A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1878. He was inspector of the post offices of the Dominion of Canada in
7293 words | Chapter 176
the postal division of Three Rivers, from the 26th of July, 1879; and
also in the Quebec postal division from the 12th of February, 1886, to
the 12th of July, 1887. He has been a resident of Three Rivers since
May, 1872. Dr. Bourgeois travelled in Europe during the years 1869 and
1870, and visited England, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy.
On the 27th of April, 1886, he was created Knight Commander of the
religious and military order of the Holy Sepulchre, and also an honorary
member of the order of the Chevaliers Sauveteurs des Alpes Maritimes, on
the 11th of July of the same year. In May, 1885, he received from the
Victoria University the degrees of M.D. and C.M. He was married on the
24th of September, 1844, to Mary Esther Lucinda Whitney, who died on the
14th of September, 1868. He was again married to Mary Malvina Ernestine
Rivard Dufresne, on the 22nd of October, 1870. In religion Dr. Bourgeois
is a Roman Catholic.
* * * * *
=Brooks, Hon. Edward T.=, Sherbrooke, Judge of the Superior Court of
Quebec, was born at Lennoxville, county of Sherbrooke, on the 6th of
July, 1830. His father, Samuel Brooks, was a native of Massachusetts,
and a member of the Brooks family with which the Adamses of that state
are connected. He was a member of the Canadian assembly for Sherbrooke
for many years, the last term being from 1844 until his death in 1849.
His mother was Elizabeth Towle. The subject of this sketch was educated
at Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1850; studied law with
Judge J. S. Sanborn, of Sherbrooke, and Andrew Robertson, Q.C., of
Montreal; was admitted to the bar of Lower Canada in 1854, created a
Queen’s counsel in 1875, and elected _bâtonnier_ of St. Francis bar the
same year. He has always had an honorable stand at the bar of his
district, and has done a highly remunerative and straightforward
business. In ability he stands in the front rank in his part of the
province. He was vice-president of the International and Waterloo, and
Magog Railways; president of the Sherbrooke Rifle Association; the Fish
and Game Protection Society, and the Plowmen’s Association; solicitor
for the Eastern Townships Bank, the head-quarters of which are at
Sherbrooke, and trustee of Bishop’s College, Lennoxville. He is a man
with a great deal of public spirit and very highly prized as a citizen.
He was first elected to parliament for his present seat by acclamation
in 1872, and was re-elected in the same manner in 1874, and again at the
general election in September, 1878. He was the author of the amendment
to the law of libel, passed in 1874, and seconded Sir John A.
Macdonald’s motion condemning the act of Lieutenant-Governor Letellier,
of the province of Quebec. He was a Conservative, and a steadfast and
earnest supporter of the policy of that party, believing the best
interests of the country are promoted by protecting home industries and
encouraging internal improvements. These were his views, as many of his
friends know, long before they were embodied in the so-called “national
policy,” and were made a distinct party issue. Mr. Brooks was elevated
to the bench of St. Francis district on the 1st October, 1882. He was
married in 1856, to Sarah Louise, daughter of Eleazer Clarke, revenue
inspector and high constable, Sherbrooke, and they have three children.
* * * * *
=Cooke, Richard S.=, Advocate, Three Rivers, was born at Three Rivers,
province of Quebec, on the 23rd of January, 1850. He is the son of the
late John Richard Cooke, a saddler by trade, and Marie Emilie Cloutier,
and nephew of the late Right Rev. Thomas Cooke, first bishop of the
diocese of Three Rivers. Mr. Cooke received his early education at the
Christian Brothers’ School, and went through a regular course of
classical studies at the St. Joseph College, taking first prizes every
year at both institutions, and distinguishing himself among his
schoolmates by his talented application. He was admitted to the bar in
July, 1874, and has practised his profession without interruption since
then, making a specialty of commercial law business. From 1874 to 1879
he practised with the Hon. H. G. Malhiot (then a member of the Quebec
government, and now mayor of Three Rivers), under the name and title of
Malhiot & Cooke. Mr. Cooke was an alderman of the council of Three
Rivers from 1880 to 1885, and was chosen as pro-mayor and president of
the finance committee. He has been connected with nearly every amateur
association of his native city, and founded the Three Rivers Fish and
Game Club, duly incorporated and holding fishing rights on Lake Archange
and others in the province of Quebec. He has taken a prominent and very
active part in all political and municipal matters, and has always been
an independent supporter of the Conservative party, and an earnest
advocate of progress in municipal affairs. Mr. Cooke is an eloquent and
impressive speaker, and as such is highly appreciated and generally
considered to be an undoubted authority on financial matters. He has
visited nearly every important place in Canada, the United States and
Europe. He belongs to the Roman Catholic church, of which he is a strict
member, but thoroughly liberal in his views, and in no way given to
bigotry. Mr. Cooke married on the 23rd August, 1877, Louisa Lajoie, only
daughter of the late J. B. Lajoie, first mayor of Three Rivers, but
unfortunately lost both his wife and newly-born child the following
year. His efforts and energy greatly assisted in the building of the
Lower Laurentian Railway, extending from the Piles branch of the
Canadian Pacific Railway towards Lake St. John, on part of which trains
are running through the parishes of St. Tite and St. Thècle. Still in
the prime of life, and possessing an unusual amount of energy and
talent, Mr. Cooke will no doubt occupy a prominent position in the
affairs of his country.
