Brown, Henry Braithwaite, Q.C., LL.M., Sherbrooke, Que., was born on 7th October, 1845, at Chichester, county of Sussex, England. His parents were Rev. Thomas Brown, M.A., prebendary of Chichester Cathedral, who died in October, 1878, and Jane Lewis Brown,néeGoodyear. The subject of this sketch was educated at the prebendal school, and received an excellent classical education. In 1867 he left England and settled in Sherbrooke, his first position being that of principal of the Sherbrooke Academy. In 1886 he was electedbâtonnierof the bar for St. Francis district, and is now a delegate to the general council of the bar. He is also president of the Stanstead and Sherbrooke Mutual Fire Insurance Co., city attorney of Sherbrooke, and one of the trustees of Compton Ladies’ College. In politics he is a consistent Conservative, and in religion a staunch adherent of the Church of England. In 1872 he was married, at Quebec, to Charlotte Mary Holwell Bligh, a daughter of the late John Bligh of the Ordnance department of the War office at Quebec. He was admitted to the bar in December, 1871, received the degree of LL.M. from the University of Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, in 1883, and was appointed Q.C. in 1886.
Carbray, Felix, Quebec, is the senior member of the well known firm of Carbray, Routh & Co., commission merchants, of Quebec and Montreal, and not only holds a good position in Quebec commercial society, which he has won by his business ability and energy, but fills a considerable space in the eyes of the Irish Catholic population of the ancient capital, whom he represented in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, from 1881 to 1886. As may be surmised, Mr. Carbray, though a native of Canada, is of Irish extraction. Both of his parents were from the county Tyrone, Ireland, and his father, the late Niall Carbray, who was a farmer, occupied for many years the historic Holland farm, near the city of Quebec, where the subject of this sketch was born on the 23rd December, 1835. His mother’s maiden name was Catherine Connolly. He was also educated at Quebec, where he has resided throughout his life, though he has travelled extensively in America and Europe, principally on business connected with the trade in lumber, in which his house is engaged. He was one of the pioneers of the lumber trade between the St. Lawrence and South America, and is still largely interested in it. In addition to his other duties, he fills the important position of consul of Portugal at the port of Quebec. A Roman Catholic in religion, Mr. Carbray has been honored by the St. Patrick’s congregation of Quebec with election and re-election as one of the trustees of their church, and is also a trustee of that noble Irish Catholic charity, the St. Bridget’s Asylum, of Quebec. He has taken an equally active and leading part in all the local national movements of his fellow-countrymen, and has been president of the St. Patrick’s Literary Institute, the Irish National Association, and other Irish bodies in Quebec. He is a Liberal-Conservative in politics, and at the provincial general elections in 1881, yielding to the solicitations of his friends, he ran as the party candidate for the electoral division of Quebec West and, after a hard fight, was elected by a good majority to represent that constituency in the Legislative Assembly in the province. His parliamentary career was very creditable. Though he did not often address the House, he was always listened to with the utmost respect, being an equally good speaker and debater in both English and French, and never wasting his powder except on serious and interesting subjects with which he was most conversant, such especially as questions of finance and commerce. In fact, so marked a figure was he in this respect in the legislature from 1881 to 1886, that rumor frequently connected his name with a cabinet office, and there is little doubt that had he continued in public life and his party been re-elected to power at the general elections of 1886, he would have sooner or later, entered the provincial ministry. During the last session of his term, he was the mover in the Legislative Assembly of the resolutions adopted by that body in favor of granting Home Rule to Ireland, and expressing sympathy with Mr. Gladstone in his efforts to solve the Irish problem peacefully, without dismembering the Empire. At the general elections on the 14th October, he again ran as the Liberal-Conservative candidate for Quebec West, and, though political feeling in the province ran high at the time, owing to the Riel agitation, was only defeated by the slender majority of eight votes, owing largely to over confidence on the part of his friends. Since then, Mr. Carbray has devoted himself exclusively to the management of the large and growing business of his firm. In May, 1854, he married Margaret, daughter of William Carberry, who emigrated to Quebec from Carrick-on-Suir, Waterford, Ireland, in 1847.
Emmerson, Henry Robert, LL.B., Dorchester, N.B., was born at Maugerville, in the county of Sunbury, province of New Brunswick, on the 25th day of September, 1853. He is a son of the Rev. Robert Henry Emmerson, Baptist clergyman, and Augusta Read Emmerson, his wife. His grandfather, John Emmerson, came from England, and engaged in the lumber business at Miramichi, N.B. At the time of the great fire there, in 1825, he lost much property, and came near losing his life. His grandfather, on the mother’s side, was Joseph Read, of Minudie, N.S., of the firm of Joseph Read & Co., of Minudie, N.S., and Boston, Mass. Mr. Read was one of the pioneers in the grindstone business between the provinces and the United States, and owned large and valuable quarries in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick at the time of his death. Our subject received a high school education at the following places:—St. Joseph’s College, Memramcook, N.B.; Amherst Academy, Amherst, N.S.; Mount Allison Academy, Sackville, N.B.; Boston English High School, Boston, Mass.; Horton Collegiate Academy, Wolfville, N.S., and attended lectures at Acadia College, Wolfville, N.S., for two years, pursuing a partial course, devoting his time principally to English, Latin, French, mathematics, and the natural sciences. In the year 1871 he went to Boston and attended a commercial college, and obtained a position in the office of the firm founded by his grandfather, and afterwards was given the position of bookkeeper. He continued in this position until 1874;, when he came to Dorchester, N.B., to pursue the study of the law in his native province, in the office of the then Hon. Albert J. Smith (afterwards Sir Albert J. Smith). Mr. Smith having given up his professional practice on account of his public duties as minister of marine and fisheries, he entered, in Michaelmas term, 1874, as a student-at-law in the office of Albert J. Hickman, barrister, who had succeeded to Mr. Smith’s law practice. He read law with Mr. Hickman until 1876, when he attended the Boston University Law School, in Boston, Mass. He graduated in June, 1877, with the degree of LL.B., and in Michaelmas term, 1877, was admitted an attorney of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick. At the Law School he had the honor to carry off the prize from the members of the graduating class of that year for the best essay on “The Legal Condition of Married Women.” This prize, offered by the faculty of the Law School, was $50. In November, 1877, he entered into a legal copartnership with Mr. Hickman, in whose office he had studied. The firm of Hickman & Emmerson continued with success until the death of Mr. Hickman, in March, 1879, when Mr. Emmerson associated with Mr. Burton S. Read, under the firm name of Emmerson & Read. In 1882 Mr. Read retired from the practice of the law, and our subject continued alone until 1886, when the firm of Emmerson, Chandler & Chapman, consisting of William B. Chandler, LL.B., W. H. Chapman and himself, was formed. In 1883, on the death of Sir Albert J. Smith, K.C.M.G., Mr. Emmerson became the managing executor of his estate, under his will. He has been closely identified with the Westmoreland county Liberal Association for years, taking an active part in the affairs of the party in the county and province. Was one of the owners of theDaily Transcript, a Liberal newspaper, published at Moncton, N.B., until 1887, when it was purchased by Mr. Hawke. In the general election of 1887 he was selected by the Liberal party of Westmoreland to contest that county in the Liberal interest against Mr. Josiah Wood, the Conservative M.P. for that county, and who had defeated Sir Albert J. Smith in the contest of 1882. He was defeated by about the