GEORGE H. A. MONTGOMERYGEORGE H. A. MONTGOMERY
GEORGE H. A. MONTGOMERY
In June, 1909, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Montgomery and Miss Gwendoline Baptist, a daughter of the late John Baptist, of Three Rivers, P. Q. Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery have one son. In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery are Anglicans, while socially they are well known in the best circles of the city. Mr. Montgomery has membership relations with the Mount Royal, University, St. James, Montreal and Montreal Jockey Clubs, as well as the Quebec Garrison Club. His profession is constantly making greater demands upon his time and energies, yet he finds opportunities for other obligations and duties and for the pleasures of life, thus maintaining a well balanced character.
An excellent example of the aggressive type of a business man, and one well known in real-estate circles of Montreal, is Joseph P. Beaudry, manager of the Beaudry Realty Company, No. 402, McGill building.
Mr. Beaudry comes from one of the oldest families in the Dominion, dating back to 1629, and the numerous branches of it probably could be traced back to show relationship, where, in many cases at this time, no family connection is supposed to exist.
Joseph P. Beaudry was born in Ottawa, Ontario, a son of Joseph and Alphonsine (Valiquette) Beaudry. The father, a wood manufacturer, was born at Three Rivers, while the mother was a native of Quebec.
Reared in his native town, Mr. Beaudry after attending school there, completed his educational training by taking a commercial course. Taking up the printing business, he began at the bottom and was gradually advanced from one capacity to another of greater importance, successfully filling the positions of foreman, superintendent, manager and traveling representative for some of the largest printing houses in Montreal. While he had become well known in this line of business and enjoyed a high standing among those connected with it, Mr. Beaudry concluded that the real-estate business afforded better opportunities, and in 1909 he decided to enter it. The wisdom of his judgment in this move has been fully shown in the success that has come to him. He has formed a number of successful real-estate companies and has come to be known as a shrewd judge of realty values.
The Beaudry Realty Company, of which he is manager, is generally known to carry the largest list of city lots and property among the French real-estate firms in the city. This firm’s extensive clientele is not confined to Montreal, but branches out into a great many towns throughout the province of Quebec.
Mr. Beaudry is a director of seven different real-estate companies, all limited concerns and formed by him. He is a member of the Canadian Club, also the Automobile Club, belongs as well to the Sixty-fifth Regiment and holds membership in the Commercial Travellers Association. In political matters his interest is that of a business man, and he votes with the conservative party, while in his religious connection he is a Roman Catholic.
On May 25, 1897, he was married to Alexina Senecal, a daughter of Adolphe and Cordelia (Colletts) Senecal. Mr. Beaudry’s children are Alexina, Gabrielle, Guillaume, Jean-Rene and Raoul.
He has earned for himself a reputation as a careful man of business, and in his dealing is known for his prompt and honorable methods which have brought him success.
Rev. John E. Donnelly, who since 1891 has been rector of St. Anthony’s parish, Montreal, one of the largest Irish Catholic congregations in the city, was born in this city, February 22, 1861, a son of the late Charles and Margaret (McAfee) Donnelly. He acquired his education in the local grammar schools and later entered Ste. Thérèse College, from which he was graduated with the degree of B. A. in the class of 1880. He afterward attended the Grand Seminary, where he received his theological training, graduating with the class of 1883. He was ordained in the following year and after spending three years as private secretary to Archbishop Fabre became connected with St. Anthony’s church as curate. He was made parish priest in 1891 and he has since had spiritual jurisdiction over the twelve thousand families which go to make up this large Irish Catholic parish in Montreal. St. Anthony’s church was founded in April, 1884, and the first rector was Joseph U. Leclerc. The present church building was erected in 1889 and the parish house in 1901. The church property is ably administered, Father Donnelly proving himself a capable, farsighted and energetic business man as well as a zealous, sincere and untiring servant of God.
Father Donnelly is an honorary member of the Shamrock Lacrosse Club and a great patron of athletics, and is familiarly and lovingly known as “Father John” among the people to whom his singleness of purpose, his high-mindedness and his constant geniality have so greatly endeared him. The Montreal Herald calls him “A skilled musician, a good preacher and a man justly considered a leader among the Irish Catholic clergy in the city.”
The story of the life of William Stiven Paterson is the story of honest industry and thrift. It is the record of a strong individuality, sure of itself, stable in purpose, quick in perception, swift in decision, energetic and persistent in action. A native of Dundee, Scotland, born April 16, 1841, Mr. Paterson was but one year old when brought to this country by his father, James Paterson, who lived in Upper Canada and there engaged on the river Humber, in the manufacture of blankets. He afterward removed to near Meaford, Ontario, where he engaged in farming, and there he died.
The public-school system of Canada afforded William S. Paterson his educational opportunities. After leaving home he spent one year in the oil fieldsof Pennsylvania, and then came to Montreal and eventually with the late J. T. Wilson formed the firm of Wilson, Paterson & Company of which he remained an active member until his death. The business developed as the years passed, owing to the progressive methods instituted in its conduct, and prosperity attended the labors of the partners.
In Montreal, in 1875, occurred the marriage of William S. Paterson, and Miss Electa C. Childs, daughter of Charles Childs, who came from Massachusetts in 1851 and engaged in the retail shoe business in Montreal. He became the pioneer in the manufacture of shoe lasts in this city and built up an extensive trade, in which he continued until his death in January, 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Paterson had a family of five children: Kate Elizabeth, who became the wife of R. B. Ross, Jr., secretary of the Mount Royal Milling Company, by whom she has three children; Dr. Robert C. Paterson, who is married and has two children; Charles S., a missionary in Calcutta, India; Arthur L., of The Wilson-Paterson Company, and who has two children; and E. Russell, secretary of the Boy Scouts.
Mr. Paterson was interested in outdoor sports, especially in fishing, and was a member of the Little Cascapedia Fishing Club and as a devotee of golf, a member of Westmount Golf Club. He belonged to the American Presbyterian church, in which he served as a trustee and elder, and his life was actuated by high and honorable principles. His record measured up to exalted standards of manhood and citizenship and when death called him on the 2d of June, 1907, he left behind him not only an excellent competence but an honored name. He never allowed personal interests or ambition to dwarf his public spirit or his activities, and he was prominent as a man whose constantly expanding powers took him from humble surroundings to fields of large enterprise and continually broadening opportunities.
Rev. George Daly, who since 1912 has been rector of St. Anne’s parish in Montreal, discharging his manifold duties in this connection in a way which reflects credit upon his religious zeal and his administrative ability alike, is a native son of the city, born September 5, 1872, his parents being William and Josephine (Morin) Daly. The father was born on the isle of Malta, where the grandfather, a native of County Cavan, Ireland, was an officer in the British army. William Daly came to Canada with the Forty-seventh Regiment Band in 1861 and was afterward in the employ of the Grand Trunk Railway Company for one year, resigning in order to accept the position of manager of the Point St. Charles branch of the City & District Savings Bank, a position which he held continuously for thirty-seven years, retiring from active life in 1909. He died May 19, 1913, and is survived by his wife. They were for many years members of St. Gabriel’s Catholic church. The following children were born to their union: William, who is a member of the firm of Daly & Morin, manufacturers in Montreal; George, of this review; Louisa, the wife of D. J. Byrne, of Leonard Brothers, wholesale fish dealers of this city; Elizabeth, a nun atHotel Dieu, Montreal; Aileen, who resides with her mother; and Mary, Joseph, Alphonsus and Walter, all of whom have passed away.
Rev. George Daly acquired his education in the parochial schools of Montreal, which he attended until he was twelve years of age. He then entered Montreal College and in 1888 became a student at St. Trond, Belgium, where he remained five years. At the end of that time he went to Beau Plateau, in Belgium, studying seven years there, returning to Quebec at the end of that time and becoming a director inthe Preparatory College at Ste. Anne de Beaupré, a position which he retained for twelve years. In 1900, previous to his return to Canada, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in Belgium and on the 2d of August, 1912, was made parish priest at St. Anne’s in Montreal. Here he has done excellent work during the two years of his incumbency, for he is a man of abiding faith, energy and religious zeal and, moreover, possesses unusual administrative and executive ability. He is a man of scholarly attainments, most earnest and consecrated in his work and is ever watchful over the interests of his people, whose love he holds in large measure, while he enjoys the respect of people of all denominations.
One of the most able and deservedly successful barristers in Montreal at the present time is Edmond Brossard, practicing at the bar in partnership with Hon. P. E. Le Blanc, K. C., and connected through his important clientage with a great deal of notable litigation. He is numbered among Montreal’s native sons, his birth having occurred in this city on the 19th of December, 1873. His parents were Telesphore B. and Evelina (Turgeon) Brossard, the former for many years Dominion appraiser of His Majesty’s customs in this city. The family is of old French origin and of long Canadian establishment, having been founded in the Dominion by the ancestor who came to Canada with Maisonneuve in 1642.
In the acquirement of an education Edmond Brossard attended St. Mary’s Jesuit College and was afterward a student in Laval University, where even at that time he showed promise of the distinction to which he has since attained. He was graduated B. A. in 1894, taking the governor general’s medal, and he received the degree of LL.L. with first rank honors in 1897. In the following year he was called to the bar as advocate and since that time has practiced his profession in Montreal. He was made a councillor in 1900 and a member of the general council in the same year, and his standing is high in legal circles of the city. He has formed a partnership with Hon. P. E. Le Blanc, K. C., and is in control of a large and important clientage, his success and prominence having increased yearly as his ability has become more widely known. Mr. Brossard has successfully conducted a number of hotly contested legal cases for he possesses clear and incisive qualities of mind, a power of close reasoning and clear deduction as well as the personality and force necessary to make knowledge effective in any line. His ability has carried him into important relations with the legal life of the city, his standing in professional circles being evidenced bythe fact that in 1900 he was made secretary of the Montreal bar and in 1908 was elected president of the Junior Bar Association.
