Alphaeus Patterson (March 15, 1856 – November 4, 1931) was a politician and businessman from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. He was born in

Kemptville, Ontario Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately south of the downtown core of Ottawa and s ...

Business

Patterson founded a company with William Rae known as The Argonaut Company Ltd. in 1909 Patterson became President and Rae became the secretary-treasure. The company was primarily responsible for developing the site on Bear Creek that became modern Grande Prairie. In 1911 Patterson erected the first Store building in Grande Prairie the business was known as Paterson & Son as he ran the store and a post office from the same building with his son Jack O. Patterson.

Politics

Patterson was elected to the Alberta Legislature in the

1913 Alberta general election The 1913 Alberta general election was held in March 1913. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect 56 members to the 3rd Alberta Legislature. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July ...

. He ran in a hotly three-way contested race defeating former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) William Bredin and against his former business partner and future MLA William Rae. He served 1 term in the Assembly as a member of the official opposition and did not run for re-election. Patterson is the first member elected to the Alberta Legislature who lived in

Grande Prairie, Alberta Grande Prairie is a city in northwest Alberta, Canada within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highway), ...

. He died in 1931 in

North Saanich, British Columbia The District of North Saanich is located on the Saanich Peninsula of British Columbia, approximately north of Victoria on southern Vancouver Island. It is one of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. The District is surrounded on three side ...

Honors

Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire The Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE) is a women's charitable organization based in Canada. It provides scholarships, bursaries, book prizes, and awards, and pursues other philanthropic and educational projects in various communities ac ...

- Alphaeus Patterson chapter which operated in Grande Prairie from 1921 to 1997 was named in his honor. Grande Prairie College grants the I.O.D.E. Alphaeus Patterson Chapter Science Scholarship.

References

*http://southpeacearchives.org/imperial-order-of-the-daughters-of-the-empire-fonds/

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs People from Grande Prairie 1931 deaths 1856 births {{Alberta-politician-stub