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George A. Graham

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George A. Graham
Born1857-05-17
St. Catharines, Ontario
Died1927-06-05
OccupationLumberman, real estate developer, mayor
EmployerGraham, Horne & Company

George Alexander Graham (17 May 1857 – 5 June 1927) was a lumberman, real estate developer and civic leader in Fort William, Ontario. With his partner John T. Horne he ran the sawmill firm Graham, Horne & Company, and he served as mayor of Fort William in 1912 and 1913.[1][2]

Early life and lumber business

Graham was the eldest of six children, born in St. Catharines to John C. Graham and Jane Graham (née Campbell), and educated there. He came to Fort William in 1875 and went into the lumber trade.[1][2] With his brother Donald and two cousins he formed a lumber company that built kilns, a sawmill and a planing mill; the firm, known as Graham & Horne, shipped lumber across the Northwest and later reached west to Vermilion Bay and the Rainy River District.[1]

The Thunder Bay Museum describes Graham and Horne as hardheaded, sometimes irascible businessmen whose teamwork made both of them wealthy. It says they set up one of the first sawmills in the Thunder Bay area as early as the 1870s and then branched into shipping and real estate.[3] A museum archive sketch instead dates the firm's start to 1883, working from a sawmill on the Kaministiquia River opened by Horne and Graham, and says both men also held interests in mining and railways and in real estate through the Fort William City Investment Company.[2] After the sawmill business was sold, Graham worked in shipping on Rainy Lake and the Lake of the Woods before returning to Fort William to do real estate and construction with Horne.[2] A mill of Graham, Horne & Co. on the river was, by about 1900, in the hands of the Pigeon River Lumber Co., employing more than 200 men.[4]

Real estate and buildings

Graham was a significant figure in Fort William real estate. He subdivided a large housing addition around Southern Avenue and May Street,[3] and his buildings included a row of stores facing Union Station, the Graham and Horne Block, the Royal Bank building, the Royal Theatre and the Traders Bank building.[1]

Public life

  • Councillor for Neebing 1882–1885.[1]
  • School trustee for Ward 3 and chairman of the Fort William school board in 1894, according to Case's Directory; the archive sketch also has him as chairman of the Public School Board.[5][2]
  • In August 1905 he and James Murphy were elected to Fort William council in a by-election after the resignation of Councillor William Newcombe; he served in September–December 1905, 1906 and January–June 1912, and stood unsuccessfully as a candidate in 1908.[1]
  • Mayor of Fort William from June 1912, after C. S. Young resigned, and re-elected in 1913. The city's history calls him a thoroughly competent mayor who won his second term easily.[1][2]
  • First president of the Fort William Board of Trade and first vice-president of the Port Arthur Board of Trade; president of the Fort William and Rainy River Liberal Association; and a member of the Fort William Lodge, A.F. & A.M.[2]

Directory records

Year Place As listed Source
1884 Fort William Forwarder and commission merchant, Kaministiquia River Henderson's North West Gazetteer and Directory, p. 222[6]
1884 Port Arthur "Of Graham, Horne & Co." Henderson's North West Gazetteer and Directory, p. 291[7]
1894 Fort William School trustee, Ward 3; partner in Graham, Horne & Co.; corner of Front and Duncan Streets Case's Directory, May 1894, pp. 13, 41[5]
1907 Fort William Lumberman, 450 Front Street; also listed at 405 Victoria Avenue; Mary A. Graham listed at the same Front Street address Henderson's Fort William City Directory, pp. 45, 80[8][9]
1920 Fort William Office at 315 Victoria Avenue (suite 19), home 400 Archibald Street South Henderson's Directory of Fort William and Port Arthur, p. 167[10]

Estate

Graham died on 5 June 1927. His estate was probated in the Thunder Bay District surrogate court in 1927 and inventoried at $38,800.00 (equivalent to $700,105 in 2025); he died testate, leaving a will.[11] Separate stubs "George Alexander Graham" (probate) and "G. A. Graham" (1894 school trustee), and several separate directory stubs for George A. Graham in Fort William (1884, 1907, 1920) were merged into this page because the address, trade and partnership details all point to the same man.

In the Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society

Graham spoke at the ceremony at which James Murphy presided and turned the first sod for a grain elevator, alongside Peter McKellar and Mayor Murphy; Engineer Fairchild of the company also addressed the approximately five hundred attendees.[12]

He also purchased the old McKellar home, which was sold through G. R. Duncan and was to be moved from its existing site.[13]


Newspaper record

  • Biographical notice in Fort William Daily Times-Journal, 1936-10-24.[14]
    • Index note: In hospital/City Items.


