A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1818. Her mother, Mary Magdalen McKay, was born at St. Cuthbert, Quebec,
2746 words | Chapter 124
about 1790, was married at Sorel, September 23rd, 1805, and died at St.
Melanie, September 25th, 1817. Angus McKay, one of his mother’s
grandparents, was of extraordinary physical strength, married Magdalen
Fauteux, at Sorel, August 19th, 1789. The subject of this sketch was
educated at L’Assomption College, Quebec, studied law at Drummondville,
and was admitted to the bar at Three Rivers, in February, 1865. He was
captain and paymaster of No. 1 Joliette Provisional Battalion, from 1872
to 1875. He was secretary-treasurer of the Municipal Council and School
Commissioners of Grantham, Windover and Simpson, from 1862 to 1866; town
councillor of Joliette from 1872 to 1875; and is now one of the school
commissioners of Joliette. He is a shareholder in the St. Jacques
Brewery; a shareholder and secretary of the Joliette Lumber Co.; was
editor and proprietor, in conjunction with his late brother, (L. Arthur
McConville) of the newspaper _L’Industrie_ in 1872-73; and is now
shareholder in _L’Imprimerie de la Gazette de Joliette_. In politics he
is a Conservative, and was the defeated candidate at the Dominion
general election in 1882, contested the election, but was again defeated
at the new election in the fall of the same year. In 1885, he was,
however, more successful, being elected a member of the Quebec
legislature in September, but was again defeated at the election in
October, 1886. In July and August, 1883, he made a foreign tour,
visiting in the course of his travels, Londonderry, Dungannon,
Portadown, Newry, Drogheda, with the Boyne battle-field, and Dublin, in
Ireland; Liverpool, Leicester and London, in England; and Boulogne,
Amiens, Paris, Rouen and Dieppe, in France. In religion, he is a Roman
Catholic. He was married at Berthier, Que., May 12th, 1874, to Annie
Magdalen Kittson, daughter of the late Alexander Kittson, merchant, and
Sophie Desantels, born in Berthier, October 12th, 1842, and a niece of
Commodore Norman Kittson, of St. Paul’s, Minnesota.
* * * * *
=Dunn, Timothy Hibbard=, Quebec, is one of the veterans of the Quebec
timber trade, and certainly one of the most conspicuous and best
respected citizens of the ancient capital, with whose history and
commerce he has been closely identified for nearly half a century. He is
of Scotch descent, but thoroughly Canadian in sentiment. He was born,
like his father (the late Charles Dunn) before him, at Ste. Ursule, near
Three Rivers, in the year 1816, and received his education in the common
school of his native place. He was early initiated into acquaintanceship
with the staple industry of the country, the lumber trade, and in 1841
entered as a clerk in the Quebec office of the great timber firm of
Calvin, Cook & Counter, of Kingston, Ontario. Four years later he was
admitted to the position of a partner of this house, and was entrusted
with the management of the extensive business of its Quebec branch,
which was thenceforward carried on under the name of Dunn, Calvin & Co.
After the dissolution of the firm in 1850 or thereabouts, Mr. Dunn,
whose ability and success had won general confidence and respect,
associated himself with the late Thomas Benson, and, in partnership with
that gentleman under the name of T. H. Dunn & Co., continued the
business at Quebec. Two years later, Mr. Benson went out, and down to
1860 Mr. Dunn remained the sole head of the house, which ranked among
the foremost of the Quebec market in making advances to timber
manufacturers in the west, and doing business on commission, especially
in hardwoods. About 1860 he formed a new partnership with the late
William Home, of Quebec, under the name of Dunn & Home, and, among other
important ventures of this firm, was the successful building of one of
the most difficult sections of the Intercolonial Railway below Quebec.
In 1872, the firm of Dunn & Home was dissolved, Mr. Home going out, Mr.
Dunn then retired from active business on his well-earned wealth and
honors, and his two sons, Logie and Stewart Dunn, assumed control of the
old house under the name of Dunn Bros. In 1877 W. A. Griffith, of
Quebec, was added to the firm, when its name was changed to Dunn,
Griffith & Co. In 1884, Mr. Griffith retired, and ever since the firm
has been Dunn & Co. In its fortunes, the subject of our sketch still
continues to take a keen paternal interest, notwithstanding his
seventy-one years, with unimpaired physical and mental vigor, which is
an object of envy to many of his juniors. He can yet be seen any day on
“Change,” and no figure is better known on St. Peter street, where the
business men of Quebec most do congregate. He is one of the last
remaining representatives of the old school who were identified with the
ancient capital in its palmier days, and a type of a class of men who,
unhappily for its present prosperity, have nearly all passed away.
Strange to say, notwithstanding his extensive mercantile connections,
Mr. Dunn never crossed the Atlantic, but he has travelled a good deal in
North America, and especially in the West. In 1845 he married Margaret
Turner, of Sorel, a niece of the late Captain Charles Armstrong, and a
cousin of the present ex-chief justice of the Windward Islands, Hon.
