Adeen Weber

Other Events:

• Name: Adeen Shantz
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-41621
• Residence: 1911, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Adeen married Jeriah Leroy "Leroy" Shantz 25 Nov 1918, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Jeriah (son of Josiah G. Shantz and Isabella Wambold) was born 26 Sep 1900, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 30 Dec 1966, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Memory Gardens Cemetery, Breslau, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

1. Ruth Shantz was born 23 Apr 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 2009, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: 00127-7659.4
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical Association
• Occupation: 1901, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Upholsterer
• Occupation: 1911, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Upholsterer - Furniture factory
• Residence: 1911, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical Association
• Residence: 1919, 186 Queen St. N., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Roland married Annie Louise "Louise" Albert 22 Aug 1895, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Annie (daughter of Johannes A. "John" Albert and Anna Elizabeth "Elizabeth" Kormann) was born 22 Apr 1876, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 1944; was buried , Bridgeport Memorial Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Annie Louise "Louise" Weber
• Name: Louisa Albert
• Name: Louise Albert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-41619
• Residence: 1881, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1891, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1911, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1919, 186 Queen St. N., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: 00127-7659
• Occupation: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; harness maker
• Occupation: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Harness Maker
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical Association
• Occupation: 1891, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Bookkeeper
• Residence: 1891, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Methodist
• Occupation: 1901; Painter Waterloo, Waterloo Co. Ontario
• Occupation: 1911, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Painter, Houses
• Residence: 1911, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Notes:

Solomon Weber, was born May 27th, 1849. In November, 1869, he was married to Judith, daughter of Senator Samuel Merner of New Hamburg. She was born December 19th, 1851. Mr. Weber is a saddler and book-keeper by trade. At present he resides in the town of Waterloo where he is engaged with The Waterloo Manufacturing Company. His family consists of four children, namely: VII Norman E., VII Roland W., VII Milton E., and VII Elden S."


Eby, Ezra E. (1895). A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.].

Solomon married Judith Ann Merner Nov 1869. Judith (daughter of Senator Samuel Merner and Mary Ann Grasser) was born 19 Dec 1851, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Judith Ann Weber
• Eby ID Number: 00127-7659.1
• Residence: 1861, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical Association
• Residence: 1891, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Methodist
• Residence: 1911, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Name: John A. Albert
• Name: John Albert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-37802
• Residence: 1861, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Reformed
• Residence: 1872, Bridgeport (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1878, 6 Bridge St. W., Bridgeport, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hotel Keeper
• Residence: 1881, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1891, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hotel Keeper
• Residence: 1891, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Johannes married Anna Elizabeth "Elizabeth" Kormann 30 Apr 1872, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Anna was born CALC 19 Feb 1844, , Germany; died 21 Mar 1922, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Bridgeport Free Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Nationality: , Germany
• Name: Anna Elizabeth "Elizabeth" Albert
• Name: Elisabeth Kormann
• Name: Elizabeth Korman
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-37803
• Immigration: 1867, , Ontario, Canada
• Immigration: 1867, , Canada
• Immigration: 1870, , Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1871, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Servant
• Occupation: 1871, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Servant
• Residence: 1871, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1871, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1872, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1881, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1891, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Directory: 1912, 186 Queen St. N., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, 186 Queen St. N., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1921, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9066640
• Interesting: religion, story, pioneer, mill
• Eby ID Number: 00127-7655
• Occupation: 1851, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; German Methodist Minister
• Occupation: 1880, Walkerton, Brant Twp., Bruce Co., Ontario, Canada; Preacher

Notes:

Solomon Weber," was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, July 10th, 1810. He came to Canada when quite a young man (in 1829 or 1830). He was a miller and was engaged in different mills before he set out as a minister. On April 23rd, 1832 he was married to Catherine Roos. Shortly after their marriage he moved to New Hamburg where he was engaged in the milling business. Thus we see that he was one of the early pioneers of Wilmot Township. In 1839 he experienced religion and labored six years as a local preacher. In 1849 he entered the itinerant ministry in which he remained in active service until old age and partial blindness caused his retirement. He was then placed on the superannuated list. During the time he was a local preacher he preached 500 sermons, and during his active ministry he delivered 5370 sermons. During the last ten years of his life he found a pleasant home and loving care in the home of his son-in-law, Frederick Guggisberg of Walkerton, Ontario. After a short illness he passed quietly and peacefully away to mansions beyond, February 8th, 1889. His wife died in the year 1880. Their family consists of eight children"


Eby, Ezra E. (1895). A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.].

