Now available from author Joel B. Kerr...
CAUGHT!
The Travels and Travails of John W. Kerr, Fisheries Overseer, 1812 -1888
Book Synopsis for Caught!
John W. Kerr (1812–1888) was a man way ahead of his time. As Ontario’s first fisheries overseer, a position he held for twenty-four years, he strove not only to enforce the country’s nascent fishing laws but also to protect fish stocks and the fragile environment on which they depended in the face of Ontario’s growing industrialization. Sometimes friend and sometimes foe to fisherman and his supervisors alike, Kerr was a religious man of unyielding principles who faced constant conflict as he sought to establish order in a time when few others shared his concerns about the environment.
Based on 10,000 pages of Kerr’s diaries and letters, this book is a chronological account of his life and career, beginning in Ireland with the Royal Irish Constabulary and ending with him literally working himself to death on behalf of Canada’s Ministry of Marine and Fisheries. Written by his great-great-grandson Joel B. Kerr, this book recounts the highs and lows of Kerr’s life, including some life-and-death incidents and many humorous encounters along the way. Ultimately, Kerr’s efforts to protect the fisheries proved to be in vain, but he worked faithfully until the day he died, and he never gave in to those who opposed him. His story still resonates today in a world of partisan politics and environmental degradation. Hopefully, modern readers will be more open than Kerr’s contemporaries to the lessons his life has to teach.
John W. Kerr (1812–1888) was a man way ahead of his time. As Ontario’s first fisheries overseer, a position he held for twenty-four years, he strove not only to enforce the country’s nascent fishing laws but also to protect fish stocks and the fragile environment on which they depended in the face of Ontario’s growing industrialization. Sometimes friend and sometimes foe to fisherman and his supervisors alike, Kerr was a religious man of unyielding principles who faced constant conflict as he sought to establish order in a time when few others shared his concerns about the environment.
Based on 10,000 pages of Kerr’s diaries and letters, this book is a chronological account of his life and career, beginning in Ireland with the Royal Irish Constabulary and ending with him literally working himself to death on behalf of Canada’s Ministry of Marine and Fisheries. Written by his great-great-grandson Joel B. Kerr, this book recounts the highs and lows of Kerr’s life, including some life-and-death incidents and many humorous encounters along the way. Ultimately, Kerr’s efforts to protect the fisheries proved to be in vain, but he worked faithfully until the day he died, and he never gave in to those who opposed him. His story still resonates today in a world of partisan politics and environmental degradation. Hopefully, modern readers will be more open than Kerr’s contemporaries to the lessons his life has to teach.
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Book Excerpt
"In 1886 Andrew Provost was an African American barber living in Hamilton at 47 ½ Young St. I don’t know where his barbershop was as the City Directory apparently did not consider barbers to be worthy of inclusion in the business listings. One of his customers was John W. Kerr, my great great grandfather, who was by then the 74 year old fisheries overseer for most of Southern Ontario. Kerr kept diaries of his activities on behalf of the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries from 1864 until his death in 1888 and is the subject of my soon to be published book, Caught! The Travels and Travails of John W. Kerr, 1812 -1888.
In reviewing the diaries I learned that in 1886 Kerr took up a cause on behalf of Mr. Provost (or Provo, as Kerr referred to him.) Provost was born at Holland Landing, in what was then Canada West, probably in the 1840’s. In March of 1865 he enlisted in the Union Army at Dunkirk, New York, even as the Civil War was nearing its conclusion. When you enlisted you were entitled to receive “bounty money” which was the financial inducement for enlistment paid by the federal government and supplemented by state and municipal contributions. How much money you received depended upon how long you enlisted for and in Provost’s case it was $700 which was the equivalent of what a working man could expect to earn in about two years. So it was a lot of money in 1865.
Advertisements promoting enlistment were in all the major newspapers and were usually paid for by “brokers” who got paid a part of the bounty money for enlisted men. They were frequently unscrupulous and there were many accounts of men who were abducted or induced to enlist by alcohol or drugs, only to find that their bounty money had been stolen. However, the brokers were considered to be a necessary evil by the Union army that was desperately in need of recruits.
The United States War Department established the “Bureau of Colored Troops” in 1863 and by the War’s end there were approximately 175 colored regiments comprising about 178,000 troops, or almost 10% of the Union forces. It is estimated that there were about 1,000 Canadians in these regiments. There were about 35 – 55,000 British Americans who fought in the war, the vast majority on the Union side.
