Thomas Marks

Thomas Marks
Born	1834-06-21 Kilfinnane, Ireland
Died	1900-07-09 Toronto, Ontario
Occupation	Merchant, politician, transportation entrepreneur
Father	Samuel Marks
Partner	Agnes Jane Marks

Thomas Marks ((1834-06-21)21 June 1834 – 9 July 1900(1900-07-09) (aged 66)) was an Irish-born merchant, transportation entrepreneur, and politician who became one of the most prominent figures in the early development of Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay).

Early life

Marks was born on 21 June 1834 in Kilfinnane, Ireland, the son of Samuel Marks and Mary Marks. He immigrated to Upper Canada during the 1840s with his family, settling initially near Bytown (present-day Ottawa) before the family moved to the Algoma district of Canada West.

By 1857 Marks had established a general store at Bruce Mines in partnership with his elder brother George Marks.

Career

Merchant expansion

Marks expanded steadily across the upper Great Lakes. He opened a branch at Prince Arthur's Landing (later Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay) in 1868, and a further branch at Sault Ste Marie in 1871.

In 1872 he relocated permanently to Prince Arthur's Landing, foreseeing its potential as the Lake Superior terminus for Canada's transcontinental railway. When the federal Liberal government chose Fort William, at the mouth of the Kaministikwia River, as the railway terminus in 1875, Marks worked with local business associates — including his nephews George Thomas Marks and the Wiley brothers — to promote Prince Arthur's Landing as a rival commercial centre.

Municipal leadership

In 1875 Marks began a nine-year tenure as reeve of Shuniah municipality. That same year he founded the Thunder Bay Sentinel newspaper, edited by Michael Hagan.

He also oversaw construction of the Prince Arthur's Landing and Kaministiquia Railway. When this line connected with the main Pacific railway in 1877, Marks was able to supply construction crews working westward. In 1879 he partnered with Purcell and Company to contract for 118 miles of railway construction.

After the Conservative government purchased the local railway in 1881, Marks organized the Thunder Bay Dock, Forwarding and Elevator Company in 1882, establishing major waterfront facilities for the port.

Mayor of Port Arthur

When Port Arthur was incorporated as a town in 1884, Marks became its first mayor. His enterprises in this period included the Northern Hotel Company (incorporated 1885), the steamship Algonquin, and grain elevator operations through Marks, King and Company. He also headed the Thunder Bay Colonization Railway (incorporated 1883), which was renamed the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway in 1887.

Later years

In 1890 the Canadian Pacific Railway designated Fort William as its official terminus and division point, a setback for Port Arthur's ambitions. Marks continued to advocate for his town, operating the steamship Mocking Bird as a commuter ferry between the two communities while exploring options for a rail or electric tramway link.

Shortly before his death, Marks witnessed William Mackenzie and Donald Mann's 1900 purchase of the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway, which provided harbour access for the emerging Canadian Northern Railway. Port Arthur ultimately achieved railway terminus status in early 1902 — some eighteen months after Marks's death — when the Canadian Northern line reached Winnipeg.

Personal life

Marks married Agnes Jane Buchanan on 28 July 1875 in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The couple had one son and three daughters; only the eldest daughter, Mary Norah Marks, survived infancy.

Death

Marks died of kidney failure in a Toronto hospital on 9 July 1900.

In the Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society

Thomas Marks figures prominently in early accounts of Prince Arthur's Landing and Port Arthur published in the Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society.

Commercial beginnings

A. L. Russell recorded that the first business dock at Prince Arthur's Landing was built by James Dickson acting on behalf of Marks, then of Bruce Mines, and that the dock was chiefly used to supply the steamer Algoma plying between Collingwood and Thunder Bay. A further dock — the large Marks dock — was erected in 1872, and from it in 1873 the steamer Erin took on 10,000 bushels of wheat, described as the pioneer shipment of wheat from the west.

An unbylined account described the general store at the Station as having been built by Marks out of 1,000 feet of lumber rafted ashore. A separate account stated that in 1868 James Dickson opened a general store under the management of Marks. Peter McKellar noted that the first store at Prince Arthur's Landing was opened by Marks in 1868, and that by 1870 ten buildings had been added to the settlement through the enterprise of Marks and others including N. K. Street, W. F. Davison, and W. A. D. Russell.

Municipal and public health roles

E. B. Oliver recorded that, following the withdrawal of Silver Islet from the Municipality of Shuniah in 1874, Bylaw No. 16 appointed Marks, Noah K. Street, Peter McKellar, and Dr. J. A. McDonald as a Board of Health for the whole municipality.

