John Phillip Wiser

John Philip Wiser or J. P. Wiser (10/4/1825-4/30/1911):

John Philip Wiser was born on October 4th, 1825, in Oneida County, New York. John Philip Wiser's father Isaac J. Wiser settled in Oneida County, New York in 1809. His mother, Mary Egert, was originally from Philadelphia. Isaac and Mary opened a farm in the dense forest of Oneida County, New York. Both Isaac and Mary are from German descent. Isaac’s grandfather (great grandfather to John Philip) was aid to General Herkimer, at the battle of Oriskany. 

John Philip Wiser was educated in the common schools of his county, later at Hobart Hall Institute in Holland Patent, New York. Early employment included farming (until the age of 20) and clerk in Gouverneur, New York for several years. 

In 1856 he married Emily Godard, daughter of Harlow Godard. They had six children together. In 1857 Wiser moved to Prescott, Ontario approximately 129 miles north of Wiser’s birthplace of Oneida County, New York. Prescott had direct railway connections to Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto, and railway links to the Northern Railway in the United States, providing access to the Atlantic Seaboard ports. Prescott also had a port of call for the Canadian Steamers heading east and west long the St. Lawrence River. 

Prescott is where Wiser was introduced to the world of distilling. He worked for his uncle, Charles Egert, who owned Charles Payne Distillery and Farm with his business partner Amos Averell. Wiser started as the general manager of the distillery. Five years later Wiser purchased the distillery and farm from Egert and Averell. At that time, the distillery was producing 116,500 gallons of whisky a year. In the prime producing years they had increased production to over 500,000 gallons a year.

The United States Civil War (April 12, 1861, to May 26, 1865) was catalyst to the growth of the Wiser’s empire. The war wreaked havoc on distilleries in the United States, throughout the battleground states, pot stills were melted down to make cannons. Therefore, the United Stated turned to Canada for their supply of whisky and JP Wiser’s was happy to accommodate. 

Wiser was able to incorporate other businesses into his empire. There were farms to grow the grains he required in his distillery; he had a huge interest in beef cattle that fed on by-products from the distillery (usually between 1,000-1,200 graded cattle). Wiser also developed a brickyard to manufacture bricks and had the only large breeding stable for racehorses in Ontario. 

John Philip Wiser served as Federal Member of Parlement as a Liberal under Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald from September 17th, 1878, to June 19th, 1882.

In 1893, Wiser revolutionized how we, as individuals, can buy whisky. He introduced whisky in bottles at the Chicago World Fair making it easier for the first time for Canadians to take whisky home. Prior to this time, whisky was only sold in barrels and casks.

In the early 1900s, Prescott Ontario was a thriving community on the St. Lawrence River. This is largely attributed to the success of the J. P. Wiser’s and Sons Distillery. At this time, Wiser’s was the third largest distillery in Canada, producing high quality whisky supplying markets in Canada, United States, China, and the Philippine Islands. In 1911, Wiser employed 100 employees at the distillery, another 40 at his brickyard. 

The demise of the distillery business in Prescott started with the death of John Philip Wiser on the 30th of April 1911. Wiser was considered an amazing businessman, unfortunately his sons lacked his business acumen, and the great company declined under their leadership ultimately collapsing after the death of Albert Whitney in 1917 (company treasurer). The distillery was sold to Corby’s (Hiram Walker Distilleries, but that’s another story), and the production was moved to the Bellville area in 1932. 

Wiser whisky had a solid reputation for quality that has continued to this day. There are several whisky products sold under the Wiser label.

 Contributed by: Peter Hetu, London, Ontario

with support from Katrina Bevington, Canadian Whisky Section Editor, Ottawa, Ontario