same majority that Mr. Wood had over the late Sir Albert Smith. The Liberal party in this contest pledged itself to run the election within the letter and spirit of the law relating to bribery and corruption, and the resolution was most rigidly observed. The Liberals claimed that their opponents did not observe any such rule. Mr. Emmerson has travelled over a portion of the eastern and middle States, and Canada. In religious belief Mr. Emmerson adheres to the faith of his father and mother, who were Baptists. In June, 1878, he married Emily C. Record, only daughter of C. B. Record, iron founder, of Moncton, N.B. Mr. Record was one of the first to establish an iron foundry in New Brunswick outside of St. John. Besides his practice as counsel in court, etc., our subject has a large practice in estate business. He is executor under the will of Thomas Keillor, late of Dorchester, whose estate is large. That, with Sir Albert Smith’s estate and other estates, demand much of his time. Notwithstanding his busy life, Mr. Emmerson has devoted considerable of his time to public affairs, having taken the field in every political contest since 1878. He is a speaker of marked ability, possessing a magnetism rarely found in the public speakers of the present day. He has also taken a deep interest in emigration matters, having instituted or inaugurated an emigration scheme from the kingdom of Denmark to the county of Westmoreland, N.B., the scheme being under the direct management of his firm. There is now being circulated in Denmark a pamphlet prepared by them, having for its object the encouragement of a good class of emigrants to occupy the new and unoccupied farms of that magnificent county. The expense attending upon this scheme is borne entirely by Mr. Emmerson and his firm. In his professional career Mr. Emmerson has been, during the past seven years, connected with almost every one of the important suits tried in Westmoreland and Albert counties. The case ofex parteRand, a case arising out of the Scott Act election of 1884, involving the question as to what “scrutiny of votes” meant, was one of the important cases in which he was engaged, having been employed by the Westmoreland Prohibitory Alliance to look after their interests therein. Upon the advice of himself and Attorney-General Blair, the case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, with success. In November, 1887, Mr. W. H. Chapman, one of his partners, having been appointed clerk of the county court of Westmoreland, retired from the firm, which is now Emmerson & Chandler, with offices at Dorchester and Moncton, in Westmoreland county. Mr. Emmerson’s talent as a public speaker has led him to be frequently called upon to lecture, which he occasionally does at places within the county. He is largely connected with the public enterprises of the county, and takes an active interest in the manufacturing, shipping, and other industrial institutions therein. With Mr. W. F. George, of Sackville, he has been at the back of the woollen manufacturing establishment at Port Elgin, N.B. Mr. Emmerson is solicitor for the Merchants’ Bank of Halifax, Dorchester and Moncton, and from 1882 until 1886, when he resigned, was agent of the Bank at Dorchester, not doing routine work, but having a supervision over and responsibility for the work. He is a director of the Maritime Baptist Publishing Company, the company managing and publishingThe Messenger and Visitor, the organ of the Baptists in the maritime provinces. Our subject is a Liberal in English and Canadian politics, a great admirer of Gladstone and of Edward Blake. He is a strong advocate of free and unrestricted trade with the United States, and would break down all customs barriers. His commercial experience in Boston was to earn money to pursue his law studies, and also to give himself an insight into business affairs, as a help in his profession. Mr. Emmerson has three children, the eldest seven years of age.
Nolin, Charles, Sheriff of St. John’s, Quebec, was born May 18th, 1819, in St. Athanase county, and district of Iberville. His father was Ambroise Nolin, Isle D’Orleans, Quebec, later of St. Luc, district of Iberville, a farmer by occupation, who married Margaret Morin, of St. Luc. Ambroise died at St. Athanase, in 1867, while his wife lived until 1882, in which year she succumbed at a ripe old age. Our subject received a good commercial education at the school of his native parish, commencing business on his own account as general merchant, at St. John’s, in 1846. This business he carried on successfully for fourteen years, and by strict business integrity, together with economical habits, was enabled to retire from active business pursuits. On the 16th of May, 1863, he was appointed high constable of St. John’s, which position he held until 1865, when he resigned to accept the office of deputy-sheriff, which was then tendered him; receiving his present appointment as high sheriff on the 17th of November, 1873. Sheriff Nolin married, in 1846, Clorinthe, daughter of J. Duquet, of Chateauguay, merchant, and whose son, Joseph, was one of the “patriots” of 1837, who were executed along with Cardinal, in Montreal, in 1838. Sheriff Nolin has had issue eleven children, seven of whom are now living, one of his sons being Professor Alphonse Nolin, who occupies the classical chair in the Ottawa College. C. A. G. Nolin, the eldest son, is now a merchant of some standing in Washington territory, U.S. Joseph, another son, is a dentist, practising at Ottawa. Of his daughters, Marie Louise married L. A. Trudeau, a dentist, of St. John’s; Marie Elmire Clorinthe married Joseph Hector La Rocque, druggist, of the same place, and Maria Eudolie married J. E. Z. Bouchard, advocate, St. John’s, and now holding the position as French translator to the government of Quebec; the youngest daughter, Rosalinda, not married, lives at home. In the troublous times of 1837-8, Mr. Nolin took part in the rebellion of that period, and was taken prisoner; he, however, being more fortunate than many of his comrades, was discharged. Sheriff Nolan is an adherent of the Roman Catholic faith, and an ardent supporter of the church and faith of his forefathers. Though now well advanced in years, he is yet full of vigor, and delights in recounting the more stirring events of his rather eventful life.
MacKinnon, Tristiam A., General Superintendent of the Ontario and Atlantic Division of the Canadian Pacific Railway, has his office in Montreal. Mr. Mackinnon belongs to that hardy, virtuous and thrifty stock of Scotch-Irish, who, to the best qualities of the race from which they sprang, have added something of the impetuosity, quick-wittedness and capacity for adapting themselves to new situations, which distinguish the Hibernian Celt. It is a stock that has been ably represented in North America. Both in the United States and Canada, a considerable proportion of the most prominent citizens in all walks of public and private life have been proud to belong to it: President Buchanan, Motley, the historian; the ill-fated Montgomery, the scene of whose death is one of the points of interest to the stranger visiting Quebec; the Workman family of Toronto and Montreal, the late Sir Francis Hincks, Bishop Charles Hamilton and his brother, the Hon. John Hamilton, and others that will, doubtless, at once occur to the reader, men as are by birth or descent, members of the same vigorous and progressive race. Mr. MacKinnon was born in Ireland, on the 7th of August, 1844. He did not enter the railway service at so early a stage in his career as some of his colleagues who have, like himself, risen to distinction. He had attained the years of mature manhood when, in December, 1868, he was offered and accepted the position of clerk and time-keeper in the Passumpsic Railroad shops at Lynderville, Vermont. His merit was quickly recognized. In 1871 he became superintendent’s clerk and acting superintendent on the same line, and remained in that twofold capacity in connection with the road until August, 1873, when he was made superintendent of the Brockville and Ottawa and Canada Central Railways. In October, 1880, he received the appointment of assistant general manager of the South Eastern Railway, in which position he acquitted himself with such satisfaction to the company and the public that it was deemed to the advantage of both to give him entire charge of the administration. Finally, on the transfer of the South Eastern Railway to the Canadian Pacific company, he was appointed (1st October, 1886), general superintendent of the Ontario and Atlantic division of that great line, and no person, directly or indirectly connected with the road, has had reason to regret his promotion.
Smith, William, M.P. for South Ontario, Columbus, Ontario, was born in the township of East Whitby, November 16th, 1847, is the son of William Smith and Elizabeth Laing, his wife, natives of Morayshire, Scotland. He was educated at the public school, Columbus, and Upper Canada College, Toronto. He was a lieutenant in the 6th company (Brooklin), 34th battalion V. M. I. for a number of years. He has been a trustee of Columbus public school since 1869; was president of the South Ontario Agricultural Society in 1881; deputy reeve of the township of East Whitby from 1878 to end of 1882; reeve from 1883 to end of 1886; and is now vice-president of the Clydesdale Association of Canada. He belongs to the I.O.O.F., having joined November 11th, 1887. He has always taken an active part in both municipal and political affairs, and was defeated for the House of Commons in June, 1882, by fifty, but was successful at the last general election in 1887. In politics he is a Conservative; in religion a Presbyterian. He was married May 25th, 1880, to Helen Burns, daughter of the late James Burns, farmer, of the township of East Whitby. Mr. Smith is a farmer, and has lived on the same farm since his birth. He takes a great interest in Clydesdale horses, Durham cattle, and Cotswold sheep.
Power, Hon. Lawrence Geoffrey, LL.B., was born in Halifax, N.S., on the 9th of August, 1841. His father, the late Mr. Patrick Power, was a prominent figure in Nova Scotia politics and represented the county of Halifax in the House of Commons from 1867 to 1878, with the exception of the period between the general elections of 1872 and 1874. The subject of this sketch began his school life at a day school taught in the basement of St. Patrick’s church, at Halifax, by an old gentleman named McDonald. This teacher having removed to an Acadian village called Chezzetcooke, some twenty-four miles from the city, his pupil, then eight years old, followed him, and remained under his care for about nine months longer. Shortly after his return to Halifax he became a pupil in St. Mary’s College, where he remained for some seven years. Amongst his teachers during this time were the Very Rev. Monsignor Power, lately deceased; the Rev. Canon Woods, now of Rockingham, Halifax county; and the Rev. Joseph P. Roles, now a prominent personage in the diocese of Chicago. Leaving Halifax in the Cunard steamerEuropa, in February, 1858, after short visits to London and some other English cities, he entered St. Patrick’s Lay College, Carlow, Ireland, in the middle of March. At the midsummer examination he took a good place; and at the close of the next scholastic year, in July, 1859, the subject of this sketch, with three others, went over to England and passed the matriculation examination of the University of London. Two of the four candidates, hailing respectively from Australia and India, were placed in the second division, while a representative of Ireland and Mr. Power succeeded in getting into the first. It was a somewhat curious circumstance that one comparatively small Irish college should have sent to the same examination, in London, four candidates, each representing a separate continent. In October, 1859, Mr. Power matriculated at the Catholic University of Ireland, and became an inmate of St. Patrick’s House, Stephen’s Green, Dublin. Here he was a regular attendant at the various lectures for students of his year, and passed the various terminal examinations creditably. The long vacation of 1860 was spent in France, and the ensuing scholastic year was devoted chiefly to continuous and earnest study. At the close of the year he took the degree of Scholar at the Catholic University, and was placed first in each of the five classes in which he underwent terminal examinations. At the conclusion of the Dublin examinations, Mr. Power went to London, underwent the first B.A. examination in the University, and was placed in the first division. He was also one of six successful candidates at an examination for honors in Latin, held subsequently. While in Dublin, Mr. Power was an active member and secretary of the Debating and Literary Society conducted by the students of the University; and in July, 1861, was the winner of a silver medal awarded for the best English essay on a given historical subject. In a debate which had taken place some time before, he could find only one member who agreed with him in advocating the right of the Southern States to secede from the American Union. In the month of October, 1861, he returned to Halifax, and entered his father’s employ with a view of qualifying himself for the business of a merchant. A few months’ experience satisfied him that his vocation was not to mercantile life, and in the fall of 1862 he began the study of the law as an articled clerk in the office of J. W. & J. N. Ritchie. In the beginning of September, 1864, he became a student at the Law School of Harvard College, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in January, 1866. Although not a hard student, he attended the lectures of the professors of that day—Joel Parker, Emory Washburn, and Theophilus Parsons—very regularly, and was generally present at the meetings of the Law School Parliament, which met fortnightly during term time. His first speech in this parliament was shortly after his entering the Law School, when he stood up alone to defend England against bitter attacks made upon her for the way in which she discharged her duties as a neutral during the civil war in the United States. As showing the American love of free speech, it may be added that he spoke without interruption, and was applauded when he closed. Among his class-mates at the Law School were Mr. Fairchild, now secretary of the United States treasury, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, jr., at present a judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. Returning home in January, 1866, he completed his course of legal study, and was admitted to the bar in December of the same year. Since that time he has continued to practise law in his native city. From an early day he took a warm interest in politics, and before being admitted, wrote several articles for the HalifaxChronicleagainst the proposed confederation of the British North American provinces. During several months after his admission, he was a frequent editorial contributor to theChronicleand theCitizen. In 1867, and again in 1871 and 1875, he was elected clerk assistant and clerk of bills to the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia. In this capacity it was his lot to draw up several important bills, including the Nova Scotia Medical Act, and the act defining the powers and privileges of the Provincial Legislature. In 1869 he was appointed a commissioner of schools for the city of Halifax, an office which he filled for ten years. In 1870 he was elected an alderman for ward Three, and served the usual term of three years. In 1874 he re-entered the city council, where he remained until October, 1877. In 1873 and 1874 he took an active part in the preparation of the Fourth Series of the Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia, and, in 1876, was associated with the present minister of justice in the preparation of a volume containing the laws and ordinances relating to the city of Halifax. In the beginning of February, 1877, he was called to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the non-attendance of Sir Edward Kenny. This appointment Mr. Power had at first declined, but after further consideration, decided to accept. The seat in the Senate was indirectly the result of a letter over the signature, “An Ultramontane,” published in the TorontoGlobe, in March, 1876. This letter, which dealt with the hostile attitude assumed by the then Bishop of Montreal (Monseigneur Bourget), and some other Catholic prelates and clergymen, to the Liberal party, attracted at the time of its publication much attention. Probably his most important literary work since that time is “A Plea for the Senate,” a defence of the House of which he is a member, contained in two letters to the TorontoGlobe, published in January and February, 1881. He is also the author of a paper entitled, “Vinland,” an account of the Norse discovery of America, read before the Nova Scotia Historical Society in the winter of 1887. Mr. Power drafted the charter of the University of Halifax, established by statute in 1876, and from that time until the practical extinction of the institution, owing to the withdrawal of the provincial grant by the Holmes government, in 1879, was an active and prominent member of the senate of the University, and an examiner in the Faculty of Law. Owing, in a great measure, to the numerical weakness of the Liberal party in the Senate of Canada, the subject of this sketch has, since his appointment, taken a very active part in the business of the House and its committees. While called upon to speak on subjects of every kind, he has given special attention to constitutional questions, railways, and the fisheries. Among his most important speeches may be mentioned one made in the session of 1879, in which were pointed out, for the first time in parliament, the many advantages of the Sault Ste. Marie route for a railway to the North-West; one in 1880 against the Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill; one in 1884 on the disproportion between the expenditure on the Intercolonial Railway and the receipts from that work; one on the question of Prohibition, and another on the route of the proposed “short line” railway from Montreal to the Lower Provinces, in 1885; one made during the discussion arising out of the proposal to take Senator O’Donohoe into the Cabinet, in 1886; and one made in the session of 1887 on a resolution introduced by Mr. Power, and unanimously adopted by the Senate, to the effect that in any negotiations for the admission of United States fishermen to the territorial waters of Canada, care should be taken that when admitted they should be subject to the laws and regulations governing our own fishermen. Amongst other parliamentary work done by the subject of this notice during recent years may be mentioned the drafting of the Nova Scotia Married Woman’s Property Act, which became law in 1884. Outside of politics, he has taken an active interest in various local matters of a public character, and is now a commissioner of schools for his native city; a commissioner of the Provincial Library, a director of the Victoria School of Art; a director of the Halifax Visiting Dispensary; one of the executive committee of the Halifax Ratepayers’ Association; and a member of the Nova Scotia Historical Society and of the Wanderers’ Athletic Association, as well as of certain associations connected with the Roman Catholic church. Although not a man of extreme views, but rather a conservative Liberal, Mr. Power has been consistent and resolute in his loyalty to the Reform party, and in his opposition to Liberal-Conservatism. His theory of government is that each individual, each family, each hamlet, village, town, city, county and province, should have the greatest liberty and self-government consistent with the safety of the common country, and that the business of government should be carried on according to the same principles which are adopted by prudent men in managing their own affairs. He thinks that the powers of the central government in Canada are greater than they should be, and that the machinery of that government is complicated, cumbrous, ineffective and expensive, to a lamentable degree. If these defects and abuses were removed, and the tariff framed in the interests of the mass of the population instead of as now in the interests of a very small minority, he thinks that the natural advantages of our country would ere long have the effect of largely increasing our wealth, population, and our importance in the eyes of the outside world. Mr. Power was married on the 23rd of June, 1880, to Susan, daughter of Mr. M. O’Leary, of Noodiquoddy, Halifax county.
