Another victim of the DesJardin Canal Disaster - The Founder of Niagara Falls, Ontario

When John and I started dating we had many day dates visiting War of 1812 sites and old cemeteries in the Niagara Region.  As we were walking through St David's Cemetery, I saw this one:

Of course, the DesJardin Canal link peaked my interest.  Samuel Zimmerman can be considered the founder of Niagara Falls. (1) He was born in Huntington County, Pennsylvania in 1815.  He came to Canada at 27, with only a horse and buggy, and settled in Thorold. (2)  He worked in construction while in Pennsylvania, and the experience helped to shape him into a successful business man. (3) His projects included the construction of 4 locks and an aqueduct on the Welland Canal, 120 miles of the Great Western Railway,  the first suspension bridge at Niagara Falls, as well as a rail bridge which connected the Great Western Railway to America. (4)  He also built a number of other railways in Ontario and was contracted to build a road parallel to the Great Western Railway at the time of his death. He purchased 52 acres of property near the suspension bridge, which had an existing hotel on it called the Clifton House.  The property went right up to the cliff edge, directly across from the American Falls.  He owned other properties in Niagara, Toronto and Hamilton, and in total 18000 acres in Canada.(5)  There's lots of information available about Samuel Zimmerman all over the internet.  What I struggled with was finding cited sources.  Lots of websites said he was born in Huntington County but not one sourced the information.  I found very little original source information on Samuel on Ancestry.  I decided to dig into Pennsylvania genealogy to see what I could come up with about his time before he came to Canada but even that has come up dry so far.  Next I decided to see if I could find some newspaper articles from pre 1850.  

Samuel married his first wife Margaret Ann Woodruff, of St Davids on 15 Aug 1848 in Stamford Church, Niagara Falls.  Their marriage announcement appeared in the St Catharines Standard on 17 Aug 1848. (6)  Margaret would pass away only 3 years later at their home (Clifton Lodge) after a short illness on 24 April 1851(7) at the tender age of 23.  Samuel and Margaret had two sons John (born 1849) and Richard (born 1851).

  Samuel remarried to Emmeline Catharine Dunn born in Trois Rivieres, Lower Canada on 16 December 1856 (8) This marriage would also be short lived.  

  From a statement given by one of the survivors sitting with Samuel and two other gentleman, he reported that they felt the car jump the tracks and  the last he saw of Samuel and Mr Farr was when they hurried to the back of the car.  The survivor stayed in his seat and braced himself for the fall and impact.  He felt that had Samuel and Mr Farr done the same, they too would likely have survived the crash. (9)  Another account from a Mr Hill states that Samuel had almost made it to the door and escape before the car went over the edge.  Mr Hill was able to jump in time.(10)  Sadly it also seems that as Samuel lay dead, he was robbed of a travelling bag, which he always carried with him that was full of silver toiletries, and reported missing. Samuel was interred in a private vault on his Clifton estate and the day of his funeral was declared a holiday in Niagara. The man who was viewed as the richest man in Canada in his prime, appears to have been rich on borrowed money. By 1888, his estate was acquired by the Queen Victoria Parks Commission and his body re-interred to his present location, beside his first wife.  A little sadly, Samuel lay in his unmarked grave until 1940 when the Lundy's Lane Historical Society erected the metal plaque on the other side of the monument that he dedicated to Margaret.(11)