* * * * *
=MacGillivray, Hon. Angus=, of Antigonish, N.S., was born at Bailey’s
Brook, Pictou county, N.S., on the 22nd January, 1842. He is of Scottish
extraction, his grandfather, Angus MacGillivray, having emigrated from
Arisaig, in Inverness-shire, Scotland. His father and mother were named
John and Catharine MacGillivray. When a mere lad, Angus removed, in
1845, with his parents to Antigonish, where he has since resided. He
received his education at St. François-Xavier College, Antigonish—where
his studies embraced the languages, mathematics, and philosophy—and
from this institution he graduated with the degree of M.A. The counties
of Antigonish and the eastern portion of the county of Pictou are
largely peopled with Scotch Catholics, and a man of Mr. MacGillivray’s
abilities would naturally possess a great influence among his
coreligionists. The inhabitants of Pictou county are said to be more
Scotch than the Scotch, no less an authority than the late Rev. Norman
McLeod, the eminent Scottish divine, having pronounced them to be as
tenacious of Scotch prejudice and national custom and turn of thought
and speech as any section of the people in old Scotland. Gaelic is
commonly spoken by all classes; original Gaelic poems are often to be
seen in the weekly newspapers of Pictou and Antigonish; and Highland
gatherings, those nuclei of national sentiment and national manly
contests, are celebrated every year in either of the eastern counties or
in Prince Edward Island. “Tigh-Dhe” (House of God) is the inscription
cut in the granite over the portal of the great cathedral in Antigonish,
which edifice is considered to be the largest and handsomest religious
structure in Nova Scotia. After graduating, Mr. MacGillivray entered
upon the study of the law in the office of H. (now judge) Macdonald, and
finished in the office of Blanchard & Magher, Halifax, was called to the
bar on the 22nd of July, 1874, and immediately afterwards formed a
partnership with A. McIsaac (now judge of the County Court). A
dissolution taking place on the elevation of Mr. McIsaac to the bench,
Mr. MacGillivray formed another partnership, and is now head of the law
firm of MacGillivray & Chisholm, barristers, etc. Being a most popular
man in his professional and social relations, he was returned to the
House of Assembly by acclamation at the general election in 1878, and
was re-elected in 1882. In February, 1883, he was elected speaker of the
house, and discharged the duties of that responsible office with great
discrimination and acceptance until the dissolution in May, 1886. Being
again nominated by his constituents, he contested the county at the
general election on the 15th June, 1886, and was returned at the head of
the poll, the vote standing—Angus MacGillivray, 1,378 votes; C. F.
McIsaac, 1,273, defeating C. B. Whidden, 900; and R. McDonald, 487. He
was appointed a member of the Executive Council in the Hon. Mr.
Fielding’s cabinet, on the 28th June, 1886. Yielding to the urgent
solicitations of his party, he resigned his seat in the Nova Scotia
legislature in January, 1887, in order to run for the House of Commons
at Ottawa at the general election, his opponent being the Hon. John S.
D. Thompson, minister of justice. Even against so strong a man, the Hon.
Mr. MacGillivray polled 1,207 votes, being defeated by only 40 votes.
However, being again nominated for a seat in the local house, there was
no one bold enough to take the field against him, and he was returned by
acclamation on the 1st March, 1887. On the 7th March following he was
reappointed a member of the government. Hon. Mr. MacGillivray was one of
the commissioners appointed by the government in 1878 to investigate the
claims of laborers and others against absconding and insolvent
contractors on the Eastern Extension Railway; and in October, 1887, he
was one of the delegates to the Inter-Provincial Conference held at
Quebec. He is connected with improvements relating to agriculture, and
takes part in the better encouragement of that industry. In religion he
is a Roman Catholic, and in politics a Liberal. He married, on the 5th
February, 1878, Maggie, daughter of the late Alexander McIntosh, of
Antigonish. This lady died on the 8th September, 1879. On July 15th,
1884, he married May E., daughter of John Doherty, of New York.
