Archive for January, 2021
[Welland Tribune, 27 April 1900]
Mrs. O.A. Webster (Lydia Maud, daughter of James Griffith, formerly of Welland, now of Grand Forks, Dakota), died at Hot Springs, Arkansas, on Sunday April 15th.
Mrs. Webster has been in poor health for some time, and with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Griffith, and her sister, Mrs. F. Cathro, went to Hot Springs last December for the benefit of her health. She did receive benefit for a time, and was about to return home when she was taken seriously ill, and died unexpectedly. The following particulars are taken from the Grand Forks Herald:-
“Deceased was born in Ontario 45 years ago, and came to Grand Forks in 1882. She was prominent in social and religious circles, and was a constituent or charter member of the local Baptist church. She leaves one son, Horace, aged six, and besides the relatives already mentioned, two sister, Mrs. L.H. Carter of Grand Forks, and Mrs. R. Weeks, now of California, and three brothers, Dr. A.R. Griffith of Montreal and R.B. and T.C. Griffith of this city. With the exception of children who died in infancy this is the first break in the Griffith family. The aged parents, the husband, the son other relatives of the deceased lady have the sincere sympathy of many who share with them their sorrow over the departure of a loved and honored friend.”
The body was taken to Grand Forks for burial. Mrs. Webster had many warm friends in Welland, and vicinity who will deeply deplore her demise.
[Welland Tribune January 18, 1945]
The death occurred at her residence, 106 Erie street, Port Colborne, on Sunday of Vera Lodba, wife of George Lodba, in her 62nd year. Death followed an illness of three weeks.
The late Mrs Lodba was born in Austria and came to Port Colborne from Montreal 30 years ago. She was a member of St Patrick’s church.
Surviving are her husband, George; three daughters Mrs Mike Sarafinchan, Thorold and Mrs Fred McLauchlin and Mrs John Dworchuck, Port Colborne; and three sons, Charles in Wainfleet, L. Stoker Harry Lodba R.C.N.V.R., Halifax and John in Austria.
The body is resting at the Dell and Merton funeral home, 50 Clarence street, Port Colborne. The funeral will be held on Wednesday, January 17 to St Patrick’s church, where mass will be sung by Rev E. J. Canning at 9 a.m. Interment will be in Mount St Joseph’s cemetery.
FUNERALS
Mrs George Lodba
The funeral of the late Vera Lodba, wife of George Lodba, whose death occurred at her residence, 106 Erie street, Port Colborne on Sunday in her 62nd year, was held from the Dell and Merton funeral home, 50 Clarence street , Port Colborne, yesterday morning to St Patrick’s church where mass was sung by Rev. E.J. Canning. Interment was in Mount St Joseph’s cemetery.
The pallbearers were Harry Hencu, George Gramatovich, Steve Lodba, Eli Phillips, Louis Couguini and Dan Dobrin.
Among the floral tributes were those of the painters, carpenters, coopers and box gang, Inco and the stripping floor, Inco.
Friends and relatives attended from Thorold, Wainfleet and Merritton.
[Welland Tribune October 1, 1943]
Robert S. Martin, 16-year-old son of Mr and Mrs James Martin, 20 Fourth avenue, Crowland, died yesterday in Welland County General hospital after a two weeks’ illness.
Born in Crowland, June 3, 1926, the youth received his education at Crowland public school and Welland high and vocational school, where he was a member of the Welland Air Cadets. He was also a member of Holy Trinity Anglican church. During the summer he had been employed at Page-Hersey Tubes Ltd.
Besides his parents he is survived by a brother, William, and two sisters, Irene and Lottie, all of whom reside with their parents. Another brother, Sgt, Pilot James Martin, R.C.A.F., attached to the Pathfinder Squadron No. 405, R.A.F., overseas, was recently reported missing.
The funeral will be held from the family residence, 20 Fourth avenue, Crowland, on Saturday, at 3 p.m. Interment will be in the church of England cemetery, Smith street.
