James Arthur Mathieu
{{short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = James Arthur Mathieu
| image = JA Mathieu.jpg
| office1 = Ontario MPP
| term_start1 = December 11, 1911
| term_end1 = May 10, 1923
| predecessor1 = William Alfred Preston
| successor1 = John Fullarton Callan
| constituency1 = Rainy River
| term_start2 = December 1, 1926
| term_end2 = September 17, 1929
| predecessor2 = John Fullarton Callan
| successor2 = William Herbert Elliott
| constituency2 = Rainy River
| party = Conservative
| birth_date = {{birth date|1869|08|21}}
| birth_place = Alma, Wisconsin
| death_date = {{death date and age|1966|11|23|1869|08|21}}
| death_place =
| spouse =
| children =
| profession = Lumber merchant
}}
James Arthur Mathieu (August 21, 1869 – November 23, 1966) was known as "the last of the lumber kings,"{{cite news|last= Smith|first= Jessica|date= October 5, 2011|title= From the Last of the Lumber Kings, to the Softwood Lumber Dispute|url= http://atikokanprogress.ca/2011/10/05/from-the-last-of-the-lumber-kings-to-the-softwood-lumber-dispute/|newspaper= Atikokan Progress|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151226040752/http://atikokanprogress.ca/2011/10/05/from-the-last-of-the-lumber-kings-to-the-softwood-lumber-dispute/|archive-date= December 26, 2015|url-status= dead}} as well as "the Mighty Man of the Woods" and "the Lath King of America."{{cite news |author= |title= Lumbermen To Honor Mighty Woodsman|url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19620212&id=KMAtAAAAIBAJ&pg=3243,1740238&hl=en|newspaper= The Montreal Gazette|date= February 12, 1962}} Born in Alma, Wisconsin.,{{cite book |editor-last= Normandin|editor-first= Pierre G.|date= 1914|title= Canadian Parliamentary Guide|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zaQKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Mathieu,+james+arthur%22+rainy+river|page= 320}} he became an Ontario lumber merchant, philanthropist and political figure. He represented Rainy River in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario initially as a Liberal-Conservative in 1911, and then as a Conservative from 1914 to 1923 and 1926 to 1929.
Biography
Having worked in his youth as a log driver on the Mississippi River, Mathieu came to Rainy River from Minnesota around 1903 as a manager of the Rainy River Lumber Company's sawmill, later becoming manager and vice-president at the Shevlin-Clarke Company.{{cite news |author= |title= J.A. Mathieu Esq., M.P.P.|url= http://www.fftimes.com/100-years-100-stories/mathieu.html|newspaper= Fort Frances Times and Rainy Lake Herald|date= April 15, 1913}} He was later involved in controversy as part of what became known as the "Old Tory Timber Ring,"{{sfn|Gillis|Roach|1986|p=100}} when fellow Conservative Howard Ferguson, as Minister of Lands and Forests, arranged for the sale of three timber limits in the Quetico Forest Reserve to Shevlin-Clarke for less than half the price they would have normally fetched,{{sfn|Nelles|2005|p=386}} and the company later paid a fine of $1.5 million for breaching the Crown Timber Act.{{cite news|title = Mixed Division on Timber Bill in Legislature|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19220327&id=E58uAAAAIBAJ&pg=4099,7015454|newspaper = Ottawa Citizen|date = March 27, 1922|page = 2}}, discussing the adoption of {{Cite canlaw|short title =The Shevlin-Clarke Timber License Act, 1922|abbr =S.O.|year =1922|chapter = 20|link=https://archive.org/stream/statutesofprovin1922onta#page/102/mode/2up }} The transactions were criticized in a subsequent inquiry.{{cite news|title = Lumber Company is Charged with Fraud|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=22&dat=19201102&id=JhI7AAAAIBAJ&pg=631,22002270|newspaper = Toronto World|date = November 2, 1920|page = 5}}
In 1921, he left Shevlin-Clarke and founded J.A. Mathieu Limited, which set up a mill at Rainy Lake.{{cite news |author= |title= Fort Frances: Where Manufacturing of Lumber, Paper, Machinery produces Wealth|url= http://www.fftimes.com/100-years-100-stories/ffproduceswealth.html|newspaper= Fort Frances Times and Rainy Lake Herald|date= December 10, 1925}} The company opened another sawmill in 1945 at Sapawe Lake, near Atikokan.{{cite web |url= http://www.borealforest.org/index.php?category=ont_nw_forest&page=history|title= The Past: A Symbolic History|author= |website= borealforest.org|publisher= Lakehead University}}{{cite web|url=http://atikokaninfo.com/aedc/communityProfile/acrobat/Chapter01_Profile_intro.pdf |title=Atikokan Community Profile |website=atikokaninfo.com |publisher=Atikokan Economic Development Corporation |page=3 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091529/http://atikokaninfo.com/aedc/communityProfile/acrobat/Chapter01_Profile_intro.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 }} He was instrumental in pioneering the use of mechanized equipment in the woods (while other firms were still relying mainly on horses), as well as in using aircraft.{{cite news |author= |title= J.A. Mathieu|url= http://www.fftimes.com/100-years-100-stories/mathieu.html|newspaper= Fort Frances Times and Rainy Lake Herald|date= November 23, 1966}} After his death, the company was acquired by Domtar.
He set up an educational foundation to provide financial assistance for students from the area, for which he was honoured in 1958 by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation. Mathieu also established a wildlife reserve and help fund community projects in the region. During his time in the provincial assembly, he helped promote the development of roads to encourage settlement in the district. He also served as President of the Northern Pine Manufacturers Association for 22 years.
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |last1= Gillis|first1= R. Peter|last2= Roach|first2= Thomas R.|date= 1986|title= Lost Initiatives: Canada's Forest Industries, Forest Policy, and Forest Conservation|journal= Contributions in Economics and Economic History|url= https://archive.org/details/lostinitiativesc0000gill|url-access= registration|page= [https://archive.org/details/lostinitiativesc0000gill/page/103 103]|location= Westport|publisher= Greenwood Press|isbn=0-313-25415-X|issn=0084-9235}}
- {{cite book |first= H.V.|last=Nelles|title= Politics of Development: Forests, Mines, and Hydro-Electric Power in Ontario, 1849{{en dash}}1941|edition=2nd|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=N9DRjjxZRPQC&pg=PP1|year= 2005|publisher= McGill-Queen's University Press|isbn= 0-7735-2758-3}}
External links
- [http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_all_detail.do?locale=en&ID=1486 Member's parliamentary history for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathieu, James A}}
Category:People from Alma, Wisconsin
Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs
Category:People from Rainy River District
Category:American emigrants to Canada
Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario