JAMES ROSSJAMES ROSS
JAMES ROSS
His active operations in the field of railway construction included the building of the Credit Valley Railway in 1878-79 and upon its completion he was appointed general manager of the road and also filled the position of consulting engineer of the Ontario and Quebec Railway. In the spring of 1883 as general manager of construction, Mr. Ross began at Swift Current the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway over the Rockies, the Selkirks and the Gold Range, and early in November, 1885, this stretch of six hundred and twenty-three miles ending at Craig Ellachie, was completed more than a year ahead of time, creating a record for fast railway building on this continent and evoking from Sir William Van Horne the statement that such a record meant millions to the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was during the building of the road over the mountains that Mr. Ross might be said to have discovered and subsequently came into close touch with William Mackenzie, Donald Mann (both since knighted), Herbert S. Holt and several others who later on took a front place among the railway magnates and financial leaders of Canada. In 1886 Mr. Ross brought about the settlement of location of the Canadian Pacific east of Montreal and the legislative difficulties attending the entry of the road into the state of Maine. Upon completing his arduous and complex task he took the contract for the construction of the remaining portion of their line not already provided for. The extensions and improvements of the Canadian Pacific created difficult tasks of civil engineering which were ably performed by Mr. Ross who at the same time considered the question of railway construction in South America for which he had options. The railways of the southern continent were to be built in Argentine and Chile and the options in those two republics alone amounted to over twenty million dollars. Mr. Ross was also interested in important contracts in Chicago and elsewhere.
He established his home permanently in Montreal in 1888 and from this point supported his active professional interests, contracting and building the Regina and Long Lake Railways some two hundred and fifty miles in length. In 1889 he supervised the construction of the Calgary & Edmonton Railway, three hundred miles in length.
Having proven his capability in the field of steam railway construction Mr. Ross, in 1892, largely concentrated his energies upon problems of street railway building and in connection with Sir William Mackenzie purchased the Toronto Railway from the city of Toronto. He afterward rebuilt the tracks and installed electric power in the operation of the road. In 1892 he undertook the reorganization of the Montreal Street Railway, changing it from horse car to electric service. He was at the head of the syndicate that purchased the franchise from the old City Passenger Railway Company. In the same way he converted the street railways of Winnipeg and St. John, New Brunswick, into electric lines and in 1896 he joined Sir William Mackenzie in the purchase of the tramway systems of Birmingham, England, and organized the City of Birmingham Tramways Company for the operationof the road under an electric system. In the following year he secured a charter and franchise from the government of Jamaica to build electric tramways on the island.
The energy and enterprise of Mr. Ross seemed limitless. No matter how many and how important were the enterprises with which he was actively connected it seemed possible for him to take on others and become a factor in their successful control. He was one of the promoters of the Lake of the Woods Milling Company in 1887, chief promoter of the Columbia River Lumber Company in 1889 and of the Canadian Land and Investment Company in 1891. His opinions carried weight in the councils of various companies with which he was connected as a member of the board of directors, including the Bank of Montreal; Calgary and Edmonton Land Company, Limited; Canada Life Insurance Company; Canada Sugar Refining Company, Limited; Canadian General Electric Company, Limited; Laurentide Paper Company, Limited; Royal Trust Company; and Dominion Bridge Company and St. John Railway Company, of which two last named he was president.
Writing of his business career a local paper said: “One of the most interesting periods of Mr. Ross’s life was that of his prominent connection with the Dominion Coal and the Dominion Iron and Steel Companies, lasting for a period of upwards of ten years. At a comparatively early stage of the development of the coal and iron industries on the island of Cape Breton, Mr. Ross with his customary business astuteness, foresaw the possibilities of great development, and decided to invest a considerable amount of his capital there. He became the owner of a large block of shares in the coal company, and after the promotion of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company in 1901 he became a director. As it was obvious that the interests of the two concerns would, if steel turned out a success, be very much bound up, Mr. Ross increased his holdings in coal until, in the same year, the Steel Company was launched, his interest became paramount, and he was placed in the position of being able to dictate the policy of the company. Having retired from active participation in many of the interests which made his earlier career such a busy one, he determined to give his personal attention to the development of his Cape Breton interests and with that object in view he accepted the office of vice president of the Dominion Coal Company and managing director of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company in 1901.
“The succeeding years were destined to be full of business anxieties and lively contendings but his keen business ability and foresight brought him to the end of his active connection with the companies a much richer man than when he went in, despite the loss of the fight in the courts over the dispute about the terms of the contract for the supply of coal to the Steel Company, 1907-08.
“Besides this fight Mr. Ross conducted the affairs of the Coal Company through disastrous fires which seriously affected the output of the mines, and labor troubles one of which was of a protracted and costly nature. Throughout all the various negotiations which were almost continuously carried on between the two companies for years, Mr. Ross found his paramount interest was in the Coal Company although he was financially and executively interested in both, so that eventually he withdrew from the steelboard and gave his whole time to the Coal Company, becoming its president, a post he retained until December, 1909. In March, 1909, at the annual meeting of the Dominion Coal Company, Mr. Ross made an exhaustive statement concerning the relations of the two companies following the decision of the Privy Council in the preceding month, in which he justified the course taken by his company. He explained from the coal point of view, how the company had saved the Steel Company from bankruptcy at a critical time following the termination of the lease of the Coal Company to Steel in 1903 and the subsequent dispute which became acute in 1906 and reached the courts the following year. The final settlement of the terms of the judgment between the two companies and the eventual purchase of Mr. Ross’ interest in coal for four million, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which took place late in 1909 when he retired from the presidency and Coal was amalgamated with Steel, concluded the most interesting and strenuous period of his career.