[Welland Tribune January 18, 1945]
The late Abram Baker, who died at his home on Saturday, January 6th, in his 73rd year, was the son of the late Catharine Sherk and Michael Baker. Besides his wife Lillian Grant, he leaves to mourn seven sons, Kenneth of Corfu, N.Y.; Wilfred of Chippawa; Michael of Fort Erie; Charles overseas; Raymond of Stevensville; Walter of Vernon,B.C.; William at home; two daughters, Helen of Welland and Mrs Lawrence Root of Bethel; two brothers, Morley, of United States; James of Stevensville; four sisters, Mrs Curtis Morningstar, Mrs Chas. Sauer of Willoughby; Mrs N.P. Thompson of Windsor and Mrs C.D. Draper of Beamsville.
The funeral service was held on Wednesday Jan 10th, at the Climenhage funeral home Stevensville, conducted by C.T Houck, pastor of the Evangelical church. Two solos were given by Robert Heximer, “Some Day He Will Make It Plain” and “Beyond the Sunset,” Interment was at St John’s cemetery, Ridgemount, the bearers being James Sauer, Carmen Sauer, Calvin Sauer, Howard Baker, Lloyd Morningstar and Calder Morningstar.
[Welland Tribune January 18, 1945]
Willoughby, Jan 17- The sudden death of an outstanding Willoughby farmer occurred at the Niagara Falls hospital on Tuesday evening, January 9th, 1945. Born in Willoughby township on February 28th, 1973, the late Edward Martin Weaver fourth son of the late Martin Weaver and Margaret Pirson Weaver, was married on Oct. 25Th 1899, to Lily Morningstar, who survives, besides four sons, Earl Orlin, Gordon and Arnold of Willoughby; two daughters, Mrs Eva Cote of Niagara Falls, N.Y.; Mrs Esther Copeland of Toronto; nine grandchildren; three brothers, William Weaver of Hamilton, Albert and Abel Weaver of Willoughby; five sisters, Mrs Lorena Miller of Bertie, Mrs Clara Geyer, Miss Catherine and Miss Margaret Weaver of Buffalo, Mrs Barbara Sauer of Kenmore, N.Y. He was predeceased by two children, Edna in 1930 and Arthur in 1943.
The funeral was held from his late home on Sodom Road on Friday. Services were conducted by Rev. William Coutts. A duet was given by Mrs Crawford Tufts and Mrs George Myers, “God Will Take Care of You.” Niagara Falls pallbearers being the four sons and two sons-in-law.
The late Mr Weaver always took an active, friendly interest in his neighbors and being a lover of good horses will be missed in the Welland County ploughing matches where he always participated, last year receiving five prizes, one of these being for the oldest ploughman.
The many flowers surrounding the casket showed the high esteem in which he was held by his neighbors and friends.
In all of Lincoln County there are few men who have been more active in public life, in social clubs, in fraternal organizations and in their own business enterprise than the subject of this sketch, former publisher of the Niagara-on-the-Lake, Advance, now an inspector of the Liquor Control Board of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Brewery Warehouse and Justice of the Peace of the County of Lincoln.
Edward Hugh Brennan was born in Welland County on May 11th, 1883. His father and mother were the late Luke Joseph and Mary, nee Whitten, Brennan. His father was a bookbinder at St. Catharines and at Welland, Ont. *His brother was A.J.J. Brennan, pharmacist in Welland.
Mr. Brennan attended public school at Welland before starting in the printing business, which he learned while working for the Welland Tribune. He left the Welland Tribune and roamed about the province in the employ of a number of printing shops before he settled in Welland in a job printing establishment of his own, which was opened in 1907. He managed this shop successfully until 1916, when he left to accept a position as ticket agent, and representative of the Grand Trunk Railroad at Suspension Bridge, New York.
After spending three years in the employ of the Grand Trunk, Mr. Brennan went to Burford, Ont., and purchased the Burford Advance, a weekly newspaper, in connection with which there was being operated a job printing business. Mr. Brennan published and managed the Burford Advance for a period of nearly two years before leaving it to go to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where he established the Niagara Advance in the year of 1919. In January 1929, he sold the paper to his son, Nixon E.J. Brennan, who now conducts it.