_____________________________

Jacob Merner with his wife and family emigrated from Germany and settled on a farm miles west of New Hamburg in 1837. Several of the ten children still survive, among them being Mr. Christian Merner of whom a sketch appears elsewhere. Wm. Smith had the first blacksmith shop. It was here that the late Samuel Merner learned his trade. Jacob Brill was the first cooper and did a thriving trade in barrels, churns, &c. The pioneer weaver was John Oehm who made cloth for his numerous patrons on his hand loom. Theobald Seyler owned a frame hotel on the site of the present Queen's and John Boeckner did the cobbling and shoemaking for the neighborhood. The latter's shop was on the site of the present residence of Mr. D. Becker. Wendel Schuyler was the first teacher in 1838 or 1839. A portion of the first log schoolhouse still stands near the Cemetery and is used for a dwelling: Soloman Weaver was a miller in the early days and later became an evangelical minister. Business men who came a little later were Wm. Burkhold, who established a brickyard; Fred Merner who started a carriage business and Wm. Hunter, who had a general stare. In the early 50's Sylvester Frank built a brewery. It was of brick and a portion of it is still in use in connection with the present brewery. The village has gradually increased in population and assessment with no particularly stirring events to mark its even progress. The great flood of 1883 due to a cloudburst is an event never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. On that occasion the water covered the streets up to the door of the Imperial hotel, and swept away the Rau, Hartman and Helmer bridges, thus cutting the village off from the outside world. In this its golden jubilee year, New Hamburg stands a community of contented, busy people, living in good homes and doing admirably their little share of the great world's work.

Special Industrial souvenir number of New Hamburg: containing a comprehensive review of the natural advantages and resources of the village of New Hamburg, 1908, Berlin Daily News, Berlin, Ontario

Solomon married Catherine Roos 23 Apr 1832. Catherine (daughter of Johannes "John" Roos and Elisabeth) was born 1810, , Alsace Lorraine, France; died 11 Apr 1880, Walkerton, Brant Twp., Bruce Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Lingelbach Cemetery, South Easthope Township, Perth, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Catherine Weber
• Eby ID Number: 00127-7655.1

Other Events:

• Interesting: politics, story, business
• Eby ID Number: 00127-7659.2
• Residence: 1845, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; foundry man
• Occupation: 1861, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; ?
• Residence: 1861, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Business: 1862, Peel St., New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; New Hamburg Foundry
• Business: 1867, Peel St., New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; New Hamburg Foundry
• Historic Building: 1868, 145 Peel St., New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Puddicombe House
• Occupation: 1871, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Iron Foundry
• Elected Office: 1872, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Reeve/Mayor
• Elected Office: 1873, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Warden for the County of Waterloo
• Occupation: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Manufacturer
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Reformed Presbyterian
• Occupation: 1891, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Furniture Manufacturer
• Residence: 1891, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical
• Elected Office: 1894, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Reeve/Mayor
• Residence: 1894, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Elected Office: 1896, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Warden for the County of Waterloo
• Website: 2007
• Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region: Bef 2012, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; politican, blacksmith, newspaper editor,

Notes:

A grist-mill built by Josiah Cushman about 1834 formed the nucleus around which a small community of Amish Mennonites and recent German immigrants developed. A village plot was surveyed in 1845 and six years later a post-office, New Hamburg, was established with William Scott, an early mill-owner, as postmaster. By then the village, with a population of 500, contained several prosperous industries, including a pottery, and the carriage-works and foundry of Samuel Merner, a prominent Swiss-born entrepreneur. The construction of the Grand Trunk Railway, completed in 1856, and agricultural prosperity stimulated the community's development as an important centre for milling and farm machinery production. New Hamburg was incorporated as a Village, with about 1100 inhabitants, in 1857 and as a Town in 1966.


