152:, England with his parents in 1820. He had an older brother George and younger sister Susannah. His parents were John and Susannah. He began his career in the family business as a baker and confectioner, with a bakery located at the corner of Barrie and Clergy Streets. After securing major local contracts to supply bread, he moved on to real estate investments and a variety of transportation and industrial enterprises with the goal to make Kingston a transportation hub. He married Hannah Rhode, aged 17 and they had four children. Within 10 years he lost his brother, two grandchildren, his two sons, and his wife, and finally he died, on October 29, 1862, in virtual obscurity and penniless, at the home of his son-in-law.
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He sought a council seat in the town’s first election but was defeated. Later, in 1841, he was among the first to propose building a new town hall in 1841. Architect George Brown was selected to design the new town hall, and he travelled to
England to borrow £20,000 for its construction. In the same
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and laid the cornerstone on April 17, 1851. However, he had borrowed heavily to support his numerous interests and also to open the first subdivision in
Kingston. He resigned from the office of mayor in June 1855 because his shares in the local gas company were considered to constitute a conflict
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in July 1842 that he was at Daley’s Hotel and offering his "professional services for a few weeks". Town
Council members asked Mayor Counter to sit for his portrait, which was delivered in September 1842 at a cost of £17.10 and was paid for by the councilors personally, not from civic funds. He is
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to the government. Upon incorporation in 1846, Counter was elected the city’s first Mayor, and served an additional four terms due to his popularity and influence. He was instrumental in establishing the Board of Trade in 1839. He was among the people who donated their homes for the new government
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Canal (now abandoned) to provide quick water transportation to and from Cape
Vincent. Counter promoted the incorporation of Kingston as a town judging that it would bring increased business and improve property values. This ambition was realized when he signed the petition which finally brought
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of interest; and only a few months later, in
October 1855, he could not meet a large mortgage payment and his financial obligations forced him into bankruptcy. His house was at Plymouth Square, at the corner of Ontario and Johnson Streets. It was torn down in 1973.
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John
Counter was an avid businessman, and invested heavily in Kingston’s commercial district, was involved in the real estate and transportation industries, and owned both a foundry and a sawmill. He was involved in the
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while he was visiting
Kingston in 1842. Bradish was well known as a portrait painter in Rochester and Detroit, and is known to have undertaken commissions in Toronto and Montreal. Bradish advertised in the
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year he organized accommodations for government officials when
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workers in 1841, and the people who donated the first clock in the City Hall Clock Tower.
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businessman and political figure. He served as Mayor of the City of
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John
Counter was born on April 18, 1799, came to Kingston from
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and holding a scroll in left hand. It has been loaned to the
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Counter’s portrait was painted by
American itinerant artist
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