DeCow, John

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: David Roberts, “DeCOW (DeCew, DeCou), JOHN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/decow_john_8E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Businessman, office holder, and militia officer; b. 3 Feb. 1766 in New Jersey, probably in Sussex County, son of Jacob DeCow, a loyalist; m. 9 Aug. 1798 Catherine Docksteder, and they had five sons and six daughters; d. 25 March 1855 in DeCewsville, Upper Canada.
    • John DeCow came to the Niagara peninsula in 1787. After extensive exploration, including service with a survey crew in 1788, he acquired a mill-site on the Beaver Dams branch of Twelve Mile Creek in Thorold Township. There, in 1792, DeCow built one of the first sawmills in the Nassau District of Upper Canada. Later efforts to secure other sites near the Niagara River failed but, aided by Queenston merchant Robert Hamilton, DeCow added a gristmill and probably a linseed-oil mill. Located on a principal road, DeCew Falls quickly became an important milling centre in the region. (DeCew Falls, like other places named after the subject, employs a popular variant later adopted by the family.) Between 1799 and 1835 DeCow also served frequently as an assessor, collector, and warden for Thorold. A founding member in 1800 of the Niagara Library, the province’s first circulating library, he also served as a director of the Niagara Agricultural Society in 1804.
    • DeCow’s industrial pursuits were sustained by his milling, farming, and lime kiln operations, which stimulated the growth near by of a small hamlet, DeCewsville. Although DeCow had apparently retired by 1851, he remained keenly interested in politics. Mackenzie’s victory as an independent reformer in the Haldimand by-election of that year rekindled his anti-government hostility. Three of his sons, John, Robert, and William, openly supported Mackenzie’s damning investigation of government affairs. Writing of his father’s good health in 1853, William conveyed DeCow’s final sentiment to the ageing radical: “He has you fresh in his memory and often enquires where you are, wonders why he cant get to see you oftener, and rejoices at the downfall of Toryism.”
  • Son of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=2139
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/196508753/john-decow