Henry William McKenney (February 24, 1848 – March 11, 1921) was a politician from Alberta, Canada.
McKenney was born in Ontario, the son of a merchant and sailor. After attending schooling, he moved to Manitoba, where soon after he took part in the fur trade. He would briefly move back to Ontario, briefly working in the naval industry before working in the fur trade once again, until he ended up in the Northwest Territories while on a prospecting expedition. There he settled and established a mercantile business in St. Albert, where he settled and became one of its pioneer citizens, serving as the town's postmaster. After selling his business in 1903 and embarking on a trip for the benefit of his health, McKenney settled in Edmonton, where he would own several properties, including the McKenney Building. When Alberta became a province In 1905, he successfully ran for the newly formed Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He would win election twice more to the assembly, in 1909 and 1913, all times as a Liberal. He died in Edmonton in 1921.
Early life
He was born in Amherstburg, Essex County, Ontario, in 1848, a son of Augustus and Matilda (née Grandin) McKenney. His mother was of French ancestry from Normandy, France, and his father, of Irish ancestry, was a mariner and merchant. Augustus McKenney came to Canada as a United Empire Loyalist, originally from Detroit, Michigan. McKenney attended primary Catholic and public schooling in his birthplace, until moving to the Red River Colony around 1862. Initially taking up the study of medicine, he soon found himself restless and entered the fur trade. After working in the industry for a couple years, including two years in his family's business, the McKenney family would return home to Amherstburg. There McKenney would go into the marine business, gaining employment with a Detroit company, working as a navigator and eventually receiving his mariner certification in 1869. Around this time, he would also embark his first trip to present-day Western Canada.
Career
Faced with ill health, McKenney then moved to Minnesota, where he was a sutler during the 1869 Red River Rebellion. He would soon move back to Canada, in 1870 moving to Fort Garry and Portage la Prairie before settling at Westbourne, Manitoba, where he once again engaged in the fur trade, in his uncle's business, Henry McKenney & Company, and later in his father Augustus' business. Three years later he would move back to Fort Garry, which was now named Winnipeg; there he would work in a relative's hardware store for two years. On an 1875 trip to the Rocky Mountains on a coal expedition for the Centennial Exposition with a local geologist on which he was serving as an interpreter, McKenney would gain employment with the Hudson's Bay Company as a clerk. On that same trip he would also pass through Fort Edmonton for the first time. In 1883, he later moved to St. Albert, Alberta, where he opened up a store, one of the first businesses of the settlement. He would operate it until 1903, when he sold the business. In St. Albert he also sat on the town's school board as well serving as license commissioner, postmaster (1886–93), justice of the peace, and police magistrate. He also operated a grist mill and was a construction advocate, assisting in building a bridge in 1887. On January 3, 1885, he and Edmonton businessman Alex Taylor would make the first phone call on the first long distance phone system in the Northwest, from McKenney's store to Taylor's office in Edmonton, away. He also played a part in gaining village status for St. Albert, which was incorporated in December 1899.
In 1903, again due to ill health, he would travel once again, this time taking a trip of the Pacific coast, through the neighbouring province of British Columbia, then through the United States, passing through Washington, Oregon, and California. He would later return to Canada and this time settle in the city Edmonton, close to his former residence of St. Albert.
In Edmonton, McKenney was a prominent property owner, owning farms and houses around the city. He was also the original owner and namesake of the McKenney building, a historical 3 story brick faced office building built in Edmonton in 1912 and located at 10187 104 Street. It was originally leased out by a school supply company, a foot ware store, and a fruit market.
Political career
A lifelong Liberal, McKenney was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1905 Alberta general election in the provincial electoral district of St. Albert. In this election he won as an Independent Liberal, but joined the Liberal caucus.
