Pioneer Profiles : J

Jack, William

Jack William, along with his wife, Mrs. M. A. Jack, arrived in Banff from Toronto, on March 3, 1890. Being a shoemaker Jack built a combined house and shoe store in Banff. He died in 1902. Mrs. Jack opened a dressmaking shop, and in 1906 she built a small home on Muskrat Street.

2004 Addendum. Ref: The Banff Crag & Canyon, 1935.

Jackson, Charles

Charles Jackson filed on the SW 18-24-1-W5th in 1882-83. He claimed to have been the first milkman in Calgary, borrowing the cows from Sam Livingston. He was an original member of the Salvation Army Citadel Corps, and a member of the band for many years. Charles was born in 1864 at Wingham, Ontario and died at Calgary in 1949. He married Mary (May) Kady, who died at Calgary in 1946. They had two daughters (chosen) in their family.

Jackson, George

Mr George Jackson came west in 1886 and worked with his brother William until 1894. He also worked for John Ware as well as Mr. Quirk before going to Montana to work on a sheep ranch. He died at Millarville in 1952.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Our Foothills Bragg Creek, Kew and Millarville.

Jackson, Norman Douglas

Norman Jackson came to Red Deer in 1889 and ranched there until 1892. He then managed the Royal hotel, later leased it and managed the Queen's and Dominion Hotels. In 1903 he sold his leases and purchased the Alberta Hotel which he operated for two years, then rented it, and in 1910 sold out. Jackson was born at Edinburgh, Scotland in 1870. In 1892 he married Annie Graham, who was born at Cumberland, England. They had a daughter and a son.

Jackson, Thomas Edgar

A brother of Charles Jackson, Thomas Jackson homesteaded the SE 18-24-1-W5th in 1885. He farmed and raised livestock, owned a quarry near the present Crowchild Trail, and built a sandstone garage on 16 Avenue, after the advent of the automobile. He also owned ranch property near Twin Bridges, later known as the Rocky Mountain Polo Pony Ranch. Thomas was born in 1866 at Wingham, Ontario and died at Calgary in 1924. At Calgary in 1894 he married Millicent Margaret Henry, who was born at Charlottetown, P.E.I. in 1873 and died at Calgary in 1901. There were six children. His second wife was Mary O'Hea, who was born in Ireland and died at Calgary in 1956. They had four children.

Jackson, William

Mr. Jackson homesteaded and ranched in the Priddis area in 1882. He had come from England and first lived at Hamilton, Ontario. As workers were needed on the railroad, Jackson started west and stayed with the job until they reached the Kicking Horse Pass. He was born at Cumberland, England in 1853 and died at Calgary in 1942. In 1893 he married Mary De La Peonataire. She was born in 1870 at Elora, Ontario and died at Washington, U.S.A. in 1949. They had four sons and five daughters.

Jacques, Edward

Edward Jacques came to Calgary from England in 1887. Rev. George Jacques was his brother. Born in 1838 in Scunthrope, England, he died of blood poisoning in Calgary in 1899. He married Charlotte Rowett who was born in 1852 in England and died in Calgary in 1904. There were seven children, six of whom were born in England. Edward Jacques and his family settled in a home on 12th Avenue E., between 4th and 5th Streets, where he had a large vegetable garden, even growing celery. After his death, Charlotte homesteaded on the south west end of Chestermere Lake.

Jacques, F. B.

Mr. F. B. Jacques was recorded as a member of the Calgary Odd Fellows Lodge in 1889.

2004 Addendum.

Jacques, Reverend George

Born at Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England in 1828, George Jacques emigrated to Artemesia, Ontario in 1849. He entered the Wesleyan Methodist Church ministry in 1854 and served in Bruce, Grey and Huron counties until his superannuation in 1872 when he became actively involved in promoting the emigration of families from England to Western Canada. Married to Sophia Hind in Toronto in 1853, they had five sons. In 1880 Rev. and Mrs. Jacques joined sons James and Joseph who had homesteaded in the DeWinton area. There they continued their missionary work among the Indians, and were registered members of Calgary Methodist (now Central United) Church in 1885. During a lecture tour to England in 1894 Rev. Jacques became ill and died at Scunthrope. His wife, Sophia, died in Calgary in 1911. All five of his sons came to Southern Alberta. Six generations of the Jacques family have lived continuously in Calgary since 1881 (descendants of son George Edwin Jacques.)

