A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1842. His father was Alexander Shields, a farmer from Fifeshire,
5821 words | Chapter 129
Scotland, and mother, Margaret West. They came to Canada in 1854, and
settled in the township of Markham, afterwards removing to the township
of the Gore of Toronto. The subject of this sketch commenced his
education at Edinburgh, and afterwards attended the Collegiate
Institute, Toronto, graduating with prize honours. He then passed a
regular examination which enabled him to take a position as head master
of a school in the township of Toronto, which occupation he continued at
for two years. He then successfully passed the civil service and excise
examination, taking a clerkship with John Morrow, who now holds the
position of inspector of Inland Revenue, Toronto. At the time excise
duty was put on petroleum he was sent to Petrolia and Sarnia by the
Dominion government to organize the staff for the Inland Revenue
department. After getting this branch of the service in active
operation, he resigned in 1872 and commenced the production of oil by
sinking a large number of wells on his own account. After a very short
time he became one of the largest Canadian oil operators, continuing in
this business a number of years. During this time his fellow operators
and the citizens generally having seen that his administrative talent
would be of great service to the town of Petrolia, they elected him in
1875 to the office of reeve, he being the youngest member ever elected
to the county council. This was his first experience in politics, and
from that time forth he took an active part in the interests of the
Liberal-Conservative party by fighting in that Reform stronghold the
Hon. Alexander Mackenzie and his brothers. From oil he gradually began
the formation of railway companies, and was largely interested with the
late F. C. Cline, in promoting and building the Kingston and Pembroke
Railway. About this time, while still reeve of Petrolia, he organized
the Erie and Lake Huron Railway, which was afterwards carried out to a
successful issue in 1876. He removed again to the city of Toronto, since
which time he has been actively engaged in building railways, canals,
bridges and other large works of a public character, among which may be
mentioned that most difficult engineering undertaking of the Canadian
Pacific Railway between Lake Superior and the city of Winnipeg. This
part of the line was considered the most inaccessible part of the road
between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He and his _confrère_ finished
this difficult task one year before the allotted time, much to the
surprise of the government, the officials of the board, and the public
generally. This unheard of result showed to great advantage his ability
in controlling a large body of men. After finishing the line, he
operated the same for traffic purposes for a year, and inaugurated the
first through train service, when it was taken over by the company.
During this time he saw the opportunity and necessity for a large
business in the lumber trade, in which he, with his usual enterprise, at
once embarked, and built the first saw-mill and the first house in
Brandon, Manitoba. He also built several other extensive saw-mills in
various parts of the province. In 1886-7 he rebuilt and enlarged the
Welland Canal, and also built a considerable portion of the St.
Catharines and Niagara Central Railway, being the sole contractor for
that line. In 1887 he commenced to build the Harvard bridge, between the
cities of Boston and Cambridge. This bridge will have twenty-six spans,
will be over half a mile long, and when completed will doubtless reflect
great credit on Mr. Shields as a builder, justifying the confidence his
American cousins have placed in him. He also owns and develops large
granite quarries on the coast of Maine, particularly at Deer Isle. Mr.
Shields is a consistent member of the Church of England, and was first
married on the 8th of October, 1870, to Essie Annis Smiley, of St.
Catharines, who died on the 20th July, 1881, at Rat Portage, leaving
four children to mourn her loss, two sons and two daughters. Mr. Shields
afterwards married a second time Matilda Esther Gould, at Rochester,
N.Y., on the 5th of November, 1884.
