- Person
- 1851-1900
Lydia Kolb Shantz was born in Freeport, Ontario on August 17, 1851 to Benjamin Shantz and Lydia Kolb. She married Amos W. Snyder on February 15, 1874. Shantz died July 16, 1900 and was buried in the Bloomingdale Mennonite Cemetery.
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Lydia Kolb Shantz was born in Freeport, Ontario on August 17, 1851 to Benjamin Shantz and Lydia Kolb. She married Amos W. Snyder on February 15, 1874. Shantz died July 16, 1900 and was buried in the Bloomingdale Mennonite Cemetery.
Mary Somerville (nee Fairfax, formerly Greig) was a Scottish suffragist, polymath and scientist. Born to the distinguished Fairfax family Mary was largely educated at home and began studying mathematics while visiting her aunt and uncle's home. She learned Greek and Latin to be able to read the classics and eventually attended the academy opened by Alexander Nasmyth for ladies, where she began to study Euclid. Her studies took a pause when she married Samuel Grieg and had two children. Grieg did not support her academic pursuits and she didn't return to studies until her passed away in 1807. She continued to study mathematics, as well as astronomy, chemistry, geography, microscopy, electricity and magnetism and corresponded with a number of leading intellectuals of her day. In 1812 she remarried to Dr. William Somerville, who helped her in her studies of the physical sciences. The couple moved to Chelsea where Somerville worked as a mathematics tutor to Ada Lovelace. In 1826 Somerville published her first paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. In 1831 she published her first book The Mechanism of the Heavens which was an immediate success and was used as a textbook at Cambridge. In 1835 Somerville, along with Caroline Herschel, became the first women members of the Royal Astronomical Society. She continued to publish works including hypothesizing the existence of Neptune and publishing Physical Geography, the first English textbook on the topic. In her late 80's Somerville was asked to be the first person to sign John Stuart Mill's petition for women's suffrage. Somerville died in 1872 at the age of 91.
Gisela Sommer and Ulrich Sommer, both from Germany, married and had two children; Cornelius and Angelika. In pursuit of a better quality of life, Gisela and Ulrich immigrated to Canada with their two children in 1954 and settled in Georgetown, Ontario.
The Sommer family fared well in Georgetown. Gisela worked as a dietary assistant in a local hospital. Ulrich worked in an enamel factory and eventually opened his own art gallery in 1962 called Gallery House Sol. Cornelius studied to become a lawyer and worked in Toronto, Ontario. Angelika moved to Germany.
Over the course of many years, the Sommer family wrote numerous letters to each other, their friends and their family back home in Germany.
Angelika was born to Ulrich and Gisela Sommer in Germany on December 8, 1949. In 1954, Angelika immigrated to Canada with her parents and her brother, Cornelius. Angelika and her family settled in Georgetown, Ontario. After graduating high school, Angelika moved to West Berlin, Germany to add the German Abitur to her Canadian high school diploma and become eligible to study at a German university. She was an excellent student and excelled at learning languages. She was fluent in German.
In the early 1970s, Angelika met and married a man named Uwe Schriever. Angelika and Uwe eventually divorced. Angelika later met and dated a man named Gunther (surname unknown).
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Angelika was involved in German politics and she supported Marxist and Communist ideologies. Angelika also trained and participated in local choirs.
Cornelius was born to Ulrich and Gisela Sommer in Germany on July 21, 1948. In 1954, Cornelius immigrated to Canada with his parents and his sister, Angelika. Cornelius and his family settled in Georgetown, Ontario. After graduating high school, Cornelius completed a Bachelor of Arts in Toronto, Ontario.
During the 1970s, Cornelius worked and had various jobs in factories, workshops and on farms in an effort to save money so he could travel. Subsequently, he spent approximately one year travelling around Western Europe.
When Cornelius returned from his travels, he obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) and eventually opened his own law firm in Toronto, Ontario.
Gisela was born to Eduard and Elisabeth Höpken on July 10, 1920 and raised in Germany alongside her five siblings; Johann, Walter, Karl, Wilhelm and Peter.
Gisela married Ulrich Sommer and together they had two children; Cornelius and Angelika. In 1954, Gisela, Ulrich and their children immigrated to Canada in search of a better quality of life and settled in Georgetown, Ontario. Initially, Gisela worked as a farmhand with her husband. In 1961, she accepted a position as a dietary assistant at a local hospital in Georgetown, Ontario and was later promoted to a managerial position. Gisela’s work as a dietary assistant aligned closely with her educational background and the exams she successfully passed as a young adult in Greifswald, Germany.
In early 1962, Gisela and her husband bought a house at 45 Charles Street in Georgetown, Ontario. The house featured adjoining rooms, a large basement, and backyard. Later that year, her husband opened an art gallery in their home called Gallery House Sol. Gisela helped her husband run the art gallery, which remained in operation for more than 40 years.
Gisela died on February 7, 2020.
