Fonds AFC70 - Solon Woolverton fonds

Solon Woolverton was born on March 31, 1845 in Grimsby Ontario, the fifth of six children of Dr. Jonathan and Dr. Emmeline (née Bergmann) Woolverton. Schooled at the Baptist college in Woodstock Ontario, Woolverton worked as a teacher before deciding to pursue dentistry. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and then the Royal College of Dental Surgery in Toronto, becoming Canada's first dental school graduate in 1871. On October 22, 1873 he married Elizabeth Jane Walker (b. April 4, 1850), also of Grimsby Ontario. The couple had six children:
Maude Woolverton (1874-1878)
Edith Woolverton (1876-1878)
John Arthur Woolverton (1879-1964)
Euphemia Louise (Effie) Woolverton (1882-1959)
Elizabeth Jane (Bessie) Woolverton Follinsbee (1883-1971)
Laura B. Woolverton (1886-1982)
Dr. Woolverton practiced dentistry in Grimsby for ten years before moving to London, Ontaario in 1881. While Dr. Woolverton's primary occupation was dentistry, he also held interests in geology, history, genealogy, astronomy and archaeology. He was a professor of geology at the University of Western Ontario in the late 1890's, and was active in the Entomological Society of Ontario, the London and Middlesex Historical Society, and the Ontario Historical Society. In 1910, Dr. Woolverton also founded the Albemarle Zinc Company.
Dr. Woolverton's collected a wide variety of objects including coins, shells, Indian relics, rocks and minerals, fossils and corals, war implements, skulls and human bones, and numerous other curiosities. He also collected historical documents such as land grants and possessed the diary of Joseph Willcocks [Wilcox], an important figure in the War of 1812. In the 1920s, Dr. Woolverton attempted to sell his collection as the basis for a museum; no final sale was ever documented. The Joseph Willcocks material was eventually donated to Library and Archives Canada.
Dr. Woolverton continued practicing dentistry until 1931, at the age of 88. The Woolvertons celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in October, 1943. Dr. Solon Woolverton died December 9, 1943; Elizabeth died almost 4 years later. The Woolvertons are buried in St. Andrew's Anglican Cemetery in Grimsby, Ontario.