A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1826. His father was John Emmerson, who at an early age came from
5325 words | Chapter 112
England with his parents to Charlottetown, P.E.I., and his mother, Maria
Tozer, of Miramichi, N.B. Both were members of the Baptist church in the
latter place. In his boyhood Mr. Emmerson manifested a very marked taste
for reading and study, with an acute perception and tenacious memory.
The exercise of his mind on the subject of religion may be dated back to
his earliest recollections. “From a child” he, like Timothy, “knew the
Scriptures,” hence the readiness and fluency which always characterised
him when quoting from the sacred volume. He first received the ordinary
education obtainable at the common schools, thence attended the Baptist
seminary—a high school or academy, in Fredericton, N.B.—after which he
sought the greater facilities for education to be found at Acadia
College, Wolfville, N.S., in order to be the better qualified for the
work to which he felt himself called, namely, that of the ministry. In
1848 the Baptist church at Maugerville, one of the oldest settlements in
New Brunswick, invited Mr. Emmerson to preach to them. He continued
there two years. When at college his natural abilities were observed,
and while pursuing his studies he frequently preached at Windsor, N.S.,
and elsewhere, by request. During this period he wrote a number of
articles for the press, which attracted public attention. On the 29th of
July, 1852, he was regularly set apart to the work of the ministry, and
accepted the pastoral charge of the church at Maugerville, Sunbury
county, N.B. At this time he was nearly twenty-six years of age. On the
10th of August, 1852, he married Augusta A. Read, eldest daughter of
Joseph Read, senior member of the firm of Joseph Read & Co., of Minudie,
N.S., and Boston, Mass. From July, 1852, to August, 1856, he retained
the pastoral charge of the church in Maugerville. The records of that
church show how ably and prosperously he filled that important office.
During this period he read much, circulated a large amount of religious
and intellectual reading, wrote for the public press, travelled
extensively in the United States, kept up private and professional
studies, and performed the arduous duties of the pastor, enjoying
frequent revivals which involved a great amount of labor. In the spring
of 1855 Mr. Emmerson made an extensive tour in the United States. While
there he attended the general meeting of the American Bible Union, held
at Chicago in May of that year. His letters to the _Christian Visitor_
(the organ of the Baptists in New Brunswick), descriptive of the places
he visited, gave evidence of great powers of observation, and an ability
to take up the incidents and scenes of his travels and make them of
interest to others. He vastly enjoyed his intercourse there with Dr.
Cone, Dr. Wyckoff, and others then eminent in the Baptist denomination
in the United States. Possessing a magnetism of manner, he made many
warm friends there, and was strongly urged by them to make the United
States his home. They believed that his remarkable ability as an
extempore speaker rendered him peculiarly fitted for the pastorate of
one of their city churches, where extempore preaching was then in
demand. On his return home he received a call from a church in
Cleveland, Ohio, but his strong attachment to home and the provinces
prevented his acceptance. Subsequent overtures from churches in New York
and Boston were refused for like reasons. In November of the same year
Mr. Emmerson visited the Southern States. While there he was solicited
to take charge of a church in Richmond, Va., but declined. In the
columns of the _Christian Visitor_ of that day are to be found many
contributions from his pen. On the failure of Mrs. Emmerson’s health, he
was compelled to leave Maugerville; and having received a call from the
First Baptist Church of Moncton, N.B., he accepted it, and removed there
on the 1st of September, 1856. Here was the scene of his last and most
prominent labors. Moncton had then suddenly arisen to a place of
importance among New Brunswick towns, on account of the railway
operations, which had then just commenced, and of the shipbuilding
industry, which then flourished there. The result was a large influx of
people, which gave a wider scope and greater prominence to Mr.
