Annie Hespeler Bowlby

Other Events:

• Artifact: Kitchener Daily Record Newspaper, Kitchener, , Ontario, Canada; Brass plaque
• Name: Annie Hespeler Perley
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-135227
• Residence: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England
• Residence: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England
• Residence: 1884, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

Artifact:
Approximate Item Size in inches:
Height: 28 inches
Length: 18 inches
Depth:1.3 inches
Approximate Weight: 18.4 Lbs.

Annie married Rt. Hon. Sir George Halsey Perley, MP. 4 Jun 1884, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. George was born 12 Sep 1857, Lebanon, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States; died 4 Jan 1938, Nepean, Carleton Co., Ontario; was buried , Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, Carleton Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Interesting: insurance, business, story, politics, law
• Name: W. H. Bowlby
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-39226P
• Occupation: 1861, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lawyer
• Residence: 1861, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England
• Elected Office: 1865, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; councillor, Reeve
• Occupation: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lawyer
• Residence: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England
• Occupation: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Barrister
• Residence: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England
• Occupation: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Barrister
• Residence: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Anglican
• Residence: 1897, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1901, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lawyer
• Occupation: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Barrister
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England
• Employer: 1912, Ecomonical Fire Insurance Company, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; director of Economical Fire Insurance Company
• Residence: 1912, 221 King St. W., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region: Bef 2012, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

WARD HAMILTON BOWLBY, M.A., K.C.

Another Bowlby for many years prominent in Berlin, now Kitchener, County Crown Attorney for hair a century, was Ward Hamilton Bowlby, fourth son of Adam Bowlby of Townsend Township, County of Norfolk. (Ancestry see preceding biography.) He was born October 4th., 1834, and died in Kitchener January 8th., 1917. After preliminary education at a clergyman's school, Woodhouse Rectory, near Simcoe, and at the grammar schools of Simcoe, Streetsville and St. Thomas, he went to Upper Canada College and from there to Toronto Univer sity where he graduated in arts in 1856 and in law in 1858, as gold medalist on both occasions, obtaining the first University gold medal in law awarded at Toronto University. He also studied in the law of fice of Wilson, Patterson and Beaty, in Toronto. In May, 1858, he was called to the bar and admitted as a solicitor. Shortly after his legal authorization Mr. Bowlby came in 1858 to the then village of Berlin to begin practice.

He was senior partner in the law firm of Bowlby, Colquhoun and Clement the other partners being the late P. Colquhoun of Waterloo and E. P. Clement, K.C. later Bowlby & Clement, and so continuing until 1903, when Mr. Bowlby retired from the more active practice of his profession, after having attained distinction as a sound lawyer, a reliable counsiller and a trenchant prosecutor. During his long career he argued many important cases in the High Court at Toronto and in the Supreme Court at Ottawa.

In 1862 Mr. Bowlby was for a short time Registrar for the then south riding registry division with office in Preston, which separate registry office was discontinued in 1863. He was appoint ed Crown Attorney and Clerk of the Peace of Waterloo County by the first Provincial Government of Ontario in December 1867 and was at the time of his death the oldest incumbent of such office in Ontario. He was at various times member of the Town and County Councils, was reeve of Berlin from 1863 to 1868 and was for thirty years, until his resignation in 1895, member of the Public School Board.

He was a shrewd investor and became a large holder in Canadian Pacific, Merchants Bank and other stocks and securities. His place, Bowhill, with its eleven acres of well kept grounds, was an ornament to the County Town. The Tremaine map of 1861 shows the house, as also that of his brother, Dr. D. S. Bowlby. It is interesting to note that only one family, the Webers, father and son, was occupant of the Bowlby plot between Mr. Bowlby and original forest, in the Grand River Reservation of the Six Nation Indians. Abraham Weber came from Pennsylvania in 1807 and took as his allotment Lot 15 [should read 16] of the German Company tract of which this plot is a part. W. H. Bowlby bought from Sheriff Grange, the first Berlin real estate speculator, and he from Abraham C. Weber, son of Abraham Weber. Mr. Bowlby was a considerable traveller, in Europe and generally. On a trip he took up the Nile in a dahabeah with his family, in the winter of 1899, he wrote an interesting book which he presented to his friends.

In 1861 Mr. Bowlby married Lissie Hespeler, eldest daughter of Jacob Hespeler of Hespeler. Mrs. Bowlby survives. Their only daughter who married Sir George H. Perley, now High Commisioner for Canada, in London, died in 1911. Of his generation there remains only his youngest brother, John Wedgwood Bowlby, K.C., mayor of Brantford at 80. Mr. Bowlby was a member and large supporter of St. John's (Anglican) Church.

