Joseph Kerr ( – 1902) was an

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

merchant and political figure. He represented Stormont in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

member from 1879 to 1886. He was born in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the son of William Kerr, and came to Canada, where he worked as a conductor on the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

. He later settled at Farran's Point in Osnabruck Township, where he established the firm of Kerr Bros. with his three brothers. The firm owned several stores,

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s, a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

and several farms. His election in 1879 was appealed but Kerr won the by-election which followed. With

Darby Bergin Colonel Darby Bergin (September 7, 1826 – October 22, 1896) was an Ontario physician and political figure. He represented Cornwall from 1872 to 1874 and from 1878 to 1882 and then Cornwall and Stormont from 1882 to 1896 in the House of ...

, he helped establish the Ontario Pacific Railway. His younger brother George Kerr later represented Stormont in the provincial assembly.

External links

*
''Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry : a history, 1784-1945'', JG Harkness (1946)
1902 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Irish emigrants to Canada Businesspeople from County Fermanagh Year of birth missing People from the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Politicians from County Fermanagh {{ProgressiveConservative-Ontario-MPP-stub