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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Letters Received by Alexander Begg, 1870-1879 |
| Date | Jan 1870 - Feb 1879 |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Reference | M-74-13 |
| Library / Archive | Glenbow Museum |
| Collection Name | Alexander Begg Fonds |
| Description | Letters received by Alexander Begg including business correspondence from the Finance Department, the Customs Department, the Ottawa Immigrant Aid Society, the Engineer's Office at the Intercolonial Railway and the Department of Agriculture. Also includes letters from his family such as one from his brother in Brighton. |
| Series Description | From Series 1 – Textual records, (1843-1914). The series is broken down into 53 sections and consists of biographical information, letters written by and to Alexander Begg, Dunbow Ranche records, letters from his son Magnus Begg, correspondence of his wife Emily, and miscellaneous personal papers. |
| Biographical Note / History | Alexander Begg (1825-1905), was born in Scotland, where he received a teaching diploma. In 1846, he emigrated to Ontario where he resumed teaching. In 1854, he turned to journalism and established a number of newspapers. He married Emily Maria Luke (d. 1930) in 1858 and they had 11 children. One of their sons, Magnus, became agent at the Blackfoot (Siksika) Indian Agency in Alberta. For a number of years Alexander was employed by the Department of Internal Revenue and was Collector of Customs for the North-West Territories in 1869. In 1872 he was appointed Emigration Commissioner in Scotland for the Province of Ontario and persuaded thousands of crofters to settle in Canada. He later attempted to promote a similar scheme as Commissioner for the British Columbia government but this was abandoned as impractical. In the 1870s he established a temperance colony at Parry Sound and Beggsboro. In 1881, he visited the West as a Toronto Mail correspondent. He then acquired the Dunbow Ranche near Davisburg and High River, Alberta in 1883. In 1887 he moved to Victoria where he and three of his sons later formed the Stickeen and Teslin Railway, Navigation and Colonization Co. The following year he was employed by the Dominion Government to assist in defining the Canada-Alaska border. He retired to New York City in 1903. |
| Theme(s) | Permanent Settlement and Successive Generations; Politics, Legislation and Governance |
| Places | Ontario, Canada |
| People | Begg, Alexander |
| Keywords | business, government, family, railroad, agriculture |
| Additional Information | Selections of this series are included in this project. This document is part 13. Please note: Some of the metadata for this document has been taken from the Glenbow Museum catalogue. |
| Language | English |
| Document(s) linked to |
Letters Received by Alexander Begg, 1880-1889 |
| Copyright | Glenbow Museum |
