Jacob Friedrich Beck an early important figure in Hespeler, Preston and Baden. A Mechanic named Jacob Beck (Father of Sir Adam) who was married to Jacob Hespelers sister had invented a waterwheel of revolutionary design, entirely different from the ones then commonly in use which had the merit of developing more power from less flow and head than the ordinary type. He found his new wheel was getting considerable public acceptance and he was looking for a place to make it himself instead of having them made for him by others. In some way he and Bergey got together and Bergey built this foundry (It may have been built earlier) and rented it to Beck. Historians of the past say that Beck went from New Hope to Preston which statement I hesitate to question. However, one day when Mr. George A. Clare and I were driving along one of the Waterloo Township roads near Strasburg he stopped and tied the horse to a telegraph pole while he and I walked down through a field to the ruins of the old building, where he told me his father first worked when he came to Canada. While on the spot, Mr. Clare told me how his father, John Clare, happened to come here. It seems that Mr. Beck was making plough shares in his moulding shop and they were not coming out very good and the farmers who bought them were complaining; More or less in desperation, Mr. Beck went to Buffalo and there called on a friend, a Mr. Jewett, I believe, who ran a foundry. He told him his trouble and asked for the loan of a moulder who could make good shares and plow points, for three or four months, till he could get a stock made up ahead. The Buffalo friend recommended a young German named John Clare who accompanied Mr. Beck back to Canada and he was able to turn out articles that suited the farmers. Beck, I think, probably went from New Hope to Strasburg (or nearby Aberdeen) and from there later to Preston. My reasoning is that had he gone first to Preston and later to Strasburg, the Clare Bros. Plant would have been at Strasburg instead of at Preston. At the expiration of the arranged period, when there was a big enough pile of shares and points made up ahead, Mr. Clare did not return to Buffalo as originally intended; and for a very good reason. He had fallen in love with a daughter of Mr. Beck and in due course led her to the Altar; and they remained in Preston. That is the story Mr. George A. Clare told me that day. I have since learned that Mr. John Clare came to this country in 1844 and married Miss Beck in 1845. Le Rue De Commerce, Other Times Other Customs Other Days Other Ways, Winfield Brewster 1954 generations.regionofwaterloo.ca/getperson.php?personID=I34982&tree=generations
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 22:07:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015