Fifth Annual Volume of the Waterloo Historical Society, 1917

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Ward Hamilton, M.A, LL.B., County Crown Attorney and Clerk of the Peace for the County of Waterloo, Berlin, Ont., was born in the Township of Townsend. in the County of Norfolk, Ontario, Canada, on October 4th, 1834. His father was the late Adam Bowlby, of Townsend, an extensive farmer and speculator in farm lands, who owned large tracts of land in Norfolk and adjoining counties, acquired considerable wealth, and died, at the advanced age of 91 years, on the 26th February, 1883. His grandfather, Richard Bowlby, during the American Revolutionary War, was a resident of the then Province of New Jersey, and being firm in his allegiance to the British Crown, became a U. B. Loyalist, left the United States, and settled in Annapolis county, Nova Scotia, where Adam Bowlby was born in 1792. Adam Bowlby served, while a mere lad, in the war of 1812, having been placed in command of a company of coast, guardsmen to prevent the landing of pivateers on the shores of the Bay of Fundy, and for this service he was in receipt of a pension from the Canadian Government, up to the day of his death, as one of the veterans of the war of 1812. The Bowlbys are an old English family, but as the ancestors of the subject of this sketch settled in the British provinces of America at such an early period, this branch of that family may be now properly called the colonial branch of the family, and are descended from good U. E. Loyalist stock. Tilomas William Bowlby, an English barrister and an eminent war correspondent, who, in the capacity of correspondent of the London Times, accompanied Lord Elgin as ambassador to China in I859, and was there treacherously killed by the Chinese, and to whose family the Chinese government were compelled to pay a large indemnity, was a distant relative of this branch of the same family.

The mother of the subject of this sketch was Elizabeth Sovereign, daughter of the late Leonard Sovereign, of Waterford, Ont., and niece of the late Philip Sovereign, M.P.P., member in the first parliament of Upper Canada at Niagara. Mr. Bowlby's great-grandmother, on the father's side, was a sister of Josiah Wedgwood, the celebrated English chemist who invented the Wedgwood ware. Ward Hamilton Bowlby was educated in a clergyman's school at the Woodhouse Rectory, near Simcoe, and in the grammar schools at Simcoe, Streetsville and St. Thomas, and at University College, Toronto, and graduated both in arts and in law at the University of Toronto. During every year of his college course he held a first scholarship, and on graduating to the degree of B. A. in the University of Toronto, in 1856, he obtained the Jamieson gold medal, and again on graduating to the degree of LL.B., in 1858, Mr. Bowlby obtained the University gold medal in law, he being the first person who ever had that honour from the Toronto University.

Mr. Bowlby studied law in the office of the law firm of Wilson, Patterson & Beaty, of Toronto, which firm was then composed of the present Chief Justice Wilson. Judge Patterson, and Mr. James Beaty, Q.C., M.P., and he was called to the bar and admitted as a solicitor in May, 1858, and has now practised the legal profession for over twenty-seven years in Berlin. Mr. Bowlby is a member of the law firm of Bowlby & Clement, one of the leading law firms in the County of Waterloo, and is a sound lawyer, a good counsellor, an excellent cross-examiner of witnesses, and a shrewd man of business. He is also a solicitor for two of the chartered banks doing business at Berlin and Waterloo, and is solicitor for one of the largest insurance companies in Ontario. During his long professional career he has argued many important cases in the High Court at Toronto, and in the Supreme Court at Ottawa, and has always enjoyed a large and lucrative practice, and been in every way most successful, and is financially rated as one of the wealthiest citizens of Berlin.

Mr. Bowlby has often been a member of the town and county councils; was reeve of Berlin from 1863 to 1868, and has been a member of the Public School Board of Berlin for the past twenty years, and has always done his utmost to promote the interests of education. In February, 1862, the Cartier-Macdonald Government issued a proclamation dividing the County of Waterloo into two registration districts, and offered Mr. Howlby the position of registrar of North Waterloo at Berlin, but, in consequence of the fact that the old registrar afterwards elected to retain the registrarship at Berlin, the Government appointed Mr. Bowlby registrar of South Waterloo, at Preston, on March 17th, 1862, and although he, at first, accepted the office and performed its duties for a length of time, yet he refused to comply with the law requiring him to remove his place of residence from Berlin to Preston, as he would not give up his law practice at Berlin for the registrarship at Preston, and a change of government having taken place in the meantime steps were thereupon taken to abolish the new registry office for South Waterloo, and on October 15th, 1863, under the auspices of the Macdonald-Dorion Government, there was passed the Act of Parliament. 27 Viet. cap. 35, whereby the ridings of Waterloo were re-united for registration purposes. Mr. Bowlby was appointed to the offices of County Crown Attorney and Clerk of the Peace for the County of Waterloo, by the first Provincial Government of Ontario, on December 24th, 1867, which offices he has ever since held, and in both of which he has given every satisfaction.

Mr. Bowlby has travelled much in foreign parts, having crossed the Atlantic several times, and in the years 1877 and 1880, in company with his wife and daughter, he made a tour of fourteen months abroad and visited all the principal cities and places of interest in Great Britain and continental Europe. He is a member of the Church of England. Holding government offices for the last eighteen years, he has not recently taken any part in political matters, but in politics he is now generally supposed to be in sympathy with the Liberal party. Mr. Bowlby has one of the prettiest and most delightful residences in Berlin, situate in an enclosure of eleven acres, surrounded by a beautiful well-kept lawn, dotted over with clumps of evergreens, deciduous trees and shrubbery, and here and there flanked with spruce and cedar hedges. Mr. Bowlby has four brothers, viz., Alfred Bowlby, Esq., M.D., of Waterford ; William Bowlby. Esq., of Simcoe ; D. S. Bowlby, Esq, MD of Berlin, and J. W. Bowlby, Esq., LL. B., barrister, of Brantford ; and he has an only sister, Mary Ursula, wife of Col. Walker Powell, the Adjutant-General at Ottawa. Mr. Bowlby was married on April 10th, 1861, to Lissie, eldest daughter of the late J. Hespeler, Esq., founder of the village of Hespeler, and he has an only child, a daughter, Annie Hespeler Bowlby, now the wife of George H. Perley, Esq., a junior partner in the well-known and extensive lumbering firm of Perley & Pattee, of Ottawa


A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography Being Chiefly Men of the Time. Vol. No. 11886

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Ward Hamilton Bowlby, a prominent lawyer in Berlin and Waterloo County Crown Attorney for half-a-century, won the first gold medal in law awarded by the University of Toronto. A traveller of note, he wrote a book on his experiences during a trip up the Nile in 1899.