Text from the Founding of New Hamburg Plaque

_____________________________

MERNER (Muerner, Mürner), SAMUEL, blacksmith, businessman, politician, and jp; b. 9 Jan. 1823 in Kien, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, son of Jakob Emanuel Muerner, a farmer, and Susanna Schluchter; m. first November 1845 Maria Ann Grasser (d. 1890), and they had seven sons and seven daughters; m. secondly 1898 Ellen Sararus, née Fletcher; d. 11 Aug. 1908 in Berlin (Kitchener), Ont.

Samuel Merner attended school in Reichenbach in the central Swiss Alps. He immigrated to Upper Canada with his family in 1837, settling in what would become Waterloo County, where Germans and the German language were common. Jakob Muerner located on a bush farm on Bleam's Road, about two miles east of the village of Hamburg. Samuel stayed on the farm for one year and then was apprenticed to a blacksmith in Preston (Cambridge). He became a journeyman blacksmith in 1840 and four years later established his own shop in Hamburg. He expanded it to make wagons and carriages. The business was sold to his brother Frederick in 1856, by which time Samuel had accumulated sufficient capital to establish a foundry in New Hamburg, as the village had become known, and another in Waterloo. He had anglicized his name, as many German families in the area then did.

Merner's ancestry, however, was no barrier to either success in business or entry into public life in the Waterloo County area. In 1857 he became a member of the council of the newly incorporated village of New Hamburg. He was appointed a justice of the peace in 1862, in which year he purchased the Canadisches Volksblatt, the local German newspaper. As he accumulated public offices - he also served as reeve of New Hamburg (1873-78) and warden of Waterloo County (1878) - his business interests prospered. Though the foundries were turned over to sons in 1873, he still owned two large farms, a major flour-mill and another structure in New Hamburg, and two large buildings in Berlin, where he was associated with William Simpson's furniture company. He was a founding director of the Economical Fire Insurance Company and a director of several other businesses, including the Preston Furniture Company, the John Hoodless Furniture Warehouse in Hamilton, the Dominion Life Assurance Company, and the Canadian Manufacturing Company, which had taken over the Simpson firm. It was said by the Canadian parliamentary companion that "all Swiss people emigrating to the Western Province [Ontario]" were directed to Merner.

In 1878 he stood for election to the Ontario legislature as a Conservative in the Waterloo South by-election. He lost, but later that year he was elected to the House of Commons for Waterloo South, defeating well-known Liberal James Young*. Merner helped his cause by assisting in the establishment of New Hamburg's first English newspaper, the New Hamburg Independent. At the next general election, in 1882, he was defeated by James Livingston, a business competitor from nearby Baden. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald* appointed Merner to the Senate on 12 Jan. 1887.

Merner was very much the dominant personality in the life of New Hamburg in the 1870s and 1880s. He and his family lived in a stately residence situated on the Nith River in the centre of the village. After remarrying, in 1898, he moved to Berlin and took up residence in the Brunswick Hotel, which he owned. His health declined quickly after the move, as did his personal fortune, the result of "reverses" and the failure of his endorsements "for others"; he appears to have tried to commit suicide by taking carbolic acid in 1905. The attempt failed and he actually attended some sittings of the Senate before his death in 1908. Merner was survived by his wife and by four sons and four daughters from his first marriage.

The Berlin News-Record noted his death with the headline "Vital spark passes." "Honest Sam" Merner had little impact on national politics but, like so many public figures of the time, he significantly affected the community in which he lived. A biographer described him as "a typical Swiss burgomeister who achieved wealth and distinction in the New World." That success was the result not of Merner's abilities but of the fact that his small part of the New World had a Germanic tradition that allowed a German-speaking immigrant to flourish. In that sense, he was not so typical of his times in Canada.