EDMOND BROSSARDEDMOND BROSSARD
EDMOND BROSSARD
In October, 1900, Mr. Brossard was united in marriage to Mlle. Alice de Lorimer and they are well known in social circles of the city. Mr. Brossard is a man of considerable literary attainments, possessed of a clear, lucid and forceful style in writing and the ability to present his ideas in a concise and able way. He is an occasional contributor to the press and to law reviews, and his name is a synonym for efficiency and comprehensive knowledge in everything relating to the legal profession. He is one of Montreal’s prominent, able and successful barristers and in a profession where advancement depends almost entirely upon individual merit and ability he has risen steadily, holding today a place of prominence and possessing in his native talents and developed powers the guarantee of still greater attainment in the future.
Aime Geoffrion, treasurer of the council of the bar and one of those at the head of the French section of the Montreal bar, as well as holding one of the civil law professorships at McGill, occupies a distinguished professional position. He was born in Montreal, November 13, 1872. Fortunate is the man who has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished, and happy is he if his lines of life are cast in harmony therewith. In person, in talents and in character Aime Geoffrion is a worthy scion of his race. His father was the late Hon. C. A. Geoffrion one of the leading members of the bar, minister without portfolio in the Laurier government, and his mother was Eulalie G. Dorion, the eldest daughter of the late Chief Justice Sir A. A. Dorion. In the acquirement of his education Aime Geoffrion attended successively St. John’s school, St. Mary’s (Jesuit) College and McGill University. Having determined to enter upon the practice of law, he prepared for the profession at McGill and was graduated B. C. L. in 1893, being also a gold medalist. He began practice as an advocate in 1894 and within nine years had won such success that he was created a king’s counsel. He occupies an enviable position in his profession, and in addition to his appearance before Canadian courts he has pleaded on several occasions before the judicial committee of the privy council. He was one of the counsel retained by the province of Quebec in the arbitration between the Dominion and Ontario and Quebec for a settlement of outstanding accounts existing at the time of the confederation. He was also made the junior Dominion counsel in the matter of the Alaskan boundary arbitration in 1903-4. When he expresses himself upon questions of vital importance to city or province his opinions are listened to with attention and interest, for it is recognized that he is a farsighted and public-spirited man who has the municipal, provincial and Dominion welfare close at heart. He is not only recognized as the distinguished lawyer but also as a most able educator along professional lines, having since 1905 been professor of civil law in McGill University, in which position he succeeded Mr. Justice Fortin.
In November, 1896, Mr. Geoffrion was married to Miss Marguerite Thibaudeau, the eldest daughter of the late J. R. Thibaudeau, senator of Montreal. Mr. Geoffrion gives his political allegiance to the liberal party and is stanch and warm in support of the principles in which he believes. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church. He is a member of several of Montreal’s leading clubs, including St. James Club, and the Montreal Reform Club, and also of the Rideau Club of Ottawa. Sir Wilfrid Laurier spoke of him as “one who well sustained the hereditary glories of his house.” The Montreal Star has referred to him as “a man of a remarkably clear and vigorous mind who has been highly successful before all the courts.” He is widely recognized as a man of earnest purpose, seeking ever to benefit by those activities and interests which look beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities and opportunities of the future, and which seek provincial welfare rather than the aggrandizement of self.
Lawrence Macfarlane, member of the well known firm of Lafleur, Macdougall, Macfarlane & Pope, barristers and solicitors, was born in Montreal on the 12th of November, 1876, a son of the late James Ferrier and Cecilia Clare Macfarlane. He was a student in the Montreal high school and then entered McGill for his arts course, graduating with the degree of B. A. in 1897. He pursued his studies in the law department of McGill and obtained the degree of B. C. L. in April, 1900. He was called to the bar in the same year and was admitted a partner in the law firm headed by the late R. D. McGibbon, K. C., with whom he had previously studied for three years. As representing English interests Mr. Macfarlane is a director of the British Columbia Breweries, Limited; the North Saskatchewan Land Company, Limited; the Alabama Traction Light and Power Company, Limited; Terminal Cities of Canada, Limited; Mexican Northern Power Company, Limited; and the Cities Service Company.
Mr. Macfarlane’s political allegiance is given to the conservative party. He belongs to St. Paul’s Lodge, Masons, English Register, and he also has membership in the more important clubs of his native city, including the St. James, Canada, Royal Montreal Golf, University and Racquet Clubs.
For many years the name of Joseph Charles Wray figured in connection with the undertaking business in Montreal, but in July, 1907, he retired from active management of a business which had been established by his grandfather in 1840. Mr. Wray was born in Montreal on the 25th of March, 1857, and is descended from Irish ancestry, his parents being William and Marion (McGregor) Wray, the latter of Scotch lineage. The father came to Montreal at an early age with his father. The latter, Joseph Wray, established an undertaking business in 1840 and was joined by his son, William Wray in its conduct and management.The business was originally conducted under the name of Joseph Wray, but upon the death of the grandfather, William Wray succeeded to the ownership and management of the business, which he afterward conducted under his own name. However, his health failed him about six months later, and he was obliged to retire from active business. He was then succeeded by his son Joseph Charles Wray.
