Erastus Wiman (21 April 1834 – 9 February 1904) was a Canadian journalist and businessman who later moved to the

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. He is best known as a developer in the

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borough of

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Biography

Wiman was born in Churchville,

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(now part of

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) on April 21, 1834 to Erastus Wyman and Therese Amelia née Matthews. Wiman's first job was at the ''North American'' in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

(not to be confused with the Philadelphia-based paper) at age 16, as an apprentice printer for a salary of $1.50 a week for his first cousin Hon. Sir William MacDougall (whose mother Hannah was Therese's sister) and was a founding father of

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...

. After four years, he worked as a reporter and later the business editor for the ''

Toronto Globe ''The Globe'' was a newspaper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1844 by George Brown as a Reform voice. It merged with ''The Mail and Empire'' in 1936 to form ''The Globe and Mail''. History ''The Globe'' is pre-dated by a title of the same ...

''. He moved into business for R.G. Dun and Co., becoming the manager of the company's Ontario branch at age 26. At age 33, he was transferred to

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and would become general manager of the company (at this point known as Dun, Barlow & Co.) The firm would later be called Dun, Wiman & Co. He became president of the Great Northwestern Telegraph Company of Canada in 1881. In the late 19th-century, Wiman emerged as a major developer in the New York City borough of

. As the president of the Staten Island Railway Co. and the St. George Ferry to

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, Wiman pushed to make the borough the center of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

's New York operations, and was also involved in one of the early proposals to connect Staten Island to the other four boroughs of the city via a

rail tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube constr ...

. Wiman later constructed an amusement park near

St. George Ferry Terminal St. George Terminal is a ferry, railway, bus, and park and ride transit center in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City. It is located at the intersection of Richmond Terrace and Bay Street, near Staten Island Borough Hall ...

, and purchased the Metropolitan Baseball Club which he relocated to the

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. He owned several properties on the island, including a country home on

Hylan Boulevard Hylan Boulevard is a major northeast-southwest boulevard in the New York City borough of Staten Island, and the longest street in the city. It is approximately long, and runs from the North Shore neighborhood of Rosebank, then along the enti ...

in Eltingville previously owned by

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designer

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

. In 1893, Wiman went into bankruptcy, proceeded by the turnover of several entities he owned into the hands of others. In 1894, Wiman was arrested for

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

after attempting to cash a $5,000 check from R.G. Dunn made out to a false name. He was found guilty in 1895 (though the conviction was overturned on appeal), and would relinquish his fortune after lawsuits by his creditors. Wiman suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 1901, and died at his home in St. George in 1904.

Beliefs

Wiman was a proponent of reciprocity, now known as

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

, between Canada and the United States.

Personal life

Wiman had four sons, Henry, William who married Anna Deere-a granddaughter of

John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

- the couple were the parents of Dwight Deere Wiman (Broadway producer) as well as Charles Deere Wiman (president of

Deere & Company Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy e ...

from 1928 to 1955); Frank and Louis, and two daughters. Grandchildren of William and Anna include Nancy "Trink" Deere Wiman, Anna Deere Wiman, Katherine Deere Wiman, Damaris Deere Wiman (last surviving grandchild), Mary Jane Wiman, and Patricia Deere Wiman, while some of the great grandchildren include Rufus Wakeman and family, Michael Colhoun and family, Susan Taft and family, Ian D Colhoun and family (daughter is Lindsay of Deere-Colhoun handbags), the Brintons and families, the Hewitts and families (includes Anna Hewitt Wolfe-owner of Mandala Healing in N.M), the Carters and families, the Glovers and families, etc. Some of Erastus's relations on his maternal Matthews line include two well known families in the history of the fundamental Latter Day Saints religion which began abt 1838 under Joseph Smith-these were his two aunts, Maria Antoinette who married John Glines/Glynes, and Aurelia who married Thomas William Hollingshead. Wiman was naturalized as a

United States citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

in 1897 although he was born and raised at Churchville (Brampton), Ontario. He was the only son of Erastus Wyman/Wiman and Therese née Matthews.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
Obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiman, Erastus 1834 births 1904 deaths Canadian male journalists Journalists from Ontario People from St. George, Staten Island People from Brampton Pre-Confederation Ontario people Canadian emigrants to the United States People from Eltingville, Staten Island