Mr. Brennan’s activity in public life has been widely and varied. For three years he served on the Niagara-on-the-Lake School Board. So well did he fill the duties of this position that for three one-year terms in succession he was elected as councillor for the same town. Then, in 1914, he was appointed Justice of the Peace of Lincoln County, and still holds this post.
For a period of three years he acted as division clerk of the First Division Court of Lincoln County, from which he resigned in 1928 to become an inspector for the Lincoln Control Board.
Mr. Brennan has taken an active part in the conduct of many fraternal organizations. He is a member of the Niagara Lodge, 2, A.F. & A.M., which is located at Niagara-on-the-Lake. He is also a member of the Niagara Chapter, 55, R.A.M., of which he is a past principal. In 1929 he was elected Grand Superintendent of Niagara District No. 7, of the Grand Chapter of Canada, Past President of the Niagara Agricultural Society, Past President of the Bowling Club of Niagara-on-the-Lake; and being a strong Conservative in policy, was most active as Secretary of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Conservative Association; and member of the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
In 1906 Mr. Brennan was married to Hattie Nixon, the daughter of the late James and the late Mary Ann Nixon of Vankleek Hill, Ont. There are two children, Nixon , who has taken his father’s place on the Niagara Advance and Ila H., who was engaged on the Advance for several years. They live with their father on Johnson Street.
Mr. Brennan’s parents are divided between North of Ireland and English ancestry.
A.E. Coombs
History of The Niagara Peninsula and the New Welland Canal
1930
Mr. Benson is from an old and honorable Canadian family, and his grandfather, as well as his father, were among the early pioneers in this section of the country.
Mr. Benson’s father fought at Chippawa in 1812 and 1813, and met his future wife at that place; her family name was Deamud. His father, Albert, learned the trade of blacksmith at Napanee, Ont., and was so impressed with the slogan of that day, “Go West, young man,” and seeking a better opportunity went to Niagara and worked in a carriage manufacturing shop for a year. At that time there were no railroads, and all transportation was done by way of the old canal; he walked to St. Catharines to take a boat to visit his home, but found on his arrival there he had missed the boat by one day, and so determined was he on making this trip that he walked all the way to Port Maitland. The grandfather, who was an early pioneer, had gone west to seek his fortune and finally died at White Pigeon, Iowa; when the elder Benson, then took over the grandfather’s farm at Port Maitland, and went back to work on his trade at a place half way between Stromes and Port Maitland. In this latter place he met his wife, Miss Isabella Sheehan. He died when the subject of this review was but seventeen months old.
Eldorado F. Benson was born on April 25th, 1853 in Port Maitland, Ont., and is the son of Albert and Isabella (Sheehan) Benson, who originally came from Prince Edward County. Mr. Benson acquired his early education and graduated from the public school of Stromess, and first started to work as a carpenter, building ships, in his native town. In 1878 he located in Dunnville, Ont., and remained there as a carriage builder for twenty years. In 1884 he was married to Miss Clara Misener, who died some years later. He now sought new fields and in 1898, went to Hamilton, Ontario, where he worked in the same line for two and a half years, then to Milton in 1901, working there until 1906 when he made his final move and located in Welland, twenty-three years ago, and has been there ever since at 33 N. Main Street. He started business in a modest way and now has ten men in his shop, nearly all of them over seventy years of age. In late years trade conditions and demands have changed, so that he now caters only to the finest trade making milk and bread wagons and commercial truck bodies, auto tops and trimming, auto and carriage painting. He was married the second time in April 1919 to Miss Sarah Jane Catell of Simcoe; they have two boys, Ernest and Collin Blaine. He has always been active in religious and social uplift work; being an ardent prohibitionist, attends the United Methodist Church, three generations on both sides of the house have attended the same church. He was a great angler in his early days and a great ball player, as catcher played on Dunnville and Hamilton teams.
