Dictionary of Canadian Biography

A woman in a dark outfit wearing a multi-stranded necklace.

Two women in Inuk clothing.

No #NewBio this week. Today we highlight the stories of Phoebe Johnston, a Tuscarora woman and labourer, and Uttaktuak, a Copper Inuit (Inuinnait) seamstress and artist. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/johns... / www.biographi.ca/en/bio/uttak...

A Black woman wearing a dark dress with a light collar/ruff looks off camera. Her hair is pulled up into a high bun. The caption is "Mrs. Whitsel. An Ice Merchant."

A white woman with curly hair wears a dress with a ruffled black top and a vertically striped skirt. She leans on a pillow with long fringe, and looks off camera. She is wearing a large ornate cross on a chain around her neck.

No #NewBio this week. Today we highlight Georgina Mingo Whetsel, Black entrepreneur, and Louise Caroline Alberta, sculptor, personal secretary to Queen Victoria, viceregal consort, and painter.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mingo... / www.biographi.ca/en/bio/louis...

A man holds a ship's wheel with both hands. He is quite tall.

No #NewBio this week – today we highlight the story of Jean-Baptiste Canadien, called Big John Canadien (Raientonni, Aiontonnis, meaning “he works with wood”) (1840–1919), Mohawk raftsman, pilot, voyageur, and lacrosse player. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/canad...
📷 @banq-officiel.bsky.social

COOLEY, CHLOE – Dictionary of Canadian Biography One of the hundreds of Black people who were enslaved in Upper Canada, Chloe Cooley (fl. 1793) came to public attention in March 1793 after her enslaver, Adam Vrooman, forcibly transported her across the Niagara River to sell her on the American side. Two witnesses reported the incident and her desperate resistance, which directly influenced the subsequent passage of the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada. In 2022 the Canadian government designated Cooley a person of national historic significance.

No #NewBio this week. Today we highlight the stories of:
📖Chloe Cooley (fl. 1793), an enslaved Black woman biographi.ca/en/bio/coole...
and
📖An enslaved Black woman (fl. 1802–3) whose name is unrecorded: biographi.ca/en/bio/name_...
Learn more: biographi.ca/en/topics/to...

Program for 1912 Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, front cover. Each corner features a portrait: P. Burns, Geo. Lane, A.E. Cross, and A.J. McLean. In the center is a picture of a man riding a bucking horse on a field of grass with mountains in the background.

The Calgary Stampede begins today! Check out our bios of the “Big Four”:
🐴George Lane: www.biographi.ca/en/bio/lane_...
🐂Patrick Burns: www.biographi.ca/en/bio/burns...
🤠Archibald James McLean: www.biographi.ca/.../mclean_a...
-Our biography of Alfred Ernest Cross is forthcoming.

BOCHART (Bochard), THÉODORE (Bochart du Plessis, Du Plessis-Bochard, Du Plessis-Bochart, Plessis-Bochart) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography In 1632 Théodore Bochart (1607–53) arrived in New France as Commandant Émery de Caën’s lieutenant. The following year Samuel de Champlain offered him a commission from Cardinal de Richelieu: command o...

#NewBio! Théodore Bochart's (1607–53) activities in New France during the 1630s provide useful supplemental information about the circumstances of the founding of Trois-Rivières, long vaguely attributed to Laviolette alone. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/du_pl...

A fascinating bio. Some time ago, I went through LAC's (small) Yeigh fonds, documenting his friendship with Tekahionwake E. Pauline Johnson. The papers include 2 unpublished TEPJ poems, as well as an unsigned verse, "Pauline Johnson's Grave" - maybe Yeigh's own work? #cdnhist #cdnlit #bookhistory

YEIGH, FRANK – Dictionary of Canadian Biography YEIGH, FRANK, printer, publisher, writer, lecturer, publicist, and civil servant, b. 21 July 1860 in Burford Township, Upper Canada, son of Edmund Lossing Yeigh and Adaliza (Ada) Whitehead; m. first 2...

#NewBio! Frank Yeigh (1860–1935), printer, publisher, writer, lecturer, publicist, and civil servant.
Establishing the Save the Children Fund in Canada is his most enduring legacy. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/yeigh...

Sepia-toned photo of a white man wearing a suit and tie. His hair looks gray/silver and his eyebrows are darker.

