Subscribe..
JONAS SHERK
In Fort Erie and surrounding territory there have lived a generation of hearty, industrious stock whose work has made an impression and whose names are interwoven in the scenes of earlier and more strenuous times. Among these were the Sherk family of which Jonas Sherk, the subject of this sketch, is the present representative. Mr. Sherk has been engaged in the farming business during part of his life and later in the lumber and mercantile business. He has also been active in public life and has been honored by important public office. He is recognized as one of the leaders in the business and social life of the community and is to-day, it may be mentioned, one of the largest taxpayers in Fort Erie.
Jonas Sherk was born in Fort Erie, June 22nd, 1853. His parents were Peter and Judith Troup Sherk, the former being one of the oldest settlers and pioneer farmers of Welland county. Early in life he went to Buffalo, N.Y., and later returned to his native place and located on a site which is still named after him-*Sherkston, Humberstone township, Welland county. The family was of Pennsylvania Dutch origin and of United Empire Loyalist extraction.
Jonas Sherk was born in June, 1853, and was educated in the public schools at Fort Erie and at Milford, Indiana, U.S.A. He taught school there and then entered the mercantile business as a clerk in a general store in the same place. His location there was due to the fact that his mother had died at an early age and Jonas was sent to live with his uncle in the Indiana town.
At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Sherk went to Fort Erie and engaged in the farming and lumber business. He also carried a feed business supplying the horses at the Fort Erie race track which he has done ever since that place was opened.
Mr. Sherk was elected councilman many times and also reeve of Fort Erie. He was also a member of the Fort Erie school board and also tax-collector for several terms. All these public offices he has filled capably and with credit to himself. He has ever the interests of the town at heart and is now, by the way, the second largest taxpayer in Fort Erie. Mr. Sherk has always been a Liberal, and is a member of the Church of England.
Mr. Sherk married Miss Fannie M. Treble, (24 November 1880), daughter of the late Charles and Fannie Treble, the former being customs collector and magistrate of Fort Erie, Ont.
Mr. Sherk has two children living, Frank, who is engaged in business with his father and married to Hazel Willit Sherk of Hamilton. The other child is Ethel May, who is also married (Arthur Nicholson Sexton) and resides in Fort Erie. Mr. Sherk is the owner of fifty-five acres of land in the village of Fort Erie and is one of the richest men in the community in which he lives. He is extremely active for his age and looks much younger than his years.
Died: 25 December 1939
A.E. Coombs
History of The Niagara Peninsula and the New Welland Canal
1930
Add A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.