* * * * *
=Hale, Hon. John.=—The late Hon. John Hale belonged to an ancient and
distinguished family, and was a descendant of Nicholas de Hales, of
Hales Place, one of whose sons, Sir Robert, treasurer of England, prior
of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, temp. Edward III., 1381, was
killed by the insurgents in Wat. Tyler’s insurrection; and of Thomas
Hale, who, in 1400, held Codicote, the family seat in Hertfordshire,
England, as per inscription in the old mansion there, which was pulled
down and rebuilt in 1774; and of Richard Hale, of King’s Walden and
Stagenhoe, in Hertfordshire, temp. Elizabeth, 1567 and 1588. His father,
General John Hale, came to Canada with General Wolfe in 1758, and as
colonel commanded the 47th Regiment at the memorable battle on the
Plains of Abraham, September 13th, 1759, and was the one chosen by
Wolfe, during his dying moments, to carry home the despatches. We give
an extract from _The Literary Gazette_, London, December 11th, 1847:—
For a change of subject we proceed to an original notice of an
eminent native of Cleveland, General Hale, a companion of Wolfe
at Quebec, from the pen of an affectionate daughter, the eldest
representative of the family, which can hardly fail to be
interesting to readers:—
“My father, General Hale, was born in 1728. Being intended for
the bar, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, but becoming
associated with his brother Bernard, then in the Guards, he
finally determined to follow the profession of arms. He obtained
a commission in the 47th Regiment (then called Lascelles), and
in 1752 was ordered to join in the disastrous struggle in
America. The war with France in 1755 caused the attack, in 1758,
on Louisbourg and Cape Breton, which were taken by the army
under Wolfe. In the spring of 1759 Wolf attacked Quebec, whilst
Amherst attacked Montreal, and the battle of September 13th,
1759, decided the fall of the province. My father commanded the
47th on that day. I have heard him state that he remonstrated
with Wolfe for wearing a new uniform, as he thereby became
conspicuous to the Indian marksmen. My father was dispatched
home in the _Lowestoke_ frigate, with the news of that glorious
battle and the death of that brave commander, in the arms of
victory. For that Service he was rewarded with the sum of £500,
and an order to raise the 17th Light Dragoons, which regiment he
resigned on being appointed governor of Londonderry and Culmore
forts. (This regiment he raised at his own expense.) He married,
in 1764, on his return from the Havanna (where he went as
military secretary to Lord Albemarle, and received prize money
to the amount of £10,000), Mary, second daughter of William
Chaloner, Esq. Her dower was the estate of Tockett’s Hall,
afterwards called ‘Plantation,’ about a mile north-east of
Gisborough, where was an ancient house to which the General
added largely and made it his residence.”
Mrs. Hale was sister of Anne, Countess of Harewood, and was one of the
celebrated beauties of the day, her portrait having been painted by Sir
Joshua Reynolds as “Euphrosyne.” This life-size painting now forms the
centre picture in the gallery of the Earl of Harewood. The portrait of
her husband, the general, also painted by Sir Joshua, is now in the
possession of his great-grandson, Edward John Hale, of Quebec.
“Mrs. Hale died in 1803, and General Hale in 1806, and both are
buried in Gisborough Church, leaving issue ten sons and eleven
daughters; but of this large family not one is now to be found
in the Vale of Gisborough. ‘Plantation’ was purchased in 1809 by
Robert Chaloner, Esq., and again added to the Gisborough estate,
and the mansion demolished in 1829. In addition to the above, we
append the following particulars in a letter to the late Thomas
Small, of Gisborough, by the same writer:—‘I have read the copy
of your letter to my nephew, George Grote, M.P. (the historian),
and as I am now left the eldest member of the Hale family, being
sister of the late Mrs. Lewin, whose daughter Mr. Grote married.
I cannot but thank you for the faithful history of the late
General John Hale. With regard to my father being _aide-de-camp_
to General Wolfe, I think you are incorrect, for Wolfe’s words
were, after receiving his mortal wound, “I am aware it is the
_aide-de-camp’s_ privilege to carry the despatches home; but I
beg as a favor to request that my old friend, Colonel Hale, may
have that honour.” Also, General Hale’s portrait is not inserted
in that fine print of Wolfe’s death, and why? Because he would
not give the printer the sum of £100, which he demanded as the
price of placing on a piece of paper what his own country knew
so very well, viz.: that he (General Hale) fought in the hottest
of the battle of Quebec, whether the printer thought fit to
record it or not. In reply to another part of your letter
respecting the quantity of land granted to my father, for his
services at Quebec, the whole of it merged, through lapse of
time, to the Crown, and was never available to my brothers; but
my brothers possessed very extensive property there, and such
property is termed in Canada, seigniory, or what we should call
here a lordship. My eldest brother, Mr. Hale (the Hon. John),
died at Quebec last Christmas (1838), at the age of 73 years,
leaving the office of receiver-general to his second son,
Jeffrey.’”
