SADLER, JOHN (1840-1893)

SADLER, JOHN, business manager; b. Chatham, 1840 (bap. 5 Jul 1840), s/o David Sadler and Jane Barclay; m. 1875, Agnes J. Muirhead, d/o William Muirhead and Ann Gray; d. Chatham, 14 Oct 1893.

Around 1860 John Sadler returned from Dalhousie to the place of his birth and hired on as a bookkeeper with Gilmour, Rankin & Co. He had "a great mind for figures" and was lured away in 1863 to work as accountant for William Muirhead. He subsequently acted as manager of the extensive lumber and shipping operations conducted by the Muirhead firm. It was said that his knowledge of detail was remarkable and that he could do many jobs at once.

In the early 1870s Sadler was a stockholder in the Chatham Branch Railway Co. He was an incorporator of the World Publishing Co. in 1882. In 1884 he was a founding director of the Miramichi Steam Navigation Co.

Before he married the daughter of his employer, Sadler lived at the Bowser House in Chatham, and he made countless friends among the public. "No man," stated the Union Advocate, "was more widely known or popular in the county." He was often called upon to mediate disputes and enjoyed such an outstanding reputation for judiciousness that the saying, "I'll have it to John Sadler" (for fair settlement), passed into everyday speech on the Miramichi.

Sadler was predeceased in 1882 by his wife, Agnes J. Muirhead, age thirty-seven. He was in serious financial difficulty in 1891. When he died two years later, at age fifty-three, he left a teenaged daughter and son.