* * * * *
=Castle, Rev. John Harvard=, D.D., Principal of McMaster Hall, Toronto,
was born in Milestown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1830. He received his
early education at the Central High School of Philadelphia. In the year
1847 he entered the University of Lewisburg, Pa., where he graduated
with honors in 1851, and from that institution of learning he received
the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1866. He completed his ministerial
studies at Rochester Theological Seminary, N.Y., in 1853, and was
licensed to preach by the Broad Street Church, Philadelphia, the same
year. He was ordained at Pottsville, Pa., where he labored for two years
and a half, after which he took charge of the Baptist Church at
Newburgh, N.Y. In 1859 he returned to his native city and entered upon
the pastorate of the First Baptist Church, West Philadelphia, where he
remained for fourteen years, universally beloved by the members of his
church and community. Here he gave much time and labor to the missionary
cause and educational interest, serving on the boards of the publication
and education societies, and the general association. He was also a
trustee of the University at Lewisburgh, and of Crozer Theological
Seminary. He served as moderator of the Philadelphia Baptist
Association, and was also elected president of the ministerial
conference. In the spring of 1871 he commenced a tour of Europe. In 1872
he was urgently invited to take charge of the Jarvis Street Baptist
Church of Toronto, Ontario, which invitation he accepted after mature
consideration, and commenced his pastorate on 1st February, 1873. In
this field of labor he remained in close and affectionate relations with
his congregation for years, although strongly urged to accept the
principalship of the Woodstock College. When its Theological department
was removed to Toronto on the completion of McMaster Hall, the leading
men of his denomination turned to him as eminently fitted to become the
principal. This position he accepted, and has filled, as also the chair
of systematic theology and pastoral theology, with that success which
was expected of him. A secular journal of Toronto, under date of October
5th, 1877, thus speaks of him: “Into the work of the denomination and
all Christian movements he has thrown himself with all his heart and has
become a leading spirit therein. His congregation has increased rapidly,
and erected a handsome church building at the cost of $100,000, of which
the Hon. Senator McMaster contributed $35,000 towards it; this building
is now one of the recognized sights of the city. He is a strong
temperance advocate, and a consistent enemy of frivolity of all
descriptions. His oratorical powers are of a high order, his enunciation
being singularly distinct, and his manner graceful and effective. Though
an earnest upholder of the doctrines of his denomination, he seldom
gives utterance to any remarks which members of other communions cannot
listen to without impatience. Never slow to do battle when controversies
arise, he proves an adept in polemics, but is ever ready to recognize
and admire all that is Christ-like beyond his own ecclesiastical
boundaries.” Mr. Castle was joined in wedlock on the 15th of September,
1853, to Mary Antoinette Arnold, of Rochester, N.Y., by whom he has five
children, two daughters and three sons.
* * * * *
=Ball, George=, Lumber Manufacturer, Nicolet, Quebec province, was born
at Champlain, Quebec, 11th September, 1838. His parents were Reuben Ball
and Flavia Fontaine. Mr. Ball is one of our many self-educated men, as
in his early days schools were not as numerous as they are now, and he
had to satisfy himself with a few months at a grammar school. In early
life he decided to enter into mercantile business, in which he soon
evinced marked ability, and his future success fully proved the wisdom
of his choice. He is now one of the largest lumber manufacturers in the
province of Quebec, his mills at Nicolet having a capacity of over
10,000,000 feet of lumber per annum. He has taken an active part in the
municipal affairs of his town, and in 1885 was elected mayor, being
re-elected to the same office in 1887, and is held in the highest esteem
by his fellow-townsmen and all who know him. In politics Mr. Ball is a
Conservative. He was married in 1864 to Eliza Thurbar.
* * * * *
=Boulton, D’Arcy Edward=, Cobourg, Ontario, Lieutenant-Colonel of The
Prince of Wales’ Canadian Dragoons, headquarters at Cobourg, was born at
York, Upper Canada, on the 2nd of February, 1814. He is the present
surviving son of the late D’Arcy Boulton and Sarah Robinson, of The
Grange, Toronto, nephew of Sir John Beverley Robinson, and grandson of
the late D’Arcy Boulton, one of the judges of the Queen’s Bench of then
Upper Canada, at that time a Crown colony, all of that party known as
the Family Compact. Judge Boulton brought his young family to Canada in
1796, and on a voyage to England a few years after, the vessel he was in
was captured by a French frigate after an engagement, in which Mr.
