Erastus Wiman (21 April 1834 – 9 February 1904) was a Canadian journalist and businessman who later moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He is best known as a developer in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

borough of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, a founder of whiskey producer

Canadian Club Canadian Club () is a brand of Canadian whisky produced by Suntory Global Spirits. Popularly known as CC, Canadian Club was created by Hiram Walker and Sons, an evolution of a brand around a product that took place over the second half of the ...

, and owner of the

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New York M ...

baseball team.

Biography

Wiman was born in Churchville,

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, 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 Province of Queb ...

(now part of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

) on April 21, 1834, the only son of Erastus Wyman and Therese Amelia née Matthews. Wiman's first job was at the ''North American'' in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

(not to be confused with the Philadelphia-based paper) at age 16, as an apprentice printer for a salary of $1.50 a week for his first cousin Hon. Sir William MacDougall (whose mother Hannah was Therese's sister) and was a founding father of

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

. After four years, he worked as a reporter and later the business editor for the ''

Toronto Globe ''The Globe'' was a Canadian newspaper in Toronto, Ontario, founded in 1844 by George Brown as a Reform voice. It merged with ''The Mail and Empire'' in 1936 to form ''The Globe and Mail''. History ''The Globe'' is pre-dated by a title of the s ...

''. He moved into business for R.G. Dun and Co., becoming the manager of the company's Ontario branch at age 26. At age 33, he was transferred to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and would become general manager of the company (at this point known as Dun, Barlow & Co.) The firm would later be called Dun, Wiman & Co. He became president of the Great Northwestern Telegraph Company of Canada in 1881. In the late 19th-century, Wiman emerged as a major developer in the New York City borough of

. As the president of the Staten Island Railway Co. and the St. George Ferry to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, Wiman pushed to make the borough the center of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

's New York operations, and was also involved in one of the early proposals to connect Staten Island to the other four boroughs of the city via a

rail tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two Portal (architecture), portals common at each end, though ther ...

. Wiman later constructed an amusement park near

St. George Ferry Terminal St. George Terminal is a ferry, railway, bus, and park and ride transit center in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City. It is located at the intersection of Richmond Terrace and Bay Street, near Staten Island Borough Hal ...

, and purchased the Metropolitan Baseball Club which he relocated to the

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

. He owned several properties on the island, including a country home on

Hylan Boulevard Hylan Boulevard is a major northeast-southwest boulevard in the New York City borough of Staten Island, and the longest street in a single borough in the city. It is approximately long, and runs from the North Shore neighborhood of Roseban ...

in Eltingville named

Olmsted–Beil House The Olmsted–Beil House is a large farm and modest Dutch colonial farmhouse at 4515 Hylan Boulevard (near Woods of Arden Road) in the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City. The house was purchased by Frederick Law Olmsted's father and giv ...

, previously owned by

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

designer

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

. In 1893, Wiman went into bankruptcy, proceeded by the turnover of several entities he owned into the hands of others. In 1894, Wiman was arrested for

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific mens rea, intent to wikt:defraud#English, defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be fo ...

after attempting to cash a $5,000 check from R.G. Dunn made out to a false name. He was found guilty in 1895 (though the conviction was overturned on appeal), and would relinquish his fortune after lawsuits by his creditors. Wiman suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in 1901, and died at his home in St. George in 1904.

Beliefs

Wiman was a proponent of reciprocity, now known as

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

, between Canada and the United States.

Personal life

Wiman had four sons, Henry, William who married Anna Deere-a granddaughter of

John Deere Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, Transmission (mechanical device), transmi ...

, and niece of architect

Merton Yale Cady Merton Yale Cady (1840 – 1900) was a prominent architect and builder in Moline, Illinois. He designed various buildings at World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago World's Fair in 1893, and designed the Riverside Cemetery (Moline, Illinois), River ...

. The couple were the parents of

Dwight Deere Wiman Dwight Deere Wiman (August 8, 1895 – January 20, 1951) was an American silent movie actor, playwright and theatrical director. He is best known as a Broadway producer. Biography Early life and education Wiman was born in Moline, Illinois, on ...

(Broadway producer) as well as Charles Deere Wiman (president of

Deere & Company Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment an ...

from 1928 to 1955); Frank and Louis, and two daughters. Grandchildren of William and Anna include Nancy "Trink" Deere Wiman, Anna Deere Wiman, Katherine Deere Wiman, Damaris Deere Wiman (last surviving grandchild), Mary Jane Wiman, and Patricia Deere Wiman, while some of the great grandchildren include Rufus Wakeman and family, Michael Colhoun and family, Susan Taft and family, Ian D Colhoun and family (daughter is Lindsay of Deere-Colhoun handbags), the Brintons and families, the Hewitts and families (includes Anna Hewitt Wolfe-owner of Mandala Healing in N.M), the Carters and families, the Glovers and families, etc. Some of Erastus's relations on his maternal Matthews line include two well known families in the history of the fundamental Latter Day Saints religion which began abt 1838 under Joseph Smith-these were his two aunts, Maria Antoinette who married John Glines/Glynes, and Aurelia who married Thomas William Hollingshead. Wiman became naturalized as a

United States citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constitu ...

in 1897.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
Obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiman, Erastus 1834 births 1904 deaths Deere family Yale family Canadian male journalists Journalists from Ontario People from St. George, Staten Island People from Brampton Pre-Confederation Ontario people Canadian emigrants to the United States People from Eltingville, Staten Island