Honorable Mention

John Lemuel Vincent, the son of John William Vincent and Mary Ann Rogers, was born in River John, Nova Scotia, died in Chicago, IL and married a girl named Maria Giles (Della) Henderson McRobie in Winnipeg, MB.

John was a printer and I believe he ended up in Chicago working with a brother of Maria's at a print shop.  However, Maria & John divorced and she remarried a horse dealer by the name of Charles H Reed.  It doesn't appear to have gone well for John L after the break up as his death certificate puts his place of death at the local jail.

Just an aside from the left field - my 3x grandfather, Robert, was into horse racing and even owned a couple of horses and there was a Nova Scotian by the name of John Sydney Osborne Vincent who was a jockey - could be they all travelled in the same circles.

Anyways, lets get back on track......

Maria's parents, William Orme McRobie and Hellen Reid Craib from Scotland, initially settled in Ontario then moved to Winnipeg. He was the first fire Chief of Winnipeg and invented the fire extinguisher!

It is rumoured that he was known to ride his horse into the local bar for a pint! I love the family stories (see his find a grave memorial)!!!

Here's a bit of write up on Mr McRobie from the The Manitoba Historical Society - Memorial Manitobans: Pioneers and Early Citizens of Manitoba

Photo by Jim Hicks

Fireman.
"Born at Perthshire, Scotland in 1838. With his parents he emigrated to Canada and settled in Montreal in 1850. He joined the volunteer fire brigade of Montreal when only 14 years of age as a torch boy, and was promoted to the position of branchman at 19. When the paid brigade of Montreal was organized he was appointed foreman, and in 1872 he was given the position of captain of the salvage corps, from which he resigned in 1881 to write his memoirs, Fighting the Flames.

After finishing his book he became a traveller with the Canadian Rubber Company until June 1882, when he accepted the position of Winnipeg's first Fire Chief at a salary of $1,800 per year. He held this position until his retirement in 1889. He then took up the manufacture of chemical fire extinguishers, and travelled all over western Canada selling his invention.

McRobie was active in Winnipeg municipal life until his death, which occurred on 12 May 1908."

Books by William McRobie