#NewBio! Abraham Lincoln McCrimmon (1865–1935), educator and author.
He was a faculty member at @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social. The Toronto Daily Star welcomed him as “one of the foremost of Canada’s educationists.” www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mccri...

WASHINGTON, THOMAS C. – Dictionary of Canadian Biography Born in the United States, Thomas C. Washington (d. 1897) settled in Saint John, where he became an accomplished entrepreneur, a leader in the Black community, and a contributor to the musical life of...

#NewBio! Born in the United States, Thomas C. Washington (d. 1897) settled in Saint John, where he became an accomplished entrepreneur, a leader in the Black community, and a contributor to the musical life of his adopted home. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/washi...

A collage of portraits.

Weekend reading! Are you all caught up with our new bios from April?
📖 Lelia Clare Gass
📖 William Francis Tye
📖 Délia Tétreault, known as Marie du Saint-Esprit
📖 John Bourinot
📖 Walter George Brown
www.biographi.ca/en/new_biogr... #NewBios

Sepia-toned photograph of a white man wearing glasses. He has a very high forehead/hairline. He is wearing a dark-coloured suit. Text at the bottom reads 'John MacNeill'.

#NewBio! John James MacNeill (1874–1937), Baptist clergyman, educator, and author.
MacNeill’s ecumenical spirit and emphasis on social justice placed him at odds with fundamentalist Baptists. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/macne...

GAGNON, CLARENCE (baptisé Clarence-Alphonse) (Clarence-A. Gagnon) – Dictionnaire biographique du Canada Peintre, graveur, dessinateur et illustrateur, Clarence Gagnon (1881–1942), dont la brillante carrière rayonne à Paris, Londres, New York, Toronto et Montréal, doit son succès aux œuvres que lui inspi...

#NewBio! A painter, engraver, designer, and illustrator, Clarence Gagnon (1881–1942) enjoyed a brilliant career, building his success with works inspired by rural villages nestled in the snow of the Charlevoix mountains.
www.biographi.ca/fr/bio/gagno...

Thank you to @cmedmoore.bsky.social for mentioning our Marie Dressler bio: christophermoorehistory.blogspot.com/2025/05/hist...

Canada Post stamp of Marie Dressler. She is a white woman with short red-brown hair and is looking into the distance behind our right shoulder. She wears a purple patterned top and a string of pearsls. There is a tugboat in the background.

#NewBio! Actor Marie Dressler (1868–1934) lived a roller coaster of a life. She had enormous success on the vaudeville stage after years in stock companies and then faced a period of dire financial straits before finding Academy Award–winning film stardom. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/koerb...

A colour painting of the multi-story King Edward Hotel. The brick is yellow and greenery adorns the facade. A red car and a yellow tram drive by in front.

The main turret of Casa Loma, a gray brick castle, rises against the sky. There is a fountain in the foreground, and a stone wall.

A sepia-toned image of Toronto's Old City Hall - a four-cornered building with a tall thin tower in the front, rising to a sharp point.

A drawn portrait of E.J. Lennox. He is wearing a buttoned up jacket and has dark hair and a mustache. Under the image is handwritten "Your Truly E.J. Lennox."

#NewBio! Labelled the “Builder of Toronto” by the Toronto Daily Star, E. J. Lennox (1854–1933) was a successful architect in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He designed some of Toronto’s landmark buildings, including Old City Hall and Casa Loma.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/lenno...

The @dcb-dbc.bsky.social (@dbc-dcb.bsky.social en français) could not have been happier to collaborate with @nhenrydixon.bsky.social on this work -- we are excited for readers to see the 'behind the scenes' of it all! www.biographi.ca/en/topics/to...

YouTube video by Historica Canada NEW Heritage Minute: Bora Laskin

Watch our new #HeritageMinute on Bora Laskin, the first Jewish Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Laskin’s legacy is brought to life by the iconic Victor Garber. Bora Laskin was born on 5 October 1912 in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. youtu.be/K9iGFZLOuio

Red River Settlement 1848 by Paul Kane. Buildings and fences line the river banks. There is a large leafy tree in the centre of the frame.

The establishment of the #RedRiver settlement is a pivotal event of the colonization of the Canadian west. Discover its history, from its founding in 1812 to the creation of #Manitoba #OTD in 1870, through the stories of men and women who were part of it. www.biographi.ca/en/theme_riv...

