LEVI THOMSON.
 
	Among the ambitious young men who followed the railroad to Sas-
katchewan in the eventful year of 1882 and took up residence in the new
country, was Levi Thomson, now a leading citizen of Wolseley and a man
not without influence in federal politics. Like most of the settlers of the
'80s he made his start in the northwest as a farmer, in spite of the fact
that he had been preparing for a legal career before he left the east.
Eventually he returned to the law and also entered the political arena as a
leader of the Liberal party in his district, in which connection he is, per-
haps, most widely known.
	Born on the 17th of February, 1855, in Erin township, Wellington
county, Ontario, Levi Thomson grew to manhood on the home farm, where
he worked, with the exception of the time he spent in school, until he
was twenty-two years old. His father, John Thomson, was born in Argyle-
shire, Scotland, in 1820, and was brought to Ontario as a lad of eleven.
There he spent the rest of his life, marrying Sarah McMillan, who was
born in Erin township, and devoted his energies to the cultivation of the
farm on which he and his wife lived most of their married life.  Their
son, Levi, was sent to the near-by common schools as a little boy and later
to the Rockwood Academy, where he prepared to take up his legal studies.
In January of 1879 he matriculated in law in Toronto, but did not finish
his work there, for in 1882 he caught the western fever and came to what
is now the province of Saskatchewan and settled on a farm near Wolseley.
	It was a dozen years later that he completed his legal studies and passed
his final examinations in Regina in 1894. Since then he has practiced his
profession in Wolseley, where he has been very successful.  In 1897 he
was appointed crown prosecutor under the Dominion government and
held that office until 1904, when he resigned in order to contest the seat
in the House of Commons for his district. From 1909 to 1912 he held an
appointment as agent of the provincial government and a year later was
appointed King's Counsel.
	When Mr. Thomson took up law for the second time he did not forsake
his agricultural interests.  On the contrary, he retained the ownership
of his farm and has been more or less actively engaged in farming ever
since. He has been a member of the board of governors of the Wolseley
Agricultural Society since 1908 and is at present its representative on the
Advisory Council on Agriculture in Saskatchewan.  Years ago he was
president of the Wolseley society, holding office from 1885 to 1888.
	In politics his course has been a noteworthy one for twenty years.
He first tried his wings in 1904, when he ran against Sir Richard Lake
for a seat in the Federal House and was defeated by the narrow margin
of twenty-eight votes. The following year he lost to his opponent for the
Provincial House-Dr. Elliott-by twenty votes. In 1911 he was elected
to the Federal House of Commons for the constituency of Qu'Appelle by a
majority of four hundred and twenty-five and reelected by acclamation in
1917, holding his seat for ten successive years. Originally a Liberal, he
gave his support to the Union government during the Great war and when
the Progressive group was formed in the House became one of its foremost
leaders, acting as party whip until the end of that parliament.
	In Wolseley, on the 4th of March, 1884, Mr. Thomson was married to
Miss Mabel Maud Perley, daughter of the late Hon. William Dill Perley, a
former senator of Canada.  Through her father Mrs. Thomson comes
from United Empire Loyalist stock, her ancestors having been among the
early settlers of New Brunswick. Her grandfather, the Hon. W. E. Perley,
was for some time a member without portfolio in the New Brunswick
government, while her father had an equally distinguished political career
in western Canada. Settling in Wolseley in 1883, he was two years later
elected to the Northwest Council and in 1887 returned to the House of
Commons. In 1888 he was called to the senate, of which he was a member
until his death in 1909. While Mr. Thomson's religious faith is that of the
Disciples of Christ, he and his wife at present belong to the Wolseley
Union church, to which they give their active support. They have a family
of five children, four sons and a daughter, all of whom are grown:  A
sketch of the oldest son, Harold F., appears elsewhere in this work; Allan
p Thomson is engaged in farming near Wolseley and in 1917 was married
to Miss Geraldine Craig; Edwin E., a farmer near Sintaluta, served in
the Canadian Expeditionary Forces during the Great war and won the
Military Medal for his gallantry in action. He was married to Miss Mary
Walker in 1920; Miss Florence M. Thomson is a graduate of Saskatchewan
University and a teacher of modern languages in the Moosomin Collegiate
Institute; the youngest child, Arthur M. Thomson, is at present studying
in the University of Saskatchewan.



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