Yeigh, Frank

• DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Terry Crowley, “YEIGH, FRANK,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 16, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/yeigh_frank_16E.html
• DCB profile notes:
  • Printer, publisher, writer, lecturer, publicist, and civil servant, b. 21 July 1860 in Burford Township, Upper Canada, son of Edmund Lossing Yeigh and Adaliza (Ada) Whitehead; m. first 27 Oct. 1892 Kate Eva Westlake (1856–1906) in Toronto; they had no children; m. secondly 2 Sept. 1908 Annie Louise Laird in Kingston, Ont., and they had one son; d. 2 Oct. 1935 in Toronto and was buried there in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
  • Of Pennsylvania German and Scottish ancestry, Frank Yeigh was a lifelong autodidact, remembered in the Canadian Alpine Journal for being “thorough but not ambitious”; he was a prolific author but had only modest impact. He was intrigued by technology such as the printing press, phonograph, and stereopticon projectors, all of which he used in his career as a publicist and speaker. Yeigh believed it was the responsibility of Canadians to support the British empire, sentiments that were likely influenced by his family’s record of military service. His principal achievements were assisting youths and awakening in others an interest in Canada and its history. Convinced of the value of social service, he was instrumental in establishing the Save the Children Fund in Canada.
  • Early in the 1890s Yeigh had begun to court writer Kate Eva Westlake, whose anonymously published dime-store novel about Chief Sitting Bull, Sitting Bull’s white ward (New York), achieved considerable renown in the United States in 1891. They would marry in October 1892. In January that year he hosted, in Toronto, an evening focused on Canadian literature. It was sponsored by the Young Men’s Liberal Club, of which he had recently become president. The program featured William Wilfred Campbell, William Douw Lighthall, Agnes Maule Machar, and Duncan Campbell Scott. He also invited Emily Pauline Johnson, who had published two poems in 1889, to give a recital. Her performance proved so successful that Yeigh organized a second event for her in February. He acted as her promoter and publicist until 1894, when she secured the services of a professional manager. Yeigh would continue to support her, as he did a year later, when he defended her against criticism in the Week. Until her death, Pauline Johnson remained deeply appreciative of the efforts on her behalf by the person she called her “Yeigh-man.”
  • Yeigh became increasingly involved in politics, current events, and civic engagement. He published principally works about Canadian history and biography. He also conducted tours to Niagara to view War of 1812 sites and, as literary correspondent on the executive of the Canadian Club of Toronto, he forged a program for the placement of historical plaques. In 1901–2 he served as treasurer of the Ontario Historical Society and, in 1903, was appointed vice-consul for Paraguay in Toronto.
  • In 1910 he shared his impressions of the country in Through the heart of Canada, a book designed for British and American readers. As he made clear, Yeigh delighted in Canada as a land of civil liberties and economic opportunities that welcomed newcomers who could help forge a new “Canadianized” and “cosmopolitan” country.
  • When conscription was imposed in 1917 by the Union government of Sir Robert Laird Borden, Yeigh, who supported the measure, joined the War Lecture Bureau, operated by the Department of Public Information, and became its national organizing secretary. The bureau’s purpose was to counter German propaganda. In addition to carrying out his administrative role, Yeigh wrote and delivered lectures and penned speeches for other members of the organization. As a liberal nationalist who supported Canada and the British empire, Yeigh argued that the conflict was a proving ground for Canadian democracy.
• Great Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=2040
• Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39774879/frank-arthur-yeigh