Martin Woolf Sr. (October 18, 1858 – August 25, 1928) was a politician, civil servant and police magistrate from

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. He served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

from 1912 to 1921 sitting with the Liberal caucus in government.

Early life

Martin Woolf was born on October 18, 1858, at Nephi,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, in

Juab County Juab County ( ) is a county in western Utah, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 11,786. Its county seat and largest city is Nephi. Juab County is part of the Provo– Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statisti ...

. Woolf was parents were Absalom Woolf and Harriet Ann Wood. He was baptized on July 28, 1867, as a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. Woolf married Roseltha Hyde, on July 23, 1880, at

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

; the couple had 9 children. Woolf moved to Cardston around the turn of the century and served a number of positions in the Cardston County municipal government including Collector of Customs and Police Magistrate. Woolf was a big supporter and advocate of

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

and helped keep the dry laws on the books in Cardston County. He ran for the provincial legislature in a by-election in 1912.

Political career

Woolf first ran for a seat to the

Alberta Legislature The Alberta Legislature is the unicameral legislature of the province of Alberta, Canada. The legislature is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor of Alberta, lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada),. and the Legislative A ...

in a by-election held on May 27, 1912, as a Liberal candidate in the electoral district of Cardston. The election was hotly contested with Woolf winning by a slim 139 vote plurality to hold the seat for his party. Woolf would be re-elected to a second term in the

1913 Alberta general election The 1913 Alberta general election was held in March 1913. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect 56 members to the 3rd Alberta Legislature. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July ...

. He held the district by a mere 39 votes. Woolf ran for his third term in office in the

1917 Alberta general election The 1917 Alberta general election was held on 7 June 1917 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Liberals won a fourth term in office, defeating the Conservative Party of Edward Michener. Because of World War I, eleven Me ...

. He held the district with a comfortable margin of 220 votes. This was the biggest plurality of his career. Martin attempted to win a fourth term in the Legislative Assembly in the

1921 Alberta general election The 1921 Alberta general election was held on July 18, 1921, to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly. The Liberal government is replaced by the United Farmers of Alberta. It was one of only five times that Alberta has changed gov ...

. He was defeated by United Farmers candidate

George Stringam George Lewis Stringam (May 21, 1876 – July 4, 1959) was a provincial politician and cattle rancher from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1921 to 1935 sitting with the United Farmers caucus in ...

in a two way race by a very large margin.

Late life and death

Woolf died on August 25, 1928, at Cardston, Alberta, Canada, in Cardston Hospital at the age 69. He suffered from a debilitating illness that caused him to go almost completely blind.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolf, Martin 1858 births 1928 deaths Alberta Liberal Party MLAs American Latter Day Saints Canadian Latter Day Saints People from Nephi, Utah American emigrants to Canada Canadian magistrates 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta