Graham Fraser (1846-1915)
1916 Obituary [1]
GRAHAM FRASER died suddenly at his residence, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada, on December 25, 1915. He was born at New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, August 12, 1846. After leaving school he went to Providence, Rhode Island, where he learned the blacksmithing trade. On completion of his apprenticeship he returned to his native province and started business on his own account, ironing wooden vessels for his father and Carmichael & Company; later he formed a partnership with G. Forrest MacKay.
In 1872 these two men started the Hope Ironworks for the manufacture of railway and marine forgings. In 1878 the business had grown so rapidly that the company moved its plant to Trenton, one mile from New Glasgow, where they enlarged the works and changed the name of the company to the Nova Scotia Forge Company.
In 1882 Mr. Fraser organised the Nova Scotia Steel Company with a capital of $160,000 for the manufacture of Siemens-Martin open-hearth steel.
In 1889 the Nova Scotia Forge Company and the Nova Scotia Steel Company were amalgamated under the name of the Nova Scotia Steel and Forge Company, Ltd., with Mr. Fraser as president and general manager.
In 1890 Mr. Fraser organised the New Glasgow Iron, Coal and Railway Company with a capital of $1,000,000 for the purpose of mining ore and the manufacture of pig iron and coke, and to this company belongs the credit of introducing the first coal-washer and retort coke-oven plant in America. In 1894 this company acquired the now famous Wabana iron ore deposits at Bell Island, Newfoundland.
In 1895 the Nova Scotia Steel and Forge Company and the New Glasgow Iron and Railway Company were consolidated under the name of the Nova Scotia Steel Company, Limited. The coal and other properties of the General Mining Association, Sydney Mines, were purchased in 1900, and the Corporation now known as the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company, Limited, was formed. In 1903 Mr. Fraser retired from the active management of the company, intending to enjoy a well-earned rest, but at the earnest solicitation of the directors and bankers of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company, Limited, he joined the directorate of that company in 1904, and as director of works took an active part in reorganising and putting this company on a good solid business basis. The inception of the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company, Limited, as a forge shop with a steam-hammer and its growth to a Corporation employing thousands of skilled workmen at several points in Eastern Canada is the industrial story of Graham Fraser. He foresaw the possibilities to be achieved, he surmounted the difficulties, planned the extensions, and directed the operations, and no man could desire a finer monument to mark the consummation of a well-spent life.
He was elected a member of the Iron and, Steel Institute in 1888.