Susan Moulton McMaster
1819–1916

Susan Moulton was born in Connecticut in 1819, one of a family of five girls and three boys. She married the Senator in 1871, after the death of his wife, Mary Henderson and her husband, James Fraser. Mrs. McMaster had been impressed with the work of the Northern Baptist Convention in the United States and was anxious to see the Baptist constituency in Canada emulate its educational facilities. She encouraged her husband to seize the opportunity for the Canadian Literary Institute when an opportunity presented itself to move from Woodstock to Toronto.

After the Senator’s death in 1887, the Senator’s will gave his widow a life interest in their Bloor Street home but she returned to her New England home. In 1888, Mrs. McMaster entered into a formal agreement with McMaster to establish a ladies’ college, an academic department of the University of which she is recognized as its founder. She was very involved with Moulton College visiting often from New England and giving advice and talks to its residents. Susan Moulton McMaster died in her daughter’s home in Montreal in 1916 at the ripe old age of 97.