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James Wheeler Davidson was born in Austin, Minnesota in 1872 and educated at the Northwestern Military Academy. After a brief stint organizing tours for members of the local opera house, he was invited to join Peary’s second Greenland expedition in 1893. After this fifteen-month adventure was complete, he returned briefly to Minnesota and then went to Formosa as a war correspondent in the Sino-Japanese war of 1895. He was appointed US consul agent in Formosa in 1896, a position he held until 1903, when he was transferred to Manchuria and then to Shanghai the following year. He wrote extensively during this period, and his book The Island of Formosa, Past and Present, published in 1903, is still considered one of the primary authoritative books on Taiwanese history.

Davidson returned to the U.S. in 1905 suffering from typhoid and met his future wife, Lillian Dow, on the ship coming home. They married in 1906 and moved to Winnipeg, where he started his life as a businessman in Canada. The couple moved to Calgary in 1907 and in 1915, their daughter Marjory was born. Together with his brother, C.H. Davidson, and investors from the U.S., James was involved in a number of successful business ventures, including the Calgary Colonization Company, the Crown Lumber Company, and the Royalite Oil Company. He was also actively involved in a number of different initiatives in Calgary, including the construction of the Lougheed Building, the Calgary Symphony Orchestra, the Alberta Motor Association, and the Calgary-Banff Tourist Development Association.

Davidson began his involvement with Rotary in 1914. In 1919, he became the President of the Calgary District Rotary Club, and for the remainder of his life, Rotary would play an increasingly important role. In 1921, he travelled to Australia and New Zealand with James L. Ralston, and they were successful in generating enthusiasm for Rotary and instrumental in getting several new clubs chartered. After increasing involvement locally and nationally with Rotary, James, Lillian and Marjory embarked on a thirty-two month trip in 1928 to Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Jerusalem, India and the Far East. The purpose of the trip was to promote the expansion of Rotary clubs across the world, and they were successful in getting 23 Rotary clubs chartered in 12 different countries. Throughout this period, James submitted regular reports to Rotary International about his progress, and Lillian maintained detailed journals and contributed regular articles about their travels to The Rotarian magazine.

The Davidson family returned to Canada in 1931 and were enthusiastically welcomed home by their Rotarian family at a large formal dinner in Vancouver. In 1932, the family moved to Vancouver, as James was in failing health. In 1933, at the age of 61, James passed away. Tributes poured in from all over the world after his passing, as he had met and touched so many lives. A lasting tribute to James proposed by the Alberta Motor Association and the Royal Club of Calgary was the dedication of Mount Davidson, near Banff, Alberta.

Lillian and Marjory continued their involvement with Rotary for many years, and they kept an active correspondence with many of the people they met on their travels. Lillian was asked to speak at various Rotary events, and her articles about their Rotary extension trip were published in a book, Making New Friends, in 1934. Marjory also spoke at Rotary events, including the Rotary International Convention in Taiwan in 1994.

George H. Cloakey, 1869-1950, was born in Huron County, Ontario. In 1882 his family moved to a farm in Michigan, USA and then in 1893 to a farm near Olds, Alberta. He later moved into the Town of Olds to engage in real estate, while still operating the farm where he raised Belgian horses. In 1892 he married Lila Edwards, 1868-?, and they had one son, George H. Cloakey, 1900-1979.

George Sr. also became a ranch inspector for the Provincial Government and a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) land agent. After 1918 he invested heavily in the petroleum industry and moved to Calgary. He was President of Seneca Oil & Gas Company. George H. Jr. was the president of Britalta Oils and was heavily involved in the oil industry all of his life. He also served as Chairman of the Calgary General Hospital.

Cloakey was a member of the Renfrew and Petroleum Clubs. He was a long-time Conservative Party worker and a friend of John Diefenbaker. He was married three times, the last to Grace Leavenworth Winter, ?-1982. He had two sons George H. Cloakey and Edward Cloakey by his first marriages.

The Sparrow family was among the original Calgary pioneers. Angus Charles Sparrow (1853-1912) came to Calgary from Ottawa around 1882. His wife, Harriet Ann Mooney (1855-1914), joined him in 1883 accompanied by their daughters, May and Janet. Their third daughter, Hattie, born in 1884, was the second white woman born in Calgary. The Sparrows had another seven children, Evelyn, Albert, Christine, Frank, Jack, Roy (Buck) and Mona.

