John McKellar
| John McKellar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1833-06-10 Mosa Township, London District, Upper Canada |
| Died | 1900-02-03 Fort William, Ontario |
| Occupation | Prospector, businessman, municipal politician |
| Father | |
| Mother | |
| Siblings | |
John McKellar (10 June 1833 – 3 February 1900 (aged 66)) was a prospector, businessman, and municipal politician who served as the first mayor of Fort William.[1]
Early life
McKellar was born on 10 June 1833 in Mosa Township, London District, Upper Canada, the son of Duncan McKellar and Margaret Brodie, Scottish immigrants from Argyllshire.[1] He grew up in rural Ontario with little formal schooling, but absorbed an early fascination with Lake Superior through his parents' accounts of travel there. Around 1853, at age twenty, he journeyed north to the lake for the first time in the company of his father and his brother Peter McKellar.[1]
The family spent time in the copper-mining districts of Michigan in 1855 before returning to the northern shore of Lake Superior in 1863, partly to remove themselves from uncertainty over American Civil War military conscription.[1] By 1866 the McKellar brothers had accumulated approximately 6,000 acres of mineral lands in the district.[1]
Mining and land
In 1868 McKellar received a 175-acre farm grant on the Kaministikwia River, which became his permanent residence for the rest of his life.[1] The McKellar Brothers partnership was active in prospecting and mine development across the Lake Superior hinterland. Their discoveries included the Caribou and Arctic mines near Black Bay (1872), the Victoria Cape mine on Jackfish Bay (1873), and the Little Pic copper mine (1875).[2] They also identified barite deposits on McKellar Island near Cloud Bay, zinc deposits near McKay's Harbour at Rossport, and iron ore at Atikokan.[1]
After the death of his father in 1875, John took on the role of the family's resident representative, managing their interests and advocating for the community centred on the Kaministikwia River.[1]
Political career
McKellar served on the municipal council of Shuniah from 1873, where he consistently represented the interests of river-area settlers against those of the neighbouring community of Port Arthur.[1] He was also at various times reeve of Neebing township.[1]
During the 1880s he negotiated the sale of McKellar family farm land to the Canadian Pacific Railway, an arrangement that helped secure Fort William's position as a CPR divisional point with repair shops, a designation formally in place by 1891.[1] McKellar was a strong supporter of Fort William's growth and played a central role in its incorporation as a town.
He became Fort William's first mayor in 1892 and served in that office for more than six years, resigning at the end of 1898 owing to declining health.[1][3]
Contemporary recollections in the Thunder Bay Historical Society annuals add detail to this period: as reeve of Neebing in 1888 McKellar helped induce the Canadian Pacific Railway to extend its line from Port Arthur to Fort William, the council granting a twenty-year tax exemption to do so;[4] he chaired the board of health for the municipality of Neebing;[5] and as ex-mayor he was, by his brother Peter McKellar's account, chiefly responsible for sustaining the government dredging of the Kaministiquia River and headed the Fort William delegations to Ottawa and Toronto.[6]
Personal life
McKellar was a member of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in the Fort William area and was aligned with the Liberal Party in his politics.[1] He died unmarried on 3 February 1900 in Fort William, and bequeathed his property to his surviving brothers.[1][3]
Legacy
Following McKellar's death, his sister Mary McKellar donated land from the family estate for the construction of a hospital in his memory. The cornerstone of the John McKellar Memorial Hospital — subsequently known as McKellar General Hospital — was laid in 1902.[1][7]
In the Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society
John McKellar appears in several accounts published in the Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.
J. McKay Hunt recorded that in 1893 Fort William became incorporated as a town with McKellar serving as its first mayor.[8] A comic verse preserved in D. McIvor's sketch of the First Presbyterian Church recalls McKellar as reeve and mayor "through force of habit," suggesting he held civic office over an extended period.[9]
Annie E. McIntyre, writing of Fort William in the years 1855–1878, places McKellar among the McKellar brothers — Peter McKellar, John, Archibald McKellar, and Donald McKellar — who were clearing lands along the river for agricultural purposes at a time when the province sold land at twenty cents per acre.[10]
Florence N. Sherk's account of Peter McKellar records that as early as 1864, Peter took John McKellar and Donald McKellar into partnership when engaged by a company comprising Walbridge, Herrick, and John McIntyre (Hudson's Bay Company officer) to carry on mining explorations in the Thunder Bay district. John McKellar and Donald McKellar are noted as partners in Peter's subsequent mineral discoveries in the region, including the Thunder Bay Silver Mine and the Huronian Gold Mine.[11]
Helen E. Carthy's account of a journey up the Kaministiquia River to Kakabeka Falls places John McKellar among the party, which also included Willie Russell, Georgie McIntyre, and four Indigenous paddlers. The excursion departed Fort William on a Thursday morning and passed land at the entrance to the Slate River described as belonging to McKellar in considerable quantity.[12]
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 1.13 1.14 Elizabeth Arthur."Elizabeth Arthur, "McKellar, John," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12."[website].Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12 (University of Toronto/Université Laval).1990.University of Toronto/Université Laval.Link.(Rights: copyrighted | Access: open)
- ↑ E.M. Henderson."The McKellar story; McKellar pioneers in Lake Superior's mineral country, 1839 to 1929."[book].1981.Thunder Bay.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fort William Daily Times-Journal, 5 February 1900, p. 1
- ↑ John King."Early Pioneer Days."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1908–1909.p. 21.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)
- ↑ E. B. Oliver."Department of Health."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1913.p. 184.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)
- ↑ Peter McKellar."The Thunder Bay Harbor."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1913.p. 173.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)
- ↑ Harry Sellers."Some reminiscences of early days in Fort William."[book].Thunder Bay Historical Society, Papers.1917.pp. 19–20.Fort William.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ J. McKay Hunt."Memories of Fort William."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1924.p. 76.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)
- ↑ D. McIvor."Historical Sketch of the First Presbyterian Church, Fort William."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1924–1925.p. 218.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)
- ↑ Annie E. McIntyre."Women Who Were at Fort William, 1855–1878."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1924–1925.p. 290.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)
- ↑ Florence N. Sherk."Peter McKellar."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1924–1925.p. 197.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)
- ↑ Helen E. Carthy."The Dawson Route to the Northwest."[book].Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.1924–1925.p. 150.Link.(Rights: public_domain | Access: open)