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Biographies of Co. Tyrone Men in Ontario, Canada


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Biographies of Co. Tyrone Men in Ontario, Canada
Extracts from The History of the County of Middlesex, Canada: From the Earliest Time to the Present W.A. & C.L. Goodspeed, published 1889

Extracted, Transcribed & Submitted by Teena Troock


Bodkin, Robert b.1843
Coote, John b.1833
Cuddy, Thomas b.1816
Magee, George G. b.1813
Woods, Samuel b.1841

BODKIN, Robert - a popular and enterprising merchant at Delaware and son of William and Sarah BELL BODKIN was born in County Tyrone Ireland 17 Aug. 1843. The parents were both natives of Ireland and came to Canada in 1847 locating in Delaware Twp. where the father followed farming and where he still resides. In their family were ten children, Robert being the fifth. He remained with his parents until of age and at the age of eighteen began teaching, which occupation he followed for three years. He then entered the Victoria College of Medicine at Toronto. where he remained two and a half years but was then obliged to abandon his studies on account of ill health. After spending some time in tilling the soil to regain his health, he again engaged in teaching and followed this occupation for seven years when failing health again compelled him to return to agricultural pursuits. In 1875 he established a mercantile business at Delaware where he has since continued. In 1872 he married Miss Mary A McFARLANE, a native of Canada and a daughter of Donald McFARLANE Esq. Three children, two sons and a daughter, were the result of this union.

Mr BODKIN is a member of the Methodist Church, is a Liberal in politics, has served as township clerk since 1873, is a class leader in the church, and is president of the Bible Society for the township. In 1876 he received the appointment of postmaster in which capacity he acted until 1883 when he resigned the position. He has the position of issuer of marriage licenses in Delaware and is president of the Sabbath School Association for the united Townships of Westminster and Delaware.


COOTE, John - was born in Co. Tyrone, the "Emerald Isle," in 1833, being one of three surviving members, of a family of nine children born to the marriage of James COOTE and Margery BARTLEY, who were born, reared and married in Ireland. About 1838, they came to Canada, locating in Middlesex Co., on the North Branch River, where he purchased 400 acres of timber land, which he succeeded in clearing, and where he lived for a number of yrs. He afterwards located near the Co. Asylum grounds, where he spent the remainder of his days, dying in 1863. He was always very liberal with his family, and purchased 500 acres of land opposite the Water-works, which he divided among his children. He was captain of a company of cavalry in the militia. His son, John, was about five yrs of age when he came to Canada, and up to fifteen yrs of age, was engaged in following the plow and attending the common schools. He then began fighting the battle of life for himself, and after the lapse of a number of years, engaged in the livery business and staging, eventually becoming the owner of four large stables, located at the following places, Port Stanley, Woodstock, Brantford and London, Ontario. He has an exceedingly fertile and well improved farm, on which is a beautiful residence, and throughout his life, he has been one of the honorable business men and enterprising citizens of the county, ever ready to advance the interests of the public. For the past twenty-five years he has been practically retired from active business life.

 

CUDDY, Thomas - Prominent among the leading men of Adelaide Township and among the old settlers of Middlesex County, stands the name of Thomas CUDDY, who was born in Tyrone, Ireland, 17 Mar. 1816, and is the son of John and Elizabeth (WATTERS) CUDDY, both natives of Co.Tyrone, Ireland. The father was born in 1744, and died in his native country, where his wife also passed her last days. Thomas CUDDY was educated in the schools of his native country, and came to Canada in 1837, settling on his present farm in the Township of Adelaide, Lot 6, Third Concession, north of the Egremont Road, where he has since resided, a period of more than half a century. He is the owner of 350 acres of good land, well improved and well cultivated. In 1840 he married Miss Esther TRUMAN, a native of Co. Tyrone, Ireland, born 12 Nov 1826, and the daughter of John and Sarah (SMITH) TRUMAN. The fruits of this union were seven children, Sarah, John, Elizabeth, Thomas Alfred, Loftus William James, Mary Victoria, and Esther Laura Adella.

Mr. CUDDY is Conservative in his political opinions, and was a member of the Township Council for sixteen years. He has also held the office of Reeve for two years, and has always taken an active part in the public affairs of the County. He and Mrs. CUDDY are worthy members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is an honorable, upright citizen, whose word is as good as his bond.