“Although Mr. Ross had strong likes and dislikes he never hesitated to proclaim openly ability he saw in the make-up of a business opponent. A conversation during the progress of the Steel and Coal litigation brought out this characteristic to a marked degree. During that memorable conflict Mr. J. H. Plummer and Sir William Van Horne were perhaps more prominently in the firing line on the Steel side than any one else, while Mr. Ross for the Coal Company was the inner and outer defenses and commander-in-chief combined. He was asked one day while discussing the possibilities of Canadian Pacific Railway stock what would take place supposing anything happened to Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, whereupon Mr. Ross said: ‘This statement will surprise you, but Van Horne would have to go back,’ thus paying a high compliment to his chief adversary in the Steel-Coal conflict. The manner in which Mr. Ross came to the rescue of a very important brokerage firm, the head of which is now dead, the day following President Cleveland’s message on the Venezuelan situation was another indication, not only of his good heart, but general interest in the financial community. The market was in a bad way generally when the message to congress accentuated to such an extent the unrest and lack of confidence, that gilt-edged securities were without buyers, even at ruinous prices. The financier in question was desperately in need of funds and although his securities were of the best, the then general manager of the Bank of Montreal, who has also passed away, did not consider himself justified in making the advance. When James Ross heard of the affair he came forward and said: ‘We cannot afford to allow this man to go to the wall, for if he goes half of St. François Xavier Street will tumble with him. Give him a million, take his securities and charge the amount to my account.’ Another public-spirited director assumed half the responsibility and a very grave financial smash was averted.
“Mr. Ross was first president of the Mexican Light, Heat and Power Company and during his several visits to the Mexican capital was brought in contact with the then ruling spirits of the republic. He at once formed a very high opinion of the then president with whom Mr. Ross had several interesting interviews, touching the trade relations of Canada and Mexico, and with that never erring foresight he also stated to a friend on his return from the Mexican capital that if ever Diaz was forced to relinquish the helmof state, trouble would follow in the southern republic as it did not appear to the Montreal financier that there were enough of trained men around the then president to carry on successfully the affairs of that country, and the words of the former appear to have been prophetic.
“Although having a commanding interest in many other establishments and industries Mr. Ross used to say that the Bank of Montreal, the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Dominion Coal Company were nearest his heart. He was a director in the first named institution since 1899, the largest individual shareholder in the great national railway system and up to a few years ago the president and the holder of five million dollars stock in the last named corporation. Mr. James Ross succeeded the late Mr. Hugh McLennan and had been in consequence director of the Bank of Montreal for fourteen years. Speaking of the loss that institution sustained in the death of Mr. Ross, its vice president and general manager, Mr. H. V. Meredith, said: ‘We have lost an eminently strong man and a sound adviser,’ while Mr. R. B. Angus, the president, spoke of him as a very able director of the bank and a warm personal friend.”
About the time that Mr. Ross arrived in Canada the country was deeply engrossed in the discussion of free trade versus protection, and having seen the neighboring republic grow from an agricultural to a manufacturing community, and realizing what the same fiscal policy would do for Canada, he at once espoused the cause then championed by Sir John Macdonald and Sir Charles Tupper, both as regards the fiscal policy of the Dominion and their railway program as well. Mr. Ross was a moderate protectionist, believing that such a policy was mutually beneficial both to the manufacturer and consumer. He had seen such states as Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota and other agricultural sections of the Union vote for protection and often when apprehension was expressed over the probable outcome of a moderately protective tariff for the western provinces of Canada, Mr. Ross would reply that the establishment of eastern industries all over the west would soon convert the farmers of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan to protectionist ideas.
In 1872 Mr. Ross was united in marriage to Miss Annie Kerr, a daughter of the late John Kerr of Kingston, New York, and sheriff of Ulster county. They had one son, John Kenneth Levison Ross, who married Ethel A. Matthews, a daughter of W. D. Matthews of Toronto, and they have two children, James Kenneth and Hylda Annie. Mrs. James Ross is deeply interested in organizations for promoting aesthetic tastes and is active in support of benevolent and charitable projects. She is a director of the Society of Decorative Art, vice president of the English section of the woman’s branch of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society and is president of the Maternity Hospital of Montreal.