Boulton received a cutlas wound, and was carried a prisoner of war to
France, where he remained on his patrol of honor at Verdun for three
years prior to Bonaparte’s march to Moscow. The wound on his arm grew so
as to affect the circulation of the blood, so much so that he went to
England in 1830, and an operation by Sir Benjamin Brodie removed the
part, by cutting out a pound of flesh at the risk of life. He afterwards
returned to Toronto cured of this trouble. The subject of this sketch
was educated first under the late Bishop Strachan, and in 1829 went to
complete his education in England, at Tiverton, Devon, in Blundell’s
school. He returned to Canada in 1832, and adopted the profession of the
law. He was made a barrister in 1837, and practised in the profession
from that date at Cobourg, his place of residence. In 1836 he was
elected a member of the board of police, and sat for years in it, and
afterwards as a member of the town council; he was also a member of the
county council. He was mayor of Cobourg in the year 1853 and three
following years, and devoted himself to the promotion of harbor
extension and the construction of gravel and plank roads leading from
Cobourg into the country, east, west, and north to Rice Lake, and in
1855 carried through the legislature a charter to build the railway to
Peterboro’, as a feeder to the Grand Trunk Railway. He was afterwards
largely interested as shareholder and director in the Midland Railway,
and for a period was president of the company. He was a commissioner of
the Cobourg Town Trust, and in 1883 was appointed by the Dominion
government one of a Royal commission with George M. Clarke, judge, and
Frederick Broughton, manager of the Great Western Railway, to
investigate numerous old standing claims by contractors against the
Dominion government, amounting to several millions of dollars. This
inquiry was very thorough, extending over a period of about two years,
till every claim was disposed of. In 1854 he was engaged by Col. Sloo,
possessor of a Mexican grant or charter, confirmed by treaty between
Mexico and the United States of America, to procure English contractors
to build a railway from Vera Cruz on the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific
ocean, known as the Tehuantepec Railway, and to assist at Washington in
getting a confirmation of the treaty by Congress. The result of his work
was a contract with Messrs. Sykes, of England, to advance $600,000 to
Mexico, the price of the charter, and to build the railway, for which
service he was handsomely rewarded by the railway company, of which
Colonel Sloo was president. The contract afterwards fell through, by the
loss of the senior Sykes, with engineers and full staff, who were lost
in the steamer _Arctic_, which went down at sea with all hands. In 1854
Mr. Boulton was named by a Conservative convention to contest the West
Riding of Northumberland, but was defeated by the corrupt expenditure of
very large sums of money. He was a consistent Conservative, and
president for several years of the Liberal-Conservative Association from
its first organisation. At the beginning of the rebellion in 1837 he
joined the order of Loyal Orangemen, and in 1846 entered the Masonic
order and the order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity, about the same
period; and is now one of the oldest members of the Masonic and Orange
fraternities, is one of the senior members of the bar, and is senior
officer of the active militia service on duty. In 1837 he raised a
company of infantry and volunteers, and as captain, was enlisted with
his men—into the incorporated regiment of the Queen’s Own, under
Colonel Kingsmill, and served in Toronto and on the Niagara frontier
till the troubles were over. When the active militia was reorganised in
1855, Captain Boulton raised a volunteer cavalry troop, known as The
Prince of Wales’ Canadian Dragoons, wearing the scarlet uniform of the
English regiment. This troop was increased to a squadron in 1857, when
the captain was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in November of that year,
and in 1875 the corps was increased to a regiment, with head-quarters at
Cobourg, and has always been efficient for duty. From his birth a member
of the Church of England, he has served at different periods as
churchwarden and delegate to the Synod. In 1826 he rode on horseback
with his brother William from Toronto to Peterboro’ to visit the located
site of the town, it being founded by his uncle, the Hon. Peter
Robinson, commissioner of crown lands, who brought the first Irish
emigrants as colonists to Upper Canada. At that time the townships north
of Port Hope were receiving their first settlers, and a dozen or so log
huts were erected on the banks of the Otanabee river to receive the
immigrants prior to going upon their lands. Colonel Boulton in 1838
married Emily Heath, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Heath, of
the East Indian Company’s service, who died in India when his three
children were in childhood. His widow spent many years on the continent,
in Italy and Paris, where she educated her children, and in 1836 brought
them to Toronto, Canada. The mother died in 1874 at Cobourg. Her son,
Charles Wallace Heath, of Toronto, and her two daughters, are still
living. Colonel Boulton’s family consists of three sons and four
daughters living. The eldest son, Major Boulton, entered the army,
receiving a commission in the first organization of the Royal Canadian
regiment. He was stationed at Gibraltar and Malta for some years, and
returned with his regiment to Canada. He sold out, and joined the active
militia; and in 1885, when settled in Manitoba, he raised and commanded
the corps known as Boulton’s Scouts, and did good service quelling the
Indian rebellion. After entering into the organization and business of
railways, Colonel Boulton in 1865 ceased the practice of his profession,
and devoted his latter life to agriculture. He organised the first
Farmers’ Institute in his riding, over which he was elected to preside.
