Early Life
Matthew McCauley was born July 11, 1850 in Owen Sound, Ontario to Alexander and Eleanor (née Latimer) McCauley. His father Alexander was an Irish immigrant who was born in Antrim. He moved to Canada at the age of five, and went on to become a successful farmer. Though his early years were described as him being a "typical farm boy" of the time, he received schooling from the Owen Sound Public School. McCauley desired to follow in the footsteps of this father as a farmer after his completing his education, but his restless nature and passion for adventure set him off to the west, where he first set off to Fort Garry in Manitoba.
McCauley established a livery business, the first of the kind in Winnipeg. He married Matilda Benson of Sarnia, Ontario in 1875, and resided in Winnipeg with her for the next four years, where he continued to operate his livery business. After growing restless in Winnipeg in 1879, McCauley sold his business and traveled west once again, this time to Edmonton. McCauley arrived in Edmonton in the fall of 1879 after 21 days of travelling by ox cart. He purchased a farm in Fort Saskatchewan the following spring, and farmed for two years before moving to Edmonton in 1882. In Edmonton, he opened the town's first livery and cartage business, the Edmonton Cartage Company, and a butcher shop in 1883.
Read more about this topic: Matthew Mc Cauley (politician)
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