Francis White “Frank” Peters (1860-1933) shows up on my family tree as a second cousin of my great-grandfather Frederick Peters (1852-1919), the premier of Prince Edward Island who moved west to Vancouver Island in 1897-98. Their common ancestors were their great-grandparents, the United Empire Loyalists James Peters and Margaret Lester who left New York for Saint John in the future Canadian province of New Brunswick in 1783.
As was common with boys of his era, Frank Peters was fascinated by trains and railways. He got his start in the industry at age 13 in 1873 as a telegraph operator with the Intercolonial Railroad in his hometown of Saint John. From there he went to the United States and worked for two railroads in the Great Lakes area, before joining the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in Winnipeg in 1881, shortly after its incorporation.
One of his difficult jobs in the next few years was to visit construction camps that were building Canada’s first coast-to-coast railroad, and explain why the cash-poor CPR company would be late in getting their pay to them. In November 1885 he joined his colleagues in celebrating the driving of the last spike of the CPR trans-Canada line. He gained expertise in freight logistics, which led to his transfer to Nelson, B.C. in 1895 as district freight agent.
While based in Nelson he worked with miners, loggers and fruit farmers towards getting their product to markets by rail. Newspaper reports of the time show that Frank was energetic, hard-working and popular with customers and the community.
In 1898 he was staff support for the CPR’s purchase of the Trail smelter and associated rail lines and rights from entrepreneur Fritz Heinze, which led to CPR’s dominant role in the economy of Trail and region for more than 80 years.
The other major event of the year was completion of CPR’s Crowsnest Rail Line from Lethbridge through the Crowsnest Pass to Fernie and ultimately to Kootenay Landing at the south end of Kootenay Lake, where it linked with sternwheelers to reach destinations around the lake. For the first time, the rest of Canada was accessible to the West Kootenay, and vice versa.
On behalf of the CPR, Frank Peters organized events celebrating the arrival of the new rail service, including an orientation tour of the new line, where invitations were sent to West Kootenay municipal council members, board of trade delegates, as well as newspaper reporters and editors. On Wednesday, December 7, 1898 representatives from Nelson and Rossland regions boarded the brand new S.S. Moyie sternwheeler for the voyage to rail transfer at Kootenay Landing. They stopped at Pilot Bay to pick up representatives from Sandon and Kaslo who arrived on the S.S. Kokanee. A total of 82 men came for the tour, including names well-known in the region’s history like Colonel Topping, Frank Fletcher, G.O. Buchanan, Judge Forin, John Kirkup, J. Fred Hume, Col. Robert Lowery and Billy Esling.
The excursion arrived in Cranbrook for a festive dinner, and then three sleeper cars with porters were provided for the guests. The next day the group travelled to and back from Fernie, including tours of coal mines and coke ovens. That evening the banquet was in Fort Steele, which required wagon rides from Cranbrook in the snow, as the CPR had — very controversially—bypassed that established frontier community with its route. Two men suffered minor injuries when one of the four-horse wagons turned over. After dinner and many toasts of congratulations and thanks back and forth, the guests returned to Cranbrook for the evening in sleeping cars. The return trip to Kootenay Landing on Friday, Dec. 9th featured several tours of mines along the way.
Peters was once again the centre of attention in August 1900 when he was elected as the first president of the Nelson Streetcar company. There had been some hesitancy by European investors about the fledgling company, which led boosters to put the CPR man Peters forward as president, as CPR was highly-respected internationally at the time.
In September 1900 Peters presided at the official opening of the streetcar company, by depositing a coin in the pay slot as first customer. A month later, the city developed what is now known as Lakeside Park, to gain much-needed revenue for the streetcar company. In advance of the park opening, Peters conducted a tour for a group of local businessmen and the newspaper editor. He encouraged the men to relive their youth by pushing each other on the park’s swings. They had such a good time that they half-seriously put forward a recommendation that the new park be called Petersville. Instead, it was named Lake Park, and later was known as Lakeside.