Emmerson’s labors. The church soon rose under his ministry, and their
house of worship was found to be altogether too small. A large and
expensive building was accordingly commenced, and was finished after his
death. He only lived about a year after moving to Moncton, during which
time very many were added to the church. What promised to be a useful
and brilliant career was too soon ended. He died on the 11th of
September, 1857, at the early age of thirty years and eleven months. His
death was sudden, being caused by typhoid fever. In the mysterious
providence of God he was, in the prime of manhood, in the full vigor of
his ministry, and in the midst of a wide field of usefulness, called to
his eternal rest. Mr. Emmerson will long be remembered as an eloquent
speaker, an original thinker, and an earnest and exemplary worker in the
cause of his Master. It was much regretted by his friends that his
sermons were not prepared for publication, which would have been done
had he lived longer. Mr. Emmerson left a widow and three children—two
sons and a daughter—all of whom are now living. The sons, H. R.
Emmerson and F. W. Emmerson, are barristers of the Supreme Court of New
Brunswick in active practice; and the daughter is Emma Emmerson
Atkinson, wife of H. Atkinson, of Moncton, N.B., barrister-at-law. Mrs.
Atkinson is a prominent member and worker of the Woman’s Christian
Temperance Union of New Brunswick.
* * * * *
=Brown, Henry Braithwaite=, Q.C., LL.M., Sherbrooke, Que., was born on
7th October, 1845, at Chichester, county of Sussex, England. His parents
were Rev. Thomas Brown, M.A., prebendary of Chichester Cathedral, who
died in October, 1878, and Jane Lewis Brown, _née_ Goodyear. The subject
of this sketch was educated at the prebendal school, and received an
excellent classical education. In 1867 he left England and settled in
Sherbrooke, his first position being that of principal of the Sherbrooke
Academy. In 1886 he was elected _bâtonnier_ of the bar for St. Francis
district, and is now a delegate to the general council of the bar. He is
also president of the Stanstead and Sherbrooke Mutual Fire Insurance
Co., city attorney of Sherbrooke, and one of the trustees of Compton
Ladies’ College. In politics he is a consistent Conservative, and in
religion a staunch adherent of the Church of England. In 1872 he was
married, at Quebec, to Charlotte Mary Holwell Bligh, a daughter of the
late John Bligh of the Ordnance department of the War office at Quebec.
He was admitted to the bar in December, 1871, received the degree of
LL.M. from the University of Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, in 1883, and
was appointed Q.C. in 1886.
* * * * *
=Carbray, Felix=, Quebec, is the senior member of the well known firm of
Carbray, Routh & Co., commission merchants, of Quebec and Montreal, and
not only holds a good position in Quebec commercial society, which he
has won by his business ability and energy, but fills a considerable
space in the eyes of the Irish Catholic population of the ancient
capital, whom he represented in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, from
1881 to 1886. As may be surmised, Mr. Carbray, though a native of
Canada, is of Irish extraction. Both of his parents were from the county
Tyrone, Ireland, and his father, the late Niall Carbray, who was a
farmer, occupied for many years the historic Holland farm, near the city
of Quebec, where the subject of this sketch was born on the 23rd
December, 1835. His mother’s maiden name was Catherine Connolly. He was
also educated at Quebec, where he has resided throughout his life,
though he has travelled extensively in America and Europe, principally
on business connected with the trade in lumber, in which his house is
engaged. He was one of the pioneers of the lumber trade between the St.
Lawrence and South America, and is still largely interested in it. In
addition to his other duties, he fills the important position of consul
of Portugal at the port of Quebec. A Roman Catholic in religion, Mr.
Carbray has been honored by the St. Patrick’s congregation of Quebec
with election and re-election as one of the trustees of their church,
and is also a trustee of that noble Irish Catholic charity, the St.
Bridget’s Asylum, of Quebec. He has taken an equally active and leading
part in all the local national movements of his fellow-countrymen, and
has been president of the St. Patrick’s Literary Institute, the Irish
National Association, and other Irish bodies in Quebec. He is a
Liberal-Conservative in politics, and at the provincial general
elections in 1881, yielding to the solicitations of his friends, he ran
as the party candidate for the electoral division of Quebec West and,
after a hard fight, was elected by a good majority to represent that
constituency in the Legislative Assembly in the province. His
parliamentary career was very creditable. Though he did not often
address the House, he was always listened to with the utmost respect,
being an equally good speaker and debater in both English and French,
and never wasting his powder except on serious and interesting subjects
with which he was most conversant, such especially as questions of
finance and commerce. In fact, so marked a figure was he in this respect
in the legislature from 1881 to 1886, that rumor frequently connected
his name with a cabinet office, and there is little doubt that had he
continued in public life and his party been re-elected to power at the
general elections of 1886, he would have sooner or later, entered the
provincial ministry. During the last session of his term, he was the
mover in the Legislative Assembly of the resolutions adopted by that
body in favor of granting Home Rule to Ireland, and expressing sympathy
with Mr. Gladstone in his efforts to solve the Irish problem peacefully,
without dismembering the Empire. At the general elections on the 14th
October, he again ran as the Liberal-Conservative candidate for Quebec
West, and, though political feeling in the province ran high at the
time, owing to the Riel agitation, was only defeated by the slender
majority of eight votes, owing largely to over confidence on the part of
his friends. Since then, Mr. Carbray has devoted himself exclusively to
the management of the large and growing business of his firm. In May,
1854, he married Margaret, daughter of William Carberry, who emigrated
to Quebec from Carrick-on-Suir, Waterford, Ireland, in 1847.
* * * * *
=Emmerson, Henry Robert=, LL.B., Dorchester, N.B., was born at
Maugerville, in the county of Sunbury, province of New Brunswick, on the
25th day of September, 1853. He is a son of the Rev. Robert Henry
Emmerson, Baptist clergyman, and Augusta Read Emmerson, his wife. His
grandfather, John Emmerson, came from England, and engaged in the lumber
business at Miramichi, N.B. At the time of the great fire there, in
1825, he lost much property, and came near losing his life. His
grandfather, on the mother’s side, was Joseph Read, of Minudie, N.S., of
the firm of Joseph Read & Co., of Minudie, N.S., and Boston, Mass. Mr.
Read was one of the pioneers in the grindstone business between the
provinces and the United States, and owned large and valuable quarries
in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick at the time of his death. Our subject
received a high school education at the following places:—St. Joseph’s
College, Memramcook, N.B.; Amherst Academy, Amherst, N.S.; Mount Allison
Academy, Sackville, N.B.; Boston English High School, Boston, Mass.;
Horton Collegiate Academy, Wolfville, N.S., and attended lectures at
Acadia College, Wolfville, N.S., for two years, pursuing a partial
course, devoting his time principally to English, Latin, French,
mathematics, and the natural sciences. In the year 1871 he went to
Boston and attended a commercial college, and obtained a position in the
office of the firm founded by his grandfather, and afterwards was given
the position of bookkeeper. He continued in this position until 1874;,
when he came to Dorchester, N.B., to pursue the study of the law in his
native province, in the office of the then Hon. Albert J. Smith
(afterwards Sir Albert J. Smith). Mr. Smith having given up his
professional practice on account of his public duties as minister of
marine and fisheries, he entered, in Michaelmas term, 1874, as a
student-at-law in the office of Albert J. Hickman, barrister, who had
succeeded to Mr. Smith’s law practice. He read law with Mr. Hickman
until 1876, when he attended the Boston University Law School, in
Boston, Mass. He graduated in June, 1877, with the degree of LL.B., and
in Michaelmas term, 1877, was admitted an attorney of the Supreme Court
of New Brunswick. At the Law School he had the honor to carry off the
prize from the members of the graduating class of that year for the best
essay on “The Legal Condition of Married Women.” This prize, offered by
the faculty of the Law School, was $50. In November, 1877, he entered
into a legal copartnership with Mr. Hickman, in whose office he had
studied. The firm of Hickman & Emmerson continued with success until the
death of Mr. Hickman, in March, 1879, when Mr. Emmerson associated with
Mr. Burton S. Read, under the firm name of Emmerson & Read. In 1882 Mr.
