Born in New York state on 20 May 1861, son of Charles and Margaret Jeffrey, at an early age he came to Canada with his parents and settled at Lindsay, Ontario. On 24 May 1882, he married Emma Grayson (1859-1939) at Esquesing, Ontario and they had two children: C. Henry Jeffrey (1884-?) and Winnifred Emma Jeffrey (1885-1972, wife of John Willington Ernest Parker) before they moved to Portage la Prairie.
As a bricklayer and building contractor, he constructed many of the public buildings in and around Portage la Prairie. He was a member of the Portage city council for four years, and was a member of the Knights of Pythias (Grand Chancellor), Odd Fellows, and Orange Lodge. He died at Portage la Prairie on 30 July 1924 and was buried in the Portage Hillside Cemetery.
Some of his construction work in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
246 Saskatchewan Avenue East, Portage la Prairie
1902
Portage Land Titles Building (expansion)
103 Third Street NE, Portage la Prairie
1906
70 Third Avenue SW, Minnedosa
1908-1910
308 Main Street South, Dauphin
1912
20 Third Street SE, Portage la Prairie
?
Home for Incurables (expansion)
3rd Street NE, Portage la Prairie
?
Ontario marriage registration, Ancestry.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Marriage registration [Winnifred Emma Jeffrey, John Wellington E Parker], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registrations [Charles Jeffrey. Emma Jeffrey], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Pioneer of Portage district is dead,” Winnipeg Tribune, 31 July 1924, page 3.
Manitoba, Various Public Buildings, Winnipeg: Manitoba Public Works, c1911. [Legislative Library of Manitoba]
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 22 April 2026
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