14 Facts About Jacob Hespeler

Jacob George Hespeler was a German-Canadian businessman.

Jacob Hespeler is best known as the founder and namesake of the town Hespeler, Ontario, which since 1973 has been a neighbourhood in the amalgamated town of Cambridge, Ontario.

Around 1835 Jacob Hespeler settled in Preston, Upper Canada, which was then a major German-speaking centre and a focus for German-speaking immigrants from both Europe and Pennsylvania.

Jacob Hespeler began as a co-owner of a store, which he soon owned outright, and then expanded his business operations in town.

Jacob Hespeler purchased a site along the Grand River intending to build a mill which would compete with the existing mill owned by the Erb family.

Jacob Hespeler instead bought up some land on King Street in Preston and built a grist mill, general store, and distillery.

Jacob Hespeler held a number of public positions in Preston, serving as reeve, postmaster, and town councillor.

Jacob Hespeler greatly enlarged the existing dam on the Speed, and within the next five years erected a gristmill, a sawmill, a cooperage, and a distillery.

Jacob Hespeler built stone lodgings for single men working in his buildings, and made significant donations to both the local Catholic and Lutheran churches.

Jacob Hespeler's distillery was unusual in Canada at the time in making use of the "German method" for producing vinegar, which allowed vinegar to be fermented through a chemical process much faster than traditional methods.

In 1851 Jacob Hespeler sent a vinegar sample to The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park and subsequently began exporting vinegar to Britain regularly.

Jacob Hespeler was elected as the first reeve of the village, serving from 1859 to 1862.

In 1861 Jacob Hespeler ran for election to the 7th Parliament of the Province of Canada as the Conservative candidate for South Waterloo, but was defeated by the Liberal James Cowan.

Jacob Hespeler was buried at the New Hope Cemetery in Hespeler.