Mr Isaac P. Willson

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, Issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph, Sears & Sawle, Publishers]

One of the County’s most prominent men

A Descendent of the United Empire Loyalists and the Bearer of a Family name that is Associated with the History of the Niagara Peninsula

A Brief Sketch of His Public an Private Career

The subject of this sketch, Isaac P. Willson, Esq. than whom no individual is better known, not only in Welland, but in many parts of the Dominion of Canada, was born in the township of Pelham, county of Welland, April 29,1829, during the the reign of King George the Fourth. His grandfather, Mr Isaac Willson, was a United Empire Loyalist, who came to this country in June 1783, and took up a plot of ground in South Pelham, within a mile of where the subject of this sketch was born, and became a member of the society of friends called Quakers. “I.P.’s father, Daniel Willson, Esq. was born at the same place, December 11, 1804, and married Durinda S. Page in June, 1828. Subsequently “Aunt Durinda,” for her motherly qualities and considerable ability, became a household word throughout the old Niagara District. The Willson homestead became memorable as a place of call for the first gentlemen in the land, and by that means, when yet quite young,”I.P. made the acquaintance of official Canada very largely. The subject of this sketch studied geography in the angle of the fireplace of the old farmhouse, where his curly head was very hot from the fire on the one side, while he could easily contemplate the starry heavens by glancing up the chimney. Being of a studious temperament and of robust constitution, he was one of the most regular attendants of the public school, until the teachers then engaged lacked ability to further instruct him, and from thence his education was continued at various institutions of learning in the neighboring State of New York, where he graduated with honors in June, 1844. Graduation with him was not an end, but only the beginning of studious life. Later he was a public school teacher, superintendent of schools and trustee of public and high schools for thirty-three consecutive years. He was the youngest magistrate ever commissioned in his native county, and at present holds the oldest Commission of the Peace in the county of Welland. October 22, 1861, he received the appointment of clerk of the County Clerk of the county of Welland, under the great seal of old United Canada, which commission carried with it the office of Deputy Clerk of the Crown, etc. At present his official card is as follows: Local Registrar High Court of Justice, and Clerk of the County Court of the County of Welland, Notary Public, Conveyancer, Commissioner and Registrar Surrogate Court. In religion he holds to the teachings of his ancestors. In politics, he is A Liberal of the most pronounced type, though excluded by his official position from the public exercise of his political opinions and the franchise. A mind so constituted must have employment, and over and above his legal studies, constantly intense, he has become distinguished in his literary attainments. A ready writer and forcible speaker, has rendered him of some importance to his beloved Canada. His great thirst for knowledge induced him to seek light in Masonry in December, 1850, since which time he has become a distinguished member of the several grand bodies of Freemasonry in Canada. Mr Willson was married September 25, 1850, to Margaret Willson, and at present is the father of two living children, Mr F.C. Willson, of Toronto and Miss Mary Beatrice Willson, who is at present the head of his family. July 9th, 1876, he had the misfortune to lose his amiable and truly literary wife, since which time he has remained a widower. For the value of his services to his native county and country, he refers to all and everyone who has known him during life. Of an independent mind he is never negative, but always positive in his opinions, while at the same time courtesy is characteristic of their expression. Generous to a fault, his friends are many and of the warmest.