AHOF Members archive

Born at Ellesville, Ontario and reared on a farm, Hon. John Bracken was a graduate of the Ontario Agricultural College. Moving west as a young man, he became professor of field husbandry at the University of Saskatchewan from 1910 to 1920. During his teaching career, Bracken wrote two books: Crop Production in Western Canada and Dry Farming in Western Canada. These were major contributions at the time, as no other compilation of existing data had been made in Western Canada. In 1920, he was named president of the Manitoba Agricultural College. Soon after becoming president, Bracken was appointed to chair an Agricultural Extension Council, organized to maintain close co-operation in agricultural extension activities. A related activity which Bracken organized was...

W.J. Black was born at Mansfield, Dufferin County, Ontario in 1872. He attended the Ontario Agricultural College and graduated with his B.S.A. in 1901. Following graduation, he moved west to Winnipeg and took over as the editor-in-chief of the Farmer’s Advocate from 1902-03. In 1913, he was instrumental in establishing the Canadian Boys and Girls Clubs in conjunction with Edgar Ward Jones. He was appointed Manitoba’s deputy minister of agriculture in 1905 and in the same year he was appointed the first president of the Manitoba Agricultural College and professor of animal husbandry, a position he held for 10 years. Much of the development of the Manitoba Agricultural College can be attributed to Dr. Black’s sense of duty and dedication...

Dr. James Reynolds Bell was born at Clearwater, Manitoba, the son of pioneer homesteaders Thomas and Annie Bell. He attended high school at Clearwater and worked on his father’s farm prior to his enrollment in the Manitoba Agricultural College at the University of Manitoba in 1912. He graduated from the college with a B.S.A. degree. Mr. Bell entered the Manitoba Civil Service as an agricultural representative for the Portage la Prairie district, one of a group of five who were appointed as the first agricultural representatives. In 1923 he was transferred to the position of livestock field man with the department’s extension service and later he became livestock commissioner. He stayed on as commissioner for 26 years. Mr. Bell helped...

Spencer Argyle Bedford was born at Busted, Sussex, England in 1851. His family emigrated to Canada when Spencer Bedford was eleven years old and took up land in Ontario. Here he learned the art of surveying and was soon guiding parties of settlers into the west in search of land. He traveled widely with Dr. W. Saunders to select suitable sites for the Experimental Farms in Manitoba and Northwest Territories and aided in the establishment of the Central Farm in Ottawa. In 1888 he was appointed the first superintendent of the Experimental Farm in Brandon. His early work involved the development of the best methods for bringing the prairies under cultivation and the introduction of many varieties of cereals, grasses,...

Percy Beachell was born February 2, 1874 in Yorkshire, England, one of 15 children. The family immigrated to Canada in 1889, coming to Portage la Prairie, then on to Rosser where Percy was to live the rest of his life. He married Stella Briggs in 1918, raising daughter Joy and son Alan, who still lives on the home farm. His love for hunting kept his family well supplied with meat in those early days. Mr. Beachell was elected to the RM of Rosser in 1914 and held office until 1921. He was elected Reeve in 1922 and remained in office until 1953. Percy was also a member of the Good Roads Association for 40 years, 20 of these as President....

John Barron was born and educated at Elora, Ontario. He moved to Manitoba in 1878 and homesteaded near Carberry, having been one of the first settlers in this area. In 1882, Mr. Barron established one of the best Shorthorn herds in Canada. His farm was known as the “Fairview Stock Farm” and the quality of his breeding stock was the finest. The men that came after Mr. Barron had the advantage of obtaining excellent foundation stock from his herd in exhibitions all over Canada. Mr. Barron’s name topped the prize list. In 1897 he swept the field at the Industrial Exhibition in Winnipeg. Mr. Barron’s achievements were recognized by the Manitoba Shorthorn Breeder’s Association at a banquet held in his...

In 1952 Massey Ferguson of Switzerland encouraged Swiss born Charles Balmer to visit Winnipeg for training. He stayed and went on to influence the agriculture industry in many positive ways as an inventor, innovator, designer and entrepreneur. From 1953 to 1977 he worked as an ag-mechanic for Elie Motors, a J.I. Case dealer. Here his talent and passion for equipment blossomed. Following his identification and rectification of the engineering faults on a customer’s combine in 1955, the J.I. Case Company hired him to develop similar retrofit kits for 200 combines in Canada. By 1961 he had acquired his pilot’s license and became one of Manitoba’s pioneer aerial applicators. He established Elie Airspray, a custom ground and aerial application company serving...

Clarence Baker was born to Anton and Pauline Baker on July 7, 1928 in Cromwell, Manitoba. Anton immigrated to Canada with his parents from Beckersdorf, Austria in 1896. In 1951 Clarence and his new bride, Ilene Weidman, took over the third generation family farm which included the 240 acres of land that his grandfather had purchased shortly after arriving in Manitoba. Working as a team, the Bakers expanded their farm operation while raising their five children: Corrine, Debbie, Andy, Curtis and Terry. In 1998 the farm was recognized as a Century Farm. Clarence and Ilene’s grandsons, Drew, Reid and Riley Baker are the fifth generation to work the land alongside their parents, Andy and Jan. Clarence was an innovative, progressive...