George Thomas Marks
| George Thomas Marks | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1856-08-31 Bruce Mines, Upper Canada |
| Died | 1907-05-21 Toronto, Ontario |
| Occupation | Businessman, politician, mayor |
| Father | |
| Mother | |
| Partner | |
George Thomas Marks (31 August 1856 – 21 May 1907 (aged 50)) was a businessman, municipal official, and politician in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), best known for serving seven consecutive years as mayor of the town from 1893 to 1899.
Early life
Marks was born on 31 August 1856 in Bruce Mines, Upper Canada, to George Marks and Mary Traynor, a Protestant Irish family with a record of opposing monopolistic commercial practices at the mines.[1]
He received his education at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario, before relocating to Prince Arthur's Landing (later Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay) in 1873.[1] There he found employment as a bookkeeper and became involved in the family's transportation and docking enterprises, which included a hand in early railway ventures serving the region.[1]
Business career
In 1884 Marks entered into a formal partnership with his cousin Harold Andrew Wiley in a firm known as Thomas Marks and Company, which served as the commercial hub of the family's enterprises in Port Arthur.[1] The company's interests expanded substantially into Great Lakes shipping. By 1888 Marks and the Wiley family had acquired the Algonquin, which was the first steel bulk freighter to operate in the Canadian lake trade — a significant innovation in the region's commercial transportation.[1] [2]
In 1894 the Marks and Wiley interests merged with Toronto shippers to form the St Lawrence and Chicago Steam Navigation Company Limited.[1] A decade later, in 1903, Marks helped establish the Canadian North West Steamship Company and the associated Neebing Navigation Limited to operate the vessel Neebing on the Great Lakes.[2] By 1907 he had risen to the position of vice-president of the Dominion Marine Association.[1]
Municipal career
Marks's public service in the Thunder Bay region began shortly after his arrival. He served as treasurer of Shuniah township from 1875 to 1877, then as a councillor for Shuniah from 1879 to 1881.[3] On 23 August 1881 he married Jennie (Jane) Laird at Prince Arthur's Landing.[4] There were no surviving children from this marriage.[1]
He continued in municipal politics as a Port Arthur councillor from 1885 to 1887. After Jennie's death, he married Mary Elizabeth Rowan on 26 October 1898 in Winnipeg and had one son and one daughter with her.[1]
Marks was elected mayor of Port Arthur in 1893 and held the office until 1899 — seven consecutive years — a span that coincided with a period of severe economic difficulty for the town.[1] The collapse of silver mining in the region and competition from the Canadian Pacific Railway (which favoured Fort William over Port Arthur for its operations) had caused significant decline. Marks worked to stabilize the town's finances by consolidating municipal debt and negotiating settlements with the CPR.[1] Among his notable achievements was the establishment of the Electric Railway and Light Commission, which brought municipal electric lighting to Port Arthur and created a locally controlled transit system.[5]
Later life and politics
Marks ran as the Conservative candidate in the 1904 federal election in the Port Arthur riding, opposing the sitting Liberal member James Conmee, but was defeated.[1] He remained a vocal advocate for the amalgamation of Fort William and Port Arthur into a single city, a cause that would not be realized until well after his death.[6]
Death
Marks died unexpectedly in Toronto on 21 May 1907 at the age of fifty.[1] [7]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 F. Brent Scollie."F. Brent Scollie, "Marks, George Thomas," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13."[website].Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13 (University of Toronto/Université Laval).1994.University of Toronto/Université Laval.Link.(Rights: copyrighted | Access: open)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Railway and Marine World."[newspaper].Railway and Marine World (Toronto).1903.June 1903, September 1903, February 1907, June 1907.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ "AO, RG 21, Shuniah Township, council minutes."[record].RG 21, Shuniah Township.Archives of Ontario.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ "St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Thunder Bay — register of baptisms, marriages and burials."[microfilm].RBMB (microfilm at Library and Archives Canada).St John the Evangelist Anglican Church (Thunder Bay, Ont.).(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ "Canadian Electrical News."[newspaper].Canadian Electrical News (Toronto).1894.July 1894.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ M. E. Arthur."M. E. Arthur, "Inter-urban rivalry in Port Arthur and Fort William, 1870–1907"."[book].Western Canada, past and present, ed. A. W. Rasporich (Calgary, 1975).1975.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ "Globe, 22 May 1907."[newspaper].Globe (Toronto).1907-05-22.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)