(1823-10 Nov. l874) (dates of death 14 and 17 Dec. l874 also found), political figure. Born on Lot 5, 1st Concession of Indian Lands, Charlottenburgh Township, GC. Parents: James Craig and his wife Helen Frue. Besides being a farmer in the Glen Walter area, GC, James Craig, the subject of the present entry, was involved in lumbering and in the sale of wood, presumably as a locomotive fuel, to the Grand Trunk Railway. He is said to have built the Craig Cheese Factory, which was demolished in 1909. (Cornwall Standard 30 April 1909, Glen Walter column) He was a member of Charlottenburgh Township Council, and in 1862 was warden of SDG . He was GC’s first MLA after Confederation, elected in 1867, and re-elected in 1871, and serving till his death. Not readily definable in terms of Liberal or Conservative, as these words were understood a generation later, he was a supporter of premier John Sandfield Macdonald’s coalition, and has been called both a Coalition Reformer and a Conservative. James Craig was an elder in St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Cornwall, and he was the superintendent of a Sunday School in his neighbourhood. Also, he was a Mason. He is buried at Salem Church cemetery, Summerstown.

     James Craig was married to Flora MacLeod (1825-14 Feb.1889), who was a first cousin of Sir Roderick Cameron. It may be noted that the historic ship James Craig, in Sir Roderick’s fleet 1887-1900 and restored in Australia in recent years, was known as the Clan Macleod during the Cameron period of ownership, so we cannot claim in this connection any attempt to honour the GC James Craig. James and Flora Craig’s nine children included (1) James J. Craig, who was also a Conservative MLA, though not for GC, (2) Helen (d. 1933), who in March 1875 married George Bryson, son of the lumber baron George Bryson of Fort Coulonge, Que., (3) Flora, the youngest daughter, who married Farquhar Robertson. James Craig’s brother Robert Craig (1813-1896), a successful businessman who was born in Argyllshire, Scotland, was a tanner at Glen Walter and later in Cornwall, where he “built the old stone tannery on Pitt street.” (his obituary, Cornwall Freeholder 16 Oct. 1896)

Harkness 225 (portrait), 227, 240 * obituary, The Presbyterian 1874 p. 275 * gravestone * MacMillan, Kirk, 390-391 * Roderick Lewis 94 * Hodgins 90, 114 * Macleods, ii, 482-483 * Bryson family: Morgan (1898, 1912); Dictionary of Canadian Biography XII, 134-135; obituary Standard Freeholder 10 May 1937 of George Bryson, married to Helen Craig * obituary of Mrs James Craig, undated clipping, ASC ii, 31 * Bibliography of Glengarry 119: ship James Craig