McDonald, Rev. Clinton Donald, B.A., B.L., B.D., M.A., Ph.B., B.Sc., Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Thorold, Ontario, was born in the city of Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the 17th June, 1842. His father, Angus McDonald, and his mother, Mary McDonald, both belonged to the Clan McDonald, of Glencoe, Inverness-shire, and had moved to Glasgow shortly before the birth of their only son. In Glasgow, Angus McDonald, a stalwart Highlander, over six feet in height, served for several years in the city police force, and afterwards removed to the village of Dalmuir, in Dumbartonshire, where he was employed in Tennant’s chemical works, and here he died. Both his parents died before Clinton had seen his tenth birthday, and thus the orphan boy, with his only sister, were thrown upon the world to push their way the best they could. For five or six years Clinton spent his time among the farmers in the parishes of Old Kilpatrick, Cardross, and Row; and having saved a little money he emigrated to Canada. Shortly after his arrival he found employment as a farm hand in the county of Huron, and worked there for about three years as such. Being addicted to no vices, steady, moral, and frugal in his habits, he had in these few years acquired sufficient money to enable him to obtain that which of all things he had long desired, namely, a better education. With this object in view, he gathered together his worldly possessions, and started from the backwoods of the township of Hullett, and took up his abode in the town of Clinton. Here he entered the public school, then taught by John McFaul, where he continued for a year, and then spent another year in the High school taught by George Argo, B.A. When he first entered school he had but the slightest knowledge of geography and grammar, and only the most elementary rules in arithmetic, yet at the end of these two years he had made such rapid progress that, at the examination for teachers in the county of Huron, he obtained a first class teachers’ certificate. He then took up teaching as a profession, and for about two years successfully prosecuted this work. But the desire for a still higher education had taken such possession of his mind that he determined to still further prosecute his studies. He entered Knox College, Toronto, and having passed its full literary and classical courses, entered Toronto University, and passed the first three of its five examinations in the Arts course. Before completing the Arts course in the university he entered the divinity hall of Knox College to study Theology, and on the completion of this course he entered the ministry. During his college course, which lasted about six years, the Rev. Mr. McDonald gained marked distinction, and at the competitive examinations carried off so many of the cash prizes that he was able thereby to pay all the costs of his college career. In 1877, the congregation of the First Presbyterian church of Thorold called the Rev. Mr. McDonald, who at that time had charge of the Presbyterian church at Point Edward, near Sarnia, to become its pastor, and since then the church has had a very successful career. The population of Thorold, through the completion of certain public works in its vicinity, is now about one thousand less than it was when Rev. Mr. McDonald went there, yet though the number of people in the town is much less, the number of members in the Presbyterian church is much greater; that is, while the population has fallen from about three thousand down to two thousand, yet the number of members in the church has risen from ninety-nine up to one hundred and eighty. Looking at the facts above stated, we may fairly conclude that Rev. Mr. McDonald is evidently a man of push and perseverance, and we predict for him a highly honourable career, such an one as must fall to the lot of a man who has thus steadily worked himself up to his present position in the church.
Coldwell, Albert Edward, M.A., Professor of Natural Science, Acadia College, Wolfville, N.S., was born at Gaspereau, Kings county, N.S., September 18th, 1841. The Coldwell family is of English origin, the family name in its present form having been handed down for some centuries. Mr. Coldwell’s great-great-grandfather came to Nova Scotia from New England and took up lands in the beautiful valley of the Gaspereau. Many of his descendants are now living in the immediate vicinity. Our subject’s father was Ebenezer Coldwell and his mother Mary Stevens, also a well known family in Nova Scotia. Mr. Coldwell’s maternal uncle, Rev. James Stevens, was widely known and respected, not only in Nova Scotia but outside of it, as a prominent member of the Baptist ministry, up to the time of his death which occurred at a ripe old age. Mr. Coldwell was educated at Horton Collegiate Academy and Acadia College. He pursued the general classical course, graduating B.A. (with honours) in 1869. At the end of Sophomore year he won the monthly essay prize and in his senior year the Alumni essay prize of $40 open to all undergraduates. Obtained his M.A. degree in 1872. In 1877, Mr. Coldwell won the Vaughan prize of £20 sterling for the best essay on the History of Acadia College. This history is published in the memorial volume issued by the college in 1881, and apart from its historical value is a gem of literary excellence. Prof. Coldwell has not been satisfied with education derived from books alone, but has travelled somewhat extensively and thereby came into immediate contact with the scholars of other countries. For a short time he resided in London, making the most of his opportunities, and he is also familiar with the centres of thought in the eastern and middle States. It is scarcely necessary to add that he is a Baptist. He also married into a well known family of that denomination, his wife being Jessie, a daughter of W. J. Higgins, and niece of Professor Higgins, of Acadia College, and also of Rev. Dr. Higgins, pastor of the Wolfville Baptist Church. In January, 1871, Mr. Coldwell was appointed instructor in mathematics in Horton Collegiate Academy, which post he filled until 1882, when he was appointed instructor in Natural Science in Acadia College. In June, 1884, he was appointed professor in that department, which position he still holds. Prof. Coldwell’s reputation does not rest alone upon his connection with Acadia, but in consequence of the special attention he has given to science studies since graduating he is rapidly gaining a name for himself in the scientific world.
