James Coleman
This biography is an excerpt of a larger project about the Mayors of Dundas developed and created by Judy Morphet, a Museum volunteer. It has been years in the making. The Museum is thankful for Judy’s hard work and perseverance in bringing these stories to light. To read more, click here.
James Coleman, 17, left his home in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland arriving in the United States in 1827. After working in stores in Ogdensburg he moved to Brockville and Coburg, Upper Canada** finally coming upon Dundas in about 1832.
Coleman soon leased the Dundas Mills from James Ewart (who had bought them from Richard Hatt’s heirs in 1825) from 1833 until 1852, when he then purchased flour mills. Milling was the most important industry in Dundas prior to the establishment of the Gartshore Shops in 1838.
In about 1835 James wed Elizabeth Saunders, of Montreal, Lower Canada. The couple’s first house was situated at the corners of Park and Cross Streets which was later to become the Grafton estate called The Maples.
With the import and export business quickly becoming a successful enterprise, Coleman built a general store in 1840 at the corner of King Street East and Main Street.
By 1856 Coleman is said to have owned several schooners, the Europa and the James Coleman which was launched in 1847 in the Desjardins Canal turning basin.
The Dundas Town Council elected James Coleman as Mayor of Dundas in 1850, the first year when the title Mayor replaced the President of the two earlier councils.
Coleman was well on the way to becoming the first millionaire in Dundas when a series of disasters struck: the collapse of wheat prices following the end of the Crimean War in 1856; the depression in the United States following the Civil War; the drowning death of his son and heir; and the fire which razed the Coleman mansion.
Having been forced into bankruptcy, Coleman moved to Hamilton to live with his daughter, he went to work organizing the Hamilton Iron Forging Company, a sprawling foundry, manufacturing railway axles, steamboat shafting, and heavy iron work, the only one of its kind in the Dominion.
On March 6, 1881, Coleman passed away. His funeral was said to be the most elaborate ever seen in Dundas. He was interred in Grove Cemetery beside his two lost children.
