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Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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VONDY, THOMAS (1824-1886)

VONDY, THOMAS, retail merchant and Chatham postmaster, 1864-86; b. Chatham, 14 May 1824, s/o Thomas Vondy Sr and Margaret McCullam; brother of John Vondy; m. 1852, Janet Dorothea Shirreff, d/o Adam Dixon Shirreff and Jane Hunter; d. Chatham, 6 Mar 1886.

Thomas Vondy was a student of the County Grammar School when it was being conducted by William Jenkins. He was selling books in Chatham in 1846 but left the Miramichi soon afterwards. He was residing in New York City at the time of his marriage to Janet ("Jessie") D. Shirreff, a Chatham teacher. He had a Brooklyn address in 1854. He was living on the Miramichi again by the summer of 1864, at which time he had a store in Chatham and was advertising hardware, groceries, liquor, and other merchandise for sale. Several months afterwards he was appointed to succeed James Caie as postmaster. During a period ending in 1873 he was also the Canada Life Assurance agent in Chatham.

Vondy held the postmastership until he dropped dead on the job in 1886, at age sixty-two. "He was a hard worker," stated the Chatham World, "and had not taken any rest or recreation for years. Six days in the week he was in the office from 7 a.m. till 9 p.m., personally attending to all the details of the work. Everything was done in the proper regulation manner. No fault was ever found with his mails or accounts, but some persons often complained that he was too strict in enforcing the rules and regulations." The Union Advocate described him as "one of the best officers in the postal service." He was survived by his wife, a daughter, and three sons. Another son, Joseph W. Vondy, died of scarlet fever in 1873 while in his senior year at the University of New Brunswick.

Sources

[b] church records [m] NB Courier 10 Apr 1852 [d] Advocate 10 Mar 1886 / Gleaner 1 Dec 1846 (ad), 14 Oct 1854, 11 Jun 1864 (ad); Somerville research; Telegraph 14 Nov 1873; World 6 Mar 1886


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