Robert James (RJ) Campbell was born on January 16, 1905 on Section 14-11-23 in the RM of Woodworth. He attended Education Point School. RJ worked in the Rivers area on a number of farms, then in 1925 went to Regina and worked in a garage. He returned to Manitoba shortly thereafter to work on his uncle's farm and then on the home farm with his mother until 1935. RJ married Edith Marian Bell (1913-2010) on December 23, 1937, and together they had two sons: Cordell and Urschel.
The family lived on the farm in the Brierwood district south of Harding until 1946, when they moved to Halls Bridge district north of Griswold where they continued to farm until 2006. RJ built all of the buildings on the farm including "Halls Bridge Dance Garden" in 1966. He loved to sing square dance calls, and along with Marian, travelled a great deal in North America and Europe, as well as a trip to the Soviet Union. Due to ill health, RJ moved to Hillcrest Place Personal Care Home in 2006. Robert Campbell died on February 14, 2007 in Brandon, MB. He is buried at Griswold Cemetery.
Custodial History
As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Item is an audiocassette tape containing an interview with Robert Campbell about farming in the 20th century. Interviewer is Phyllis M. Cairns.
Notes
History/bio information from the records and Campbell's obituary. Description by Christy Henry.
Audio Tracks
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James Lasby Lowes was born in Brandon on March 12, 1903, and passed away at Brandon General Hospital on August 9, 1986, after a lengthy illness. His wife Jean, his son Lasby Jr., daughter-in-law Carole, and grandsons Kirk and Rick survived him. Lowes also had one sister, Kathleen Conder, of Gross Pointe Mich.
Lowes was a dedicated employee of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd. for 47 years, beginning February 13, 1924. Throughout his career with the Company, Lowes worked in various departments: he served as manager of the wholesale department, assistant manager in charge of Field Seed purchases, manager of sales for both domestic and export trade, and Field Seed division manager. In 1964, following A. E. McKenzie's death, Lowes became the President and General Manager of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Although he retired as President and General Manager in 1968, at the request of the Company, Mr. Lowes became Saskatchewan Sales Supervisor. In 1972, he accepted a new role in Public Relations. Here his primary task was to write a corporate history of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd. and its subsidiary companies.
Lasby Lowes attended Brandon College and was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings. He chose to make his career as a seedsman rather than a hockey player. He served on the Board of Brandon College/University, Brandon General Hospital, the Brandon Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Lowes was a member of the Kinsman Club of Brandon and an elder in First Church United for many years. He enjoyed gardening. When he was not on the road traveling for the Company, visiting the many distributors of McKenzie seeds in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, he spent a great deal of time at the family cottage at Clear Lake.
Custodial History
In the course of preparing notes for a history of the McKenzie Seed Co., Mr. Lowes extracted documentary records from the Company files. Records taken from the Company files by Mr. Lowes remain in the historical accounts he created.
See fonds level description of custodial history of A. E. McKenzie Seed Co. Ltd.
Scope and Content
This sub-series contains documents, primarily correspondence dealing with Lowes' years as President/General Manager. The correspondence involves Premier Duff Roblin, the Company lawyer, Wm. Johnson, the Bank of Montreal, and Charles Sharpe & Co. Ltd. Further correspondence relates to trademarks, the sale of the Company, the hiring of Ted Chiswell as Comptroller of McKenzie Seeds, and the change of the Company's name to McKenzie Seeds Ltd.
Subsequent to his retirement from the President/General Manager's office, Lowes undertook the task of writing a history of the McKenzie Co. His Historical Topics cover a wide-range of subjects including the history of the Company, Canadian agriculture and the seed industry, the life and times of A. E. McKenzie, and notes on various employees of McKenzie Seeds and McFayden Seeds. The Topics also include information related to various properties and acquisitions of the Company. There is also information pertaining to the McKenzie catalogues.
The original order in which these records were acquired has not been disturbed. However, the original order appears to be quite haphazard.
To facilitate access for researchers, a summary of the arrangement of Lasby Lowes' Historical Topics and related records has been created.
The sub-series is divided into three sub sub series, including: (1) Correspondence; (2) Historical Topics; and (3) Miscellaneous.
Notes
Lasby Lowes:
President/General Manager: c. 1960-1968, 11.5 cm
Historical Topics: 1900-1983; 44.7 cm
For the most part both the handwritten and typed version of each Historical Topic can be found within sub sub series McS 2 2.2.
Finding Aid
A file level inventory of McS 2 2.2 (Historical Topics) is available.
Storage Location
RG 3 A.E. McKenzie Company fonds
McS 2 Office of the President/General Manager
Related Material
Additional records related to the Brandon Council of Women are located in the Brandon Council of Women Fonds (34-1998) in the S. J. McKee Archives.