A sepia-toned image of a young man in a military uniform.

#NewBio! Joseph Alfred Jacobson (1918–42) was a Jewish Canadian air force officer during #WWII. At age 23 he was killed in action. His enduring legacy is his writings, including his diaries, which escaped confiscation by wartime censors. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/jacob...

Black and white photo of a white man. He has a high forehead and is wearing a dark suit and what is perhaps a small bow tie.

#NewBio! Walter George Brown (1875–1940) was an intrepid Presbyterian clergyman. Elected to parliament in 1939 as the first and only representative of the United Reform Movement, he had the unusual distinction of serving there for just one day. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/brown...

A white man with a high forehead and thick sideburns is wearing a dark suit. He is sitting in a chair, looking down at the paper he is writing on which is balanced on an elaborate desk.

#NewBio! John Bourinot (1811–84), who was from Jersey in the Channel Islands, became a leading merchant in Cape Breton and a champion of the island’s interests in the Nova Scotia legislature. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bouri...
📷 Library and Archives Canada

Black and white photo of a nun, wearing a traditional black and white habit and a large cross around her neck. She is wearing glasses and her hair is covered.

#NewBio! Délia Tétreault, known as Marie du Saint-Esprit (1865–1941), founded the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, the first Canadian religious community dedicated to overseas missions. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/tetre...

A black and white image of a balding white man with small glasses and a bushy mustache. He is wearing a suit and tie, his white shirt has a large collar.

#NewBio! William Francis Tye (1861–1932), civil engineer.
W. F. Tye spent a quarter century intimately involved with North American railways at a critical stage in their development. www.biographi.ca/en/bio/tye_w...

A white woman is wearing a white nurse's headdress that flows behind her shoulders. Her outfit has military-style buttons and a large white collar. She is wearing glasses and is looking into the camera.

#NewBio! Clare Gass (1887–1968) served as a nursing sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in the First World War. The diary she kept during her four years overseas is a remarkable historical source. #WWI
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/gass_...
📷 Parks Canada

A black and white image of a man in a naval-style jacket and hat who squints into the sun.

#NewBio! Joseph-Elzéar Bernier (1852–1934) fund-raised and campaigned for Canadian government support of expeditions to the far north, which were undertaken between 1904 and 1925, and helped spark Canadians’ interest in the Arctic.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/berni... 📷 Library& Archives Canada

A collage of images with a dark red background. The images are historical drawings of landscapes and a homestead, a hand-written letter, a newspaper advertisement selling an enslaved person, and a Canada Post stamp featuring Chloe Cooley, a Black woman.

Have you had a chance to read our seven new biographies by Natasha Henry-Dixon? These bios highlight a little-known chapter in Canadian history: enslavement in Upper Canada.
Read a topic summary and bios here: www.biographi.ca/en/topics/to...

"Encampment of the Loyalists at Johnstown [Cornwall]". Artist: James Peachey. This is a drawing of an encampment on a body of water which is in the background. A cluster of cloth tents is in the centre, behind a large leafy tree. Various people and animals are shown in the scene.

#NewBio! John Baker (d. 1871) was “perhaps the last surviving Canadian slave.” This is the seventh and final entry in our group of seven new bios by @nhenrydixon.bsky.social highlighting a little-known chapter in Canadian history: enslavement in Upper Canada.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/baker...

A sketch of the view looking northwest to mouth of Niagara River; Niagara is on the left and Fort Niagara, N.Y., is on the right. There is a sail boat in the middle of the river. Date: 1846.

#NewBio! The son of a free Black loyalist, George Martin (d. 1845) inherited his mother’s status as an enslaved person in Upper Canada. He was manumitted around 1797. Like many formerly enslaved people, Martin faced economic and personal hardships. #BHM
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/marti...

A headshot of a white man with light-coloured hair on the background of a building by a body of water. There are cannons at the water's edge and two sailing ships in the background. The text advertises a lecture by David Wilson called “The Irish in Canada: A Mildly Subversive History”.

TOMORROW!! The Yorkminster Park Speakers Series presents “The Irish in Canada: A Mildly Subversive History,” presented by David A. Wilson, General Editor of the @dcb-dbc.bsky.social!
Friday, March 7 @ 7:00 pm -- in person in Toronto or online. ypspeakersseries.yorkminsterpark.com/event/the-ir...