In the 1921 Papers

  • Mrs. G. A. Graham sat on the society's executive committee for 1921–22 and paid her fee for 1920–21.[15][16]


In the 1922 Papers

  • Mrs. G. A. Graham was one of the society's two auditors for 1922–23.[17]


In the 1923 Papers

  • Mrs. G. A. Graham was on the society's committee for 1923–24, and Mr. and Mrs. Graham paid fees for 1922–23.[18][19]


In the 1924–1926 Papers

  • Mr. and Mrs. Graham paid fees to the society for 1924–25, and Mrs. G. A. Graham was an auditor for 1925–26.[20][21]


In the 1926–1928 Papers

  • Dela Fosse recalls the cordwood camp of Graham and Horne in 1883–84 and calls them the chief magnates of the Plot; Mrs. G. A. Graham was on the society's executive for 1926–28.[22][23]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 City of Thunder Bay, "Fort William Mayors". Original page; archived: datum.locker.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Archeion, "J.T. Horne/G.A. Graham fonds" (A 62), biographical sketch. Original page; archived: datum.locker.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Thunder Bay Museum, "Graham and Horne", Historical Figures virtual exhibit. Original page; archived: datum.locker.
  4. ↑ "Thunder Bay, Ontario: Historical Booklet, circa 1900", Ontario History. Original page; archived: datum.locker.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Case's Directory of Fort William, Port Arthur and the District of Thunder Bay, May 1894, pp. 13, 41.
  6. ↑ Henderson's North West Gazetteer and Directory, 1884 (Henderson Directories Limited), p. 222.
  7. ↑ Henderson's North West Gazetteer and Directory, 1884 (Henderson Directories Limited), p. 291.
  8. ↑ Henderson's Fort William City Directory, 1907 (Henderson Directories Limited), p. 45.
  9. ↑ Henderson's Fort William City Directory, 1907 (Henderson Directories Limited), p. 80.
  10. ↑ Henderson's Directory of Fort William and Port Arthur, 1920 (Henderson Directories Limited), p. 167.
  11. ↑ Probate record of George Alexander Graham, Gentleman, Fort William (1927), surrogate court probate file no. 2012. Canadian Regional Historical Wealth Micro-Data Collection, compiled by Livio Di Matteo, Lakehead University.
  12. ↑ "George A. Graham."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1916.scan p. 239.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)
  13. ↑ "George A. Graham."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1917.scan p. 275.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)
  14. ↑ Fort William Daily Times-Journal, 24 October 1936, p. 3
  15. ↑ "Officers 1921–22", Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1921 (Thunder Bay Historical Society, Twelfth Annual Report), p. 3 (scan p. 7). archive.org.
  16. ↑ M. J. L. Black, "Secretary-Treasurer's Report and Financial Report", Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1921 (Thunder Bay Historical Society, Twelfth Annual Report), p. 7 (scan p. 11). archive.org.
  17. ↑ "Officers 1922–23", Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1922 (Thunder Bay Historical Society, Thirteenth Annual Report), p. 5 (scan p. 35). archive.org.
  18. ↑ "Officers 1923–24", Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1923 (Thunder Bay Historical Society, Fourteenth Annual Report), p. 2 (scan p. 46). archive.org.
  19. ↑ M. J. L. Black, "Secretary-Treasurer's Report and Financial Statement", Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1923 (Thunder Bay Historical Society, Fourteenth Annual Report), p. 3 (scan p. 47). archive.org.
  20. ↑ M. J. L. Black, "Secretary-Treasurer's Report and Financial Statements", Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1924–1926 (Thunder Bay Historical Society, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Annual Reports), pp. 6–8 (scan pp. 102–104). archive.org.
  21. ↑ "Officers 1924–25 and 1925–26", Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1924–1926 (Thunder Bay Historical Society, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Annual Reports), pp. 5 and 8 (scan p. 101). archive.org.
  22. ↑ Fred M. Dela Fosse, "Reminiscences of a Vagabond", Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1926–1928 (Thunder Bay Historical Society, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Annual Reports), pp. 62–75 (scan pp. 256–269). archive.org.
  23. ↑ "Officers", Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1926–1928 (Thunder Bay Historical Society, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Annual Reports), p. 5 (scan p. 193). archive.org.

External links

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