Born: 1835, Died: 1913
Married: Nancy Bowman
Benjamin, son of Barnabas Devitt, was born in Bridgeport where his father was helping run the flour mill there. After his marriage in 1857 to Nancy Bowman, daughter of hotel keeper Henry Bowman, Benjamin became involved in various business enterprises- one being the construction of the Devitt- Snider block in 1860, working in partnership with Daniel Snider, the local postmaster. Benjamin opened a general store in this new building later taken over by younger brother.
The Devitts lived on the Devitt farm near Moore Ave. He was quite civic minded, being on the town council and was elected mayor from 1881- 1883. He was for some years, the hotel licensing inspector for Waterloo Township. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Waterloo Musical Society in 1882 and became its President for some years.
Sources:
Marg Rowell, "Historic Waterloo", Waterloo Chronicle, June 12, 1975.
Waterloo Mount Hope Cemetery Records.
Marg Rowell, Ed Devitt and Pat McKegney, Welcome to Waterloo Waterloo, Waterloo Printing Company, 1982.
Historical Atlas of Waterloo and Wellington Counties
Waterloo Historical Society 1963 Volume 51 Benjamin Devitt.
Benjamin Devitt Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of Benjamin Devitt from the Ellis Little Papers. This biography has been transcribed exactly as written. Ellis Little was a local historian, who was the principal of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School.On his retirement, he invested much of his time in researching and writing about Waterloo's history. The Ellis Little Papers consist of extensive notes, papers and historical works.
- Notes
- To see the original document please visit the Ellis Little Local History Room at the Main Branch of the Waterloo Public Library
- Date Of Event
- 1835-1913
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Devitt, Barnabas ; Devitt, Benjamin ; Snider, Daniel ; Bowman, Mary ; Bowman, Henry
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.40
- Collection
- Ellis Little Papers: Men and Women of Our Past
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Location of Original
- Ellis Little Papers
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