Charles Sparrow II, 1830-?, and Angus Charles Sparrow, 1854?-1912 were half-brothers, sons of Charles Sparrow, 1808-1896, one-time Mayor of Ottawa, Ontario. Charles II served as the first Treasurer of the Town of Calgary, established the town's first butcher shop, and established the V-Bar-V Ranch north of Atlee, Alberta. Angus Charles was a partner in his brother's butcher business for a while, and established the Sparrow Ranch in the Red Deer Lake district south of Calgary, the Bottrell Ranch near Dog Pound, Alberta, the Hippo Ranch near Strathmore, Alberta, and a farm which occupied the present-day Manchester and Elboya districts of Calgary. Angus Charles married Harriet Anne Mooney, 1855-1914 in Ottawa, and they had eleven children. Their fifth child, Evelyn Mary, 1886-1971, married Aloysius Goodenough Plunkett, 1875?-1959, co-founder of the wholesale firm Plunkett and Savage. Evelyn and A. G. had four children, including Patrick Plunkett, S.J., a Catholic priest.

Hugh Beynon Hesketh-Biggs, 1876-1941, was born in Lahore, India and emigrated to the Rosebud Valley area west of Drumheller, Alberta in 1893. He bought the Springfield Ranch that same year, and in 1906 married Mabel Florence James, 1881-1970. Mabel emigrated from Guernsey, England in 1903 and trained as a nurse at the Banff Sanitarium before her marriage. The Biggs had four daughters, Marion Phyllis, 1909-2013, Doris (Hutchinson), 1910-?, Myrtle Agnes, 1912-1998, and Rachel (Kilsdonk), 1915-2012. The town which grew up around the Springfield Ranch was named Beynon after Hugh.

For further information see "The Springfield Ranch" / Kenneth W. Tingley. -- Alberta Culture, Historic Sites Service, 1982; "Hugh Beynon Biggs, Ranch Photographer" in Alberta History. -- vol. 26, no. 3, (Summer 1978), p. 13-20; and J. H. Turner's article, "Springfield Ranch : A Picture Story Going Back to 1892" in Canadian Cattlemen. -- vol. 22, no.6 (June 1959), p. 12-13, 41.

Gilbert Edward Sanders, 1863-1955, was born at Yale, British Columbia, the son of Edward Howard and Annie Moresby Sanders. He was educated in England and the Royal Military College in Kingston. He received a commission in the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) in 1884 and served under General Middleton during the Riel Rebellion. In 1884, he married Caroline Augusta Jukes, 1859-1938, daughter of NWMP Senior Surgeon Augustus Jukes. They had two daughters, Phoebe (Toole), 1890-1980, and Constance (Pearson), 1892-1982.

He remained in the NWMP until 1911, and at various times was stationed in Saskatchewan at Maple Creek, Battleford and Regina, and in Alberta at Calgary, Fort Macleod and Athabasca Landing. He interrupted his police career to fight in the South African War, during which he commanded "D" Squadron of the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles. In 1911, he was appointed a police magistrate in Calgary. During the First World War, he commanded the 2nd Canadian Pioneers. He resumed his position as police magistrate after the war, until his retirement in 1932. He was president of the Ranchmen's Club in Calgary from 1921 to 1923.

For further information see Thomas Thorner and Neil Watson's article, "Keeper of the King's Peace : Colonel G.E. Sanders and the Calgary Police Magistrate's Court, 1911-1932", in Urban History Review. - vol. 12, no. 3 (February 1984), p. 45-55.

Herbert Trussler, ?-[ca. 1943], moved from Ontario to Alberta in 1896 and homesteaded in the New Norway district, near Wetaskiwin, Alberta. He married Nellie Orr in 1898 and they had five children, Byron, Bettie (Mason), Grace (Mackey), Mary (Schaaf), and Ralph. Herbert retired to British Columbia in 1942 and died shortly after. His brother, Albert Edward Trussler, 1867-1937, moved from Ontario in 1899 to homestead close to Herbert. He was soon joined by his wife, Alice Carr Trussler, ?-1947, and their four children, Evaline (Simpson), Lawrence, Maimie (Ellam) and Fern (Hamren). They shared a sod house with Herbert until a wooden house was constructed in 1900.

