MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
JAMES GARSON BEWS - 1872-1936
James Garson Bews was an early Pioneer of the Longview
He was of a restless nature so with his strong and
At one time he owned a Quarter Section of land where
In 1902 he came to the Longview district where he
On January 13, 1904, they were married in
district, west of High River. He was born Oct. 1, 1872,
the son of a Scottish farmer, Peter Bews, and Margaret
Glouston in Sandwich, Orkney Islands. His father, when
a young lad, worked in the services of the Hudson Bay
Company at York Factory. His father's stories of
adventure in this new land fired Jim with enthusiasm
for Canada, so in March of 1889 he bid his homeland
farewell and sailed for this new land. He came West
to Calgary by train, then on to Edmonton by ox-cart.
There he made his home with his cousin, Tom Houston.
It wasn't long until he found employment in Norris &
Carey's Trading Post. Many experiences he had here
with the Indians and Traders.
vigorous physique he plunged into the adventures of
frontier life. He engaged in hunting, trapping and
prospecting where his pursuits brought him to the
Pembina and Peace Rivers and Lesser Slave Lake
areas. His stories of these early days clothed in
picturesque and vivid language were a delight to his
friends and family.
the City of Edmonton now stands. The man he sold it
to became very rich by reselling it in City lots when
the railway came through. He bought cattle with this
money and in 1898 trailed them to west of Okotoks
where he had a homestead. While here he worked for
the Lineham Lumber Company and at the Quorn Ranch.
He married Bella Cameron and not long after she died.
rode the range; took fencing and haying contracts and
worked for a time with John Sullivan on the ranch that
was later destined to be his. While working in the
Longview district he met the kind, vivacious, Irish
widow Agnes Clancy O'Donaghue.
James Rooney's home by Father Dubois. After
his marriage he sold his homestead west of Okotoks
and proved up on Agnes' homestead in the Longview
district.
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