By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer Ebenezer Scrooge may not have been the only 19th century figure to be visited by the ghosts of Christmas. The faded yellow minutes of a December 15, 1896, Sarnia Council meeting suggest celebrated author Charles Dickens's apparitions may have come calling on Mayor [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He was a politician who hated politics. William J. Proctor, who served three terms as Sarnia's Mayor, was a man who never campaigned for the job. He wouldn’t give speeches, kiss babies, distribute pamphlets or do advertising of any kind. According to a [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He helped launch the local tourism industry and gave Sarnians direct control over their Police Department. Those were among the major achievements of Mayor Richard LeSueur. Born in Quebec City in 1850, LeSueur settled in Sarnia, becoming a shoe merchant and County Registrar. [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer His name was Ebenezer but he was no Scrooge. In fact, when it came to caring for the sick and the poor, Sarnia Mayor Ebenezer Pool Watson never asked, “are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?” Instead, the Community's 19th Chief Magistrate [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He's long forgotten today, but Mayor James S. Symington played an important role in the construction of the original St. Clair River Railroad Tunnel. Born in rural Lambton County in 1844, Symington moved to Sarnia as a boy, later becoming a successful local [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He was Sarnia's first 'Green' Mayor. A century before the environmental movement began, Mayor Charles Vail was taking concrete steps to battle pollution. Vail, a doctor who was elected the Municipality's Chief Magistrate in 1887, presided over the Council that passed a bylaw [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer He was the first Sarnia Mayor who had to deal with a genuine terrorism crisis. Dr. Arthur Poussette, who became the Municipality's 16th Mayor in 1886, found himself in office at a time when the community was badly torn by the prohibition issue. [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer A century before the local Economic Development Commission was established, Mayor Joe Lowrie was actively urging new industries to locate in Sarnia. Lowrie, who was born in Berwickshire, Scotland, came to Canada in 1852 and immediately established a Blacksmith Shop on Victoria Street. [...]
By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer A century before Marceil Saddy launched his annual Mayor's Honour List, George Leys was recognizing the achievements of outstanding Sarnians. Just days after being sworn in as Sarnia's 13th Chief Magistrate in 1880, Mayor Leys held a reception at his 171 Lochiel Street [...]
by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer The welfare problems facing local politicians today pale beside those encountered by Sarnia's municipal leaders in the late 1870s. Indeed, during Mayor Daniel Mackenzie's administration Council was briefly saddled with a "corporate baby" that was literally dumped in the lap of a startled [...]