He attended Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto, from which he graduated in arts in 1856 and in law in 1858. He was a senior partner in the law firm of Bowlby, Colquhoun, and Clement, later Bowlby and Clement, from 1858 to 1903. A sound lawyer, a reliable counsellor and a trenchant prosecutor, he argued many important cases in the High Court at Toronto and the Supreme Court at Ottawa.

Bowlby was a member of the town and county councils, Reeve of Berlin from 1863 to 1868 and for thirty years was a member of the Public School Board.

Waterloo Region Hall of Fame

_________________

Bowlby, W. H., barrister-at-law. Has been Reeve of the town four years, also County Crown Attorney and Clerk of the Peace. Was born in Norfolk Co., Ont., 1834, and has resided here since 1858.

Illustrated Atlas of the County of Waterloo, H. Parsel & Co., Toronto - 1881

________________________________

Ward H. Bowlby, K. C., Reeve 1865-6-7-8.

Mr. Ward H. Bowlby, K. C. for the past forty-five years Crown Attorney of Waterloo County, was Reeve of the village of Berlin in 1865-6-7-8 and to-day is the only survivor of the Village Council of that day. The meetings of the Council were held in a frame building where now stands the Fire Hall and many interesting sessions were held. The idea of a greater Berlin was manifest at that time and the progress and welfare of the village was the chief aim of the councillors. He has watched with pleasure the growth of Berlin, from a village to a town and now to a city, and wishes it continued prosperity.

Official souvenir of the celebration of cityhood, July 17th 1912, Berlin, Ontario, The German Printing and Publishing Co

________________________________

The Waterloo office of Miller Thomson LLP is celebrating its sesquicentennial -- marking 150 years of serving the legal needs in its community. Founded in 1858 by Ward Hamilton Bowlby, Sims Clement Eastman, which merged with Miller Thomson, was one of the oldest law offices in Ontario. Starting as W.H. Bowlby, Barrister and Solicitors, a new partnership in 1876 saw the firm grow to three partners: Bowlby, Edwin Perry Clement and Frederick Colquhoun. In fact, the Clement family name remained with the firm until 2002 -- when it partnered with Miller Thomson LLP. Miller Thomson's Waterloo office has 35 lawyers supported by 78 administrative and professional staff working at its office located in the Accelerator Centre building at the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park.<sup>6a

6a</sup>Waterloo Chronicle Newspaper 14 May 2008

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WARD H. BOWLBY, M.A., K.C.

Ward Hamilton Bowlby, appointed in the fall of 1867 by the first government of Ontario as Crown Attorney and clerk of the peace for the county of Waterloo, in which position he is still serving, was for many years an active practitioner at the Bar of his district with a large and liberal clientage. He was born October 4, 1834, in Waterford, Norfolk county, Ontario, a son of Adam and Elizabeth (Sovereign) Bowlby. The father was a native of Annapolis county, Nova Scotia, and of United Empire Loyalist descent, his ancestors having removed to Nova Scotia from New Jersey in 1783. Adam Bowlby was born in 1792 and at the time of the War of 1812 he served as a captain in command of a company of coast guardsmen to prevent the landing of privateers on the shores of the Bay of Fundy. Following the close of hostilities he settled in Norfolk county, Upper Canada (now Ontario), where his uncle, Thomas Bowlby, had resided since 1786. He married Elizabeth Sovereign in 1819, and their family in the course of years numbered five sons and one daughter, Ward H. Bowlby being the fifth in order of birth. His brothers were: William Bowlby of Simcoe, now deceased; Dr. D. S. Bowlby, who for some years practised at Berlin, but passed away at Rome in Italy while on a trip abroad ; and Dr. Alfred H. Bowlby, who at the age of eighty-six years is still practising medicine at Waterford. The sister is the wife of Colonel Walker Powell of Ottawa, ex-adjutant general of the Dominion, and the youngest member of the family is J. W. Bowlby, K.C., now mayor of Brantford.

Educated in a private school at Woodhouse Rectory near Simcoe, in the Simcoe grammar school, St. Thomas grammar school, the Streetsville grammar school and the Toronto University, Mr. Bowlby won the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1856, of Master of Arts in 1857 and of Bachelor of Laws in 1858, taking the Jameson gold medal in arts in 1856 and the University gold medal in law in 1858. He entered upon the active practice of his profession in Berlin in the spring of 1858 and for many years was a prominent barrister, whose ability was indicated by the important character of the professional duties that devolved upon him. In December, 1867, he was appointed by the first government of Ontario Crown Attorney and clerk of the peace for the county of Waterloo, which offices he now holds, but he retired from practising law in January, 1903.

In 1861 Mr. Bowlby was married to Miss Lesa, the eldest daughter of the late Jacob Hespeler, the founder of the town of Hespeler, Waterloo county. They have one daughter, Annie, now the wife of George H. Perley, M.P., the Ottawa millionaire lumber king, whose operations in lumber have gained him pre-eminence as a representative of that line of business in Canada. Mr. Bowlby is a member of the Church of England. He has always stood for that which promotes intellectual and moral progress and while an active practitioner at the Bar maintained the highest standard of professional ethics and, although his devotion to his clients' interests was proverbial, he never forgot that he owned a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law.

The History of Ontario: Its Resouces and Developement.

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In the late 1860s, Berlin barrister Ward H. Bowlby and wife Lissie Hespeler purchased about 10 acres at King and Wilmot (renamed Victoria South in the 1930s), erecting "Bow Hill," one of the village's first elegant estates. In 1918, Lissie, now a widow, sold her property to Ames, Holden, McCready, a rubber firm presided over by T.H. Rieder of Kitchener. It was the third rubber company Rieder had helped found locally '97 Merchants and Canadian Consolidated (later Dominion) being the first two. Three years after the huge factory was built behind Bow Hill, Rieder died and B.F. Goodrich of Akron, Ohio assumed control. For the next 60 years, Goodrich tires and rubber products poured out of the factory. By the late 1980s, following purchase by global rubber conglomerates, both Dominion and Goodrich were doomed. When the King Street factory closed, a group of ex-Goodrich employees operated the plant as Epton Industries. Epton closed in December 1995 and within two years, all traces of the vast five-storey factory had been erased. A decade-plus later, the City of Kitchener and University of Waterloo filled Abraham Weber's old farmstead site with one of the most striking architectural gems in the city.

mills, r. (2017). Flash from the Past: Lot 16: From Aboriginal village to factory | TheRecord.com. TheRecord.com. Retrieved 28 September 2017, from https://www.therecord.com/living-story/7577349-flash-from-the-past-lot-16-from-aboriginal-village-to-factory/#.Wc1fDR29Ijo.facebook

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Foundry [Ontario Street] to Queen Street- Almost the whole of this block was a spongy swamp, with willow trees along the edge. Cattle could scarcely go into it as they would sink. Up to 1850 there was no building up to Gaukel's Hotel at the corner of Queen Street. Along the street front there was an elevated sidewalk erected on cedar posts with stringers. The sidewalk was about six feet wide and high enough to enable boys to explore underneath as, of course, they used to do. About 1858, Osborne Spiers & Co., erected a three-storey brick building, later known as Spiers' Block, on the Foundry Street corner. The building contained two stores fronting on King Street, one occupied by Wm. Spiers as a grocery and wine and spirit merchant, and the other a dry goods store first occupied by Mr. Stanton and later by W. H. G. Knowles who had been clerk at Stanton's.

The members of the first Berlin band, organized in 1855, had rooms on the third floor of the building and met there for practice, Next to Spiers Block there was for many years a vacant lot and next to that a small, one-storey frame building with gable toward King Street, ten feet back from the street line, used by Wm. Brown, the first stone cutter and tombstone maker in Berlin. He was also painter, paper-hanger, glazer, and dealer in marble and stone. Next to this, about 1856, Lelinen Brothers had a frame building one storey and a half high, occupied as tinsmith shop and store for tinware, the shop being at the rear. In 1860 this building was replaced by the Snyder Block, a narrow, three-story brick building. Frederick Snyder, who had been apprentice at Lehnen Bros., had this building. He was very industrious and in the habit of working until one and two o'clock in the morning when he came to own the business.

Next was a frame building, a story and a half, partly occupied by Charles Geddes, seedsman, and partly by the office of W. H. Bowlby, barrister and attorney-at-law, later County Crown Attorney.


REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) By JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930

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On the Bite of the Weber farm buildings Crown Attorney W. H. Bowlby had his place, Bowhill, for many years.* The fine house, built in 1861, was latterly the office of the Goodrich Company, until it was torn down in 1930.

*See W. H. Bowlby biography, 1917 Report W.H.S.


REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) By JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930







Elected Office:
Municipality : Berlin Years on local council: Reeve 1865-68
Years on Waterloo County Council 1865 1866 1867 1868

Ward married Elizabeth "Lissie" Hespeler 10 Apr 1861, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Elizabeth (daughter of Jacob George Hespeler, Esq. and Elisabeth "Lissie" "Lizzie" "Elise" Knoth) was born 5 Nov 1839, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 11 Jan 1920, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Historic Building: 152 Guelph Ave., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; 2 story large stone house
• Name: Elizabeth "Lissie" Bowlby
• Name: Lissie Hespeler
• Name: Lizzie Hespeler
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-34977
• Residence: 1852, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1861, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1861, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Christian
• Residence: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England
• Residence: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England
• Residence: 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Anglican
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England

Notes:

Funeral of Mrs. Bowlby

The remains of the late Elizabeth Hespeler, relict of the late Ward H. Bowlby K. C., whose death took place in Toronto, arrived in Kitchener on Monday and were interred in the family mausoleum at Mount Hope cemetery. Services were held at St, John's Anglican Church, and were conducted by Rev. J. W. J. Andrew, of St. Thomas, and Rev. H. M. Langford, rector of the church,

The deceased was in her eightieth year, and had lived in Kitchener for over half a century. She was actively interested in charitable institutions, and during the war, rendered a valuable service for the various patriotic organizations in Kitchener. She is survived by one grandchild, Mrs. Robertson, of Ottawa, daughter of Sir George E. Perley, two sisters and one brother, Mrs. Walker of Toronto, Mrs. Cutler of Preston, and Mr. Jacob Hespeler, Toronto.

New Hamburg Independent, January 16, 1920

Historic Building:
Large 2 story stone house built by Jacob Hespeler. Sold to his daughter Lissie Bowlby in 1870 for $1. Sold to Andrew Simpson post master in 1877. Sold to Robert and Henry Swan merchants in 1877 who sold in 1888.

Other Events:

• Military: captain in the war of 1812-14
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-37418
• Residence: 1881, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England

Notes:

Adam Bowlby, a resident of this Province since 1815, dates his birth in Wilmot, county Annapolis, Nova Scotia, March 29, 1792. His father, Richard Bowlby, a native of New Jersey, was a U. E. loyalist, and a volunteer for a short time during the rebellion of the American colonies, and was a captain in the war of 1812-14. His grandfather was from Nottinghamshire, England, and his mother from Sheffield. Adam received a common English education; came to Upper Canada in 1815 against his father's wishes, who, under the circumstances, would render the son no assistance. He made his home two or three years with his uncle, Thomas Bowlby, in Norfolk county; took up land on lake Erie, two miles from Otter Creek, doing settler's duties on it; traded it for land at Windham, which he subsequently disposed of; and bought 450 acres in Townsend, where he lived for twenty-one years, adding to his land from time to time, until he had between 2,000 and:3,000 acres, and was richer than his father. He served as magistrate and district councilor several years; was orderly sergeant under his father in 1812-14, and Captain of the Waterford company during the rebellion of 1837-38.

About 1844 Mr. Bowlby gave his property in Townsend largely to his second son, the only farmer in the family, and his only daughter; removed to Waterford, same county, and bought fifty acres of land adjoining the village, disposing of it some years afterwards, giving most of it to his sons. He was for seventeen consecutive years treasurer of a masonic lodge, in the county of Norfolk.

Of late years Mr. Bowlby has lived with his children, first one and then another. The climate at Berlin agrees with him best, and it is not unlikely that he may end his days here. He is approaching his 90th year, and does not like to travel. He is slightly deaf, yet clear headed for a man of his years, and quite interesting in conversation. He was placed in independent circumstances years ago.
His wife, whom he chose in 1819, and who was Elizabeth Sovereign, from New Jersey, died in 1866, leaving six children, all well settled. Alfred, the eldest son, is a physician and surgeon at Waterford; William has the old homestead at Townsend; David Sovereign, is a physician and surgeon in Berlin; Ward Hamilton is a barrister, and LL.B., and county attorney and clerk of the peace for Waterloo; John Wedgewood, is a barrister and LL.B., at Brantford, and Mary Ursula is the wife of Col. Walker Powell, of Ottawa, Adjutant-General of the Dominion of Canada.

\bCanadian Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men, Ontario Volume, 1880

Adam married Elizabeth Sovereign 1819. Elizabeth was born 9 Mar 1795, , New Jersey; died 19 Aug 1867, Canandaigua, Ontario, New York, USA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabeth Bowlby
• Eby ID Number: dnf-90943

Other Events:

• Business: Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Distillery
• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120754280
• Historic Building: 152 Guelph Ave., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; 2 story large stone house
• Historic Building: Dovecote
• Name: Jakob Hespeler
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-27047P
• Occupation: 1852, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Merchant
• Elected Office: 1856, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Warden
• Elected Office: 1859, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Reeve of Hespeler
• Residence: 1860, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1861, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Miller
• Residence: 1861, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Christian
• Historic Building: CA 1865, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Woollen Mill
• Occupation: 1871, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer and Manufacturer
• Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region: Bef 2012, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

Death of Jacob Hespeler, Esq.

On Tuesday afternoon many of the residents of Galt were very much grieved to learn that a dispatch had been received from Hespeler announcing the death of this gentleman. Mr. Hespeler had been had apparently quite well day, and after the mail arrived had walked to the post office and got his mail. Returning to his residence, he sat down to read his paper, the and while so engaged his servant had her attention directed towards him by a peculiar cough. Speaking to him she got no reply, and seeing that he was ill, at be once went for assistance. Medical aid in being secured it was seen that but a few minutes of life were left, and very soon after, without regaining consciousness, he breathed his last. And so closed this busy, eventful life- a life which for over it fifty years has not, we believe, seen an Idle day.

Mr. Hespeler was in his 71st year. He came to Canada in 1836, and a after a short an residence.in Montreal moved to. Preston, where he opened a store and shortly after a Distillery. In these enterprises he was very successful, and rapidly accumulated competence. His attention having been directed to the valuable water-power on the Speed at Hespeler, he finally disposed of his businesses at Preston and invested his capital in the large flouring mill, distillery, and shortly after the large woolten mill property, which was destroyed by fire about twelve years ago. These enterprises greatly prospered, that prosperity being only interrupted by the fire which we have mentioned. Some years ago, Mr. Hespeler almost retired from these businesses and left Hespeler, to engage in other enterprises in Hamilton and elsewhere. Retiring from these he again moved back to the village, where he has since constantly resided.

During his life in Preston, Mr. Hespeler occupied the position of Reeve and represented that village at the County Council. Conservative in politics, he entered into the various contests in this and contiguous constituencies with the greatest energy. In 1862, we think, The was the Conservative candidate for South Waterloo, a contest then taking place owing to the dissolution of the Macdonald-Sicotte Ministry. In that contest Mr. Hespeler was defeated by Mr. James Cowan. Nowise daunted, successive contests saw him ever ready with counsel and assistance, and it may safely be said that few in the Riding at one time or another had more personal power with the electorate than the gentleman of whom we write.

