WEEK 7 – Outcast - George Ringer (Arsonist)

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

This year, I’ve decided to participate in “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Genealogical Challenge (#52Ancestors). This is a way of chronicling my ancestors and getting the information out of my filing cabinet and out to friends and family.

If you can add to the information or have your own stories, please feel free to add them in the comments. Who knows, perhaps you’ll help me break through a few of my brick walls.

--------------------

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks

WEEK 7 – Outcast - George Ringer (Arsonist)

From the mid to the late 1880s Smith's Falls, Ontario was plagued by a series of mysterious fires, which would eventually result in the death and injury of two people and a prison sentence for two others.

On 05 Sept 1888, George Ringer and friend Albert James, both of Smith's Falls, were each sentenced to 14 years imprisonment at Kingston Penitentiary on charges of Arson.

Convicts at Work in the Yard of the Penitentiary at Kingston, 1873  Artist: Unknown. 

Source: National Archives of Canada.  Note: This illustration originally appeared in 

"Canadian Illustrated News," 5 July 1873.

Sketches of the Penitentiary at Kingston, 1875  Artist: Unknown. 

Source: National Archives of Canada. Note: This illustration originally appeared in 

"Canadian Illustrated News," 25 September 1875.

George Ringer was the nephew of my spouse' GG-Grandfather Richard Ringer.

Born in 1858, George was the sixth of eight children born to William Ringer and Hannah McAuley of Smith's Falls, Ontario.

Ringer worked as a machinist for Frost & Wood Co. Ltd., a local manufacturer of agricultural equipment and one of Smith's Falls’ largest employers. The exact motivation for Ringers crimes were never really determined. Some ventured to guess it might be for the thrills, others believed it to be in retaliation to those who may have wronged him. Only George knew the answer and he probably took it to his grave.

The Frost & Wood Buildings dominating downtown Smith Falls in 1880

Frost & Wood catalogue cover 1889

The mysterious fires that infested Smith's Falls were acknowledged to have been deliberately set. At first they occurred in barns and out lying buildings in the quieter less populated parts of town but by 1888 they were starting to occur in the heart of town, and at least one life was lost and another met with serious injury.

The town tried offering several rewards for information that might lead to the apprehension of those responsible, but nothing came of that idea, so the town council secretly called in Detective, William Greer from the newly established Office of the Provincial Constable.

(Note: The Office of the Provincial Constable would eventually become the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in 1909)

Greer arrived quietly arrived in town, blending in and working at Frost & Wood as a carpenter. In the course of his investigation, Greer struck up a relationship with several workers, including Albert James and George Ringer. Overtime Greer gained their trust at the local pub, loosening there lips with continuous rounds of ale. Eventually Ringer, invited Greer to join James and himself in one of their arson attempts. Greer arranged for a night watchman to be critically stationed nearby to witness the action. All were arrested during the attempt and taken before the town Magistrates.

Within a week Ringer and James had their trial in Perth, Ontario and where each were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment at Kingston Penitentiary, on the charges of setting fire to four (4) barns, a house and several other mysterious fires in and around town.

(Note: Strangely enough no reference was made to the death or injuries that supposedly occurred during these incidences.)

Epilogue

There is evidence that Ringer and James may have been released early from their 14 year sentence at Kingston Penitentiary. In 1895, a petition was raised for early release backed by the belief that much of the trial evidence was based on circumstantial evidence. Also George Ringer is on Smith’s Falls 1901 Census listing him as a machinist, so we know he was out of prison on 31 March 1901, the day the census was taken.