Memorable Manitobans: George Henry Strevel (1836-1914)

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George Henry Strevel
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Railway contractor.

Born in Northumberland County, Ontario on 28 March 1836, son of John Milton Strevel and Elizabeth Stewart, he worked on the family farm until he was 25 when he went to the USA and worked in railway construction, on the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph, Missouri Pacific, and Northern Pacific lines. He came to Winnipeg in 1873 and worked for a year as a walking boss on the construction of the Pembina branch of the Canadian Northern Railway. He then went into railway construction on his own behalf, engaged in construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway between Winnipeg and the Rockies.

He retired from railway work, previously having purchased a block of land in Winnipeg between Portage and Graham Avenues, Donald and Hargrave Street, on which he built a residence for the princely sum of $35,000. He occupied the home for 25 years until it was demolished to make way for the Eatons department store.

In 1864, he married Margaret Benson (1840-1912) of Peterborough, Ontario. They had five children: Elizabeth Strevel (c1865-?, wife of Daniel McLean and Joseph Maw), Eva Strevel (?-?, wife of Frank A. Connor of Portage la Prairie), Cora Strevel (?-?, wife of John Harmer of Winnipeg), Margaret May Strevel Strevel (?-?, wife of Samuel C. Dunn), and George H. Strevel (?-?).

He died at Portage la Prairie on 16 March 1914 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.

See also:

Electric Light Comes to Winnipeg by Herbert W. Blake
MHS Transactions, Number 34, 1977-78 Season

Sources:

The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.

Marriage and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“George H. Strevel, contractor, dead,” Manitoba Free Press, 18 March 1914. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B6]

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 9 April 2018

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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