FRANCIS NASH.
 


	Francis Nash came to Regina with the railroad in 1882, when the
city was little more than a construction camp for the Canadian Pacific.
like many of the other young men whose construction work brought
them to this locality, he foresaw the great development that was to take
place in the near future and decided to remain here and share in the
rising fortunes of the Canadian west. He was born in 1855, in the town-
ship of Nissouri, Ontario, the son of William and Mary (Dolan) Nash,
and gained his education in the country schools and the village of Tans-
ford. His mother was a native and lifelong resident of Ontario, and his
father was English by birth.  In early life William Nash followed the
sea, but after his marriage he gave up his sailor's life, to settle down on
tbe Ontario farm, where he and his wife reared their four children and
spent the rest of their lives. They were Anglicans in their religious faith
and in politics the father adhered to the Conservative party. For fifteen
years after he laid aside his schoolbooks Francis Nash remained on the
home farm, leaving his agricultural pursuits to engage in lumbering and
railroad work.  He followed the latter occupation for some ten years.
In 1879 he came west to Winnipeg, where he worked for a contractor
connected with the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. That
same year he spent some time in Minnesota working on the M. & M.
Railroad out of St. Paul, but returned to Ontario in the fall of 1879 to
remain until 1882. In the winter of 1882 he arrived in Regina for the
first time and remained here in connection with the railroad construction
work for three years.  During this time he also helped with the build-
ing of the barracks. After a summer spent in Grand Coulee as a section
foreman, Mr. Nash returned to this city and continued with the railroad
for two more years.  He started to run a boarding house in 1887 and
developed his business into a prosperous hotel enterprise. The Waverly
Hotel was built and operated by him until 1890, when he sold it. Later he
built the Alexander Hotel, of which he was the proprietor for the first ten
years of its existence. As the city has grown Mr. Nash has invested in
real estate from time to time, and while he has sold pieces of it at vari-
ous times, he still owns a half section of land, as well as a considerable
amount of city property. His first farm was the Assiniboia half section
close to the city, which he subsequently sold at a handsome profit, bene-
fiting from the rise in values with the growth of Regina. At the present
time he is erecting a block on Rose street and owns some ten lots on
Victoria avenue. Aside from managing his private affairs Mr. Nash has
retired from business life and is enjoying the fruits of a well spent life.
	In 1882 Mr. Nash was married to Miss Hamilton, a native of Ontario.
They have an adopted daughter, Hazel, who is now the wife of a Mr.
Butcher, a photographer of Regina. Mr. and Mrs. Nash are members of
the Knox Presbyterian church, in which Mrs. Nash is an active worker
in the women's societies. In politics Mr. Nash gives his allegiance to the
Conservative party. He is past grand master of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, of which he became a member in 1878. He is also a Royal
Arch Mason, a member and past master of Wascana Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
and in all the relations of life has exemplified the purposes and teachings
of his craft.


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