Spencer, Charles Worthington, Montreal, general superintendent eastern division Canadian Pacific Railway, was born on the 31st October, 1857, at Kemptville, Ont. He would confer no small service on mankind, and especially on that portion of it which constitutes the business world of our modern civilization, who would set forth, in the form of “brief biographies,” the stages by which men attain success in the various walks of active life. Soldiers, statesmen,litterateurs, men of science, scholars, and churchmen, who have achieved distinction, rarely lack pens to celebrate their courage, their genius, their learning and their discoveries. Their names become household words in the professions or occupations by which they have risen to fame, so that those who succeed them in the same path of effort are at no loss for examples by which to shape their own careers. In the vast range of multifarious activity—the world of commerce and skilled industry, the world of railroads and steamships, to which our age is mainly indebted for its practical progress—it is unfortunately otherwise. Hundreds of the men who have blessed their kind while advancing their own interest—who have opened up new fields of human labor, who have broadened the realm of trade, and, by inventions, adaptations and administrative talent, have brought communities, severed by thousands of miles, into friendly contiguity, and given facility, safety and comfort to the intercourse between nation and nation—have been allowed to pass away with hardly a record of their existence, and still oftener without any worthy memorial of their services to their fellowmen. To the young man just beginning life; such a biographical collection, based on the careers of men who by the faithful and conscientious use of natural and acquired advantages had won for themselves a name and position in their chosen path of endeavors, would be of untold value. He would learn what qualities to accentuate, what dangers to avoid, how best to avail himself of opportunities as they offered, and, in time, how, by serving faithfully, to fit himself eventually for the task of supervision and command. When such a work, or series of works (as this), is given to the public, there is one name which it is sure to include in its list of examples, that which stands at the head of this memoir. Charles Worthington Spencer, general superintendent of the eastern division of the Canadian Pacific Railway, has the peculiar distinction of being the youngest man in his profession who fills so high and responsible a position. To what gifts and energies he owes his promotion those who have the pleasure of his acquaintance need not be informed. Able, courteous, with a mental grasp that can take in wide surveys, without at the same time neglecting details, he has risen step by step to the exalted place which he occupies with a rapidity rarely, if ever, paralleled on any of our great American lines. Mr. Spencer, at the present time, 1888, is only in his thirty-first year. He entered the railway service on the 7th day of May, 1871, and was operator and clerk at the Ottawa station until May, 1874, when he became assistant agent. He then passed successively through the stages of assistant train despatcher, chief train despatcher, traffic superintendent, assistant superintendent, and assistant general superintendent. From 1st August, 1884, to 30th April, 1885, he was assistant general superintendent of the eastern division; from the latter date to 27th September, 1886, he was assistant general superintendent of the eastern and Ontario divisions. From the latter date to 25th September, 1887, he was acting general superintendent of the same division. On the date last mentioned he received the important appointment which he still holds, that of general superintendent of the eastern division. The whole of Mr. Spencer’s experience was gained in Canada, and in connection with the great enterprise to which he is still so honorably attached. If Canada has reason to be proud of her industry and commerce, which of late have so grand a development, she owes her progress in those respects to her great public works and improvements, her chain of canals and net-work of railways, which same have made inter-communication possible. Of these, the C. P. R. takes the acknowledged lead, and of the men to whom that great route is indebted for that perfection of equipment and administration which have won it the public confidence at home and the admiration of foreigners, not the least worthy of grateful recognition is Charles Worthington Spencer.
Tetreau, Rev. F., was born at St. Hyacinthe, on October 11th, 1819. His parents were honest farmers. Left an orphan when very young, his grandparents carefully watched over his earliest education. At the age of twelve years, under the kind and generous protection of the curé of his parish, he entered and commenced his classical studies at the St. Hyacinthe College, and there terminated them with great success in 1838, in the midst of such distinguished men as the present Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario and the Archbishop of St. Boniface. After mature reflection, this young philosopher became a priest, and consecrated his life to the care and instruction of the young of that institution, which so deservedly merited all his gratitude and devotion. One day his bishop remarked to him, “Be a pillar of the seminary.” This remark became an order, accepted and carried out in its fullest extent. For more than half a century the “pillar” has been in its place, and has only bowed to the inevitable march of time, and Providence has blessed him, and crowned his ripe years with success. The aged priest has the energy and ardor of his younger days, leading a uniform life, and filling all the necessary duties of a college professor. He has practised in his deportment the ascetic maxim, “Ama nesciri et pro nihilo reputari.” This maxim did not prevent him keeping up kindly relations with his brothers in religion or his old pupils, all deeply attached to the cradle of their intellectual life. He was also much interested in the young writers of St. Hyacinthe, as well as elsewhere, Oscar Dunn being one of those of whom he retains an intimate and indelible remembrance. Who knows but that the old priest, in the exuberance of his youth, was guilty of many press delinquencies? Whether he was on the side of the press or not, it is certain he has written a great deal. Since 1849 he has chronicled, collected and made note of every event of importance which has taken place in the world, particularly in Canada, but more especially at St. Hyacinthe and the college. As every change occurs, it has been carefully committed to writing day by day, and these memoirs in the future will serve as a foundation for local history. Those who have had the privilege of seeing the manuscript agree that it is most valuable. After this short and condensed notice, it will easily be understood that the Rev. F. Tetreau has been one of the useful workers of this earth, and his life a general benefit to his fellow-creatures, always practising the maxim, “Ama nesciri et pro nihilo reputari.”
Fry, Edward Carey(Henry Fry & Co., of Quebec) was born in Bristol, the commercial capital of the west of England, on the 24th June, 1842. Although, like many others of our prominent men in the various walks of life, the subject of our sketch was not born in Canada, he is, nevertheless, by commercial training, more than thirty years’ residence in the country, and also by marriage, a typical Anglo-Canadian. He is one of the leading members of Quebec commercial society. His parents were of the middle class in life, but still possessed of sufficient means to give their numerous family the elements of a good sound English commercial education. His surname at once suggests some connection with the Society of Friends commonly known as “Quakers,” and with good reason, for his immediate ancestors were certainly of that denomination, while there is little doubt that those more remote were of the band who left England for these shores to avoid religious persecution, and who appear to have settled in New Brunswick, as the name is well known around St. Stephen’s to this day. In fact, when Mr. Fry’s elder brother, Henry, first landed there in 1853, the first person to address him bore exactly the same name as himself, and with little difficulty they traced their descent to a common ancestor. A Peter Fry left New Brunswick and settled in the county of Somerset, England, where he became the founder of that branch of the family, and numerous are the mural tablets in the picturesque village churches of that county to the memory of different members of this family, who seem to have been held in the highest respect, as was its founder, of whom the following is recorded in marble in the parish church of Axbridge, Somerset: —
“To the Memory ofPETER FRY,Who resigned his spiritinto the hands of hisRedeemer, 21st September, 1787,Aged 52 years.That his example may bea light to othersLet this stone record hisvirtues.In transacting businesshe showed great abilityand clear understandingand a sound judgment.He was much trusted andnever betrayed a trust;yet his inviolable integritywas tempered with thegentlest humanity.In social life, he wasbenevolent, friendlyand charitable.In his domestic connexions,prudent, affectionate,and tender.In his commerce with God,in whom he placed atruly Christian confidence,humble, pious and resigned.Reader,‘Go and do thou likewise.’”
“To the Memory of
PETER FRY,
Who resigned his spirit
into the hands of his
Redeemer, 21st September, 1787,
Aged 52 years.
That his example may be
a light to others
Let this stone record his
virtues.
In transacting business
he showed great ability
and clear understanding
and a sound judgment.
He was much trusted and
never betrayed a trust;
yet his inviolable integrity
was tempered with the
gentlest humanity.
In social life, he was
benevolent, friendly
and charitable.
In his domestic connexions,
prudent, affectionate,
and tender.
In his commerce with God,
in whom he placed a
truly Christian confidence,
humble, pious and resigned.
Reader,
‘Go and do thou likewise.’”