The record of the Benson family is an admirable one that reflects credit on those who have borne the name in the past, as well as those of the present generation. Eldorado F. Benson is a sincere man, conscientious and earnest; strong in his support of prohibition he has sought to lead his people in the way of right living, and to raise the standards in his community. He is a very successful business man and is held in the highest esteem by all who know him.
A.E. Coombs
History of The Niagara Peninsula and the New Welland Canal
1930
He was born at Glen Huron, Ont., on January 16th 1891. He is the son of the late Jared Beeshy and Hannah Hembling Beeshy. His parental ancestry is French and his maternal ancestry Suffolk, England.
At the age of eight years he was adopted by his uncle, Jacob Albert Beeshy of Ridgeway. In this village he completed his public and continuation school education, being the first student to matriculate from Ridgeway Continuation School. His undergraduate work included attendance at University College, Toronto, and at Queen’s University, Kingston. He received his master’s degree from Queen’s in 1915, majoring in history and political science.
During the summer vacation he assisted his uncle in the management of a retail china and grocery business at Ridgeway. During his high school terms he acted as a special correspondent for several newspapers in the district, and, in college he selected such subjects as might be of special value in journalism as a profession.
Graduating from college in the early years of the World War, and denied an opportunity of serving at the front, he sought to compensate for absence from the firing-line by other forms of service. At his own expense he took himself to England, and during the winter months of 1915-1916 made a first-hand intensive study of the famous Derby Recruiting Campaign, that greatest of modern experiments in the raising of a volunteer army.
Some of the methods successfully employed in that campaign in England appeared to him to be adaptable to conditions peculiar to Canada, and with this thought in mind, he prepared considerable data which appeared to him of value, and which he transmitted to the proper Canadian authorities on returning home. By them he was warmly commended for the service he had rendered.
The serious illness and untimely death of his uncle in December 1916, raised the alternatives of putting a long established business on the auction block, or of surrendering his hopes of entering journalism as a life work. For reasons which were partially beyond his control, he accepted the second alternative. He had a definite ideal of the kind of business he wished to develop. He foresaw that only in a specialized development of his little shop could his hope for material success. He believed there was a future for an institution, concentrating on the importation and sale of the less common and more distinctive varieties of English china and pottery.
He contrived as soon as possible to relegate the grocery department of his store to the limbo of forgotten things. He gradually enlarged and improved his showrooms, extended his connections with a group of notable Staffordshire potters, and was soon in a position to offer to his trade a really remarkable collection of uncommon and highly interesting patterns in china and pottery, such as was seldom to be met with, even in well-known city shops.
He is a firm believer in the power of advertising, and considers that he derives the most satisfactory results from a carefully planned scheme of direct-mail advertising plus a consistent distribution of advertising material over the counter of his shop.
By concentrating on the productions of a small group of outstanding English potters he has built up a highly specialized business, which in many respects has few, if any, counterparts in Canada. The strategic position of Ridgeway, near one of the main arteries of International tourist traffic brings tens of thousands of visitors each year from every part of the United States and Canada, a circumstance which has contributed largely to the widespread distribution which Mr. Beeshy’s shop enjoys. It is perhaps not too much to say that there is scarcely a State in the American Union, nor a province in Canada where china purchased at this little village shop cannot be found.
Several years ago, inspired by one of the old-time shops in the ancient city of Chester, he rebuilt his own store front after the style of modified Elizabethan architecture, with the result that it is easily discernible by the passer-by, and readily to be remembered once it has been seen.
The whole institution is an interesting example of what may be accomplished in even a small community by anyone possessed of a keen imagination combined with a fair measure of business ability.
By making personal journeys to the potteries in England, Mr. Beeshy has built up a valuable connection, and one that has made it possible for him to select his stocks in person in a much more satisfactory manner than would otherwise be possible.
By heritage and training he is a Liberal in doctrine, while declining to commit himself unreservedly to the shibboleth of any particular party.
Events of historical and economic importance claim his special interest, while swimming and tennis are his favorite sports.
