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HISTORIC SKETCHES OF OSHAWA
at Terrebonne, Que., 1823, married, 1845, Frances
Colton, of West Whitby. He has been Reeve of
Oshawa, Deputy Reeve of Whitby, Warden of
Ontario, returned to Parliament for North Ontario, at general election 1872, defeated 1874, by
Adam Gordon, who died May 28th, 1876, when
W. H. Gibbs was again returned for his old constituency.
MR. A. S. WHITING.
No history of Oshawa, during its existence as
an incorporated village, from 1850 to 1879, can
pretend to be correct without giving a fair account
of the life of Mr. A. S. Whiting, in many respects
one of the most remarkable characters of his
time. Ingenious, industrious, honest, farseeing,
and courageous at every turn of his interesting
and romantic career. Born at Winsted, Connecticut, March 7th, 1807, descended from Plymouth
Rock Puritan ancestry, died in Oshawa Mar. 30th,
1876, aged 69 years. He commenced his business
career selling clocks at the age of 19, at which
he succeeded in a remarkable degree, attributing
his success to the fact that he trained his tongue
to say the word "clock" as no one else could say
it. In 1832 he married and considering the nomadic life hitherto led by him incompatible with
the marriage state, he settled down upon a farm
at Williamsburg, N. Y., but could not entirely
resist the temptation to sell clocks, so in 1842 he
sold the farm, removed to Canada, and operated
from Cobourg as his centre of business. In this
A. S. WlUTING