1911 | First World War

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Settlement of Waterloo North (Pre 1900)

By acoadmin • On January 1, 1851 • In German-Canadian Identity, Pre 1914, Storyboards

This sub-district of the Waterloo Region, made up primarily of the town of Waterloo, the city of Berlin (now Kitchener, as of 1917), Elmira, and surrounding rural communities, is best known for its Mennonite population, who arrived shortly after the turn of the 19th century. Mennonites and European Germans purchased land along the Grand River as a part of the German Company Tract to settle Waterloo North. The Mennonite community has inspired several tourist attractions, such as the St. Jacobs Market and the Pioneer Memorial Tower. Both of these landmarks are symbols of settlement, hard work, and unique Mennonite heritage. However, by 1911, Mennonite people were a minority in the Waterloo Region and lived collectively primarily in the rural areas of Waterloo North. The region’s German-Canadian population was comprised mostly of European German immigrants who outnumbered the Mennonites soon after their arrival in Southern Ontario. After the Mennonites settled the region in the early 19th century, waves of German immigrants seeking to escape the conditions of war torn Europe settled the region between 1812 and 1815. Until the 1860s, immigrants from Germany flooded to the region, often departing from Bremmen, Germany. Once they arrived in Quebec they travelled to the Waterloo Region, drawn to the region due to the overwhelming presence of German culture there.

(August 1914; Briethaupt, Catherine Olive. 1914 Diary (Briethaupt Diary Collection, Rare Books Room, Dana Porter Library, University of Waterloo), 3 August 1914; McLaughin, Ken, and John English. Kitchener: An Illustrated History. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1983.; McLaughin, Ken. The Germans in Canada. Ottawa: The Canadian Historical Association,1985; Celebration of Cityhood 1912. Berlin: The German Printing and Publishing Co of Berlin, 1912; Fifth Census of Canada 1911, Volume I. C.H.Parmelee: Ottawa, 1912; Fourth Census of Canada 1901, Volume I. Ottawa: S.E.Dawson, 1902; Third Census of Canada, 1890-91. S.E.Dawson, 1893; Second Census of Canada, 1880-81. Maclean, Roger & Co: Ottawa, 1883; First Census of Canada, 1870-71. Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 1873.)

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Settlement of Waterloo South (Pre 1900)

By acoadmin • On January 1, 1852 • In German-Canadian Identity, Pre 1914, Storyboards

While Waterloo North was largely shaped by an ethnically German population, Waterloo South, comprised of the small towns of Hespeler, Preston, and Ayr, as well as the larger town of Galt (present day Cambridge), present a different story. The small towns of Hespeler and Preston share a similar story to that of Waterloo North, comprised primarily of German Lutherans. Galt and Ayr are unique, as they reflect Anglo-Celtic ethnic and religious dominance.

In 1816, the Honourable William Dickson, a Scottish politician from Dumfries, Scotland, sealed the fate of the district. Dickson established the settlement of Shade’s Mills, and portioned out his 90,000 acres of land primarily to lowland Scots. Soon after, Dickson renamed the settlement Galt, named after Scottish novelist John Galt. Dickson advertised immigration to Galt, Ontario in Scottish newspapers and primarily attracted Scots from the lowlands of Roxboroughshire and Selkirkshire. Dickson’s efforts solidified British dominance in Waterloo South by 1911.

(City of Cambridge. “The Evolution of Galt.” Accessed April 15, 2014.)

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Religion in Waterloo North (Pre 1911)

By acoadmin • On January 1, 1911 • In German-Canadian Identity, Pre 1914

At the turn of the 20th century, religion played a crucial role as a cultural identifier, and influenced the social lives of citizens. While Waterloo Region was ethnically diverse, it was religiously diverse as well. German culture is evident from the religious breakdown of Waterloo North. German Lutherans remained the dominant religious group between 1871 and 1911, growing from a total of 5959 of the total population of 19,256 in 1871, to 11,251 of the total population 33,619 in Waterloo North in 1911. Other prominent religions in the Waterloo North in 1911 were Roman Catholics, numbering 7,223, Mennonites numbering 4,006, and Methodists numbering 2,904. While the Mennonites congregated in larger numbers outside of major town centers, they were still present as a minority in Waterloo, Berlin, and Elmira. Regardless of the religious diversity of Waterloo North there is no evidence of conflict among the groups in contrast to the situation in Germany and Europe. They were united through a common German ancestry, the nostalgic use of the German language, German cultural festivals, and the Christian faith.

(McLaughin, Ken. The Germans in Canada. Ottawa: The Canadian Historical Association,1985; Celebration of Cityhood 1912. Berlin: The German Printing and Publishing Co of Berlin, 1912; Fifth Census of Canada 1911, Volume I. C.H.Parmelee: Ottawa, 1912; Fourth Census of Canada 1901, Volume I. Ottawa: S.E.Dawson, 1902; Third Census of Canada, 1890-91. S.E.Dawson, 1893; Second Census of Canada, 1880-81. Maclean, Roger & Co: Ottawa, 1883; First Census of Canada, 1870-71. Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 1873.)

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Religion in Waterloo South (Pre 1911)

By acoadmin • On January 1, 1911 • In German-Canadian Identity, Pre 1914

At the turn of the 20th century, religion played a crucial role as a cultural identifier, and influenced the social lives of citizens. While Waterloo Region was ethnically diverse, it was religiously diverse as well. Waterloo South was a mixed society. The towns of Galt and Ayr had a unique ethnic and religious identity in contrast to that of their German counterparts.