He has been for years a member of the local Agricultural Association,
and was one of the originators of that association in 1835 or
thereabouts. He was a zealous supporter of the turf and the hunt, and is
now a breeder of thoroughbred stock of horses, short-horns, and
Shropshire Down sheep, and still pursues an active, busy life. Two sons
and four daughters are married, and have families growing up.
* * * * *
=Baptist, George=, Three Rivers, Quebec. The late Mr. Baptist was born
in the town of Coldstream, Berwickshire, Scotland, 7th January, 1808,
and came to Canada, after arriving at the years of manhood. Being
possessed of great natural talent and a practical machinist as well as a
millwright, he was entrusted with the management of the Etchemin saw
mills, owned by Sir John Caldwell, then the largest lumber merchant at
the time in Canada. After spending some years as manager of those mills,
he leased the Point Levi mills from the government, and here he
continued till his final removal to the town of Three Rivers, in 1846.
On his arrival there he bought the Cache mill situated on the river St.
Maurice. Feeling that the amount of business being done at the mill was
not nearly as large as the demand required, he went on a prospecting
tour, and finding an eligible location for a more extensive business,
built what was known as the grey mills, with a capacity of 12,000,000
feet of lumber. Finding that this mill was not large enough for his
still growing trade, he built another mill adjoining the first, which
enabled him to cut double the quantity produced by the first mill; this
mill was however destroyed by a freshet in 1873. He then built a steam
saw mill on Baptist Island, with a capacity of 15,000,000 feet of lumber
annually. In consequence of the large volume of business transacted in
connection with the mills established by Mr. Baptist necessitating the
employment of a large staff of men and material, the present location
which is still in possession of his sons—a place which was once a
barren wilderness—has been transformed by his enterprise and industry
into a well populated district of villages and fine cultivated farms.
From the time of Mr. Baptist’s first settlement on the St. Maurice his
business progressed with remarkable rapidity, and is still another proof
of what can be accomplished by perseverance, joined with industry and
shrewdness, aided by a thorough practical knowledge of the mechanical
part of his business acquired in his native land. He founded a lumber
business in the province of Quebec, which still rivals that of any in
Canada, and to-day his son, Alexander, is one of the largest dealers and
exporters on the continent. Mr. Baptist was married at Point Levi, in
the year 1834, to Isabella Cockburn, who was born in the same town as
himself. Mrs. Baptist was of great assistance to her husband in his
efforts to achieve the success which he so successfully won. In politics
he was a Liberal-Conservative. He always took an active part in local
contests, and at one time contested the Senatorial division of
Shawinigan in opposition to the Hon. Dr. Malhiot. Mr. Baptist was a
member of the Presbyterian church. He died on the 11th May, 1875, well
beloved by his fellow townsmen for his genial, reliable, and strictly
upright character. His family consists of two sons and five daughters.
The property left by Mr. Baptist to his heirs amounted to half a million
dollars.
* * * * *
=Klein, Alphonse Basil=, Barrister, Walkerton, Ontario province, was
born on the 11th of September, 1851, at the town of Berlin, county
Waterloo, Ontario. His father was John Klein, a well-known newspaper
writer, and his mother was Ludovika Lang, and were both natives of
Baden, Germany, who settled in Canada many years ago. Mr. Klein was
educated by his father and in the Berlin Grammar School, and speaks and
writes the German language. He commenced to study law in 1868, was
admitted to practise as attorney and solicitor in May, 1874, and called
to the bar in 1879. He began practice in 1874 in Walkerton, in
partnership with W. Barrett, now junior judge of Bruce. The same year he
joined the 32nd battalion, Bruce Volunteer Militia, and received the
commission of paymaster in the same battalion in June, 1881. During the
North-West rebellion, in 1885, his battalion was called out, but after
laying at Southampton for a week, it was ordered to return home. Mr.