Flags at half mast on the Bank of Montreal and the Royal Trust Company, on September 20, 1913, gave official announcement to the financial and business community that Mr. James Ross, director of the institutions, had passed away. It is fitting in a review of his life that one take cognizance of his many good deeds. Aside from his prominent activity in railway and financial circles, he was a man of marked public spirit and benevolence. In 1902 he gave to Lindsay, Ontario, and the county of Victoria, the RossMemorial Hospital as a memorial to his parents. Two years later Alexandra Hospital of Montreal received from him a gift of twenty-five thousand dollars and in 1910 he gave an equal amount to the Montreal Art Association of which he had long been a member and of which he was at that time the president. His total benefactions to the Art Association amounted to over a quarter of a million. In his will he made the following public bequests: to the Royal Victoria Hospital, the General Hospital and the Maternity Hospital each fifty thousand dollars; to Alexandra Hospital twenty-five thousand dollars; to the Montreal Art Association and to McGill University each one hundred thousand dollars and to the Ross Memorial Hospital at Lindsay, Ontario, twenty-five thousand dollars. He also remembered many of his old friends and took special care that his servants and employes should be provided for.
Mr. Ross was identified with many public interests and ranked with loyal Canadians whose efforts have been effective forces in promoting general progress.
He was a governor of McGill University, of the Royal Victoria Hospital, of the Alexandra Hospital and of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane at Montreal. He was likewise a trustee of Bishop’s College at Lennoxville, P. Q., and in 1900 he was appointed honorary lieutenant colonel of the Duke of York’s Royal Canadian Hussars. He took an active interest in yachting and was the owner of the Glencairn, which won the Seawanhaka-Corinthian cup for half raters in American waters in 1896. He subsequently bought the late Joseph Pulitzer’s large steam yacht, Liberty, of one thousand six hundred fifty tons, which he renamed the Glencairn, and in which he spent much of his vacation time in the Mediterranean. It might be interesting to note here that both the small half rater and the large steam yacht were named in memory of the large full-rigged ship Glencairn, which was owned and commanded by his late father, Captain John Ross, of Cromarty. Mr. James Ross was for many years commodore of the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, and was honorary commodore for life, and was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Mr. Ross was well known in club circles, holding membership in the Mount Royal, St. James, Forest and Stream, Canada, Montreal Hunt, Montreal Jockey, Montreal Racquet and Montreal Curling Clubs of Montreal; Rideau Club of Ottawa; Manitoba Club of Winnipeg; Toronto Royal Canadian Yacht and York Clubs of Toronto; Union Club of St. John, New Brunswick; Halifax Club of Halifax, Nova Scotia; New York Yacht and Manhattan Clubs of New York; Royal C. B. Yacht Club of Sydney, Nova Scotia; and the Constitutional Club of London, England.
Following the demise of Mr. Ross the Gazette of September 22, 1913, said editorially:“The history of James Ross is to some extent the history of the financial and creative progress of Canada. He has been associated with many of our greatest enterprises and always in positions of prominence and leadership. In any list of citizens whose financial power must be reckoned with in predicting the course of supreme events in this country, the name of James Ross would have stood near the top. Many of his fellow citizens will think of him, however, as a generous and discriminating collector and exhibitor of art. At a time when Montreal had not many men who both appreciated and possessed the financial ability to purchase splendid specimens of the best art which the old world has produced, James Ross entered that field, and soon made his private collection one of the things of which Montrealers were proud. The public generally have had a chance to admire some of his treasures at Loan Exhibitions; and, in this fashion, the pleasure and benefit of his collection have been widely shared.”
Tributes of respect and regard were paid to Mr. Ross by people in every station in life. The high and the low, the rich and the poor did him honor. The following letter was received by his son, Mr. James K. L. Ross:
“The engineers on the S. and L. were much surprised and deeply grieved when we heard that your father had passed away. Our deepest sympathy goes out to you in your sad bereavement. We all feel that we have lost a good and true friend. No other man we have worked for gave our men the feeling of security in their position that he did. We always were satisfied that if we did what was right no other influence could hurt us or our families. When some of us were unfortunate enough to err in judgment and our error cost the company quite a lot, in the usual course of railways the officials had nothing to do but severely discipline us. Your father used his own position not to discipline our men but to give them a good man’s advice, which has helped our men and also the company which he then presided over. Acts like these are never forgotten by railway men and there were many sincere expressions of sorrow heard when the news of his death flashed over our road. They have also instructed us to convey to your sorrowing mother our deepest sympathy in her trying hour.
“On behalf of the S. and L. engineers, we are sincerely yours (Signed) D. W. Macdonald, chairman; Parker Holmes, secretary and treasurer; Hugh MacPherson, chief engineer.
“Glace Bay, Cape Breton, Canada, September 20, 1913.”
Another well merited tribute being from Principal Peterson of McGill University, who said:
“The other day we were greatly gratified to learn that a member of the board of governors, the late James Ross, had remembered McGill University in his will to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Ross was one of our friends. His connection with the administration of the university had given him many opportunities of appreciating the difficulty of carrying on an institution whose needs in the very nature of things, are always outrunning its resources; and his kindly thought of us has touched a chord in our hearts that vibrates with gratitude and appreciation.
“It is a melancholy pleasure to record also our indebtedness to Mr. Ross for much help and advice given as a member of the governing body of the university, especially in the department of mechanical engineering. Besides being a great and experienced engineer, he was a patron also of the arts and sciences. He took an active interest also in the well-being of our hospitals, and as they are in a sense university institutions, his bequests to the Royal Victoria and Maternity Hospitals may be cited here as additional reasons for gratitude. He was a man of high artistic culture, one who ‘loved that beauty should go beautifully.’ Mere splendor without taste would always have been repellent to him. Perhaps his best memorial, apart from the magnificent collection of pictures which he got together with such care and discrimination, and which was the joy and pride of his wide circle of friends, will be the beautiful building on Sherbrooke Street to which he has contributed so largely as the permanent home of the Art Association. Such men lend valuable aid in the way of enabling a community to realize some aspects of its higher self.”