While Lutheranism was the most prominent religion of the Waterloo North, religions closely associated with Britain, such as Anglicanism, Presbyterianism, and Methodism, were dominant in the Waterloo South. This is most evident in Galt, where the dominant parishioners were 4,240 Presbyterians, 1,930 Anglicans, and 2,122 Methodists. The exception to this dominance of Anglo-Protestants is Preston, whose parishioners were 862 Lutherans, 844 Roman Catholics, 707 Methodists, 704 Anglicans, and 525 Presbyterians in 1911. Much like Waterloo North, these parishioners worked together as the majority of citizens shared Christian beliefs.

(Fifth Census of Canada 1911, Volume I. C.H.Parmelee: Ottawa, 1912; Fourth Census of Canada 1901, Volume I. Ottawa: S.E.Dawson, 1902; Third Census of Canada, 1890-91. S.E.Dawson, 1893; Second Census of Canada, 1880-81. Maclean, Roger & Co: Ottawa, 1883; First Census of Canada, 1870-71. Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 1873.)

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Waterloo South as a Canadian Community (1911)

By acoadmin • On January 1, 1911 • In German-Canadian Identity, Pre 1914

In 1911, the leading cultural backgrounds of the populations of Galt and Ayr were Scottish, followed by sizable English and Irish populations, with a minority German population. Galt’s dominant populations were 4345 Scottish, 3707 English, 1044 Irish, and 866 people of German ancestry, making the city predominantly British in ancestry. Ayr presents a similar situation, with 432 Scottish, 227 English, 68 Irish, and 68 people of German ancestry. Hespeler, Preston, and surrounding rural areas were quite different, as German ethnics held the majority, followed by an abundance of English people. Hespeler featured a population of 866 Germans, 698 English, 490 Scottish, and 246 Irish, and Preston held 1795 Germans, 1131 English, 342 Irish, and 341 Scottish. Therefore, while Hespeler and Preston had a significant German-Canadian population, British-Canadians outnumbered German-Canadians. Additionally, Waterloo South received 4,607 immigrants from Great Britain, most of which came from England and Scotland. Waterloo South was diverse, but was overwhelmingly Canadian. Much like Waterloo North, the residents were primarily Canadian by birth.

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Company Picnics (1911)

By acoadmin • On January 1, 1911 • In Economics, Politics, Pre 1914

As early as the 1860s, local manufacturing companies began to hold picnics for their employees and other local people. In Berlin, picnics held by local distilleries became popular, and were often accompanied by a parade and musical entertainment. These picnics are a mark of industrialization and growth in the region, as companies used picnics for community outreach and to establish a close relationship with their employees. This relationship was maintained through these types of events, and became particularly important in 1911 federal election, in which industrial workers voted in favour of Conservative protectionism, rather than Liberal reciprocity, to protect the economic interests of their employers.

(McLaughlin, Kenneth. Waterloo: An Illustrated History. Waterloo: Windsor Publishing Canada, 1990; Argyle, Ray. Turning Points: The Campaigns That Changed Canada – 2011 and Before Hampshire:Waterside Books, 2011.)

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William George Weichel (1911)

By acoadmin • On January 1, 1911 • In Politics, Pre 1914, Storyboards

William Weichel was born in Elmira, Ontario, on 20 July 1870. As a young man, he worked for his father at the family hardware store. In 1896, he opened his own store in Waterloo. In 1911, he was appointed Mayor of Waterloo, and was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Waterloo North, defeating Liberal candidate William Lyon Mackenzie King. Weichel represented the people of Waterloo North during the First World War as a Conservative MP; this changed in 1917 when he became a “Unionist” (Pro-War Conservative) candidate and lost his seat to William Daum Euler, the former Mayor of Berlin.

(Celebration of Cityhood 1912. Berlin: The German Printing and Publishing Co of Berlin, 1912; PARLINFO. “Weichel, William George.” Accessed April 20, 2014. http://www.parl.gc.ca/)

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Waterloo North as a Canadian Community (1911)

By acoadmin • On January 2, 1911 • In German-Canadian Identity, Pre 1914

While the Region is marked by a uniquely German heritage, Waterloo North, which is of primarily German descent, was distinctly “Canadian” by 1911. According to the 1911 Census of Waterloo North’s 33, 619 people, 25, 352 were of German origin; furthermore, 29, 134 citizens were Canadian-born, with 29,026 born specifically in Ontario. The people of Waterloo North, despite their German ancestry, were second, third, and even fourth generation Germans by the outbreak of the First World War, as immigration between 1901 and 1911 had slowed to just over 1200 people, primarily from Germany. An example of this trend are the prominent Berlin citizens Albert Loborious Breithaupt, Louis Jacob Breithaupt, and Louis Jacobs’ daughter Catherine Breithaupt, who were born in Ontario and of German ethnic ancestry, but used English even in their personal journals. By the outbreak of the war, the individuals living in Waterloo North had developed a unique Canadian identity – they were German-Canadians, but most importantly Canadians.

(McLaughin, Ken, and John English. Kitchener: An Illustrated History. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1983.; McLaughin, Ken. The Germans in Canada. Ottawa: The Canadian Historical Association,1985; Celebration of Cityhood 1912. Berlin: The German Printing and Publishing Co of Berlin, 1912; Fifth Census of Canada 1911, Volume I. C.H.Parmelee: Ottawa, 1912; Fourth Census of Canada 1901, Volume I. Ottawa: S.E.Dawson, 1902; Third Census of Canada, 1890-91. S.E.Dawson, 1893; Second Census of Canada, 1880-81. Maclean, Roger & Co: Ottawa, 1883; First Census of Canada, 1870-71. Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 1873.)