Benjamin Wait
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Wait was a Canadian
businessman and author
.
Benjamin Wait's father came to Upper Canada
from Vermont
in the early 19th century, settling first in Markham Township
, where Benjamin was born, and then at Black Creek
. In the early 1830s Benjamin opened a sawmill
at York
on the Grand River
. His business affairs, however, went into decline. At some point he taught school in Willoughby Township
and in 1837 he was a clerk at Port Colborne
. He was jailed for debt that year and, on being freed in the summer, fled Upper Canada, knowing other writs were outstanding against him.
In December 1837 Wait became involved in the Upper Canada Rebellion
, first by trying to join the unsuccessful action of Charles Duncombe in the London District and then by throwing in his lot with William Lyon Mackenzie
on Navy Island
, where he served as a lieutenant
in the Patriot forces.
After leaving Navy Island in January 1838, he continued in the Patriot service, later making the unlikely claim that he had been second in command at the battle on Pelee Island
in March. In June he served as a major with a small group of Patriots who crossed into the Short Hills
area of the Niagara District. On the night of June 20, joined by some locals, the raiders attacked and captured a small contingent of Queen's Lancers lodged in an inn at St. John's. Wait and Linus Wilson Miller opposed the cries of Jacob R. Beamer and Samuel Chandler to hang the captive militiamen. The Patriots released them, and then scattered. Wait was taken on June 24 and examined, but he was uncooperative, convincing Lieutenant Governor Sir George Arthur in the process that he was "bold and intelligent". In August he was tried for treason, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
His wife Maria Smith was successful later that month in having his sentence commuted to transportation for life, an outcome that helped poison relations between the new governor-in-chief, Lord Durham
, who favoured the commutation, and Arthur, who did not. In November, Wait was sent to England with 23 other state prisoners. There he wrote to Joseph Hume
, John Arthur Roebuck
, Lord Brougham
, and Lord Durham, protesting what he considered to be the illegal imprisonment of himself and the other state prisoners and the barbaric conditions in which they were kept. Under-Secretary of State
Fox Maule
warned Hume that Wait was "a cunning, designing fellow, and his associate convicts are his dupes". Early in 1839 Wait and eight other state prisoners, including Samuel Chandler, were transported together to Van Diemen's Land
, then being administered by Sir John Franklin
.
Maria laboured mightily to obtain Benjamin's release, even travelling to London, but Wait secured his own freedom. In late 1841 or early 1842 he and Chandler escaped on an American whaler
, and after several harrowing adventures reached the United States
. In 1843 Wait published Letters from Van Dieman’s Land(sic), which consisted of letters he had allegedly written to a friend over a 20-month period detailing the story of his transportation and of petitions Maria had written on his behalf. Maria, who had worked closely with him on the book, died that May after giving birth to twins.
Wait remarried to Rebecca Sealey in 1845 and worked in Elmira, New York
for a number of years, in the barrel-making business. He continued to take a deep interest in Canadian affairs, revelling in the progress of Canada towards "Democracy" but upset that his contribution, and that of his fellow Patriots, had not been sufficiently recognized. He moved to Michigan
, living in Grand Rapids
for more than 20 years, where he became involved in lumbering
and founded, in 1873, the Northwestern Lumberman. Towards the end of his life he suffered several financial reverses and became dependent on the charity of former business associates. He found solace, though, in recounting tales of his adventures as a Patriot and a convict. At his death he was living in the Union Benevolent Home in Grand Rapids.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
businessman and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Benjamin Wait's father came to Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
from Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
in the early 19th century, settling first in Markham Township
Markham, Ontario
Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...
, where Benjamin was born, and then at Black Creek
Black Creek
-In Canada:* Black Creek, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island* A neighborhood in Fort Erie, Ontario* Black Creek, Toronto* Black Creek Pioneer Village, a historic site in Toronto-In the United States:* Black Creek, New York, a hamlet in Allegany County...
. In the early 1830s Benjamin opened a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
at York
York, Ontario
York is a dissolved municipality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is located northwest of Old Toronto, southwest of North York and east of Etobicoke, where it is bounded by the Humber River. Formerly a separate city, it was one of six municipalities that amalgamated in 1998 to form...
on the Grand River
Grand River (Ontario)
The Grand River is a large river in southwestern Ontario, Canada. From its source, it flows south through Grand Valley, Fergus, Elora, Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, Paris, Brantford, Caledonia, and Cayuga before emptying into the north shore of Lake Erie south of Dunnville at Port Maitland...
. His business affairs, however, went into decline. At some point he taught school in Willoughby Township
Willoughby, Ontario
Willoughby Township is the rural southern portion of Niagara Falls, Ontario, between the village of Chippawa and the boundary with Fort Erie. Included is historic Navy Island in the Niagara River and the site of the Battle of Chippawa, fought between British and American forces on July 5, 1814...
and in 1837 he was a clerk at Port Colborne
Port Colborne, Ontario
Port Colborne is a city on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of southern Ontario, Canada...
. He was jailed for debt that year and, on being freed in the summer, fled Upper Canada, knowing other writs were outstanding against him.
In December 1837 Wait became involved in the Upper Canada Rebellion
Upper Canada Rebellion
The Upper Canada Rebellion was, along with the Lower Canada Rebellion in Lower Canada, a rebellion against the British colonial government in 1837 and 1838. Collectively they are also known as the Rebellions of 1837.-Issues:...