James Armstrong, now of Sorel, and by her had issue nine children, four
sons and five daughters. As already stated, two of the former have
succeeded him in the business at Quebec. The other two have boldly
struck out in a new field and are now successful farmers in Manitoba.
Mr. Dunn has been a widower for the last fourteen years, his wife having
died in 1874. He is a member of the Church of England, and has always
taken a hearty interest in its affairs. He was one of the founders of
St. Mary’s Church and parsonage on the Island of Orleans, where his
beautiful summer retreat, “Island Home,” is an object of admiration to
every visitor and to the passengers in every vessel passing up and down
the St. Lawrence from the harbor of Quebec. In politics he is a
Conservative, but has never taken an active part in public affairs,
though frequently pressed by his fellow-citizens to do so. He was,
however, for many years a conspicuous member of the Quebec Board of
Trade and its Council, and a director of the Quebec Bank. He was also a
delegate to the first railroad convention held in Boston in 1851. In his
younger days he held a commission as captain in the militia, and served
under the late Colonel Boucher, of Maskinonge, P.Q. Throughout all the
relations of life, Mr. Dunn has been an exemplary citizen, and his long
and successful career is only another illustration of the triumph of
well-applied industry and honorable dealing with his fellow men.
* * * * *
=Steadman, James=, Fredericton, N.B., Judge of the County Court for the
Counties of York, Sunbury and Queen’s in the province of New Brunswick,
was born at Moncton, in the county of Westmoreland, N.B., on the 27th
March, 1818. His father was William Steadman, who was born in
Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, but settled in Moncton about the first of this
century. He married in 1803, Hannah Trites, also of Moncton. Judge
Steadman was educated at Moncton. He studied law in the office of the
present Judge Botsford, of Westmoreland county, and was admitted an
attorney in the month of February, 1844. For the next twenty-four years
he practised law at Moncton and then, in the year 1866, removed to the
city of Fredericton, where he has continued to reside up to the present
time. He was elected to the Provincial legislature in 1854, and, being a
prominent man, in May 1860, was sworn in as a member of the Executive
Council and Postmaster General of New Brunswick. These offices he held
until April, 1865. Judge Steadman, thus has seen the last days of
parliamentary life in his native province, days which produced such men
as the late Governor L. A. Wilmot, the late Judge Fisher, the late Sir
Albert L. Smith, Sir Leonard Tilley, Judges King and Palmer, and many
others whose eloquence enlivened the political campaigns and the
sessions of the legislature for many years. Between the years 1836 and
1845 the battle of Responsible Government was fought out in New
Brunswick. Those were stormy times in all of the provinces of British
North America. The visit of Earl Durham to the Canadas, and his famous
report upon the lines of which all the later political movements in the
provinces have proceeded, gave an extraordinary impetus to the popular
wish for a larger measure of political power. In all of the English
speaking provinces the Reform party were steadily and fiercely opposed
by small governing bodies variously known as “family compacts,” “council
of xii,” and other suggestive appellations. Another stormy period in
which Judge Steadman was himself a prominent figure, was the era just
preceding the Confederation in 1867. As we have said, during these years
he was a member of the Executive and Postmaster General. Party spirit
ran very high in New Brunswick, and the first time that the question of
Confederation was submitted to the people it was lost. In Nova Scotia
the people were never asked to sanction the measure until the British
North America Act had been passed and the union was consummated. After
twenty years the question is still keenly debated in both of the leading
Maritime provinces. Judge Steadman is connected with the Baptist
denomination. He has for many years been a strong temperance man, having
joined the order of Sons of Temperance in March, 1848. In 1865 he was
elected Grand Worthy Patriarch, and still maintains his connection with
this leading order. In June, 1887, he was appointed judge of the County
Court. Judge Steadman has seen his native town of Moncton from the
smallest beginning expand into a city of 9000 inhabitants, and become
the headquarters of the Intercolonial Railway, with streets lighted by
electricity, daily newspapers, an extensive and increasing trade, and
all the signs of outward and moral improvement.