Ulrich was born on November 9, 1926 likely in east Germany. He was raised on his family’s farm in Saxony, Germany. He married Gisela Höpken and together they had two children; Cornelius and Angelika. For an unknown reason, Ulrich’s father was dispossessed of the family farm. In search of a better quality of life, Ulrich immigrated to Canada along with this wife and children in 1954 and settled in Georgetown, Ontario.
In Georgetown, Ulrich initially worked as a farmhand and tried to raise chickens on his own property. Around 1960, he accepted a job working as a foreman in a small enamel factory which provided him with steady working hours and better pay.
In 1962, Ulrich and his wife purchased a house at 45 Charles Street in Georgetown, Ontario. The house featured adjoining rooms, a large basement, and backyard. On Saturday, July 21, 1962 Ulrich opened his own art gallery called Gallery House Sol. The gallery was located inside Ulrich’s home in Georgetown, Ontario.
For more than 40 years, Ulrich collected and displayed contemporary Canadian art including paintings, sculptures, prints and more in his gallery. He was a true advocate for the arts and remained a prominent figure in his local community throughout his life. Eventually, the art works owned by Gallery House Sol were donated or sold to various museums, galleries, and private collectors.
Ulrich died on April 2, 2018.
Eric "Ric" David Soulis was a professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Born in Toronto in 1949 to George and Kathryn (nee Colwell) Soulis, he was raised in Kitchener where he attended Eastwood Collegiate Institute. After graduating from Waterloo with a BASc in civil engineering, he studied at Memorial University before spending ten years working in the industry. In 1988 he completed a PhD in civil engineering at Waterloo, where went on to teach and research with a focus on hydrology for the next 30 years. His father, George Soulis, He and Carol Amrell Moogk-Soulis were married for 46 years and together had two children, Neal and Graham.
George Nichol Soulis was a professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1925 to George Roy and Grace (nee Nichol) Soulis, he grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick. Following World War II, during which he trained with Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in industrial engineering in 1950. After working in the industry for nine years, he was recruited by Douglas Wright to teach design to engineering students at Waterloo. Prior to beginning to teach in February of 1961, Soulis prepared by spending nine months studying at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm, Germany. He was named associate professor in 1965 and was promoted to full professorship in 1966.
Soulis co-founded what is today known as Waterloo Systems Design and, along with Peter Roe and Vir Handa, authored The Discipline of Design, the first Canadian textbook focused on engineering design. In addition to chairing the department of systems design, he sat on the committee responsible for creating Waterloo's coat of arms, contributed to the creation of the Kaleidoscope Pavilion at Expo 67, served on Waterloo's Senate and Board of Governors.
Raymond Souster was born on January 15, 1921 in Toronto. Souster was a prominent Canadian poet based in Toronto. His poems illustrated the daily life of average people living in Toronto. He worked at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, but also built a career in poetry. Souster wrote and edited over 50 volumes of poetry throughout his life. He was a founder of 3 poetry journals as well as the League of Canadian Poets organization in 1966. Souster receved the Governor General's Award for poetry and the Order of Canada for his works. He died on October 19, 2012.
Ruth Schantz was born September 30, 1892 in Morton Park, Illinois to Orpheus Moyer Schantz and Cornelia (Carrie) Caroline Flagler. She married Walter Bishop Spelman on December 23, 1912 and together they had six children: Walter, Margery, Dorothy, John, Constance, and Richard. Ruth died July 27, 1976 and was buried at the Glenwood Cemetery in Champlain New York.
Walter Bishop Spelman was born in New York State on June 20, 1885 to Amasa Bishop and Nancy Agnes Spelman. He and Ruth Schantz married on December 23, 1912 and together they had six children: Walter, Margery, Dorothy, John, Constance, and Richard. Spelman joined what would become Morton Community College as an English teacher in 1912. He was named dean of men when the school became a junior college in 1924, a position he held until his death. Spelman died July 4, 1941 of a heart attack while in Montreal with his wife, where he was recovering from a hernia operation. He was buried in Champlain, New York at the Glenwood Cemetery.
Grace Eveyln Kolb was born June 7, 1903 in Waterloo, Ontario to Oliver Stauffer and Mary Ann (nee Montgomery) Kolb. She married Lloyd Howard Stahle in Goshen, Indiana on June 17, 1941. Grace Evelyn died August 27, 1997 in Bancroft, Ontario and was buried there, alongside Lloyd, in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a suffragist, social reformer, abolitionist and women's rights activist. Born to a prominent New York family, Elizabeth learned law from her father and was educated at Johnstown Academy and later the Troy Female Seminary, although she had wanted to attend Union College like her male peers but was kept out because of her gender. In 1840 she married abolitionist Henry Brewster Stanton (1805-1887) removing the line "promise to obey" from her wedding vows. The pair had seven children and it is speculated that they used birth control methods to control the spacing of the births.
Stanton was friends with many prominent activists, abolitionists and writers of the day and kept social circles with some of the elite of Boston, where the family settled after their marriage, and later in Seneca Falls.