George Fry, the father of our subject, though not a member of the Society of Friends, was educated in one of their schools, and a certain amount of quiet reserve, sedateness, and plainness of speech descended from the father to several of his sons, who are still apt to call a spade a “spade” and not an “agricultural implement.” Mr. Edward Carey Fry received his education at the grammar school of Bristol, a city famous for its schools, and by the time he had received all that his friends could give him in that respect, his elder brother Henry had become a Canadian ship-owner, while several of his other brothers were at sea. It was decided that the boy, Edward, should follow their example and he was accordingly apprenticed to Henry and served some time in one of his ships, the well known oldLotus. Although by this means he acquired a knowledge of the sea and of ships, which has since been very valuable to him in his capacity of Lloyd’s Agent, life in a timber ship was necessarily distasteful to a lad of his stamp and, as it was seen, that by education and a certain amount of refinement he was more fitted for his brother’s office in Quebec than for the forecastle of a timber ship, the change was made. There the business portion of his education commenced, progressed, and was completed under his brother’s fostering care, so that for experience of Canadian timber and shipping matters and especially of all that concerns the port of Quebec and its trade, he is probably excelled by none. He was finally taken into partnership by Mr. Henry Fry, a connection only to be dissolved by the lamented break-down of the latter gentleman’s health owing to overwork very largely honorary, philanthropic, and for the welfare of his fellow citizens of Quebec, by whom no one was more highly respected or deservedly regretted. The business has since been carried on by Mr. Edward Carey Fry, under the old and honoured name. After becoming a citizen of Quebec, Mr. Edward Fry added to his previous ties by marrying Elizabeth, the daughter of the Revd. David Marsh, the well-known and esteemed Baptist minister of Quebec, who, like her young husband, was born in England, though transplanted to this country at a very early age. They have a large family of bright, intelligent boys and girls, undoubtedly showing in their physique their Anglo-Saxon origin, but Canadian born and with all the advantages of education that an excellent school system can supply. Mr. Fry has been associated from infancy with the Baptist church. In fact he was named after the great Baptist missionary, Edward Carey, and, as a child, attended Broadmead Baptist chapel, Bristol, well known to the religious world as having been the scene of the labours of Drs. Robert Hall, Foster, and Evans, whose names are historical. In politics, like his elder brother, it is understood that he declines to be tied to any party, his motto being “measures, not men,” and that he will support either side when he believes they are acting honestly for the welfare of his adopted country. If he has a bias, it is believed to be in favour of perfect liberty and equality in religion, politics and commerce, which is only what might be expected from one not very remotely connected with the freedom-loving Society of Friends. At one time his firm was largely interested in the timber business, but this branch has been abandoned by it for some years and its time and attention are now wholly devoted to shipping and commission. Mr. Fry’s position as Lloyd’s Agent and agent for other British and continental underwriters at Quebec, and representing, as he does, several large ship-owning houses, both sail and steam, have given him an extensive and unique experience in getting vessels and cargoes out of difficulties at the least possible cost to all concerned. Like most Quebecers, who have commercial relations with England, he takes periodical trips to his native land. In fact, he has crossed the Atlantic at least fifty times, and it must be said to the credit of his filial affection and sense of patriotism that he never allows his business on such occasions to prevent him, when in England, from paying a visit of love and reverence to the home of his ancestors in Somersetshire, and especially to his father’s native place, the pretty village of Winscombe, where, notwithstanding the march of modern improvement, all is still rustic simplicity. The beautiful old church, with its wealth of historic associations from the days of the Crusaders downwards, and its picturesque churchyard, which commands a series of views of a lovely country and contains one of the finest yew trees in England, are still just as his father knew them in his youth. Time has not perceptibly changed them; but the spot, more than all others, which always interests the son, is that immediately in front of the font in the sacred edifice, on which his father was held for baptism over a hundred years ago. On one of his visits to Winscombe church, Mr. Fry had the pleasure of examining its old register and has now in his possession a certified copy of his father’s baptismal record—a quaint interesting memorial of the past in the old English way of writing. It shows that the old man was born as far back as 1783, or seventeen years before the beginning of the present century, and it can be readily imagined that many notable events in the world’s history were embraced within the recollection of one whose span of existence was prolonged down to our own times in 1868. Mr. Fry still vividly recalls listening at his father’s knee to his stories of his long life, how he could just remember hearing in his boyhood the startling news of the execution of Louis XVI. and his queen Marie Antoinette, and how, as his memory became more vigorous with his growth, he retained more vivid impressions with regard to the battles of the Nile, St. Vincent, and Trafalgar, the nation’s mourning for Nelson, and the times of privateering in which Bristol took a very prominent part, and when wheat was nevertheless a guinea a bushel in the midst of all the ill-gotten wealth of that day. “Fine times those were for the landlords and farmers”—used the old man to say—“but the common people were reduced to the verge of starvation.” And he often added that, though he had probably outlived all the leading spirits of those privateering days, he could not remember any case in which the money so acquired appeared to have done any real good, and that he hoped to see the day when, in time of war, the rights of inoffensive private property would be respected and privateers receive the only rights to which, in his opinion, they were entitled—a good rope at the yard-arm as pirates. Other milestones in his memory, on which he frequently loved to descant for the benefit of his children, were the days of the Regency, the battle of Waterloo, the death of Napoleon, the trial of Queen Caroline, whose husband he thought a sensual brute, though he was styled “the first gentleman in Europe;” the passing of the Reform Bill, the opposition to which by the member for Bristol, Sir Charles Wetherall, contrary to the wishes of his constituents, caused fearful riots and loss of life in that city, the second and even the third French revolution, the abolition of slavery under the British flag in 1834, the accession and marriage of Queen Victoria, the abolition of the corn laws, and the abandonment by Great Britain of protection for the benefits of a vigorous free trade policy. It is scarcely necessary to say that these stirring reminiscences made a deep impression on young Fry’s mind and that, while as a man to-day his preference is for his adopted country and his faith strong in the greatness of its future, he still yields to none either in love for Old England or in unswerving adherence in public and private to the sturdy principles of rectitude which seem to have been so marked a characteristic of his worthy father. Ability and uprightness in business and straightforwardness in all things have won for him the respect of his fellow-citizens of Quebec, and few are held in higher or more deserved estimation by all classes of the population. Mr. Fry is a member of the Quebec Board of Trade, and, though adverse to accepting any prominent position in that or any other public body, because, owing to the demands of his business, he cannot give to them all the requisite time and attention, he nevertheless ever takes a deep and watchful interest in all that concerns the public good, whether in a commercial, municipal, political or religious sense, and can always be counted on to do his duty intelligently and as a good citizen when necessary.
Ogden, Charles Kinnis, Three Rivers, Province of Quebec, was born at Three Rivers, on the 11th of February, 1829. He is a son of Isaac Governeur Ogden, who was for forty years sheriff of the district of Three Rivers, and also served as captain in H.M. 56th Regiment, and in another regiment with Colonel De Salaberry. His grandfather was the Hon. Isaac Ogden, judge of the Superior Court, Montreal, and a U. E. loyalist, who was driven out of his possessions in New Jersey by Gen. George Washington, in 1775, his lands being all confiscated on account of his loyalty to the British Crown. The city of New Jersey is now situated in the centre of his farm, but from which the Ogden family receive no income. Mr. Ogden is a nephew of the late Charles Richard Ogden, attorney-general under Sir John Colborne’s administration, in 1837. He is also a nephew of the late William Walker, advocate, of Montreal, who defended the patriots in 1837, and who was a direct descendant of the celebrated Walker who defended Derry during the ever memorable siege. Another uncle was Peter Skene Ogden, who was at one time in business with the celebrated John Jacob Astor, later becoming a partner in the North-West Fur Company, which afterwards amalgamated with the Hudson Bay Company, when he took the position of chief factor, and had charge of Vancouver and Oregon, at the time of the cession of the latter to the U.S. government, which was represented on the occasion of the transfer by General Grant. The subject of this sketch was educated at Lennoxville, P.Q., under the Rev. Mr. Doolittle, also at the high school, Montreal, under the Rev. Mr. Simpson. He has been postmaster of Three Rivers for many years; has also been in the telegraph and insurance business, and was local agent of the Hon. Hudson Bay Company. He was chiefly instrumental in building a fine rectory for the English church clergyman at Three Rivers; he also erected a fine building which was used by the telegraph and insurance companies, and as a post office, but which is now used as a private residence, Sir Hector L. Langevin, C.B., having induced the government to build a post office in Three Rivers, which is an honor to the city. Mr. Ogden has never had any connection with any secret or political societies, and he has always been liberal and conservative in his views, without prejudice to any one. He is a valued and consistent member of the Episcopal church. He was married in 1865, to Rosina Meyer, daughter of William B. Meyer, merchant, of Quebec, and niece of the Rev. Mr. Aldriche, rector of Ipswich, England.