Mr. Hespeler was one of a large family, of whom, we believe, many are yet living. Mr. Wm. Hespeler, of Winnipeg, is one brother, and living in this neighborhood are its sisters, Mrs. Adam Warnock, Mrs. Beck and Mrs. Chapman. His own family consisted of Mr.George Hespeler, of Galt, Mr. Jacob Hespeler, manager of the branch of Molson's Dank, Waterloo, Mr. Chas. Hespeler, of Hespeler, Mrs. W. H. Bowlby, of Berlin, Mrs. Farr, of Holyoke, Mass, Mrs. John Walker, of London, and Mrs. John Cutler, of Preston.

On Saturday last, Mr. Hespeler was in Galt, and calling upon his old friends, appeared to be as healthy, and as likely to see many more days, as he has done for the last twenty years. He was then full of hope and many schemes for the future. His end was fearfully sudden; but there is reason for thankfulness that when it came he was spared suffering.

Galt Reporter 25 Mar 1881
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Jacob Hespeler

Cambridge Hall of Fame
Inducted 1995

Jacob Hespeler was born in Ehningen Germany in 1811, the eldest son of John George Hespeler and Anna Barbara Wick. His mother's grandfather was Count Andrassy, an Hungarian nobleman. The evidence suggests that he was twice married, first to Eliza "Lissie" Knoth (c.1835) and sometime later to Elise Diehl. He had nine children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. Little is known of Mr Hespeler's early years others than that he was educated in Nancy, France and emigrated to Canada with all but one of his nine brothers and sisters. Mr Hespeler spent a number of years working in the fur trade first in association with John Jacob Astor and then with the Hudson Bay Co. In about 1835 he decided to settle down and moved to the German community of Preston. There he opened a store with a man named Yoeste (Yost). It appears that Mr Yoeste had some difficulty with the authorities in the United States and before long Mr Hespeler was the sole owner of the business. This single store was not sufficient to satisfy Mr Hespeler's boundless energies and he soon turned his sights on some land upon which he could build a grist mill, a mill that would run in opposition to one already operated by Preston's leading family, the Erbs. Mr Hespeler located a suitable site along the Grand River near its confluence with the Speed River. The evidence suggests that Mr Hespeler neglected to purchase water rights when he obtained the mill site and after beginning to dig the race needed to bring in the water that would power the mill was forced to abandon the site. He then turned to a site on King Street where he proceeded to erect a grist mill, a stone store and a distillery. Mr Hespeler became a fairly prominent businessman in Preston and served as the Captain of the Preston Hook and Ladder Co. when it was organized in 1844. It was at about this time that Mr Hespeler decided to broaden his business activities. Beginning on 6 Feb 1845 he purchased a total of 145 acres fronting on the Speed River in the settlement of New Hope. Mr Hespeler replaced the existing dam on his new property with a much bigger one in keeping with his ambitious plans for the site. He began with the building of a grist mill in 1847 followed shortly thereafter by a sawmill and a cooperage. These were followed by a gas house, a distillery and, in 1861, a stone woollen mill. He also built a stone housing block known as the "Riverside Terraces" which was built to house unmarried men working in his factories. He was also a major benefactor of both the Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches in the village, assisting in the construction of each. Although Mr Hespeler was increasingly involved with his growing business concerns in New Hope, he continued to maintain close ties to Preston. He continued operating his store, mill and distillery in Preston and in 1850 started a factory that was among the first in Canada to use the new "German" or "quick" method of vinegar production. Traditionally vinegar was made by a two stage process of natural fermentation which required several months to produce a complete vinegar. The new "German" process produced vinegar in a much shorter period. Mr Hespeler's vinegar was sent to the Great Exhibition at Hyde Park in London in 1851 and met with such acceptance that he began exporting his vinegar to the English market the following year. Mr Hespeler's activities extended beyond his business concerns. He was Preston's second postmaster serving in the position from 1851 to 1859. He served on Preston's council both in 1852, when he was elected as the newly incorporated village's first Reeve, and from 1854 to 1858, the last three years of which he was once again named Reeve. In 1852 he also served as Preston's representative on the first Waterloo County provisional council. Following his service on Preston's Council, Mr Hespeler was elected to serve as the first reeve of the newly incorporated and newly named Village of Hespeler, holding the office from 1859 to 1862. The incorporation of the settlement of New Hope as the village of Hespeler was due in no small part to the efforts of Jacob Hespeler and was, in part, based on the coming of the Great Western Railway to New Hope on its route from Galt to Guelph. The presence of the railway construction crews in the vicinity of New Hope encouraged Mr Hespeler to call for a census of the settlement in 1857 hoping to find enough "residents" to qualify for incorporation under the terms of the Ontario Municipal Act of 1849. Incorporation was essential to Mr Hespeler's plans for the settlement which could then separate from the county and elect its own Council with jurisdiction over all aspects of roads and bridges and a variety of other issues, the most important being the location of industries and the ability to make provision for fire protection and public health. The census was duly taken and on 31 July 1858 the government of her majesty Queen Victoria proclaimed that the settlement of New Hope would become the incorporated Village of Hespeler effective 1 Jan 1859. In 1861, Mr Hespeler ran as a Conservative candidate for the Legislative Assembly but was defeated by the Liberal James Cowan. He was never again a candidate for parliament but he maintained an involvement in later campaigns by providing advice and assistance. It was said that few people in the riding had as much influence with the electorate as Mr Hespeler. At about the same time Mr Hespeler sold his businesses in Preston and, in 1861, built a large stone woollen mill close to his other factories on the Speed River in Hespeler. This mill was severely damaged by fire in 1869 and shortly there after Mr Hespeler moved to California. He lived there for a number of years and then returned to Hespeler where he died on 22 Mar 1881. He is buried in New Hope Cemetery.

