Joseph Southworth Perine, Esq^{[1, 2]}

Cal 1820 - 1880  (~ 59 years)

• Name	Joseph Southworth Perine
  Suffix	Esq
  Born	CALC 3 Oct 1820	Jackson, Washington, New York, United States   [2, 3, 4, 5]
  Gender	Male
  Building	Perine Brothers, Conestogo, Ontario
  	Perine Brothers (Conestoga Site)
  Residence	1860	Baden, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [6]
  Occupation	1861	Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  	Flax Miller
  Residence	1861	Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  	Presbyterian
  Directory	1864	Perine Brothers, Doon, Waterloo, Ontario   [7]
  Occupation	1871	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	Manufacturer
  Residence	1871	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	C. Presbyterian
  Died	26 Jul 1880	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [5, 8]
  Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region	Bef 2012	, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [9]
  	manufacturer
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-48970
  Buried	Oakwood Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York, United States   [8]
  Person ID	I48970	Generations
  Last Modified	9 Jun 2025

  
  

  Father	John Perine,   b. 5 Sep 1787, Salem, Washington, New York, USA ,   d. 4 Nov 1848, , Washington Co., New York  (Age 61 years)
  Mother	Hannah Billings,   b. 1792, , New York State, USA ,   d. 1 Sep 1875, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 83 years)
  Family ID	F35508	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Harriet S.,   b. Abt 1820, Of, Conestogo, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 20 May 1859, Conestogo, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age ~ 39 years)
  Last Modified	10 Jun 2025
  Family ID	F18548	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Rhoda C. Smith,   b. CALC 18 Sep 1822, Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York, USA ,   d. 19 Jun 1878, Doon (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age ~ 55 years)
  Married	24 Oct 1860	Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York, USA   [6]
  Children	1. Robert T. Perine,   b. 1858, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Last Modified	10 Jun 2025
  Family ID	F34762	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  The Perine brothers, Moses, Joseph and William, moved to Canada West from Troy, New York, in the early 1850s. Curious neighbors in Doon would have appreciated the influx of capital into the local lumber industry, but might have been skeptical of the brothers' rumored flax project. Their accounts reveal that they left a homestead farm in April, 1854 and took an inventory of the stock, tools, livestock and grain which were to be sold to the new owner. Flax or flax products do not appear on the list. Where the Perines' interest in flax originated is unknown, but we do know that it was part of their business in Doon from the very first transactions. On April 19, 1854 they paid for "Planks to Build Flax Mill," and they sold flax seed to farmer clients as early as May, 1854. It seems likely that the flax mill was built close to or adjacent to their sawmill in Doon and the business accounts titled "Doon" recorded transactions from both businesses. In the following decades the Perines' business evolved and eventually consolidated its interests in cordage manufacturing. The Doon mills remained the business headquarters until the factory was moved to Kitchener at the end of the First World War, under the name Doon Twines. The business continues to operate in Kitchener as Canada Cordage Inc. From the1860s until it moved to the country's urban centre it was the most important industry in Doon and, during the 1880s, in all of Waterloo Township. In the late 19th century Doon became known as Towtown after the mill's major industrial output. In 1861, according to Elizabeth Bloomfield [Waterloo Township through Two Centuries, Kitchener, ON, Waterloo Historical Society, 1995] the Perines were not among the leading 100 rural property-holders of Waterloo Township, but by 1881 they were seventh in the township with property worth $9,000. At the turn of the century their mills were worth $31,000 - the most valuable property in the township. In 1871, the Perine mill at Doon was among the larger mills with 29 workers (20 men and boys with nine women and girls), and its fixed capital was over twice the average for flax mills and almost four times that of the average cordage mills. ...Hannah Perine died 12 years later [than 1863] and was buried in Berlin. [photo caption page 64] Even as a teenager in Doon, Homer Watson was recognized as a talented artist. Moses Bilings Perine commissioned the young man to paint a portrait of his mother, Hannah Bilings Perine. This 1870s work by Watson was copied from an earlier, anonymous painting. Both portraits are in the permanent collection of the City of Kitchener's Home Watson House & Gallery. [photo caption, page 53] Around 1900, photographer Oscar Stroh stood behind the Schweitzer Hotel on King Street (now Sawmill Road), Conestogo and faced northwest to take this picture of the flax mill on Glasgow Street North. The mill is gone but the Ebel home remains. Excerpts from "The Perine Flax and Lumber Mills in Ontario, 1854 - 1871," by Josua D. MacFadyen, Waterloo Historical Society Volume 93 - 2005, pp. 51 - 75. Used with permission of the author and Waterloo Historical Society.

  
  

• Sources

  [S14] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Berlin Chronicle (1856-1860), 31 May 1859. At Conestoga, C.W., on the 20th May, Harriet S., wife of Joseph S. Perine, Esq. [S7] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Berliner Journal (1859-1917), 27 Jun 1878. Died 18 Jun 1878 Rhoda C. Perine in Doon, wife of J. S. Perine died at the age of 55 years and 9 months [S604] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo South - 1871, Div. 3, Pg. 30. [S844] Census - ON, Waterloo, Wilmot - 1861, Sect. 12 Page 73. [S116] Vit - ON - Death Registration. Name: Joseph Southworth Perine Sex: Male Age: 59 Death Date: 26 Jul 1880 Death Place: Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Event Type: Death Birth Year (Estimated): 1821 Jackson, Washington, N. Y. S. Death Place: Waterloo Twp, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Death Age: 59 years 9 months 23 days Informant. R. T. Pierine, manufacturer Occ: manufacturer, Doon Flax Mills [S20] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Berlin Telegraph (title varies: Berlin Telegraph, Berlin Daily Telegraph) (1853-1922), 26 Oct 1860. Perine - Woodruff: By the Rev'd. Alexander McColl, at Niagara Falls, N.Y. on the 24th inst., J. S. Perine, Esq., of Baden, C.W., to Mrs. R. C. Woodruff, of the former place. [S330] Directory - ON, Waterloo - 1864 - County of Waterloo gazetteer and general business directory for 1864. [S3231] Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/226401832. [S220] Waterloo Region Hall of Fame Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.

  
  

• Event Map

  Building - Perine Brothers (Conestoga Site) - - Perine Brothers, Conestogo, Ontario Residence - 1860 - Baden, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Married - 24 Oct 1860 - Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York, USA Occupation - Flax Miller - 1861 - Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Presbyterian - 1861 - Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Directory - 1864 - Perine Brothers, Doon, Waterloo, Ontario Occupation - Manufacturer - 1871 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - C. Presbyterian - 1871 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 26 Jul 1880 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region - manufacturer - Bef 2012 - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Oakwood Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York, United States  = Link to Google Earth