Among the younger members of the well known and distinguished law firm of Brown, Montgomery & McMichael, advocates and barristers, is Walter R. L. Shanks. He was born March 20, 1886, at Millers Falls, Massachusetts. In 1908 he received from McGill University the Bachelor of Arts degree and in 1911 that of Bachelor of Civil Law. In July of that year he was admitted to the bar and has since been a member of the above firm. Mr. Shanks is a young lawyer of promise, and it may be said that his ability—or such ability as his opportunities have permitted him to demonstrate—entitles him to be included among those young men to whom the future holds out rich fields along professional lines. Mr. Shanks is socially popular and is a member of the University Club of Montreal and the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
George Alexander Brown, M. D., one of the best known physicians of Montreal, his powers developing through the exercise of effort, was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on the 28th of June, 1866. The Browns are one of the old families on that island and representatives of the name in different generations have been prominently identified with professional interests. The paternal grandfather of Dr. Brown was president of the Prince of Wales College, while the maternal grandfather was the leader of the government in Charlottetown for twenty-one years.
Reared in the place of his nativity, Dr. Brown pursued his early education in St. Peters Boys’ School and subsequently continued his studies in Kings College University at Windsor, Nova Scotia. The classical course which he there pursued constituted the foundation upon which he built the superstructure of professional learning. Entering McGill University, he won the degrees of M. D. and C. M. from that institution where he graduated with the class of 1889. During the succeeding year and a half he was resident physician of the Montreal General Hospital, thus putting his theoretical knowledge to the practical test and gaining that broad and valuable experience which only hospital practice can give. For more than twenty years Dr. Brown has successfully followed his profession in Montreal and in addition to an extensive private practice is acting as physician to the Montreal Dispensary and is in charge of the tubercular clinic. He hasbeen a close and constant student of his profession, interested in all that tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life and his own investigations and research have resulted in bringing to light some valuable truths.
In February, 1906, he submitted to the Montreal Medico-Chirurgical Society, a new treatment for consumption which he has used in his practice with great success. This consists of the injection into the human system of a solution principally of iodine and in April, 1912, he read before the International Tubercular Congress at Rome, Italy, a paper upon this treatment. He is a member of the Montreal Medical Society and keeps in close touch with the advanced work that is being done by fellow members of the profession through the perusal of medical journals and the latest contributions to medical literature as well as through his connection with medical societies.
Dr. Brown was united in marriage to Mrs. Elizabeth (Conroy) Muldoon of Watertown, who by her former marriage had two children, William and Ella. Dr. and Mrs. Brown have become the parents of two children, Elsie and Basil. They have a wide acquaintance socially and are connected with the Unitarian Society, while Dr. Brown is also a member of the University Club. Year by year has marked his steady progress in his profession, and today his position of prominence is accorded him by the consensus of opinion on the part of colleagues and contemporaries.
High on the keystone of Canada’s financial arch was inscribed the name of Sir Edward Clouston, of whom a leading journalist wrote: “He was one of the mainsprings of Canada’s progress.” Not only did he achieve notable results in his own career but was also the adviser and counsellor of many who have stood highest in the public life and activities of the Dominion, and thus a notable figure passed from the stage of earthly activities when he was called to his final rest on the 23d of November, 1912. He was then still in the prime of life, his birth having occurred at Moose Factory on James Bay, May 9, 1849, his parents being James Stewart and Margaret Clouston. The father, a native of Stromness, Orkney, Scotland, was a chief factor in the Hudson’s Bay service. The mother was the eldest daughter of Robert S. Miles, also prominently connected with the Hudson’s Bay Company. Sent to Montreal to continue his education, the son became a pupil in the high school, of which Aspinwall How was then head master. Subsequently he spent a year in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company and then returned to Montreal when a youth of sixteen to become junior clerk in the Bank of Montreal, entering that institution in 1865. This was the initial step in his successful career as one of Canada’s foremost financiers. In his twentieth year he was appointed accountant at Brockville and two years later was transferred to Hamilton in the same capacity. In 1874 he became assistant accountant at Montreal, was attached to the London, England, office and also to the New York office in 1875. Five years later he was made manager of the Montreal branch and in 1887 was promoted to the position of assistant general manager. In 1889 he became acting general manager and from 1890 was general manager, beingcalled to that position of grave and great responsibility when but forty-one years of age. Throughout the years of his connection with the bank he had ever in mind, not only the interest of the shareholders, but also the welfare of his subordinates, many of whom received from him unusual consideration and kindness. Sir Edward Clouston’s tenure of office in the Bank of Montreal was longer than that of any of his predecessors, the presidency during these years having been filled by Sir Donald Smith, afterward Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal; Sir George Drummond and Mr. R. B. Angus. In retiring from the general managership Sir Edward Clouston retained the vice presidency, which he had held since Sir George Drummond became president in 1906. In his official capacity as vice president he regularly attended the board meetings and never ceased to be in close touch with the important affairs and interests of the bank. The prominent place which he held in the regard of the leading