McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Mathewson, James Adams, 1822-1905
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1822-1905
History
James Adams Mathewson was born on September 1, 1822, in Strabane, Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
He was a businessman. He immigrated to Montreal with his parents in 1834. In 1848, he became his father's partner in Samuel Mathewson & Son, a retail and wholesale firm specializing in tea, coffee, spices, sugar, and groceries. When his father died in 1854, James Adams joined forces with his brother-in-law Hugh Mathewson (1813-1877) under the business name J. A. and H. Mathewson. Together, they moved away from the retail business and began to operate as importers and wholesalers. In 1868, James Adams Mathewson ended his partnership with Hugh Mathewson and ran the family business alone for many years. His three sons (William Black, Samuel James, and James Adams, Jr.) were gradually introduced to the business and by 1884 were formally involved in the management of J.A. Mathewson and Company.
In 1847, he married Amelia Seabury Black (1826–1900). He died on April 3, 1905, in Montreal, Quebec.