Thomas Mears (1775 – October 16, 1832) was a businessman and political figure 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 ...

. He was born in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

in 1775. He settled in West Hawkesbury Township. He set up a

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 ...

and

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

on the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

in that area with

David Pattee David Pattee (July 30, 1778 – February 5, 1851) was a businessman, judge and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Goffstown, New Hampshire in 1778. He studied medicine but never practiced. In 1803, he left New Hampshire for the ...

, which later became the basis for the town of

Hawkesbury Hawkesbury or Hawksbury may refer to: People *Baron Hawkesbury, or Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1727-1808), English statesman Places ;Geography *Hawkesbury Island, an island in British Columbia, Canada * Hawkesbury Island, Queensland ...

. He was named

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in the Eastern District in 1806 and in the

Ottawa District The Ottawa District was a historic district in Upper Canada which existed until 1849. It was created in 1816 by splitting the counties of Prescott and Russell from the Eastern District. The district town was L'Orignal. In 1838 Gloucester towns ...

in 1816. He was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lis ...

for Prescott in 1808 and was reelected in 1812. He was named sheriff in the Eastern District in 1816. Around 1811, Mears and Pattee's timber operations were taken over by

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and William Hamilton when they were unable to deliver goods to repay advances paid by the Hamiltons. Mears also operated the first

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

on the Ottawa River, the ''Union''. In 1819, Mears took over the operation of a sawmill originally built by

Joseph Papineau Joseph Papineau (October 16, 1752 – July 8, 1841) was a notary, seigneur, and political figure in Lower Canada. Between 1773 and 1775, he worked as a surveyor. Papineau was also a horticulturalist whose estate home at Montebello is a to ...

on the

Petite-Nation River The Petite-Nation River is a river in western Quebec, Canada, that flows from the Laurentian Mountains to empty into the Ottawa River near Plaisance, Quebec. The river is in length. This river's French name refers to the Algonquin people that ...

near Plaisance in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

. He died in West Hawkesbury in 1832.

References

*''Becoming Prominent: Leadership in Upper Canada, 1791–1841'', J.K. Johnson (1989) 1775 births 1832 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada People from Hawkesbury, Ontario Canadian justices of the peace {{UpperCanada-politician-stub