MAGEE, George G. - A history of the business men of the City of London, which failed to include a sketch of the life of this esteemed pioneer citizen, a man whose long residence here, and whose many admirable traits of character, have won for him an enviable reputation, and the respect and esteem of all, would be incomplete. His career is an excellent example of what the New World can do for a man who sets before himself a high ideal of life, and who has the ambition and steadfast purpose to rise to a prominent position. In Mr. MAGEE's case, a laudable ambition has not been thwarted by circumstances which in the Old World so often prove a check to advancement. He was born in the County of Tyrone, Ireland, 6 Dec 1813, and is a son of Jonathan MAGEE and Elizabeth (GUY) MAGEE, who were also natives of that county. George G. was the eldest of eight children, who grew to maturity and was reared on a farm.

In early life he immigrated to the United States, and settled first in Massachusetts, and from there went to Philadelphia, but owing to the depressed condition of financial affairs and the discouraging condition of business, he soon changed his residence to London, Ontario, and for over four years worked as a clerk, three years with one firm and fifteen months with another. In March, 1847, he embarked in business for himself, and was identified with the mercantile interests of the place until 1862, when he retired. One of the cardinal points in his business transactions was to make the interests of his patrons identical with his own, and the competency which he now enjoys is the result of his industry, integrity, and close application to business, even to its most trivial details. In 1855 and 1856, he was elected as Alderman to represent his Ward in the City Council, and was honored with the position of Chairman of the Board of Finance, in which position he made a faithful and efficient public servant. Being a man of domestic habits and taste, he has held himself aloof as much as possible from politics, but has given much assistance to others. In 1841 he was married to Miss Mary Ann MAGEE, who was born in Ireland, and by her, is the father of the following children:Guy, a journalist; Jonathan, a farmer; Alfred, a farmer; and Emma C., at home.


WOODS, Samuel - Samuel WOODS, M. A., Principal of the Collegiate Institute, London, Ontario, was born in the County of Tyrone, Ireland, on the 14th Oct. 1841, being the youngest son of William and Martha (HENDERSON) WOODS, who were old Covenanter stock, and were among the Protestant immigrants from Scotland, who settled Ulster. Samuel WOODS was educated at the London (Ontario) Grammar School and at University College, Toronto, where a gold medal in Classics was awarded him in 1862. Among his classmates were Prof. J. LONDON, the late Principal BUCHAN, Dr. James A. McLELLAN, Rev. Dr. GIBSON, of London, England, and James FISHER Esq., of Winnipeg. Excellent school and college editions of portions of Demosthenes, Virgil, and Horace, have been published by him, and have been standard classics in our institutions of learning for some time. Mr. WOODS was a member of the University Rifle Company, first formed during the Trent excitement, and he subsequently took a certificate at the Kingston Military School. From 1862 to 1877, he was Rector of the Kingston Collegiate Institute, and won for this institution, a provincial reputation in the Department of Classics. After this, he was engaged in business for a few years, and then, without solicitation, was unanimously appointed Principal of the Lake Forest Academy of Illinois, which position he held a number of years, resigning in June, 1883. He was then, at the earnest solicitation of the Board of Managers of the Ottawa Ladies' College, induced to accept the Principalship, and in this excellent institution he carried out those ideas of education which he had so long held and advocated, and which obtained for the college an enviable reputation.

Mr. WOODS was the originator, and for many years a Director, of the Ontario Building and Saving Society, of Kingston, and was one of the original Directors of the Kingston Street Railway Company, and re-organized the present, very successful Kingston Mechanics' Institute, of which he was President. Of this institution, he is now one of the three life members, the others being the Right Honorable Sir John A. MacDONALD, K.C.B., and John CARRUTHERS. He was also the originator, and for four years the President, of the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society of Kingston, and has been a member of the Senate of the University of Toronto since 1876. In the Masonic Order, he is P.D.D.G.M., having held that position in 1876, In religious views, Mr. WOODS is a Presbyterian, and in his political views has always been a Liberal Conservative, but seldom takes an active part in any contest. He is a man of strong, original mind, firm convictions, and untiring energy, and since 1887 has been filling his present position, and has proved to be the right man, in the right place. In March, 1863, he married Elizabeth, the third daughter of William FORD of Kingston; she died in October, 1884.


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