https://www.city.cambridge.on.ca/cs_pubaccess/hall_of_fame.php?aid=22

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Wesleyan Methodist and Methodist New Connexion St. Paul's United Church

The earliest Methodist services were said to have begun in 1861 when the Rev. E.W. Frazee arrived in Preston. He organized a congregation which met at first in the upper room of a woolen mill on Eagle Street and then in the frame Lutheran church on King Street; members of the New Connexion Methodists began to meet in the Town Hall at about the same time. Rev. Charles Freshman, the German Wesleyan Methodist missionary, began preaching to English- and German-speaking congregations on May 3, 1862. In his autobiography Rev. Dr. Freshman is quoted: "I preached at St. George in the morning, Paris in the afternoon and at Preston in the evening. Our other regular appointments were Strasburg, Roseville, Conestoga [sic], New Dundee, Doon and occasionally in Princeton" (Freshman 1868: 214).

A stone church was built at the corner of Duke and Argyle Streets in 1864 on property which had been donated by Jacob Hespeler; the church was opened on September 25, 1864. Dedicatory services were held in English by Mr. Rice and Mr. Carrol and in German by Rev. Freshman. Four acres of land between King and Queen (now Queenston Road) Streets were purchased from Jacob Hespeler on July 15, 1868 by the trustees of the Wesleyan Methodist and New Connexion churches. A newer, larger church was built on this property and completed on October 18, 1868. Although union of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada and the Methodist New Connexion Church did not occur until 1874 it is quite possible that the two congregations in Preston had already formed their own union with the building of the church in 1868. For some years it was a community church where other denominations also worshipped.

In 1871 the church was enlarged; the tower and spire were added at the same time. A Sunday School was built in 1875-1879 during the ministry of Rev. James McAllister. In 1877 the congregation was given permission to sell the old New Connexion Church and to apply the proceeds towards improvements on the new church. The Circuit was divided in 1883 when Preston, Zion and Doon were separated from Hespeler. In 1887 Preston was by itself, but at the Annual Conference in 1897 of the Methodist Church, Guelph Conference, Galt District, Preston was divided into a circuit consisting of Preston and Doon. The church became self-supporting at that time. Preston later was with Hespeler until 1909 when each became an independent charge. The congregation of Preston Methodist Church became Preston United Church in 1925 and later, in 1933, St. Paul's United Church. The cornerstone for a new Sunday School was laid in 1921; the addition was completed in 1922. Further additions were constructed in 1955 and 1967.

Waterloo County Churches A Research Guide To Churches Established Before 1900 By Rosemary Ambrose

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Shortly after Ferrie and Liebschuetz had opened stores in Preston, two young Germans who had been living in the United States, came to Preston and opened a store, in the premises first occupied by Liebschuetz. These two Germans were a Jew named Yost and Jacob Hespeler. They did a good business, but it appeared that Mr. Yost had committed some fraud in Philadelphia, was pursued, captured and taken to Hamilton jail to await his trial. Hespeler managed to make a compromise with Yost's creditors, upon receiving an assignment of all Yost's interests in the store. A short time afterwards Hespeler built a large store and extended his business to a considerable extent; he had also built a distillery some time before.

Fifth Annual Report Of The Waterloo Historical Society, 1917 pg 27

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PRESTON STORE

The Subscriber most respectifully informs his friends, customers the public in general, that continues business in his own name, at the old stand formerly kept by himself and partner, in the Village of Preston where he will be pleased to see and wait upon his old customers and others who may please to favor him with a call. His Goods are of the best quality, which he will sell very low for either cash, produce or the usual. credit.

BERNARD YOESTE.

Village of Preston, - June 5th, 1837, 25-tf

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NOTICE

I hereby give Notice to those Merchants, Traders, and others with whom I have been accustomed to deal and traffic and Dealers and the public generally, that the Letter of attorney heretofore made by me, constituting and appointing Bernard Yoeste my true and lawful attorney and agent, is REVOKED, ANNULLED AND MADE VOID; and that the said, Bernard Yoeste, is no longer my attorney and agent; and that I will not be liable for, nor will I pay any debts of his contracting after this date-and I hereby forbid all and every person and persons paying unto the said Bernard Yoeste any sum and sums of money now due me or that may hereafter become due or dealing or transacting business with him on my account.

JACOB HESPELER

Dated Preston, Waterloo Township, Upper Canada, this twenty fifth day of May 1837

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N. B. I have removed my Store to my new buildings. near my Distillery I shall continue to keep a large assortment of cheap Goods, constantly on hand, and try to accommodate my customers and the public in general, as well possible.