Railway terminus delegation

Peter McKellar described the circumstances of the 1873–1874 effort to secure Thunder Bay as the terminus of the proposed railway. When evidence gathered the previous summer was lost — believed destroyed in a fire at an engineer's building — Marks took an active part in settling a dispute between the Municipality of Shuniah Council and the committee that had gathered replacement sworn evidence. The delegation ultimately appointed to present the evidence consisted of Adam Oliver, P. J. Brown, Marks, and McKellar; Marks travelled east via Duluth and carried the papers. J. J. Wills similarly recorded that in 1874 a committee consisting of E. B. Brown, M.P., Adam Oliver, M.P.P., P. J. Brown, Marks, and Peter McKellar was selected to collect information and furnish statistics regarding the location of the Red River Railway.

Civic delegations to Ottawa and Toronto

Peter McKellar recalled that in the ongoing controversies between Port Arthur and Fort William over harbour appropriations, Marks headed the Port Arthur delegation to Ottawa and Toronto while the Parliaments were in session, and that Marks had served as municipal councillor, reeve, and mayor.

Kaministiquia River wharf inauguration

An unbylined contemporary report of the inauguration of the wharf on the Kaministiquia River noted among those present "Mr. Thos. Marks and Miss Marks."

In the Papers of the Thunder Bay Historical Society (1921–1928)

Thomas Marks played a central role in the early municipal and transportation history of Port Arthur. According to J. McKay Hunt, Marks was the moving spirit behind establishing a ferry service between Port Arthur and Westfort to allow railway construction workers access to Port Arthur's goods and commerce.

When the ferry scheme proved insufficient, Marks assembled a group of local businessmen — including G. O. P. Clavet, L. U. Bonin, and W. C. Dobie — and proposed petitioning the federal government to extend the railway from Westfort to Prince Arthur's Landing. He was deputed to carry the proposal to Ottawa; the initial mission failed. Marks then advanced a second plan: that local residents would grade the roadbed and lay ties if the government would supply the iron rail and operate the line. He returned to Ottawa with this offer, and it succeeded; the government, impressed by the community's willingness to commit its own funds, agreed to assist. The resulting roadbed ran from Brown Street along what became the Canadian National Railway corridor into Port Arthur.

In the parliamentary session of early 1884, Port Arthur was incorporated as a town, carved out of McIntyre Township, with Marks serving as its first mayor; the town's first council meeting was held in May 1884.

Peter McKellar, writing in the following volume, noted that for many years Marks and his nephew George Marks were the dominant political figures in Port Arthur, each having served multiple terms as mayor and maintaining a strong Conservative following. McKellar observed that under their administration the Canadian Pacific Railway was permitted to pay only half its assessed taxes, an arrangement many residents considered overly lenient toward the corporation.

Further reading

Sources cited in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry on Thomas Marks:

• "AO, MU 2004; RG 22, ser.380, no.160."[record].MU 2004; RG 22, ser.380, no.160.Archives of Ontario.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Customs port register, 1856, 1858."[record].Bruce Mines Museum, Bruce Mines, Ontario.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Town of Port Arthur council minutes."[record].City of Thunder Bay Records Centre and Archives, Thunder Bay, Ontario.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Flatt collection — agreement of 16 March 1892."[record].MG 5, no.51.Lakehead University Library Archives, Thunder Bay.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "NA, MG 26, A: 217529–31; RG 31, C1, 1871, Bruce Mines, p.23; RG 43, AI, 2, 330, file 4839."[record].Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Canadian Pacific Railway, returns, 1879–1884."[record].National Library of Canada, Ottawa.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Register of baptisms, marriages, and burials, book 1: 48, 58."[record].St John the Evangelist Church, Thunder Bay.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Shuniah Township council minutes, 1873–90."[record].Shuniah Municipal Office, Thunder Bay.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "File information on the Marks family; Marks Store records, 1868–96; portrait of Thomas Marks."[record].Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Sessional papers, 1879, no.186."[record].Canada, Parliament, Sessional papers.1879.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Ontario Statutes, 1891, c.93."[record].Ontario Statutes.1891.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• Walpole Roland."Algoma West, its mines, scenery, and industrial resources."[book].1887.p.13.Toronto.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• M. E. Arthur (ed.)."Thunder Bay district, 1821–1892: a collection of documents."[book].1973.Toronto.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Daily Sentinel (Prince Arthur's Landing / Port Arthur), 1882–93."[newspaper].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Daily Times-Journal (Fort William), 1893–1900; especially 10 July 1900."[newspaper].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Fort William Journal, 1887–99."[newspaper].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Weekly Herald and Algoma Miner (Port Arthur), 1882–99."[newspaper].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• "Weekly Sentinel (Port Arthur), 1875–95."[newspaper].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• J. P. Bertrand."Highway of destiny: an epic story of Canadian development."[book].1959.New York.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
• G. B. Macgillivray."A history of Fort William and Port Arthur newspapers from 1875."[book].1968.Fort William.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography