| HARMER, William 'Silent Bill' |
Known as Silent Bill Harmer, he represented Edmonton in the Senate.
He is of Sussex England Harmer stock, the family came over to Kingston,
Ontario in 1836 and most of them finished up working for the rail roads.
William's line moved to Napanee, Ontario, just west of Kingston - at age
19 he went west to Alberta, was the station agent at Canmore when he married
in 1895 or 1898. He eventually became deputy minister for railways in Alberta
- a big friend of Sifton. He had one daughter who died young, his wife
left him and she died in Victoria at quite an old age. When Sifton came
to power he put Bill Harmer into the Senate around 1918 and he stayed there
until 1947 when he died - he still represented Alberta but lived in Ottawa
and Napanee and seldom went back to Alberta - much to their chagrin. He
was called "Silent" Bill because in all those years in the Senate he only
spoke 89 words but he was there for every vote and was a good member in
that respect.
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| HATFIELD, Charles Mallory |
In the spring of 1921 a group of farmers near Medicine Hat arranged for
Hatfield to come north from California where he had some fame as a rainmaker.
Hatfield built a cabin and pair of towers near an alkali slough called
Chappice Lake. In May crops got off to a good start with nearly 1.5 inches
of rain. More rain fell in June but in July farmers once more had dry fields.
With criticism mounting, Hatfield accepted $2,500, somewhat less than his
original fee, and headed for home.
- Source - Alberta History Along the Highway by Ted Stone
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| HERRON, William |
William Herron's Calgary Petroleum Products Company is credited with the
discovery of Alberta's first major oil and gas field near Turner Valley
in 1914. Herron was a rancher from Ontario who was interested in petroleum
geology and began exploration drilling near Turner Valley after encountering
some oil seepage in the area.
- Source - Alberta History Along the Highway by Ted Stone
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