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Pioneer - DOW, Alexander
Biographical Sketches of
Early Settlers of Wellington County
Information from: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario.
Toronto: Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906
|
DOW, Alexander
. This old pioneer was b. in Forfarshire, Scot., in 1819, and
has thus lived under the reign of five Monarchs. He was raised and educated
in Scot., emigrating to Canada in 1843. He spent some years in Niagara, and
Hamilton, and in 1854, came to Harriston, where he purchased lot 83, con.
C., and opened one of the first stores in the vicinity of Harriston. Joshua
Harrison, opened a small store in Harriston about the same time. Mr. Dow had
his first goods teamed from Hamilton, and paid nearly four dollars per
hundred weight for this service. Here Mr. Dow kept store for some years,
afterwards selling out his property on the gravel road and purchasing lot 34,
con. 8, where he has since resided. Alexander Dow was one of the promoters
of Knox church, Archibald Harrison gave one lot, and the Society purchased
another for $26. This land was deeded to Alexander Dow, Thomas Thomson, and
James McConachie, as Trustees for the Church Society, and the first Pres.
church was built on this property. It was not alone in church matters that
Alexander Dow was active, he was then a man in the prime of life, and of good
education, and was foremost in everything which tended to the betterment of
the community. He m. Christina McMillan. Issue: Alexander Jr., engineer, C.
P R., British Columbia, and Elizabeth, who m. Ferdinand Wickie, and with
whom her father lives on the old homestead. Mr. Dow is a widely read man,
and is an authority on many subjects, especially the early history of the
country. He has in his possession an historic relic, it being a cane
captured by Capt. Per on Lake Erie, in 1813.
From: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario. Toronto:Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906 |
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