Adam Swart Vedder (July 27, 1834 – October 8, 1905) was a rancher and political figure in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

. He represented

Westminster-Chilliwhack Westminster-Chilliwack was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1894 to 1898. It and its sister ridings Westminster-Delta, Westminster-Dewdney and Westminster-Richmond were successors to the old four-m ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria. Members are elected from provincial ...

from 1897 to 1898. He was born in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Yo ...

, the son of Volkert Vedder and Agnes Swart, of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

descent, and was educated there. In 1846, he moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and then, in 1852, moved to

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

where he worked at transporting supplies to the mines. In 1860, he moved to British Columbia, where he was again involved in transporting goods. In 1868, he began ranching near Sumas. Vedder was married twice: first to Althea Dicker in 1877 and then to Elizabeth Jackman in 1894. He served on the municipal council and was also warden for

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

township. Vedder served as postmaster from 1888 to 1894. He was elected to the assembly in an 1897 by-election held following the death of

Thomas Edwin Kitchen Thomas Edwin Kitchen (December 18, 1852 – April 5, 1897) was an English-born farmer and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Westminster from 1890 to 1894 and Westminster-Chilliwhack from 1894 to 1897 in the Legislative As ...

. Vedder died in Chilliwack at the age of 71. His first wife is said to have chosen the name for the town of

Sardis Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...

at random from her Bible.

References

1834 births 1905 deaths Politicians from Schenectady, New York American emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia American people of Dutch descent Canadian people of Dutch descent Independent MLAs in British Columbia {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub