A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1871. He spent the years 1872 and 1873 at Edinburgh, Scotland, and
4385 words | Chapter 172
Heidelberg, Germany, prosecuting his studies, and took at Edinburgh the
medal, one first, and three other prizes. Returning to New Brunswick, he
assumed the duties of his chair in the university at the end of 1873,
and occupied the same until 1st January, 1879, when he resigned. Acadia
College, N.S., conferred upon him the title of D.C.L., in 1885. He was
examiner in Grammar and English at the Provincial Normal schools,
Fredericton, from 1874 to 1879. Early in life—in the thirteenth year of
his age—Mr. Foster identified himself with the order of the Sons of
Temperance and later with the British Templars, the United Temperance
Association, the Dominion Alliance, and the International Temperance
Association. He filled the office of Grand Worthy Patriarch in the Grand
Division of the Sons of Temperance of New Brunswick; Most Worthy Grand
Templar of the British Templars of Canada; National Chief of the United
Temperance Association, vice-president and president of the Executive of
the Dominion Alliance of Canada, and president, for four years, of the
International Temperance Association. During Professor Foster’s
occupancy of the university chair, he frequently delivered lectures and
addresses upon temperance topics, and upon his resignation, engaged in
an extensive lecturing tour, delivering addresses on the total
abstinence and prohibition questions in all the provinces of Canada, and
most of the eastern and western states of the United States. He likewise
edited several temperance papers. He has been identified for many years
with the Young Men’s Christian Association of Fredericton, and was a
member of the executive of the International Sabbath School Committee.
After a lecturing tour of remarkable success, Professor Foster resolved
to try what fortune had in store for him in the political sphere, though
considering how wide and how brilliant his achievements had been, we may
be sure he had no misgivings in taking the contemplated step. In looking
about him for a constituency, naturally that one nearest his heart, the
county wherein he first drew breath, suggested itself, and to King’s he
went, though it was represented by that stalwart politician, Major James
Domville. The friends of Mr. Domville considered the act of Professor
Foster as one that could be properly described only by the phrase
“cheeky,” but what they thought made no difference to the young
candidate—he proceeded with his canvass, addressing the people
everywhere upon the leading topics of the day. Against such eloquence as
Professor Foster brought into the field, Major Domville was powerless.
But apart from his ability as a debater, the people of King’s had put
the highest estimate upon the integrity and character of the young
candidate, and they accordingly elected him in June, 1882, to represent
them in the House of Commons at Ottawa. His election was voided; but he
was again elected in November of the same year, and still continues to
represent King’s county at Ottawa. On December 10th, 1885, he was sworn
in a member of the Privy Council, and invested with the portfolio of
marine and fisheries. Professor Foster has travelled in all the
provinces of Canada, and through the greater portion of the United
States, and has also visited England, Scotland, France, Germany and
Switzerland. In religion he belongs to the Free Baptist denomination,
and for many years has been, and is still, a prominent member of its
conference. He was president of the Union Baptist Educational Society in
1884-5. The Hon. George Eulas Foster is a Liberal-Conservative in
politics, and a full believer in the future greatness of Canada. He
favors a civil service system which shall, so far as consistent with the
peculiar circumstances of our country, conform to the system in
operation in Great Britain, a moderate protective tariff, such as shall
maintain our markets for our own manufactures, and at the same time not
conduce to the formation of monopolies, a wise, tried economy in the
administration of the finances of the country, and an enlightened,
progressive and comprehensive policy. He is one of the foremost speakers
in the country, if force and clearness of statement, fluency, and
adherence to logic can entitle him to that place. He is a man of great
energy, and of boundless nervous force. A literary grace pervades his
style, but his speeches are never florid, or beyond the bounds of good
taste in this respect. There is a singular earnestness in his manner,
and nearly every speech that he delivers resolves itself into a series
of propositions, one consequent upon the other. As we have said, he is a
speaker of much force, and sometimes his eloquence rises to the height
of passion.
* * * * *
=Leclerc, Rev. Joseph Uldaric=, Montreal, was born at Isle Bazarre,
August 7th, 1836. He is the son of Francis Leclerc, farmer, and Josephte
Demers, his wife. While still a youth, his parents determined to
dedicate their son to the service of the church, and with this object in
view his education was properly attended to. He took, first, a classical
course at Montreal College, after studying philosophy at St. Mary’s
College, Montreal, and St. Michael’s College, Toronto. He next went to
Sandwich College, as professor, in 1858, but soon resigned this position
to enter on a course of study in theology, at the Grand Seminary at
Montreal, being ordained priest in June, 1862. His first clerical charge
was at Vaudreuil, where he was curate for two years. In 1865 he left
Vaudreuil, having been appointed chaplain of the Reformatory Prison, at
St. Vincent de Paul. In 1873 he was appointed chaplain to the great
penitentiary there, and for the ten years following he filled that
important post with great acceptability to the officers of the
institution, who were deeply struck with the chaplain’s piety, and the
zeal with which he ministered to the spiritual wants of the many
unfortunate outcasts from society who were confined within its walls. In
1883 Father Leclerc was transferred to the important parish of St.
Joseph’s, Richmond street, Montreal, where he has since ministered. He
is also pastor of St. Anthony’s parish, for the English-speaking classes
of St. Joseph’s and Cunegonde, by whom he is much beloved. About four
years ago he visited Manitoba, and was much impressed with the richness
of the country, and the immense resources of the Northwest territories.
He has also twice visited the maritime provinces, and has thus a good
knowledge of the topography of the Dominion from personal observation.
* * * * *
=Sanford, Hon. William E.=, Hamilton, Ontario, Senator of the Dominion
of Canada, is fairly entitled to be classed among the business men of
Canada who have won distinction as successful merchants, and who have by
personal industry and genuine business ability succeeded in establishing
wide business relations and accumulating large fortunes. No name stands
more prominently before the public, or is worthy of more honourable
mention than he who is the subject of this sketch. His career has placed
him in the front rank of the “merchant princes” of the country. Success
is always a relative term, and is used appropriately only when employed
to describe conditions in which effort, guided by intelligence and
skill, to a definite end, accomplishes its aims. If this be true, then
no man in Canada to-day has a stronger claim to this distinction than
the Hon. Mr. Sanford. His business life has been simply a series of
triumphs over difficulties that would have daunted weaker natures, and
these victories have been won by tireless energy, unyielding
perseverance, a keen foresight of events, a skilful adaptation to the
tastes and necessities of the public, and the intelligent use of
definite means to a well defined purpose. The magnificent “Sanford
Block” in the city of Hamilton, consisting of offices, warerooms, stock,
show and packing rooms; the extensive business connections established
in every province in the Dominion, and extending from the Pacific to the
Atlantic, giving employment to over two thousand hands, and employing a
capital of about a million dollars, constitute a monument of which the
most ambitious might be proud. Senator Sanford is a lineal descendant of
Thomas de Sanford, who was knighted by William the Conqueror on the
battlefield of Hastings (see Burke’s “Landed Gentry”). The American
branch of the family settled in Redding, Connecticut, and one of its
members, Ezekiel Sanford, engineer, built Fort Saybrook, Conn., in 1626.
Born in the city of New York, in 1838, both his parents dying while he
was a mere child, he was sent, ere he had reached his seventh year, to
live with his uncle, the late Edward Jackson, of Hamilton, one of the
pioneer merchants of that city, whose singular uprightness of life and
large benefactions to religious, educational and charitable enterprises,
gained for him a widespread confidence and respect. In the home of such
a one, and surrounded by the most salutary influences, he was brought
up, and to this formative period of his life may doubtless be traced
many of those elements of character which have since distinguished his
career. He received a liberal education in one of the academies of New
York, and at the age of fifteen made his first venture in business,
entering the then well-known publishing firm of Farmer, Brace & Co., of
New York, in whose employ he continued until he reached his majority.
The remarkable business ability displayed by him, even at this early
period, won for him the esteem and confidence of the firm, and also an
offer of a partnership in the business. The death of the senior partner,
occurring about this time, caused certain changes which resulted in the
disappointment of young Sanford’s hopes. The firm was re-organized,
leaving him out. The value of his services was, however, recognized by a
rival firm, from whom he received the offer of a salary of three
thousand dollars per year. This offer he declined, determined in future
to sink or swim as master of the ship he sailed. His own words were, “I
am determined never to accept a position as clerk to any firm.” Mr.
