our subject, before her marriage, was Barbara Tait, who gave birth to him November 21, 1821. William Lees, senior, was a pioneer farmer in the County of Lanark, and to the same occupation his son was bred, he receiving a common school education, having, luckily, most of the time, a good teacher. … Read more

Tuscarora Indians

Tuscarora Tribe, Tuscarora Confederacy: From their own name Skǎ-ru’-rěn, signifying according to Hewitt (in Hodge, 1910), “hemp gatherers,” and applied on account of the great use they made of Apocynum cannabinum. Also called: Ă-ko-t’ǎs’-kǎ-to’-rěn Mohawk name. Ani’-Skǎlǎ’lǐ, Cherokee name. Ă-t’ǎs-kǎ-lo’-lěn, Oneida name. Tewohomomy (or Keew-ahomomy), Saponi name. Tuscarora Connections. The Tuscarora belonged to the Iroquoian linguistic family. Tuscarora Location. On the Roanoke, Tar, Pamlico, and Neuse Rivers. (See also Pennsylvania and New York.) Tuscarora Subdivisions. The Tuscarora should be considered a confederacy with three tribes or a tribe with three subtribes as follows: Kǎ’tě’nu’ā’kā’, “People of the submerged pine tree”; … Read more

Biography of Hon. Samuel H. Strong

Samuel Henry Strong is a native of Dorsetshire, Eng., and was born in 1825. His father, Rev. Samuel T. Strong, was at one time Rector of Bytown, now Ottawa. Our subject was educated in Ottawa and Toronto; was called to the Bar at Hilary term, 1849; practiced at Toronto, and soon distinguished himself as a Barrister. He was created a Queen’s Counsel in 1863; was elected a Bencher of the Law School of Upper Canada, in 1860, and was a member of the Commission for consolidating the Public General Statutes of Upper Canada and Canada respectively, from December 20, 1856, … Read more

Biography of Adam Hudspeth

Adam Hudspeth, a leading barrister in the county of Victoria, is a son of Robert Hudspeth, formerly of Cobourg, for many years master of the Grammar School there, a native of the county of Northumberland, Eng., who emigrated to Canada in 1834. Soon after Robert Hudspeth had settled at Cobourg, Adam was born, December 8, 1836, his mother, before her marriage, being Marianne Cairns, daughter of Rev. Adam Cairns, of Loughforgan parish, Scotland. He was educated by his father in English and the classics; in 1851, was articled to a merchant, Thomas Harvey, of Cobourg, and spent four years as … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James Morris

The subject of this sketch, sheriff of the county of Renfrew, was born in the county of 1 Renfrew, Scotland, March 4, 1818. His father, James Morris, senior, was a merchant in the city of Glasgow before coming to Canada; and his grandfather was from the county of Ayr. His mother was Mary Wright, also Scotch. James as educated at the high school in Glasgow; came to this country with his parents in 1830, and they settled on land in the township of McNab, where our subject farmed until 1853. There he buried his mother in 1858, and his father … Read more

Biography of William Grey

One of the oldest residents in Woodstock, and one of its most prominent citizens, is William Grey, who settled in Oxford County in 1825, two and a half miles from the present Town of Woodstock, before the place, as a town, had a name, except “Town Plot.” The spot on which his house now stands, a quarter-mile from the Post Office, was a sugar bush half a century ago. He saw a village start here, and gradually expand into a town of 6,000 inhabitants, industrious, thriving, and intelligent; and no man now living here has done more to build up … Read more

Biography of James Trow, M. P.

James Trow, who represents the South Riding of Perth, in the Dominion Parliament, was born in Newtown, Montgomeryshire, North Wales, December 16, 1825. His parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Trow, were natives of the same county. He was educated in the common schools of Welchpool, in his native country; came to Upper Canada in 1841, and followed the profession of school teacher for ten or fifteen years, in the Township of North Easthope, County of Perth, and Blenheim, County of Oxford. He is now a Conveyancer, Broker, &c. Mr. Trow was first, Assessor, and then Clerk, of the Township of. North … Read more

