Fallen canal workers to be remembered on cemetery tour

MICHELLE ALLENBERG

Niagara is remembering lives that were lost during the construction of the Welland Canal.

Without those workers the canal, and the communities that sprung up because of the shipping route, would not exist today.

To honour the memories of those people, the Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial Task Force is hosting a free cemetery walking tour Saturday in Welland.

The tour, to be led by Welland Museum manager curator Penny Morningstar, will begin at 2 p.m. at Woodlawn Cemetery. The tour will continue at Holy Cross Cemetery at 2:45 p.m.

Morningstar will provide information about 30 fallen workers during the tour. Background will include information about where the person came from, what job they did, a little family history and how they died.

The tour was originally scheduled for August, but it was rained out. Morningstar said participants managed to get halfway through the tour before it downpoured.

She said what was interesting about the first attempt was having grandchildren and grandnephews/ nieces of the fallen workers attending the tour. Having family members participate and share their memories of their relatives gives the tour a unique perspective, she added.

During the tour, visitors will stop at gravesite remembrances — they include a father and son, a number of workers of Hungarian heritage, a large number killed during railrelated accidents, and victims of multiple-fatality accidents.

During construction of the canal, the Welland section was extremely dangerous. Twenty-two of the 137 workers who died building the entire canal are buried at four cemeteries in Welland. Others were who died were buried in their home communities.

Morningstar said participants should wear comfortable shoes and clothes because there is a bit of walking. The group will meet at the entrance of the cemetery.

On Sunday, Nov. 12, in a ceremony starting 2 p.m., the Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial will be unveiled at Lock 3 in St. Catharines.

For more information about the walk or the memorial call Welland Museum at 905-732-2215 or the St. Catharines museum at 905-9848880.

JOE BARKOVICH/SPECIAL TO POSTMEDIA NEWS Markers in Holy Cross Cemetery for three Welland Canal fallen workers who died during construction of the Welland Ship Canal (1913 to 1932-33). The names on each, from left: John Bode, 1896 to 1928; Charles A. McInnis, 19031928; Peter Szolonyik,...