Sanford now returned to Canada, was united in marriage to Miss Jackson,
only daughter of his friend, Edward Jackson, and then went to London,
Ontario, and entered into a business partnership with Murray Anderson
and Edward Jackson, and under the firm name of Anderson, Sanford & Co.,
carried on one of the largest foundries in western Canada. His wedded
happiness was of short duration, for at the end of about eighteen months
his accomplished wife died. Completely crushed and disheartened by the
blow, he retired from the firm, and returned to Hamilton. His restless
energies, however, refused to remain inactive, and with characteristic
energy, he, with some New York dealers, went into the wool business. In
less than a year, he was master of the situation, having obtained
control of the wool market of the province, and was soon known among
dealers as the “Wool King” of Canada. Not long after this, Senator
Sanford entered upon the business which, under his skilful management,
has grown into such large proportions, in which he has achieved his
greatest success, and with which he is still identified. He formed a
partnership with Alexander McInnes, for the manufacture of ready-made
clothing. With that keen discernment of what the public needed that has
ever characterised him, he determined, from the best goods to be found
in the market, to manufacture for the public demand clothing that would
combine cheapness with elegance and style of finish. Twenty thousand
dollars capital was invested at the beginning. The most skilful labor to
be found was employed, and samples to meet the requirements of the
public produced. Mr. Sanford put the goods upon the market himself,
while his partner attended to the office work. The goods were what the
people needed, and from that day the trade in Canada was revolutionised;
the character of the firm as “first class” established, and the
foundation of future success laid. Various changes have taken place in
the _personnel_ of the firm since its establishment in 1861. After ten
years Mr. McInnes retired, and two of the employés were taken in as
partners. These remained for a few years, and then also retired, leaving
Senator Sanford sole proprietor, who now carries on the business under
the title of W. E. Sanford & Co. Since the establishment of the firm,
and through all its subsequent changes, Senator Sanford has been the
moving and controlling spirit of the concern. He is complete master of
all the details of the several departments, as well as director of the
whole establishment. While he pioneers the great public contracts, he at
the same time keenly observes and anticipates any change in the public
taste, and invariably has the supply in advance of the demand. The
requirements of each province or community is a separate study, and
whether it be Prince Edward Island or Manitoba or the Pacific coast,
each is suitably supplied from the endless variety produced at the
central warerooms in Hamilton. While other firms are studying the
problem and counting the cost, Senator Sanford is selling his goods and
pocketing the profits. In social life Senator Sanford is most affable
and attractive; in manners he is courteous and gentlemanly, and is
always the soul of the company in which he is found. He can come from
the most perplexing concerns of business, and plunge at once into all
the mirth and merriment of the evening party, as though there was no
such thing as care in the world. For a man whose mind is so deeply
occupied with the various financial schemes with which he is identified,
one would go far to find another who has the disposition, and finds the
opportunity, to do so many acts of genuine kindness. A few flowers from
his conservatory, or some rare relish to tempt the appetite, is his
thoughtful and appropriate way of relieving the weariness of many a sick
chamber. Hon. Mr. Sanford is a leading member of the Methodist church, a
trustee and steward of the Centenary Church, Hamilton, and a liberal
supporter of the missionary, educational and other connexional agencies
of the church. To each of the recurring general conferences he has been
invariably elected by the proper constituencies, and is treasurer of
several of the most important church funds. As a citizen, he is
public-spirited, and justly held in high esteem. He has been president
of the Board of Trade, is vice-president of the Hamilton Provident
Society, a Bank director, one of the Board of Regents of Victoria
University, director of the _Empire_ newspaper, president of the
Hamilton Ladies College, and one of the projectors and vice-president of
the Manitoba and North-Western Railway Company. He is the owner of a
tract of upwards of sixty thousand acres of land on the line of the
above mentioned railway at a point commencing within a few miles of
Portage la Prairie; and upon this he has established a large cattle and
horse ranche. He has now about completed the organization of a company
for the development of his immense marble deposit in the township of
Barrie, which is claimed to be the largest in the world. In politics he
is in sympathy with the protective policy of the present administration,
and consequently gives his support to the Conservative party. A few such
men make a city, and are indispensable to its prosperity and
development. When shrewdness, ability, enterprise, and industry combine,
and succeed in accumulating wealth, the benefit is not alone to the one
who is thus gifted, but to the many to whom the means of livelihood is
afforded, and to the city and country as well, on which they bestow the
fruits of their talents and their toil. He was called to the Senate of
Canada in March, 1887, and we have no doubt he will make his influence
felt in that body for the benefit of the country of his adoption. In
1866 he was united in marriage to Sophia Vaux, youngest daughter of the
late Thomas Vaux, accountant of the House of Commons, Ottawa, a lady of
culture and dignity, whose genial and refined spirit makes the home
delightful, and whose open hand of charity is a proverb in the city in
which she lives.
* * * * *
=Routhier, Hon. Adolphe Basile=, LL.D., Quebec, rests his claim to a
prominent place in a work of this kind, not only on his eminence as a
judge of the Superior Court of the province of Quebec, but on his
well-earned fame as a _littérateur_ and a poet. He was born at St.
Placide, in the county of Two Mountains, near Montreal, on the 8th May,
1839, his father, Charles Routhier, a farmer, whose ancestors came from
Santonge, France. Educated in the classics at the college of Ste.
Therese, in the county of Terrebonne, young Routhier was the first
graduate of that institution to receive the degree of B.A. from Laval
University, Quebec, at which he also studied law. Called to the bar in
December, 1851, he settled down to the practice of his profession at
Kamouraska, P.Q., and soon won success and distinction by his abilities
as a pleader and a jurist. During this stage of his career, public
attention was also first directed to the literary talents which he has
since developed in such a remarkable degree. Newspaper writing occupied
the time snatched from his profession, and his editorial contributions
to _Le Courrier du Canada_, published at Quebec, and _Le Nouveau Monde_,
published at Montreal, showed that a new and formidable competitor had
entered the journalistic field. A Conservative in politics, he threw
himself with ardor into all the controversies of the time and, before
long, came to be recognized as the leader of the Ultramontane Catholic
or so-called Programmist party in his native province, whose cause he
championed with a vigorous pen. In 1869 he was selected as the party’s
candidate to contest the seat in the Canadian House of Commons for the
county of Kamouraska, but was defeated by his Liberal adversary, Hon. C.
A. P. Pelletier, afterwards minister of agriculture and immigration in
the Mackenzie cabinet, and now a senator of the Dominion. In 1872 Mr.
Routhier was created a Queen’s counsel, and in the following year he was
raised to the bench as one of the justices of the Superior Court by the
Macdonald government—the judicial district assigned to him being that
known as the Chicoutimi district, over which he still presides with
marked credit to himself and satisfaction to the local bar and public.
On the bench he is noted for his affability, painstaking character and
profound knowledge of the law, and his decisions are always marked by
great clearness and soundness. Indeed, Mr. Justice Routhier is a model
magistrate in the fullest sense of the term, and as such, as well as for
his fine social qualities, is very generally admired and esteemed
throughout the province of Quebec. The question of the undue influence
of the clergy of Lower Canada in politics was first raised and argued
before him by Hon. F. Langelier, M.P., the present mayor of Quebec, in
the celebrated case of Tremblay _vs._ Langevin (Charlevoix contested
election), and though his judgment, which was in favor of the clergy and
created great excitement at the time, was afterwards reversed on appeal,
its powerful arguments in its own support, and its thorough
impartiality, have never been questioned. Judge Routhier has been a
great traveller, and to this feature of his life the country is indebted
for some of his best literary works. He has made the tour of Europe
several times, and, at the time of writing, is again there. He has also
visited the Holy Land. When in Rome, in 1876, the late Pontiff Pius IX.
conferred on him the dignity of a knight commander of the order of St.
Gregory the Great, for his eminent services to the cause of religion;
and during the same visit to the other side of the Atlantic, he spent
four months in Paris, where he became acquainted with the leading
writers of the French Catholic press and the Legitimist party, and
delivered at the _Cercle du Luxembourg_ a speech which attracted the
favorable notice and praise of _L’Univers_ and _Le Monde_, the great
Catholic and Legitimist organs of the French capital. After his return
to Canada he took a conspicuous part in the Quebec national festivities
of June, 1880, and was chairman of the _Congres Catholique_ held at
Laval University, and vice-president of the _Convention Nationale_. On
these memorable occasions his addresses created a profound sensation and
won for him from _La Minerve_, of Montreal, the leading organ of the
Lower Canadian Conservatives, the title of “champion of the Catholic
party of Canada.” They were afterwards published in the _Revue
Trimestrielle_, of Paris, with the flattering recommendation of M.