Klein was public school trustee for Walkerton from 1876 to 1883, and was
chairman of the board in 1882. He was elected mayor of Walkerton for
1883, and re-elected by acclamation to the same office in 1884. He has
been president of the Walkerton Horticultural Society for the last four
years. Is a member of Branch 46, C.M.B.A., located at Walkerton. Was
president of the South Bruce Liberal-Conservative Association in 1884,
1885, 1886; and secretary-treasurer from 1874 until 1884, of the same
association. He received the unanimous nomination of the
Liberal-Conservative party to contest South Bruce in the local elections
in 1886 against Mr. O’Connor, the Liberal candidate, but failed to
secure his election. In politics Mr. Klein is a Liberal-Conservative,
and in religion a Roman Catholic. He was married on the 9th September,
1879, to Sophia A. Klein, daughter of the late Richard Morden, one of
the first settlers in Brant township, near Walkerton. Her father’s
family were U. E. loyalists, and are of Welsh descent, and in former
times were Quakers. Her mother was born in England. The fruit of this
marriage has been one daughter.
* * * * *
=Honey, John Sleep=, Montreal, Joint Prothonotary of the Superior Court
of Quebec, and Joint Clerk of the Circuit Court of the same province,
was born in the borough of Callington, county of Cornwall East, within
three miles of the river Tamar, on the borders of Devonshire, England.
His father was a master builder, and for many years was extensively
engaged as such. He was a man distinguished for his industrious habits
and high probity of character. At the age of thirteen John S. Honey
entered the office of a distinguished lawyer in his native borough as
clerk, and continued in this employment for four years. In the month of
July, 1832, the family sailed from Plymouth for Canada, and fortunately
arrived in Montreal in the month of September, just as the cholera,
which had been so fatal that year, had begun to abate. Mr. Honey was
favored when leaving the office of his patron in Callington, and through
his influence, with a kind letter of introduction from Sir William
Pratts Call, baronet, to Lord Aylmer, then governor of Lower Canada. In
December following his arrival, Mr. Honey had the good fortune to find
employment in the office of Monk & Morrough, the joint prothonotaries of
the then Court of King’s Bench. He was first employed as enquette clerk,
and at the end of the engagement, which lasted only about a week, he
became clerk in the inferior term of the Court of King’s Bench, whence,
after two weeks’ service in this office, he was promoted to the
permanent staff of the Court of King’s Bench. In six months after his
promotion he was articled for five years as a law student in the office
of the prothonotaries, who were both lawyers, and at the end of his term
was duly admitted to the bar, but as his services in the department were
considered valuable by the prothonotaries, and his salary having been
handsomely augmented, he declined to enter upon the practice of his
profession. In the course of four years Mr. Honey’s administrative
capacity effected many important changes in the office, which continue
in operation to the present period. The most valuable of these
improvements was the introduction of the Court Book, known as the
“Repertoire,” in which he embodied particulars of the cases which had
been instituted since 1827. This laborious work was performed after
office hours, and extended over a period of twelve months. It was
presented to the prothonotaries on the 1st of January, 1837, and was so
highly appreciated by the authorities of the court, the bar and even the
mercantile community, that a handsome gift in money was handed by the
prothonotaries to Mr. Honey. In 1850 the fees of the court in Lower
Canada were ordered by law to be funded. About the same period, under
another enactment, further decentralization of the administration of
justice took place, which, by establishing several courts in new
localities, so reduced the fees in all the old districts that the
government was obliged to pay from the general revenue a large amount
annually to meet deficiencies. In order to remedy this defect in the
working of these several courts, Mr. Honey submitted to the government
in the year 1860 a re-adjustment of the Montreal tariff of fees for the
Superior Court, which was adopted in 1861, and extended uniformly to all
the districts. As a result of this change, instead of a deficiency in
the district of Montreal of $5,932 in the year 1857, there was an annual
surplus, the amount of the year 1874 not being less than $6,825. In the
year 1862 Mr. Honey rendered important services to the legal profession
by the publication of a “Table of Fees and Disbursements Payable to
Attorneys and Officers of the Courts in Suits at Law”; also “Rules of
Practice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, and Tariffs of Fees for
Registrars, Advocates, and Officers of the Courts, including Schedule of
Taxes upon Proceedings in Courts of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction in
Lower Canada.” In the year 1834, on the death of Mr. Morrough, he was
appointed deputy prothonotary of the Superior and Circuit Courts, and so
continued till the year 1865, when, upon the demise of Mr. Monk, he
received the appointment of joint prothonotary, and this office he still
continues to fill.