financiers of the country is shown by the fact that he was again and again elected to the presidency of the Canadian Bankers Association. He was thus in constant touch with the financial world and his advice upon matters connected with it was frequently sought by the different finance ministers of the Dominion, for no man in Canada had a surer grasp of difficult financial problems, and his genius in this respect was an enormous asset to the great institution with which he was so long connected. His discernment was keen and his insight enabled him readily to recognize the possibilities and probable outcome of any business situation. The Montreal Herald spoke of him as “a man of few words, of unerring accuracy in his judgments and of a caution in business transactions which, while it protects the bank from loss, does not hinder its development.” The Montreal Witness said: “Sir Edward Clouston possesses in extraordinary degree that sixth sense of the banker—intuition as to character, rapid analysis of method, what is in a proposition from the first chapter to the last—in short knowing who and what to trust.” It was these qualities which made his cooperation sought in various directions and brought him prominently before the public in various important commercial and financial connections. He was vice president of the Royal Trust Company; a director of the Guarantee Company of North America, the Canadian Cottons, Limited, the Canada Sugar Refining Company, the Ogilvie Flour Mills Company, the Kaministikwia Power Company. He was chairman of the Canadian board of the Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance Company and the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. His cooperation and support extended to various other projects of a public or semi-public character, and at all times he manifested a deep interest in those projects relating to general progress and improvement or the betterment of social, intellectual, political and moral conditions. He was vice president of the Parks and Play Grounds Association and The Crematorium, Limited, was president of the Royal Victoria Hospital and a governor of the Montreal General, Montreal Maternity, Alexandra and Western Hospitals, the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, the Fraser Institute, the Montreal Dispensary, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and McGill University. In 1910 he was one of the principal promoters of the Typhoid Emergency Hospital and was a member of the executive committee of the local branch of St. John’s Ambulance Association. He was honorary treasurer of the King Edward VII Memorial Fund and of many other commemorative and charitable funds. He was a patron of art, and possessed many fine pictures himself, while the Montreal Art Association numbered himas one of its counselors as well as one of its generous benefactors. Sir Edward Clouston was also well known as a sportsman, taking an active interest in early life in football and lacrosse, and he was also a well known racquet player. He was captain of the Canadian team which played the Harvard University Football Club in 1875. He was president of the Montreal Racquet Club in 1888 and was appointed a trustee of the Minto challenge lacrosse cup in 1901. Sir Edward was ever willing to encourage the amateurs in sports, and in addition to those already mentioned he was a devotee of snowshoeing and fancy skating. In later years he became an enthusiastic yachtsman, motorist and golfer. He was also a clever swimmer himself and did a great deal to advance the sport in many ways. He was the donor of a trophy for competition among the members of the Royal Life Saving Station, which is being competed for annually, and many other such trophies were presented through his generosity. When the Rugby Club was organized as a branch of the Montreal Athletic Association he became an active executive officer. He was one of the trustees of the Stanley cup in the early days of its competition and acted as an official at many of the championships held under the auspices of the Amateur Skating Association of Canada.
SIR EDWARD S. CLOUSTONSIR EDWARD S. CLOUSTON
SIR EDWARD S. CLOUSTON
In November, 1878, Sir Edward Clouston married Annie, youngest daughter of George Easton, collector of Her Majesty’s customs at Brockville, Ontario. Lady Clouston, who survives him, keeps up the beautiful and historic estate at St. Annes, known as Bois Briant, which was the pride and delight of Sir Edward’s later years, and she also maintains the home at No. 362 Peel Street in Montreal, known so long as the city residence of the general manager of the Bank of Montreal. This was Sir Edward’s favorite title. President and vice president appealed to him but little; it was as an administrator that he won and held his fame. He was mentioned as successor to Lord Strathcona as high commissioner for Canada in Great Britain in 1909. The previous year he had been created a baronet and in 1911 he was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England. He was one of the best known club men of Canada, belonging to Mount Royal Club; St. James Club; Auto and Aero Club; Forest and Stream Club; M. A. A. A.; Montreal Hunt Club; Montreal Jockey Club; Royal Montreal Golf Club; Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club; St. George Snowshoe Club; Toronto Club and York Club, Toronto; Rideau Club, Ottawa; Manhattan Club, New York; and Bath Club and River Thames Yacht Club, London, England.
In a review of his life history many points stand out prominently. Within a quarter of a century he rose from an humble position in the bank to that of general manager and remained vice president until his demise. He was the recognized leader of finance, whose counsel was sought and valued in connection with the greatest undertakings. His business genius and public spirit went hand in hand and each constituted factors in the progress and upbuilding of Canada and in the development and promotion of the country’s interests. His influence was far-reaching and effective as a force in national prosperity and greatness.
One who knew Sir Edward best summed up his character in the following article, which appeared in the journal of the Canadian Bankers Association after his death:“In life Sir Edward Clouston was a man of few words and I have felt that silence is my most fitting tribute to his memory. He was not an ostentatious man; he employed neither press agents nor stage managers. Many of his generous actions are known only to the writer of these lines; many others are known only to his Maker.”
