Memorable Manitobans: Joseph William Gordon (1868-1954)

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Joseph William Gordon
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Educator, school inspector.

Born at Tweed, Ontario on 4 December 1868, he came to Manitoba in 1892 and worked for a time as a Methodist lay preacher at Wawanesa. He then attended the Brandon Normal School and taught school at Wawanesa School (1897), Arden School (?-?), and Souris School (?-?).

In 1910, he was appointed a Manitoba School Inspector based at Morden. He later became Principal of the Manitou Normal School. In 1931 he was transferred to Winnipeg and worked as a School Inspector in the Kildonan area. He retired in June 1938.

He and wife Elizabeth Blackburn “Bernie” Bragg (1879-1969) had three daughters: Ethel May Gordon (1902-?), Evelyn Ruth Gordon (1907-1976, wife of Simpson N. McElheran), and Grace Winnifred Gordon (1909-?, wife of George Ellison Weightman). He was President of the Manitoba Educational Association (1918-1919), and a member of the Masons (Manitou Lodge No. 30), Mentor’s Club, and Manitoba Educational Association.

He died at his Winnipeg home, 288 Niagara Street, on 13 June 1954 and was buried in the Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens.

Sources:

“The Indian famine fund,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 March 1897, page 4.

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Birth registrations [Evelyn Ruth Gordon, Grace Winnifred Gordon], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Marriage registration [Ethel May Gordon, Grace Winnifred Gordon, George Ellison Weightman], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Former principal of Normal School J. W. Gordon dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 June 1954, page 43.

“Former Manitoba School Inspector buried Tuesday,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 June 1954.

The History of the Manitoba Educational Association by Ernest Butterworth, MEd thesis, Faculty of Graduate Study and Research, University of Manitoba, 1965.

Obituary [Elizabeth B. Gordon], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 January 1969, page 33.

Obituary [Evelyn Ruth McElheran], Wpg, 14 January 1976, page 53.

We thank Curt Belton and Al Thorleifson for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 26 May 2017

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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