  I was curious about what happened to Emmeline, John and Richard. They all appear in the 1861 Census in Welland.(12)  I'm happy that she was able to care for the children.  By 1863, Emmeline had married John D Sherwood, an American author on 29 Oct in York, Ontario.(13) I know from Wikipedia that Emmeline outlived John and that they had at least 2 children together and lived his last years New Jersey where he died in 1888.(14)  John and Richard however stayed behind in Toronto and appear living togther with Robert and Amelia Gilmour in 1871. (15)  Robert and Amelia were both born in Quebec, maybe Amelia and Emmeline were sisters? A year later, John married Victoria Jane Henry, on 24 April 1872.(16) The brothers continued to live together, however;  in 1881, Richard is living with John, Victoria, and their daughters Mabel and Victoria.(17)  Sadly, John, a wholesale jeweler died young.  His brother, the attending physician, reported his death due to congestion of the lungs on 8 March 1885.(18)  John Woodruff Zimmerman is buried in St James Cemetery.(19) Richard, 36 , a physician married 21 year old Emma Jane Rogers on 18 Apr 1887(20). Like his father, Richard's marriage was short lived.  He died less than a year later of heart disease on 4 February 1888.(21)  I uncovered something interesting, a marriage record for George Zimmerman, who at age 24 married 18 year old Dorsia Lafretta Scriver on 2 July 1929 in Toronto.(22)  George was born to Richard Zimmerman (born in Pennsylvania) and Emma Rodgers in Ohio.  Note, I didn't make a typo on George's age and in reality if it's the correct George, he had to be at least 41, if he was in fact Richard's son.  Who really is George Zimmerman is a little bit of a  mystery that I'll try to solve in a future post.  As of yet, I can't find his birth registration.  George and Dorsia were divorced on 14 March 1962(22)   

(1) http://www.niagarafallstourism.com/blog/samuel-zimmerman-the-founder-of-niagara-falls-ontario/
(2), (5), https://books.google.ca/books?id=_J--6kixwUUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false
(3) http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?id_nbr=4262

(6) St. Catharines Journal, 17 Aug 1848, p. 3

(7)St. Catharines Journal, 1 May 1851, p. 3

(8)St. Catharines Journal, 1 Jan 1857, p. 3

(9)Full details of the railway disaster of the 12th of March 1857 at the DesJardins Canal of the line on the Great Western Railroad:

http://books.google.ca/books?id=_J--6kixwUUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

(10)19 March 1857 Sarnia Observer

(11)https://niagarafallsmuseums.ca/discover-our-history/history-notes/zimmerman.aspx

(12) Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1081

(13)

(14)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Sherwood

(15)Year: 1871; Census Place: St Georges Ward, Toronto West, Ontario; Roll: C-9969; Page: 34

(16)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 59

(17)Year: 1881; Census Place: St James Ward, Toronto City, Ontario; Roll: C_13246; Page: 141; Family No: 957

(18)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 42

(19)https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/166213169/john-woodruff-zimmerman

(20)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 59

(21)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 53

(22)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Series: MS 932; Reel: 908

Why are the Davidsons dying young?

 John and I have been trying to do contactless geocaching in the Burlington area to keep active while socially distancing during this lockdown.  Bright and early a couple of weekends ago we decided to visit the Campbell-Davidson pioneer cemetery. This cemetery is sadly not being well maintained by the city.  Of the stones that are visible, one thing struck me as odd.  All the men had died young.  

John K Davidson died 30th July 1863 at just over 30 years of age.  He was born in Nelson Township in 1833 to parents John and Mary.  He married Margaret Parks, born in Sherbrooke, Quebec on the 28th of Dec, 1853.(1)  John appears in the 1851 census living with his parents and older brother James, younger brothers William, Francis and Harvey as well as younger sisters Elizabeth and Mary in Nelson.(2)  

  In the 1861, John and Margaret are living in a single story log house with his mom and siblings, with the exception of James and William.(3)  There is also a new addition, a second Elizabeth, who is 1 years old and I suspect the daughter of John and Margaret.  John is declared the head of the household and in  agricultural census I discovered some interesting insight into John's farm.  He lived on Concession 6 Lot 4 and had 100 acres of land.  70 acres were cultivated , with 67 used for crops and 3 acres for pasture. He grew fall wheat on 18 acres (producing 300 bushels), spring wheat on 12 acres (100 bushels), Barley on 10 acres (300 bushels), Rye on 1.5 acres (25 bushels), Peas on 4 acres (60 bushels), Buck Wheat on 4 acres (100 bushels), Indian corn on 1 acre (15 bushels), potatos on 1/2 acre (50 bushels), turnips on 1 acre (400 bushels), mangel wurtzel (beets) on 1/4 acre (300 bushels), 300 bushels of carrots, as well as beans and hay (12 bundles of 16 lbs). The land was worth $5000 and his equipment $100. (4)  I feel for his mom, she'd lose her son two short years 2 years later.  I tried to find a record of John's death, including an obituary without success, which is not surprising given that death registrations were not required until some time later.  I did find some interesting information in my research.  The area where the Davidson's lived (On Appleby Line) was called Davidson, and beside the cemetery was built the Davidson church, now long gone.  The Tweedsmuir records explain that the property was in the names of the late John Davidson Sr's heirs in 1858. (5) Another Tweedsmuir record, a typed article provides a picture of the brick homestead that was built in 1858.  This contradicts to the census which states the family lived in a single story log home.  The article goes on to say that John Sr purchased 155 acres of land on lots 14 & 15 of Concession 2 on 24 Sept 1829 from the crown.  It was a part of the clergy reserve for Gore District at the time. (6)  We'll need to go back to see if the farmhouse still stands, perhaps across the street from the cemetery....

