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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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SOMERS, JAMES A. (1829-1909)

SOMERS, JAMES A., lumberman and churchman; b. North Esk parish, 6 Sep 1829, s/o John Somers and Abigail Tozer; m. 1854, Mary Ann Godfrey, d/o Elisha Godfrey and Martha Humphries, of North Esk; d. Lyttleton, 18 May 1909.

James A. Somers was one of the leading lumber contractors on the Northwest and Little Southwest branches of the Miramichi in the second half of the 19th century. He was also a general merchant and the keeper of the post office at Lyttleton.

In the 1870s and 80s Somers served as a county councillor for a total of four years. Politically he was an independent Liberal, and when a County Liberal Association was formed in 1886 he was elected as one of several vice-presidents. It was stated in 1891, however, that he had become displeased with Liberal policies and would be endorsing the candidacy of the Conservative, Michael Adams, in the upcoming federal election. In 1896 he was a vice-president of the County Conservative Association.

Somers was a mainstay of the Baptist congregation on the Little Southwest and was an "esteemed friend" of the evangelist Isaiah Wallace. During a visit in 1889 Wallace encouraged him to take the initiative in having a church built. He did so, and during the next two years chaired the committee which erected the first Baptist church at Sillikers. When he announced at the opening service held on 5 July 1891 that all but $150 of the cost of the building had been raised, more than that amount was given or pledged by the congregation before the dedicatory prayer was offered.

Somers experienced a business crisis in 1893-94, in which he lost almost everything he owned. He continued to work at lumbering and farming, however, and remained the postmaster at Lyttleton until his death. He and his wife, Mary Ann Godfrey, had ten children. Their sons Elisha J. Somers and Wilbur H. Somers played important roles as lumber contractors and public figures on the Little Southwest from the 1890s onward. In 1890 Elisha J. Somers was the builder of the first Somers Bridge at Lyttleton.

Sources

[b] census [m] official records [d] Advocate 26 May 1909 / Advance 26 Feb 1891, 16 Jul 1891, 1 Feb 1894, 22 Feb 1894, 29 Mar 1894, 30 Jan 1896; Advocate 28 Jun 1876; Arbuckle; Hamilton (NE); Wallace


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