Philibert Baudouin, who has been a representative of the notarial profession since 1858, although for some years his attention was given to finance, was born at Repentigny, Quebec, April 27, 1836. He is a descendant in the direct line of Jean Baudouin, who was here bartering with the Indians as early as 1656, fourteen years after Montreal was founded by de Maisonneuve. In a fight with the Iroquois in 1660, when he killed one of their chieftains, Jean Baudouin was taken and led as a prisoner to the enemy’s country, whence he returned eighteen months afterward, having in the meantime learned the Iroquois language. A short time subsequent to his return he married and soon settled in the parish of Pointe-aux-Trembles, where he died peacefully. He had lost his eldest son in an ambush laid by the same astute foes in 1690. One of his sons, François, took a farm from the Seignior on L’Assomption river in 1699, near the present site of Charlemagne, and a few years afterward, in 1716, purchased the homestead on the north bank of the river St. Lawrence, in the parish and Seigniory of Repentigny, where he went to live and there spent his remaining days. This homestead remained in the family for almost two centuries, passing from father to son for four generations. François Baudouin left it to his son Pierre, who married three times and left it to his son Raymond. Raymond was drowned and his widow made a gift of it to their son Pierre. From this last Pierre Baudouin it went to Zoel Baudouin, one of his sons, whose daughter and only heir, Mrs. Edmond Robillard, of St. Paul l’Hermite, sold it to its present owner, Mr. Dechamp.
Philibert Baudouin is a son of Pierre and Marguerite (Etu) Baudouin, the latter, like her husband, belonging to one of the old families established in this province in the seventeenth century. The mother’s name was then written Estur, which has since been wrongly changed to Hetu. The family name Baudouin should be so spelled instead of Beaudoin, as so often met with at the present time. It is derived from two Saxon words, bald and win, and was latinized by the early chroniclers, becoming Balduinus, which was later translated into French as Baudouin but remained Baldwin in English. The first one who settled in Montreal very properly signed his name Jean Baudouin, as may be seen on the old records in the clerk’s office, and in France it is still written in the same way. Besides being a progressive farmer Pierre Baudouin was a church warden and a captain in the militia.
Philibert Baudouin was educated at L’Assomption College, in the town of L’Assomption, where he pursued a full classical course, completed in 1854. He then prepared for the notarial profession, to which he was admitted in 1858. In 1860 he settled for practice in the town of Iberville and after nearly fifteen years devoted to the profession he turned his attention to finance, devoting his energies and activities thereto until 1893, when he removed to Montreal and resumed the practice of the notarial profession. He has now passed the seventy-eighthmilestone on life’s journey, but is still an active man. From 1862 until 1873 he was county clerk, clerk of the circuit court for the county of Iberville and town clerk of Iberville, his decade of public service being characterized by the utmost fidelity to duty. His financial activities covered nearly twenty years as bank manager in St. Johns, Quebec.
On the 22d of August, 1864, in St. Johns, Mr. Baudouin was married to Miss Caroline A. Marchand, a daughter of Louis Marchand, deputy protonotary at St. Johns, and of Delphine Phineas. Mrs. Baudouin belongs to the old Marchand family which settled in St. Johns in the early part of the nineteenth century. There were three brothers, François, Gabriel and Louis, the second being the father of the Hon. F. G. Marchand, late premier of the province of Quebec. Her mother was a daughter of Isaac Phineas, for a long time agent at Maskinonge, of Seignior Pothier’s estate, and who was an intimate friend of the Hart family of Three Rivers. Seven sons and two daughters have been born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Baudouin, Philibert, Annette, Gustave, Rodolphe, Joseph, Jean, Charles, Louise and Oscar. The elder daughter became the wife of Dr. J. C. Tasse, of Worcester, Massachusetts. Gustave married Augustine Hardy, of Quebec. Joseph wedded Julie Caty, of Montreal. Jean married Alice Hamilton, of Montreal. Oscar married Hilda Julien, of Montreal. Louise is the wife of Alfred Masson, of Valleyfield, a grandson of Dr. L. H. Masson, who took a leading part in the troublous times of 1837-38.
Mr. Baudouin is a supporter of the old conservative party, but has never taken a leading part in the political contests, especially so in his advanced years, when he recognizes the fact that political leaders too often are using their power for their own preferment instead of the public good.
In every community there are men of broad charity and intelligent public spirit, of high integrity and sincerity of purpose and of resourceful business ability who are marked as leaders in development. Worthy of being classed with men of this character is Joseph Adelard Descarries, one of the eminent members of the Montreal bar and a man whose name figures in connection with the legislative history of the province as well as in the court records. Mr. Descarries is a representative of one of the oldest families of the province and one whose members have been identified with its growth and development since the earlier periods of settlement. He was born at St. Timothee, in the county of Beauharnois, Quebec, November 7, 1853, the youngest son of the late Pierre and Elizabeth (Gougeau) Descarries.
Having mastered the branches of learning taught in the public schools of his native village, Joseph A. Descarries afterward attended Montreal College, McGill University and Laval University, graduating from the latter in 1879, with the degree of LL. L. He studied law under Hon. Sir Alexander Lacoste and was called to the bar in 1879, at which time he began practice as an advocate. He was created a king’s counsellor by the Earl of Derby in 1893 and for more than a third of a century he has been continuously and successfully engaged in lawpractice in Montreal, where he has been accorded an extensive and distinctively representative clientage.
