Withrow, John Jacob

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Philip Creighton, “WITHROW, JOHN JACOB,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/withrow_john_jacob_12E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Businessman, philanthropist, politician, and office holder; b. 1833 in York (Toronto), Upper Canada, son of James Withrow and Ellen Sanderson; m. Margaret Foster, and they had three sons and two daughters; d. 5 Aug. 1900 in Toronto.
    • The Withrow family came originally from Virginia and settled in what is now Canada in the aftermath of the American revolution. John Jacob Withrow was educated at the Toronto Academy. He then worked in an architect’s office for a time and got his practical training as a contractor in his father’s building firm, McBean and Withrow. 
    • In 1873 Withrow turned to municipal politics. He was elected alderman for St David’s Ward that year and moved to represent St Thomas’s Ward for the next four. While on council he became fascinated by the possibilities of the annual provincial exhibition which, since its start in 1846, had been held at the major centres around the province. Toronto attracted the largest crowds, had the most exhibitors, and was the site of the fair in 1870, 1874, and 1878. In the latter year the exhibition committee, under Withrow’s enthusiastic leadership, enlarged the grounds and increased the number of permanent buildings in the happy expectation that the fair would remain at Toronto for some time. The Provincial Fair Association thought otherwise and voted to take the 1879 fair to Ottawa. At the closing banquet of the 1878 fair, Withrow, apparently without consulting anyone, announced that there would be a permanent exhibition in Toronto the next year. His colleagues on council thought him rash. However, Withrow, with wide support, formed the Industrial Exhibition Association of Toronto. Its fair, the predecessor of the Canadian National Exhibition, opened to instant success in the fall of 1879 and he remained president of the association until shortly before his death.
    • Withrow remained an active builder throughout most of his life. With Hillock he developed Wilton Crescent, a fashionable neighbourhood at what is now the corner of Sherbourne and Dundas streets in Toronto. Here the pair built themselves large houses. Withrow and Hillock were also engaged in the development of Toronto’s east end. In 1886, in company with John Macdonald, a highly successful wholesaler, they opened a subdivision centred on Withrow Avenue.
    • Whatever Withrow’s success in real estate development it did not last through the depression of the 1890s. In the fall of 1894 Withrow and Hillock declared bankruptcy, being unable to realize on its substantial investment in property. When Withrow died he did not even own his house and his estate was modest.
  • Great Grandson of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=12032
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/223780931/john-jacob-withrow