MOHAN, William John - 1857-1925

Father of Elizabeth Maude Mohan

Grandfather of Dorothy Allen

Great Grandfather of William C. Sparrow

Great Great Grandfather of Holly Sparrow

Great Great Great Grandfather of Kathryn Cawfield

Great Great Great Great Grandfather of Adora and Shiloh Boivin

 

William Mohan, born in Ireland

in 1857 and married to

Mary Jane Cooke in Armagh, Ireland

in 1877.

The couple came to Montreal in 1885.

 1891 Census

In Montreal

 

William and his wife Mary Jane back row and left.

On the back row, far right is Jesse Allen and his wife Elizabeth Maude nee Mohan.

The two children are Dorothy and Carl Allen.
(click to enlarge)

1911 Census

Midland, Ontario

 

  1921 Census

 

 

The Mohan's house in Midland with some restorative work on the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

When living in Midland, William Mohan was a supervisor at the

Drummond Foundry.  Since William and his family were originally

from Ireland and came to Canada and lived in Montreal it's possible and

perhaps even likely that the move to Midland was prompted by

the expansion of the Drummond company.  I found the following

while researching the company...which may also explain why

William moved to the U.S. for work by the 1920's.

 

George Drummond was born  in 1858.  He was educated in Montreal and spent his life in business. In 1881 he and James T. McCall, a Scottish immigrant, started the firm of Drummond, McCall and Company, Limited which imported British and foreign heavy iron and steel. G.E. Drummond was joined by two brothers, Thomas J. (born 1860) and John J. The three brothers, along with James T. McCall, promptly became the leading iron importers in Canada. After 1888, as a result of the National Policy, they extended their activities to the manufacture of iron ore and soon achieved a prominent position. They founded the Canada Iron Furnace Company, Montreal Pipe Fitting Company, Canadian Iron and Foundry Company, Londonderry  Iron and Mining Company and Radnor Water Company. They reopened the iron furnace in Radnor, Quebec in 1881 and in 1900 they opened another foundry in Midland, Ontario. Ultimately these enterprises were merged in 1908 into the Canada Iron Corporation.

At the end of the 19th century, under Drummond’s management, Canada Iron Furnace undertook to branch out into Ontario. In 1899 the decision was made to invest in the construction of a huge charcoal blast-furnace in Midland, on Georgian Bay. According to its promoters, the new plant would raise Canada to the level of Sweden as a world producer of iron and steel. The furnace, which went into operation the following year, could produce up to 80 tons of cast iron a day. In 1901, however, the plant had to be converted to use coke, probably because of the excessively high cost of charcoal.

In spite of everything, the corporation had to liquidate its property in 1913 in order to pay off its creditors, the principal one being the Montreal Trust Company, of which Drummond was a director.