Showing 1563 results

People and Organizations

Callaghan, Maurice

  • Person
  • 1890-1972

Ice dealer, son of John Callaghan, husband of Ellen Tighe, died March 1972.

Weese, Durwood Alexander

  • Person
  • 1864-1936

Durwood Alexander Weese was born in Shannonville, Ontario, on 6 August 1864. He worked as a photographer in Belleville in the 1890s. He died in Hamilton, Ontario, on 11 February 1936.

Van Blaricom, Earl Winfield

  • Person
  • 1890-1980

Earl Winfield Van Blaricom was born in Sidney Township, Hastings County, Ontario on 13th May 1890. He was a student at Albert College, Belleville, Ontario, until 1907, when he went on to Queen's University in Kingston, graduating in 1912. He studied law at the University of Saskatchewan, graduating in 1916. Van Blaricom served as a gunner with the Canadian Field Artillery during the First World War (personnel record at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=621022).

After the war, Van Blaricom opened a law office in Tisdale, Saskatchewan. He served on the town's Council and as its mayor. He retired in 1957 and moved to Kelowna, British Columbia, where he died in 1980.

Riggs, Leo Bates

  • Person
  • 1879-1956

Leo Bates Riggs was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1879 to William Bates Riggs and Mary Riggs (nee Nelson). He studied piano and organ in Toronto under a variety of prominent masters. He was then appointed organist and director of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Belleville, Ontario. In 1901, he accepted a position as organist and director of the First Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition, he taught piano and organ at the Central College of Music in Indianapolis, Indiana. That same year, on August 28th, he married Mabel Kathleen Deguerre, a graduate of the Toronto Conservatory of Music. She was director of the Vocal Department of Albert College in Belleville, Ontario, and after their marriage she joined her husband on the staff of the Central College of Music, in Indianapolis, Indiana, teaching voice. In 1903, their only child, Leona Riggs, was born.
In 1909, the family moved to New York City where Leo Bates Riggs became chief organist and director of music at the Astor Hotel. He performed in concerts throughout New York, and was among the first organ artists to be broadcast over the radio station WBC, New York.
In 1924, he and his wife returned to Belleville, Ontario so that he could assist his ailing father, William Bates Riggs, in his automobile business. For many years, Leo Bates Riggs successfully maintained the Riggs Garage until his retirement in 1954.
Continuing his musical career in Belleville, Leo Bates Riggs became the organist at John the Baptist Church until it burned down in 1936. Leo Bates Riggs also preformed for many Belleville clubs and organizations, as well as belonging to the Rotary Club, and the Kiwanis Club. He was also the president of the Chamber of Commerce, in Belleville, Ontario, for a brief period of time.
Leo Bates Riggs died at his summer residence in St. Petersburg, Florida on January 23rd, 1956, and was buried in the city of Belleville, Ontario.

Riggs, Mary Priscilla

  • Person
  • 1853-1934

Mary Priscilla Riggs (nee Nelson), was born in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania in 1853. She was married to William Bates Riggs, and together they had four children: Leo Bates Riggs, Lester David Riggs, Wanda E. Riggs, and Vera Lewis (nee Riggs). She died in Florida in 1934.

Riggs, William Bates

  • Person
  • 1853-1937

William Bates Riggs was a bandleader, businessman, and in 1920, mayor of Belleville, Ontario. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 17th, 1853, he moved to Belleville in 1881 to become the Bandmaster of the Oddfellows Band, which later amalgamated with the 15th Battalion Band to become the Consolidated and Oddfellows Band. Under his direction for 20 years, it became one of the finest bands in eastern Canada.
He married Mary Priscilla Riggs (nee Nelson), and together they had four children: Leo Bates Riggs, Lester David Riggs, Wanda Elizabeth Riggs, and Vera Riggs (later Lewis).
In 1889, William Bates Riggs became a piano and organ retailer in Belleville, Ontario, also selling other musical instruments and sheet music. As the demand for automobiles rose, he realized their potential, and established Riggs Motor Sales in 1914. His garage and showrooms were successful from the start, and he held the first agency for Ford motor cars in Belleville.
William Bates Riggs was involved in the civic, social, and religious life of Belleville. He served as a member of the City Council for three years, and in 1920 was elected Mayor. He was a Life Deacon of Victoria Avenue Baptist Church, and was Sunday School superintendent for several years. He also served as a choir master for over 30 years. He took an active role in the organization YMCA, serving on its board and as president for 1 year.
William Bates Riggs was also a keen sportsman; he was an expert rifleman, and enjoyed hunting, fishing, and lawn bowling. He died on July 3rd, 1937 in Belleville.

Wanamaker, Castello Loral Roy

  • Person
  • 1896-1985

Loral Wanamaker was born in Sophiasburgh, Prince Edward County, Ontario, on 29th December 1896. He married Mildred Parliament in 1921 and died on 22 October 1985. He worked for the Post Office for 27 years and was a member of the Hastings County Historical Society and keen genealogist.

