(died 27 Feb. 1913, aged 60, or by another account in his 62nd year), businessman. Born presumably 3rd Concession of Lancaster Township, GC. Parents: Finlay McGregor and his wife, whose name was probably Annie McGregor. He attended the primary schools of the 4th Concession of Lancaster and Lancaster village. He was married on 10 April 1883 to Janet Agnes Helps (d. 4 March 1939) of Bainsville. There appear to have been no children. John F. McGregor was in the hay and grain business at Lancaster till 1890, when he moved to Alexandria, carrying on the same business there in partnership with J. F. McRae. “When the well known firm of Lovell & Christmas Limited, Montreal, as exporters of butter and cheese, etc., was established, Mr. McGregor received the appointment of representing the firm throughout the Eastern Ontario District and soon became a recognized authority in that line of business, and coming into contact with prominent business and professional men there was no man more widely known and deservedly esteemed throughout the whole of the district.” (obituary, Glengarry News) At least at the beginning of this role in the cheese trade, he was still evidently associated with McRae. McGregor and McRae were said to have handled over a million dollars worth of cheese in the 1899 season. (GN 1 Dec. 1899) McGregor was at least once (1905) referred to by the title “Cheese King,” usually reserved for his contemporary D. M. Macpherson. For the last three years of his life McGregor was manager of the Glengarry Mills (the gristmill) in Alexandria. At the end of his life, also, he was president of the Lawrence Dairy Supply Co. of Ottawa. And he was also at one time a director of the Eastern Ontario Dairymen’s Association, and likewise a member of the Alexandria Town Council.

     In the federal election of 26 Oct. 1908, McGregor was the Conservative candidate for the GC seat but was defeated by J. A. McMillan, the Liberal candidate. (Glengarry News 30 Oct. 1908) During the election campaign, McGregor stated that, as a businessman, he put several hundred thousand dollars a year in circulation in GC. (Cornwall Freeholder 23 Oct. 1908) Somewhat surprisingly, before McGregor got the Conservative nomination for this election it had been offered to Donald (later Sir Donald) MacMaster, who, however, refused, as he already had in prospect the glittering prize of a seat in the British House of Commons. In 1909, McGregor was the secretary of GC’s newly-formed Highland Society. (GN 15 Oct. 1909) McGregor suffered from Bright’s Disease. He died at his home in Alexandria. Presbyterian. Mason. He was one of the speakers at the St. Jean Baptiste celebrations at Alexandria in 1905. (GN 30 June 1905)

Glengarry News 7 March 1913 (with portrait); the Cornwall Standard (the Conservative paper) is missing for all of 1913 on microfilm, and the Cornwall Freeholder seems to have had no obituary or death notice * obituary of his wife, Glengarry News 10 March 1939 * Fraser, Gravestones, II, 225 * buys interest in Glen Gordon cheese factory, GN 20 March 1908 * nominated Conservative candidate, GN 28 Aug. 1908 * widow sells her house in Alexandria, GN 8 Aug. 1919