Read retired from the practice of the law, and our subject continued
alone until 1886, when the firm of Emmerson, Chandler & Chapman,
consisting of William B. Chandler, LL.B., W. H. Chapman and himself, was
formed. In 1883, on the death of Sir Albert J. Smith, K.C.M.G., Mr.
Emmerson became the managing executor of his estate, under his will. He
has been closely identified with the Westmoreland county Liberal
Association for years, taking an active part in the affairs of the party
in the county and province. Was one of the owners of the _Daily
Transcript_, a Liberal newspaper, published at Moncton, N.B., until
1887, when it was purchased by Mr. Hawke. In the general election of
1887 he was selected by the Liberal party of Westmoreland to contest
that county in the Liberal interest against Mr. Josiah Wood, the
Conservative M.P. for that county, and who had defeated Sir Albert J.
Smith in the contest of 1882. He was defeated by about the same majority
that Mr. Wood had over the late Sir Albert Smith. The Liberal party in
this contest pledged itself to run the election within the letter and
spirit of the law relating to bribery and corruption, and the resolution
was most rigidly observed. The Liberals claimed that their opponents did
not observe any such rule. Mr. Emmerson has travelled over a portion of
the eastern and middle States, and Canada. In religious belief Mr.
Emmerson adheres to the faith of his father and mother, who were
Baptists. In June, 1878, he married Emily C. Record, only daughter of C.
B. Record, iron founder, of Moncton, N.B. Mr. Record was one of the
first to establish an iron foundry in New Brunswick outside of St. John.
Besides his practice as counsel in court, etc., our subject has a large
practice in estate business. He is executor under the will of Thomas
Keillor, late of Dorchester, whose estate is large. That, with Sir
Albert Smith’s estate and other estates, demand much of his time.
Notwithstanding his busy life, Mr. Emmerson has devoted considerable of
his time to public affairs, having taken the field in every political
contest since 1878. He is a speaker of marked ability, possessing a
magnetism rarely found in the public speakers of the present day. He has
also taken a deep interest in emigration matters, having instituted or
inaugurated an emigration scheme from the kingdom of Denmark to the
county of Westmoreland, N.B., the scheme being under the direct
management of his firm. There is now being circulated in Denmark a
pamphlet prepared by them, having for its object the encouragement of a
good class of emigrants to occupy the new and unoccupied farms of that
magnificent county. The expense attending upon this scheme is borne
entirely by Mr. Emmerson and his firm. In his professional career Mr.
Emmerson has been, during the past seven years, connected with almost
every one of the important suits tried in Westmoreland and Albert
counties. The case of _ex parte_ Rand, a case arising out of the Scott
Act election of 1884, involving the question as to what “scrutiny of
votes” meant, was one of the important cases in which he was engaged,
having been employed by the Westmoreland Prohibitory Alliance to look
after their interests therein. Upon the advice of himself and
Attorney-General Blair, the case was appealed to the Supreme Court of
Canada, with success. In November, 1887, Mr. W. H. Chapman, one of his
partners, having been appointed clerk of the county court of
Westmoreland, retired from the firm, which is now Emmerson & Chandler,
with offices at Dorchester and Moncton, in Westmoreland county. Mr.
Emmerson’s talent as a public speaker has led him to be frequently
called upon to lecture, which he occasionally does at places within the
county. He is largely connected with the public enterprises of the
county, and takes an active interest in the manufacturing, shipping, and
other industrial institutions therein. With Mr. W. F. George, of
Sackville, he has been at the back of the woollen manufacturing
establishment at Port Elgin, N.B. Mr. Emmerson is solicitor for the
Merchants’ Bank of Halifax, Dorchester and Moncton, and from 1882 until
1886, when he resigned, was agent of the Bank at Dorchester, not doing
routine work, but having a supervision over and responsibility for the
work. He is a director of the Maritime Baptist Publishing Company, the
company managing and publishing _The Messenger and Visitor_, the organ
of the Baptists in the maritime provinces. Our subject is a Liberal in
English and Canadian politics, a great admirer of Gladstone and of
Edward Blake. He is a strong advocate of free and unrestricted trade
with the United States, and would break down all customs barriers. His
commercial experience in Boston was to earn money to pursue his law
studies, and also to give himself an insight into business affairs, as a
help in his profession. Mr. Emmerson has three children, the eldest
seven years of age.