The last named had been a pupil in the public schools of Montreal and after putting aside his text-books became connected with the confectionery business in the employ of James Griffin. At length he entered the undertaking business that had been established by his grandfather, and when his father was forced to retire from the management Joseph Charles Wray assumed control and conducted the business under his own name for thirty years, his patronage growing with the development of the city. In July, 1907, however, the firm style was changed to Joseph C. Wray & Brother, and Mr. Wray of this review retired from active management, being succeeded by his youngest brother, Frederick A. Wray, who has always been connected with the business. The Wrays were the first to establish ambulance work in Canada in connection with the hospitals, and they now own the ambulances used in connection with the hospitals of the city. They began this in July, 1883, and the value of the work done by them can be scarcely overestimated, the ambulance service largely annihilating time and distance in cases of emergency, bringing the patient to medical and surgical aid with as little discomfort as possible.
On the 7th of September, 1900, in Trinity church, Mr. Wray was united in marriage to Ellen Louise Gibbon, a native of Wales. They are members of the Church of England, and Mr. Wray is identified with Mizpah Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Elgin Lodge, No. 7, A. F. & A. M. He votes independently, exercising his right of franchise as his judgment dictates. He has long since won place among the prosperous men of the city, his position being attributable entirely to his close application and honorable business methods.
Of distinguished French-Canadian ancestry, Oscar Desautels worthily wears the family name and worthily carries forward the family traditions. He is a successful notary of Montreal, in which city he has many interests. His Canadian ancestry goes back to Pierre Desautels, who was born of the marriage of Thomas and Marie (Buisson) Desautels, of Malicerne, in the bishopric of Mans, France. Pierre Desautels married Marie Remy and to them was born Joseph Desautels at Montreal on the 29th of October, 1666. He married Marie Charlotte Chatillon, and they became the parents of a son, Michel, who was born at Pointe-aux-Trembles, Montreal, October 1, 1701. Michel Desautels married Louise Catherine Bergeron, and their son Michel was born at Sorel in 1727. He married Marie Charlotte Rondeau, and they became the parents of a son, Michel, who was born at St. Ours on the 11th of August, 1759. To this Michel Desautels was born a son, Michel, at Beloeil in 1796. He married Josephte Morin, and their son Elzear was born at St. Jean Baptiste, November 25, 1827.He was the father of our subject. His wife was Malvina Guertin, and their son Oscar was born at St. Jean Baptiste, April 26, 1872.
Oscar Desautels pursued a classical course at the Petit Seminaire of Ste. Marie de Monnoir at Marieville and was graduated in June, 1893, with the Bachelor of Arts degree. From 1893 to 1898 he studied law at St. Hyacinthe, in the office of Taché & Desautels, notaries. He was admitted to practice on September 10, 1898. On November 1st of that year he established himself as a notary at Montreal and in the evening kept an office in the town of St. Louis. His entrance into the legal profession and his first years thereafter were arduous but his ability, energy and honesty led him to success. During the first ten years—as is so often the case in professional careers—his clientele grew slowly. He was notary of the corporation of the town of St. Louis and also of the school commission of the various parishes of the town of St. Louis and is counsel for various other important institutions. He enjoys today a numerous and representative clientage which recruits itself largely from the old town of St. Louis, which is now the ward Laurier of the metropolis. Mr. Desautels is interested in various enterprises, largely along real estate lines, among which is La Compagnie Nationale d’Immeubles, of which he has always been one of the directors. He has interested himself actively in mutual societies and has held official positions in nearly all those societies established in the town of St. Louis.
At Beloeil, on the 8th of June, 1903, Mr. Desautels was united in marriage to Miss Corine Bernard, a daughter of Elophe and Mathilde (Lafontaine) Bernard. To them have been born four children, Bernard, Robert, Thérèse and Bruno. Mr. Desautels gives his political allegiance to the liberal party and is treasurer of the Liberal Club of the town of St. Louis. He is an effective worker for his party, in which he enjoys great prestige. An excellent notary and public-spirited citizen, he is highly esteemed and respected by all who know him. As a notary he enjoys the highest reputation as to ability and integrity, and more and more important interests have come under his direction as the years have passed.
Zéphirin Hébert, president of the wholesale grocery firm of Hudon, Hébert & Company, Ltd., the leading concern of its kind in Canada, was born in Montreal, February 6, 1866, the son of Charles P. Hébert, who was the first president of the above mentioned firm. In 1883 Zéphirin Hébert became connected with the business of which he is now the head. In 1893 he was admitted as a partner. In 1906, on the incorporation of the company, he became assistant manager and a director. In 1908 he was elected to the office of vice president and in 1911 succeeded his brother, the late Albert Hébert, as president. For about twenty-five years he has been a member of the Montreal Board of Trade and since the 1st of February, 1913, he has served on the council of that body, and in December, 1913, was elected a member of the transportation bureau of that organization.
