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Note: 1901 Census Waterloo Town
Seagram
Joseph M Head M Apr 15 1841 59
Stephanie F Wife M Apr 8 1847 52
Edward M Son S Sep 28 1873 27
Josph M Son S Apr 27 1875 25
Thomas M Son S Oct 15 1887 13
Richardson
James M Butler M Sep 14 1860 40
Alice F Cook M Aug 5 1862 38
1881 Census
Name Marital Status Gender Ethnic Origin Age Birthplace Occupation Religion
Joseph SEGRAM M Male English 39 O. <Ontario> Merchant Church of England
Stephanie SEGRAM M Female French 33 France Church of England
Alexandria SEGRAM Female English 9 O. <Ontario> Church of England
Edward SEGRAM Male English 7 O. <Ontario> Church of England
Joseph SEGRAM Male English 5 O. <Ontario> Church of England
Norman SEGRAM Male English 1 O. <Ontario> Church of England
Source Information:
Census Place Waterloo, Waterloo North, Ontario
Family History Library Film 1375901
NA Film Number C-13265
District 162
Sub-district D
Division 1
Page Number 16
Household Number 70
1871 Census
Name: Joseph E Seagram
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Birth Year: abt 1843
Birth Place: Ontario
Marital Status: Married
Religion: Ch Of England
Origin: English
Province: Ontario
District: Waterloo North
District Number: 32
Division: 02
Subdistrict: Waterloo
Subdistrict Number: e
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Joseph E Seagram 28
Stephanie Seagram 24
In 1857 William Hespeler, a merchant, and George Randall, a contractor, built what was known as Granite Mills in Waterloo, Ontario. A subsidiary to the mill was a small distillery known as the Waterloo Distillery. The business also included a dry goods store. In 1863 Hespeler and Randall took in William Roos, and in 1864 William Hespeler went abroad, hiring young Joseph Emm Seagram to look after his interests. By 1870 Seagram had bought out Hespeler's interests and the company name became "George Randall and Company." In 1873 Seagram bought out Randall, and he and Roos operated as "Randall and Company" until 1881 when they changed the name to "Seagram and Roos." 1883 Seagram bought out Roos and became the sole proprietor, changing the company name to "Joseph Seagram Flour Mill and Distillery Company", then "Joseph E. Seagram, Miller, Distiller". Seagram Incorporated the company in 1911, changing the name to "Joseph E. Seagram and Sons, Limited." By 1919 when Seagram died, he had built his Waterloo distillery into a major exporting company and his brand names were widely known. In 1928 the Bronfman family acquired the distillery and amalgamated it with their company, Distiller's Corporation Limited. (From: 200 Years of Tradition: The Story of Canadian Whiskey / Lorraine Brown. Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, c1994: 27-29, and History of Seagram's '83' / Joseph Edward Frowde Seagram [speech notes, 1960].)
Born at Fisher's Mills, near Cambridge, Ontario, in April of 1841, Joseph E. Seagram founded the distilling company, which became the world's largest producer and distributor of spirits and wines. Like so many success stories, however, the beginning of Joseph Seagram's career was modest, almost accidental. During his time as manager of a grist mill in Stratford, Ontario, Seagram was asked in 1864 by William Hespeler, co-owner of the Granite Mills and Waterloo Distillery, to manage the Waterloo mill while Hespeler travelled to Europe. Seagram saw potential in the mill and purchased Hespeler's share of the company in 1869.
The original business of the Waterloo mill was the grinding and production of flour. The distilling operation began as a sideline to use up excess grain, but it became the mill's principle business when whisky became its most profitable product. By 1883, the mill was producing 3,000 barrels of whisky per year. That same year, Seagram bought out his two partners, George Randall and William Roos.
Joseph was a civic leader and politician as well as an industrialist. Waterloo's most prominent 19th century public figure, he served as a town councillor from 1879 to 1886 and then as Waterloo North's Member of Parliament from 1896 to 1908.
Seagram was also an avid horse breeder and horse racing enthusiast, establishing the Seagram stables in 1888. Fifteen of his horses won the Queen's / King's Plate, Canada's most prestigious race. (In a remarkable winning streak, Seagram horses held the title for eight consecutive years.) He served as president of the Ontario Jockey Club for over ten years.
A member of some of the most distinguished social clubs - the Rideau Club in Ottawa; the National, Albany and York clubs in Toronto; and the Waterloo Club - Joseph Seagram was one of Canada's most eminent gentleman entrepreneurs.
Joseph Emm Seagram died in Waterloo on August 18, 1919.
He was a Canadian distillery founder, politician, philanthropist, and major owner of thoroughbred racehorses. Son of Octavius Augustus Seagram and Amelia Stiles, who emigrated to Canada from Wiltshire, England in 1837, Joseph was born at Fisher's Mills, now part of Cambridge, Ontario. His parents died when he was in his teens and for several years, Joseph lived at William Tassie's boarding school (now Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School) in the city of Galt (also now part of Cambridge). He studied for a year at a business college in Buffalo, New York, then returned home where he worked for a time as a bookkeeper at a grist mill. Offered the opportunity to manage a flour mill in Waterloo, Ontario, he learned about the distilling process, a small aside to the company's flour business, using extra grain stocks to make alcoholic beverages. In 1869, five years after joining the company, Joseph Seagram bought out one of the firm's three partners, then in 1883 became its one hundred percent owner. Making whisky became the most important part of the business and Seagram built it into one of the country's most successful of its kind. His 1907 creation, Seagram's VO whisky, became the largest-selling Canadian whisky in the world. A lover of racehorses, he founded Seagram Stables in 1888, building its bloodlines by importing mares in foal from English sires. Between 1891 and 1898, his stables won eight consecutive Queen's Plates, Canada's most prestigious horse racing event and North America's oldest thoroughbred horse race. In total, during his lifetime Joseph Seagram won the race fifteen times, plus his heirs who took over the stable won it another five times. Joseph Seagram also served as president of the Ontario Jockey Club from 1906 to 1917 and in 1908 helped found the Canadian Racing Association. On its formation in 1976, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inducted Joseph E. Seagram as part of its inaugural class in the builders category. Joseph E. Seagram served as a Waterloo town councilor from 1879 to 1886. In the Canadian federal election, 1896, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Conservative Party member for Waterloo North. In the 1900 election he was acclaimed and was reelected in 1904, serving until September 1908 when he chose not to seek another term. Joseph E. Seagram was a benefactor to the City of Waterloo. Among his donations to the community was a 13-acre (53,000 m2) parcel of land occupied today by the Grand River Hospital. His gift specified that the property was to be used solely for hospital services and open to everyone regardless of race, colour or creed. Joseph Emm Seagram died in Waterloo in 1919. His heirs sold the company to Samuel Bronfman in 1928.
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