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Pioneer - LESLIE, William Wade
Biographical Sketches of
Early Settlers of Wellington County
Information from: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario.
Toronto: Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906
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LESLIE, William Wade
(d.), of Puslinch, b. Co. Fermanagh, Ire. He was an officer under the Duke of
Wellington, and m. a French lady in France, while with his regiment in that
country. In 1831, he retired from the army on half pay, and he and his family
emigrated to Canada, where he was granted 397 acres, for military services, in
the Gore of Puslinch, and received a patent July 18 1833, which patent bears
the signature of Sir John Coleman, and is dated at York, Upper Canada, Issue:
William, George, set. in Beverly; Henry, set. in Beverly; Peter, set. in
Egremont; John, set. in Owen Sound; Mrs. Joseph Black, set. W. Flamboro; Mrs.
Wise, set. in Beverly.
The Leslies were people of property in Ire., and at the death of his father, the late William Wade Leslie returned to Ireland, and took posesson of the property left him by his deceased father. After turning this into money, he took passage for Canada, and the vessel, with all on board, was lost. The late William Leslie being the eldest son, succeeded to his father's property in Puslinch, and cared for his widowed mother, (who lived with him until his death), and also practically brought up his brothers and sisters. The late Wiliam Leslie served during the Rebellion of 1837-8, and about this time he m. Jane, dau. of Capt. Gordon of Hamilton. He was a man of marked ability, and early took a prominent position in Puslinch. He kept the first postoffice at Puslinch, it being the first to be established between Hamilton and Guelph. In the early fifties he established a general store at Puslinch, which he ran for many years. He was early appointed a Magistrate, and held the office of Reeve of Pusinch for many years, and was also Warden of Wellington county. He was Lt.-Col. in the militia, and organized the first military company in Puslinch. He was a Division Court Clerk for some years. Mr. Leslie unsuccessfully contested the riding for the Ont. Legislature in the Conservative interest, against the late Peter Gow, in 1867. Issue: Mrs. John A. Macdonald, Mrs. (Rev. ) Richard Harrison, William G.., Mrs. Henry W. Ironside, Mrs. William Coulter, Rev. Henry T., Mrs. (Dr.) Richard Orton, Mrs. A. L. Pentecost, Mrs. Donald McLean, Mrs. George Grier, Herbert W., Vivian B. George Leslie, second son of William Wade Leslie, come to Puslinch Tp., with his father, and set. in Beverly, where he started for himself, buying a farm and clearing it. He used to burn lime there. He m. Mary Wise of the Wise family, which came to Puslinch in 1828, and later went into Beverly Tp. Issue: John H., who was a great musician and composer, and d., in Virginia; Mrs. Wm. McCuen, Beverly Tp.; Mrs. William Reid, Aberfoyle; Mrs. Louis Heath, Perth Co.; George W., Charles, a mason; Albert Wade, mason; William, in Beverly Tp.; Alfred, on the Beverly homestead, and Mrs. Alfred Champ, Dundalk. George W., b. in Beverly Tp., came to Puslinch albout 1875, and rented 95 acres, rear lot 26, con. 7, and later purchased it. He carries on mixed farming. Mr. Leslie has always been a very successful trapper, and has lately turned his farm over to his son, and spends nearly all of his time trapping. He m. first, Mary A. Patterson of Nassa Tp., and second, Jennie Bayless. Issue: first, Mrs. Findlay Half, Guelph, and Charles F.; second, Roy, who operates the homestead. From: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario. Toronto:Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906 |
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