Memorable Manitobans: Samuel Alexander McGaw (1848-1916)

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Samuel Alexander McGaw
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Grain merchant.

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Samuel Alexander McGaw
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Born at Dublin, Ireland in 1848, son of Samuel and Mary Jane McGaw, he came to Canada as a boy and was educated in the public schools of Ontario. In 1876, he became Assistant Manager of the Ogilvie Flour Mills Company.

He came to Winnipeg in 1882 and served as Western Manager of the Lake of the Woods Milling Company from 1889 to 1906. He founded the Lake Huron and Manitoba Milling Company at Brandon and was a founding director of the Dominion Elevator Company (1897). He was Chairman of the Grain section of the Winnipeg Board of Trade, and President of the Winnipeg Grain Exchange (1894). Around 1905, when the Western Canada Flour Millls was established, he was appointed its General Manager and later became its Vice-President. He retired in January 1916.

He was married twice. He had seven children with his first wife, Mary Allan Miller (c1844-1907): William Ernest McGaw, Charles Alexander McGaw (?-?), George Henry McGaw (?-?), Henrietta May “Hattie” McGaw (?-?, wife of Walter Scott), Grace Acheson McGaw (1893-?), Allan Robert McGaw (1896-?), and Phillip Miller McGaw (?-?). In 1908, he married Henrietta Miller (?-?) of Toronto. He was a member of the Manitoba Club, St. Charles Country Club, Carleton Club, and AF & AM. His recreations included motoring and horses. In 1911, he lived at 218 Hugo Street in Winnipeg.

He died at Los Angeles, California on 9 February 1916 as a result of an automobile accident near Santa Monica. His body was returned to Winnipeg for burial in the Elmwood Cemetery. His pallbearers were Frank Green, Hugh Campbell, his brother R. J. McGaw, John Horn, Andrew Kelly, and John S. Maxwell.

Sources:

Birth registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, edited by C. W. Parker, Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911.

“S. A. M’Gaw bereaved,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 February 1907, page 9.

“Manager of flour mills retires,” Manitoba Free Press, 20 January 1916, page 9.

“S. A. M’Gaw dead at Los Angeles,” Manitoba Free Press, 10 February 1916, page 1.

“Funeral of S. A. McGaw,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 February 1916, page 45.

“Big estate left by late S. A. M’Gaw,” Manitoba Free Press, 24 March 1916, page 4.

The Leading Financial, Business & Professional Men of Winnipeg, published by Edwin McCormick, Photographs by T. J. Leatherdale, Compiled and printed by Stone Limited, c1913. [copy available at the Archives of Manitoba]

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 7 January 2021

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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