Paquet, Rev. Benjamin, Priest and Household Prelate to his Holiness Leo XIII., Doctor of Theology, Superior of the Quebec Seminary, and Rector of Laval University, was born at St. Nicholas, county of Levis, in 1832. His father was Etienne Paquet, husbandman, captain of militia, and descendant of an old French family. He was one of the most remarkable citizens of the county of Levis. His mother was Ursule Lambert. He received his education at the Quebec Seminary and Laval University. After having finished his classical course, he gave himself up to theology, to prepare for the priesthood. After having been employed in the active ministry for five years as priest at the Basilica, Quebec, he entered the Seminary of Quebec as professor of belles-lettres about a year. In 1863, he went to Rome to complete his theological studies, with the intention of teaching in the faculty of theology at Laval. He studied at Rome for three years, at the celebrated Roman College, where he took his degrees. He returned to Quebec, and taught moral theology at Laval University for a great number of years. He was afterwards purveyor of Quebec Seminary for five years. During this interval, he built the new Quebec Seminary, one of the most beautiful edifices of the Dominion. After having been director of the Grand Seminary for two years, he was, in 1887, appointed Superior of the Seminary and Rector of Laval University. In 1878, he was appointed secret domestic to his Holiness Pope Pius IX., on account of his eminent services to religion in the cause of Laval University. In 1888, he was given, by Pope Leo XIII., the title of household prelate to his Holiness, which entitles him to take part in the court of honor of his Eminence Cardinal Taschereau. Doctor Paquet has made five trips to Europe in the interests of Laval University, and sojourned in Rome eight years.
Campbell, Sir Alexander, K.C.M.G., Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, residence Toronto. Like several of Canada’s leading statesmen, Sir Alexander Campbell was not born in this country, but he was only two years old when his father, an English physician, came to Canada in the year 1823, and took up his residence at Lachine, in the province of Quebec. Sir Alexander’s birthplace was the village of Hedon, near Kingston-upon-Hull, in Yorkshire, England; and he has ever retained the warmest sentiments of loyalty and attachment to the British empire. Sir Alexander’s parents gave him the best educational advantages the country afforded. They placed him first under the tuition of a Presbyterian clergyman, and afterwards sent him to St. Hyacinthe College, Quebec, and still later to the Royal Grammar School at Kingston, Ontario. He was of a studious turn of mind; and, although he left school at what would now be considered a comparatively early age, he had imbibed all the essential elements of a liberal education. At St. Hyacinthe College he acquired a considerable knowledge of the French language, and a consequent interest in French literature which has accompanied him through life. On occasion he could make a French speech in the Senate; though he rarely exercised the gift, and only perhaps to meet some playful challenge of the French members. He studied the classics also up to a certain point; but above all he acquired a knowledge and command of his own language, and a habit of using words with a peculiar force and directness. The phrase may not always be the smoothest, but it has a quality that tells—something a trifle Cæsarean in its brevity and point. However this is a good opportunity for reminding ourselves of Buffon’s dictum that “le style c’est l’homme.” Mere school education does not give this. A man may learn at school to avoid technical errors of speech; but the style he eventually acquires will be more or less the reflex of his own personality. Mr. Campbell was only seventeen years of age when he entered on the study of the law at Kingston, whither his family had some years previously removed. No stories have reached us of his student days, but he seems to have applied himself earnestly to his work, seeing that he was able, on completing his course and being called to the bar, to form a partnership immediately with John A. (now Sir John) Macdonald, whose reputation even then was rapidly growing. The partnership subsisted for many years under the name of Macdonald and Campbell; and the business, in the hands of these two exceptionally able men, was a lucrative one. Politics, however, soon began to absorb the attention of the senior partner, and the burden of the office work fell upon Mr. Campbell. The experience which the latter thus acquired, aided by his studies, made him one of the soundest lawyers at the bar of Upper Canada; and had he not, while still a comparatively young man, diverged into politics, there is little doubt that he might long since have occupied a distinguished position on the bench. It was in the year 1858 that Mr. Campbell made hisdébutin politics by carrying an election for the Cataraqui division, and taking his seat in the Legislative Council of Old Canada. He very quickly familiarised himself with his new surroundings, and became an efficient and highly esteemed member of the Upper House. No new member probably ever had less crudeness or inexperience to rub off; and no one seemed at all surprised when, in three or four years after his first election, the member for Cataraqui division was placed in the Speaker’s chair. The position was, indeed, one for which, by temperament and character, he was pre-eminently fitted, but not one in which his practical energies could find much scope; and a wider sphere of usefulness was opened up to him, while the administrative strength of the government of 1864 received a great reinforcement when the Speaker of the Council was assigned to the position of Commissioner of Crown Lands. Here his knowledge of law and prompt business methods found ample exercise, and it was admitted on all hands that he filled the office in an admirable manner. From this time forward Mr. Campbell was looked upon as one of the strong men of his party, though one whose strength was shown rather in council than in fight. His was the balanced judgment and sound knowledge of affairs, and one can only regret that the influence he was so fitted to exert, and must at many critical moments have exerted, in favor of sound, safe and honorable methods of party management, could not have asserted itself at all times. A very ugly chapter of Canadian political history might then never have been written. In 1867 the first government of the Dominion was constituted under the leadership of the then newly knighted Sir John A. Macdonald, and Mr. Campbell was sworn in as Postmaster-General. The new position did not call, to the same extent as the previous one, for the exercise of legal acumen, but it involved dealing with large public interests and a very extended patronage. During the period that Mr. Campbell remained at the head of the post office much solid progress was made, in all of which he took a lively interest, and exerted a judicious control. As regards the patronage of the department, it was administered by the Postmaster-General with a constant eye to the good of the service, and occasionally with a wholesome indifference to mere party demands. One of the chief characteristics of Mr. Campbell during his administrative career was that he was never willing to descend to the level of the mere party politician. Some have said that this was due to the fact that his position exempted him from dependence on the popular vote; but we have seen other senators whose high position did not seem to exercise any very elevating effect on their political methods. After a six years’ tenure, exactly, of the Post Office department, Mr. Campbell accepted the portfolio of the newly constituted department of the Interior. Here everything was to create, order had to be called out of a most discouraging chaos; but the new minister was proceeding bravely with his task, when the government of which he was a member met an inglorious defeat over the “Pacific Scandal.” The operations which led to this result had been carried on wholly without Mr. Campbell’s knowledge: he was not indeed the kind of a man to whom the schemes formed at that time for creating an election fund were likely to be confided. He did not, however, like Sir Richard Cartwright, see in the occurrences to which we are referring sufficient reason for separating himself from his party. He probably judged that he could render better service to the country in the ranks of the Conservative party than anywhere else; and he looked forward, doubtless, to the time when that party, rendered wiser by experience, would again be called to control the destinies of the country. From 1873 to 1878 Mr. Campbell acted as leader of the opposition in the Senate, and discharged the duties of the position with the same ability as well as with the same fairness and moderation as when he had represented the government. To act a really factious part was, we may say, almost wholly out of his power: certainly, it would have been foreign to his nature. When the Conservative party returned to office in November, 1878, Mr. Campbell first accepted the position of Receiver-General, but in the spring of 1879 he returned to his old office of Postmaster-General. Thence he passed in the month of January, 1880, to the department of Militia and Defence, which, during a brief term of office, he did not a little to invigorate. The end of the year saw him back in the Post Office department, which he again left in the month of May of the year following (1881), to assume the portfolio of Justice. Meantime (24th May, 1879) he had been created by her Majesty a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, an honor which his eminent public services had very fully merited. Sir Alexander remained at the head of the department of Justice until the latter part of the year 1885, when he once more returned to the Post Office department, which he finally left in the spring of 1887 to accept the Lieutenant-Governorship of Ontario. His appointment to the latter office was viewed with pleasure and approval, even by his political opponents. On all hands it was felt that in Sir Alexander Campbell her Majesty would have one of the most constitutional of representatives, such a man as she probably would herself have delighted to choose for the position. Before proceeding to Toronto, however, Sir Alexander went to England at the request of the government, to represent Canada at the Colonial conference. That conference was not empowered to enact any measures, or even to concert any scheme, for the modification of the relations existing between Great Britain and the colonies; but it gave an opportunity for a confidential exchange of views between members of the British government and leading representatives of the colonies; and there is little doubt that it has smoothed the way for the future discussion of questions of the greatest moment. As a departmental chief, Sir Alexander Campbell was deservedly popular. He was not, perhaps, the most accessible of men, and his general manner may have been a trifle distant and brief; but it was soon discovered that he had a kind heart and a strong sense of justice. He was not a man to be trifled with; he believed in holding men to their duty; but on the other hand, he was always glad of an opportunity of rewarding faithful service. He had a keen insight into character, and had, consequently, little difficulty in dealing with men on their merits. His confidence was seldom given where it was not deserved, or withheld where it was deserved. He was always ready to form his own independent opinion on any matter properly submitted to him, and having formed his opinion, he knew how to stand by it. No department of the government came amiss to him, for the simple reason that his sound business methods were applicable everywhere. How useful such a man must have been to the cabinet as a whole, and particularly to its leader, may be imagined, but the full details are not likely ever to become known. It will be remembered that while Minister of Justice it became the duty of Sir Alexander to draw up a memorandum explaining and defending the policy of the government in executing Riel. This he did in a manner that for force, conciseness, and logic left nothing to be desired. Perhaps, however, the chief merit of the statement was the strong accent of conviction that pervaded it. It was not a partisan manifesto; it was the fitting utterance of the highest organ of executive justice in the country.