I poked around the 1871 census and I can see that 24 year old Harvey a carpenter, is head of the household.  His mom is living there, as is Margaret with Elizabeth and likely her two other children with John, James A. aged 9, and Mary E. aged 7.  (7) In 1881, Harvey has moved out on his own and working as a mill hand in Nelson (8) but in 1891, he is back living with Margaret and her son James.(9) I haven't been able to locate Margaret in 1881 yet, but her children were still living with their grandmother in 1881. (10)

I decided to do some sideway searches on the kids to see if I could uncover any more information.  His eldest daughter Elizabeth Jane married Murray Anson Bridgman, also of Nelson on 1 Nov 1882.  Her sister Minnie (Mary) served as witness. (11)  I tried to find a marriage announcement for her, but no luck.  I also thought I might get some insight in the Nelson Tweedsmuir but came up dry there as well.  I moved on to James next.  James Albert Davidson married Sarah Rebecca Reid on 25 Feb 1892.  Both he and Sarah were residing in Milton.(12)   To round things out I looked up Minnie's marriage record.  She married William D Walker of Milton on 30 Nov 1887 and interestingly, her witness was Sarah.(13) Margaret died April 3, 1917 and never remarried. (14)

John Davidson Sr was born in about 1809.  He died at the age of 42 years, 10 months, 20 days on 4 May 1853 and shares a stone with his daughter Jemima who died 8 June 1853 at the tender age of 3 mths.    I tried to find any clues of his death.  In my search, I discovered a record of Harvey's baptism,  which is transcribed as 20 Sept 1843.  Unfortunately his date of birth is transcribed as 07 March 1845.  I suspect the two events were reversed.  The ceremony was performed by Reverend Peter Kerr. (15)  I was hoping that knowing the name of the Reverend might help me in other searches but it seems that Rev Kerr was only responsible for Nelson between 1845-46.(16)

Lastly, we come to William, eldest son of John and Mary. He died a few months after his dad and sister, on 9 October 1853.  Again, I'm finding very little about him online.  Once the libraries start to open up again, I think it warrants a trip to the local history room to see if I can uncover some Nelson history books that might shed more light on this family and why these 4 souls have died too young.

(1)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; County Marriage Registers, 1858-June 1869; Reel: 10

(2) Year: 1851; Census Place: Halton, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C-11726; Page: 146; Line: 38

(3) Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1031

(4) Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1031

(5) Nelson Women's Institute Tweedsmuir History, Book III, page 10.

(6) Nelson Women's Institute Tweedsmuir History, Book II, page 2

(7) Year: 1871; Census Place: Nelson, Halton, Ontario; Roll: C-9955; Page: 51

(8) Year: 1881; Census Place: Nelson, Halton, Ontario; Roll: C_13257; Page: 14; Family No: 62

(9)Year: 1891; Census Place: Nelson, Halton, Ontario, Canada; Roll: T-6341; Family No: 143

(10) Year: 1881; Census Place: Nelson, Halton, Ontario; Roll: C_13257; Page: 11; Family No: 47

(11)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 39

(12) Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 74

(13) Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 56

(14) Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1948 (MS 935, reels 1-694), Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

(15) Wesleyan Methodist Baptism Records http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wjmartin/genealogy/wm-d_11.htm

(16) https://krassoc.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/peter-ker-wesleyan-methodist-minister/

(17) https://krassoc.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/peter-ker-wesleyan-methodist-minister/