The Story of Sidmoor Sager and his Last Chance Mine
Today we share the story of how a chance find from an old homestead dump led us to Sidmoor Sager and his silver mine in Latchford.
It all started when our trail manager discovered shards of glass dating to the 1930s on a former mine site in Coleman Township. Knowing that there might be other interesting relics, he dug in and came across this unusual canning jar lid.
Sager Glass Co.
This glass lid at one time capped a vacuum-sealed canning jar invented by Sidmoor Samuel Sager of Buffalo. He originally patented his invention in the US in 1920 and established a company called Sager Jar Co. in 1921. After converting a stave factory in Betula, Pennsylvania in 1922, he began manufacturing.
Unfortunately, the jar was not popular because of the additional accessories and time required in the canning process. Sager Glass was out of business by around 1925. As a result, Sager jars are very rare and highly valued by collectors.
The Cobalt Connection
But what does a a canning jar have to do with Cobalt, other than someone threw it away when they lived up here?
Turns out, Mr. Sager was a man with many interests, including prospecting and promoting his mining companies, including several projects in Coleman Township.
Sager was born in 1853 in Shannonville, Ontario. Although he spent most of his adult life in the the States, he moved back and forth between the US and Canada. Census data places him on a farm in Haldimand County in Southern Ontario between 1861 and 1872. At some point after marrying and relocating to the US, he returned to Canada in 1902.
In 1903, Sager became involved in mining and became the president of The Star of the East Mining and Milling Co. This gold mine, near Kaladar in Frontenac County, Ontario operated from 1904 – 1907 but never made a profit.
Sager moved the family back to Buffalo.
To Cobalt and Latchford
Like so many others, Sager tried his luck with the silver mines in Cobalt. In 1909 he was president of the Last Chance Mining Company located just upslope of the T&NO tracks 3.8km north of the Latchford train station. Incorporated in 1908 in the state of Arizona, the company’s head office was in Buffalo, New York.
Employees erected a shaft and boiler house in 1908. That we can confirm (see the image below). Rather optimistically, The Buffalo Times also reported that a smelter was under construction.
in 1899, Sidmoor Sager was the pastor of a Free Methodist church in Tionesta, Pennsylvania. However, God did not smile on Rev. Sager’s mining ventures. The Last Chance Mine had a bit of silver but it is not known how much was produced or how long the mine lasted. What is certain is that it never made a profit and did not last long.
Sager Family Tragedy
Even more tragic are the misfortunes that befell his family. Of his three sons, one lost his eyesight due to an accidental explosion of a blasting cap, the second son died falling from a roof, and his third son drowned in the Montreal River in 1909. His canoe overturned as he paddled from the Last Chance mine to Latchford.
In 1919 SS Sager’s Laboratories Inc. manufactured drugs and medicine. It was perhaps during this chapter of his career he invented his vacuum canning jar. After that episode in the early 1920s, Sager moved back to live in North Cobalt and worked as mine manager of the Cobalt Twentieth Century Mine in 1927. Although silver was found at this mine there is no recorded production. In that same year the property was acquired by the Cobalt Century Mines Ltd. but Sager was no longer involved. There is no record of mining taking place there after 1928.
He returned to the US. During the 1930 census, Sidmoor identified himself as a promoter. He was living with a son and daughter-in-law, now separated from his wife Elvira. Sager died in 1952 in Buffalo, N.Y. at the age of 99.
One last question
How did that very rare Sager jar lid manage to find itself in a garbage dump in Coleman Township?
The major manufacturing of Sager sealers took place in the US. However, because these were more expensive and fussy to use, sales were poor. The U.S. manufacturing arm went out of business by 1925 after less than 3 years in production. We do not know when the Canadian company shut down, but with a much smaller market it is highly unlikely that it would have lasted longer than its US counterpart. It is even less likely that Sager jars would been available to homemakers in Northern Ontario.
Perhaps it was Sager himself who brought some with him when he lived in North Cobalt in 1927. Who knows? The jar our trail manager found in the 1930’s dump could have passed through Sager’s hands!
Who would have thought that a simple canning jar lid would lead to such a story?