The Hon. John Hale came to Canada as A.D.C. and military secretary to
his Royal Highness, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, in 1793. Returning to
England in 1798, he married, in April of that year, at St. George’s,
Hanover Square, London, Elizabeth Frances, the talented and highly
accomplished daughter of Gen. Wm. Amherst, and sister of Earl Amherst,
who was governor-general of India in 1825. In June, 1799, he returned to
Quebec as paymaster-general of the forces, which office he held until it
was merged into the duties of the commissariat. He was a member of the
Legislative Council of Lower Canada. He purchased from the De Lanaudière
family the seigniory of St. Anne de la Pérade, where he lived to a ripe
old age, at the manor house, on the best of terms with his tenants,
amongst whom he introduced many improvements. He returned with his
family every winter to Quebec, where he and Mrs. Hale were prominent
leaders in the social life of the ancient capital. In 1824 he was
appointed receiver-general of the province, which office he held up to
the time of his death, the duties being discharged during the
infirmities of his last illness by his son, Jeffrey Hale, who retired
from the navy and devoted his life to good works, and established in
Quebec the first savings bank, the first Protestant Sunday school, and
was the founder of the Jeffrey Hale Protestant Hospital. Mrs. Hale died
in June, 1826, and Mr. Hale in December, 1838; both are buried in Mt.
Hermon cemetery, Quebec. There were twelve children issue of this
marriage, eight sons and four daughters. Three died in their infancy. Of
the surviving seven the Hon. Edward, of Sherbrooke, was in public life;
Jeffrey, captain in the Royal Navy; Bernard, a barrister-at-law, in
London; Richard, captain in the 81st regiment; William Amherst, captain
in the 52nd regiment, and George Carleton remained at the seigniory of
St. Annes after the death of his father. Frances Isabella died
unmarried; Mary married Rev. Henry Hotham; and Elizabeth Harriot married
Admiral Orlebar. Mr. Hale was of the old school, with the usual
liberality and independence of an English gentleman. He had some strong
hereditary feelings about the duties of a public officer, which were
better securities than the strictest laws and superintendence in those
times when offices were frequently sought and obtained through intrigue
and popular favor. He neither gave nor asked for favors, but ever
prepared to do all that he was authorized to do. Both in public and
private life he carried out to the full the family motto, “_Vera
sequor_.”
* * * * *
=Trenaman, Thomas=, M.D., City Medical Officer, Halifax, N.S., was born
in Halifax, July 16th, 1843. He is a son of Samuel and Mary Ann
Trenaman, who settled in Nova Scotia from the West of England, about the
year 1835. Dr. Trenaman was educated at King’s College, Windsor, N.S. He
pursued his preparatory medical studies in the office of Hon. D. McN.
Parker, M.D., Halifax, and graduated in 1869 at the College of
Physicians and Surgeons, New York. The degree of doctor in medicine _ad
eundem_, was conferred by the University of King’s College, Windsor,
N.S., at its Ericœnia in 1887. From the date of the formation of the
66th Volunteer Battalion of Infantry—the Princess Louise Fusiliers—in
1869, to the spring of 1885, he was one of its surgeons. The pressing
nature of professional duties, which were continually increasing,
necessitated his retirement, at this date, from active service. In the
year 1876 Dr. Trenaman was chosen by acclamation to represent his fellow
citizens in the city council for ward two, the one in which he resides,
and was for three successive terms, of three years each, returned as
alderman for that ward. From 1879 to 1882 he was, a member of the Board
of School Commissioners of the city of Halifax, the last year of which
he was honored by his brother commissioners in being made chairman of
the board. Dr. Trenaman was elected county physician in 1881, and in
1883 was chosen by the city council, city medical officer, to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of the previous incumbent. Our subject is
also, at this writing, attending physician to the Victoria General
Hospital, visiting physician to the Poor’s Asylum, and also to the city
prison, as well as being police surgeon and surgeon to the fire
department. Dr. Trenaman was initiated into the mysteries of the Masonic
craft in St. Andrew’s lodge, No. 1, R.N.S., F. & A. M., in 1871. In 1877
was elected its worshipful master, and at the present time fills the
office of district deputy grand master for district No. 1, R.N.S., and
is also representative of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, near the Grand
Lodge of Nova Scotia. Dr. Trenaman is a companion of Royal Union
Chapter, No. 1, R.A.M. The doctor is also a member of Mystic lodge, No.