* * * * *
=Macdonald, Lawrence George=, Q.C., St. John’s, province of Quebec, was
born at Chateauguay, Que., on July 30th 1831. His parents were born at
Fort Howe, N.B. His father, James Macdonald, was a second son of the
late Adjutant and Quarter-master, William Macdonald, late of the 104th
Regiment of the line, and his mother Eliza Holland, a daughter of
Captain E. Holland of the same regiment. Captain Holland served in Egypt
and saw the great Napoleon while a prisoner at Elba. Adj. Macdonald took
an active part in the war of 1812-14. Mr. James Macdonald was a merchant
for many years in Chateauguay, and was actively engaged on the Loyalist
side during the rebellion of 1837-38. The subject of this sketch
commenced his studies under the Rev. Dr. Black, of Laprairie, afterwards
attending two private schools, and finally taking a full classical
course at the High School, Montreal. While studying law he continued to
take private lessons from the Rev. David Robertson, chaplain to the
forces in Canada. After leaving school he studied law in the office of
Meredith, Bethune and Dunkin, of Montreal, and four years later was
admitted to the bar in December, 1852. In 1854 he removed to St. John’s,
where he has since resided. He was appointed a Queen’s counsel under the
Joly government in March, 1878, which appointment was afterwards
confirmed by the Dominion government. Mr. Macdonald has taken an active
part in military affairs, obtaining a first-class certificate on May
12th, 1865, when he was appointed cornet in the St. John’s troop of
cavalry, and was sent to the front during the Fenian raids. He was Crown
prosecutor for several years in the Court of Queen’s Bench, St. John’s,
district of Iberville. At present he is a director of the Richelieu
Bridge Co. He is a member of the Episcopalian church, and in politics is
a Conservative. He was married at St. John’s, in August, 1856, to Louise
Gertrude, second daughter of the late Deputy Commissary-General Lister.
Mr. and Mrs. Macdonald have one daughter, who is married to Dr. Robert
Howard, of St. John’s, and who has issue four children.
* * * * *
=McCaffrey, Charles=, Lumber Merchant and Steam Saw Mill Proprietor,
Nicolet, province of Quebec, was born at Drummondville, county of
Drummond, Quebec. He is the son of Hugh McCaffrey and Rose McEvay. His
father, Hugh McCaffrey, served as a soldier In the 27th British Regiment
of the line, obtained his discharge at Chambly, and located, together
with a number of other discharged soldiers, at Drummondville. The late
Colonel Harriette procured lands for them to settle upon, and also
obtained supplies from the government for them until they were able to
build homes and clear sufficient land to enable them to supply
themselves with the necessaries of life. During the time the government
furnished the provisions, the commissariat stores were under the charge
of Hugh McCaffrey, who was authorized to distribute the provisions to
all those entitled to receive the same. The great majority of the new
settlers, not being inured to farming life, or clearing the bush land
given them by the government, sold out their claims for a nominal sum,
and left for other parts. Hugh McCaffrey, however, settled down in his
new home, and commenced getting out lumber, which he supplied to Colonel
Harriette, who owned a saw mill near by, and his son Charles, the
subject of this sketch, has continued in the lumbering business for the
past forty years, with fair success. Apart from the regular annual
output of sawed lumber, he has shipped hundreds of thousands of tamarac
railway ties to Whitehall and Plattsburgh, N.Y., for the Delaware and
Hudson Canal Co., and has contracted with the same company to supply a
large number during the present season. He received his education partly
in the common schools and partly at the hands of private tutors, high
schools being at that time few and far between. In politics, he is a
Conservative, and wields considerable influence in his locality. He has
often been requested to allow himself to be put in nomination for both
the Federal and Provincial parliaments, and in municipal and town
councils, but has steadily refused to do so, or to accept any public
office. He has travelled through several of the States, both east and
west, also through the upper and lower provinces in connection with his
lumber business. In religion he is a Roman Catholic. He was married in
1860, to Ann McLeod, a native of Campbelltown, N.B., who is of Scotch
origin, and Presbyterian in religion. Mr. McCaffrey has resided in
Nicolet for twenty-five years, and is much respected by the residents.
* * * * *
=Seymour, James=, Collector of Inland Revenue, St. Catharines, was born
in Limerick, Ireland, in 1824, came to Halifax with his father four
years later, and died in St. Catharines on the 9th of January, 1888. Mr.
Seymour spent his boyhood in the maritime provinces, and after leaving
school learned the business of printer. He then came west and worked in
several offices, among others the Toronto _Globe_ and the Hamilton
_Spectator_. In 1856 he purchased from Mr. Giles the St. Catharines
_Constitution_, an influential weekly newspaper, which he continued to
publish until he received the appointment of collector of inland
revenue, and this office he held until the day of his death. In 1851 he
joined St. George’s Masonic lodge, and very soon, through his
faithfulness and zeal, became to be looked upon as one of the main
pillars of the order. In 1871 he was elected Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge of Canada, and this position he filled during the term of his
election with great credit. He was a member of the Scottish Rite, and a
P.G.M.G. of Royal and Oriental Freemasonry 33-96°⁂90°. He was buried
with Masonic honors.
* * * * *
=Tims, Frank Dillon=, Deputy Provincial Auditor of the Province of
Quebec, is a prominent figure in official life at Quebec, and few
members of the Civil Service enjoy a larger share of the public respect.
He is the youngest son of the late William and Catherine Dillon Tims,
and was born in Oldcastle, county Meath, Ireland, on 26th December,
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