Chisholm, William

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Walter Lewis, “CHISHOLM, WILLIAM,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/chisholm_william_7E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Militia officer, farmer, politician, office holder, jp, and businessman; b. 15 Oct. 1788 in Jordan Bay, N.S., son of George Chisholm and Barbara McKenzie; m. 23 May 1812 Rebecca Silverthorn, and they had four daughters and seven sons; d. 4 May 1842 in Oakville, Upper Canada.
    • William Chisholm’s father was a Highland Scot who emigrated to Tryon County, N.Y., only to be swept up in the American revolution. A loyalist and member of the Port Roseway Associates, he stopped with his growing family for a few years in Nova Scotia before moving by 1793 to Upper Canada.
    • In August 1812, less than three months after his marriage, William participated as an ensign in the 2nd York Militia at the capture of Detroit. In October he fought in the battle of Queenston Heights and two months later was promoted lieutenant in his unit. Gazetted captain in the 2nd Regiment of Gore militia shortly after the war, he became lieutenant-colonel in 1824 and colonel in 1831.
    • By 1816 he had moved to a farm in Nelson Township. In 1820 he was elected in Halton to the House of Assembly, where he would vote for the repeal of the Sedition Act. Although he did not run in 1824, he supported the candidacies of reformers.
    • In early 1826 Chisholm entered upon the road to becoming a reformed reformer. During the rebellion of 1837–38 he commanded Allan Napier MacNab’s left flank in the advance on Mackenzie’s rebels at Montgomery’s Tavern. Chisholm’s political conversion may have been partly the result of his access to patronage. In 1824 he had received his lieutenant-colonelcy. He became postmaster of Nelson Township and a commissioner of the Burlington Bay Canal in 1825, and was made a magistrate in 1827. 
  • Son of Proven Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory –https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=1446
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/95524746/william_mckenzie-chisholm