, first by trying to join the unsuccessful action of Charles Duncombe in the London District and then by throwing in his lot with William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie was a Scottish born American and Canadian journalist, politician, and rebellion leader. He served as the first mayor of Toronto, Upper Canada and was an important leader during the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion.-Background and early years in Scotland, 1795–1820:Mackenzie was...
on Navy Island
Navy Island
Navy Island is a small island in the Niagara River in the province of Ontario, managed by Parks Canada as a National Historic Site of Canada. It is located about upstream from Horseshoe Falls, and has an area of roughly...
, where he served as a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the Patriot forces.
After leaving Navy Island in January 1838, he continued in the Patriot service, later making the unlikely claim that he had been second in command at the battle on Pelee Island
Pelee, Ontario
Pelee Island, Ontario, Canada , is an island in the western half of Lake Erie. Pelee Island is connected to the Canadian and United States mainland by ferry service. At 42 km2, Pelee Island is the largest island in Lake Erie and the southernmost populated point in Canada...
in March. In June he served as a major with a small group of Patriots who crossed into the Short Hills
Pelham, Ontario
The Town of Pelham is located in the centre of Niagara Region in Ontario, Canada.The town's southern boundary is formed by the Welland River, a meandering waterway that flows into the Niagara River. To the west is the township of West Lincoln, to the east the city of Welland, and to the north the...
area of the Niagara District. On the night of June 20, joined by some locals, the raiders attacked and captured a small contingent of Queen's Lancers lodged in an inn at St. John's. Wait and Linus Wilson Miller opposed the cries of Jacob R. Beamer and Samuel Chandler to hang the captive militiamen. The Patriots released them, and then scattered. Wait was taken on June 24 and examined, but he was uncooperative, convincing Lieutenant Governor Sir George Arthur in the process that he was "bold and intelligent". In August he was tried for treason, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
His wife Maria Smith was successful later that month in having his sentence commuted to transportation for life, an outcome that helped poison relations between the new governor-in-chief, Lord Durham
John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham
John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham GCB, PC , also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in history texts simply as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General and high commissioner of British North America...
, who favoured the commutation, and Arthur, who did not. In November, Wait was sent to England with 23 other state prisoners. There he wrote to Joseph Hume
Joseph Hume
Joseph Hume FRS was a Scottish doctor and Radical MP, born in Montrose, Angus.-Medical career:He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and moved to India in 1797...
, John Arthur Roebuck
John Arthur Roebuck
John Arthur Roebuck , British politician, was born at Madras, in India.After the death of his father, a civil servant, his mother's second marriage transferred him to Canada, where he was chiefly brought-up. He came to England in 1824, was called to the bar John Arthur Roebuck (28 December 1802...
, Lord Brougham
Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux
Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux was a British statesman who became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.As a young lawyer in Scotland Brougham helped to found the Edinburgh Review in 1802 and contributed many articles to it. He went to London, and was called to the English bar in...
, and Lord Durham, protesting what he considered to be the illegal imprisonment of himself and the other state prisoners and the barbaric conditions in which they were kept. Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
Fox Maule
Fox Maule-Ramsay, 11th Earl of Dalhousie
Fox Maule-Ramsay, 11th Earl of Dalhousie KT, GCB, PC , known as Fox Maule before 1852, as The Lord Panmure between 1852 and 1860 and as Earl of Dalhousie after 1860, was a British politician.-Background:...
warned Hume that Wait was "a cunning, designing fellow, and his associate convicts are his dupes". Early in 1839 Wait and eight other state prisoners, including Samuel Chandler, were transported together to Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
, then being administered by Sir John Franklin
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
.
Maria laboured mightily to obtain Benjamin's release, even travelling to London, but Wait secured his own freedom. In late 1841 or early 1842 he and Chandler escaped on an American whaler
Whaler
A whaler is a specialized ship, designed for whaling, the catching and/or processing of whales. The former included the whale catcher, a steam or diesel-driven vessel with a harpoon gun mounted at its bows. The latter included such vessels as the sail or steam-driven whaleship of the 16th to early...
, and after several harrowing adventures reached the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1843 Wait published Letters from Van Dieman’s Land(sic), which consisted of letters he had allegedly written to a friend over a 20-month period detailing the story of his transportation and of petitions Maria had written on his behalf. Maria, who had worked closely with him on the book, died that May after giving birth to twins.
Wait remarried to Rebecca Sealey in 1845 and worked in Elmira, New York
Elmira, New York
Elmira is a city in Chemung County, New York, USA. It is the principal city of the 'Elmira, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses Chemung County, New York. The population was 29,200 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Chemung County.The City of Elmira is located in...
for a number of years, in the barrel-making business. He continued to take a deep interest in Canadian affairs, revelling in the progress of Canada towards "Democracy" but upset that his contribution, and that of his fellow Patriots, had not been sufficiently recognized. He moved to Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, living in Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
for more than 20 years, where he became involved in lumbering
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
and founded, in 1873, the Northwestern Lumberman. Towards the end of his life he suffered several financial reverses and became dependent on the charity of former business associates. He found solace, though, in recounting tales of his adventures as a Patriot and a convict. At his death he was living in the Union Benevolent Home in Grand Rapids.