18, I.O.O.F., and a patriarch of Halifax Encampment, No. 12, belonging
as well to the Manchester Unity of that order, being a member of Prince
of Wales lodge, No. 5291, and its surgeon, and that of Lansdowne lodge,
No. 6703. Dr. Trenaman is surgeon to the St. George’s Society of
Halifax, and is the medical examiner for some of the leading life
insurance companies doing business in Halifax. In June, 1881, our
subject was elected president of the associated alumni of King’s
College, Windsor, and has been continued in that office uninterruptedly
since that time. In 1883 he was selected by the Dominion government
statistical officer for the registration of mortuary statistics in the
city of Halifax. Dr. Trenaman has travelled extensively through Canada
and the United States, but has not as yet visited the old world. In
religious belief he is a Methodist. In 1871, he married Harriett Helen
Robinson, of Windsor, N.S. The doctor is, in the fullest sense of the
term, a busy man, yet he finds time, notwithstanding his large and
lucrative practice, to take an active interest in everything that
pertains to the welfare of his native city. He is an enthusiastic
supporter of its clubs for the development of aquatic and field sports,
and generally is a citizen of whom Halifax has a right to be proud.
* * * * *
=Machin, Henry Turner=, Assistant Provincial Treasurer, and Secretary of
the Treasury Board, Quebec, is one of the best known and most esteemed
citizens of the ancient capital. He is of English and Scotch extraction.
His father, the Rev. Thomas Machin, a clergyman of the Church of
England, came of an old Gloucestershire family; and his mother, Emily
Mackintosh Chisholm Fraser, a daughter of Simon Fraser, of Alvie,
Inverness-shire, who was a cousin of the distinguished statesman and
historian, Sir James Mackintosh. Mr. Machin was born at
Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, on the 26th November,
1832, and came to Canada with his parents in 1840, the voyage from
Liverpool to New York being made in the steamship _Great Western_, one
of the first two passenger steamships that regularly crossed the
Atlantic. He was educated at the Brockville Grammar School, and at Upper
Canada College, Toronto. He entered business life in 1849, in the office
of the British American Land Company, at Sherbrooke, P.Q., the
commissioner of the company at that time being Sir A. T. Galt, and
remained in the company’s service until 1860, when he retired from it to
engage in commercial business in Portland, Maine. Respected by the whole
community, he was, on leaving Sherbrooke, presented with a farewell
address, to which the following reference was made at the time by the
leading local newspaper:
It affords us a sincere pleasure, which will be shared by the
numerous friends and admirers of Mr. Machin, who may peruse it,
to insert the following address and reply. Mr. Machin, though a
young man, has resided sufficiently long in Sherbrooke to
develop those qualities which have secured for him the esteem
and confidence of his numerous acquaintances and friends. On
Monday last Rev. Mr. Reid, accompanied by several of the most
respectable inhabitants, representing the signers of the
following document, waited on Mr. Machin, to perform the
pleasant duty of presenting him with a flattering, though only
just, testimony of the public appreciation of his character.
There is a feeling of regret at Mr. Machin’s departure from
Sherbrooke, but that feeling is joined to hearty wishes for his
future welfare and success. It must be a source of honest and
legitimate pride to this gentleman to reflect that last week he
was presented by his brother Free Masons with a testimonial of
their esteem, and that this week a more general expression of
the sentiment is spontaneously given by the public here.
In 1873, Mr. Machin returned to Canada, and in 1874 he was appointed the
first inspector of public offices of the province of Quebec. His
executive and financial abilities soon pointed him out for preferment,
and in October, 1874, he was elevated by the Quebec government to the
still more important and responsible position of assistant treasurer of
the province, which office he still holds. In his official capacity he
has been connected with all the financial operations of the province
since 1874, and in 1878 he was sent by the government to New York, where
he materially assisted in the successful negotiation of the provincial
loan for $3,000,000. He has been chiefly instrumental in bringing the
organisation of the treasury department to its present state of
efficiency. He has never taken a leading part in politics, but has had
the confidence and respect of every administration, whether Conservative
or Liberal, that has been in office since his appointment as a deputy
minister of the Crown. As one of the founders of the Quebec and Levis
Electric Light Company, of which he is a director, the city of Quebec is
indebted to his enterprise and spirit for a vast improvement in street
and interior lighting, the electric current being generated at the famed
Falls of Montmorency, nine miles from the city. Mr. Machin is a member
of the Church of England, is a Freemason, and has held a commission in
the militia. In 1863, he married Lucy Anne, daughter of the late Hon.
