Born: 1808, Died: 1878
Married: Caroline Sauers
John Hoffman was born in Pennsylvania in 1808 and came to Berlin in 1825. There he was able to obtain employment with Samuel Bowers who operated a small cabinet-making shop. He also, during this time, married Caroline Sauers, a relative of his employer. In 1840 he opened the first furniture factory in Berlin. It was originally run by horse power but later he imported a steam engine from Buffalo. After his factory burned down c.1855, he decided to use his entrepreneurial skills in the small settlement of Waterloo. With his son-in-law Isaac Weaver (Mary Anne Hoffman) he purchased from Elias Snider 300 acres of land along King St S from Erb St down to the Greenbush (where K-W Health Centre is now). Hoffman commissioned a survey of this area, dividing it mainly into housing lots. The sale of these lots resulted in a substantial increase in population which enabled Waterloo to be incorporated as a village in 1857. John Hoffman and Isaac Weaver in 1854 purchased the sawmill of Elias Snider and in the next year had it converted to steam power. Hoffman purchased the Abraham Erb home and his son-in-law erected a large impressive Georgian style home at King and Union Streets. He was instrumental in starting a cattle [illegible] pig market in the square at King and William Streets. Hoffman probably hoped that the business centre of town could be shifted south from the area north of Erb St. After his Waterloo experience he moved back to Berlin becoming the sixth mayor. He died in 1878 at age 70.
Sources:
Ezra E Eby, Biographical History
Vertical File "H," Kitchener Public Library
Waterloo County Hall of Fame
Marg Rowell et al. Welcome to Waterloo
Kitchener-Waterloo Record, June 18, 1982, Dec 4, 1975
Waterloo county Councillors, A Collective Biography
Kenneth McLaughlin, Waterloo, an Illustrated History Burlington, Windsor Publications, 1990.
Berlin, Celebration of Cityhood, 1912.
First Mennonite Church Cemetery Records, Kitchener.
City of Waterloo LACAC file "Abraham Erb Home".
The Town of Waterloo, J. P. Joffray
John Hoffman Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of John Hoffman 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
- 1808-1878
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Hoffman, John ; Sauers, Caroline ; Bowers, Samuel ; Weaver, Isaac ; Hoffman, Mary Anne ; Snyder, Elias ; Erb, Abraham
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.91
- 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
