Fonds AFC132 - Peter McArthur Family fonds

Peter Gilchrist McArthur was born on March 10, 1866 in Ekfrid Township, Middlesex County Ontario, son of Scottish immigrants Peter and Catherine (née McLennan) McArthur. Raised on the family farm, McArthur attended Wardsville High School and Strathroy High School before earning a teacher's certificate and teaching in Caradoc Township. Having taught for only a few months, he was admitted to the University of Toronto in 1888, but withdrew for financial reasons less than two years later.

McArthur began writing while still a student, first for the local newspapers Glencoe Transcript and Strathroy Age, and later for John Wilson Bengough's Toronto-based humour publication, Grip. After withdrawing from the University of Toronto, McArthur joined the Toronto Mail as a reporter, at the same time selling jokes to American publications. Finding success in the United States, McArthur moved to New York in 1890 and continued free-lance writing for various publications.
Peter McArthur married Mabel Clara Waters on September 11, 1895 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The couple had five children:
Daniel Carman McArthur (1897-1967)
Peter McKellar McArthur (1900-1955)
Kathryn Elizabeth McArthur Sidey (b. 1903)
James Frederick McArthur (1905-1965)
Ian Stuart McArthur (b. 1907)

In 1895, McArthur was hired as the assistant editor for New York-based Truth, the first magazine to feature colour illustrations. During his time at Truth, McArthur formed life-long friendships with writers C. Bowyer Vaux and Bliss Carman. After leaving Truth in 1897, McArthur took various free-lance writing and advertising jobs throughout England and the United States. Returning to New York City in 1904, he established a short-lived advertising agency; after closing the agency in 1908, McArthur and his family returned to the Ekfrid Township homestead.
McArthur settled into a life of farming, spending most of his time writing about his own agricultural experiences. His columns were published regularly in the Toronto newspaper The Globe and in London, Ontario's The Farmer's Advocate. He was well known for his published books The Prodigal, The Red Cow, The Affable Stranger, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and In Pastures Green.

Peter McArthur died following surgery on October 28, 1924 in London, Ontario. His wife Mabel died in 1936. Peter and Mabel McArthur are buried in Eddie Cemetery near Glencoe, Ontario. There is a park named for Peter McArthur at 4421 Longwoods Road in Southwest Middlesex, and a plaque has been erected there in his memory. The family homestead was moved to the pionéer village at Doon Heritage Crossroads in Kitchener, Ontario.