HUGH McPHERSON One of the substantial citizens of Brandon district is Mr. Hugh McPherson, the subject of this sketch. For over twenty-five years he has resided on his beautiful farm on Brandon Hills, and during that time has met with the success that a man of his sterling qualifications deserves. Mr. McPherson has seen this now populous district emerge form its native condition of prairie into the finest wheat-growing section in Western Canada, and has suffered and endured all the trials which the pioneer of that district had to undergo, but through it all has never lost a particle of his estimation for the country of his adoption, believing it to be the garden spot of the Dominion of Canada. Mr. McPherson is a native of Pictou county and was born January 26, 1845. He is a son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Murray) McPherson, both of whom were early settlers of Pictou county and were there identified with agricultural interests. Mr. McPherson was educated in the public schools of his native county, and until coming to Manitoba was engaged in farming, in railroading and in lumbering. He came to Manitoba in April, 1879, and settled on his present farm eleven miles southeast of Brandon. Here by pre-emption and by homesteading, which was further added to by purchase, he is the owner of one thousand two hundred and eighty acres of land, and has also acquired six hundred and forty acres in the northern part of the province. The principal crop raised is wheat, and his property lies in one of the most fertile and productive belts in the entire province. In 1875 Mr. McPherson married Miss Margaret E. Sellers, who is also a native of Pictou country, and four children have been born of this union, Georgina J, Maggie Hattie, Johnston and Angus Sellers. While Mr. McPherson's farming operations occupied most of his time and attention during his residence in Manitoba, he has felt it incumbent upon himself to take a proper interest in the governing affairs of his adopted country, and for fifteen years acted as a councillor of Brandon district, giving his support to the Conservative party. Both Mr. and Mrs. McPherson are consistent members of the Presbyterian church. There are few men better known or more universally respected than Mr. McPherson, and he numbers his friends by the score. As a representative man of Manitoba he certainly deserves recognition in the history of the province. A History of the Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, published by The Canada History Company, 1906., pp. 554-555.