Lucien Brun, the chief of the Legitimist party of France. Judge Routhier
is one of the most charming of French Canadian writers both in verse and
prose. His “_Causeries du Dimanche_,” “_Impressions de Voyage_,”
“_Poesies_,”, and “_Conférences et Discours_,” published at various
times since 1871, as well as his fugitive articles and poetical
effusions scattered through the newspaper press, are marked not only by
great vigor of thought, but by much beauty and grace; and in literary
circles his abilities are recognized as of the highest order. Indeed, by
many of the best authorities he is ranked as the greatest master of the
French language at the present day in the province of Quebec—his
writings being admired as much for their purity and polish as for their
force. As a literary critic, he is admitted to be unsurpassed in that
province, and his _Jean Piquefort_ is a perfect model of keen and
polished satire. Laval University acknowledged his literary eminence in
1881 by conferring upon him the distinction of LL.D. He is also a
prominent member of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1862 our subject
married Miss Marie Clorinde Mondelet, only daughter of the late Jean
Olivier Mondelet, advocate, and niece of one of the eminent judges of
the same name, who, some years since, graced the bench of the Montreal
district. Mrs. Routhier is one of the leaders of Quebec society and a
lady as remarkable for her gracefulness as for her social distinction.
By her he has had issue four children, three daughters and one son.
* * * * *
=Shannon, Hon. Samuel Leonard=, D.C.L., Halifax, Judge of the Court of
Probate for the county of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was born in Halifax, on
the 1st June, 1816. His father, James Noble Shannon, was a merchant in
Halifax, and his mother, Nancy Allison, belongs to Horton, Nova Scotia.
The Shannons, with which the subject of our sketch is connected, came
from Ireland, to the colony of Massachusetts, in the latter part of the
seventeenth century, and the progenitor of the family was Nathaniel
Shannon, who held the office of “navie officer,” at Boston,
Massachusetts. His descendants settled at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and
were connected with the Vaughan and Cutts families of that place. Mr.
Shannon’s grandfather, Richard Cutts Shannon, was a prominent lawyer in
Portsmouth when the revolutionary war broke out, and by taking the royal
side became subject to persecution, imprisonment, and loss of property.
His son, the father of the subject of our sketch, left Portsmouth when
he was a boy, and came to Nova Scotia, and finally settled in Halifax,
where he carried on business as a merchant until his death in 1857. The
mother’s family, the Allisons, came from the north of Ireland about the
year 1769, and settled in Horton, Nova Scotia, on land which had been
previously occupied by the French Acadians. Hon. Mr. Shannon received
his primary education at the Halifax Grammar School, of which the Rev.
Dr. Twining was master; and in 1832 he entered the University of King’s
College, Windsor, from which he graduated B.A. in 1836. He received the
degree of D.C.L. from the same university, in 1875. He studied law with
H. Pryor, D.C.L., and was admitted to the bar of Nova Scotia, in 1839.
In 1866 he was appointed a Queen’s counsel. Having taken an interest in
military affairs, he received a commission as second lieutenant in the
2nd or Queen’s Halifax regiment of militia, in 1837,—the commission
signed by Sir Colin Campbell, the then governor of Nova Scotia. He was
promoted lieutenant in the same regiment in 1838; became captain in same
regiment in 1859,—commission signed by Lord Mulgrave, the then
lieutenant-governor, and major, in 1862. He was subsequently appointed
lieutenant-colonel of the reserve Halifax battalion, and commissioned by
the Dominion government. Entering political life, he was elected member
of the Nova Scotia legislature, for the western division of the county
of Halifax, including the city, in 1859; re-elected by the same
constituency in 1863; became member of the provincial government in
1863; and remained in the government until the province entered into
confederation in 1867. He then retired from politics, and was appointed
judge of the court of probate, for the county of Halifax, in 1881. In
1870 he received the title of “honorable” from her Majesty the Queen.
Judge Shannon is president of the Nova Scotia Bible Society; president
of the Nova Scotia Evangelical Alliance; a trustee and member of the
Young Men’s Christian Association of Halifax, and a shareholder and
member of several local mercantile companies. He has travelled
extensively in the United States and Dominion of Canada, which he has
visited repeatedly. In 1847 and 1848 he spent nine months travelling in
England, Scotland, and on the continent of Europe. He was in Switzerland
when the war of the Sonderbund took place, in 1847; in Paris, only a few
weeks before the revolution of 1848, and in London, during the Chartist
riots of the last mentioned year. He was brought up a Methodist, and has
always been identified with that denomination. He was married in
October, 1855, to Annie, daughter of Benjamin Fellows, of Granville,
Nova Scotia.
* * * * *
=Sinclair, Donald=, Walkerton, Ontario, Registrar of Deeds for the
county of Bruce, was born in the Island of Islay, Scotland, in July
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