WILLIAM
D. SAMSON, a leading business man of Blenheim, County of Kent, is a
member of one of the early pioneer families of that county, being
descended from James Samson. The latter was born in Scotland, where he
lived and died, and for many years was the manager of a large estate.
He was twice married, and from James, a child of the second marriage,
descends the branch of the family treated of in this article, he being
the grandfather of William D.
James
Samson (2), the grandfather, was also born in Scotland, and died in
1818. He, too, was twice married, and by his second wife had a son,
Mungo Fairly Samson, the father of William D., who was born in the
Parish of Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland, near the birthplace of the poet,
Robert Burns, in 1808. In 1830 he and his brother William came to St.
Catharine’s, Ontario, and there remained until 1837. when they removed
to Chatham, County of Kent, locating on the Thames river. Soon after
his arrival Mungo F. Samson joined the volunteers in support of the
government, in the Rebellion of 1837, but he discovered certain existing
conditions which made him during the remainder of his life an
uncompromising Liberal. In 1841 he purchased eighty acres of timber
land in Harwich township, one and one-half miles from Blenheim, now
known as the Samson homestead, and arranged with a man to erect for him
a log cabin to which he could bring his bride, for in 1842 he married
Miss Nancy McBrayne. Upon reaching their property Mr. and Mrs. Samson
found no home awaiting them, so until he could build one they lived with
R. DeClute. Later he replaced this primitive cabin with a better house,
and on the spot where she began life as the wife of a pioneer resides
the bride of sixty-two years ago, aged eighty-five years, her birth
having occurred December 24th, 1818. Sixty years have
wrought many changes. The timber has given way to fields of grain, and
in place of the old hamlet of Blenheim, of the days of 1842, stands the
present town of fine residences, substantial business blocks and public
buildings. Mrs. Samson is residing with a son and a daughter, and is
very active for her age. Mr. Samson remained upon this property in
Harwich township until his death, which occurred February 9th,
1899, and his loss was deeply felt by many outside his home circle. He
led an industrious, useful life, and was always highly respected
wherever he was known, for his many sterling qualities of character. As
one of the pioneers of the county, and a public-spirited and active
citizen, he occupied a position of influence and high standing. To
himself and wife were born the following children: Dr. James, for many
years one of the most prominent physicians and politicians of Blenheim,
in 1898 removed to Windsor, where he is equally prominent; John
(deceased) married Mary Nichol, and had two children, Minnie and Maud;
Isabella is deceased; William D. is mentioned below; Mary is deceased;
David is a resident of Harwich; Effie is deceased; Archie, clerk of the
court at Blenheim, married Margaret Goulett, and has four children,
James, Duncan, Norma and Wilfred; Malcolm is a resident of Blenheim;
Marion married Captain Asa Ribble, mayor of Dresden, and has one
daughter, Annie; Annie resides on the home farm.
Mrs.
Samson’s family is of Highland Scottish extraction, and her parents John
and Mary (Campbell) McBrayne, came to the County of Kent in 1828,
locating on the town line between Howard and Harwich townships, where
both died, he in 1869, aged eighty-four years, and she in 1870, aged
seventy-seven years. John McBrayne and his brother Archie were both men
of considerable educational attainments and both were strong types of
that army of Scottish emigrants who came to America in the early half of
the past century. It was Archie McBrayne who, when he found himself
settled in the then almost untouched forests of the now wealthy township
of Howard, named the district Botany because of its lonely suggestion of
Botany Bay, where England’s convicts were transported to in those days.
The neighbourhood still retains the name of Botany and will for a long
time to come. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Samson was Malcolm
McBrayne, and her maternal grandparents were Archie and Nancy (Fisher)
Campbell.
William
D. Samson was born on the old homestead in Harwich township June 26th,1851,
and there grew to manhood. At the age of twenty years he began
teaching, which he continued for five years, and in 1877 he embarked in
a mercantile venture in company with Mr. W. Swanson, under the firm name
of Samson & Swanson, the partnership continuing until 1882. Mr. Samson
has now conducted the enterprise alone, and he is now a leading hardware
merchant not only of Blenheim, but of Western Ontario. In addition to
carrying on his hardware establishment Mr. Samson runs one of the most
up-to-date plumbing and tin-smithing establishments, and he is president
of the Western Peat Field Co., organized in 1899, with a capital stock
of $100,000. The plant is located at Rondeau, on the Erie & Huron
railroad.
Like
his father Mr. Samson is a Liberal, and socially he is a member of the
I.O.O.F. In 1879 he married Miss Maria Hall, a daughter of Joseph Hall,
and they have one daughter, Edna.
Pages
168-170
