Life Sketch - George McKay (1871-1928)

This life sketch is the first in a series of brief biographies previously published on the Amesdale Cemetery Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/amesdalecemetery

George McKay

20 January 1871 – 23 April 1928

George McKay, was born January 20, 1871 in Rochester, New York, USA ¹ to William McKay and Francis Wilson,² and is said to have been the first person buried in the Amesdale cemetery.³

Referred to as “a happy wanderer”,⁴ his travels took him to many states of the USA, Mexico, and eventually to Gilbert Plains, Manitoba.  He was a horse trainer by trade,⁵ but he also had “gifts of the tongue”,⁶ and great power of persuasion.  These talents served him well as he went into business selling farm machinery, a lucrative business in the West in those days.⁷

It was in Gilbert Plains that George met his wife Mary Evangeline (Eva) Priest.  They were married in Gilbert Plains, on May 9, 1900,⁸ and their lives were blessed with six children.   Frances Alma was born in Gilbert Plains ⁹ before their move to Langenburg, Saskatchewan where Anne Muriel and Joseph Wilson, were born.  The younger children, William Malcom, Bertha Evangeline and Marjorie (Pard) Winnifred were all born back in Gilbert Plains. 

 In the post-war years, as farming didn’t show much profit in that part of the West, and as the market for farm equipment faded, George and Eva considered making another move.¹⁰   So in 1924 when George’s brother-in-law, Samuel George Ames returned from a scouting trip to the Dryden farm belt with news of better prospects there cutting and selling pulp wood and eventually farming, they moved that fall with their nephew Bert Ames,¹¹ and their four youngest children to north western Ontario.  Their two oldest girls who were already married or were soon to be married remained in Manitoba.

George and Eva settled in Richan, where they operated a small store,¹² and on February 16, 1928 George became the postmaster.¹³  Shortly thereafter, a tragic accident took his life on April 23, 1928.¹⁴  While waiting for the mail train during a spring blizzard,¹⁵ George was struck by a westbound freight train ¹⁶ at the Richan station.¹⁷ 

 

In memorial to George, a close friend described him as “honest, sincere, able to inspire confidence . . . and with an endless fund of stories of his days as a horseman”.¹⁸

George was survived by his wife Eva who continued to run the Richan store,¹⁹ and two years after his death, she became postmistress.   She raised their daughters Bertha and Pard in the family cottage by the lake at Richan,²⁰ with loving support from her two sons, Joe and Bill who continued to live in the area.   She was also blessed by the presence and friendship of her sister Annie Eliza Priest Ames and her family, who lived at Amesdale, just seven miles west along the CN line.

Sources:

¹ Steele, Marjorie Charles, The Priests: Our Family History

² Steele, Marjorie Charles, The Priests: Our Family History

³ Ames, Brian; personal knowledge.

⁴ Clement, Andrew;  The Bell and the Book

⁵ Clement, Andrew;  The Bell and the Book

⁶ Clement, Andrew;  The Bell and the Book

⁷ Clement, Andrew;  The Bell and the Book

⁸ Steele, Marjorie Charles, The Priests: Our Family History

⁹ Steele, Marjorie Charles, The Priests: Our Family History

¹⁰ Ames, Brian; personal knowledge.

¹¹ Kate (Ames) Carlson in her Brief History of the Ames Family

¹² Clement, Andrew;  The Bell and the Book

¹³ Library and Archives Canada; Internet address http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/post-offices-postmasters/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=12613&

¹⁴ Steele, Marjorie Charles, The Priests: Our Family History

¹⁵ Radford, Fred; personal communication with Brian Ames

¹⁶ JoAnne McKay Wintle, personal communication, July 16, 2015

¹⁷ Radford, Fred; personal communication with Brian Ames

¹⁸ Clement, Andrew;  The Bell and the Book

¹⁹ Clement, Jessie Howarth; personal communication with Brian Ames, March 25, 2008.

²⁰ Stouffer, Ken; personal communication with Brian Ames, June 15, 2007.