Vidal, Henry Beaufort, Major in the Infantry School Corps. He was born on the 16th of May, 1843, at the town of Chatham, in the county of Kent. He is the only surviving son of the late Alexander Thomas Emeric Vidal, a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy, and for some years a resident in the county of Lambton, and Marie Antoinette, his wife, daughter of the late Henry Veitch, for many years H.B.M’s Consul-General in Madeira. Vice-Admiral Vidal was the youngest, and Captain Vidal, R.N., of Sarnia, the eldest son of Emeric Vidal, who was for many years a flag officer’s secretary in the Royal Navy. He preferred to remain in the service of Britain at the time that the remainder of his family elected to return to France, from which country their forefathers had emigrated on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, being at that time settled at the town of Montauban, in the department of Tarn et Garonne. The subject of this sketch was educated by private tutors and at Trinity College School in Toronto. He was admitted as student-at-law in Easter term, 1860, and was called to the bar of Ontario, Michaelmas term, 1872. He entered the militia of Canada as ensign in the 24th battalion, Lambton, 3rd August, 1860. On the 23rd May, 1862, he joined the British army as ensign, became a lieutenant in the 4th regiment of foot on the 16th of August, 1804, and served with that regiment in the Mediterranean, India, Abyssinia, etc. He was present at the action of Arogie and capture of Magdala. Having retired from the British army, he at once re-entered the Canadian militia, as a captain of the 7th battalion “Fusiliers,” London. In 1882 he became a regimental major in the 12th battalion, from which corps he was transferred to the permanent infantry on its first formation. Major Vidal is a Freemason, a Royal Arch Mason, and is also in the A. & A. Rite. Since his return to Canada he identified himself with the Conservative party, and is in politics a Tory. In religion, he is a member of the Church of England. He has travelled in all the four great continents. He was married in January, 1869, to Kate Allen, who died in 1884, and by whom he had issue (surviving), an only son and daughter. Charles Emeric Kerr, the son, was born on the 6th of February, 1870; educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto, and at the high schools of St. John and Halifax. He matriculated as student in medicine at Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, 1885; entered the militia of Canada at the age of fifteen years and ten months as 2nd lieutenant, 6th Fusiliers, and became lieutenant in June, 1887.
Rogers, Rev. Jabez A., Windsor, Nova Scotia, is the son of David and Rebecca Rogers, and was born at St. John’s, Newfoundland, on the first day of March, 1843. He received his early education at the Wesleyan Academy in St. John’s, and at the Grammar School in Harbour Grace. At the age of sixteen he was converted and united with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, an occasion of great joy in his father’s household—prayer being turned into praise on the happy night when he made his peace with God. The event was the more a subject of heart-felt joy inasmuch as his friends had expected that he was destined for the legal profession, a career in which a man of his brilliant parts and great eloquence would assuredly have attained no mean place. Shortly after his conversion Mr. Rogers felt that he was called to preach the gospel. He still attended the Grammar School at Harbour Grace, devoting his time to the study of the classics and the Greek Testament, under the direction of the scholarly and accomplished Principal, J. J. Roddick. When but seventeen years of age he preached his first sermon, and was appointed a local preacher of the Wesleyan Methodist church. He then entered upon theological studies, with the view of preparing to offer himself as a candidate for the ministry. In his twentieth year he was recommended by the Newfoundland District Meeting to the Methodist Conference of Eastern British America, and was received on probation. This is the first step in the Methodist ministry. In June, 1862, he was appointed as a probationer to Catalina, Trinity Bay, and in 1864 to Exploits Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland. In June, 1866, he was received into full connection by the Methodist Conference of Eastern British America, and was ordained a minister in full standing in the Centenary Church in St. John, New Brunswick. His first appointment as minister was to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, for one year, as the assistant of that great light in the Methodist church, the Rev. Matthew Richey, D.D. In the next year, 1867, Rev. Mr. Rogers was appointed to the church in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where he remained the full itinerary term of three years, and gained a great reputation as a fervid and eloquent preacher. On the Lyceum platform he also occasionally appeared with marked success. A very popular and able lecture of his was delivered in Halifax, Windsor and other places on the subject of “True Greatness.” In more recent years he has lectured on “Moral Warfare,” “The Old Lamp and the New Lights,” and “The Land of the Pharaohs.” In 1870 he was appointed to Brunswick Street Church, the largest of the eight Methodist churches in Halifax. Here he remained three years, or until 1873, when he removed to Wesley Church, Yarmouth. Three years later the exigencies of the itinerary system placed him in Truro. In 1879 he removed to the church in Amherst, and three years later he returned to Wesley Church, Yarmouth. In 1885 he was appointed to the Methodist Church in Windsor, a pulpit which has for many years been filled by the very best men in the ministry. His next field of labour will be Brunswick Street Church in Halifax again, he having received an invitation to that church in 1887. Rev. Mr. Rogers has always been a hard-working man in his chosen sphere, and has from time to time been honored with many of the most honorable offices in the church. From 1876 to 1878 he was Journal secretary, and from 1879 to 1884 secretary of the Nova Scotia Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada. He worthily filled the office of chairman of district from 1879 to 1852, and again from 1884 to 1887. He was a delegate to the General Conferences of 1878, 1882, 1883 and 1886. He was also appointed a member of the Union Committee which met in Toronto in November, 1882, and which formulated the basis for the union of the different branches of the Methodist church. This union, in the face of much opposition and controversy, was consummated in 1883. There were great financial difficulties to be overcome, and old time differences between the Methodist Episcopal church and the Wesleyans had to be smoothed over. In 1884 Rev. Mr. Rogers was elected the first president of the Nova Scotia Conference of the Methodist church. In 1870 he was united in marriage to Jane M., daughter of Rufus S. Black, M.D., of Halifax, N.S., grandson of the Rev. Wm. Black, the founder of Methodism in Nova Scotia. The Black family have, with few exceptions, continued staunch members of the church of their forefathers. Three years ago there was opened at Sackville, N.B., a handsome memorial hall in honor of the Rev. Wm. Black, on which occasion Rev. Mr. Rogers, by appointment, represented the Nova Scotia Conference. Rev. Mr. Rogers has a family of six children living.
Paquet, Hon. Anselme Homere, M.D., St. Cuthbert, province of Quebec, Senator for De la Valliere, was born at St. Cuthbert, on the 29th September, 1830. He is a son of the late Captain T. Paquet and Mary F. Robillard. He received his education at the College of L’Assomption. He is one of the numerous pupils of the “Ecole de Médicine et de Chirurgie de Montréal,” and was licensed as a physician by the provincial medical board on the 10th of May, 1853. In 1863, he entered politics, but was an unsuccessful candidate in March of that year for the Legislative Council. He was, however, elected to the Legislative Assembly in June, 1863, where he sat until Confederation. He was elected for the House of Commons in 1867, and again in 1872, after contests, and by acclamation in January, 1874. He was called to the Senate by Royal proclamation in February, 1875. He was president of the Permanent Building Society of Berthier, one of the originators and directors of La Banque Ville Marie, Montreal, and one of the governors of the Medical College of the Province of Quebec, from 1877 till 1880. He was appointed in 1879, as professor on hygiene in the Medical School, Montreal, affiliated with Victoria University, and is now one of the consulting physicians in Hotel Dieu Hospital, and professor of medical clinics in the same hospital. He was appointed in September, 1887, a member of the provincial commission on hygiene. In religion, Hon. Mr. Paquet is an adherent of the Roman Catholic church, and in politics a Liberal. He was married at L’Assomption, on the 24th September, 1854, to Marie Alp. Henriette Gariépy, fourth daughter of Captain P. Gariépy and Mary Roy.
Kelly, Samuel James, M.D., M.S., Joliette, Quebec province, was born on the 12th of August, 1856, at Joliette. His parents were Francis Kelly and Mary Collins. He received his classical education in his native parish, and prosecuted his medical studies in Quebec and Montreal. Having graduated, he returned to Joliette, where he began the practice of his profession, and has succeeded in building up a good business. In addition to his professional practice, he has an interest in the lumber business of Kelly & Brother, Joliette. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church. He was married on the 29th of November, 1881, to Emmelie Mandehard.