Howard, Robert Palmer, M.D., L.R.C.S.E., Montreal, was born in the city of Montreal, on the 12th January, 1823. His parents, Robert Howard and Margaret Kent, were natives of Ireland, and had settled in Montreal some years before their son Robert was born—Mr. Howard carrying on business as a merchant. The subject of this sketch was educated in Montreal, and studied medicine in the McGill University and in Great Britain and France. Returning from Europe in 1849, he practised his profession in his native city as a “general practitioner” till the year 1880, when he gave up the practice of surgery and confined his attendance to the work of the pure physician. He was appointed Professor of Clinical Medicine in the McGill University in 1856, and on the death of Dr. Holmes, in 1860, succeeded to the chair of Theory and Practice of Medicine in the same institution, which position he still occupies. Two years ago the degree of LL.D.,honoris causa, was conferred upon him by the University, in which he has been a professor for thirty-four years, and dean of its medical faculty for six years. In the course of his career he has held several of the offices indicative of professional standing and responsibility. Dr. Howard has been president of the Canada Medical Association; president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Quebec; and president of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Montreal. He is one of the vice-presidents of the Association of American Physicians. This year (1887), on the occasion of the celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the College of Physicians, of Philadelphia, he was made Fellow of that distinguished body. For twenty-two years he was one of the attending physicians and surgeons of the Montreal General Hospital, and has been the secretary of that institution for thirty-three years. For the greater part of his professional life in his capacity as a member of the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of his native province, he has endeavoured to elevate the standard of medical education and requirements, and for several years laboured earnestly, but unhappily in vain, with many of the leading physicians in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, to bring about a General Medical Council for the Dominion of Canada. He is a member of the Church of England, and has been twice married. First in 1855, to Mary Frances Chipman, daughter of the late Judge Chipman, of Halifax, N.S., by whom he had one son, R. J. B. Howard, M.A., F.R.C.S., Eng., who is associated with his father in the practice of his profession, and is engaged in teaching practical anatomy in McGill College. He married in 1872. His second wife is Emily, daughter of the late Thomas Severs, of London, England, and they have had two sons and two daughters born to them, three of whom are living. A physician thus puts on record his estimation of Dr. Howard’s position and work: “The life of a man of such unceasing industry as Dr. Howard, may be considered from many aspects. As an author he has contributed largely to medical literature during the past thirty years. His studies on pneumonia, phthisis and on heart disease, have made him a recognized authority in the profession. The work on anæmia, which he prepared for the International Medical Congress in 1876, was one of the earliest and remains one of the most important contributions to the subject. The elaborate articles on rheumatism and allied affections published in theSystem of Medicine, by American authors, 1885, are perhaps the most exhaustive in the English language. The Canadian and American journals contain many lesser contributions from his pen. As a teacher, Dr. Howard has been eminently successful. For some years he held the position of Professor of Clinical Medicine in McGill University, and in 1861, on the death of Dr. Holmes, was transferred to the chair of medicine, which he still occupies. Painstaking industry at the bed-side, a clear, logical mind, a forcible and impressive delivery, combined to make Dr. Howard a model hospital teacher, and his course of didactic lectures on medicine is the most thorough and complete with which the writer is acquainted.” For years Dr. Howard has been a zealous advocate of higher medical education, and to his energy and perseverance is due the endowment of the McGill medical faculty, as well as many other improvements. In the long struggle to establish the Medical Board of the province of Quebec, on a proper basis, Dr. Howard has been very active, and for many years has been the prominent English representative. As a practitioner, Dr. Howard has been exceptionally successful and for years he has been the leading medical consultant in the Dominion. His reputation as a careful observer and close student has gained for him the confidence of the profession in an unusual degree. A kindly, sympathetic manner, scrupulous attention to details and exceptional skill and judgment in the management of cases, have combined to give the laity implicit trust in his opinion. Important and enduring has been Dr. Howard’s influence upon the groups of students which have come under his care and upon the men who have been fortunate enough to be hisconfrères. Unselfish to a fault, keenly zealous for the welfare of the profession, enthusiastic as a youth, he has—perhaps unconsciously to himself—impressed all with whom he came in contact with the earnestness of life, the nobility of work, and the dignity of his calling.
Pope, Edwin, Superintendent of the Great North-Western Telegraph Company, Quebec, was born at Kingston, Ontario, on the 14th of March, 1843. His father was the late Major Pope, who was for many years provincial store-keeper at Montreal. His mother was Maria Craig. He removed with his parents successively to Montreal and Quebec. He was educated in the latter city, and resided there for several years, in the employ of the Montreal Telegraph Company. In 1862 he was transferred to the company’s Toronto office; and in 1863, at the early age of twenty years, was sent to Watertown, N.Y., as superintendent in charge of the company’s line in the State of New York. In 1866 he was promoted to the still more important and responsible position of the company’s superintendent at Quebec, and was reappointed to the same position in 1881, when the lines were consolidated under the Great North-Western Telegraph Company. He still holds this office, and enjoys the general respect of the population of the ancient capital for his courtesy and blameless life. Mr. Pope is a member of the Church of England, and holds office in various organizations connected therewith, and in other local societies. In 1864 he married Mary Margaret, fifth daughter of Robert McClure, of Toronto, and by her has had issue eight children.