Submitted by Vera L. Ireland

Jacques, James

Son of the Reverend George Jacques, he came with this brother Joseph to homestead in the DeWinton area in 1877/88. He hunted buffalo and sold buffalo hides. Later he and his brother formed a cartage business and transported supplies to troops during the Riel Rebellion. He married Mame Fleming; there were no children.

Jacques, Joseph

Son of the Reverend George Jacques, born in Ontario, he came west with his brother James to homestead in the DeWinton area in 1877/88. He later returned east to establish a furniture business in Kitchener, Ontario. He retired to Los Angeles. T here were two children, a son and a daughter.

James, Dunham D.

Dunham James was born in 1868 at Wingham, Ontario and came to Calgary in 1886. His wife, Emma Bolander, was born at Elmire, Ontario in 1882 and came to Carstairs in 1903. They were married at Calgary in 1904. Dunham had two homesteads, the first was in southwest Calgary, and later at Elkton. They had a family of four boys and five girls. In 1914 he returned to Calgary and worked in the lumber business. He died in 1938, and Emma in 1964.

Jamieson, Alexander

Alexander Jamieson, born at Colbourg, Ontario, came to Calgary in 1890. He was a carpenter and bricklayer and worked on the second CPR station in Calgary. In 1891 he homesteaded south of Shepard and also worked as a surveyors assistant in southern Alberta and BC. Alexander married Lucy Anne Potts, who was from the Morley area, in 1907. They moved to Morley in 1911. The Jamiesons had two sons and one daughter. Alexander died in 1936 and his wife Lucy died in 1949.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Big Hill Country, p. 110.

Jamieson, William (Buddy) Daniel

William. Daniel was born in Wisconsin in 1874. In 1880 his parents moved to Calgary where Buddy helped his mother look after six younger siblings. In 1885 he went to Pincher Creek and worked on the CPR railway construction in the Pass. In 1890 he homesteaded SE 1/4 of Sec.1-3-30-W4M. He later bought a quarter and acquired a small herd of cattle. He joined the Army in 1914 and on his return purchased the west adjoining half section. His sister and her four children came to live with him at the ranch. Buddy later experienced poor health and spent much time in Hospitals in Pincher Creek and Calgary. He died in 1956.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Prairie Grass to Mountain Pass.

Jamison, Robert & Mary

Robert Jamison was born in Ireland and immigrated to Ontario as a young man. In 1879 he married Mary Catherine Henderson in Rosemont, Ontario. In 1884, following the birth of their first three children, they travelled west for three months, initially going to Vancouver and then returning to the DeWinton Area. There they took homesteaded NW 1/4 of Sec.9-22-1-W5M, which was CPR grant #567. The family totalled eleven children over the years. When the farm was sold to Dr. Lindsay in 1912, Mrs. Jamison lived in Calgary running a boarding house for young school girls. She died in 1929.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Sodbusting to Subdivision.

Janes, Rueben Askin

Rueben Janes homesteaded at Davisburgh on the south side of the Highwood River in 1886. He was born at Oxford County, Ontario in 1837 and died at Calgary in 1907. In 1860 he married Sarah Gallaway, who was born in 1838 at Oxford County and died in California, U.S.A. in 1922. They had a family of four sons and three daughters.

Jardine, Robert

Robert Jardine was born in England in 1839. He came to Lethbridge, Alberta in 1885 by way of Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba. He married M.D. Perry in 1860 There were five daughters and three sons in their family. Mr. Jardine died in 1906.

Researched by D. Armstrong

Jarret, John

John Jarret was recorded as a member of the Calgary Odd Fellows Lodge in 1889.

2004 Addendum.

Jarrett, Benjamin N.

Benjamin Jarrett was in partnership with R. C. Thomas in the fuel business at Calgary in 1885. He was born in Yorkshire, England. He married Hanna and they had a family of six children.