* * * * *
=Nolin, Charles=, Sheriff of St. John’s, Quebec, was born May 18th,
1819, in St. Athanase county, and district of Iberville. His father was
Ambroise Nolin, Isle D’Orleans, Quebec, later of St. Luc, district of
Iberville, a farmer by occupation, who married Margaret Morin, of St.
Luc. Ambroise died at St. Athanase, in 1867, while his wife lived until
1882, in which year she succumbed at a ripe old age. Our subject
received a good commercial education at the school of his native parish,
commencing business on his own account as general merchant, at St.
John’s, in 1846. This business he carried on successfully for fourteen
years, and by strict business integrity, together with economical
habits, was enabled to retire from active business pursuits. On the 16th
of May, 1863, he was appointed high constable of St. John’s, which
position he held until 1865, when he resigned to accept the office of
deputy-sheriff, which was then tendered him; receiving his present
appointment as high sheriff on the 17th of November, 1873. Sheriff Nolin
married, in 1846, Clorinthe, daughter of J. Duquet, of Chateauguay,
merchant, and whose son, Joseph, was one of the “patriots” of 1837, who
were executed along with Cardinal, in Montreal, in 1838. Sheriff Nolin
has had issue eleven children, seven of whom are now living, one of his
sons being Professor Alphonse Nolin, who occupies the classical chair in
the Ottawa College. C. A. G. Nolin, the eldest son, is now a merchant of
some standing in Washington territory, U.S. Joseph, another son, is a
dentist, practising at Ottawa. Of his daughters, Marie Louise married L.
A. Trudeau, a dentist, of St. John’s; Marie Elmire Clorinthe married
Joseph Hector La Rocque, druggist, of the same place, and Maria Eudolie
married J. E. Z. Bouchard, advocate, St. John’s, and now holding the
position as French translator to the government of Quebec; the youngest
daughter, Rosalinda, not married, lives at home. In the troublous times
of 1837-8, Mr. Nolin took part in the rebellion of that period, and was
taken prisoner; he, however, being more fortunate than many of his
comrades, was discharged. Sheriff Nolan is an adherent of the Roman
Catholic faith, and an ardent supporter of the church and faith of his
forefathers. Though now well advanced in years, he is yet full of vigor,
and delights in recounting the more stirring events of his rather
eventful life.
* * * * *
=MacKinnon, Tristiam A.=, General Superintendent of the Ontario and
Atlantic Division of the Canadian Pacific Railway, has his office in
Montreal. Mr. Mackinnon belongs to that hardy, virtuous and thrifty
stock of Scotch-Irish, who, to the best qualities of the race from which
they sprang, have added something of the impetuosity, quick-wittedness
and capacity for adapting themselves to new situations, which
distinguish the Hibernian Celt. It is a stock that has been ably
represented in North America. Both in the United States and Canada, a
considerable proportion of the most prominent citizens in all walks of
public and private life have been proud to belong to it: President
Buchanan, Motley, the historian; the ill-fated Montgomery, the scene of
whose death is one of the points of interest to the stranger visiting
Quebec; the Workman family of Toronto and Montreal, the late Sir Francis
Hincks, Bishop Charles Hamilton and his brother, the Hon. John Hamilton,
and others that will, doubtless, at once occur to the reader, men as are
by birth or descent, members of the same vigorous and progressive race.
