Erastus Wiman

Wiman was born in Churchville, Upper Canada (now part of Ontario) on April 21, 1834, the only son of Erastus Wyman and Therese Amelia née Matthews. Wiman's first job was at the North American in Toronto (not to be confused with the Philadelphia-based paper) at age 16, as an apprentice printer for a salary of $1.50 a week for his first cousin Hon. Sir William MacDougall (whose mother Hannah was Therese's sister) and was a founding father of Canadian Confederation. In the late 19th-century, Wiman emerged as a major developer in the New York City borough of Staten Island. As the president of the Staten Island Railway Co. and the St. George Ferry to Manhattan, Wiman pushed to make the borough the center of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's New York operations, and was also involved in one of the early proposals to connect Staten Island to the other four boroughs of the city via a rail tunnel. Wiman later constructed an amusement park near St. George Ferry Terminal, and purchased the Metropolitan Baseball Club which he relocated to the neighborhood. Wiman suffered a stroke in 1901, and died at his home in St. George in 1904. ==Beliefs==

Wiman was a proponent of reciprocity, now known as free trade, between Canada and the United States. ==Personal life==

Wiman had four sons, Henry, William who married Anna Deere-a granddaughter of John Deere, and niece of architect Merton Yale Cady. The couple were the parents of Dwight Deere Wiman (Broadway producer) as well as Charles Deere Wiman (president of Deere & Company from 1928 to 1955); Frank and Louis, and two daughters. Grandchildren of William and Anna include Nancy "Trink" Deere Wiman, Anna Deere Wiman, Katherine Deere Wiman, Damaris Deere Wiman (last surviving grandchild), Mary Jane Wiman, and Patricia Deere Wiman, while some of the great grandchildren include Rufus Wakeman and family, Michael Colhoun and family, Susan Taft and family, Ian D Colhoun and family (daughter is Lindsay of Deere-Colhoun handbags), the Brintons and families, the Hewitts and families (includes Anna Hewitt Wolfe-owner of Mandala Healing in N.M), the Carters and families, the Glovers and families, etc. Some of Erastus's relations on his maternal Matthews line include two well known families in the history of the fundamental Latter Day Saints religion which began abt 1838 under Joseph Smith-these were his two aunts, Maria Antoinette who married John Glines/Glynes, and Aurelia who married Thomas William Hollingshead. Wiman became naturalized as a United States citizen in 1897. == References ==