Edward Hale, of Sherbrooke, a member of the Legislative Council of
Quebec, and grand-daughter of the late Hon. Chief Justice Bowen, of
Quebec.
* * * * *
=Martin, Joseph=, LL.B., Advocate, Quebec, is one of the rising members
of the Lower Canadian bar, and a young man of considerable note and
influence in the politics of that province. He was born at Champlain, in
the Three Rivers district, on the 1st May, 1855, his parents being
Zephirin Martin and Sophie Vivier, both French Canadians. He was
educated at the Christian Brothers’ Commercial School, Three Rivers, and
the De La Salle Institute, Toronto, and studied law at the Montreal
branch of the Laval University, where he took his degrees. Admitted to
the bar of the province of Quebec, after a brilliant examination, on the
14th January, 1881, he practised law in Montreal till 1882, when he was
appointed one of the secretaries to the commission named to revise and
consolidate the statutes of the province, and took up his residence in
Quebec. A Conservative in politics, he separated from the party
represented by the Ottawa government on the question of the North-west
rebellion, and the execution of its leader, and took a very active and
prominent part in the Riel agitation and the formation of the National
party in the province of Quebec, besides contributing in no slight
degree by his exertions to the wave of popular opinion which carried the
present premier of that province, Hon. H. Mercier, and his friends, into
office at the general elections in October, 1886. In January, 1887, on
the eve of the general elections for the Dominion, Mr. Martin resigned
his position of secretary to the commission, on being chosen as the
National-Conservative or Opposition candidate for the important county
of Quebec, against the minister of militia, Sir A. P. Caron, and,
although almost a complete stranger to the constituency, was only
defeated by a very narrow majority. In religion, Mr. Martin has always
been a Roman Catholic. On the 9th May, 1883, he married Olierie de
Bondy, daughter of Dr. A. Douaire de Bondy, of Sorel, by whom he has had
three children.
* * * * *
=Mackay, William=, M.D., M.P.P., Reserve Mines, C.B., was born on 11th
Sep., 1847, at Earltown, in the county of Colchester, Nova Scotia. For a
sketch of his parents, John Mackay and Dolina Mackay, see “Paterson’s
History of the County of Pictou,” page 278. His father was one of the
pioneer settlers in Earltown, and took a prominent and leading part in
all the public affairs of the place from the time of settlement there
until his death, in 1869. A granite monument from his native hills,
Rogart, Sutherlandshire, Scotland, presented to the family by his Grace
the Duke of Sutherland, was shortly afterwards erected to commemorate a
life largely devoted to advancing the interests and ameliorating the
wants of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood in which he lived. His
mother is still living and among the few who can recall the incidents
relating to the early history, both of church and state in eastern Nova
Scotia, her residence being often the temporary home of churchmen and
statesmen. The subject of this sketch was educated at Truro, and
graduated at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, in 1873, and
after graduating he practised medicine for one year with his brother,
Dr. D. G. Mackay, at Little Glace Bay, Cape Breton. In May, 1874, he was
appointed resident physician to the Loway, Emery, and Reserve
collieries, in Cape Breton county, In 1879, Dr. D. G. Mackay removing
from Little Glace Bay, he received the appointment (in addition to the
former) of physician to the Little Glace Bay, Caledonia, and Ontario
collieries, and in 1885, was appointed physician to the old Bridgeport
mine, in addition to the above. The appointment to the Caledonia mine he
has since resigned. He was instrumental in organizing and perfecting a
system of quarantining of infectious and contagious diseases for the
mining districts which worked so satisfactorily that the municipal
council have caused it to apply to the whole county. He has been a
member of the board of health of Cape Breton county for the last five
years, and is also a member of the provincial medical board. He has been
twice elected president of the Cape Breton Medical Society, and is now
president of the Nova Scotia Medical Society; he is also a P.M. of
Tyrian Youth Lodge, No. 45, R.N.S., A. F. & A. M., and a past high
priest of Prince of Wales Chapter No. 10, R.A.M., of Nova Scotia. Dr.
