James Levison Ross was the son of Captain John R. Ross, merchant and ship owner, and Mary B. McKeddie, formerly of Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. His birth occurred in the year 1848 at Cromarty, Scotland and, after attending Inverness Royal Academy in his native land, he continued his learning about railway, harbour and water works in England for a few years.
In 1868, Ross came to North America and applied his talents to the rapidly expanding North American railway industry. In 1870 he was appointed resident engineer of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad; he subsequently became its chief engineer. In 1872 Mr. Ross was united in marriage to Miss Annie Kerr, a daughter of the late John Kerr of Kingston, New York, and sheriff of Ulster County. In 1873 he went west to become resident engineer of the Wisconsin Central Railroad. He held the same post with the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad. Work on the Lake Ontario line brought Ross into contact with George Laidlaw and other ambitious railway promoters from Ontario with excellent political and financial connections. When Mr. Ross arrived in Canada, the country was deeply engrossed in the discussion of free trade versus protection. Realizing the potential benefits to Canada, he espoused the cause then championed by Sir John A MacDonald and Sir Charles Tupper, both as regards to the fiscal policy of the Dominion and their railway program. By 1876, Ross was working in Canada and he and his wife were settled in Lindsay, Ontario, where their only child, John Kenneth Levison Ross, was born. As Manager and chief engineer of the Victoria Railway between Lindsay and Haliburton, ON, Ross also served in 1878–79 as construction manager for the Credit Valley Railway. In the late 1800s, James Ross' parents moved to Canada and also settled in Lindsay. In later years, he would honour their memory by constructing a hospital there. James Ross took control of the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway west of Winnipeg in 1883 after the CPR syndicate became dissatisfied with its American contractors, and in 1885 he completed the most difficult portion of the main line from Calgary over the Rocky and Selkirk Mountain Ranges. He enjoyed the full confidence of CPR's general manager, William Cornelius Van Horne, to such an extent that he was granted a generous bonus upon completion of the work. In 1886 Ross was appointed manager of construction for the CPR's Ontario and Quebec Railway to fill in the gaps. He took up his residence in Montreal in 1888. Mr. Ross and his contractors agreed to extend the system from Montreal to Bangor, Maine, with an extension to St. John. He formed a strong partnership with three of his best contractors - Mann (grading roadbeds) Mackenzie (organizing the ties, trestles and bridges) and Holt (laying track and finishing up) - to build three prairie lines. The talented foursome took advantage of economic opportunities by incorporating several land promotion and development companies with Ross serving as president of the Calgary and Edmonton Land Company, the Canada Land and Investment Company, and the Columbia River Lumber Company. Thereafter, Ross was responsible for electrifying many street railways, such as those in Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, St. John, etc. He also did work of a similar character in England and Jamaica, and was the first president of the Mexican Power Company which developed an immense water power at Nacaxa, and controlled the electric business of the City of Mexico. In perhaps his final involvement with railroads, James Ross was paid a US$20 million consultant's fee for advising both Lord Strathcona (Sir Donald Smith) and William Mackenzie on railway contracts involvong just two countries in South America (Argentina and Chile). As a keen sailor and an honorary commodore of the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, Ross was a member of the New York Yacht Club, and the first Canadian member of the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Thames Yacht Club in England. During these years, having retired from active participation in railroad interests, Ross saw the great need for steel and formed a syndicate to buy the Dominion Coal Company of Cape Breton becoming its vice-president. Investing in further shares independently, Ross built up such a huge stake in Dominion Coal that he was invited to become the managing director of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company in 1901. However, his influence could not resolve a long contract dispute between the two for the supply of high-grade coal at a disadvantageous price, which resulted in a case review at the High Court of Justice in London, England. Although fault was found on both sides, the contract was found to be legal. Ross resigned from both boards, thus allowing a merger in late 1909. The status of James Ross as a commodore was greatly enhanced in 1912 when he purchased the luxurious steam yacht Liberty owned by Joseph Pulitzer. He renamed it the Glencairn and undertook a world cruise to restore his health. The yacht required a staff of sixty-five and had a full auditorium, numerous staterooms, and first-class dining-rooms. Unfortunately, the cruise failed to restore Ross’s health. He returned to Montreal after his cruise, but his heart condition deteriorated and in September 1913 he died at his home in Montreal. |
MARY McKEDDIE WIFE OF JOHN ROSS BORN IN SCOTLAND 1826 DIED IN TORONTO 1896 |
JOHN ROSS BORN AT CROMARTY SCOTLAND DIED IN SCOTLAND 5 OCTOBER 1889 _____ JOHN ROSS, SON OF ABOVE BORN 1852 . DIED 1893 |
Links to References:Cordova Bay Station on the world wide web Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta History of the Seawanhaka Cup PLUS photo of James Ross and Glencairn II McCord Museum of Canadian History Old Time Trains by webmaster, R. L. Kennedy Quebec Encyclopedia of History - See James Ross under R. Rootsweb Ancestry Ross Memorial Hospital - Lindsay, Ontario * Kim Coulter, RMH Employee and Community Relations (See also acknowledgements) Wikipedia Link |
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