By Curtis Wolfe
…Ranger was renowned for his ability to pilot a loaded barge through the challenging Chaudière Rapids…
In a city known for politicians and bureaucrats, it can be easy to overlook Ottawa’s historical significance as a capital of the lumber trade. One individual who played a key role in this industry was Captain Alfred Ranger, a skilled merchant captain who earned the respect and admiration of his contemporaries.
Originally from Saint-Philippe-d’Argenteuil, Quebec (roughly 16 km northeast of Hawkesbury), Ranger came to Ottawa in his late 20s. He worked for several years as a captain before joining the Ottawa Transportation Company (OTC) as a certified merchant captain.
The OTC was a consortium of local lumber companies established to ship their material to Quebec City, where it could then be transported internationally. As part of this work Ranger was renowned for his ability to pilot a loaded barge through the challenging Chaudière Rapids, leading it “from open water to the lumber mills at the foot of the falls.” A fully loaded barge carried 350,000 feet of lumber.
In addition to his responsibilities in transporting lumber, Ranger ferried passengers and goods on the Laverdure across the river between Ottawa and Hull prior to the construction of the Alexandra Bridge.
He also may have been involved in transporting goods and people across the river after the devastating 1900 Ottawa-Hull fire. OTC provided barges to deliver food and provisions as the bridge over the Chaudière Falls had been severely damaged.
In that same year, OTC employed 400 workers who slept on the company’s 75 barges during the navigation season. In the winters throughout the 1890s, Ranger and his family lived at properties on Bolton and Boteler streets that have now been demolished.
Ranger’s family life was eventful. He was married to Domitilde (also known as Matilda) Proulx, who died around 1905. They had at least eight children: a daughter Aldéa, as well as seven sons Alfred, Arthur, Bercéus, Jean-Evangéliste, Ludger, Wilfrid and William. In 1905 Ranger got married a second time to Julie Lefebvre in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec (about 60 kms east of Montreal), where her family likely lived.
Notably among his children Bercéus also became a merchant captain and Jean-Evangéliste worked as a boat fireman before he enlisted in the First World War. Jean-Evangéliste was captured while on patrol in France and later died as a prisoner of war in a German camp in 1916. It seems that only Bercéus, William and Aldéa would outlive their father.
…a connection within the community is found in Ranger’s granddaughter, Georgette…
As well, a connection within the community is found in Ranger’s granddaughter, Georgette (daughter of Wilfrid), who married Raphael Brunet, a former Ottawa alderman whose name adorns the small park across from Saint Brigid’s Church at St. Patrick and Cumberland.
In his early 70s, Ranger was still working as a captain, piloting the Wilfrid Laurier for many years. He died on June 24, 1933 in an accident that prompted a police inquest. Under unclear circumstances that remain unresolved, he biked across railroad tracks on the Alexandra Bridge. While on the tracks, he was hit by a reversing locomotive near the Hull embankment. It’s possible he did not hear the engine, as he was now hard of hearing.
At the time of his death, Ranger resided at 51 St. Andrew. In an article sharing news of the accident, the Ottawa Evening Citizen noted he was well known in the community and “a friend of many of the leading figures in the lumber industry.”