Memorable Manitobans: John Dolmage (1853-1914)

General merchant.

Born in Halton County, Ontario on 20 February 1853, son of John Dolmage and Sarah Harkins, he quit school at the age of 18 to work as a clerk. Soon afterwards he went into business with his former employer, which he continued until 1881 when he moved to Manitoba and opened a general store at Souris, later taking a partner to form the firm of Dolmage & Lee. He was first merchant of Souris and its first postmaster.

On 10 September 1884, he married Mary Ann Hetherington (1862-1948) and they had eight children: Harkens Hetherington Dolmage (1885-1948), Victor Dolmage (1887-1980), Eliza Briggs Dolmage, John D. “Jack” Dolmage (1890-1962), Alberta Helena Dolmage (1893-1959), Frances Elizabeth Willard Dolmage (1895-1991, wife of Harold Vincent Waldon), Ewart Reginald Dolmage, and Grace Louise Dolmage (1903-1998, wife of James Henry Bredin). He was a member of the Independent Order of Foresters, Royal Templars, and Methodist Church. He served as Mayor of Souris (1907-1909, 1913) and Secretary-Treasurer of the Rural Municipality of Glenwood.

He died suddenly, at his son’s homestead in southern Saskatchewan, on 29 April 1914.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dolmage Building (5 Crescent Avenue West, Souris, Municipality of Souris-Glenwood)

Sources:

Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

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

“Ex-mayor Dolmage of Souris dead,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 April 1914 [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B6]

Death registrations, British Columbia Vital Statistics.

Obituary [Willard Walden], Winnipeg Free Press, 26 December 1991, page 49.

McDougall family tree, Ancestry.

We thank Nathan Kramer, Katharine Schultz, and Murray Peterson for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 30 April 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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