A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1837. He is also a nephew of the late William Walker, advocate, of
1237 words | Chapter 114
Montreal, who defended the patriots in 1837, and who was a direct
descendant of the celebrated Walker who defended Derry during the ever
memorable siege. Another uncle was Peter Skene Ogden, who was at one
time in business with the celebrated John Jacob Astor, later becoming a
partner in the North-West Fur Company, which afterwards amalgamated with
the Hudson Bay Company, when he took the position of chief factor, and
had charge of Vancouver and Oregon, at the time of the cession of the
latter to the U.S. government, which was represented on the occasion of
the transfer by General Grant. The subject of this sketch was educated
at Lennoxville, P.Q., under the Rev. Mr. Doolittle, also at the high
school, Montreal, under the Rev. Mr. Simpson. He has been postmaster of
Three Rivers for many years; has also been in the telegraph and
insurance business, and was local agent of the Hon. Hudson Bay Company.
He was chiefly instrumental in building a fine rectory for the English
church clergyman at Three Rivers; he also erected a fine building which
was used by the telegraph and insurance companies, and as a post office,
but which is now used as a private residence, Sir Hector L. Langevin,
C.B., having induced the government to build a post office in Three
Rivers, which is an honor to the city. Mr. Ogden has never had any
connection with any secret or political societies, and he has always
been liberal and conservative in his views, without prejudice to any
one. He is a valued and consistent member of the Episcopal church. He
was married in 1865, to Rosina Meyer, daughter of William B. Meyer,
merchant, of Quebec, and niece of the Rev. Mr. Aldriche, rector of
Ipswich, England.
* * * * *
=Howard, Robert Palmer=, M.D., L.R.C.S.E., Montreal, was born in the
city of Montreal, on the 12th January, 1823. His parents, Robert Howard
and Margaret Kent, were natives of Ireland, and had settled in Montreal
some years before their son Robert was born—Mr. Howard carrying on
business as a merchant. The subject of this sketch was educated in
Montreal, and studied medicine in the McGill University and in Great
Britain and France. Returning from Europe in 1849, he practised his
profession in his native city as a “general practitioner” till the year
1880, when he gave up the practice of surgery and confined his
attendance to the work of the pure physician. He was appointed Professor
of Clinical Medicine in the McGill University in 1856, and on the death
of Dr. Holmes, in 1860, succeeded to the chair of Theory and Practice of
Medicine in the same institution, which position he still occupies. Two
years ago the degree of LL.D., _honoris causa_, was conferred upon him
by the University, in which he has been a professor for thirty-four
years, and dean of its medical faculty for six years. In the course of
his career he has held several of the offices indicative of professional
standing and responsibility. Dr. Howard has been president of the Canada
Medical Association; president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Quebec; and president of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Montreal.
He is one of the vice-presidents of the Association of American
Physicians. This year (1887), on the occasion of the celebration of the
Centennial Anniversary of the College of Physicians, of Philadelphia, he
was made Fellow of that distinguished body. For twenty-two years he was
one of the attending physicians and surgeons of the Montreal General
Hospital, and has been the secretary of that institution for
thirty-three years. For the greater part of his professional life in his
capacity as a member of the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of
his native province, he has endeavoured to elevate the standard of
medical education and requirements, and for several years laboured
earnestly, but unhappily in vain, with many of the leading physicians in
Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, to bring about a General
Medical Council for the Dominion of Canada. He is a member of the Church
of England, and has been twice married. First in 1855, to Mary Frances
Chipman, daughter of the late Judge Chipman, of Halifax, N.S., by whom
he had one son, R. J. B. Howard, M.A., F.R.C.S., Eng., who is associated
with his father in the practice of his profession, and is engaged in
teaching practical anatomy in McGill College. He married in 1872. His
second wife is Emily, daughter of the late Thomas Severs, of London,
England, and they have had two sons and two daughters born to them,
three of whom are living. A physician thus puts on record his estimation
of Dr. Howard’s position and work: “The life of a man of such unceasing
industry as Dr. Howard, may be considered from many aspects. As an
author he has contributed largely to medical literature during the past
thirty years. His studies on pneumonia, phthisis and on heart disease,
have made him a recognized authority in the profession. The work on
anæmia, which he prepared for the International Medical Congress in
1876, was one of the earliest and remains one of the most important
contributions to the subject. The elaborate articles on rheumatism and
allied affections published in the _System of Medicine_, by American
authors, 1885, are perhaps the most exhaustive in the English language.
The Canadian and American journals contain many lesser contributions
from his pen. As a teacher, Dr. Howard has been eminently successful.
For some years he held the position of Professor of Clinical Medicine in
McGill University, and in 1861, on the death of Dr. Holmes, was
transferred to the chair of medicine, which he still occupies.
Painstaking industry at the bed-side, a clear, logical mind, a forcible
and impressive delivery, combined to make Dr. Howard a model hospital
teacher, and his course of didactic lectures on medicine is the most
thorough and complete with which the writer is acquainted.” For years
Dr. Howard has been a zealous advocate of higher medical education, and
to his energy and perseverance is due the endowment of the McGill
medical faculty, as well as many other improvements. In the long
struggle to establish the Medical Board of the province of Quebec, on a
proper basis, Dr. Howard has been very active, and for many years has
been the prominent English representative. As a practitioner, Dr. Howard
has been exceptionally successful and for years he has been the leading
medical consultant in the Dominion. His reputation as a careful observer
and close student has gained for him the confidence of the profession in
an unusual degree. A kindly, sympathetic manner, scrupulous attention to
details and exceptional skill and judgment in the management of cases,
have combined to give the laity implicit trust in his opinion. Important
and enduring has been Dr. Howard’s influence upon the groups of students
which have come under his care and upon the men who have been fortunate
enough to be his _confrères_. Unselfish to a fault, keenly zealous for
the welfare of the profession, enthusiastic as a youth, he has—perhaps
unconsciously to himself—impressed all with whom he came in contact
with the earnestness of life, the nobility of work, and the dignity of
his calling.
* * * * *
=Pope, Edwin=, Superintendent of the Great North-Western Telegraph
Company, Quebec, was born at Kingston, Ontario, on the 14th of March,
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