Editing Hiram Walker (section)

==Early life==
Hiram Walker was born on July 4, 1816, on a family farm in Douglas, Massachusetts.<ref name="Legacy of Hiram Walker"/> He was the sixth generation of English immigrants; his father was a reputable schoolmaster.<ref name="Legacy of Hiram Walker"/> His ancestors can be traced back to Thomas Walker of Boston, who emigrated to America from England.<ref>{{citation |last=Fraser |first=Wendy Carol |title=Hiram Walker Remembered: Publication on the Occasion of the Windsor Centennial, 1892-1992 |location=Windsor, Ont. |publisher=Forest Press |year=1992|isbn=0969624905}} {{page needed|date=April 2017}}</ref> His father died when he was aged 9.{{sfn|Casey|1961|pp=9–11}} Douglas, Massachusetts was a small town, with a population of 1,800, and very few businesses, which include a [[planing mill]], a machine shop, cotton factory and forge.{{sfn|Chauvin|1927|loc="Chapter 3: The Town of Douglas..." p. 4}} He received a "common" school education in [[Boston]], and began working as a dry goods clerk.{{sfn|Casey|1961|pp=9–11}} He left for [[Detroit]], Michigan, in 1838, at the age of 22 years.{{sfn|Casey|1961|pp=9–11}} Detroit was a vast change from Boston at the time, as Detroit had a smaller population, where Walker was able to find employment.<ref>{{citation |last=Chauvin |first=Francis X. |year=1927 |title=Hiram Walker: His Life, His Work, and the Development of the Walker Institutions in Walkerville, Ontario ... |location=Ontario |publisher=S.n. (Taken from Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. Archive) |page=6}}</ref> His first employment in Detroit was as a grocery clerk at a store owned by Augustus Gardner, east of [[Woodward Avenue]].{{sfn|Chauvin|1927|p=2}} His general tasks were to order, receive, check and price out all the goods in which the company dealt. Through this, he gained knowledge and experience of the business world. At this time, Boston was the major metropolis of New England.  Walker, as well as many other youthful New Englanders, were drawn to the opportunity of the Mid-West and beyond, largely due to the expansion and development of the railway.{{sfn|Chauvin|1927|loc="Chapter 5: "Biography of Hiram Walker" p. 1}}