John Beare
Encyclopedia
John Beare was a farmer and mill-owner from present day Reach Township, Ontario.
Beare was born in Bideford
, England and came to Upper Canada
at the age of 19 and worked as a tailor until 1843. In that year, he homesteaded 100 acre (0.404686 km²) in Reach. By 1850, he had improved the farm to the point where he brought his fiance from England and was married. His farm grew to 200 acre (0.809372 km²) and he acquired a flour and grist mill. Eventually he acquired a second mill and enlarged his holdings of land so that all his sons could be located on their own farms within the township.
Beare was an enterprising and progressive farmer. His prosperity allowed him to be the leader in the use of farm machinery such as reapers, rakes, seed-drills, threshing machine, and gang-ploughs. In turn, his farm was the most successful in the area.
John Beare was an important figure of his time. He embodied the ideal homesteader who developed the country and succeeded financially. Homesteading often was a subsistence economy. He successfully turned his life's work into a venture in capitalism. In turn, he placed his large family in a good position to prosper and help the country grow.
Beare was born in Bideford
Bideford
Bideford is a small port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is also the main town of the Torridge local government district.-History:...
, England and 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...
at the age of 19 and worked as a tailor until 1843. In that year, he homesteaded 100 acre (0.404686 km²) in Reach. By 1850, he had improved the farm to the point where he brought his fiance from England and was married. His farm grew to 200 acre (0.809372 km²) and he acquired a flour and grist mill. Eventually he acquired a second mill and enlarged his holdings of land so that all his sons could be located on their own farms within the township.
Beare was an enterprising and progressive farmer. His prosperity allowed him to be the leader in the use of farm machinery such as reapers, rakes, seed-drills, threshing machine, and gang-ploughs. In turn, his farm was the most successful in the area.
John Beare was an important figure of his time. He embodied the ideal homesteader who developed the country and succeeded financially. Homesteading often was a subsistence economy. He successfully turned his life's work into a venture in capitalism. In turn, he placed his large family in a good position to prosper and help the country grow.