Memorable Manitobans: Alexander Rae Davidson (1855-1922)

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Alexander Rae Davidson
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Capitalist.

Born at Glencoe, Ontario on 10 July 1855, son of William and Christine Davidson, brother of Andrew Duncan Davidson, he was educated at Glencoe, then commenced a job in railway work at Wisconsin in 1874. He came to Winnipeg in 1906. Among his executive positions were the following: Vice-President and General Manager of Davidson & McRae (a business partner with A. D. McRae), Vice-President and Managing Director of the Canadian Loan and Securities Company, Vice-President and Treasurer of the Saskatchewan Valley and Manitoba Land Company, and Vice-President and Director of the Portland Canal Lumber Company. He was a Director of the Canadian Western Lumber Company, Columbia River Lumber Company, Anacortes Lumber and Box Company, Saskatchewan Elevator Company, Queen Charlotte Whaling Company, Pacific Coast Whaling Company, Dunsmuir Collieries Limited, Great Lakes Dredging Company, Toronto Insurance and Vessel Agency of Toronto, Port Arthur Insurance and Vessel Agency, and the Vancouver Insurance and Vessel Agency. He was the Treasurer and Director of the Winnipeg Insurance and Vessel Agency Limited, and Secretary-Treasurer of the Carrot River Valley Land Company. He was President and Director of six national and five state banks in the United States, including the First National Bank at Little Falls, Minnesota and the Farmers and Merchants State Bank at Royalton, Minnesota. In 1911, Davidson was Industrial Agent for the Canadian Northern Railway Company, 392 Main Street, Winnipeg.

In 1892, he married Laura M. Tanner (?-1916) of Little Falls, Minnesota. They had one son, Rolland Davidson. He was a member of the Manitoba Club, St. Charles Country Club, Minneapolis Club, and Minnesota Club.

He died at his Winnipeg home, 10 Ruskin Row, on 7 April 1922 and was buried in Little Falls, Minnesota.

Sources:

Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, edited by C. W. Parker, Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911.

“Alex. R. Davidson dies at Winnipeg residence”, Manitoba Free Press, 8 April 1922, page 2. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B7]

The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.

The Leading Financial, Business & Professional Men of Winnipeg, published by Edwin McCormick, Photographs by T. J. Leatherdale, Compiled and printed by Stone Limited, c1913. [copy available at the Archives of Manitoba]

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 17 July 2020

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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