In December 1900 the CPR transferred Peters back to its Winnipeg office as assistant to vice president. He continued to be recognized as the company’s “Kootenay Man” for special projects such as the Kootenay Lake Hotel at Balfour. He participated to in several meetings with boards of trade regarding the design and location of the new hotel.
In 1912 Peters joined CPR’s executive group in Vancouver when he was appointed to the new position of B.C. Superintendent. He became very active in the Vancouver business scene, serving as president of the Commercial Club and later as president of the Vancouver Club. Always keen on sports, he had been president of the Manitoba Curling Association, and while in Nelson he served as president of the B,C. Curling Association. In Vancouver he and his wife lived among other CPR executives in the exclusive Shaughnessy neighbourhood and he was an active member of the prestigious Shaughnessy Golf Club, serving as president of the club in 1922.
In World War One Frank Peters was one of two Western Canadians appointed to the national Military Hospitals Commission, created to find or build facilities for treating the huge numbers of wounded soldiers on their return to Canada. Peters would be a driving force in establishing the highly-regarded Shaughnessy Veterans Hospital.
As he was well aware of the luxurious Kootenay Lake Hotel in Balfour sitting empty during the war, it may well have been him who suggested it could temporarily serve as a hospital. As it turned out, the hotel would be used as a sanitorium for tuberculosis victims, but this association with TB made it subsequently undesirable for tourists, which caused it to be closed permanently and dismantled for building materials in the late 1920s.
In July 1923 U.S. President Warren G. Harding was in the middle of a visit to Alaska when he advised aides that he wanted to stop in Vancouver on his way back to mainland U.S., and play golf at the Shaughnessy Golf Course, which he heard was exceptional. Arrangements were made at short notice, including playing partners for his round of golf. As the lieutenant governor was not a golfer, it was suggested that the jovial past president of the club, Frank Peters, be in the foursome, along with a local judge and the club pro. Peters was honoured to be asked, and gladly joined the presidential foursome. Harding came to the course after speaking to a crowd of 50,000 at Stanley Park. It was the first time a sitting American president visited outside his own country. Harding requested that no spectators be allowed on the course while they were playing, except at the 18th hole where the round finished.
According to a couple of the caddies years later, Harding asked his playing partners to stop for a break during play on about the seventh hole. He pleaded with them to never mention there was a problem with his health, as it would damage his presidency. The group rested, and then moved to about the 15th hole to continue play, as if there had been no interruption. They were greeted by a cheering crowd on the 18th green.
After leaving Vancouver, Harding continued his West Coast tour. Exactly a week later, on August 3, 1923, Harding died suddenly at age 56 in his hotel room in San Francisco. The death from a stroke would be front page news around the world. His wife Florence, who had been with him in the room, insisted that he be embalmed immediately, with no autopsy. This led to suspicion that she may have had something to do with his death, perhaps as revenge for the affairs he had with other women.
The press contacted Frank Peters for his reaction to the death of the president. He expressed his sorrow at the death of an outstanding man. He said he was an excellent golf playing partner, and made no mention of their game being stopped to give Harding time to recover.
Not long after Harding’s death, word emerged of major financial scandals during his administration, including the Teapot Dome Scandal of kickbacks to a cabinet minister for approving oil drilling rights.
The circumstances of his death continued to be cloudy, and were the focus of a 1930 book by former administration official Gaston Means titled “The Strange Death of President Warren G. Harding”.
Frank Peters continued as CPR’s B.C. Superintendent until retiring at age 67 in 1927. A joke at the time was that Peters couldn’t retire because he was the only person alive who understood Canada’s complex rail freight rates. In retirement, he continued to serve as a director of the CPR subidiary Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway.
Peters died at age 73 in Vancouver in 1933, known as The Grand Old Man of Canadian Railroading.
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