WILLIAM MERRITT’S TOUGHEST YEARS – PIONEER DAYS

By Robert J.Foley

[Welland Tribune, Early March 1992]

The years 1818 and 1819 were the toughest that William Hamilton Merritt would ever face in his life. The rejection of his canal proposal put his various business ventures in extreme difficulty. Hamilton’s family life was prospering at the beginning of 1818 even if business wasn’t. His pride and joy was his first born son Thomas, named for his paternal grandfather, who had been born in 1816. A little girl born in late 1817 added to the happy household.

Hamilton sat at the back of the store pondering the pile of invoices stacked in the middle of his desk. The demands for payment were becoming more adamant as the months rolled by. With the financial crisis in England and the scarcity of cash in the country there was little he could do to satisfy his creditors. The mills sat idle for lack of water and barter was the only way goods moved in and out of the mercantile.

He was sitting in idle thought when he heard a frantic calling of his name from outside the store. One of the hired hands from the mill burst through the door. “Mr. Merritt, Mr. Merritt,” the breathless man shouted, “There has been a terrible accident, come quickly.”

Fear gripped Hamilton as he rose from the chair. “A terrible accident come quickly.”

“What is it man,” Hamilton asked impatiently.

“It’s young Thomas, sir, come quickly,” he said, a mixture of fear, sorrow and horror in his eyes.

Hamilton locked the store and ran out into the cold, crisp winter night. As he approached his house he could see all the lamps ablaze and the sound of weeping rushed out to meet him.

He found Catherine, his wife, almost hysterical with grief and the rest of the household in tears. It seems that one of the hired girls had boiled some water and had set it on the table. Young Thomas came toddling along and pulled the pot over scalding himself from head to foot. He died within minutes.

The death of his son affected Merritt. A few months later the grim reaper struck once more with the death of his daughter, probably from a fever brought on by teething, which was a common cause of death in those days. We can only imagine the consternation that Hamilton and Catherine felt at his double tragedy.

With all his personal problems Merritt struggled to save the business. The farmers, who had brought goods on credit until the harvest, were unable to meet fully their commitments to him due to the poor prices of produce. Wheat only returned 50 cents a bushel at the Queenston market leaving the farmers with little or no profit. A large quantity of lumber had also been cut but lay in the yard for lack of buyers.

At the end of 1819 his partner, Charles Ingersoll, returned to Oxford County and the mercantile business closed. His father had obtained a township grant, called Oxford-on-the-Thames, on coming to Canada in the late 1790s. The township grant was revoked because Ingersoll and his partners failed to produce the 40 families stipulated in the deed, however, Charles had reacquired the old homestead.

Merritt was determined to survive and to that end he put one of his mills up as collateral to one of the Montreal merchants to whom he was indebted. Fortunately the Merritt family was a close-knit one and his uncle Nehemiah from St. John, New Brunswick gave him some assistance. His father sold the old family homestead of 200 acres for $6,000 and gave part of the proceeds to his son to help him carry on the struggle.

The year 1820 saw a turn in Merritt’s fortunes. At the opening of navigation he shipped 300 barrels of flour to Montreal assigning the proceeds to the mercantile company, Forsythe, Richardson and Company to whom he still owed money. He soon was able to clear his debts with the Montreal merchants.

At the same time he was busy drilling a salt well on his property. A chemist by the name of Dr. Chase had recently moved to the area and his knowledge soon improved the quality of the salt production. Unfortunately cheap salt from the United States made the venture unprofitable and it was soon abandoned.

The store, which had been closed since Ingersoll had left, reopened with Dr. Chase adding a drugstore to compliment the mercantile side. Uncle Nehemiah and his father-in-law, Dr. Prendergast backed Merritt in this fresh venture and it was successful beyond all expectation. Merritt was able to purchase back the mill that has been given a collateral to the Montreal merchant. With a general upswing in business things began to look up for him and the entire Niagara Peninsula.

Dr. Chase turned out to be, not only a good chemist but an excellent businessman. When Merritt was forced to assist his father who had become entangled in the failure of the Niagara Spectator, a newspaper founded in 1817. Chase went to Montreal in his place and purchased the goods for the following season.

On June 1, 1820 the family grief over the loss of the children was lessened somewhat by the arrival of a son, Jedediah, named for his grandfather, Jedediah Prendergast. On July 5, 1822 a second son was born, William Hamilton Jr. bringing more consolation to the Merritts.

With the return of prosperity Hamilton again turned his thoughts to his ditch. He began to solicit support for a second survey.

HISTORICAL NOTE: The township of Oxford-on-Thames eventually became the townships of North, East and West Oxford. The city of Ingersoll, Ontario is located at the site of Ingersoll’s grant.