Russell, Willis, Quebec.—While this work was under compilation, the subject of this sketch was somewhat suddenly called to appear before the tribunal of Heaven, after a long and well-spent life of seventy-three years, and with him has passed away one of the oldest and best known landmarks of the ancient capital. A local paper, theDaily Telegraph, of the 17th October, 1887, the day after his deeply lamented death, had the following biographical notice of the deceased gentleman: —
For nearly half a century the name of Willis Russell has been a household word, not only in the city of Quebec, but amongst all who have been in the habit of coming here, on visits of business or of pleasure, and we know of no one whose loss would be more widely felt than his, or more deeply regretted amongst both residents in and visitors to the old rock city. A native of one of the New England states, where he was born in 1814, the late Mr. Russell took up his abode in Quebec over forty-three years ago, and has been an uninterrupted resident of our city ever since, remaining identified all that time with the business in which he lived and died—the maintenance and the management of the principal hostelries of the ancient capital. It would be difficult at this distant date to follow the deceased gentleman very minutely through the early part of his career in this city. Suffice it to say that in 1844 he entered, on his arrival here, upon the business which he made his life work, and that his untiring efforts to make the houses which he controlled the best of their kind in the locality never failed of success. For some time Mr. Russell was proprietor of an hotel known, we believe, as the St. George’s, situated in the old union, building on Place d’Armes, now the property of Mr. D. Morgan, merchant tailor. This was before he became proprietor of the Albion Hotel, on Palace street, which, during his management, extending over a long term of years, was the leading hostelry of the then capital of united Canada. Mr. Russell’s later career as proprietor of the St. Louis Hotel and Russell House is well known to the present generation of Quebecers and to all travellers and tourists in the habit of visiting Quebec. For some years back, there has not been sufficient business in town to keep both houses open during the winter season, but in summer they are frequently crowded to their utmost capacity, and some time back Mr. Russell also became the lessee of the Albion Hotel on Palace street, and sometimes utilised it for the excess of his summer business. Mr. Russell’s success in business was, of course, largely due to the attention which he gave it, and to his admirable adaptability for it. His career is an example to all young men about to start out in business, to first select that particular line to which they feel they can devote their best energy and efforts, and then, so far as they legitimately can, to permit nothing to stand between themselves and success. Mr. Russell’s attention to his business was proverbial, and the comfort of his guests was his first and principal care. With this object in view, he skilfully contrived to have the best possiblemenualways before them, so that travellers from all parts of the United States and Canada have always been able to claim that the best tables to which they have been accustomed have been those of the St. Louis Hotel. In the matter of gentlemanly and polite attendance the same hotel has always stood deservedly high, the leading officials connected with the management having been always selected from those foremost in the business. In common with all the citizens of Quebec, Mr. Russell has been for some time aware that Quebec is behind the age in the matter of a proper hotel building. He has always been foremost, therefore, in the various efforts that have been made to secure a new hotel for our city. A few years ago it seemed as if success was about to crown Mr. Russell’s efforts in this direction. He had all but completed the formation of a company to build a splendid new house on Dufferin terrace, on the site of the old Normal School. The necessary charter incorporating the Chateau St. Louis Hotel was duly obtained from the local legislature, and large subscriptions of stock were being made by a number of prominent citizens towards the undertaking. Mr. Russell brought on a famous architect from New York to draw the plans of the proposed hotel, and everybody remembers how much they were admired at the time, and how they received the approval of the Princess Louise, who manifested considerable interest in the undertaking. However, after the expenditure of an immense amount of money and time on the subject, Mr. Russell had the mortification of seeing the scheme fall through, in consequence of some difficulty at Ottawa about the land required for the site. It will be observed, all the same, that it was not Mr. Russell’s fault if the city of Quebec was unsuccessful in her attempt to obtain the new hotel. The deceased gentleman has occupied many important positions of trust amongst his fellow-citizens. He was a J.P. for many years past. Realizing its vast promise of success, and the necessity which existed for it, he became one of the most active promoters of the North Shore railway. Years afterwards he was a member of the city council for about six years. He was elected to represent St. Louis ward in the municipal body, and retired from office nearly four years ago. During most of the period in which he occupied a seat at the council board, Mr. Russell was chairman of the fire committee. This was immediately after the last great fire in the suburbs, and Mr. Russell was indefatigable in his efforts to secure a thorough reorganization of the fire department, and the acquisition of additional steam engines and other appliances for fighting the flames. The prolongation of the old Durham terrace to the dimensions of the present Dufferin terrace is also largely due to Mr. Russell’s determined efforts. The deceased gentleman has always been a determined advocate of the proposed Quebec and Levis bridge. In American politics, in his earlier days, he was a great Dan Webster man. Though a naturalized Canadian, he never took a very decided stand in our politics, though he formed many personal friendships amongst our public men. One of his closest friends for the past thirty years has been the esteemed member for Quebec West, Owen Murphy. Another was Colonel Rhodes. Mr. Russell’s active mind was never content to remain fixed alone upon the hotel business, and he speculated largely at different periods in lumber and mines. His mining property was situated principally in the eastern townships, and for some time he was at the head of a number of saw mills and a lumber company at Arthabaskaville. His recreation consisted principally in salmon fishing, and his favorite fishing ground was the Marguerite river, above Tadousac, of which he controlled the right, and where, in company with a number of American capitalists, he formed the St. Marguerite fishing club. The deceased gentleman was the proprietor of the Music Hall (now the Academy of Music), which he purchased some five years ago, and in which he has given at various periods an immense number of the most brilliant public dinners and balls, thesine qua nonof a fashionable event of the kind in Quebec being that it should be entrusted to Mr. Russell’s management. Our regretted friend was a member of the congregation of the English Cathedral, and in his last illness received the consolations of religion at the hands of the Revs. Messrs. Petry and Fothergill. Notwithstanding the delicate state of his health for some years past, he attended to business to the very last day, and his death may be considered both sudden and unexpected. He was downstairs in the public office of the St. Louis Hotel on Friday, apparently as well as he had been at any time during the last year, and on Saturday he was dead. It is supposed he must have taken cold, for congestion of the bowels declared itself, and when he felt compelled, by his inflammatory pains on Friday afternoon, to retire to his room, he was destined never to leave it again. He grew rapidly worse during the night, and on Saturday morning it was evident that the end was approaching. All day he continued to sink rapidly, expiring at ten minutes to ten o’clock at night. He was surrounded by his wife and children, and was perfectly conscious to the last. With Mrs. Russell and her children—W. E. Russell and Mrs. H. J. Miller—we sincerely sympathize in this hour of deep affliction. Their sorrow is shared by all our people, who feel that they have lost one of their best, most useful and most patriotic citizens. The rotunda of the St. Louis Hotel without his well-known figure, pleasant countenance, hearty laugh and amusing anecdote, will indeed be sadly changed.
