SOME REMARKABLE WOMEN FROM NIAGARA'S PAST By Sherman Zavitz
Deborah Willson was an astute Niagara businesswoman who had a copious amount of courage. She also left us with a mystery. American by birth, Deborah and her husband Charles relocated to Niagara in 1788. Seven years later, Charles opened a tavern along Portage Road at Fallsview where the Oakes Hotel is now located. Following Charles’s death in early 1812, Deborah took over the ownership and management of the tavern. Not long after, the War of 1812 broke out. During the conflict, Deborah declared herself to be neutral, providing refreshments along with information to both British and American officers who stopped at her establishment. This must have placed her in compromising and even dangerous situations at times. Nevertheless, her tavern remained open all during the war. Part of its popularity with the military on both sides was probably due to the fact that Deborah had two lovely daughters, Harriet and Statira, both of whom worked in their mother’s tavern serving food and drinks. July 25, 1814, was a date Deborah Willson would never forget. On that day, British and Canadian troops clashed with invading American forces in the bloody Battle of Lundy’s Lane, which took place in and around what is now Drummond Hill Cemetery, not far from her tavern. The conflict, which involved a total of some six thousand men, began in the early evening and only concluded around midnight after both exhausted armies had fought each other to a standstill. The Americans then began a withdrawal to their camp at Chippawa. Casualties on both sides were extremely heavy. Women featured: Wynnifred (Stokes) Hill, Judy LaMarsh, Claire Shuttleworth Photo courtesy of the Niagara Falls Public Library
By mid-evening her tavern had been turned into a makeshift hospital that was quickly filled. During the dark early hours of July 26th, she counted 60 wagon-loads of wounded men that passed by her door on their way to the American camp. Following the war, Deborah, like many Niagara residents, submitted a war losses claim to the government. Now comes the mystery. Did government authorities resent her American birth or have reason to distrust her declaration of neutrality during the war? Perhaps there was something else about the lady or what went on in her tavern that was not acceptable, for, on the cover of her war losses claim application, some official wrote these words, “Reputed character, destroyed and infamous”. Niagara’s past is full of extraordinary, fascinating women like Deborah. Read on to meet a few more ladies whose life stories deserve to be remembered. Eliza Fitzgerald Eliza was a lady who achieved some significant firsts. Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, in 1858, she began her schooling there and proved to be an outstanding pupil. In 1881, Eliza was accepted as a student by Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. This was during a time when many men had strong prejudices against women seeking higher education. Eliza persevered however, and three years later became Queen’s first woman arts graduate. She was also the first woman from Queen’s to be awarded a gold medal in classics.