JOSEPH A. DESCARRIESJOSEPH A. DESCARRIES
JOSEPH A. DESCARRIES
His public work, too, has been of an important character and has indicated his loyalty to the highest standards of government. For nine consecutive years he was mayor of Lachine, giving to the city a businesslike and progressive administration. In 1892 he was elected for Jacques Cartier county to the legislative assembly, but resigned in 1896, in which year he unsuccessfully contested a seat in the house of commons. Since that time he has taken no active part in politics aside from exercising his right of franchise and standing stanchly in support of principles and measures in which he believes. He is now president of the Lachine Conservative Club and is also president of the St. Jean Baptiste Society of Lachine.
Mr. Descarries is the largest private owner of real estate in Lachine, his holdings including some of the finest residential properties surrounding Montreal. Some years ago he purchased a tract of land eleven acres in width from the Allan family, comprising a most attractive piece of property, which he developed and thus added greatly to the upbuilding of the district. He is the owner of one hundred and fifty-two houses, erecting all of them save one, and in their building substantiality has always been a feature. Unlike the usual structure built merely to sell, Mr. Descarries has aimed at the creation of an estate the ultimate value of which cannot help but become immense. As an illustration of the change in realty values, caused by improvements and transformation of surroundings, it may be cited that Mr. Descarries some years ago purchased a tract of land of four hundred acres, on which the taxes were at that time approximately eighty dollars, while today for less than one-third of this land which he owns the taxes are more than three thousand dollars. It would be difficult to estimate the value to a community of operations of this character. Mr. Descarries has taken an active part in the upbuilding of industrial interests, and his influence has been an important factor in securing for Lachine a number of valuable industries, all of which have materially contributed to growth and development for the city, enabling it to take a prominent rank among Montreal’s suburban cities. Among his other business connections Mr. Descarries is president of the Wealthy Mines Company, Limited, and a director of Les Champs d’Or Rigaud Vaudreuil.
In 1881 Mr. Descarries was married, at Chateauguay, Quebec, to Miss Marie Celina Elmire, a daughter of A. N. Le Pailleur, a notary public of Lachine. The marriage ceremony was performed by Monseigneur Charles Edward Fabre, archbishop of Montreal. Mrs. Descarries is a graduate of Mount St. Marie Convent and is a lady of superior intelligence and high qualities of mind. Their children are as follows. Joseph A. P., who was graduated from McGill University, specializing in chemistry, founded the Lachine Gas Company, of which he is now the head. He married Miss Oliva Forgues, of Outremont, a graduate of St. Anne’s Convent at Lachine. They have two children, Olivette and Marcelle. Theophile N., who was graduated from Laval University, is an advocate, associated with his father under the firm name of Descarries & Descarries. He married Miss Marie Anne Huot, a daughter of Dr. G. Huot, of Beauharnois, and they have one child, Anne Marie. Aimee, a graduate of St. Anne’s Convent of Lachine, is a young lady of unusual artistic taste and skill. Herwork as a painter on china shows exceptional merit and includes some of the finest specimens of this decorative art exhibited by Canadian artists. Adelard, a graduate of Mount St. Louis College, is now a student at l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes. Marie Rose will graduate from St. Anne’s Convent of Lachine in the class of 1914. Auguste, a student at St. Mary’s College, is a young man of unusual talent and promise, whose ability as an organist is well known.
Mr. Descarries’ pleasure and recreation have always been greatly augmented when in the company of his family, whose entertainment, like their rearing and education, has never been neglected. Estimating highly the value of education, he has extended to his children exceptional opportunities for intellectual development and they constitute a family that would be a distinct credit to any parentage. Both Mr. and Mrs. Descarries have always maintained a companionship with their children and have been so close to their interests, thoughts, purposes and plans that there has been little need for that parental discipline which is often a too pronounced feature in households. Confidence and mutual understanding have been the basis of the family relation, rendering this a most attractive household. The religious belief of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church, and Mr. Descarries has for several years been president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He is also a member of the Club Lafontaine, the Lachine Snowshoe Club and the Auto and Aero Club of Montreal.
No history of Mr. Descarries would be complete without mention of the fact that he is a very public-spirited man, liberal and generous in his support of any movement for the public good and ever ready to lend his assistance to such movements as will contribute to the advancement of the city, province and Dominion. He has been a very successful business man, not only as regards the accumulation of property but as well in the high esteem in which he is held. He has all the elements of a man in whom to have confidence, dependable in any relation and in any emergency. His quietude of deportment, his easy dignity, combined with an innate courtesy and politeness, all contribute to a strong personality. The splendid use he has made of his time, talents and opportunities has equipped him for the important and valuable work he has been doing and which has given decided impetus to the city’s progress and improvement, upholding as well its legal, political and moral status.
