Jacob Hespeler

Jacob Hespeler (1810 in Ehningen, Württemberg – March 22, 1881 in Hespeler, Ontario, Canada) was a prominent businessman in Canada West and the founder of the town of Hespeler (since 1973 a part of Cambridge, Ontario).

Born Jakob Hespeler in Eningen in the Kingdom of Württemberg, Hespeler was the eldest son of Johann Georg Hespeler (born 1784) and Anna Barbara Wick (1791–1881). His mother was a granddaughter of Count Károly Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka (1723–1795), a Hungarian nobleman. His father was a businessman with the house of Mayer Amschel Rothschild.

Hespeler received his education in Nancy and moved to North America where he worked in the fur trade for several years, working first for John Jacob Astor in Chicago and then with the Hudson's Bay Company.

Around 1835 Hespeler settled in Preston, Upper Canada (now part of Cambridge, Ontario), which was then a major German-speaking centre and a focus for German-speaking immigrants from both Europe and Pennsylvania.

Hespeler began as a co-owner of a store, which he soon owned outright, and then expanded his business operations in town. He purchased a site along the Grand River intending to build a mill which would compete with the existing mill owned by the Erb family. After beginning the digging of the millrace, he was forced to abandon the project as he could not secure the necessary water rights from the Erbs. He instead bought up some land on King Street in Preston and built a grist mill, general store, and distillery. He held a number of public positions in Preston, serving as reeve, postmaster, and town councillor.

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