Alexander Boles of co. Armagh,
Ireland arrived in St. Catharines, Grantham twp.,
Lincoln county, Ontario in the early 1820's. An 1867
article refers to the Boles of St. Catharines having
arrived there in 1823
Full Article which agrees with
testimony which Alexander gave in 1874 (see below).
Click on the map to the right for a slightly
larger map which is easier to read or download a
Large scale map of Grantham
township
(it may take
a while to download)
By 1827
Alexander became involved with a group of partners in
the operation of the St. Catharines Salt Works.
At this time, Alexander lived in an "elegant
two-story dwelling house, 24 by 36 feet, with a good
cellar, cellar kitchen etc. under the whole, a wood
house and stable adjoining" which was "situated on the
height of ground above the Salt Works". Alexander
also ran a tavern from this house for at least a short
while as he is listed in
the 1832 list of Niagara District Innkeepers and the
house was referred to as "lately occupied as a tavern"
when it was sold to Dr. Allen that year.
 A
few years after selling his house, Alexander left St.
Catharines in 1836 but returned in 1848. I haven't
found out why he left or where he spent those years but
his departure is based on his own testimony in an 1874
legal case.
An Alexander Boles, grocer, died in St.
Catharines in 1839 but we don't know who this was yet.
Possibly 'our' Alexander's father???
Two of Alexander's brothers, James and Adam, did
accompany him to Canada in the 1820's or at least
emigrated from Ireland to join him soon afterwards.
The 1828 Census of Grantham Township includes an
Alexander Bowls as the head of a household consisting of
1 female over 16, 7 males over 16 and 1 male under 16.
This does not imply that they were all Boles but if they
were it was a much larger family group than just the
three brothers whom we have identified so far. The
lone female would have been either their sister or one
of them was married. However, we don't know if any
of them were married this early.
James Boles is
mentioned as a Pathmaster in an 1836 edition of the St.
Catharines Journal. The 1851 Directory of Ontario
lists Alexander and James Boles operating a distillery
on Yates St. in St. Catharines.
 James
died in 1852. In his Will
(Surrogate Court files at the Ontario Archives, GS1,
reel 651) James named Alexander, a
distiller, and Adam, a cooper, as his executors.
This file includes a declaration by Alexander that he is
James' eldest living brother and also an inventory of
their jointly owned goods and chattels including
livestock, grain as well as 17 large whiskey barrels, 34
small whiskey barrels and 400 gallons of whiskey.
Hopefully this means that they were still in the
distillery business together.
Adam Boles was here in the 1830's according to
church records. The
1857 Directory of Ontario lists Adam Boles, cooper (a
cooper is a barrel maker so he was quite likely working
at the family distillery business), on Concession St. in
St. Catharines. While James and Alexander appear
to have settled in the town, Adam likely first settled
on some homestead land. The Lincoln County Atlas
of 1876 shows Adam Boles owning 100 acres at Concession
5 Lot 5 to the NE of the city. See the above map.
The 1851 and 1857 directories also list a
William Boles, tailor, on St. Paul St. in St.
Catharines. The 1871 census shows that he was born
about 1826 in Ireland so he's a bit young but is another
possible brother of the above. The Orange Lodge
records for the County of Lincoln show William Boles of
St. Catharines as a Master of the Lodge.
There is one more unaccounted for Boles who was
running a grocer's shop in St. Catharines in 1856 and
had been involved with Hopkins & Boles, Bakers and
Grocers for some years before that. None of the
known Boles would seem to fit. Possibly this was a
descendant of the Alexander Boles, also a grocer as
mentioned above, who died in 1839?????
The 1871 Census of St. Catharines lists Adam
Boles and Alexander Boles both born in Ireland and also
Adam's son James , also a cooper, born in Ontario in
1836.
Alexander died in 1875 at age 75 according to
his obituary. Adam lived on in St. Catharines to
age 92.
See the Alexander Boles of Lincoln co. Family Tree. See the James Boles of Lincoln co. Family Tree See the Adam Boles of Lincoln co. Family Tree See the William Boles of Lincoln co. Family Tree Due to his later year of birth, the last is unlikely to be Alexander's son but was possibly a nephew or other relation. A Mary Ann Boles and John Stainton, both of Moulton twp., Haldimand co. (also on the Niagara Peninsula) were married at St. George's Church, St. Catharine's on June 12, 1858. Coming to St. Catharine's to marry could indicate a connection to the above Boles. See also The Bowles of Welland co. for several Bowles who lived nearby at Niagara Falls. One final note, I believe that the Boles in St. Catharines were also the origin of The Boles of Naples in Upper New York State. A James Boles emigrated from Ireland in about 1829 and settled somewhere in Canada until about 1839 before moving on to Naples which is just a short trip across the US border from St. Catharines. He was married to a Jane Clindenen, which is quite an uncommon name but there was a Johnathan Clendenan who settled at St. Catharine's about 1823. The Boles in both places were Presbyterian and from northern Ireland. The proof of this theory has yet to be found though. |