Mackay is a Liberal-Conservative in politics, and was elected to
represent Cape Breton county in the local legislature of Nova Scotia at
the election in June, 1886. A liberal government being in power, and it
having been sustained at the election, Dr. Mackay was, at the first
meeting of the newly elected legislature, honoured with the position of
leader of the opposition. In religion, he is a consistent and honoured
member of the Presbyterian church. He was married on November 10th,
1875, to Catherine Campbell Sutherland, youngest daughter of Gilbert
Sutherland, of “the Falls,” Colchester county, N.S., by whom he has one
son and two daughters.
* * * * *
=Carson, Rev. W. Wellington=, Pastor of the Dominion Methodist Church,
Ottawa, Ontario, was born in the township of Osgoode, county of
Carleton, Ontario, on the 7th of January, 1845. He is a son of Thos. and
Maria Carson, who came to Canada from Ireland in the year 1833, and who
were among the pioneer settlers in that now prosperous part of Ontario.
The subject of this sketch attended the Ottawa Grammar School, and the
academy in Iroquois, being assistant teacher in the latter previously to
commencing a course of theological study. He was called to the ministry
of the Methodist church in 1867, and was received into full connection
and ordained by the late Rev. W. Morley Punshon, in 1871. After
ordination he held the pastorate of the First Methodist Church,
Hamilton; Brant Avenue Church, Brantford; the Woodstock Church, and
Centenary Methodist Church, Hamilton. He was missionary treasurer of the
London conference four years; examiner of ministerial candidates on
apologetics and hermeneutics, and also held the office of chairman of
district, 1884-5. He has travelled extensively over this continent, and
over nearly half the world, including, of course, various parts of
Europe, England, and France, all this being done with the view of
enlarging his knowledge of mankind, and the religious institutions of
other nations. His religions views may be known by his identification
with the Methodist church, but his credal beliefs are wider than those
of any denomination. His present charge is the Dominion Church, Ottawa,
where he is exceedingly popular and, what is better, useful. His
congregations are large, and the church prosperous. An intimate friend
of the reverend gentleman writes as follows: “I have known Mr. Carson
from the time of his commencing his theological studies, and his
entrance on the work of the ministry. He is one of the most devoted and
studious of the Methodist ministry, not confining himself to the
literature of his own sect, but making himself master of most lines of
modern thought. His firm and unwavering belief in the verities of Holy
Scripture guards him against the reception of every wind of doctrine
that blows from this or that point of the compass. In preaching, he is
calm at the beginning, energetic as he proceeds, fervent and eloquent in
his perorations. Hearing him frequently, it may be added that he is
progressive, and capable of grasping the highest and best form of
thought, distinct in annunciation, and clear in his modes of expressing
his conclusions.”
* * * * *
=Reed, Robert=, St. John, New Brunswick, was born in the north of
Ireland, on the 28th April, 1814. After a shipwreck on the Atlantic in
1820, he arrived with his parents at their original destination, St.
John, New Brunswick, in June of the following year. In January, 1830, he
became chief clerk in the shipping and steam-boat office of James
Whitney, who was then entering upon that fuller development of steam
communication on the Bay of Fundy and River St. John for which he
afterwards became famous. In 1835 Mr. Reed joined his brother in general
business, the partnership continuing until 1886, under the firm of J.
and R. Reed. The fact of this name having now, after a successful and
creditable career of half a century’s duration, passed from the arena of
commercial life with an honorable record for the strictest business
integrity, into a mere historical item, warrants more than a passing
notice. Hence it may be said the affairs of this house were from the
first of a progressive character, reaching to business relations with
nearly every important sea-port in the several oceans and seas, and thus
their operations as importers, as exporters, as manufacturers and as
shipowners became at times among the largest of a New Brunswick
character. And in order to show the business habits and precautionary
financial arrangements of its members, it may be mentioned that
throughout the many commercial panics and business convulsions which
occurred during the long period of the firm’s existence, its financial
engagements,whether at home or abroad, were in all cases duly met, free
from protest. Mr. Reed having had no aspirations towards political
distinction, holds no office or title in the gift of any government. His
political record is embraced in the following. In 1856 he consented to
be one on a ticket formed to run a provincial election in support of a
prohibitory liquor law passed the previous session; but the whole party
being defeated, a repeal of the law followed. This, and the acceptance,
during a temporary residence in England the following year, of a
government appointment in connection with the purchase of rails and
bridge material for the European and North American Railway, then under
construction, embrace his entire association with active political life.
