Person:George Shearer (11)

George was postmaster at Musselburgh Ontario from 1 Jun 1857 until he resigned on 28 Jun 1880 .These dates approximate what is known from the Shearer Family History and indicate that he was postmaster until he sold the store and moved into Poole. The names and dates are found on the Canadian Archive web site. It is interesting to note that a search of the 1851 census records shows no sign of him. The 1871 census shows the death of an Ellen , age 2 within the previous year. A Nellie Shearer is buried in Hampstead cemetery....Ellen's or Nellie's birth was not recorded in our records, but I expect she is George and Sarah's daughter. A survey of the grave site shows her stone next to George and his wives....It reads Nellie Dau of Geo. and Sarah.... From a Mornington History book comes this excerpt...written in 1933 by Malcolm MacBeth

GEORGE SHEARER (photo)George Shearer was born at Highflatt Farm, East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1826. Like many another young Scottish lad who strove for an existence in a thickly populated country where mountains and moors occupied a much larger territory than the tillable carses and plains, which are productive and fertile, indeed, where they are to be found. Stories of the great woods and the sport to be had with deer and bears and the Indians in them had floated across the wide Atlantic and fascinated him. He set sail from Glasgow in 1847 and came to Scarborough township where for a time he worked at farming such as it was in those days. He then travelled as far west as Paris where he was employed a further term of two years when he was joined by his brother John and they took up land in Blandford township, near Bright. Shortly afterwards he entered the employ of the late George Baird, who kept a general store at Chesterfield. This was at the time that the Buffalo and Goderich Railway was under construction and Mr. Baird had the contract of furnishing the supplies for the men working between Drumbo and Tavistock. After serving an apprenticeship of three years, he decided to start in business for himself and came to Mornington after 1852 and opened a store at Musselburg and was shortly after made postmaster when an office was opened. He had to haul his goods from Hamilton to which place he made a trip for purchasing in spring and fall. He resided there until 1880 when he purchased the farm at Poole now owned by his son-in-law, Mr. James Mayberry, where he resided until his death in 1906. Mr. Shearer was always interest in the affairs of his township and served in the council in 1857 and again from 1897 to 1900. During his 54 years residence in Mornington he had always been identified with the Millbank Presbyterian Church and was for many years the treasurer. He was a trusted official and business man and was held in universal regard throughout the township. Mr. Shearer was twice married, first to Margaret Hendeneron (sic) of Beverley. The second was Sarah Raycraft. The remains of Mr. Shearer repose in the family plot in the Millbank Presbyterian cemetery.(sic)... The 1861 census for Mornington Twp shows George, living with daughter Jane and Jane's aunts Mary and Catherine Henderson.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Ada Jane Shearer and The Shearer Historians. Shearer Family History. (Created in Elma Township in 1938 and maintained by Shearer Reunion Historians. Information was reported by knowledgeable family members and was well maintained in the early years.).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Isa Cleland. Information that Isa researched on the Shearers. (This information was gathered by Isa until her death in 1999. Most is copied from the Shearer Family Tree.).
3. ↑ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. International Genealogical Index (R) (2). (Copyright (c) 1980, 2000, data as of January 2000).