The Trusslers subsequently had seven other children, Harold, Ivy (Farmer), Arnold, Ruby (Trussler), Thomas, Wilma Iolene (Fowlow), and Ernest. They moved into Wetaskiwin from about 1911 to 1915 so the children could attend high school, then returned to the farm. Fred Taylor of Lacombe and his family in Delisle, Saskatchewan were friends of the Trussler family in Kitchener, Ontario.

Joseph Edward Eckersley, 1853-1907, was born in England and came to Medicine Hat, Alberta in 1887. In 1889 he moved to Calgary, Alberta where he was active as a quarry owner and building contractor. He served as a Calgary alderman in 1901 and school trustee, 1900-1901. About 1900 he acquired a ranch and farm a few miles south of Calgary. He married Martha Booth and they had at least three children, Albert Creig, 1881-1967, Joseph Edward junior, 1894-1917, and Francis Clifford, 1898-1974.

Albert continued to operate the farm until he retired to Calgary in 1959. He and his wife Constance Emily had four children, Mary Frances, Edward Vincent, Bernice Creig (Latter), 1915-2008, and Albert Clifford, 1922-2012. Joseph died in France during the First World War.

Olaf Willison, 1860-1944, was born in Malmo Skove, Sweden and moved to Gravenhurst, Ontario in 1886. His wife, Augusta Peterson Willison, 1862-1944, was born in Lyjung, Sweden and moved to Muskoka, Ontario in 1885. They married in Ontario, and moved to Calgary, Alberta in 1900. Olaf took out a homestead just northeast of the city and farmed until his death. The Willisons had six daughters, Anne Mathilda (Stirling), 1889-1978, Ellen C. (Hall), 1891-1980, Mary Charlotte, 1894-1988, Hilda May, 1898-1984, Evelyn Augusta, 1902-1993, and Gladys Alberta, 1904-1991.

In 1915, Augusta and the daughters moved into Calgary. Anne and Ellen trained as nurses at the Holy Cross Hospital, while Mary, Hilda, Evelyn and Gladys all became teachers. Anne worked as a nurse for the Calgary Board of Education until her 1938 marriage to Will Stirling. Ellen worked as a nurse until 1925 when she married Victor Hall and moved to Idaho, USA. The Halls had one daughter, Margaret (Herzog), 1932- . Mary and Hilda taught in Calgary schools for over 30 years, and both retired in 1959. They shared the family home for most of their adult lives. Evelyn and Gladys both attended the University of Alberta. Evelyn taught in the Crowsnest Pass, at Morley, and at the School for the Deaf in Edmonton. Gladys taught in both Calgary and Edmonton. Both were active in Moral Re-Armament (originally the Oxford Group). Both were also authors: Evelyn wrote a biography of Pauline Johnson, while Gladys wrote stories about pioneer life in Alberta, and a biography of Chief Walking Buffalo. Evelyn retired to Kelowna where she shared a home with Anne until Anne's death. After Mary and Hilda died, Evelyn and Gladys shared the family home in Calgary.

Edith Phoebe Sanders, 1890-1980, was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, daughter of North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) officer Gilbert E. Sanders and Caroline Jukes Sanders. The family settled in Calgary in 1911 when her father became a police magistrate. She became engaged to Archer John Toole, 1883-1963, in 1913.

Toole, an Irish immigrant, arrived in Canada in 1908. The following year, he began work for Toole, Peet and Company Ltd., his older brother's insurance and real estate firm. Phoebe and Archer married in 1915, shortly before Archer left Canada with the 50th Battalion, Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces. Phoebe moved to Britain soon after, to be closer to her husband.

After the war, they settled in Calgary, and Archer resumed his position with Toole, Peet and Company, becoming president in 1952. William John Toole, 1927-2017, was their only surviving child. He obtained a commerce degree at the University of Alberta in 1949 and in 1951 he married Jean Anderson. He became president of Toole, Peet and Co. in 1973.