Waterloo County, Ontario

Settlement of the what became the Township of Waterloo started in 1800 by Joseph Schoerg and Samuel Betzner, Jr. (brothers-in-law), Mennonites, from Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Other settlers followed mostly from Pennsylvania typically by Conestoga wagons. The early group purchased land from Richard Beasley who had acquired it from the Six Nations. The first school was begun in 1802 near the village of Blair. The first teacher's name was Rittenhaus of Pennsylvania.

Many of the Mennonite Germans from Pennsylvania arrived in Conestoga wagons.

Many of the pioneers arriving from Pennsylvania after November 1803 bought land in a 60,000-acre section of Block Two from the German Company established by a group of Mennonites from Lancaster County Pennsylvania. The Tract included most of Block 2 of the previous Grand River Indian Lands.[1] Many of the first farms were least four hundred acres in size.[3][4] The German Company, represented by Daniel Erb and Samuel Bricker, had acquired the land from previous owner Richard Beasley; he had gotten into financial difficulties after buying the land in 1796 from Joseph Brant who represented the Six Nations. The payment to Beasly, in cash, arrived from Pennsylvania in kegs, carried in a wagon surrounded by armed guards.[5]

The majority of the settlers of the Lower Block along the Grand River (including areas such as the current Freeport and Hespeler) were also Mennonites from Pennsylvania often called Pennsylvania Dutch although they were actually Deutsch or Deitsch, German. Others immigrated from the British Isles and directly from Germany, producing a mix of cultures.[6]

Old Order Mennonite horse and carriage, still common in the northern part of Waterloo Region

Later declared the founder of the city of Waterloo, Abraham Erb, a German Mennonite from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, bought 900 acres of bush land in 1806 from the German Company; (this would later be part of Waterloo Township). He built a sawmill in 1808 and a gristmill in 1816; the latter operated continuously for 111 years.[7] Other early settlers of what would become Waterloo included Samuel and Elia Schneider who arrived in 1816. Until about 1820, settlements such as this were quite small.[3]

By 1804, the cemetery in the village of Blair (now part of Cambridge) was already in use. The next cemetery to be started is the one next to Pioneer Tower in Doon; the first recorded burial at that location was in 1806. The cemetery at First Mennonite church at 800 King St. East in Kitchener is not as old, but contains the graves of some notable citizens, including Bishop Benjamin Eby who died in 1853, Joseph Schneider, and Rev. Joseph Cramer, founder of the House of Friendship social service agency.[8]

In 1807, 45,195 acres (182.9 km²) of Block 3 (Woolwich) was purchased by Pennsylvanians John Erb, Jacob Erb and others.

Later named the founder of Kitchener, Benjamin Eby (made Mennonite preacher 1809, and bishop in 1812) arrived from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1806 and purchased a very large tract of land consisting of much of what would become the village of Berlin (named about 1830). The settlement was initially called Ebytown and was at the south-east side of what would later become Queen Street. (Eby was also responsible for the growth of the Mennonite church in Waterloo County; he built the first church in 1813.) Abram Weber settled on the corner of what would become King and Wilmot Streets and David Weber in the area of the much later Grand Trunk Railway station.[3][7] Benjamin Eby encouraged manufacturers to move to the village. Jacob Hoffman came in 1829 or 1830 and started the first furniture factory.

The Joseph Schneider Haus was built by one of the early settlers in Berlin, Ontario and still stands.

Almost as important as Benjamin Eby in the history of Kitchener, Joseph Schneider of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (son of immigrants from southern Germany) bought lot 17 of the German Company Tract of block 2 in 1806. While farming, he helped to build what became "Schneider's Road" and by 1816 built a sawmill. Years later, Schneider and Phineas Varnum would help form the commercial centre of Ebytown.[9]

The War of 1812 interrupted settlement. The Mennonite settlers refused to carry arms so were employed in non-combatant roles in camps and hospital and as teamsters in transport service during the war.[10]

William Dickson of Niagara purchased land in the township of North Dumfries and South Dumfries. With his land agent, Absolom Shade, he located a town site on the Grand River. Settlers were attracted, largely from Scotland with the price of land being about four dollars an acre. Years later (1827), this village would be named Galt for John Galt, the British author and then Superintendent of the Canada Company headquartered in Guelph. Galt was a friend of William Dickson.