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, article by John English AO, RG 22, ser.211, reg.M, no.5196. Univ. of Waterloo Arch. (Waterloo, Ont.), L. J. Breithaupt, diaries, 1905. Waterloo Hist. Soc. (Kitchener, Ont.), Merner file; "Mürner, Muerner, Merner: genealogy and related branches," comp. Ruth Merner Connell (1976). Canadisches Volksblatt (New Hamburg, Ont.), 12 Aug. 1908. News-Record (Berlin [Kitchener]), 11 Aug. 1908. E. H. Bovay, Le Canada et les Suisses, 1604-1974 (Fribourg, Suisse, 1976). Can., Senate, Debates, 1887-1909. Canadian album (Cochrane and Hopkins), 2: 364. Canadian biog. dict. CPG, 1879, 1883, 1903-9. Cyclopædia of Canadian biog. (Rose and Charlesworth), vol.1. E. H. Devitt, "Hon. Samuel Merner," Waterloo Hist. Soc., Annual report, 1940: 139-41. Directory, Waterloo County, 1877/78: 149. Alexander Fraser, A history of Ontario: its resources and development (2v., Toronto, 1907). More than a century in Wilmot Township, [comp. Florence Diamond et al. ] ([New Hamburg, 1967]). Newspaper reference book.

__________________________________


SAMUEL MERNER 1823-1908

Samuel Merner, born and educated in Berne, Switzerland, eventually became a Canadian senator.

He came to Wilmot Township with his parents and nine brothers and sisters in 1837. At Preston he learned the blacksmith trade and four years later at New Hamburg opened a blacksmith business which in time branched into a wagon and carriage trade. He sold his business to his brother Frederick and opened foundries in New Hamburg and Waterloo. In 1873 his sons purchased the foundries.

In 1862 Merner purchased the New Hamburg German newspaper, the Volksblatt, which he sold to Otto Pressprich in 1865.

He was reeve of New Hamburg from 1872 to 1878 and was the first New Hamburg reeve to be chosen warden of Waterloo County. In 1878 he was elected to the Dominion Parliament as an Independent. A supporter of Sir John A. MacDonald, he was appointed to the Senate in 1887.

___________________________

The Hon. Samuel Merner was born in Reichenboch, Canton of Berne, Switzerland, January 29, 1823. He is the son of Jacob Merner, a farmer of the same place. He was educated at Reichenboch, and removed to Canada with his parents in 1837. For several years he did business as an iron founder and manufacturer of furniture. He was married to Mary Anne, daughter of Joseph Crasser, of Wilmot, Ont. He has been Reeve of New Hamburg for several years, and was Warden of Waterloo County in 1873. He has been engaged for several years in the settling in the Province of all the Swiss people emigrating to Canada. At a by-election held in 1877, he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Legislative Assembly for South Waterloo. He held a seat for the same constituency in the Commons from 1878, when he defeated the Hon. James Young, of Galt, to 1882, when he was defeated. He was appointed to the Senate, January 12, 1887. A Conservative. New Hamburg, O.

Personnel of the Senate and House of Commons, Eighth Parliament of Canada Elected June 23, 1896, Portraits and Biographies of the Members, Montreal, John Lovell & son 1898, pg 206

________________________________________

Jacob Merner with his wife and family emigrated from Germany and settled on a farm miles west of New Hamburg in 1837. Several of the ten children still survive, among them being Mr. Christian Merner of whom a sketch appears elsewhere. Wm. Smith had the first blacksmith shop. It was here that the late Samuel Merner learned his trade. Jacob Brill was the first cooper and did a thriving trade in barrels, churns, &c. The pioneer weaver was John Oehm who made cloth for his numerous patrons on his hand loom. Theobald Seyler owned a frame hotel on the site of the present Queen's and John Boeckner did the cobbling and shoemak-ing for the neighborhood. The latter's shop was on the site of the present residence of Mr. D. Becker. Wendel Schuyler was the first teacher in 1838 or 1839. A portion of the first log schoolhouse still stands near the Cemetery and is used for a dwelling: Soloman Weaver was a miller in the early days and later became an evangelical minister. Business men who came a little later were Wm. Burkhold, who established a brickyard; Fred Merner who started a carriage business and Wm. Hunter, who had a general stare. In the early 50's Sylvester Frank built a brewery. It was of brick and a portion of it is still in use in connection with the present brewery. Hse village has gradually increased in population and assessment with no particularly stirring events to mark its even progress. The great flood of 1883 due to a cloudburst is an event never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. On that occasion the water covered the streets up to the door of the Imperial hotel, and swept away the Rau, Hartman and Helmer bridges, thus cutting the village off from the outside world. In this its golden jubilee year, New Hamburg stands a community of contented, busy people, living in good homes and doing admirably their little share of the great world's work.