* * * * *
=Dessaint, Major Alexander=, LL.B., Kamouraska, Quebec province, M.P.
for Kamouraska, was born at Kamouraska, on the 16th July, 1847. He
received the beginning of a first-class collegiate training in the
College at St. Anne’s, whence he graduated to the larger and more
advanced institution at Three Rivers, proving himself an apt scholar.
His parents determined to fit him for the practice of the law, and he
entered upon the reading for that profession at Laval University. He
completed his college course in Victoria University. He was called to
the bar of his native province when but twenty-one years of age, and
began practice in Kamouraska. In 1873 he married Marie Blanche Henriette
Paradis. His father, having been a prominent merchant of Kamouraska, Mr.
Dessaint, from his entrance upon man’s estate was one of the leading
citizens of the place, and his natural abilities enabled him to improve
the advantages of his position. Having a taste for military affairs, he
connected himself with the 88th battalion, of which, he soon became
major, which rank he still retains. He has been over and over again
elected mayor of Kamouraska, and is a commissioner of the Superior Court
for the county. Being a public-spirited citizen, he naturally took an
interest in public affairs. He allied himself with the Liberal party, of
which he soon became one of the leading spirits for the district. The
county had for a long time been a close one, and the contests were
proportionately arduous. In 1882, Mr. Blondeau, a Conservative, was
elected and sat out his term; but when the general election of 1887 was
called, Mr. Dessaint was nominated as the Liberal standard-bearer. Being
successful in the contest, he entered parliament with the _éclat_ of one
who had “redeemed” a seat from the opposing party. In his brief
parliamentary career, Mr. Dessaint has proved himself one of the most
scholarly and thoughtful members of the Liberal opposition. He is an
able speaker also, as was shown by his contribution to the debate on
unrestricted reciprocity with the United States, which took place during
the session of 1888.
* * * * *
=Honan, Martin=, Barrister, Three Rivers, Quebec province, was born in
1845, at Fermoy, Cork county, Ireland. His parents were Kernon Honan,
and Mary Burns. His father was a corporal in the 94th regiment of foot,
and served for twenty-one years in the army. The parent pair with their
three children, Patrick, Martin and Margaret, all under eleven years of
age, emigrated to Canada in 1848. A short time after their arrival in
Montreal—having been taken sick on the boat while on the passage from
Quebec to that city—father and mother and little sister died, and
Patrick, eleven years of age, and Martin, the subject of our sketch,
three years of age, were left to the tender mercy of the world. They
were at first taken to the hospital, and afterwards conveyed by a
Catholic priest (now Monsignor Marquis of St. Celestine, county of
Nicolet, P.Q.) to Becancour, in the latter county. The little party
taken to the country at this time consisted of fourteen orphans, and all
were adopted by French-Canadian farmers. Patrick was adopted by Nazaire
Comeau, and Martin by Olivier Tourigny. He remained three years and
three months at Nicolet College, and on the 1st of May, 1862, having
completely forgotten the English language, he went to St. Patrick’s
Hill, in the township of Tingwick, county of Arthabaska, and settled in
the midst of an Irish settlement to pick up again his native language.
Here he hired as a clerk in a store, where he remained four months. He
then resolved to adopt a profession, and in July, 1861, began to study
for the position of notary public. In 1863, having been retained by the
late Mr. Parker, a celebrated lawyer of his day, to take notes of the
evidence in a celebrated murder trial then going on, he was so impressed
with Mr. Parker’s eloquent address to the jury, that he decided to
abandon the notaryship and begin the study of law. But having had only
three years of a classical course, he found he could not be admitted to
study without further education. Nothing daunted he bought a lot of
books, and perused his studies alone, and when he thought he could pass
an examination he went to a person authorised by our law and passed his
examination. Having received from him the necessary certificate of
qualification, he went to Quebec, passed his examination before the
Board of Examiners, of which Mr. Parker was a member, and was admitted
to the study of law. He studied hard, and had the satisfaction of being
admitted to the bar of Lower Canada on the 5th of August, 1867, and
began the practice of his profession at Arthabaskaville, where he
remained until the 2nd of October, 1872, when he removed to Three
Rivers, where he now successfully does business. Mr. Honan was deputy
registrar of deeds at Arthabaskaville, in the county of Arthabaska, from
the 7th September, 1862, to December, 1865, and from the latter date to
October, 1866, clerk in the prothontary’s office. From this time to
June, 1867, he followed the law lectures at St. Mary College, Montreal,
and studied under the Hon. Senator Trudel. He is a Liberal in politics,
and has taken part in all political contests since 1867. He was married
on the 6th September, 1868, to Marie Louise Annabella Stein, second
daughter of Adolphus Stein and Marie Genevieve Buteau. Mrs. Honan’s
father emigrated from Germany when only seventeen years of age.