John Eby, druggist and chemist, arrived from Pennsylvania in about 1820 and opened a shop to the west of what would later be Eby Street. At the time, it was common for settlers to form a building "bee" to help newcomers erect a long home.[3] Immigration from Lancaster county continued heavily in the 1820s because of a severe agricultural depression in Lancaster County.[6] Joseph Schneider also settled in that area and built a frame house in 1820 on the south side of the future Queen Street after clearing a farm and creating a rough road. A small settlement formed around "Schneider's Road" which later became the nucleus of Berlin. The home was renovated over a century later and still stands.[7]

The village centre of what would become Berlin (and later, Kitchener) was established in 1830 by Phineas Varnum who leased land from Joseph Schneider and opened a blacksmith shop on the site where a hotel would be built many years later, the Walper House. A tavern was also established here at the same time and a store was opened.[3] At the time, the settlement of Berlin was still considered to be a hamlet.[4]

By 1830 the village of Preston was a thriving business centre with Jacob Hespeler, a native of Württemberg and a prominent citizen. He would later move to the village of New Hope that was renamed Hespeler in 1857 in recognition of his public service and the industries he started there. Jacob Beck from the Grand Duchy of Baden founded the village of Baden in Wilmot Township and started a foundry and machine shop. Jacob Beck was the father of Sir Adam Beck.

The first newspaper of the county (first issue dated August 27, 1835) was the Canada Museum und Allgemeine Zeitung, printed mostly in German and partly in English. It was published for only five years.[11]

The land which now makes up the township of Woolwich, Ontario, including communities such as St. Jacobs, Ontario and Elmira, Ontario, were first settled in the early 1800s.[12] The early settlers were primarily from England or Ireland but after 1830, Mennonites from Pennsylvania formed a significant proportion of the population.[13][14][15][16] The area still retains much of its traditional character. Old Order Mennonites can still be seen on the local roads using their traditional horse and buggy transportation.[17][18][19]

By 1835, many immigrants to Waterloo County were not from Pennsylvania. Many settler came from England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany to areas such as New Germany in the Lower Block of Block Two. In 1835, approximately 70% of the population was Mennonite but by 1851, only 26% of the much larger population were of this religion.[6] This was due to the large wave of new German migrants from Europe, particularly between 1830 and 1850.[20][21]

The Wellington District and Waterloo County were formed in June 1840[22] from territory transferred from certain other districts:

The district town was Guelph.[24]

Records indicate a population of 13,782 in 1841. The Smith's Canadian Gazetteer of 1846 states that the Township of Waterloo (smaller than Waterloo County) consisted primarily of Pennsylvanian Mennonites and immigrants directly from Germany who had brought money with them. At the time, many did not speak English. There were eight grist and twenty saw mills in the township. In 1841, the population count was 4424. In 1846 the village of Waterloo had a population of 200, "mostly Germans". There was a grist mill and a sawmill and some tradesmen.[25] Berlin (Kitchener) had a population of about 400, also "mostly German", and more tradesmen than the village of Waterloo."[26]

At the beginning of 1852, the County was divided into three, forming the United Counties of Wellington, Waterloo and Grey:[27]

The County of Waterloo was withdrawn from the United Counties in January 1853.[28]

There had been some contentious debate between Galt and Berlin (later, Kitchener) as to where the county seat would be located; one of the requirements for founding was the construction of a courthouse and jail. When local merchant Joseph Gaukel donated a small parcel of land he owned (at the current Queen and Weber streets), this sealed the deal for Berlin. The courthouse at the corner of the later Queen Street North and Weber Street and the gaol were built within a few months. The first county council meeting was held in the new facility on 24 January 1853, as the county officially began operations. Though the courthouse has since been replaced with a modern structure, the gaol and neighbouring governor's house remain to this day under historical designation; they have been repurposed for further legal capacities (courtrooms and prosecutors' offices).[29]