Mr. MacKinnon was born in Ireland, on the 7th of August, 1844. He did
not enter the railway service at so early a stage in his career as some
of his colleagues who have, like himself, risen to distinction. He had
attained the years of mature manhood when, in December, 1868, he was
offered and accepted the position of clerk and time-keeper in the
Passumpsic Railroad shops at Lynderville, Vermont. His merit was quickly
recognized. In 1871 he became superintendent’s clerk and acting
superintendent on the same line, and remained in that twofold capacity
in connection with the road until August, 1873, when he was made
superintendent of the Brockville and Ottawa and Canada Central Railways.
In October, 1880, he received the appointment of assistant general
manager of the South Eastern Railway, in which position he acquitted
himself with such satisfaction to the company and the public that it was
deemed to the advantage of both to give him entire charge of the
administration. Finally, on the transfer of the South Eastern Railway to
the Canadian Pacific company, he was appointed (1st October, 1886),
general superintendent of the Ontario and Atlantic division of that
great line, and no person, directly or indirectly connected with the
road, has had reason to regret his promotion.
* * * * *
=Smith, William=, M.P. for South Ontario, Columbus, Ontario, was born in
the township of East Whitby, November 16th, 1847, is the son of William
Smith and Elizabeth Laing, his wife, natives of Morayshire, Scotland. He
was educated at the public school, Columbus, and Upper Canada College,
Toronto. He was a lieutenant in the 6th company (Brooklin), 34th
battalion V. M. I. for a number of years. He has been a trustee of
Columbus public school since 1869; was president of the South Ontario
Agricultural Society in 1881; deputy reeve of the township of East
Whitby from 1878 to end of 1882; reeve from 1883 to end of 1886; and is
now vice-president of the Clydesdale Association of Canada. He belongs
to the I.O.O.F., having joined November 11th, 1887. He has always taken
an active part in both municipal and political affairs, and was defeated
for the House of Commons in June, 1882, by fifty, but was successful at
the last general election in 1887. In politics he is a Conservative; in
religion a Presbyterian. He was married May 25th, 1880, to Helen Burns,
daughter of the late James Burns, farmer, of the township of East
Whitby. Mr. Smith is a farmer, and has lived on the same farm since his
birth. He takes a great interest in Clydesdale horses, Durham cattle,
and Cotswold sheep.
* * * * *
=Power, Hon. Lawrence Geoffrey=, LL.B., was born in Halifax, N.S., on
the 9th of August, 1841. His father, the late Mr. Patrick Power, was a
prominent figure in Nova Scotia politics and represented the county of
Halifax in the House of Commons from 1867 to 1878, with the exception of
the period between the general elections of 1872 and 1874. The subject
of this sketch began his school life at a day school taught in the
basement of St. Patrick’s church, at Halifax, by an old gentleman named
McDonald. This teacher having removed to an Acadian village called
Chezzetcooke, some twenty-four miles from the city, his pupil, then
eight years old, followed him, and remained under his care for about
nine months longer. Shortly after his return to Halifax he became a
pupil in St. Mary’s College, where he remained for some seven years.