Amherst, Lord Jeffery.—Lord Amherst, who commanded the British army at the surrender of Montreal in September, 1760, one of the bravest officers that ever the nation had the great good fortune to possess, was born in Kent, England, on the 29th January, 1717. He was the second son of Jeffery Amherst, of Riverhead, in Kent, barrister-at-law, and Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Kerrill, of Hadlow, Co. Kent, who had four sons and two daughters. Sackville died unmarried, in 1763; Jeffery, the subject of our sketch; John, an admiral in the Royal Navy; and William, lieut.-general in the army, A.D.C. to the King, lieut.-governor of Portsmouth, governor of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and adj.-general of his Majesty’s forces; Elizabeth and Margaret. A pedigree extant deduces the family of Amherst from the Saxon era. Hamo de Herst is mentioned by Phillpot, to be flourishing in the second year of Edward III. In the next reign, Richard II., the name appears by record to be written, Amherst of Amherst, they (according to Collins) having dropped the Normandeand the aspirate H. Jeffery, Lord Amherst, in his childhood was noted for displaying great fondness for military life, and at that early period gave all his attention to the performance of martial evolutions. His father, observing his strong predilections, was induced to present him to one of his relatives, who was a captain. The sparkling eyes, speaking countenance, and significant manners of the young aspirant, recommended him highly to his superior officers, and at the age of fourteen he received an ensign’s commission in the Guards. Having distinguished himself on several occasions by his modest, prudent, and calm conduct, as well as by his valor, and constant attention to duty, he was, in 1741, appointed General Legonier’saide-de-camp. In this high capacity he continued to serve in the German fields, and thus was present at the battles of Düttingen, Fontenoy, and Rocoux. He was at the side of the Duke of Cumberland, asaide-de-campin the battle of Lauffeldt. On that remarkable day, young officer Amherst noticed and appreciated the celebrated James Wolfe, whose enthusiastic devotion and spirited bravery on the same field, drew forth the thanks of the Duke of Cumberland. No sooner had Pitt established himself in office, than he conceived the plan of an attack against the French colonies in America. This statesman had discovered in Colonel Amherst sound sense, steady courage, and an active genius. He therefore recalled him from Germany, and setting aside military forms, promoted him to the rank of major-general, and gave him the command of the troops sent against Louisbourg, Cape Breton. Hon. Edward Boscawen was chosen admiral of the fleet. Equipments were made with great zeal, and on February 19th, 1758, the armament sailed from Portsmouth, for Halifax. General Amherst’s army, which was almost exclusively British regulars, was put in motion, being divided into three brigades, under the Brigadier-Generals Whitmore, Lawrence, and Wolfe. On the 2nd of June, the armament arrived off Cape Breton. The troops were landed near Fresh Water Cove (Comoran Creek), four miles from the town. In a few days the British triumphed over every obstacle, and Amherst entered the city, July 26th, and took possession of the whole island of Cape Breton. Many illustrious persons were present at this victorious scene. Among whom were James Wolfe, the noble hero, who so gloriously fell on the Plains of Abraham, and whose daring skill even then excited great admiration; James Murray, the first British governor of Quebec; Commodore Durrell, the young Earl of Dundonald, who commanded the Grenadiers of the 12th Regiment, and the renowned Captain Cooke, then serving as a petty officer on board a ship of war. There were also Lord Rollo, Major Darling, etc., and Amherst the moving spirit, whose wisdom and energy had enshrined his name in the grateful affections of his countrymen. Amherst wished to follow up his success by pushing forward with his whole army to Quebec, but the engagement at Louisbourg, through the protracted defence of the skilful French governor, Mr. Drucour, delayed the forces of Amherst too long, so that a descent upon Canada was impracticable that year. Amherst sailed for Boston the last of August, and from thence pushed on through the wilderness to Lake George, where he left seasonable supplies with Abercrombie, and returned to Boston, and then to Halifax, to await orders from the British government. Abercrombie endeavored to sustain himself against the French troops to Ticonderoga, but was defeated near this place, and here fell the gallant and good Lord Howe, and with him seemed to pass away the energy and spirit of the army. In this year Fort Duquesne was captured, and the British officers with unanimous consent changed the name of the Fort to Pittsburg; a well-earned compliment to the minister who planned the conquest of that large country. With this expedition concluded the campaign of 1758. Early in 1759 Amherst was appointed commander-in-chief of the British North American armies in place of Abercrombie, who sailed for England the 24th of January following. For the next campaign, Pitt decided upon nearly the same plan of operations, which had partially succeeded before. The main body of the British army was assembled upon the shores of Lake George, being destined to penetrate Canada by the River Richelieu, and occupy Montreal. When Pitt cast his eyes over the maps of the western world and traced its net work of lakes and rivers, noted its far stretching wilderness of forests, so solemn, and almost impenetrable, and remembered the resources of the brave Montcalm, we should expect his zeal to have cooled, but he thought only of Wolfe and Amherst, and was sure of success. According to the plan, Amherst left New York April 28th, 1759, and arrived in Albany, May 3rd, to pursue the great plan of the campaign. An alarming spirit of desertion broke out among the militia, but Amherst’s promptness soon quelled it, and a great part of the army, with artillery and stores, arrived and encamped on the woody shores of Lake George, 21st June, and on 21st July, notwithstanding the heat of the weather, all was made ready, and troops and stores were embarked upon the lakes. Amherst took Fort Ticonderoga[1]from the French, and repaired it, and gave orders to increase the naval force on the lake. Then Crown Point was to be overcome. It was formerly called Point-a-la-Chevelure, situated about eighteen miles north of Ticonderoga. It was soon abandoned by the enemy, and Amherst took possession of it on the 4th of August, thus securing two important forts. On the 16th of August, he learned that the French were so strongly intrenched in Isle-aux-Noix, as to prevent him from joining Wolfe’s army before Quebec, and he was forced to remain inactive until October, although every hour was precious. He succeeded in crossing the lake on October 18th, when he learned that the fate of Quebec had been decided, and it was an honorable trait in the character of Amherst that, in his despatches, he allowed his brigadier the full credit of the action. From the uncommonly sickly state of his provincials, he was forced to prepare for the inglorious quiet of winter-quarters at Crown Point.[2]The next year, Amherst left New York with part of his army and proceeded to Oswego. He was followed by General Gage, and soon assembled his army on the shores of Lake Ontario, from whence he descended the St. Lawrence upon the enemy’s capital, leaving Lake Champlain to Colonel Haviland, whilst General Murray with the disposable portion of the garrison of Quebec, was to push up the St. Lawrence. On September 6th, the splendid army landed at Montreal, and invested it in form. On the 8th, the Marquis of Vaudreuil, who commanded in Montreal, signed the capitulation, and the whole of Canada became a British province. French troops were conveyed to France in British ships, and the Canadian militia allowed to return peaceably to their homes. The French colonists were guaranteed the same civil privileges as British subjects, and the free enjoyment of their customs, and laws. In the meantime the Island of Newfoundland having fallen into the hands of the enemy, General Amherst dispatched a sufficient force for the recovery of it, under the command of his brother, Colonel William Amherst, whose expedition was completely successful. The general now returned to New York, then the English capital of North America, where he was greeted with the strongest tokens of gratitude and respect, and whither, also, the thanks of the House of Commons had been transmitted to him from London. Thus General Amherst planned and executed an undertaking of the most striking interest. In 1761, he was appointed Knight of the Bath. He continued to command in America until 1764, when he returned to England. He was in reality the first British governor-general of Canada, Gage, Murray, Burton and Haldimand, being sub-governors only.[3]In 1771, he was appointed governor of Guernsey, where he gave a high idea of his talents as administrator. His venerable Sovereign George III., created him Baron Amherst, of Holmsdale, in the county of Kent in 1776, and two years later his lordship was constituted commander-in-chief of his Majesty’s land forces in Great Britain. In 1782, he received the gold stick from the king, but on the change of the administration, the command of the army and the lieutenant-generalship of the ordnance were put into other hands. In 1788, he received another patent of peerage as Baron Amherst, of Montreal, county Kent. In January 1793, he was again appointed to the command of the army in Great Britain, but in 1795, this veteran and very deserving officer, was superseded by H.R.H., the Duke of York, the second son of the king, who was only in the thirty-first year of his age, and had never seen any actual service. The government on this occasion, with a view to soothe the feelings of the old general, offered him an earldom, and the rank of field-marshal, both of which he at that time rejected. The office of field-marshal, however, he accepted in July 1796. He was formally thanked by parliament. A succession of honors attended him until the period of his death, which took place in his castle in Kent, August 3rd, 1797, at the age of eighty years. Thus the first barony expired, but the second devolved according to the limitation of the patent, upon his nephew, William Pitt Amherst, the first earl, who was afterwards ambassador to China, and governor general of India. The Amherst family seats are Montreal and Knole, near Sevenoaks, Kent, and the Motto “Constantia et virtute.” His career was wonderfully brilliant and successful. His time and talents had been devoted to military duty from his early years, and the history of his life beautifully illustrates the truth, that unbending application to any pursuit, will assuredly be crowned with success, and also reminds us, that neither exalted station, nor high enjoyment of life, can exempt from the power of death. The veteran of many battles and victories must at last resign his commission, and join the ranks of the spirit land. At that hour, all scenes of earthly magnificence, and pomp, and the glorious voice of renown, that had so often thrilled his soldier-heart, faded and grew silent, and the untold sublimity of an eternal existence asserted its sway. Happy was the great general, in his dying hour, that he could look with confidence to the great Being, “by whom king’s reign and princes decree justice.” He was twice married, first to Jane, only daughter of Thomas Dalison, of Hampton, in Kent; and secondly, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of General the Hon. George Cary, and niece of Viscount Falkland, but left no children.