After enlisting at Dunkirk, Provost travelled to Elmira, New York where he received his uniform and basic training. Elmira was one of three training bases in New York State. Provost was then assigned to the 38th Maryland Colored Infantry Regiment that had been formed in 1864 and saw action in Virginia and North Carolina. Between May 24 and June 6, 1865 the regiment was shipped to Texas and even though the War effectively ended on April 9, 1865 with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee, the final surrender did not occur until June 23rd.
Provost was issued a “cheque book” for his bounty money, some of which he spent with the R. North and Co., of New York, a sutler during the war. “Sutler” is a word almost forgotten now but referred to merchants who followed troops around to sell them things like tobacco and personal goods.
Provost was ill during the voyage to Texas and his cheque book was lost or stolen. He later learned that on May 30, 1865 someone had forged a cheque for $370 and that Major Lucius H. Warren of the 38th Maryland had stolen $370 from his account. Provost was discharged from the Union Army in February of 1866 at New York City and spent 2 years farming in New Jersey before returning to Canada.
Over twenty years later, as a barber in Hamilton, Provost relayed this story to Kerr who was so outraged that he set out to help Mr. Provost in an attempt to regain the stolen money. Kerr was an experienced letter writer, having by this time written thousands of letters as fisheries overseer so he assisted Provost in writing a Petition to United States President, Grover Cleveland. In the 19th century, if you wanted something from government you sent a petition with ascribing supporters or testimonials of character.
Kerr obtained testimonials of character from Hamilton Mayor Alexander McKay and from Provost’s clergyman and on July 5, 1886 Kerr sent the petition to President Cleveland, together with a covering letter, parts of which are as follows:
To His Excellency:
The President of the United States of America! Washington, D.C.
May it please your Excellency. I have the honour to lay before you the Petition from Andrew Provo in which he lays claim with your approval to $700, Bounty Money, promised him as a soldier.
Kerr then laid out the facts of Provost’s claim before concluding:
Many persons have been similarly treated by Sharpers as Provo was, but still it is to be hoped and expected that Your Excellency will see that justice is done to this poor United States discharged soldier. Pardon me for the liberty I have taken in addressing Your Excellency, and believe me, with profound respect.
Your Obedient Servant,
John W. Kerr, Fishery Overseer,
5th July, 1886.
Kerr copied the entire Petition in his diary, which included the full details of Provost’s claim and concluded with the following:
That your Petitioner positively states that Major Lucius H. Warren had no authority from your Petitioner to draw his
money, nor any part nor portion of it! And this your Petitioner now affirms and declares upon oath.
Your Petitioner further saith that it was a cruel act imposed upon him by the said Major and the aforesaid R. North and
Co., Sutlers.
That your petitioner went into the American Army to do his duty to the Republic, and having done so is in Justice entitled to
fair treatment, and honourable consideration.
The affairs of the Commonwealth being now guided and properly managed at the present day by Your Excellency, as
President of the United States, Petitioner sincerely prays that you will see justice done to him. That your Petitioner is not of
such a character as to impose on your Excellency.
Your Petitioner is merely seeking Justice, where a great wrong has been inflicted. Your Petitioner attaches testimonials of
Character, and your Petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 28th June, 1886
No further reference is made in Kerr’s diaries to this matter and it seems highly unlikely that twenty years after the Civil War ended that Mr. Provost ever received any compensation. But it was not for lack of effort on the part of his friends in Hamilton. Kerr would die two years later while Mayor McKay became a Conservative member of parliament from 1887 to 1896 prior to his death in 1912. Andrew Provost first appears in the Hamilton City Directory in 1878 and lived at various addresses in Hamilton until he no longer appeared by 1900. Whatever happened to him is presently unknown.
Joel B. Kerr
These entries may be found in Kerr’s diaries at Vol. 13, pp 987 and 1013
In reviewing the diaries I learned that in 1886 Kerr took up a cause on behalf of Mr. Provost (or Provo, as Kerr referred to him.) Provost was born at Holland Landing, in what was then Canada West, probably in the 1840’s. In March of 1865 he enlisted in the Union Army at Dunkirk, New York, even as the Civil War was nearing its conclusion. When you enlisted you were entitled to receive “bounty money” which was the financial inducement for enlistment paid by the federal government and supplemented by state and municipal contributions. How much money you received depended upon how long you enlisted for and in Provost’s case it was $700 which was the equivalent of what a working man could expect to earn in about two years. So it was a lot of money in 1865.