Prentice, William Robert

  • Person
  • 1870-1939

William Prentice was the proprietor of a grocery store called W. R. Prentice in Foxboro, Ontario.

Morrice, David

  • Person
  • 1839-1901

David Morrice was a photographer, active in the 1870s in Belleville, Ontario. He was born in Scotland in 1839 and died in Madoc on 15th May 1901.

Dupuis, Lamon Baker

  • Person
  • 1851-1928

L.B. Dupuis was bom in 1851, in Portland township, Frontenac county. He was the son of James Dupuis and his wife, Zabra Hegebone. He was distantly related to Nathan Fellows Dupuis, professor of science, for whom Dupuis Hall at Queen’s University is named.
Details of L.B. Dupuis’ early life are not known, but in 1876, he moved to Belleville to enroll in the Ontario Commercial College established by Messrs. Robinson and Johnson. He left the college in the summer of 1877 in order to become a school teacher. (It is possible that he had been teaching before he decided to attend the college.)
In 1878, he was teaching somewhere near Yarker, Ontario. On December 26, 1878, he married Alice E. Martin of Yarker. He continued to teach, but was much troubled by spiritual matters and may have been influenced by his wife’s family, who were prominent Methodists. In 1880 or 1881, the young couple decided to try their fortune in Manitoba, but the trip proved a failure. A baby daughter became ill, so the couple returned to Yarker, where the baby died. A second daughter, Edma Dupuis, was bom in Yarker in January 1884.
In 1887, Alice Martin Dupuis died of tuberculosis at the young age of 29. During her illness, L.B. Dupuis made up his mind to abandon teaching and enter the ministry. This he did, through the Montreal conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. By 1892, he was in Detroit, where he was ordained. He also married again. He continued to live and preach in Michigan, and died in Pontiac on Feb. 2, 1928.

Airhart, George Bruce

  • Person
  • 1882-1945

George Bruce Airhart was a lumberman who lived in Marmora, Ontario. He was Reeve of Marmora and Warden of Hastings County in 1926.

Finkle, Fanny Gertrude

  • Person
  • 1895-1990

Fanny Gertrude Finkle (Curry) was born on September 1, 1895 in Stockdale, Northumberland County. She was the daughter of William Brooks Curry and Selina Isaacs. She married William Henry Finkle, co-founder of Bell Shirt Company Limited, on September 1, 1923. Before her marriage she was a teacher at the Ontario School for the Deaf. Fanny Finkle was a past president of the Women's Association, the Queen Alexandra School Home and School Association, the Women's Canadian Club and the Belleville Community Concert Association. She was a member of Albert College Guild, the YMCA Board and Belleville General Hospital Auxiliary. She died on December 6, 1990.

Wright, Bernard Allan

  • Person
  • c.1932-2014

Bernard Allan Wright was a schoolteacher who was married to Isabel Maud Clarke. He was president of the Hastings County Historical Society in the early 1990s. He died in Belleville, Ontario on 24 September 2014 at the age of 82.

McKenna, Marjorie Gertrude

  • Person
  • 1900-1994

Marjorie Gertrude McKenna was born in March of 1900 in Trenton, the daughter of David and Nellie C. Bunnett. She married James Albert McKenna on October 4, 1916 in Belleville, Hastings County. She worked at Glanmore on a part-time basis in kitchen preparation. She was a member of St. Thomas Church, and died on January 30, 1994.

Wessman, Sigurd

  • Person
  • 1885-1982

Sigurd Wessman was born in Norway in 1885, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Wessman. He married Olive Elsie Trueman, and they came to Hastings County in 1921 from Renfrew. He and his brother ran the Belleville Electric and Stamping Co., initially making tools and dyes. In 1932 they moved to Deseronto where the business was called Redi Heat Electric Appliance Co., running to 1964. Mr. Wessman was on the Deseronto town council for two years and served as mayor for five years. During the Second World War the factory produced gear shifts, ammunition boxes and flame throwers. He and his wife moved back to Belleville in 1962. He died on July 12, 1982 in his 97th year.

Wessman, Olive Elsie

  • Person
  • 1893-1987

Olive Elsie Wessman (Trueman) was born on November 14, 1893 in Toronto, the daughter of William Henry Trueman and Margaret Ann Swinarton. She married Sigurd Wessman and they lived for most of their married lives in Belleville and Deseronto. Her husband was a factory owner, producing electric appliances. Olive Elsie Wessman died on April 25, 1987 in her 94th year. Her husband predeceased her in 1982.

Forneri, Cosford Chalmers

  • Person
  • 1842-1880

Cosford Chalmers Forneri was born in Belfast, Ireland, on 5 September 1842, the child of James (Giacomo Felice Carlo) DeForneri and Elizabeth Susannah Wiles. The family arrived in Nova Scotia in 1851 and moved to Toronto in 1853. Cosford became a Provincial Land Surveyor in 1864 and moved to Madoc, Ontario. He married Isabell Agar in 1868. Forneri died at Rat Portage [now Kenora], Ontario, on 15 August 1880.

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