William
Benjamin Beatty
The great great
grandfather of the subject of this sketch was Benjamin Beatty whose wife was
Susana Lyons of the town of Benburb, County of Tyrone, Ireland.
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Their son John
Beatty, born June 18th, 1809, and his wife Martha Wilson were his great
grandparents.
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John Beatty, his
wife and two sons Benjamin and James, came to this country, lived at Ottawa
for a while, then moved to Toronto (which was then Little York) and in 1854
moved to Sarnia township, on London Road.
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Their son, Benjamin
W. Beatty was born June 20th, 1829. He was the grandfather of the subject of
this sketch. His eldest son was William Beatty born on August 11th, 1858.
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The subject of this
sketch was born on the old homestead on September 19, 1892. His mother was Sarah
Elizabeth Mitchell, eldest daughter of William Mitchell, another pioneer
family of the district having the distinction of being the first white
family of this district.
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The late W.B.
Beatty had two brothers, Stewart A. on the old homestead, and Dr. C.
Mitchell Lloyd Beatty of Akron, Ohio, and one sister, Miss Phyllis in
business in Detroit.
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He was married
December 27th, 1916,
to Elizabeth Van Horne, second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Van Horne of
Walkerton, Ont.
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He was brought up in
the old Methodist faith, but after Church Union, joined the Ryerson United
Church in Hamilton. He was a very earnest worker in Masonic circles and was
Master of Hiawatha Chapter, Sarnia, in
1932.
Also he was a member of St. Symon Preceptory No. 57, the Hugh Murray Lodge
in Hamilton. He was very devoted to his world. His only other hobby was
golf. He was also an ardent bridge player.
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He did much work for
both the Dominion and provincial governments. He was on the DLS staff of
the late James S. Galletely, DLS, of Oshawa, and with Mr. James Dobie of
Thessalon and Mr. Beatty of Pembroke, and Mr. J.W. Pierce, all in Alberta,
Manitoba, District of Patricia, and Northern Ontario as late as
1919.
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He was employed by
the International Nickel Co. at Creighton mine from
1916
to 1919.
Then he settled in Hamilton where he was in municipal work until coming to Sarnia as
city engineer in
1926.
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He was an honour
graduate of Toronto University (1913)
before he was twenty-one. He was particularly brilliant at school, passing
his entrance examinations before he was ten years of age, and his honour
matriculation before he was sixteen. He was commissioned as a land surveyor
February 11th,
1915.
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He died March 10th,
1933,
and was buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia. He was survived by his sad wife
and four children, one son and three daughters.
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Source: Association
of Ontario Land Surveyors
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