John Rudolphus Booth (1827 - 1925)

Born 5 Apr 1827 in Waterloo, Lower Canada

Husband of Rosalinda (Cook) Booth — married 7 Jan 1853 in Kingsey township, Lower Canada

Descendants

Died 8 Dec 1925 at age 98 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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Biography

John Booth is Notable.

John Rudolphus Booth (April 5, 1827 – December 8, 1925) was a Canadian lumber king and railroad baron. He controlled logging rights for large tracts of forest land in central Ontario, and built the Canada Atlantic Railway (from Georgian Bay via Ottawa to Vermont) to extract his logs and to export lumber and grain to the United States and Europe. In 1892, his lumber mill was the largest operation of its kind in the world.

Booth died in December 1925. On his passing, Michael Grattan O'Leary of the Ottawa Journal noted that what people should remember about him was that he was: "not the great magnate whose wealth is the envy of many and the wonder of more; but the great pioneer, the man whose genius and imagination tamed the wilderness . . . and, above all, did more than any man of his time to build up this Ottawa Valley."

Also at that time, William Lyon Mackenzie King observed: "Mr. Booth was indeed one of the Fathers of Canada; it is not too much to say that it is to men of such sterling worth and indomitable will as he possessed, more than aught else, that we owe the development of our Dominion."

Booth's fortune was a subject of much speculative commentary during the latter years of his life, with estimates ranging up to $100 million. At his death his estate was officially valued at almost $7.7 million; the property was later re-evaluated upwards to $23 million.[45] Although succession duties of $4.28 million were paid in 1927, in 1937 Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn subsequently claimed more and had the Legislative Assembly of Ontario pass the necessary legislation to overcome the legal obstacles.[47] J.R's heirs eventually paid another $3 million in 1939.

His son John Frederick Booth, who lived in Canada, married and had a daughter Lois Frances Booth (born Ottawa, Ontario, 2 August 1897; died Copenhagen, 26 February 1941), who was married in Ottawa, Ontario, on 11 February 1924 to Count Erik of Rosenborg, whom she divorced in 1937; they had two children. At the time of the marriage, it was rumoured that Booth contributed half of her $4-million dowry. J.R. issued a formal denial. She later remarried Thorkild Juelsberg, without issue.

Siblings and descendants

1. John Booth (1802–1877), m. (1st) Eleanor Rowley (1804–1834) (2nd) Lydia Bickford (1808–1861) (3rd) Suzannah Bickford (1814–1888)
   1. James Rowley Booth (1825–1906)
   2. John Rudolphus Booth (1827–1925), m. Rosalinda Cooke (1829–1886)
      1. Frances Gertrude Booth (1854–1856)
      2. Helen Gertrude Booth (~1855–1940), m. Andrew Walker Fleck (1848–1924)
      3. Lila Booth (1858–1918), m. J. Arthur Seybold (1859–1928)
      4. Augusta Adella Booth (1860–1866)
      5. Charles Jackson Booth (1863–1947), m. Jessie Louise Gibson (1876–1939)
         1. John Frederick Booth (d. in infancy)
         2. Charles Rowley Booth (1915–1960), m. Marjorie Annette McKinnon (1920–2003)
            1. John Rowley Booth (1944–)
            2. William Jackson Booth
      6. John Frederick Booth (1865–1930), m. Frances Alberta Hunsiker (1866–1964)
         1. John Rudolphus Booth (1895–1941),[53] m. (1st) Ida Evelyn Woods (1900–) (2nd) Elizabeth Jane Smith (1909–)
            1. Pamela Evelyn Booth (1923-)
         2. Frederick Hunsiker Booth (1895–1941),[56] m. (1st) Louise Taylor (1898–)[57] (2nd) Cornelia Ann Vanderhoef (1911–1995)
            1. Elizabeth Ann Booth[58] (1934-)
            2. Lois Frances Booth (1897–1941), m. (1st) Count Erik of Rosenborg (1890–1950) (2nd) Gunnar Thorkil Juelsberg (1904–)
            3. Alexandra Dagmar Frances Marie Margrethe, Countess of Rosenborg (1927–1992)
            4. Christian Edward Valdemar Jean Frederik Peter, Count of Rosenborg (1932–1997)
      7. Frank Booth (1867–1869)
      8. May Belle Booth (1876–1899)
   3. William Booth (1829–1913)
   4. Eliza Booth (1831)
   5. Robert Rowley Booth (1832–1899)
   6. Louis Elijah Booth (1835–1915)
   7. Eleanor Booth (1839–1842)
   8. Charlotte Booth (1841–1912)
   9. Lucinda Booth (1842–1933)
   10. Samuel Armstrong Booth (1844–1920)
   11. Isaiah (Isaac) Booth (1845–1928)
   12. Edward J. Booth (1846–1849)
   13. Edward Judson Booth (1852–1943)

Links

Wikipedia - John Rudolphus Booth

Wikipedia - Ottawa River Timber Trade

Ottawa Lumbering History

Sources

• "Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JF25-L26 : 11 December 2014), John Rudolphus Booth, 08 Dec 1925; citing Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, 504, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 2,057,271.
• Gard, Anson A. Pioneers of the Upper Ottawa and The Humors of the Valley - South Hull and Aylmer Edition. Ottawa, Canada: Emerson Press, 1906.
• Lee, David. Lumber Kings and Shantymen. James Lorimer, 2006
• Léon A. Robidoux. (2008) The Raftsmen of the Ottawa and St Lawrence Rivers. Shoreline Press, Montreal. pp198. ISBN:978-1-896754-38-3. Shoreline page

See also:

• Booth House
• Fleck/Paterson House
• http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/booth_john_rudolphus_15E.html
• Find a Grave