For nearly half a century the name of Willis Russell has been a household word, not only in the city of Quebec, but amongst all who have been in the habit of coming here, on visits of business or of pleasure, and we know of no one whose loss would be more widely felt than his, or more deeply regretted amongst both residents in and visitors to the old rock city. A native of one of the New England states, where he was born in 1814, the late Mr. Russell took up his abode in Quebec over forty-three years ago, and has been an uninterrupted resident of our city ever since, remaining identified all that time with the business in which he lived and died—the maintenance and the management of the principal hostelries of the ancient capital. It would be difficult at this distant date to follow the deceased gentleman very minutely through the early part of his career in this city. Suffice it to say that in 1844 he entered, on his arrival here, upon the business which he made his life work, and that his untiring efforts to make the houses which he controlled the best of their kind in the locality never failed of success. For some time Mr. Russell was proprietor of an hotel known, we believe, as the St. George’s, situated in the old union, building on Place d’Armes, now the property of Mr. D. Morgan, merchant tailor. This was before he became proprietor of the Albion Hotel, on Palace street, which, during his management, extending over a long term of years, was the leading hostelry of the then capital of united Canada. Mr. Russell’s later career as proprietor of the St. Louis Hotel and Russell House is well known to the present generation of Quebecers and to all travellers and tourists in the habit of visiting Quebec. For some years back, there has not been sufficient business in town to keep both houses open during the winter season, but in summer they are frequently crowded to their utmost capacity, and some time back Mr. Russell also became the lessee of the Albion Hotel on Palace street, and sometimes utilised it for the excess of his summer business. Mr. Russell’s success in business was, of course, largely due to the attention which he gave it, and to his admirable adaptability for it. His career is an example to all young men about to start out in business, to first select that particular line to which they feel they can devote their best energy and efforts, and then, so far as they legitimately can, to permit nothing to stand between themselves and success. Mr. Russell’s attention to his business was proverbial, and the comfort of his guests was his first and principal care. With this object in view, he skilfully contrived to have the best possiblemenualways before them, so that travellers from all parts of the United States and Canada have always been able to claim that the best tables to which they have been accustomed have been those of the St. Louis Hotel. In the matter of gentlemanly and polite attendance the same hotel has always stood deservedly high, the leading officials connected with the management having been always selected from those foremost in the business. In common with all the citizens of Quebec, Mr. Russell has been for some time aware that Quebec is behind the age in the matter of a proper hotel building. He has always been foremost, therefore, in the various efforts that have been made to secure a new hotel for our city. A few years ago it seemed as if success was about to crown Mr. Russell’s efforts in this direction. He had all but completed the formation of a company to build a splendid new house on Dufferin terrace, on the site of the old Normal School. The necessary charter incorporating the Chateau St. Louis Hotel was duly obtained from the local legislature, and large subscriptions of stock were being made by a number of prominent citizens towards the undertaking. Mr. Russell brought on a famous architect from New York to draw the plans of the proposed hotel, and everybody remembers how much they were admired at the time, and how they received the approval of the Princess Louise, who manifested considerable interest in the undertaking. However, after the expenditure of an immense amount of money and time on the subject, Mr. Russell had the mortification of seeing the scheme fall through, in consequence of some difficulty at Ottawa about the land required for the site. It will be observed, all the same, that it was not Mr. Russell’s fault if the city of Quebec was unsuccessful in her attempt to obtain the new hotel. The deceased gentleman has occupied many important positions of trust amongst his fellow-citizens. He was a J.P. for many years past. Realizing its vast promise of success, and the necessity which existed for it, he became one of the most active promoters of the North Shore railway. Years afterwards he was a member of the city council for about six years. He was elected to represent St. Louis ward in the municipal body, and retired from office nearly four years ago. During most of the period in which he occupied a seat at the council board, Mr. Russell was chairman of the fire committee. This was immediately after the last great fire in the suburbs, and Mr. Russell was indefatigable in his efforts to secure a thorough reorganization of the fire department, and the acquisition of additional steam engines and other appliances for fighting the flames. The prolongation of the old Durham terrace to the dimensions of the present Dufferin terrace is also largely due to Mr. Russell’s determined efforts. The deceased gentleman has always been a determined advocate of the proposed Quebec and Levis bridge. In American politics, in his earlier days, he was a great Dan Webster man. Though a naturalized Canadian, he never took a very decided stand in our politics, though he formed many personal friendships amongst our public men. One of his closest friends for the past thirty years has been the esteemed member for Quebec West, Owen Murphy. Another was Colonel Rhodes. Mr. Russell’s active mind was never content to remain fixed alone upon the hotel business, and he speculated largely at different periods in lumber and mines. His mining property was situated principally in the eastern townships, and for some time he was at the head of a number of saw mills and a lumber company at Arthabaskaville. His recreation consisted principally in salmon fishing, and his favorite fishing ground was the Marguerite river, above Tadousac, of which he controlled the right, and where, in company with a number of American capitalists, he formed the St. Marguerite fishing club. The deceased gentleman was the proprietor of the Music Hall (now the Academy of Music), which he purchased some five years ago, and in which he has given at various periods an immense number of the most brilliant public dinners and balls, thesine qua nonof a fashionable event of the kind in Quebec being that it should be entrusted to Mr. Russell’s management. Our regretted friend was a member of the congregation of the English Cathedral, and in his last illness received the consolations of religion at the hands of the Revs. Messrs. Petry and Fothergill. Notwithstanding the delicate state of his health for some years past, he attended to business to the very last day, and his death may be considered both sudden and unexpected. He was downstairs in the public office of the St. Louis Hotel on Friday, apparently as well as he had been at any time during the last year, and on Saturday he was dead. It is supposed he must have taken cold, for congestion of the bowels declared itself, and when he felt compelled, by his inflammatory pains on Friday afternoon, to retire to his room, he was destined never to leave it again. He grew rapidly worse during the night, and on Saturday morning it was evident that the end was approaching. All day he continued to sink rapidly, expiring at ten minutes to ten o’clock at night. He was surrounded by his wife and children, and was perfectly conscious to the last. With Mrs. Russell and her children—W. E. Russell and Mrs. H. J. Miller—we sincerely sympathize in this hour of deep affliction. Their sorrow is shared by all our people, who feel that they have lost one of their best, most useful and most patriotic citizens. The rotunda of the St. Louis Hotel without his well-known figure, pleasant countenance, hearty laugh and amusing anecdote, will indeed be sadly changed.
TheMorning Chronicle, the leading paper of Quebec, also had an extended notice of the deceased, and the French papers of the city devoted much of their space to praise of his useful life and the expression of regret at his death. His funeral was one of the largest and most imposing ever witnessed in Quebec, and was attended by all classes of the local population, including the ministers of the federal and provincial governments in town at the time, ex-provincial ministers, members of the Dominion parliament and provincial legislature, and leading citizens generally.
Monk, Hon. Samuel Cornwallis, LL.D., Senior Puisné Judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of the Province of Quebec, Montreal, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 29th July, 1814. His father, Samuel Wentworth Monk, was descended from a family of U. E. loyalists, who left Boston, in Massachusetts, on the breaking out of the revolutionary war, and settled in Nova Scotia. The Monk family was related to the Goulds, Wentworths, Deerings, Apthorps, and the Hon. Edward Cornwallis, at one time governor of Nova Scotia, all of whom were persons of note in those early days. Judge Monk’s great grandfather was attorney-general of Nova Scotia, and his grandfather a judge of that province. One of his granduncles, Sir James Monk, was chief justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench for Montreal. Samuel Cornwallis Monk was educated in Windsor, N.S., and was subsequently prepared for entering Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, but it was thought advisable that he should immediately begin the study of law in Canada, and this he did in 1831, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. He then made an extended tour, which occupied two years, in Europe, and on his return entered into a partnership with Sir John Rose, baronet, now of London, England, who at that time was carrying on an extensive law business in Montreal. In 1854 Mr. Monk was appointed a Queen’s counsel, and for some years represented the attorney-general of Lower Canada in Crown prosecutions. In 1859 he was raised to the bench, and for a period of nine years sat as a puisné judge in the Superior Court of Lower Canada. In 1868 he was promoted to the Queen’s Bench, on the retirement of Justice Aylwin. His reputation as a judge stands high. His natural talents, united to his vast knowledge and graceful elocution, have made him one of the most instructive and agreeable persons to listen to whenever he has a judgment to deliver in the Court of Appeals or a charge to make in the Criminal Court. His knowledge of both the English and French languages is so perfect that it would be impossible for a stranger to tell by his speech to which nationality he belonged. The old French law, which forms the basis of the jurisprudence in the province of Quebec, is so familiar to him that when a case is heard in the Court of Queen’s Bench before him and his associates, after reading the printed factum of both parties, he is generally ready to give his opinion and support it with the most learned arguments. The capabilities of this learned judge, as shown in criminal matters, are always very highly appreciated. When he represented the Crown before the criminal courts as Crown prosecutor, before being elevated to the bench, he met with great success, and his reputation as a criminal lawyer stood very high. Upon the bench he has met the expectations of his admirers by the dignity with which he presides in court, and the vast legal knowledge, combined with the high sense of justice which he displays in discharging his duties. He had the degree of LL.D. conferred upon him a number of years ago by Laval University, Quebec. Judge Monk was married in 1844 to a daughter of the late Hon. P. D.DeBartzch, member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. The fruit of this marriage has been five sons and one daughter, the latter having died some years ago.
Taillon, Alphonse Antoine, Sorel, Quebec, was born at Ottawa, on the 17th July, 1847. His parents were John Taillon and Dame Geneviève Lionais. His father was one of the first merchants of Bytown, and took a prominent part in promoting the interests of the future city of Ottawa. Wm. P. Lett, Ottawa’s poet, in his poem, “Recollections of old Bytown,” alludes to him as one of the good, honorable citizens of the time, and a man of genial character. The subject of this sketch received a full commercial course at the College of Ottawa, now the University. He served in the “Chasseurs Canadiens” at St. John’s, Laprairie and St. Armands during the first Fenian raid in 1866; was appointed lieutenant in 1869, and captain in 1870. He entered the Merchants Bank, at Montreal, in 1867, and became manager of the Sorel branch in 1871. The bank closed its branch in 1881, and handed the business over to Mr. Taillon, who continued as a private banker, and is one of the leading business men of the town. He was an alderman and chairman of the Finance Committee in 1883 and 1884, and was elected by a large majority over Senator Guévremont as mayor in 1887. He is president of Richelieu County Conservative Association, and was several times called on to be a candidate for both local and federal parliamentary honors, which he invariably declined. He was president of several local societies, and was the promoter of many public enterprises. He is a Roman Catholic. On the 12th January, 1871, he was married to Josephine de Boucherville, eldest daughter of P. V. de Boucherville, M.D., of Beauharnois. He has had eight children, six of whom are living.