J. H. [Jacob Hespeler]

Historic Building:
Large 2 story stone house built by Jacob Hespeler. Sold to his daughter Lissie Bowlby in 1870 for $1. Sold to Andrew Simpson post master in 1877. Sold to Robert and Henry Swan merchants in 1877 who sold in 1888.

Business:
Jacob Hespeler's distillery, later became the Brodie Shoddy Mill, and home to the Hespeler Scouts during the late 1940s -50s.. Image from: Hespeler, Canada : a souvenir of the factory town 1901

Historic Building:
CAMBRIDGE \emdash Dovecote or not, a historic stone tower that was built for Hespeler's founder at least 180 years ago will be relocated to a nearby park from its current location.

On Tuesday evening, Cambridge council heard opposing opinions about whether an old stone tower found at the Forbes estate on Guelph Avenue was a dovecote or not. A dovecote is a building that houses birds to be eaten.

In the end, it didn't matter what the historic stone tower's original purpose was when council ended a long and passionate debate with a vote to relocate the historic stone tower.

"We're all very interested in ensuring that this tower is conserved," Mayor Kathryn McGarry, who supported moving the tower, said during Tuesday's meeting.

She said the tower's association with Jacob Hespeler and his agricultural complex will be preserved, and even strengthened, by relocating it to Jacob's Landing Park about 400 metres away from its current spot on a property that is up for redevelopment into a subdivision....

"Historic Stone Tower In Hespeler Will Be Relocated". 2022. Therecord.Com. https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2022/02/15/historic-stone-tower-in-hespeler-will-be-relocated.html.

Jacob — Elisabeth "Lissie" "Lizzie" "Elise" Knoth. Elisabeth (daughter of Knoth and Elenore "Laura") was born 28 Oct 1817, , Germany; died 14 Oct 1881, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , New Hope Cemetery, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elisabeth "Lissie" "Lizzie" "Elise" Hespeler
• Name: Elise Knoth
• Name: Lissie Knoth
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-35032
• Residence: 1852, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1861, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Christian

Notes:

In Preston, on Friday afternoon, 14th inst., at half-past 3 o'clock, Lissie Hespeler, Relict of the late Jacob Hespeler, aged 65 years.

Galt Reporter Oct 21 1881 pg 8

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: dnf-95841

Other Events:

• Name: George Hespeler
• Name: John George Hespeler
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-86859
• Residence: 1809, Eningen, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Notes:

It is reported that Johann George Hespeler was born 8 Nov 1784 in Eningen, Wurttemburg, Germany and married Anna Barbara Wick 27 July 1809 in Ehingen who was the daughter of Jacob Wick and Marie Ursula Wick. Anna was born 26 Nov 1791 in Eningen. Johann was employed as a merchant businessman with the house of Mayer Amschel Rothschild. Sources are needed to confirm.

Johann married Anna Barbara Wick 27 Jul 1809, Eningen, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Anna was born 26 Nov 1791, Ehningen, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany; died 21 Dec 1881, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Trinity Anglican Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Anna Babette Wick
• Name: Anna Barbara Hespeler
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-86860
• Residence: 1809, Eningen, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany
• Residence: 1861, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Christian
• Residence: 1861, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1871, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

Death of Mrs. Hespeler
From Galt Reporter

Obituary - We record this week the close of a very remarkable life, in the death of Mrs. Hespeler, aged 90 years and a few days, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, person in Galt. Mrs. Hespeler was one of the links connecting the present life with that of the last century. She was born at Ehningen, Wurtemberg, Germany, and witnessed there for many years most of the stirring events which occurred during the Napoleon wars. She frequently saw Napoleon 1, and many of the Crowned Heads of Europe at that time, as well as many of very celebrated Generals of the allied armies. In 1812 she witnessed the return of the French Army on its retreat from Moscow, and her description of their terrible sufferings and appearance from wounds, frost-bites and hunger, were most thrilling. Her description may be best appreciated when it is known that of the Wurtemberg contingent which accompanied Napoleon 1, in the Russian campaign, only five percent, ever again reached their homes.

Early in the present century Mrs. Hespeler and her husband were largely engaged in business with the House of Meyer Anschel Rothschild, of Frankfurt, the founder of the great Banking House. She often spoke of the little back parlor at Zion Rothen Schilde, and the quiet steadfast business manner of the great man who has since left his mark upon the financial dealings of all Europe. In 1840, her husband died, leaving her with all the responsibility of a large family to bring up and educate. In 1852 she decided to emigrate to Canada, where her children had preceded her, her two sons, the late Jacob Hespeler, and Mr. Wm. Hespeler, then occupying prominent positions as Millers, Merchants and Manufacturers at Preston, Hespeler and Waterloo. In 1872 Mrs. Hespeler returned to Germany, thinking there to end her days, but returned, we believe, within the year, finding, like so many under similar circumstances, that so far as her native country was concerned, she had outlived her friends and could no longer enjoy the changed features of the old home life. Possessed of a very retentive memory, and having been a most extensive traveler in that country and Italy, her reminiscence of scenes there were always powerfully described and very interesting, and when in her later years she met her old friends, nothing gave her greater presence than when talking over the eventful scenes through which she had passed her long life.

Guelph Mercury - Dec 24 1881 pg 1

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-143208

— Elenore "Laura". Elenore was born 1775, , Germany; died 12 Dec 1863, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , New Hope Cemetery, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elenore "Laura" Knoth
• Name: Laura
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-28513P
• Residence: 1852, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

Residence:
She is living with Jacob Hespeler