Henry Sage

Bell Ewart, Ontario — The community of Bell Ewart owes its existence in large part to American lumber magnate Henry Williams Sage. Born in 1814, Sage started his career operating a line of barges on the Erie Canal in New York state. He then established a wholesale lumber yard in Albany. The product he sold was imported Canadian lumber; shipments came from Toronto across Lake Ontario and down to Albany via the Oswego Canal. To maximize profits, Sage decided to cut out the middleman. He’d mill his own lumber. In 1854, the 40-year-old built a large sawmill in Bell Ewart. Initially, the logs were purchased from landowners all around Lake Simcoe and towed in vast booms to the mill. [When wood ran short] Sage had the idea of driving logs down the Black River then onto Lake Simcoe. …The Rama Log Canal opened the following year. Once again the mill at Bell Ewart was saved.