Vallee, Thomas Evariste Arthur, M.D., Quebec, is one of the leaders of the medical profession in that city, and a well-known specialist in insanity and toxicology. He was born in Quebec on the 22nd December, 1849, of the marriage of Prudent Vallée and Henrietta Casault, and was educated at the Quebec Seminary and Laval University, from which last institution he graduated as an M.D. in 1873. He also had the advantage of a three years’ course of medical study in London and Paris. In 1878 hisalma mater, Laval University, fittingly recognized his abilities by appointing him one of the professors of its medical faculty. First called to the chair of medical jurisprudence and toxicology, which he filled with distinction, he was, on the death of the late Dr. Alfred Jackson, in 1885, transferred to that of tocology and gynæcology, which he still occupies. In 1879 he was further appointed visiting physician of the Beaufort Insane Asylum, and medical superintendent of the same great institution in 1885. For several years past he has also been visiting physician of the institutions of the Good Shepherd, the Sisters of Charity, the Hotel Dieu and the Lying-in Hospital, at Quebec. In questions of insanity and toxicology, Dr. Vallée is one of the recognized authorities of his native province, and his great skill as an analyst, where death by poisoning is suspected, has frequently been of the most valuable service to its authorities and the cause of justice. Among thecauses célèbresin Lower Canadian criminal annals in which it has more recently been called into requisition to assist the administration of the law, may be mentioned more specially the Coats’ case at Sherbrooke, and the Boulet and Lagacé poisoning cases in the Quebec district. In the Boulet case, the prisoner, Mrs. Boulet, was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, but during the night preceding the execution, and after the gallows had been erected, her sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life, owing to some technical objection raised by the unfortunate woman’s counsel, F. X. Lemieux, M.P.P. (of notoriety also as Riel’s counsel), and to the popular dislike of visiting the last penalty of the law on a woman. As an expert in insanity, Dr. Vallée also figured very prominently before the public in the celebrated Lynam case, which created so much excitement in Montreal a couple of years since. While studying for his profession, in 1871, the subject of this sketch further obtained a diploma from the Quebec military school. A gentleman of literary taste and culture, he was elected president of “L’Institut Canadien de Quebec” in 1878, and filled that office down to 1880. He has travelled extensively in the United States, England, France, Belgium, Italy, Turkey and the East for pleasure and to extend his knowledge of his profession. In religion Dr. Vallée is a Roman Catholic, and on the 30th April, 1878, he married Honorine Chauveau, daughter of the eminent French-Canadianlittérateur, educationalist and statesman, Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, late premier of the province of Quebec, and now sheriff of Montreal.
Walker, Thomas, M.D., St. John, N.B., was born on the 20th March, 1840, at Hampton, in Kings’s County New Brunswick. He is of English extraction and is the eldest son of Rev. William Walker and Anne Walker. He is descended on the paternal side of the house from Elizabeth Yates, who was a sister of the famous Pendrell brothers, who was instrumental in saving King Charles II., after the fatal battle of Worcester. In consideration of these services, a pension was granted to the Pendrell family when the merry monarch came to his own. The pension is still received by the descendants of the Pendrells, though cut up by a failure of male heirs. Though coming of good old royalist stock, the subject of this sketch is a thorough Liberal of the Liberals and opposed the confederation of the provinces. He served his party actively and well in many fights. His early school days were passed at the Grammar School of his native county. He completed his classical course of study at King’s College, Fredericton, from which university he received the degree of B.A. From this college, which was modelled after King’s College, Windsor, N.S., the oldest degree-conferring college in British North America, have gone forth many of the ablest men in the learned professions in the Maritime provinces. It is an unsectarian institution, liberally endowed and supported out of the Provincial treasury. In order to prepare himself for the labors of the medical profession, Dr. Walker crossed the Atlantic in 1859, and spent the following four years in close study at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated M.D. in August, 1863. In the same year he obtained the license of the Royal College of Surgeons. In July, 1866, Dr. Walker married Mary R., eldest daughter of the late William Jack, Q.C., formerly Advocate-general of New Brunswick, and sister of I. Allan Jack, D.C.L. recorder of the city of St. John, N.B. Of this marriage, have been born seven children. Dr. Walker speedily arose to eminence in his profession, and was president of the New Brunswick Medical Society in 1884 and 1885. He now holds the office of treasurer of the society. He is also a member of the Council of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick. He has never seen any active service in warfare, but holds the position of surgeon in the 62nd, St. John Fusiliers. No troops from New Brunswick were ordered to the front during the late troubles in the North-West. He is a member of the Church of England, holding moderate views in the many divisions of his church. Like most medical men, Dr. Walker is an active member of the Masonic fraternity, which order he joined in 1871. He is N. and E. Commander of the Encampment of St. John Knights Templars, on the registry of the Chapter General of Scotland. Among his other positions of public esteem and influence, Dr. Walker is a commissioner of the St. John Public Hospital.
Shehyn, Hon. Joseph, Provincial Treasurer, Quebec, is politically, commercially and socially one of the conspicuous figures of the hour in the province of Quebec. As the Treasurer of the Province, he is at the head of the most important of its public departments, and, as one of the leading merchants of the port of Quebec, his commercial and social standing is of the highest. With talents rather of the solid than the brilliant order, he is pre-eminently what is termed “a safe man,” and a striking example of the success which attends a well-regulated character—his probity and industry in business being only equalled by his consistency and moderation in politics. Of Irish and French-Canadian parentage, Mr. Shehyn was born in the city of Quebec, in 1829, and was also educated there, partly at the Quebec Seminary, and partly by private tuition. Entering commercial life, he rapidly rose to wealth and distinction, finally becoming a member of the great wholesale dry goods firms of Sterling, McCall & Co., and McCall, Shehyn & Co., of London, Montreal and Quebec. For many years he has been the representative and head of the last named firm at Quebec, where it holds a foremost position in the dry goods importing trade, and does an extensive wholesale business with all parts of the province through its commercial travellers. But it was not until he entered the Quebec Board of Trade that the subject of our sketch began to attract much public attention outside of commercial circles. As a member of that body, his natural taste for figures, his intimate acquaintance with financial questions, his seemingly inexhaustible fund of statistics and the earnest and intelligent lead he always took in all that concerned the trade of Quebec and generally of the St. Lawrence, soon made him a marked man. Elected a member of the Council of the Board of Trade, his name was prominently and constantly before the public as one of the ablest champions of Quebec’s interests. On different important occasions he represented them as a delegate to Ottawa, or defended them before the Board in speeches and published papers with a logic and force which commanded wide-spread notice and respect, and the Board expressed its confidence in him by electing and re-electing him its president until he was compelled to decline further acceptance of the honor, on being called in 1887 to the discharge of still higher public duties, which promised to absorb all his available time from his private business. It was during his presidency of the Board that he contributed to its records an important paper entitled “Railways vs. Canals,” which was considered so valuable that the Board unanimously ordered it to be printed in pamphlet form for the public information. No more powerful argument has yet been adduced against the injustice of saddling the Dominion at large with Montreal’s harbor debt, including the cost of deepening Lake St. Peter, and against the folly generally of expending public money on the improvement of artificial water courses in the face of the overshadowing competition and advantages now-a-days of railways as inland trade carriers. Mr. Shehyn’s services were also warmly appreciated by his fellow citizens of Quebec outside of the Board of Trade. A Liberal in politics, though a moderate man in his views, he was first selected as the party’s candidate for the important division of Quebec East at the general elections for the Legislative Assembly of the province of Quebec in 1875, and was returned by a large majority. At the general elections of 1878, he was re-elected for the same division by a handsome majority, and again at the general elections of 1881 he was elected by acclamation. At the last general elections in October, 1886, opposition to his re-election was deemed futile by his adversaries, and he was accordingly again returned by acclamation. These were the elections which brought the Liberal opposition into power in the province under Hon. H. Mercier, and, in the latter’s assumption of the reins of office as Premier of Quebec, in January, 1887, Mr. Shehyn, as one of the ablest of his lieutenants, and as the financial authority and criticpar excellenceof his party, was among the first invited to enter his cabinet, which he did to the general satisfaction as Treasurer of the province, when the electors of Quebec East immediately signified their approval by once more electing him by acclamation. During the session of the legislature, which followed in March, the new Treasurer did not disappoint the high estimate formed by the public of his financial abilities. His Budget speech dealt in a masterly manner with a fiscal situation of unusual complication and difficulty, and the remedial measures he proposed not only met with the sanction of the House, but the approbation of all business minds. The result has been eminently satisfactory. Under Mr. Shehyn’s skillful management the finances of the province, which were very seriously embarrassed when he took charge, have steadily improved; new sources of revenue, hitherto undeveloped, have been opened up, the license laws have been more vigorously enforced, as well to the benefit of the public treasury as of public morals; and some long-pending questions in legislation or in dispute, such as the tax on commercial corporations, etc., have been advantageously settled. Method and economy are the prevailing characteristics of his administration, and, as a whole, the province of Quebec has reason to be congratulated upon it. As a member of the Quebec government, Mr. Shehyn also took an important and leading part in the late Inter-Provincial Conference at Quebec, and his princely residence of Bandon Lodge, opposite the parliament buildings, was the home of Premier and Mrs. Mowat, of Ontario, as well as the scene of many of the splendid social festivities on that memorable occasion. In religion, Mr. Shehyn is a Roman Catholic. He has been a member of the commission of the peace for the Quebec district since 1874. On the 16th of August, 1858, he married Marie Zoe Virginie, daughter of Ambroise Verret, of Quebec, and by her has had a large issue of children, six of whom are living; the eldest son, Lieutenant Shehyn, of the 9th battalion of Quebec, served with distinction with his regiment in the Northwest, during the last rebellion. Mrs. Shehyn is one of the leaders of Quebec society, and much of its brilliancy is due to her graceful influence and example.