Amongst his teachers during this time were the Very Rev. Monsignor
Power, lately deceased; the Rev. Canon Woods, now of Rockingham, Halifax
county; and the Rev. Joseph P. Roles, now a prominent personage in the
diocese of Chicago. Leaving Halifax in the Cunard steamer _Europa_, in
February, 1858, after short visits to London and some other English
cities, he entered St. Patrick’s Lay College, Carlow, Ireland, in the
middle of March. At the midsummer examination he took a good place; and
at the close of the next scholastic year, in July, 1859, the subject of
this sketch, with three others, went over to England and passed the
matriculation examination of the University of London. Two of the four
candidates, hailing respectively from Australia and India, were placed
in the second division, while a representative of Ireland and Mr. Power
succeeded in getting into the first. It was a somewhat curious
circumstance that one comparatively small Irish college should have sent
to the same examination, in London, four candidates, each representing a
separate continent. In October, 1859, Mr. Power matriculated at the
Catholic University of Ireland, and became an inmate of St. Patrick’s
House, Stephen’s Green, Dublin. Here he was a regular attendant at the
various lectures for students of his year, and passed the various
terminal examinations creditably. The long vacation of 1860 was spent in
France, and the ensuing scholastic year was devoted chiefly to
continuous and earnest study. At the close of the year he took the
degree of Scholar at the Catholic University, and was placed first in
each of the five classes in which he underwent terminal examinations. At
the conclusion of the Dublin examinations, Mr. Power went to London,
underwent the first B.A. examination in the University, and was placed
in the first division. He was also one of six successful candidates at
an examination for honors in Latin, held subsequently. While in Dublin,
Mr. Power was an active member and secretary of the Debating and
Literary Society conducted by the students of the University; and in
July, 1861, was the winner of a silver medal awarded for the best
English essay on a given historical subject. In a debate which had taken
place some time before, he could find only one member who agreed with
him in advocating the right of the Southern States to secede from the
American Union. In the month of October, 1861, he returned to Halifax,
and entered his father’s employ with a view of qualifying himself for
the business of a merchant. A few months’ experience satisfied him that
his vocation was not to mercantile life, and in the fall of 1862 he
began the study of the law as an articled clerk in the office of J. W. &
J. N. Ritchie. In the beginning of September, 1864, he became a student
at the Law School of Harvard College, where he received the degree of
Bachelor of Laws in January, 1866. Although not a hard student, he
attended the lectures of the professors of that day—Joel Parker, Emory
Washburn, and Theophilus Parsons—very regularly, and was generally
present at the meetings of the Law School Parliament, which met
fortnightly during term time. His first speech in this parliament was
shortly after his entering the Law School, when he stood up alone to
defend England against bitter attacks made upon her for the way in which
she discharged her duties as a neutral during the civil war in the
United States. As showing the American love of free speech, it may be
added that he spoke without interruption, and was applauded when he
closed. Among his class-mates at the Law School were Mr. Fairchild, now
secretary of the United States treasury, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, jr.,
at present a judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. Returning home
in January, 1866, he completed his course of legal study, and was
admitted to the bar in December of the same year. Since that time he has
continued to practise law in his native city. From an early day he took
a warm interest in politics, and before being admitted, wrote several
articles for the Halifax _Chronicle_ against the proposed confederation
of the British North American provinces. During several months after his
admission, he was a frequent editorial contributor to the _Chronicle_
and the _Citizen_. In 1867, and again in 1871 and 1875, he was elected
clerk assistant and clerk of bills to the House of Assembly of Nova
Scotia. In this capacity it was his lot to draw up several important
bills, including the Nova Scotia Medical Act, and the act defining the
powers and privileges of the Provincial Legislature. In 1869 he was
appointed a commissioner of schools for the city of Halifax, an office
which he filled for ten years. In 1870 he was elected an alderman for
ward Three, and served the usual term of three years. In 1874 he
re-entered the city council, where he remained until October, 1877. In
1873 and 1874 he took an active part in the preparation of the Fourth
Series of the Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia, and, in 1876, was
associated with the present minister of justice in the preparation of a
volume containing the laws and ordinances relating to the city of
Halifax. In the beginning of February, 1877, he was called to the Senate
to fill the vacancy caused by the non-attendance of Sir Edward Kenny.
This appointment Mr. Power had at first declined, but after further
consideration, decided to accept. The seat in the Senate was indirectly
the result of a letter over the signature, “An Ultramontane,” published
in the Toronto _Globe_, in March, 1876. This letter, which dealt with
the hostile attitude assumed by the then Bishop of Montreal (Monseigneur
Bourget), and some other Catholic prelates and clergymen, to the Liberal
party, attracted at the time of its publication much attention. Probably
his most important literary work since that time is “A Plea for the
Senate,” a defence of the House of which he is a member, contained in
two letters to the Toronto _Globe_, published in January and February,
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