FOTHERINGHAM, JOHN (1844-1897)

FOTHERINGHAM, JOHN, retail merchant and collecting justice; b. Scotland c1844; m. 1867, Helen McIntosh, of Stirlingshire, Scotland; d. Chatham, 6 Aug 1897.

John Fotheringham came to the Miramichi from Scotland in the early 1860s and was employed as a clerk with J. B. Snowball & Co. In 1867 he established John Fotheringham & Co. at the Golden Ball Corner in Chatham. At first his store was called "The Great Boot and Shoe Emporium," but by 1878 he also had a large stock of furniture for sale. The Miramichi Advance stated that his integrity as a merchant "won him the respect of the business community, and his genial qualities the regard of many friends."

In 1886 Fotheringham was appointed collecting justice, and he shut down his business. For a while he also acted as the part-time manager of the Miramichi Steam Navigation Co., of which John P. Burchill was president. His death, which occurred while he was in his early fifties, followed a two-year illness.

Fotheringham's wife, Helen McIntosh, and an infant son died in 1870. A daughter, Helen E. Fotheringham, survived to adulthood and became a teacher.