Maclaren, James, Lumber Manufacturer, Buckingham, province Quebec, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, about the year 1818. His parents came to Canada when he was a young boy and settled in the township of Tarbolton, on the Upper Ottawa. His father, who was a man of education and culture, set to work vigorously to make himself a new home in his adopted country. Among other enterprises, he went into the manufacture of lumber, and had succeeded in erecting a saw mill, when a freshet came and carried away the dam, thereby entailing upon him a heavy pecuniary loss. But nothing daunted by this mishap, he went to work, again constructed the dam, and soon had his mill in running order. James, the subject of our sketch, at this time was a mere lad, but an observing one, and picked up from his father a fund of practical knowledge with regard to mills and dams, which, when he went into the lumbering business on his own account years afterwards, proved of great benefit to him. Mr. Maclaren’s first business as a merchant was at the “Pesche,” in the township of Wakefield, on the Gatineau river, where his sagacity enabled him to select a spot between the hills and the Gatineau river, where there was just land enough for the road, and a store and a dwelling, and where consequently every one going up and down the Gatineau must pass at the very door of his store. He soon built up a large and lucrative business with the farmers and settlers all around; erected grist and other mills, and supplied many jobbers and others engaged in getting out saw logs and timber. About this time he, in company with the late J. M. Currier, leased the extensive saw mills, &c., at the mouth of the Rideau river, near Ottawa, belonging to the late Hon. Thomas McKay, and for years, carried on a large business. Later on Mr. Maclaren purchased these mills and the adjoining property and carried on the business in his own name. About the year 1864, he purchased the large lumbering establishment and extensive lumber limits on the River du Lievre, formerly owned by the late Baxter Bowman, and changed his residence to the village of Buckingham, where he has since resided. He was also largely interested for some years in the saw mills and large lumber business carried on, on the opposite side of the River du Lievre, as well as in the saw mills on the North Nation river. For some years, too, he carried on a square timber business, near Lake Temiscamangue, on the Upper Ottawa. In spite of these varied and important occupations, Mr. Maclaren found time to establish the Bank of Ottawa, of which he has been president since its establishment, and is now its largest stockholder. He is also largely interested in railways, and is the vice-president of the Ontario Central. His business operations are not confined to Canada. At Burlington, Vermont; at Boston, Massachusetts; and in Michigan, he is interested in large and flourishing lumber concerns, whose success is largely due to his great energy, clear-headedness and business sagacity. In religion, Mr. Maclaren is a Presbyterian, and his munificent gift to Knox College, Toronto, testifies to the interest he takes in religious education. He is now a wealthy man, being possessed of property worth millions of dollars. This fortune has all been acquired by hard work, honesty and integrity, and while making his money he has retained the respect and esteem of all who know him. In politics Mr. Maclaren is a Liberal.
Denoncourt, Nazaire Lefebvre, Advocate and Q.C., Three Rivers, Que., was born in the parish of La Pointe du Lac, in the county of St. Maurice, district of Three Rivers, on May 4th, 1834. His father was Joseph Lefebvre Denoncourt, a descendant of Ignace Lefebvre Sieur de Belle Isle, who came to Three Rivers in 1656. His mother was Marie Louise Panneton. The subject of this sketch was sent to Nicolet College and received an excellent classical education. After the usual course of study in law he was called to the bar on 1st September, 1861, and was made a Queen’s counsel on the 11th September, 1880. He has since practised his profession successfully in the city of Three Rivers. He has appeared for the Crown in several cases, was appointed city attorney on May 16th, 1878, and legal adviser of the Hochelaga Bank in 1885; has pleaded before all the courts of the province; and successfully maintained the rights of the local legislature before the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, to authorize municipalities to levy taxes on the sale of liquors and on commercial travellers. On October 14th, 1862, he married Marie Ann Cecile Garceau, a daughter of Louis Benjamin Garceau, descendent of an Arcadian family. Her mother was Adele Poulin de Courval, one of the ancient and most important families of New France.
McConville, Joseph Norbet Alfred, Advocate, Joliette, Que., was born at Berthier (en haut) Que., on March 1st, 1839. His father, John McConville, who was headmaster of the Berthier Academy from 1833 to 1846, was born at Newry, county Down, Ireland, came to Canada in 1818, was married at Berthier, on January 7th, 1832, and died at St. Paul, Quebec, September, 10th, 1849. His grandfather, Meredith McConville, while living at Portadown, county Down, Ireland, joined the United Irishmen in 1798, and died March 4th, 1838. His grandmother, Mary McCardle, died on Easter Sunday, 1827, in church, having lived to a good old age: her father, who died at the age of 109, was well able to plough two years before. His mother, Mary Magdalen McKie, was born at St. Melanie, Quebec, June 28th, 1813, was married at Berthier, January 7th, 1832, and died at Joliette, April 30th, 1878. Her father, John McKie, surveyor, was born at Alloa, Scotland, 1767, was married at Sorel, Quebec, September 23rd, 1805, and died at St. Melanie, October 11th, 1818. Her mother, Mary Magdalen McKay, was born at St. Cuthbert, Quebec, about 1790, was married at Sorel, September 23rd, 1805, and died at St. Melanie, September 25th, 1817. Angus McKay, one of his mother’s grandparents, was of extraordinary physical strength, married Magdalen Fauteux, at Sorel, August 19th, 1789. The subject of this sketch was educated at L’Assomption College, Quebec, studied law at Drummondville, and was admitted to the bar at Three Rivers, in February, 1865. He was captain and paymaster of No. 1 Joliette Provisional Battalion, from 1872 to 1875. He was secretary-treasurer of the Municipal Council and School Commissioners of Grantham, Windover and Simpson, from 1862 to 1866; town councillor of Joliette from 1872 to 1875; and is now one of the school commissioners of Joliette. He is a shareholder in the St. Jacques Brewery; a shareholder and secretary of the Joliette Lumber Co.; was editor and proprietor, in conjunction with his late brother, (L. Arthur McConville) of the newspaperL’Industriein 1872-73; and is now shareholder inL’Imprimerie de la Gazette de Joliette. In politics he is a Conservative, and was the defeated candidate at the Dominion general election in 1882, contested the election, but was again defeated at the new election in the fall of the same year. In 1885, he was, however, more successful, being elected a member of the Quebec legislature in September, but was again defeated at the election in October, 1886. In July and August, 1883, he made a foreign tour, visiting in the course of his travels, Londonderry, Dungannon, Portadown, Newry, Drogheda, with the Boyne battle-field, and Dublin, in Ireland; Liverpool, Leicester and London, in England; and Boulogne, Amiens, Paris, Rouen and Dieppe, in France. In religion, he is a Roman Catholic. He was married at Berthier, Que., May 12th, 1874, to Annie Magdalen Kittson, daughter of the late Alexander Kittson, merchant, and Sophie Desantels, born in Berthier, October 12th, 1842, and a niece of Commodore Norman Kittson, of St. Paul’s, Minnesota.