Mr. Beeshy is a member of the United Church of Canada, and has served his local church from time to time as treasurer, trustee and steward. He is also a member of Dominion Lodge, A.F. and A.M., Ridgeway, and has served as secretary and trustee of that body. He is a member of Moore Consistory A. and A.S.R., 32nd degree.
On Good Friday, 1919, he was married to Ora Winnifred, younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ward B. Disher of Ridgeway. They have two children-Winnifred Lucille and Kennard Milton.
A.E. Coombs
History of The Niagara Peninsula and the New Welland Canal
1930
Ownership of one of the most exclusive hotels in Welland County, which is operated under his direct supervision, has not prohibited the subject of this sketch to take an active part in the administration of municipal office and in the business of the local government.
Percy Alonzo Rice was born in Dunnville, Ont., on May 22nd, 1881. He is the son of William Henry and late Abigail Elizabeth, nee Wilson, Rice. His father was a hotelman and English. His mother was Scotch.
Mr. Rice attended the Public School and the High School of Bridgeburg, Ont. While still attending high school he was employed during part of his time as a messenger boy for the old Grand Trunk Railroad at Bridgeburg.
Mr. Rice’s next position was with his father in Welland, where he participated in the management of the Welland Hotel for a period of fifteen years.
During all of this time Mr. Rice took a great interest in hotel management and studied the means of obtaining a profit through it. After this he moved to Ridgeway and purchased the McLeod House, which he still owns and operates.
When Ridgeway’s first fire department was organized years ago, Mr. Rice was made its chief, and for a period of three years he kept this post and demonstrated his ability in managing that department of the local government.
In his participation in many other community or municipal enterprises, Mr. Rice has taken an active part, and has contributed loyally of his time, his money and his executive ability toward the development of a greater Ridgeway.
The McLeod House is one of the finest and most exclusive of the more conservative hotels in the county. There is an atmosphere about the establishment of comfort, dignity and homeliness.
Mr. Rice is an active member of the Wilson Chapter R.A.M. No. 64, Welland; a pastmaster of the Cope-Stone Lodge 373, A.F. and A.M. of Welland; a member of the Hindoo Koosh Grotto, Hamilton; Scottish Rite, 32 degree, Buffalo; and the Ismailia Shrine, Buffalo. He is also a member of the Church of England.
On October 4th, 1906, Mr. Rice was married to Cora Emma Wise, of Ridgeway, the daughter of Jacob and Hannah Wise of Ridgeway. Mrs. Rice passed away on April 16th, 1928.
A.E. Coombs
History of The Niagara Peninsula and the New Welland Canal
1930
One of the substantial citizens of Welland, is a pharmacist owner and proprietor of a well-appointed Drug Store in the centre of the city.
Mr. Brennan was born June 29th, 1878, in St. Catharines, Ont., and is the son of the late Luke J. Brennan and Mary Jane (Whitten) Brennan. His father was born and raised on a farm near Kingston City, and was later a bookbinder in St. Catharines and Welland, and died in 1909. His mother was born at Niagara-on-the-Lake, and died in 1913. His grandparents were all born in Ireland. Mr. A.J.J. Brennan came to Welland at the age of two years and acquired his early education at the Public and High School in Welland, graduating from High School in 1895. He graduated from the Ontario College of Pharmacy and the Toronto University in 1903 with a degree in Phm.B.
He went into the drug business in 1906, buying out the store of an old-time druggist, J. Hamilton Burgar, and is still active in that business.
He has also for many years been interested in many side lines, particularly real estate and the wholesale tobacco business.
In public life he was a member of the High School Board for many years, and was chairman of that body in 1912. He was elected to City Council in 1918, and the following year was elected Mayor of Welland, retiring from public life in 1920. His fraternal affiliations are with Merritt Lodge 168, Masonic, of which he is a past master, Rameses Temple as a Shriner, and he is also an Oddfellow and an Orangeman. He is a member of the Welland Club, Lookout Point Golf Club, Burlington Golf Club, but gives most of his time to his business, in which he takes a delight, and has given a service that has resulted in the up building of a substantial business.
He is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
A.E. Coombs
History of The Niagara Peninsula and the New Welland Canal
1930
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