Biography of John Birrell

John Birrell, a successful merchant, doing a business in London for about thirty five years, and dying on the 15th of February, 1875, was a native of Lerwick, a town on the Shetland Islands, and was born April 12, 1814. His father was a Collector of Customs at Oban, Scotland. He received a good business education; spent some years as a merchant’s clerk in Glasgow, and about 1837 came to Canada, halting a short time in a store at Montreal, and then pushing west as far as Hamilton. There he clerked two or three seasons for Isaac Buchanan, and Young, … Read more

Biography of John Winery

Few men are as conversant with the rise and growth of the city of Hamilton, during the last half century, as the subject of this notice. For fifty years he has been in business here, and of all the astonishing changes which have taken place in that time he has been an interested witness, and has contributed his share to make the city what it is. When he first came here, most of the land on which the city is built, was farming property. There were but two stores and one tavern, and very little business for even them to … Read more

Biography of Rufus M.P. Stephenson

Rufus Stephenson, member of the Dominion Parliament since the Dominion’s formed, representing the County of Kent; is a native of Springfield, Mass., dating his birth January 14th, 1835. His parents are Eli and Chloe (Chapin) Stephenson, his father being still alive, and in his 94th year. His mother is a descendant of Deacon Samuel Chapin, a Puritan who came to Roxbury (now in Boston) Mass., prior to 1640, and settled at Springfield, same State, in 1642. His descendants form one of the most numerous families in the United States, embracing many names of a national reputation. Among them are Hon. … Read more

Biography of John W. Loucks

John W. Loucks, clerk of the Division Court, is a son of William Loucks, a United Empire Loyalist, from the State of New York, settling in the county of Stormont, Ontario, soon after the American Revolution, and afterwards purchasing land in the township of Williamsburg, county of Dundas, where he died at a great age in 1863. There our subject was born May 15, 1796, and reared a farmer with very few opportunities for acquiring an education. At sixteen, when the second war with the United States opened, he enlisted in the Provincial cavalry; was at the battle of Crysler’s … Read more

Biography of Rev. Arthur Mulholland, H. R.,

Arthur Hill Ringland Mulholland, Rector of St. George’s Church, Owen Sound, and Canon of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, London, was born in the County of Down, Ireland, June 18, 1828. His father, John Mulholland, was a linen merchant, and his grandfather, same name, was a clergyman of the Church of England. The name of his mother, before her marriage, was Winifred Ringland, also a native of Ireland. Our subject was educated at Foyle College, Londonderry, Ireland; immigrated to Canada in 1849; was ordained to the Christian ministry by Bishop Strachan, of Toronto; came directly to Owen Sound … Read more

Biography of George Maclean Rose

In the interesting biography of Robert Chambers, the Edinburgh publisher, from the loving pen of his brother William, we are told that their father had strong convictions as to the importance of allowing children to think and struggle for themselves. To the parental determination of many a Scottish father on this point, Scotia’s sons owe much in enabling them successfully to battle with the world, and in many lands to achieve distinction. Beginning at the bottom of Fortune’s ladder, the rugged tutelage of an early and unassisted start in life has ever been the young aspirant’s best incentive to ascend … Read more

Biography of David J.Hughes

David John Hughes, Judge of the county of Elgin, was born in Kingsbridge, Devonshire, England, May 7, 1820, his father being the Rev. David Hughes, a dissenting minister, and of a very old family from the South of Wales. His mother, whose maiden name was Jane Morrish Higman, belonged to an old Cornish family. In 1832 the father of our subject came with his family to Lower Canada, and two weeks after reaching Montreal, died of cholera at Coteau du Lac, and the widow returned to England with a daughter. The son, then twelve years of age, was afterwards adopted … Read more

Biography of Robert Noble

This well known citizen of Reynolds, Owyhee county, is one of the largest sheep-raisers in Idaho and has been largely instrumental in improving the grade of stock raised in the state. His efforts have therefore been of public benefit, for the improvement of stock adds to its market value, and the wealth of the agricultural class is thereby augmented. The rich pasture lands of the northwest provide excellent opportunities to the stock-raiser, and this industry has become a most important one in the commercial interests of Idaho. Mr. Noble, one of its leading representatives, is of English birth, a native … Read more