Donald Gordon McKenzie was Minister of Agriculture for Manitoba. He was born in Brandon on 1887. He attended Turriff School near the village of Forrest, then school in Brandon and Manitoba Agricultural College in Winnipeg.
Robert McLaughlin had his roots in Tyrone County, Ireland. By the mid 1800's he had been "lured" to the Peterborough area of Ontario with the promise of free farm land. In 1867 or so, McLaughlin built himself a horse carriage. So good was his design and craftsmanship that the neighbours asked him to build carriages for them. As knowledge of the quality of McLaughlin's carriage spread, demand increased. In 1869 he founded the McLaughlin Carriage Company in response to the demand for his carriages. In 1876, seeking better access to markets, he moved his business to Oshawa. The company was owned by McLaughlin and two of his three sons, Sam and George, both of whom started at the bottom of their father's carriage business as sweepers. In 1899 the business was temporarily relocated in Gananoque when the business was destroyed by fire. With the advent of the automobile George and his brother, along with George Hezzelwood, formed the McLaughlin Motor Car Company Limited in 1907. For a time the family continued to produce carriages. Then, in 1915, Robert McLaughlin sold the carriage works to Jim Thudhope of Orillia, Ontario. In writing at the time of his difficulty in letting the works go, he simply observed: "[The] gasoline engine [is] at present working a revolution in the horse-drawn vehicle trade."
MacPherson, Crane and Company were forwarders (bookbinders) based in Kingston, Ontario.
Ross Milton McRae was born at Morven, Ontario in 1885. He attended city schools and Kingston Collegiate Institute. After working as a bell-hop in Toronto, he entered the employ of Chown Limited where he remained for sixty years. He started as an invoice clerk and went on to become bookkeeper, secretary of the board and one of the directors of the company. He was married to Bessie Mander.
James Mair, a lumber tradesman, was born to James Mair and his wife Margaret Holmes in 1832. His parents had emigrated from Scotland to Canada the year before his birth. He was brother to Charles, Holmes, William, Richard and Margaret. In 1860, he married Jane Glossop, with whom he had three daughters, Jessies Crawford, Margaret McIntyre and Helen Amanda. He died in 1872.
Walter George Mitchell was born at Danby, Quebec in 1877. He was educated at Bishop's College and McGill University where he received a law degree in 1901. He practiced in Montreal and was created a King's Counsel in 1912. He began his political career in 1914 when he was appointed Treasurer of the Province of Quebec and was elected by acclamation to succeed the late Honourable P.S.G. MacKenzie as member of the Quebec Legislature for the County of Richmond. He served as Minister of Municipal Affairs in 1918. !n 1921 he turned his energies to federal politics and while he won a seat in Parliament he was unable to secure a cabinet post. Mitchell remained in parliament until his resignation, in protest against the fiscal policies of the King Government, in 1924. He died in 1936.
Lillian Morley is an author from Milverton, Ontario.