Special Industrial souvenir number of New Hamburg: containing a comprehensive review of the natural advantages and resources of the village of New Hamburg, 1908, Berlin Daily News, Berlin, Ontario

__________________________________________

SAMUEL MERNER, M. P. , of New Hamburg, was born in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, in 1823. He emigrated with his father's family to Canada in 1837, when they settled a bush farm two miles west of the village, where he now resides, and there his father lived to the age of 86 years. After learning the blacksmith's trade in Preston, our subject opened a shop in New Hamburg in 1844, from the operations of which he embarked in foundry and implement manfacturing busi-ness some years later, and this branch of industry he still carries on. By the exercise of a large degree of energy and a progressive spirit above the average, he has succeeded in amassing a large and valuable property in the village of his residence and environs ; though in order so to do he has not neglected to give that attention to matters of a public nature which is incumbent upon all good citizens. He has held successively the various offices of municipal honor, from Councillor to Warden, and after suffering defeat in a contest for parliamentary honors in 1877, was elected in 1878 to the House of Commons for South Waterloo, as a Conservative and advocate of a protective tariff.

Illustrated Atlas of the County of Waterloo, H. Parsell & Co., Toronto, Ont. 1881

____________________

Merner, Samuel, M.P., formerly Reeve of New Ham-burg. Owns 400 acres in the Townships of Wil-mot and Wellesley, valued at $25,000. Is a native of Switzerland. Born, 1823. Has resided here since 1837.

Illustrated Atlas of the County of Waterloo, H. Parsel & Co., Toronto - 1881 (Village of New Hamburg entries)

___________________________

HON. SAMUEL MERNER.

Hon. Samuel Merner, whose intense and well-directed activity has led him from small beginnings into large business enterprises, stands today as one of the foremost men of western Ontario. He has been and is distinctively a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence. There is in him a native sagacity, a strength of character and a firmness of purpose which have enabled him to leave the impress of his individuality upon any line of action which has claimed his attention and co-operation. Success has seemed to follow his every move, but this is due to no fortunate combination of circumstances. An analyzation of his life work shows that his advancement in business and political lines has come as the result of careful investigation of the questions under consideration, of well formulated plans and unflagging industry in the prosecution of a course which he has marked out.

A resident of Berlin and for many years numbered among the citizens of Waterloo county, for during a long period he made his home at New Hamburg, Mr. Merner comes from a land noted for men of unflinching bravery and resolute purpose. He is a native of Berne, Switzerland, born on the 19th of January, 1823. His parents were Jacob and Susanna (Schluter) Merner, and while spending his boyhood days in their home he pursued his education in the public schools to the age of fourteen years, when in 1837 he accompanied his parents to the new world. The family home was established in Wilmot township, Waterloo county, and after a year devoted to farm labor Samuel Merner was apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade in Preston, Ontario. He served for two years, gaining an accurate knowledge of the business and becoming an expert workman. He then established a shop of his own at New Hamburg and gradually built up an extensive trade in general blacksmithing and in wagon and carriage building. Some years later he sold this business to a brother, Frederick Merner, and opened a foundry at New Hamburg and also one in the village of Waterloo. In 1873 he sold the New Hamburg foundry to his eldest son, Simson, and the Waterloo foundry to his second son, Absalom. In the meantime he had made investments in commercial and industrial interests whereby the development and growth of the county has been largely promoted. For years he was one of the large stockholders in the Simpson & Company furniture factory of Berlin, and when that industry became absorbed in the vast corporation known as the Canadian Manufacturing Company, Limited, he became a director in the new enterprise. He is also a director and president of the Preston Furniture Company, Limited, and director of the John Hoodless furniture warehouse in Hamilton. He also holds stock in the Economical Fire Insurance Company of Berlin, the Dominion Life Assurance Company of Waterloo and the New Hamburg wagon works, and is connected with the directorate of all these. Notably prompt, energetic and reliable, he has made a record in the business world which any man might be proud to possess and has enjoyed to the fullest extent the confidence and admiration of his contemporaries and associates in the business world.