ZEPHIRIN HEBERTZEPHIRIN HEBERT
ZEPHIRIN HEBERT
Mr. Hébert is president of the Dominion Wholesale Grocers Guild, chairman of the prize committee for the province of Quebec, president of the Montreal Wholesale Grocers Guild, president of the Montreal Wholesale Liquor Association, treasurer and governor of Notre Dame Hospital, governor of the Montreal General Hospital and governor of Laval University. He is also a member of the Canada Club, the Montreal Jockey Club and L’Association St. Jean Baptiste.
Mr. Hébert married Miss Blanche Robidoux and their four children are, Marielle, Gertrude, Charles P. and Jacques R.
A man of scholarly attainments, great force of personality and broadness of mind, Rev. William O’Meara has made these qualities the basis of many years of successful work as rector of St. Gabriel’s church in Montreal and in the promotion of the work along many lines in which the Catholic church is interested. He was born in Sherrington, Quebec province, May 6, 1857, and is one of twelve children born to the late Captain William and Judith (McManus) O’Meara, the former a native of Waterford, Ireland, who came to Canada in 1832.
Rev. William O’Meara acquired his early education in the grammar schools of Sherrington, and later enteredthe College of Ste. Thérèse, where he took a classical course, graduating with the degree of B. A. in 1880. He then entered Grand Seminary in Montreal, where he pursued his theological studies for three years and a half, being ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood December 22, 1883. He was first made curate at St. Ann’s church in this city and was then transferred to St. Cecelia’s parish in Valleyfield, where he remained as assistant from 1884 to 1889.In the latter year he came to St. Gabriel’s church, Montreal, and in January, 1890, was made rector, a position which he still holds. This parish was organized in 1873 as a mission from St. Henry’s parish and was made an independent congregation two years later. The first church was a wooden structure, presided over by Rev. John J. Salmon, and here services were held until 1891, Rev. Thomas McCarthy succeeding the first parish priest. The new church was started in 1891 by Father O’Meara and was completed in 1894, at a cost of one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars. It is a beautiful structure, built of limestone, in the Roman and Byzantine styles of architecture, having a capacity of one thousand people and the dimensions being one hundred and sixty by seventy feet. There is a main altar of white wood, a chancel rail of oak and stations of the cross which are fine specimens of work in terra cotta. Father O’Meara built in 1895 a parish house costing eleven thousand five hundred dollars, and the entire church property is valued at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The affairs of the congregation, which numbers eight hundred families, are administered in a capable and farsighted way, Father O’Meara having proven himself a reliable business man as well as an earnest and consecrated worker in the cause of religion. He is particularly interested in the schools of his parish and has now erected two excellent institutions of learning, which are conducted in connection with his church. Theseare a school for boys, built at a cost of thirty-seven thousand dollars, and an academy for girls, representing a value of fifty-five thousand dollars.
Father O’Meara was formerly a governor of the Catholic high school of Montreal and was on July 1, 1905, appointed a Catholic school commissioner. He was elected chairman of the commission in 1910 and since that time has been accounted one of the prominent educators of the city as well as one of the greatest individual forces in the promotion of Catholic education. He has given a great deal of time and attention to this work and in 1907 was sent as a delegate to the Dublin International Exposition in order to study the national school systems of Ireland, France, England and Belgium. He is interested in the work of St. Gabriel’s Total Abstinence and Benefit Society, of which he is president, and he has recently been appointed honorary canon of the archdiocese of Montreal. He has, indeed, accomplished a great deal of important and constructive work among the people of his parish, and he holds their love in large measure, while he enjoys the confidence and respect of people of all denominations. He has demonstrated that the business affairs of St. Gabriel’s parish are in the hands of a farsighted, capable and energetic man, while his religious zeal is evidenced in his constant and untiring labor in the promulgation of the doctrines in which he believes. He is widely and favorably known in Montreal and has earned mention by the Montreal Gazette as “a broad-minded, well informed, energetic and popular priest.”
In commercial circles of Montreal, Louis Beaudoin is widely known as president of Beaudoin Limited, accountants and auditors. Louis Beaudoin of this review occupies the executive position in this firm, and Gérant L. M. Philéas Beaudoin is secretary-treasurer. They maintain offices at 33 Notre Dame Street West and have been eminently successful in their line, enjoying an extensive and important clientage. Louis Beaudoin was born August 29, 1869, in Repentigny, L’Assomption county, Quebec, and is a son of Pierre and Melina (Lachapelle dit Jeannotte) Beaudoin, the former a well known agriculturist of Repentigny. The paternal grandparents of our subject were Pierre and Adelaide (Rochon) Beaudoin, the former also a farmer of Repentigny. The great-grandfather, Jean Baptiste Beaudoin, also followed that occupation at the same place. The maternal grandfather, Pierre Lachapelle, was an agriculturist of Mascouche. The Beaudoin family is historically known in two variations, that of Baudoin and Bodin. The earliest record of a member of this family goes back to Alexis Beaudoin, born in 1694, who on November 27, 1720, married at Ste. Croix, Angeline Houde and had seven children. Of these his son Louis married Louise Barrat, at Montreal, on May 6, 1748, this being the first mention of the family in Montreal archives.
