John Bracken was a good and decent man, that really tried his best to deliver efficient, good government, and had a strong sense of public service for building a more equitable country.born on Ellisville Rd in the log house beside our farm (which was the Lawrence McConnell farm when I grew up, now owned by David and Lisa Berry - there's an historic plaque on the side of the road there). His father (Ephraim, my Great-grandfather's brother) sold and moved to Seeley's Bay and built the farm where Cathy de Graaf lives now (interestingly, the Simpson farm was also a Bracken farm, and vanOverbeek farm also has a Bracken connection).
John Bracken thought he failed his senior metriculation in high school at Brockville Collegiate as they didn't publish his name in the Recorder and Times (a slip up apparently), and then farmed full time for a number of years. When he found out that he did pass, he was able to fulfill a dream to attend the Ontario Ag. College in Guelph where he excelled. He landed a job with the Dominion Seed Bank first in Ottawa, and then in Winnepeg.
I believe he helped build and was Principle at the Ag College in Saskatchewan and then was recruited by the leaderless Progressive Farmers of Manitoba to be their leader/Premier when they won the Manitoba election in 1922 where he served for 20 years as Premier. His time as leader in federal politics was relatively short, with his main contribution being the change of party name to the "Progressive Conservatives" as a condition for his becoming leader. He was not a "party politician" though with all it's machinations, and also not an inspiring public speaker, and was subsequently pushed out of the leadership after losing the 1945 election to Mackenzie King. Sadly, the current Conservative party does not really aspire to the "progressive" ideals that once were a strong part of the party's backbone. He's buried in Manotick.
Interestingly, this farm has the distinction of sending three men into politics. Wm. Richardson owned the land and represented Leeds County in the Provincial House from 1878-1883. Hayden Stanton grew up on this farm and represented Leeds County in the Federal House of Commons from 1953-1960.
