Moses Springer (August 24, 1824 – September 5, 1898) 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 Ca ...

businessman and political figure who became the first mayor of

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the c ...

. He also represented

Waterloo North Waterloo North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which entitled each of north and s ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member from 1867 to 1881. Springer was born August 24, 1824, to Benjamin Springer, originally from

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

, and Mary Rykeman, in Doon in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. One of 11 children, he was orphaned at the age of 10 when both parents died in 1834 during a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic. He was later adopted and raised by

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

bishop Joseph B. Hagey. He worked as a farm hand, taught school and served as a provincial land surveyor in Woolwich Township. In 1854, he moved to Waterloo where he became the owner and publisher of the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

newspaper ''Der Canadische Bauernfreund''. He opened a store there in 1856. He was the president of the Waterloo Mutual Fire Insurance Company and helped found the Ontario Mutual Life Assurance Company, later Clarica Life Assurance, in 1868. He was the first reeve of the village of Waterloo and served as reeve for a total of 12 years, served 11 years on the county council and became the first mayor when Waterloo was incorporated as a town in 1876. In 1881, Springer became sheriff for

Waterloo County Waterloo County was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario from 1853 until 1973. It was the direct predecessor of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Situated on a subset of land within the Haldimand Tract, the traditional territory of ...

and served in that post until his death. Springer died September 5, 1898, in Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener) and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery. His wife Barbara Shantz, with whom he had 13 children, preceded him in death, dying October 1884. The home where the Springer family lived from the mid-1850s to later in his life at 34 Erb Street East was demolished by the city of Waterloo in 2016. His grand-daughter, Emma Ella Roos, was the first librarian at the Waterloo Public Library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Springer, Moses 1824 births 1898 deaths Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Mayors of Waterloo, Ontario