Dunn, Timothy Hibbard, Quebec, is one of the veterans of the Quebec timber trade, and certainly one of the most conspicuous and best respected citizens of the ancient capital, with whose history and commerce he has been closely identified for nearly half a century. He is of Scotch descent, but thoroughly Canadian in sentiment. He was born, like his father (the late Charles Dunn) before him, at Ste. Ursule, near Three Rivers, in the year 1816, and received his education in the common school of his native place. He was early initiated into acquaintanceship with the staple industry of the country, the lumber trade, and in 1841 entered as a clerk in the Quebec office of the great timber firm of Calvin, Cook & Counter, of Kingston, Ontario. Four years later he was admitted to the position of a partner of this house, and was entrusted with the management of the extensive business of its Quebec branch, which was thenceforward carried on under the name of Dunn, Calvin & Co. After the dissolution of the firm in 1850 or thereabouts, Mr. Dunn, whose ability and success had won general confidence and respect, associated himself with the late Thomas Benson, and, in partnership with that gentleman under the name of T. H. Dunn & Co., continued the business at Quebec. Two years later, Mr. Benson went out, and down to 1860 Mr. Dunn remained the sole head of the house, which ranked among the foremost of the Quebec market in making advances to timber manufacturers in the west, and doing business on commission, especially in hardwoods. About 1860 he formed a new partnership with the late William Home, of Quebec, under the name of Dunn & Home, and, among other important ventures of this firm, was the successful building of one of the most difficult sections of the Intercolonial Railway below Quebec. In 1872, the firm of Dunn & Home was dissolved, Mr. Home going out, Mr. Dunn then retired from active business on his well-earned wealth and honors, and his two sons, Logie and Stewart Dunn, assumed control of the old house under the name of Dunn Bros. In 1877 W. A. Griffith, of Quebec, was added to the firm, when its name was changed to Dunn, Griffith & Co. In 1884, Mr. Griffith retired, and ever since the firm has been Dunn & Co. In its fortunes, the subject of our sketch still continues to take a keen paternal interest, notwithstanding his seventy-one years, with unimpaired physical and mental vigor, which is an object of envy to many of his juniors. He can yet be seen any day on “Change,” and no figure is better known on St. Peter street, where the business men of Quebec most do congregate. He is one of the last remaining representatives of the old school who were identified with the ancient capital in its palmier days, and a type of a class of men who, unhappily for its present prosperity, have nearly all passed away. Strange to say, notwithstanding his extensive mercantile connections, Mr. Dunn never crossed the Atlantic, but he has travelled a good deal in North America, and especially in the West. In 1845 he married Margaret Turner, of Sorel, a niece of the late Captain Charles Armstrong, and a cousin of the present ex-chief justice of the Windward Islands, Hon. James Armstrong, now of Sorel, and by her had issue nine children, four sons and five daughters. As already stated, two of the former have succeeded him in the business at Quebec. The other two have boldly struck out in a new field and are now successful farmers in Manitoba. Mr. Dunn has been a widower for the last fourteen years, his wife having died in 1874. He is a member of the Church of England, and has always taken a hearty interest in its affairs. He was one of the founders of St. Mary’s Church and parsonage on the Island of Orleans, where his beautiful summer retreat, “Island Home,” is an object of admiration to every visitor and to the passengers in every vessel passing up and down the St. Lawrence from the harbor of Quebec. In politics he is a Conservative, but has never taken an active part in public affairs, though frequently pressed by his fellow-citizens to do so. He was, however, for many years a conspicuous member of the Quebec Board of Trade and its Council, and a director of the Quebec Bank. He was also a delegate to the first railroad convention held in Boston in 1851. In his younger days he held a commission as captain in the militia, and served under the late Colonel Boucher, of Maskinonge, P.Q. Throughout all the relations of life, Mr. Dunn has been an exemplary citizen, and his long and successful career is only another illustration of the triumph of well-applied industry and honorable dealing with his fellow men.
Steadman, James, Fredericton, N.B., Judge of the County Court for the Counties of York, Sunbury and Queen’s in the province of New Brunswick, was born at Moncton, in the county of Westmoreland, N.B., on the 27th March, 1818. His father was William Steadman, who was born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, but settled in Moncton about the first of this century. He married in 1803, Hannah Trites, also of Moncton. Judge Steadman was educated at Moncton. He studied law in the office of the present Judge Botsford, of Westmoreland county, and was admitted an attorney in the month of February, 1844. For the next twenty-four years he practised law at Moncton and then, in the year 1866, removed to the city of Fredericton, where he has continued to reside up to the present time. He was elected to the Provincial legislature in 1854, and, being a prominent man, in May 1860, was sworn in as a member of the Executive Council and Postmaster General of New Brunswick. These offices he held until April, 1865. Judge Steadman, thus has seen the last days of parliamentary life in his native province, days which produced such men as the late Governor L. A. Wilmot, the late Judge Fisher, the late Sir Albert L. Smith, Sir Leonard Tilley, Judges King and Palmer, and many others whose eloquence enlivened the political campaigns and the sessions of the legislature for many years. Between the years 1836 and 1845 the battle of Responsible Government was fought out in New Brunswick. Those were stormy times in all of the provinces of British North America. The visit of Earl Durham to the Canadas, and his famous report upon the lines of which all the later political movements in the provinces have proceeded, gave an extraordinary impetus to the popular wish for a larger measure of political power. In all of the English speaking provinces the Reform party were steadily and fiercely opposed by small governing bodies variously known as “family compacts,” “council of xii,” and other suggestive appellations. Another stormy period in which Judge Steadman was himself a prominent figure, was the era just preceding the Confederation in 1867. As we have said, during these years he was a member of the Executive and Postmaster General. Party spirit ran very high in New Brunswick, and the first time that the question of Confederation was submitted to the people it was lost. In Nova Scotia the people were never asked to sanction the measure until the British North America Act had been passed and the union was consummated. After twenty years the question is still keenly debated in both of the leading Maritime provinces. Judge Steadman is connected with the Baptist denomination. He has for many years been a strong temperance man, having joined the order of Sons of Temperance in March, 1848. In 1865 he was elected Grand Worthy Patriarch, and still maintains his connection with this leading order. In June, 1887, he was appointed judge of the County Court. Judge Steadman has seen his native town of Moncton from the smallest beginning expand into a city of 9000 inhabitants, and become the headquarters of the Intercolonial Railway, with streets lighted by electricity, daily newspapers, an extensive and increasing trade, and all the signs of outward and moral improvement.
Macdonald, Lawrence George, Q.C., St. John’s, province of Quebec, was born at Chateauguay, Que., on July 30th 1831. His parents were born at Fort Howe, N.B. His father, James Macdonald, was a second son of the late Adjutant and Quarter-master, William Macdonald, late of the 104th Regiment of the line, and his mother Eliza Holland, a daughter of Captain E. Holland of the same regiment. Captain Holland served in Egypt and saw the great Napoleon while a prisoner at Elba. Adj. Macdonald took an active part in the war of 1812-14. Mr. James Macdonald was a merchant for many years in Chateauguay, and was actively engaged on the Loyalist side during the rebellion of 1837-38. The subject of this sketch commenced his studies under the Rev. Dr. Black, of Laprairie, afterwards attending two private schools, and finally taking a full classical course at the High School, Montreal. While studying law he continued to take private lessons from the Rev. David Robertson, chaplain to the forces in Canada. After leaving school he studied law in the office of Meredith, Bethune and Dunkin, of Montreal, and four years later was admitted to the bar in December, 1852. In 1854 he removed to St. John’s, where he has since resided. He was appointed a Queen’s counsel under the Joly government in March, 1878, which appointment was afterwards confirmed by the Dominion government. Mr. Macdonald has taken an active part in military affairs, obtaining a first-class certificate on May 12th, 1865, when he was appointed cornet in the St. John’s troop of cavalry, and was sent to the front during the Fenian raids. He was Crown prosecutor for several years in the Court of Queen’s Bench, St. John’s, district of Iberville. At present he is a director of the Richelieu Bridge Co. He is a member of the Episcopalian church, and in politics is a Conservative. He was married at St. John’s, in August, 1856, to Louise Gertrude, second daughter of the late Deputy Commissary-General Lister. Mr. and Mrs. Macdonald have one daughter, who is married to Dr. Robert Howard, of St. John’s, and who has issue four children.
McCaffrey, Charles, Lumber Merchant and Steam Saw Mill Proprietor, Nicolet, province of Quebec, was born at Drummondville, county of Drummond, Quebec. He is the son of Hugh McCaffrey and Rose McEvay. His father, Hugh McCaffrey, served as a soldier In the 27th British Regiment of the line, obtained his discharge at Chambly, and located, together with a number of other discharged soldiers, at Drummondville. The late Colonel Harriette procured lands for them to settle upon, and also obtained supplies from the government for them until they were able to build homes and clear sufficient land to enable them to supply themselves with the necessaries of life. During the time the government furnished the provisions, the commissariat stores were under the charge of Hugh McCaffrey, who was authorized to distribute the provisions to all those entitled to receive the same. The great majority of the new settlers, not being inured to farming life, or clearing the bush land given them by the government, sold out their claims for a nominal sum, and left for other parts. Hugh McCaffrey, however, settled down in his new home, and commenced getting out lumber, which he supplied to Colonel Harriette, who owned a saw mill near by, and his son Charles, the subject of this sketch, has continued in the lumbering business for the past forty years, with fair success. Apart from the regular annual output of sawed lumber, he has shipped hundreds of thousands of tamarac railway ties to Whitehall and Plattsburgh, N.Y., for the Delaware and Hudson Canal Co., and has contracted with the same company to supply a large number during the present season. He received his education partly in the common schools and partly at the hands of private tutors, high schools being at that time few and far between. In politics, he is a Conservative, and wields considerable influence in his locality. He has often been requested to allow himself to be put in nomination for both the Federal and Provincial parliaments, and in municipal and town councils, but has steadily refused to do so, or to accept any public office. He has travelled through several of the States, both east and west, also through the upper and lower provinces in connection with his lumber business. In religion he is a Roman Catholic. He was married in 1860, to Ann McLeod, a native of Campbelltown, N.B., who is of Scotch origin, and Presbyterian in religion. Mr. McCaffrey has resided in Nicolet for twenty-five years, and is much respected by the residents.
Seymour, James, Collector of Inland Revenue, St. Catharines, was born in Limerick, Ireland, in 1824, came to Halifax with his father four years later, and died in St. Catharines on the 9th of January, 1888. Mr. Seymour spent his boyhood in the maritime provinces, and after leaving school learned the business of printer. He then came west and worked in several offices, among others the TorontoGlobeand the HamiltonSpectator. In 1856 he purchased from Mr. Giles the St. CatharinesConstitution, an influential weekly newspaper, which he continued to publish until he received the appointment of collector of inland revenue, and this office he held until the day of his death. In 1851 he joined St. George’s Masonic lodge, and very soon, through his faithfulness and zeal, became to be looked upon as one of the main pillars of the order. In 1871 he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada, and this position he filled during the term of his election with great credit. He was a member of the Scottish Rite, and a P.G.M.G. of Royal and Oriental Freemasonry 33-96°⁂90°. He was buried with Masonic honors.
Tims, Frank Dillon, Deputy Provincial Auditor of the Province of Quebec, is a prominent figure in official life at Quebec, and few members of the Civil Service enjoy a larger share of the public respect. He is the youngest son of the late William and Catherine Dillon Tims, and was born in Oldcastle, county Meath, Ireland, on 26th December, 1829. The family came to Canada in 1834, and settled in the city of Quebec, where Mr. Tims, sr., died in 1836 and his widow in 1862. An elder brother of the subject of this sketch, Thomas D. Tims, now occupies the important position of Financial Inspector of the Dominion of Canada, at Ottawa, and their sister, the Reverend Mother St. Catherine, who entered the Monastery of the Ursulines at Quebec many years ago, is still living, after having occupied for two consecutive terms, the longest period permitted by the regulations, the high position of Lady Superior. Our subject was educated at the Seminary of Quebec and the Quebec High School, and subsequently studied law with Charles Alleyn, Q.C., subsequently Provincial Secretary of Canada, and now sheriff of Quebec. Seized with the “gold fever” in 1849, he gave up the study of the law, and on the 12th November, 1849, sailed on the barqueRory O’Moore, the first vessel leaving Canada bound for California, by the way of Cape Horn, finally reaching San Francisco after a five and a half months’ voyage. He remained in California, engaged principally in mining, until the fall of 1851, when he started on his homeward journey down the Pacific coast, stopping at San Juan del Sur and Lake Nicaragua for some weeks and then proceeding to Panama, where he crossed the isthmus and took steamer to New York from Chagres in January, 1852. He reached Quebec in February of the same year, and on the 23rd October following, was married at Sherbrooke, to Caroline Dudley, youngest daughter of the late Captain John Fraser, of H.M. 76th regiment, formerly town mayor of Quebec. He next removed to Upper Canada, where he was principally engaged in mercantile pursuits down to 1857, when he went to Illinois, entered the lumber business for some time, and while there in 1859, was licensed to practice as an attorney and counsellor-at-law in that state. Returning to Canada in 1861, he entered the employ of the late Hon. Jas. Skead, senator, then one of the largest lumber producers of the Ottawa district, where he remained in charge of the business until January, 1868, when he was appointed to the Audit branch of the Treasury department of the province of Quebec, and promoted to the office of Deputy Provincial Auditor in 1884, which he still holds. In religion, Mr. Tims is a Roman Catholic. In 1856, he held a commission as lieutenant and adjutant in the Waterloo (Ont.) Militia. He is a past president of the St. Patrick’s Society of Quebec, and has taken a prominent interest in the progress of the Geographical Society of Quebec, of which he has been the secretary for several years. In this last capacity, he was one of the principal promoters of the government exploring expedition, which was sent out within the last few years to endeavor to solve the mystery surrounding Great Lake Mistassini, in north eastern Canada. By his marriage, he has had issue thirteen children, seven of whom are living, four sons and three daughters. Of the former, three are actually settled in the Canadian North-West, at Swift Current and Beaver Lake, near Edmonton, where they are largely engaged in commercial pursuits. One of them, F. F. Tims, had the honor to be the first to erect a building at Regina, the present capital of the province of Assiniboia. During the late rebellion this son rendered valuable public service in freighting for the troops and in provisioning the Battleford contingent and Mounted Police.
Ostigny, Joseph Henry, Manager of the Bank of Hochelaga, at Joliette, Quebec, was born at St. Hilaire, county Rouville, Quebec, on the 5th of January, 1849. His father, Zephirin Ostigny, was an agriculturist, and lived for more than thirty years in the parish of l’Ange Gardien, county Rouville. His mother’s name was Sophie Montplaisir. The subject of this sketch, when fifteen years of age, told his father of his wish to give up farming, and get his livelihood in some other way. For that he required more education, and through the kindness of a father, who sacrificed his own personal interests to promote those of his children, he was sent to school at St. Césaire from 1863 to 1866, and from 1867 to 1869 at the Jacques Cartier Normal School, at Montreal. In the year 1870, he took the course at the Montreal Business College, and was for nearly two years a professor of that institution. When the Bank of Hochelaga commenced operations, April 6th, 1874, he entered it, and since then has worked up to be manager, which position he has held since January 25th, 1885. In religion he is a Roman Catholic. He was married on February 9th, 1886, to Maria Georgiana Athala Piché, daughter of Urgel Piché, broker, of Joliette.
Ratcliffe, John, was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the 9th September, 1813. His father, Daniel Graham Ratcliffe, was a native of Cumberland, England, but removed to Scotland in early manhood, married Elizabeth Latham, a native of Hamilton parish, Lanarkshire, and spent the remainder of his days mostly in Avondale parish. The father was suddenly cut off in the prime of life, leaving a heavy burden to rest upon the shoulders of his son John, the eldest of the family. Before he had completed his twentieth year, in the spring of 1833, he sought the shores of Canada, in the hope of securing a better home and portion for the family. The township of Whitby, county of Ontario, was the part of Upper Canada to which he was directed. He purchased from the government the north half of lot 6, concession 6, where he settled. The following year the family removed to Canada, where they found a home ready for them. On October 31st, 1836, Mr. Ratcliffe married Margaret Hepburn, eldest daughter of John Hepburn, a native of Lanarkshire, who also came to Canada in 1833. To them were born seven sons and three daughters, all of whom are still alive. The subject of this sketch was a man of more than ordinary ability. Not having educational opportunities beyond a few months in the parish school, his pathway was made more difficult, but this loss was largely compensated for by extensive and careful reading. Time for reading was not abundant in the life of a pioneer, but moments were utilised, and to such good advantage that, having the misfortune to break his leg, he was, during the time of enforced rest from work, chosen to teach a school opened in the neighbourhood. When municipal affairs began to demand attention, he was alive to every question that agitated the public, and occupied a seat at the council board for many years, presiding as reeve over its affairs during the greater portion of the time. In the year 1863 he occupied the warden’s chair, thereafter retiring from public municipal life. For many years he was an active justice of the peace, and in the discharge of the magisterial functions won the respect and confidence of the whole community. During the years that East Whitby was without a township hall, his house was the court-room in which most of the petty trials of the township had a hearing. He always counselled a harmonious settlement of difficulties; and many a quarrel was satisfactorily disposed of, without “going to law,” by having the parties meet and talk over the trouble with him. In politics he was a consistent and pronounced Liberal, and for many years held the honorable and responsible position of president of the South Ontario Reform Association. His name was frequently mentioned when a candidate was to be selected, but he always declined the honor. In religion he was a loyal Presbyterian. With all his interest in public affairs, his relation to the church of Christ, and his responsibility to its Head were never allowed to be interfered with. In the year 1856 he was ordained to the eldership of the United Presbyterian church, which office he adorned until called higher. Only ill-health or absence from home ever kept him from his accustomed place in the house of God, or from his class in the Sabbath school. He was a most successful teacher, personally interested in every member of his class, and many were by his instrumentality led to decide for Christ. In his home he was tender and affectionate, yet firm, and his children remember with gratitude his kindly, wise counsel, and, above all, his Christian instruction and personal example. Suddenly, on March 9th, 1878, he was called to his rest and reward.