But as a private citizen he has ever been noted for a generous public
spirit, willing to assist in any movement which he deemed for the
interest of the city and province of his adoption. He has travelled
much, coupled with observation, consequently his ideas, whether of a
private or public character, have always kept pace with the progress of
the age. He is president of the Owens Art Institution, of St. John, to
the development of which, as a leading art educational establishment, he
has, from its inception in 1884, devoted much of his personal attention.
His latest effort for the general good is set forth in a prospectus for
a first-class hotel, of large capacity, having in view making St. John
“a grand central rendezvous and diverging centre” for summer tourists
visiting the maritime provinces. For that purpose he proposes the
utilization of his private residence, with other and prospective
erections within a plot covering eight acres, situate on the summit of
an eminence overlooking the city and its surroundings as far as the eye
can reach. The scheme appears feasible, and got up with a due regard to
existing facts bearing upon its financial success. Its consummation
would undoubtedly be a benefit to St. John, and the province generally.
Mr. Reed, though well advanced in years, is at this writing still full
of energy, and bids fair to yet see many years of usefulness added to
his already full and useful life.
* * * * *
=Girouard, Theophile=, Quebec, is one of the most prominent,
enterprising and successful of the French Canadian businessmen of the
ancient capital, and its subsidiary districts. Born at Gentilly, Nicolet
county, on the 1st December, 1826, of the marriage of Joseph Girouard
and a French lady named de Cormier, he is essentially a self-educated
and a self-made man, and an admirable specimen of the class of his
fellow-countrymen who have done so much of late years to develop the
resources of their native province. As a lad, he laboured hard to
instruct himself, and thus succeeded in acquiring a good French and
English education. As a man, he has, with similar energy and
perseverance, striven to make his way in the world, and his efforts have
been crowned with equal success. His experience has been varied. In
1849, he was impelled by the gold fever to California, like many other
young and enthusiastic spirits of the time, but unlike not a few of them
he was fairly successful during his stay of four years there. Returning
to Canada, he engaged in the lumber business, in the province of Quebec,
and has been connected with it ever since. For a number of years the
principal seat of his operations was in the eastern townships, where he
also resided; but in 1872 he extended them to the region along the north
shore of the St. Lawrence below the Saguenay, where he founded the
outpost of Betsiamits for the purpose of manufacturing and shipping
lumber, and where he erected extensive saw mills at a cost of $152,000.
These mills are supplied with the raw material from 750 square miles of
limits, and the establishment employs from two to three hundred men. Mr.
Girouard has also been the promoter of some of the largest manufactures
in the province. Nor has he been without honours marking the respect and
confidence of his fellow citizens. He has been a captain of militia and
a justice of the peace, and the important municipality of Stanfold, in
the eastern townships, elected him its mayor during seven years. In
politics, he was a Conservative down to the time of the Riel affair,
when he seceded, joined the Liberal ranks, and became a Nationalist. His
travels have been extensive. Including his voyages to and from
California, he has crossed the ocean over thirty times, has visited most
of Europe, and by a singular coincidence which has happened in the lives
of few men, was carried by a gale of wind to latitude 62½° south below
Cape Horn, while he went on another occasion as far in the opposite
direction as 62½° north during his travels in Sweden and the Gulf of
Bothnia. In religion, he has always been a Roman Catholic. On the 9th
October, 1861, he married Alexneia Pacand, daughter of Charles Pacand,
of Arthabasca, by whom he has had issue five children. His eldest son,
Raoul, has distinguished himself as an electrician at Ottawa.
* * * * *
=Pacaud, Gaspard=, M.P.P., Windsor, Ontario, editor of _Le Progress_,
and M.P.P. for North Essex, was born at St. Norbert d’Arthabaska,
province of Quebec, on the 24th June, 1859. He was educated at St.
Joseph Grand Seminary, Three Rivers, P.Q., and graduated therefrom in
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