Mr. Merner has been twice married, his first union being with Miss Mary Ann Grassar of Wilmot township, who died in 1890. Their family numbered fourteen children. Following the death of his first wife he wedded Miss Ellen Fletcher, a native of England. He has four sons and four daughters still living and in addition to the two sons named above a third son, Ammon, is foreman of the Waterloo Manufacturing Company, of which Absalom is vice-president, while the fourth son is a hotelman at Clifford, Ontario.

While Mr. Merner 's accomplishments in industrial and commercial circles would entitle him to distinction and representation as one of the prominent men of western Ontario, he is perhaps even better known because of his native and honorable political service. Following his retirement from business he became a leading figure in political circles as an advocate of the Conservative party, which had always received his endorsement at the ballot box. For eighteen years he was reeve of New Hamburg, for ten years was a member of the New Hamburg school board and for two terms was warden of the county of Waterloo. In 1877, at the by-election in South Waterloo, he was nominated as the candidate of his party for the Ontario Legislature. Though defeated at that time, in 1878, at the general election for the House of Commons, he was successful in defeating so distinguished a public man as the Hon. James Young of Galt. Residents of the village of New Ham- burg will long remember the night of September 17, 1878, when their fellow citizen was declared elected as their representative in the Dominion House. The rejoicing which followed bespoke the immense popularity of the candidate. At the general elections of 1882 he was defeated by James Livington, ex-member of Parliament of Baden, Ontario, and in 1887 he was called to the Senate at the instance of the late Sir John A. Macdonald. He has always stood firm in support of his honest convictions and his political service has been marked by the utmost fidelity to the duties that have devolved upon him. His position is never an equivocal one. On the contrary he gives careful consideration to the questions at issue and when once his course is determined nothing con swerve him from the path which he believes to be right. The same honesty of intention and unfaltering course in action have been manifest by him in all the relations of life and have made him therefore a man honored and respected by his political adversaries as well as his political adherents.

A History of Ontario: its resources and development

Historic Building:
Two story yellow brick house built by Samuel Merner, now (2010) a bed and breakfast, restaruant and spa called "Puddicome House". Sold in 1888 to the Puddicombe family.

Website:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Merner

Samuel married Mary Ann Grasser 11 Nov 1845, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Mary (daughter of Francois Joseph "Joseph" Grasser and Maria Eva "Eva" Pingenat) was born CALC 25 Dec 1827, , Alsace Lorraine, France; died 1 Jul 1892, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Mary Ann Merner
• Eby ID Number: 00127-7659.2000
• Immigration: 20 Aug 1832, New York City, New York, USA.
• Residence: 1845, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1861, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1881, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical Association
• Residence: 1891, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Evangelical

Notes:

Died at New Hamburg on Friday, July 1^st, Mary Anna beloved wife of Hon. S. Merner, aged 64 years, 6 months and 6 days.

Elmira Advertiser, July 14, 1892

_________________________

Mrs. Merners Funeral

The burial of the wife of the Hon. Samuel Merner took place on Tuesday last at 2, p. m. The deceased had been ailing for several months previous to her death with some bronchial affection. Mrs. Memer was born in Alsace, and was nearly 66 years of ago at her death. She was the mother of 14 children, 10 of whom are still living. Her remains were followed to the grave by a large concourse of relatives and acguaintances. Among the latter were many officials of the county. The cortage left the house and wended its way to the Evangelical Methodist church on Peel street, where funeral services were held, the Rev. Mr. Umbach officiating. The church choir sang appropriate hymns to an overflowing audience many being unable to gain admittance. The remains were exposed to view in the vestibule and the last affectionate look was taken by the friends before the procession moved to the grave. The remains were then interred in the family burial plot in the village cemetery. Numerous floral offerings were received, among them a magnificent pillow with the words "our mother" from the children of the deceased.

New Hamburg Independent 8 Jul 1892 pg 3

Other Events:

• Name: Henry Albert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-78878
• Occupation: 1871, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Innkeeper
• Residence: 1871, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Heinrich — Margaretha. Margaretha was born 1807, Of, Bridgeport (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 24 Aug 1875, Bridgeport (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Margaretha Albert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-78879