While traveling in Europe in 1840 on her honeymoon, Stanton met Lucretia Mott with whom she bonded after the two were told they were not allowed to attend the World Anti-Slavery Convention on account of their gender. Back in Seneca Falls, in 1848, Stanton, Mott, Martha Coffin Wright, Jane Hunt, and others organized the Seneca Falls Convention on July 19th and 20th. Stanton wrote and read the Declaration of Sentiments proclaiming that men and women are created equal. This declaration is credited with initiating the first organized women's suffrage movement in the United States and solidified Stanton as a major voice in the women's rights movement. In 1851 Stanton met Susan B. Anthony for whom she wrote many speeches when she was unable to travel to speak due to family obligations.
In the post-Civil War era, Stanton went against her former abolitionist leanings and lobbied against the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, arguing that expanding the number of men granted the right to vote would increase the number of voters prepared to vote against women's suffrage and that more men should not be given the right to vote without women being included. She frequently use racist language including stating that giving wealthy, refined, educated women the right to vote would help counteract the votes of men who were former slaves or immigrants and who exhibited the characteristics of pauperism and ignorance. Her stance on race lead to a split between her and many of her former abolitionist friends, as well as between her and other suffragists. The schism was so great that by 1869 the woman's suffrage movement had split into two separate groups. Stanton and Anthony founded the National Women Suffrage Association (NWSA), opposing the Fifteenth Amendment, and Lucy Stone, Alice Stone Blackwell and Julia Ward Howe founded the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), supporting the Fifteenth Amendment.
Increasingly, Stanton became more at odds with other suffragists as she began to advocate for more women's rights beyond suffrage, and began to speak out against what she felt were the dangers of Christianity to the women's rights movement, describing it as patriarchal and oppressive. However, in 1890 both the NWSA and the AWSA merged back into one organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and Stanton became the first president.
In 1892 Stanton, along with Anthony, Stone and Isabella Hooker spoke before the United States House Committee on the Judiciary on suffrage. In 1895 she published the first volume of "The Woman's Bible" which argues against Christianity, as well as all organized religion. Although it was highly criticized by many both outside and inside of the suffrage movement, it was a best seller and was reprinted twice in the year following its publication.
By the time she published the second volume of "The Woman's Bible" in 1898, Stanton was aging and was unable to attend public events. She died of heart failure at her home in 1902.
Ralph G. Stanton was a Canadian mathematician, teacher, scholar and pioneer in mathematics and computing education. He was born in 1923 in Lambeth, Ontario. Stanton was educated at the University of Western Ontario (BA in Mathematics and Physics, 1944) and then at the University of Toronto (MA, PhD, 1945 and 1948), where he taught from 1946 to 1957. In 1957 he came to the University of Waterloo as its first mathematics professor and head of the Mathematics Department; as a result of his efforts, in 1967 Waterloo became the first university in North America to have mathematics as a separate faculty. In 1967 he left Waterloo for York University to start a graduate program in mathematics. In 1970 he moved to the Department of Computing Science at the University of Manitoba, serving as Head, Professor, and since 1984, as Distinguished Professor.
Stanton's impact on mathematical education, particularly in computer science, has been substantial. He introduced computing in the classroom at the University of Waterloo in 1960, introduced co-operative programs in applied mathematics and in computer science and served as Graduate Dean from 1960 to 1966. He encouraged teaching of computing science and mathematics at the secondary school level. He served as editor of two high school mathematical journals, on provincial (Ontario) curriculum committees and was actively involved in developing what is now the Canadian Mathematics Competition. He introduced graduate work in mathematics at York University and at the University of Manitoba built up the Computing Science Department with an emphasis on applied computer science. He has also produced a large body of scholarly contributions in algebra, applied statistics, mathematical biology and combinatorics. He has received honourary degrees from the University of Queensland (D.Sc., hon. causa, 1989), the University of Natal (D.Sc., hon. causa, 1997) and the University of Waterloo (D.Math, hon. causa, 1997).
In 1985 he was awarded the Killam prize in Mathematics.
Stark Brothers Nurseries was founded in Louisiana, Missouri in 1816. They are known for popularizing the Golden Delicious varietal of apple and are the oldest continuously operating nursery in the United States.
Admiral Harold R. Stark was U.S. Chief of Naval Operations during World War II.
Rosanna Stauffer was born August 25, 1860 to John Stauffer (1824-1887) and Lucinda Stauffer (1836-1909). Rosanna died in 1919.
Born in Scott, Saskatchewan on the family farm, Stephens went into engineering and worked for Dominion Rubber (later Uniroyal). He retired in 1986 as Head Engineer.
Stewart, Elizabeth (Betty) Clement
Elizabeth (Betty) Clement Stewart (1916-1977) was born to William Pope Clement and Muriel Alberta Kerr Clement in 1916 in Berlin (Kitchener). Betty won the Bishop Strachan Scholarship and was awarded a full scholarship the University of Toronto. In 1940 Betty wed alderman and investor Peter Ross Stewart (1915-1980) of West Hartford. Together they had children: Janet and Stewart. Betty died in 1977 and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.