Capability and loyalty are the essential attributes of the man who would fill the office of chief inspector of industrial establishments and public buildings and properly perform the arduous and responsible duties thereby devolving upon him. Such a man is found in Louis Guyon, who has closely studied the subject of construction and all that relates to accidents which may occur in building operations. He is a native of the state of New York, having been born at Sandy Hill, Washington county. Boyhood, however, found him located in Montreal where he pursued his education, taking special courses in preparation for a commercial career. Almost throughout his entire life he has been in the public service. In April, 1888, he was appointed factory inspector and made a mostcapable official. He studied in every available way in order to know what should be required of factory owners and operators and just how far their responsibility extended in the protection of employes. He traveled widely in order to promote his knowledge of that character and he was a delegate to the Paris convention on accidents in 1889 and again in 1900. His qualifications were so thoroughly recognized that he was made chief inspector of industrial establishments and public buildings in January, 1901, and has since occupied this position, covering a period of thirteen years, his entire course being one which commends him to the continued confidence and support of the public. As inspector he has studied not only to find where fault may lie in the erection of buildings or in the care of employes, but has also studied the best methods of safeguarding the workers and in 1903 he founded the museum of appliances for the prevention of accidents. His reputation for efficiency in his special field continued to grow and in 1910 he was made president of the International Convention of Inspectors of Factories. No one is more deeply interested in this important work or realizes more fully the obligations which devolve upon the employer in his connection with his employes, and his work has constituted a campaign of education whereby the public has come to know what are the needs and demands of the hour and how best to meet them.
George Hadrill, secretary of the Montreal Board of Trade, is one whose opinions concerning business conditions are largely accepted as standard, because of his broad experience and his thorough study of matters effecting trade relations of the country. For more than a quarter of a century he has occupied his present position and has been called into conference in many trade councils. He was born in London, England, August 2, 1848, a son of George and Elizabeth (Bushell) Hadrill. His education was acquired in the metropolis, and he spent the earlier years of his business life in that city, arriving in Canada in 1874, when a young man of twenty-six years. Three years were devoted to business pursuits before he joined the staff of the Montreal Board of Trade in 1877. His fitness for the position is evidenced in the fact that by 1880 he had been promoted to the position of assistant secretary. Six years passed and in 1886 he was made secretary, so that he has now acted in that capacity for twenty-eight years. The occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his acceptance of the position was fittingly celebrated, and a cabinet of silverware was presented him by the Montreal Board of Trade.
His position as secretary brings him into close contact with business affairs and trade organizations throughout the world. He has been a delegate to several imperial trade congresses, the last being held in Sydney, Australia. By invitation he was a delegate to Newfoundland to assist in the formation of a board of trade there in 1909. He was presented in 1903 with a testimonial from British delegates to the imperial trade congress at Montreal in acknowledgement of courtesies and services rendered by him. In 1905 he was elected an honorary member of the International Board of Foreign Trade and was made honorary secretaryof the King Edward memorial committee of Montreal in 1911. His position has brought him into close connection with many important civic and municipal projects with which the Board of Trade has been intimately associated.
In 1891 Mr. Hadrill married Emmeline Lilian, the daughter of J. Albert Copland of Chelmsford, England. Mrs. Hadrill died in December, 1902. Mr. Hadrill has been a director of St. George’s Society of Montreal and is an Anglican in religious faith. The Montreal Herald has written of him that he is “a man of great natural abilities as a statistician and accountant.” “He possesses unusual qualifications for his office, which calls for a display of diplomacy, tact and social qualities as well as for purely business ability,” writes another paper, and this opinion is corroborated by all who have come in contact with him. While thoroughly systematic and methodical in managing the duties of his position, he has at the same time that ready resourcefulness which enables him to meet an emergency and secure from it the best possible results.
The tales of heroic conduct in times of war will always arouse the enthusiasm and call forth the praise of those who hear them, but heroism is by no means confined to the men who wear their nation’s uniform and march to the sound of the bugle. It has been manifest where there were none to witness and none to record the story and with nothing but an individual sense of duty for its inspiration. The world thrilled with the story of the heroism of the men, who, in the silence of the night, gave women and children over to the care of the few who manned the lifeboats and quietly awaited death on the decks of the steamship Titanic when it sank on its maiden trip across the Atlantic, April 15, 1912. Included in the great toll of human lives exacted by this catastrophe, was that of Charles Melville Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railways and one of the foremost railroad magnates of his generation. His was the master mind in the development of the Grand Trunk Pacific and his work for the Grand Trunk Railway has become a part of the history of the Dominion. One of the elements of his success was that he was always essentially and strictly a railroad man, never dissipating his energies over too broad a field but concentrating his efforts along that single line of activity.
A native of Rock Island, Illinois, Mr. Hays was born in 1856, and was but a child when his parents removed to St. Louis, Missouri, in which city he was reared and received his educational training. He was but a boy of seventeen when he started out in life on his own account as a clerk in the passenger department of the Atlantic & Pacific Railway. From that time on his advancement was continuous and rapid, solely the result of his thoroughness, efficiency and genuine merit. After a year he was transferred to the auditor’s department and later was called to a position in the office of the general superintendent, where his aptitude, enterprise and initiative were soon recognized. From 1878 until 1884 he was secretary to the general manager of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and in the latter year was offeredand accepted the position of secretary to the general manager of the Wabash & St. Louis Pacific Railway Company.