This week, we highlight two more pioneering businesswomen in the Timmins area for our history feature.
ELLEN TERRY
Local historian Karen Bachmann says Ellen Terry ran the Timmins Business College for several decades, starting in the 1930s. She was very interested in local politics.
“She was elected to town council seven consecutive times from 1940 to 1946 and that’s when the council terms were one year. She was the first woman councillor for the Town of Timmins, and she chaired the finance committee for all of those years.”
MAGGIE BUFFALO LECLAIR
Bachmann says Maggie Buffalo Leclair was larger than life. Born late in the 19th century on the shore of Nighthawk Lake, the member of the Chippewa tribe came to be known as “Princess Maggie”.
“She was a fixture with fur buyers who sought out her skill,” she says. “She was a regular at the local sportsman show, where she demonstrated how to skin beaver, lynx and martens.”
Leclair lived on her own at Kamiskotia until she was convinced to move into the Golden Manor. Bachmann says that didn’t last long. She left and walked back to Kamiskotia.
Princess Maggie died in 1965 and is buried in the Timmins Cemetery.
