Silas Alexander Ramsay (August 27, 1850 – December 5, 1942) was a Canadian politician and merchant in Alberta, Canada. He served as the 14th mayor of Calgary.
A native of Canada East, Ramsay first travelled to the west with the Wolseley Expedition in a suppression effort to the Red River Rebellion in 1870. Before returning home, he visited the Calgary area and hunted buffalo. This was prior to the initial Fort Calgary settlement, which happened in 1875.
In 1883, Ramsay returned to Calgary and established several businesses. In the 1885 North-West Rebellion, he was a Government dispatch rider. He served eight total years on the city council as an alderman and was also mayor from January 5, 1904, to January 2, 1905, during which time he was a stringent supporter of municipal ownership, working to establish a lighting and water system for the city.
After his retirement in Calgary from his business, he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he died in 1942.
Early life, career
The son of William and Sarah (née Mohr) Ramsay, Silas Alexander Ramsay was born at Aylmer, Quebec in 1850. He attended public schools in his birthplace, completing high school. At the age of nine in 1860, Ramsay would witness the cornerstone lying ceremony of the Canadian Parliament buildings at Parliament Hill. He was also an agent for a sewing machine company, with an office located on Stephen Avenue. In Calgary he also built the Ramsay Block, on a piece of land, opposite of the city's old post office. A strong supporter of public ownership of utilities, he also served a stint as chairman of the council's Water and Light Committee, in which he oversaw the installation of the city's first electric lighting system, as well as the purchase of the water system by the municipality from a private company. He was an Independent.
On December 7, 1903, municipal nominations day for the upcoming election, Ramsay was acclaimed as mayor of Calgary, with no opposing nominees for the office. Ramsay served as mayor until January 5, 1905, when he was succeeded by John Emerson. During his term, the city moved to establish a numbering system for its streets, and the Canadian Pacific Railway initiated an irrigation project east of the city, which would later become Chestermere Lake, Alberta. He did not seek re-election as mayor in the 1904 election, instead accepting a nomination to once again serve as alderman. He was later elected and would serve a final aldermanic term, from January 2, 1905, to January 14, 1907. Together they had four children: Bertha Maud, Robert Wilson, Charles Henry, and Percival Clod. One of his brothers served as mayor of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He was active member of the Calgary Rifle Club, and the Methodist church. He died at his daughter's home in Vancouver, British Columbia on December 5, 1942, at the age of 92. He was survived by his daughter and two sons. His wife predeceased him on May 16, 1925, in Vancouver.
It was said about him that he was "one of those wholesome toilers in behalf of the people who never grow old in years and energy."