Previously a hamlet, Berlin became the county seat when the County of Waterloo was founded in 1853.[4] This was somewhat surprising since the population in 1850 was only 700 versus the 2,200 in Galt.[30] Berlin needed only to quickly build a Courthouse and a county gaol.[29] The new county council included 12 members from the five townships and two villages; Dr. John Scott was appointed as the first warden (reeve). They first met on 24 January 1853. In the following years, various County institutions and facilities would be created, including roads and bridges, schools, a House of Industry and Refuge, agricultural societies and local markets.[7][29]

Many of the Mennonite places of worship were basic frame buildings; this type is still commonly used by Old Order Mennonite groups in the northern part of the Region

The Grand Trunk Railway reached Berlin in 1856 and that accelerated the growth of industry. In the next decade factories and the homes of labourers and wealthy owners replaced the early settlers log houses.[4] A rail line did not reach St. Jacobs or Elmira until 1891.[31][12] The Grand Trunk and the Canadian Pacific railways provided useful transportation and as a result, furniture manufacturing and other industries began to open in Elmira.

After about 1850, settlers direct from Germany began arriving to all parts of the county, including Woolwich Township. Berlin (Kitchener) was chosen as the site of the seat for the County of Waterloo in 1853. Waterloo was incorporated as a village in 1857 and became the Town of Waterloo in 1876 and the City of Waterloo in 1948.

The population was 38,750 by 1861. In 1864, there were two grammar schools in the county, at Galt and Berlin, three Roman Catholic Separate Schools in the township of Wellesley, and two others in the township of Wilmot.[32]

By 1871, the largest ethnic groups in the county were Scots (18 per cent of the population), Irish (8 per cent), English (12.6 per cent), and German. At that time, those with German roots (direct from Europe or from Pennsylvania) made up nearly 55 per cent of the population. That was much higher than the 10 percent typical in the rest of Ontario.[33]

The first hospital in Waterloo County opened in 1890 as Galt General Hospital. Additional buildings and facilities were added in the early 1900s. By 1918, the facility had an X-ray room, a 27-room nurses' residence and was also a nurse training school.[34]

By 1911, there were nearly three times as many Lutherans as Mennonites in that area, for example.[35][36]

In 1869, the County built a very large so-called Poorhouse with an attached farm, the House of Industry and Refuge that accommodated some 3,200 people before being closed down in 1951; the building was subsequently demolished. It was located on Frederick St. in Kitchener, behind the now Frederick Street Mall and was intended to minimize the number of people begging, living on the streets or being incarcerated at a time before social welfare programmes became available. A 2009 report by the Toronto Star explains that "pauperism was considered a moral failing that could be erased through order and hard work".[37]

A research project by the Laurier School of Social Work has amassed all available data about the House and its former residents, digitized it and made the archive available on-line at WaterlooHouseOfRefuge.ca. According to Sandy Hoy, a director of research projects, the "inmates" included not only the poor, "but folks with disabilities, women, children. Some were single women who had been servants and became pregnant; in fact, many were single mothers of all types.[38] The archives also indicate that in addition to food and shelter for "inmates", in return for labour in the house and on the attached farm, the House also donated food, clothing and money for train tickets to enable the poor to reach family that might be able to support them.[39] There were also two cemeteries for the poor nearby, including "inmates" of the House who had died.[40][41]

An interurban streetcar connected Hespeler, Preston and Galt.

A new streetcar system, the Galt, Preston and Hespeler electric railway (later called the Grand River Railway) began to operate in 1894, initially connecting Preston and Galt. In 1911, the line reached Hespeler, Berlin (later called Kitchener) and Waterloo; by 1916 it had been extended to Brantford/Port Dover.[42][43] The electric rail system ended passenger services in April, 1955.