Demare House: The story behind the name
The French Revolution of 178999 was a bloody and terrifying time.
As the country divided, its people rising in defence or against the French monarchy, armed conflict, executions and reprisals washed every corner of the kingdom in the blood of commoner and noble alike. None were spared, and no quarter was given.
It was in this very cauldron of upheaval and terror that the story behind the house at Welland’s 115 West Main St. is said to begin.
The de la Mares were part of an aristocratic family. The family name itself had origins in ninth- century Normandy, where it descended from the invading Norse due to French influence over the original name av Møre, which is associated with the village of Møre near Trondheim in Norway. The root of the family claimed connection to Thorir Rognvaldsson, Earl of Møre, and brother of the first Duke of Normandy.
Sharing the fate of many nobles who were swept up in the revolution, the eldest son of these de la Mares was executed, and the younger brother was forced to flee the country. Forced to use a part of his family’s possessions to buy passage, he landed in the southern United States with no money, and was forced to work in the cotton fields. Over time, the old de la Mare name eventually became the simply shortened Demare.
Such is the story associated with the family of Chester Demare, a native of the United States who came to settle in Port Dalhousie during the construction of the first Welland Canal. For a time he was foreman for Eli Meade, a wellknown contractor, and as the first construction efforts began, his education allowed him to land a supervisory position in charge of the carpenter work on his section of the canal.
Once the canal was completed, he settled down and went into the contracting business, even serving as a member of the first village council in 1858, until his death in 1898.
Demare’s son Jacob, a native and life-long resident of Welland, followed in his father’s footsteps by working for more than 28 years with the construction and management of both the second and third canals. He was assigned the duty of placing the gates to the second Welland canal in position and completing all the arrangements for opening the canal to navigation. He was also given the honour of taking the first boat, the Don M. Dickinson, through the canal.
In 1881, he was made assistant superintendent of maintenance of the lower division of the new canal, a position he filled until 1898, when he was forced to retire due to ill health. He then engaged in underwriting, fire, life and accident insurance, for which he built a very large and high-class clientele. He was also an active member of the board of trade and a successful businessman of Welland.
Although this story of association with nobility is difficult to confirm or disprove, the house itself is real enough. Pictured here in 1902, it served as both residence and office for Jacob and his insurance business, and while there is no concrete construction date, the construction of the house is attributed to Jacob himself.
The house, now a residential building, remains undesignated but appears to be in fine shape, and many of its original notable details such as the decorative “gingerbread” detailing can still be seen today. While the old family legend certainly lends it an exciting prospect as a historical building, it still very much remains a fine example of late 19th-century architecture on its own.