Agnes McPhail Benedict was born and raised in the coal mine areas of Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The daughter of a mining engineer, Archibald McPhail, she came from humble beginnings. She was the seventh of 12 children. The family moved to Frank, N.W.T., now Alberta in 1901 when Agnes was 15. Two years later, the side of Turtle Mountain caved way and buried a good portion of the town of Frank; the McPhail family were survivors. With no work, father McPhail uprooted the family again and moved to Calgary. Agnes met George Benedict, likely at a dance studio, and they married in Calgary in 1904. They raised eight children. Agnes is buried in Union Cemetery at the McPhail plot, separate from her husband.

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