Lives Lived Archive

Born in Alnwick England in 1903 William Harrison Cook moved to Canada at the age of eight where he was raised on an Alberta farmstead. It was on this farmstead where Mr. Cook developed an interest in agriculture which influenced his choice in education. He first began his education at the School of Agriculture in Claresholm, Alberta before moving to the University of Alberta and finally Stanford University where he graduated with a Ph.D. in Chemistry. During his studies Mr. Cook met...

John G. Barron was one of Manitoba’s earliest and most celebrated cattle breeders in the province’s history. Barron’s success in breeding Shorthorn cattle won him a great number of medals at fairs and livestock shows across North America. The fruits of John’s success extended beyond his own immediate family to his adopted community of Carberry, Manitoba. In 1920 the editor of the local paper claimed that John Barron did more “than anyone else to put Carberry on...

Henry Hoshel Dean was a leading figure in Canada’s dairy industry. Recognizing the growing importance of dairy products to Canada’s economy, Dean dedicated his career to strengthening the industry, which led him to establish various dairying programs at the Ontario Agricultural College and attend meetings throughout Ontario. The modernization of the dairy industry in Canada can in large part be credited to Dean’s long years of tireless work. Dean was born in 1860 in...

Farming and agriculture is a large field with many hard-working men and women who dedicate their lives to their work. However, the most important part of many farms, and often the most overlooked aspect of the industry, is the animals who provide for us. One truly incredible animal who provided quite a lot for the agricultural industry and the food industry as a whole was the bull Hanoverhill Starbuck. Born in April of 1979 on Hanover Hill Holstein, Starbuck became an exceptional...

James Moffat Douglas was born in 1839 in Linton Scotland to a farming father. The family emigrated to Upper Canada in 1851, where Douglas would later pursue a lengthy education in Toronto. His education trained Douglas to be a minister in the Presbyterian Church, and he also received brief medical training from King’s College. He worked for many years as a minister in Canada, where he married and had seven children, before Douglas became a missionary in India and acted as chaplain to...

One of the most well known cattlemen in Western Canadian history, James Thomas Gordon was the cofounder of Gordon and Ironside Company. He was born on December 24, 1858 in Tweed, Hastings County, Ontario to John and Sarah Gordon, who were Irish immigrants. Upon completing his education at Tweed’s public school he promptly took up the career of his parents- farming. In 1879 he migrated to Manitoba where he began working for a local lumber firm, Dick Banning & Company. Through this...

Isidore Charles “Toby” Nollet was one of Saskatchewan’s premier agriculturalists during the post-World War II era. He was born on November 18, 1898, in Sentinel Butte, North Dakota. He spent the early part of his life in America, attending St. Benedict’s Academy and St. Thomas Military College in Minnesota before joining the American Expeditionary Force during the First World War as a non-commissioned officer. Upon his return from overseas service, he moved to Western...

Gretta Peltoniemi was born in the region of Oulu Lanni, Finland in 1882 and later immigrated to Copper Cliff, Ontario. She began working in her sister’s boarding house where she met Frank Anderson, another Finnish immigrant who was working in the mines in the area. The two developed a relationship, and in 1901 Frank analyzed all his worldly possessions and came to the conclusion that with a pair of work clothes, a suit for formal occasions, and seven dollars cash he could afford to get...

William Richard Motherwell was born on January 6, 1860 on a farm in Perth, Lanark County, Ontario. The son of an Irish farmer, William’s childhood was typical of most farm boys in his time. During the winter months he attended the local country school, while for the rest of the year he worked on the family farm. An uncommonly bright boy, Motherwell attended the Ontario Agricultural College on a scholarship and graduated with high-class honours in 1881. It was here that William would...

Dr. Ethel Chapman was born and raised on a farm in the Halton Region in 1888. While Dr. Chapman worked hard on her family’s farm she was drawn to the subject of homemaking and home economics. She taught at a local school for a short while before enrolling in the homemaking course at the MacDonald Institute. Upon completing her program Dr. Chapman accepted a position on the staff of the Farmers’ Advocate, a popular farming publication. Journalism kept Dr. Chapman very occupied...

