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Ira Stratton
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Publisher, postmaster, realtor.
Born at Trenton, Ontario on 6 August 1865, son of Cyrus Stratton (?-?) and Anna Lovie (1832-?), he was educated at public schools of Northumberland County, Ontario. He taught school at Morganston, Ontario until 1889 when he came to Stonewall.
He taught at Brant School (1889-1890) then purchased the Stonewall News newspaper, changing its name to Stonewall Argus. He served as postmaster of Stonewall (1897-1905) and was involved in organization of the Canadian Postmasters’ Association. He was secretary of the Manitoba Postmasters’ Association since its foundation in 1903, and instrumental in formation of similar bodies in other provinces, and finally of the federal organization of which he was general secretary.
On 28 December 1911, he married Mary Louise Oughton (1883-1959) and they had three children: Wilfred John Stratton (1913-1945), Edith Anna Stratton (1917-1996, wife of Jim Ashburn), and Ruth Stratton (1919-?, wife of Alex Cresswell). During 1902 he was general land guide for the federal government. He later became involved in real estate. He served as Chairman of the Stonewall High School Board, Secretary of the Stonewall Board of Trade since 1901, President of the Manitoba Dairy Association (1912-1913), President of the Manitoba School Trustees Association (1915-1916), and President of the Liberal Association for the federal constituency of Selkirk. He ran unsuccessfully as the Liberal candidate for Rockwood in the 1907 and 1910 provincial general elections. He was a member of the IOOF, AOUW, and Maccabees.
He died at Winnipeg on 12 April 1943 and was buried in the Stonewall Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Stratton House (263 Second Street West, Stonewall)
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
“The editors of the provincial liberal press,” Manitoba Free Press, 13 December 1901, page 10.
A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.
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.
The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.
1921 Canada census, Ancestry.
“Dairy Association of Manitoba gains unique reputation,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 March 1938, page 52.
“Pioneer school official dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 April 1943, page 2.
Obituary [Edith Anna Ashburn], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 August 1996, page 29.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Nathan Kramer and Joshua Watt for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 August 2022
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