Advertisements promoting enlistment were in all the major newspapers and were usually paid for by “brokers” who got paid a part of the bounty money for enlisted men. They were frequently unscrupulous and there were many accounts of men who were abducted or induced to enlist by alcohol or drugs, only to find that their bounty money had been stolen. However, the brokers were considered to be a necessary evil by the Union army that was desperately in need of recruits.
The United States War Department established the “Bureau of Colored Troops” in 1863 and by the War’s end there were approximately 175 colored regiments comprising about 178,000 troops, or almost 10% of the Union forces. It is estimated that there were about 1,000 Canadians in these regiments. There were about 35 – 55,000 British Americans who fought in the war, the vast majority on the Union side.
After enlisting at Dunkirk, Provost travelled to Elmira, New York where he received his uniform and basic training. Elmira was one of three training bases in New York State. Provost was then assigned to the 38th Maryland Colored Infantry Regiment that had been formed in 1864 and saw action in Virginia and North Carolina. Between May 24 and June 6, 1865 the regiment was shipped to Texas and even though the War effectively ended on April 9, 1865 with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee, the final surrender did not occur until June 23rd.
Provost was issued a “cheque book” for his bounty money, some of which he spent with the R. North and Co., of New York, a sutler during the war. “Sutler” is a word almost forgotten now but referred to merchants who followed troops around to sell them things like tobacco and personal goods.
Provost was ill during the voyage to Texas and his cheque book was lost or stolen. He later learned that on May 30, 1865 someone had forged a cheque for $370 and that Major Lucius H. Warren of the 38th Maryland had stolen $370 from his account. Provost was discharged from the Union Army in February of 1866 at New York City and spent 2 years farming in New Jersey before returning to Canada.
Over twenty years later, as a barber in Hamilton, Provost relayed this story to Kerr who was so outraged that he set out to help Mr. Provost in an attempt to regain the stolen money. Kerr was an experienced letter writer, having by this time written thousands of letters as fisheries overseer so he assisted Provost in writing a Petition to United States President, Grover Cleveland. In the 19th century, if you wanted something from government you sent a petition with ascribing supporters or testimonials of character.
Kerr obtained testimonials of character from Hamilton Mayor Alexander McKay and from Provost’s clergyman and on July 5, 1886 Kerr sent the petition to President Cleveland, together with a covering letter, parts of which are as follows:
To His Excellency:
The President of the United States of America! Washington, D.C.
May it please your Excellency. I have the honour to lay before you the Petition from Andrew Provo in which he lays claim with your approval to $700, Bounty Money, promised him as a soldier.
Kerr then laid out the facts of Provost’s claim before concluding:
Many persons have been similarly treated by Sharpers as Provo was, but still it is to be hoped and expected that Your Excellency will see that justice is done to this poor United States discharged soldier. Pardon me for the liberty I have taken in addressing Your Excellency, and believe me, with profound respect.
Your Obedient Servant,
John W. Kerr, Fishery Overseer,
5th July, 1886.
Kerr copied the entire Petition in his diary, which included the full details of Provost’s claim and concluded with the following:
That your Petitioner positively states that Major Lucius H. Warren had no authority from your Petitioner to draw his
money, nor any part nor portion of it! And this your Petitioner now affirms and declares upon oath.
Your Petitioner further saith that it was a cruel act imposed upon him by the said Major and the aforesaid R. North and
Co., Sutlers.
That your petitioner went into the American Army to do his duty to the Republic, and having done so is in Justice entitled to
fair treatment, and honourable consideration.
The affairs of the Commonwealth being now guided and properly managed at the present day by Your Excellency, as
President of the United States, Petitioner sincerely prays that you will see justice done to him. That your Petitioner is not of
such a character as to impose on your Excellency.
Your Petitioner is merely seeking Justice, where a great wrong has been inflicted. Your Petitioner attaches testimonials of
Character, and your Petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 28th June, 1886
No further reference is made in Kerr’s diaries to this matter and it seems highly unlikely that twenty years after the Civil War ended that Mr. Provost ever received any compensation. But it was not for lack of effort on the part of his friends in Hamilton. Kerr would die two years later while Mayor McKay became a Conservative member of parliament from 1887 to 1896 prior to his death in 1912. Andrew Provost first appears in the Hamilton City Directory in 1878 and lived at various addresses in Hamilton until he no longer appeared by 1900. Whatever happened to him is presently unknown.
Joel B. Kerr
These entries may be found in Kerr’s diaries at Vol. 13, pp 987 and 1013
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