b. 1860 d. 1925
Married – Margaret Gleiser
Born in 1860, John Letter followed his father Christian’s trade as a mason and builder. Father and son were responsible for the construction of many homes and factories that were going up in Waterloo during the late 1800s. About 1890 John became interested in the retail furniture business and associated funeral parlour. In 1901 the Letters announced plans for a new business. The site chosen was just north of the railway tracks on the east side of King St N. There was controversy among some citizens about this choice because the chosen site was once part of Weaver St that led over to Queen St. Some felt it should remain a street and provide an entrance way to the railway station. However the building, then known as [illegible] block, began and was completed in 1902. After his father’s death in 1907, Letter purchased the furniture and under business of JK Shinn [and] John took on Dreisinger as partner with responsibility for the undertaking section of the business. In the early 1900’s John suffered a debilitating illness and retired from active business involvement. His son Norman took his place in the furniture aspect of the partnership.
Sources
1. Waterloo Chronicle, September 19, 1901, September 15, 1927
2. Obituary, Waterloo Chronicle, April 2, 1925
3. Waterloo Mt Hope Cemetery Records
4. The Twin City, Berlin and Waterloo
John Letter Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of John Letter 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
- Please scroll to the bottom of the page to see the transcribed text. 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
- 1860-1925
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Letter, John ; Gleiser, Margaret ; Letter, Christian ; Letter, Norman
- Corporate Name(s)
- J. Letter and Sons Furniture and Undertakers ; J.K. Shinn and Co.
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.127
- 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