Jarrett, Fred

Fred Jarrett arrived in Southern Alberta in 1885.

2004 Addendum. Ref: SAPD membership application files, Re; Miss E. D. Ferguson.

Jarrett, Steve N

Steve Jarrett, Calgary Fire from 1886-1887 was recorded as a member of the Calgary Odd Fellows Lodge in 1885.

2004 Addendum.

Jarrett, Walter

Walter Jarett was recorded as a member of the Calgary Odd Fellows Lodge in 1889.

2004 Addendum.

Jarvis, William Morley P.

William Jarvis joined the NWMP at age seventeen. He was stationed at Regina, Maple Creek and at Medicine Hat in 1890. He broke horses at the Cochrane Ranch, bought a hotel, sold it and then went into the lumber business at Red Deer in 1901. He was born in 1870 at Toronto, Ontario and died in 1929 at Red Deer. In 1893 at Great Fails, Montana he was married to Marian Osborne Harvey, who was born in 1873 in Essex, England and died at Calgary in 1947. They had a family of three daughters. Marian Jarvis came to Calgary in 1888; William was stationed at Fort Macleod in 1888.

Jennings, Robert Osborne

Robert Jennings, a contractor, joined the Medicine Hat Masonic Lodge No. 2, in July, 1889 at the age of 42.

2004 Addendum.

Jensen, Christian F.

Christian Jensen, born in Denmark in 1838, homesteaded Sec.16-2-25-W4M at Aetna located south of Cardston, in 1889. Having married Johanna Hansen in Utah they had eight children, the last being born they came to Aetna in 1889. Mr. Jensen operated a blacksmith shop, organized the School District in 1891-1892, and was appointed Justice of the Peace about 1895. He served until his death in 1910. Mrs. Jensen died in 1934 at Aetna.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Hardwick Papers.

Jepson, John P.

John Jepson homesteaded on the Pekisko Creek above the D Ranch in the 1880s.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Leaves from the Medicine Tree p. 120.

Jerry, David Sr.

Born in 1827 at Yarmouth, England, David Jerry died in 1908 at Shepard. He married in 1868 at Walkers Falls, Ontario to Maria Steadman, who was born in 1850 at Grey County, Ontario, and died in 1887 at Shepard. Their children were Lydia, Hannah, David, Ellen and Francis. David Jerry homesteaded and farmed in the Shepard district from 1885, and may have been the first homesteader there.

Jewett, J.W.

Mr. J. W. Jowett was born in Leeds, Yorkshire and came to Winnipeg in 1882, He joined the staff of the Indian Department there and was first sent to Regina and then to the Blood Agency near Fort Macleod, where he served until 1885, when he was posted to the Blackfoot Agency at Gleichen. His total service here was 33 years. He kept meteorological records of the Gleichen District for many years. He died in 1918.

2004 Addendum. Ref: The Gleichen Call p. 62.

Johannson, Gunnar & Thorbjorg

Mr. Johannson came to Calgary in 1889 from Argyle, Manitoba. He was born in Iceland in 1857. He married Thorbjorg Gestdottir from Iceland, at Calgary in 1889. In 1892 Mr. and Mrs. Johannson homesteaded east of the Markerville post office. They had five children in their family. Gunnar died in 1927, and Mrs. Johannson died in 1940.

Merged with 2004 Addendum. Ref: The Gleichen Call.

Johnson, Captain

Captain Johnson who was a captain in the NWMP, in 1874, is recorded a settler in the Medicine Hat area in the 1880s.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Early History of Medicine Hat Country p. 70.

Johnson, Edward & Mandella

Edward Johnson, born in Hampshire, England, on October 22, 1858, left home at age 14 and worked as a horse trainer in England and Chile, and in Victoria, BC. He worked for the Douglas Lake Cattle Ranch and the J.W. Ranch. He came through the Crowsnest Pass in 1882 riding for Oscar Rush. They trailed 150 horses and broke them at Fort Macleod. He homesteaded, worked on ranches, was a bartender and stage coach driver. He moved to Sheep Creek in 1887 where he formed a partnership with Charlie Priddis. He married Mandella Midthorne (born 1873 at Oakwood, Ontario) in 1888 at Calgary. and they had eight children. In 1903 he moved from Priddis and was involved with hotels. He built and operated the Dominion Hotel at Midnapore, and later the Royal Hotel in Okotoks and later he lived west of Okotoks. In 1931 he moved to Midnapore where he died in 1949. Mandella died in 1952 at Midnapore.

Merged with 2004 Addendum. Ref: Leaves from the Medicine Tree p. 389.

Johnson, Everett Cyril

Born in 1860 in Virginia, U.S.A., he died in Calgary. He was married at Calgary to Mary Eleanor Bigland, who was born in 1866 at Windermere, England and died in 1959 at Calgary. There were four children. Everett Johnson started work as a cowpuncher in 1847. In 1888 he came to Calgary and worked at the Bar U Ranch before becoming foreman. In 1892 he started his own ranch east of Calgary. In 1895 he took horses to Belgium to sell. He also bought horses for Gordon, Ironside & Fares. He served as range inspector from 1908-1909. In 1910 he started a butcher business in Cochrane.

Johnson, Herbert S.

Herbert Johnson, the father of Steve Johnson, arrived in Calgary May, 1887.

2004 Addendum. Ref: SAPD membership application files.

Johnson, Joe

In 1884, Joe Johnson, a dignified, well educated Southerner and very capable cowman, got a winter job with the Bar-U, hauling out logs with a bull team of six bulls. During the fall of 1884 he left the Bar-U wagon and become foreman of the Oxley. He ran the Oxley wagon the summer of 1885 and that winter leased and ran the hotel in High River. Later he went to participate in the spoils of the Yukon Gold Rush where he was rumored to be the notorious Soapy Smith who was killed in a gunfight on the Skagway Alaska, wharf.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Leaves from the Medicine Tree p. 257.

Johnson, John

Born in Ireland in 1851, he died at Spokane, Washington in 1933. He was married to Annie Wilson at Lethbridge in 1884. Mrs. Wilson was born in 1860 in Ontario and died in 1924 at Coleman. They had six children. John was one of the original members of the NWMP in 1874. He remained in the force for six years. Taking a discharge in 1880 he began ranching in the Cowley district.

Johnson, John (Liver Eating)

Mr. Johnson and a fellow free trader Akers, built the second fort on High River, a year or two after Fort Spitzee (1869-1870). It was located about two miles downstream from the Medicine Tree. He participated in some Indian wars in the US at the mouth of the Musselshell River. It was because some liver stuck on his dagger that some thought he had eaten an Indians liver. He died at the National Soldiers Home near Los Angeles in 1900.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Leaves from the Medicine Tree.

Johnson, William

William Johnson first came to Alberta in the early 1870s as a scout for the construction of the telegraph line through the Kicking Horse Pass. He came west the second time with the CPR railway in 1883. Raised in Lancaster, England, he first settled in Minnesota and later moved to Lethbridge in 1885. He had six children by his first wife and in 1908 he married Mary Saunders. From this union were born four children. In 1888 he purchased a homestead, NE 1/4 of Sec.26-8-22-W4M. He also bought the coal rights on NE 1/4 of Sec.25-8-22-W4M, in 1902.

2004 Addendum. Ref: The Bend -West Lethbridge.

Johnsons, Henry D.

Born in 1843 in Lincoln, England, he died at Edmonton in 1933. He had one daughter Angade (Angie). Mr. Johnson was a Federal Government architect and resided in Calgary from 1894 until 1898.

Johnston, George Hope

Born in 1856 at Leith, Scotland, he died in 1938 at Calgary. He was married in 1887 at Victoria, B.C. to Amy Young who died at Calgary in 1894. There were four children. George came by rail to Medicine Hat, where he bought horses and took them through the Crowsnest Pass to Cranbrook, and onto land near the Experimental Farm at Windermere. He was appointed Commissioner of Police in 1884 while the C.P.R. was building from the summit of the Rockies for one hundred and fifty miles west. Then he moved to Calgary, and ranched on Rosebud Creek. He later sold out to Burns. He was Sheriff from 1910-1916.

Johnston, James Hastie

Born in 1866 at Seaforth, Ontario, he died in 1936 at Calgary. In 1902, in Winnipeg, he married Mildred Mott who was born in 1876 at Paris, Ontario and died in 1963 at Calgary. There were two boys, John and Ralph. Coming west with a survey part in 1884, James Johnston joined up when the North West Rebellion broke out. He was discharged in the east, but boarded a cattle car and came west again. He worked with Phil Weinard, on Hull's 25 Ranch at Pine Coulee at the Oxley Ranch until 1899, then established the L4L Ranch with Jake Meirs. After his marriage, he worked for Burns, had a hotel, farmed and ranched. He served in World War I and later became a brand inspector in Calgary.

Johnston, John

John Johnstone, from Kingston Ontario, joined the NWMP in 1873 and came with Col. Macleod and Col. Steele to Ft. Macleod in 1874. His NWMP regimental number was 31. He eventually left the police force and bought 160 acres on the South Fork. His fiance came from Ontario to Lethbridge where they married and had six children. In 1911 they moved to Coleman and started a boarding house. Mrs. Johnston died in 1924 and John in 1933.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Prairie Grass to Mountain Pass p. 409.

Johnston, John Lee

Born in 1864 at Berwickshire, Scotland, he died in 1934. He was married at Gleichen in 1889 to Catherine Rebecca Young, who was born at Victoria B.C. in 1865 and died in 1940. Mrs. Young came to Gleichen in 1887, and Mr. Young in 1886.

Johnston, Jos

Jos Johnston was recorded as a member of the Calgary Odd Fellows Lodge in 1886.

2004 Addendum.

Johnston, Peter Gorrie

Born in 1869 in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, he died in 1948 at Didsbury. He was married at Didsbury in 1898 to Ada May Troyer, who was born in 1881 at Woodbridge, Ontario and died in 1939 at Didsbury. There were five girls and four boys in their family. Mr. Johnston came to Calgary from Scotland in 1886. He worked for four years on a sheep ranch at Cochrane. He filed on NE 30-20-W4 and raised horses. He served in World War I and as Justice of the Peace, Councillor and later weed inspector for the Municipality of Mountain View.

Johnstone, James

James Johnstone and his wife came to Cochrane from California in 1884. They were both born in the Lake Simcoe, Ontario area. They had a store with a post office in Cochrane for many years. In 1886 they purchased the SE 1/4 of Sec.12-28-4-W5M from James Thompson. They had a family of four daughters, they sold their land in 1903 and returned to California.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Big Hill Country.

Jones, Elizabeth Jane (nee Whyte)

Born in 1874 at Nash Creek, N.B., she died at Calgary in 1970. She married in Banff in 1900. Her husband, Clifford Teasdale Jones was born in 1873 at Liverpool, N.S., and died in Calgary in 1948. He came to Banff in 1894, while Mrs. Jones was in Banff in 1890. There were five children. Mr. Jones came to Banff as a school teacher, then later moved to Calgary where he qualified for the Bar, and practiced law in Calgary for the rest of his life.

Jones, Jonas

Jonas Jones was one of the original owners, along with Peter Briggs and Billie Humphrey, of North Fork Ranching. They sold out to A.B.Few in 1886.

2004 Addendum. Ref: History of the Early Days of Pincher Creek p. 10-12.

Jones, Walter

Born in 1856 in Wales, he died at Cochrane in 1902. He was married at Winnipeg in 1887 to Frances Shaw who was born in 1862 at Notts, England and died in 1928 at Beausejour, Manitoba. There were five children. Walter Jones was a pioneer farmer in the Cochrane district in 1886.

Jordan, S.N.

Mr. S. N. Johnston was recorded as a member of the Calgary Odd Fellows Lodge in 1889.

2004 Addendum.

Jukes, Augustus Dr.

Dr. Jukes was an early surgeon with the NWMP from 1882 to 1885. He attended the execution of Louis Riel on November 16th, 1885 at Police Barracks in Regina.

2004 Addendum. Ref: Fort Macleod Gazette, May 7, 2003.