Louis Beaudoin acquired his education in the College de L’Assomption and began his career in the grocery business, also being connected with butchering and merchandising. He subsequently became president of Beaudoin Limited and has since given his entire attention to the extension of the interests ofthat firm. Recently a line of Assyrian products has been added. Natural ability and keen observation of existing conditions make him eminent in his profession, and he is today recognized as one of the foremost men in his line in Montreal.
On February 4, 1889, Mr. Beaudoin was united in marriage to Evelina Legault dit Deslaurier, a daughter of Jean Baptiste Legault dit Deslaurier. The father for many years has been connected with commercial interests. Mr. and Mrs. Beaudoin have the following children: Philéas, Coramance, Armand, Honoré, Adrien, Aurélien, Albert, Adolphe, Laurent, Amedée, Eveline and Clément Marcel. In his political views Mr. Beaudoin is a liberal, stanchly upholding the principles of his party. Although he has never cared to participate in public life he has done much toward promoting worthy public enterprises. He is a valued citizen of Montreal, prominent in commercial circles and effective in his private capacity in furthering the interests of the city, where he has been so long and so successfully engaged in business.
“Not the good that comes to us but the good that comes to the world through us is the measure of our success.” Judged by this standard, Thomas J. Dawson was a most successful man. His life measured up to the standard which all men acknowledge good. His record was as an open book which all might read and there were many who bore testimony to his kindness of heart and his generous spirit manifest in active effort for the alleviation of hard conditions of life for the unfortunate and for practical improvement along the line of civic and moral reform. Mr. Dawson was born at Knockmanoul, Ireland, April 29, 1843, and spent his early life in Dublin and Belfast. His parents, Rev. Abram and Anne (Graham) Dawson, were both natives of the Emerald isle. The father was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and coming from Ireland to the new world engaged in preaching in Ontario near Kingston. Thomas J. Dawson came to Canada in 1864 and spent several years at Sydenham and Guelph, Ontario. In 1870 he arrived in Montreal, from which date until his death he was actively engaged in commercial pursuits. For fifteen years prior to his demise he was connected with the custom service and during the latter part of that period was the appraiser in the postoffice department.
Mr. Dawson was a splendid type of the Irish gentleman, possessing native wit and humor and scattering cheer wherever he went. His geniality and cordiality ever made him popular in social circles and his friends were almost as numerous as his acquaintances. His spirit of benevolence was one of his strongly developed characteristics and, again and again, found expression in tangible effort for the benefit of others. He was deeply interested in the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society, was a life governor of the Montreal Homeopathic Hospital, was for years secretary of the Old Brewery Mission and was an active member of the Westmount Methodist church, which numbered him among its earnest, helpful workers. Any movement tending to bring about civic or moral reform received his indorsement and cooperation. In 1866, upon its organization, he became a member of the Young Men’s Christian Association, retaining his membershipuntil his death, and to the support of which he contributed liberally. He gave, too, of his time and efforts for its upbuilding and always took a most active interest in young men, realizing how necessary are uplifting influences in the plastic age. Life was to him purposeful and fraught with opportunity for good, which he did not neglect, and when he passed away October 21, 1910, he left behind him a memory that is a benediction to all who knew him.
In 1876 Mr. Dawson was married to Miss Louisa Holland, daughter of George A. Holland, who came from Ireland as a young man and was the active head of the G. A. Holland & Son Company, dealers in wall paper, established by him in 1843. He built up that business to large proportions and remained in close identification therewith until his demise. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Marian Hutchins, was a native of Canada. He was one of the volunteer firemen of Montreal at an early day and he passed away in this city in July, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Dawson had three children: Ralph H. of Montreal; Arthur B. of Calgary; and Mabel L., the wife of R. Macaulay Cushing, and they have two children, Dorothy M. and Arthur M.
“A man of ideas; a man with a future; a coming man,” is the way the Toronto Globe describes Louis Alfred Adhemar Rivet, of Montreal, and all who have come in contact with him during the course of his brilliant and successful career as a barrister and legislator fully concur in this opinion, adding also that he is one of the most able members of his profession in Quebec province, a distinguished statesman and one of the greatest of the younger generation of French Canadians. He was born in Joliette, Quebec, on the 15th of September, 1873, and is a son of Charles and Herminie (Michaud) Rivet, of French Canadian origin.
