Joseph E. Seagram

Joseph Emm Seagram (April 15, 1841 – August 18, 1919) was a Canadian distillery founder, politician, philanthropist, and major owner of thoroughbred racehorses.

Early life Joseph Seagram was born April 15, 1841, at Fisher's Mills, near Hespeler, now part of Cambridge, Ontario. He was the son of Octavius Augustus Seagram and Amelia Stiles, who emigrated to Canada from Wiltshire, England in 1837. For several years, Joseph lived at William Tassie's boarding school (now Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School) in the city of Galt (now also a part of Cambridge). ) to become Seagram and Roos, then in 1883, became the one hundred percent owner (buying out William Hespeler and William Roos) and renamed it Seagram. Making whisky became the most important part of the business, Seagram built it into one of the country's most successful of its kind. His 1907 creation, Seagram's VO whisky, became the best selling Canadian whisky in the world. The VO blend, which stood for "very own," was created to celebrate the marriage of Seagram's son Thomas. The gift specified that the property was to be used solely for hospital services and open to everyone regardless of race, colour or creed.

Seagram played a role in the creation of the Ontario Jockey Club in 1881. Built in 1886 and known as Bratton House, the building stayed in the family until the late 1930s, following the death of Edward in 1937. After sitting vacant for several years it was purchased by the board of Kitchener-Waterloo Orphanage in 1939, operating as the Willow Hall orphanage until its closure in 1960. The land was sold to St. John's Lutheran Church and the building was razed to build a church that continues to operate on the site.

Death Seagram died in Waterloo in 1919. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. His heirs sold the company to Samuel Bronfman in 1928.