John Reynolds Lucas was born at St. John’s River, New Brunswick on May 4, 1800. In 1807, the family moved to a farm on Lake Ontario in Upper Canada near modern-day Burlington. John’s mother Phoebe died when he was young, so his older sister Rebecca took care of the house. John’s older brothers and his father Clement fought in the War of 1812, beginning a military tradition for the Lucas family that John would continue. The war also brought British soldiers to his community,...

Yoshikazu “Joe” Tsukamoto, born in New Westminster BC in 1925, dedicated much of his life to agriculture. After the death of his mother at the age of six, his father moved the family back to Japan where Mr. Tsukamoto studied at the Nagahama Agricultural School. When Mr. Tsukamoto graduated at the age of 16 in 1941 his father sent him back to Canada to avoid the imminent conflict in the Pacific. Luckily, Mr. Tsukamoto came to Canada on the last boat to leave Japan before the...

Having been raised by a widowed mother of twelve children is likely what turned Adelaide Hunter Hoodless into a strong, hardworking icon. Her father passed not long after her birth in October of 1857 in Canada West, now Ontario. Named Addie at the time of her birth, the girl worked hard while growing up on a farm until she followed her sister Lizzie to Ladies’ College in Brantford, Ontario. While attending school Addie met John Hoodless, the only heir to the Hoodless Hamilton...

Ruthven, as he most commonly went by, was born in Glengarry County, Ontario, in 1892. His father, James Lockie Wilson, would go on to achieve agricultural prominence during Ruthven’s youth. James served as Secretary of the Ontario Vegetable Growers’, Horticultural and Plowmen’s Associations. The later employment James attained as the Ontario government’s Superintendent of Agricultural Societies provided Ruthven with excellent educational opportunities. Ruthven...

James A. Garner was born in 1898, in Grey County, Ontario. His parents, David Garner and Francis Garner, were of Scottish descent. He was part of the graduating class of 1923 of the Ontario Agricultural College. After graduating from college he entered the Extension Branch of the Ontario Department of Agriculture, serving in Victoria, Grey, and Rainy River. It was when he moved to Kent County in 1929, however, that he had the greatest impact, as he served there for 17 years- more than half...

William Johnston was a hugely significant figure in the history of agricultural education in Canada. He was the unofficial founder and first principal of the Ontario Agricultural College, the predecessor of the University of Guelph. Johnston was born in Lockerbie, Scotland on July 24, 1848, the son of David Johnston. His family emigrated to Canada when he was but three years old, settling in Cobourg, Canada West. His passion and dedication for teaching began very early in his life and is...

Dr. John Coulter Berry was born in Langley, British Columbia, and spent his childhood and early life working on his Father’s dairy farm. Deciding to pursue a more advanced career in agriculture Dr. Berry acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Science at the University of British Columbia in 1927. Upon graduation Dr. Berry quickly secured a job at the UBC’s animal husbandry department. Dr. Berry received his Master’s degree in 1937 and then received permission...

The founder of Silverwood Dairies, A. E. Silverwood was born in 1876 in Victoria County, Ontario to parents William Alexander Silverwood and Mary Jane Cooney. In 1899 Silverwood got a job for Flavelles Limited of Lindsay Ontario. Two years later he got married to Eva M. Ferris of Lindsay. In 1903 the company placed him at their new location in London, Ontario, a hub for Western Ontario egg and poultry producers. Later that year Silverwood opened Silverwood Produce with just one...

Agnes Macphail, born on March 24th, 1890 in Grey County Ontario, is a very well-known name to most Canadians. She is most popularly remembered as the first woman in Canadian Parliament as well as an advocate of many maligned groups. However, she began her life as a small-town farm girl who stated that doing housework held no appeal to her and would assist her father in the care of their animals, despite her father’s belief that no girl should be doing farm work. However, Ms. Macphail...

Norbert Jutras was born in 1856 in La Baie du Febvre, near Trois-Riviers, Quebec. Jutras was raised on a farm, and he carried with him a keen interest in agriculture and rural communities even as he devoted his life to the Church, a career which would bring him to the Francophone communities of Manitoba. His persistent advocacy in favour of small-scale family farming in opposition to the growing commercialization of agriculture earned him the title, “The Apostle of Mixed...