In the acquirement of an education Mr. Rivet attended Joliette College and Laval University, from which institution he was graduated B. A. in 1892 and LL. B. in 1895, in the same year being called to the bar as advocate. He was made king’s counsel in 1906 and for a number of years has been practicing successfully in Montreal, where he is ranked among brilliant and forceful barristers. For a time he was associated with the late C. Beausoleil, M. P., but the death of the latter severed this connection and subsequently he became associated with other firms, the present one being Rivet, Glass & Sullivan. He is recognized as a strong and able practitioner, a barrister whose knowledge of underlying legal principles is comprehensive and exact and whose application of points of law is always correct and logical. His keen and incisive mind grasps quickly all the details of the most intricate case, seizes upon the most telling points and arguments, and his presentations are models of conciseness and accuracy. Mr. Rivet has thus won distinction in his chosen profession and has secured a representative clientage in Montreal connecting him with a great deal of notable litigation. He has been interested and active in affairs affecting the Montreal bar, his ability being widely recognized in professional circles.
L. A. RIVETL. A. RIVET
L. A. RIVET
As is often the case, Mr. Rivet’s success in law has carried with it prominence in politics and his interest in the growth and welfare of the province has carried him forward into important political relations. At the bi-election of 1904 he was returned to the house of commons and, representing Hochelaga in that body, served with ability and distinction until 1911. During this time he accomplished a great deal of constructive and important work in statesmanship, leaving the impress of his personality and standards upon useful, and beneficial legislation, his vote and influence being always on the side of right, reform and progress. A stanch liberal, Mr. Rivet has always supported the principles and policies of that party and has been one of the greatest individual forces in its expansion in Montreal, where he founded the St. Gabriel Liberal Club, of which he served as president in 1898. He has been a director of the Montreal Reform Club. He calls himself an imperialist and is one in the sense that the greatness of the empire depends to a great extent on the fair development of the colonies. He is, however, a stanch advocate of Canadian customs and institutions and has done as much as any one man in the Dominion to promote their spread and growth. Although of French Canadian extraction he speaks English fluently and often addressed the house of commons in that language. In a lecture on the dual language of Canada delivered before the Nomads’ Club in 1909 he advocated Canada as a bi-lingual nation and he has done much to promote the fusion of the two great nations which dominate the country. He also addressed the Canadian Club in Ontario, advocating closer relations between the two races, in view of national unity.
Mr. Rivet married in January, 1898, Mlle. Rose Cypihot and both are widely and favorably known in social circles of Montreal. Their children are: Gaston, born June 23, 1901; Marguerite, January 10, 1904; and Gerard, January 24, 1906.
Mr. Rivet has extensive and important club affiliations, belonging to the Club St. Denis, the Club Canadien de Montreal and the Reform Club, and socially is found to be genial, charming and constantly courteous. In his profession he has made continued and rapid advancement and his accomplishments in the political field have been substantial and far-reaching, so that he is well entitled to a high place among the representative and useful citizens of the city where he makes his home.
Since 1900 Joseph Alcide Chaussé has filled the important position of superintendent of buildings and city architect of Montreal and in that position has established for himself an enjoyable reputation. He is one of the foremost men in the profession, not only in the city, but in the Dominion and recognition has come to him from numerous national as well as foreign societies. Alcide Chaussé was born at St. Sulpice, Assumption county, Quebec, Canada, on January 7, 1868, a son of Edouard and Rose de Lima (Rivet) Chaussé, both natives of St. Sulpice, Quebec. The father, a prominent lumberman there and ex-alderman of the city of Montreal, died on March 15, 1909, the mother having preceded him in death, passing away on July 20, 1896. The Chaussé family is of ancient lineage and oneof the old-established ones in the province of Quebec. Pierre Chaussé, le Chaudronnier (the brazier), was born in 1630 and was established at St. Anne de la Parade as early as 1681. Pierre Chaussé, another of the name, called la Lumière, was born in 1651, a son of Jean and Catherine (Groleau) Chaussé. He married Marie Madeleine Sel au Deselles on April 24, 1681, and they had five children. These are among the earliest ancestors of Mr. Chaussé recorded in Canadian history.
Alcide Chaussé received his fundamental education at St. Mary’s Academy in Montreal. He studied architecture with the late Alphonse Raza, of Montreal, from the 3d of March, 1884, to the 14th of March, 1887. From the 17th of March of that year until July 24, 1889, he was in Chicago, perfecting himself in the profession, and was admitted to practice in 1888. On the 20th of November, 1889, he opened an office for the practice of architecture at Montreal and continued with ever increasing success until May 21, 1900, when he was appointed to his present important position. A wide and comprehensive knowledge fits him particularly for this work and Mr. Chaussé has been in a large measure responsible for the upbuilding of the city along lines of the “plan beautiful.” He also holds the position of commissioner of the superior court for the district of Montreal and that of justice of the peace for the same district.
Mr. Chaussé is a charter member of the Province of Quebec Association of Architects, of which he served as president in 1906. In 1907 he was the promoter of and since its inception is, honorary secretary and a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada; is an associate of the Canadian and American Societies of Civil Engineers; a member of La Chambre Syndicale de la Construction; a member of the Board of Plumbers’ Examiners in Montreal; chairman of the committee on fire prevention of the American Society of Municipal Improvements; a member of the American Public Health Association; a member of the council of Le Comité Permanent des Congrès Internationaux des Architectes; member of the British Fire Prevention Committee; corresponding member of La Société Centrale des Architectes Français; the American Institute of Architects; La Société Centrale d’Architecture de Belgique; La Société Nationale des Architectes de France; Architekten-Verein at Berlin, Germany; Sociedad Central de Architectos, Madrid, Spain; and the Society of Portuguese Architects. He is a member of the council of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society. Mr. Chaussé has been awarded gold, silver and bronze medals by various architectural societies for technical papers and lectures. He was a member of the International Congress of Architects held at Paris in 1900; at Madrid, in 1904; and London, England, in 1906; and of the International Fire Prevention Congress, held at London in 1903; a delegate to the Sixth Commercial Congress of the Empire, held at London, in 1906. In 1907 he conceived the project for the Institute of Architects of Canada. He is the author of several articles on fire prevention and fire protection; of the “Building Inspector’s Handbook,” published in 1902; the “Code of Building Laws of the Province of Quebec,” published in 1906; the “Handbook of Building Laws of Montreal”; and the “Supplement to the Code of Building Laws,” published in 1913, all of them published in English and French.
At Ste. Bridgide’s church, Montreal, on Saturday, September 8, 1894, Mr. Chaussé was united in marriage to Miss Rose de Lima Renaud, a daughter of Cyrille Renaud and Rose de Lima (Favreau) Renaud, both of Montreal. Thefather is a well known manufacturers’ agent of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Chaussé have two sons: Marcel, who was born July 7, 1902, and Fernand, born December 29, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Chaussé are members of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation, Church of the Holy Sacrament, on Mount Royal Avenue.
The political views of Mr. Chaussé coincide with the principles of the conservative party. He is a member of Le Club Canadien of Montreal, a member of L’Alliance Nationale, of which he served as grand marshal; and a member of the Association of St. Jean Baptiste, of which he has been president of Ste. Bridgide’s Section. He was also president of the Cêrcle Jeanne D’Arc of L’Alliance Nationale. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Chaussé finds recreation in curling and is a member of the St. Lawrence Curling Club of Montreal. His city residence is at No. 1433 St. Hubert Street, while the summer home of the family is Villa Iris, Sault-au-Recollet.
Manufacturing interests of Montreal find a prominent representative in Mortimer Barnett Davis, one of the leaders in the tobacco trade of the Dominion, being active in the management of an enterprise of mammoth proportions. It is true that he entered upon a business already established, but in enlarging and developing this many a man of less resolute spirit and of more limited business sagacity would have failed. Each step he has taken in the business world has been one of progress, bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities.
Mr. Davis was born February 6, 1866, in Montreal, a son of Samuel and Minnie (Falk) Davis, the former the founder of the firm of Samuel Davis & Sons, manufacturers and importers of cigars at Montreal. Mortimer B. Davis completed his education in the high school of his native city and early became associated with his father in business, receiving thorough training that acquainted him with every phase of the trade. He went upon the road as a traveling salesman and eventually was advanced to the position of manager after the firm had acquired the D. Ritchie Tobacco factory. He controlled the business most systematically and, finally, when it had been absorbed by the formation of the American Tobacco Company of Canada in 1895, he became president of the company and so continues. Later he gave to the country a great national industry in the Empire Tobacco Company, which is a branch of the Imperial Tobacco Company of Canada. He was largely instrumental in establishing a permanent market for Canada leaf tobacco and promoting trade interests in his line between this and other lands. Something of the volume of business under his control is indicated in the fact that there are now three thousand workmen in his factories. No undertaking in connection with the tobacco trade seems too difficult or its scope too broad for him to successfully manage and control. Every effort which he puts forth seems to count for the utmost and obstacles and difficulties in his path seem but an impetus for renewed concentration and direction. His opinions carry weight in the management of other important financial, commercial and agricultural interests.
On the 12th of June, 1898, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Henrietta Myers, and they have one son. Mr. Davis belongs to the Royal Montreal Golf Club, and also holds membership in the Mount Royal, St. James, Montreal Hunt and Montreal Jockey Clubs, the Auto Club of Canada and the Forest and Stream Club, associations which indicate something of the nature of his interests and activities and which have brought about a well rounded character, justifying the expression of the Gazette, which termed him “a man of strength, vigor, capacity and wisdom.”
René Alphonse Joseph Pigeon, patent solicitor of Montreal, member of the firm of Pigeon, Pigeon & Davis, was born at Billingsbridge, near Ottawa, on the 11th of July, 1890. The ancestral line can be traced back to Pierre Pigeon, who was born in 1636 and was married in Montreal to Jeanne Godart, who was born in 1638. Their marriage occurred in 1662, twenty years after the foundation of Montreal. Representatives of succeeding generations have lived in or near Montreal, some going to Laprairie and others to Verchères. The father, Hormisdas Honoré Pigeon, was born at Verchères, in Verchères county, P. Q., and after having lived for some years in the United States removed to Ottawa, where he has now been engaged in business for more than thirty years. He married Marie Tremblay who was born at Baie St. Paul, Charlevoix county, and was married in 1889. The Tremblays were among the earliest settlers of that section.