Biography
John Alexander McDougall (1854–1928)
John Alexander McDougall was born in 1854 at Oakwood in what is now Ontario. After working in the fur trade at Fort Garry, he opened a general store in Edmonton in 1879, trading especially in furs, and by 1897 had formed McDougall & Secord with Richard Secord.
He was president of Edmonton’s first Board of Trade, an alderman in 1894–95, mayor of the town in 1897 and mayor of the city in 1908. He was elected in 1908 largely on the promise of an automatic telephone system, which the city installed, and he promoted its street railway. He sat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a Liberal member for Edmonton from 1909 to 1913.
McDougall was active in the Presbyterian Church, as well as in the Masonic Order, and helped found St. John Ambulance in Alberta. In 1913 he gave the set of 20 tubular chimes, at a cost of $4,000, that still hang at the top of First Presbyterian Church’s bell tower, completed the year before. He died in Edmonton in 1928. John A. McDougall School is named in his honour.
Roles and service
- 1913
Benefactor (gave the tower chimes)
- 1889
President
-
Co-founder
- 1894 – 1895
Alderman
- 1897
Mayor
- 1908
Mayor
- 1909 – 1913
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Edmonton
Further reading
Sources
Wikipedia gives his birth date as May 20, 1854, and his death date as December 17, 1928, without citing a source; we give the years only until the dates are confirmed. Earlier versions of this profile gave his mayoral terms as 1896–97 and 1907–08 and said McDougall & Secord was founded in 1896; the Edmonton Public Schools Archives and the Heritage Community Foundation give his terms as mayor in 1897 and 1908, and say he had formed the firm by 1897.
- Alberta Register of Historic Places, First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton, architectural record HS 24094: "20 tubular chimes, a gift in 1913 from John A. McDougall," $4,000 Link to this source (opens in a new tab)
- Legislative Assembly of Alberta, member record: John A. McDougall (Liberal, Edmonton, March 22, 1909 to April 16, 1913) Link to this source (opens in a new tab)
- Heritage Community Foundation and Telephone Historical Centre, "Telephone Era in Alberta: J. A. MacDougall" (archived December 2010) (alderman 1894–95; mayor 1897 and 1908; telephone system; streetcar system; first Board of Trade) Link to this source (opens in a new tab) · Archived copy (opens in a new tab)
- Heritage Community Foundation and Edmonton Public Library, Alberta Source, "John Alexander McDougall" (archived December 2010) (born at Oakwood, 1854; Fort Garry; Edmonton, 1879; McDougall & Secord) Link to this source (opens in a new tab) · Archived copy (opens in a new tab)
- Edmonton Public Schools Archives, "John A. McDougall School" authority record ("town mayor 1897; city mayor 1908"; died 1928) Link to this source (opens in a new tab)
- James G. MacGregor, Edmonton Trader: The Story of John A. McDougall, 116 (the store and fur trade) (cited in Wikipedia; not yet consulted)
- Gilpin, Century of Enterprise, 20 (president of the Edmonton Board of Trade, 1889) (cited in Wikipedia; not yet consulted)