* * * * *
=Gilmour, Lieut.-Col. Arthur H.=, Banker, Stanbridge East, province of
Quebec, was born at “The Manor,” Nicolet, Quebec. His grandfather was
the late Assistant Commissary-General Gilmour; and his father the
widely-known Dr. Gilmour, master of surgery, F.R.H.S., Glasgow,
Scotland, and now located as a practising physician and surgeon at
Waterloo, Quebec. His mother was a de Cressy, daughter of the late
Michael de Cressy, seignior, of Nicolet. His parentage, therefore, is
half Scotch and half French. Colonel Gilmour, the subject of the present
sketch, received his education principally in the French College,
Nicolet, and is equally conversant with the French and English
languages. In 1864 he entered the Military School in Quebec city, where
he took a full course of instruction, and passed a highly creditable
examination, receiving a first-class diploma, and was immediately
gazetted as captain in the militia service of Canada. The following year
he received his commission of lieutenant in the 52nd (Brome and
Shefford) battalion, in which he served about four years, during which
time he was called to the front with his company on the occasion of a
threatened invasion by Fenians. He was afterwards transferred to the
60th (Missisquoi) battalion, with the rank of senior major, and was
shortly afterwards elevated to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, a
position which he now holds. Colonel Gilmour also holds a prominent
position in the Masonic order, having entered the Sussex Encampment,
Dunham, in 1874, and was installed and proclaimed knight-preceptor of
the Order of the Temple in 1877, and past eminent preceptor in 1883. He
is a director of the Montreal and Vermont Junction Railway Company, and
secretary-treasurer of the board. He is also vice-president of the M. P.
and B. Railway, and, besides, holds several important local positions,
such as president of the Stanbridge Agassiz Association, president of
the Missisquoi County Ploughing Association, and vice-president of the
60th battalion Rifle Association. In June, 1885, the two latter
associations united in a grand demonstration in his honor, to show their
appreciation of the valuable services he had rendered these bodies
during his connection with them. The event was one long to be remembered
by the hundreds who participated in it, and was the grandest affair of
the kind ever held in the township. Colonel Gilmour is now the owner of
the most valuable real estate properties in Missisquoi county, having in
his possession about one thousand acres of extra tillable land. He is
also the proprietor of the _Missisquoi Record_ newspaper, published in
Stanbridge East, a journal established June 5th, 1885, and devoted to
the interests of the Eastern Townships of Canada. His banking
institution was established in 1867 by J. C. Baker, his late
father-in-law, to which he succeeded in 1880. Since Colonel Gilmour
assumed control of its affairs the business of the bank has nearly
doubled. Although a private and non-incorporated institution, “Gilmour’s
Bank” is known far and wide, and its numerous customers are among the
best and most prominent people and firms in the province.
* * * * *
=Deschenes, Geo. Honore=, St. Epiphane (oû Viger), province of Quebec,
M.P.P. for Témiscouata, was born at Cacouna, on the 16th August, 1841.
He is a farmer and takes an active interest in public affairs. He has
been for thirteen years secretary-treasurer of his municipality and of
the school board of the parish. He is also a director of the St.
Lawrence & Témiscouata Railway Co. He has always taken a part in the
management of the Agricultural Society of Témiscouata county, and is its
vice-president. In 1875 he was returned to represent Témiscouata in the
Legislative Assembly, and was re-elected in 1882 by acclamation. He was
again elected at the last general election. In politics he is a
Conservative, and in his county is held in high esteem. On 26th January,
1864, he married Susan Michand.
* * * * *
=Duchesnay, Lieutenant-Colonel Henri Jules Juchereau=, was born in
Quebec on the 6th July, 1845, and in his unexpected and untimely death,
not only those who know him lost a true friend, but the parliament of
Canada lost a member who, had he lived, would doubtless have taken a
leading part in the councils of the nation. He was a descendant of some
of the most distinguished French families of the province of Quebec, the
Duchesnays having settled in Canada in 1645, and held several
seigniories, including Beauport, Gaudarville and others. His father was
a member of the Dominion senate, and the mother of the present sketch
was of the famous Taschereau family, which has given to Canada its first
cardinal and one of its greatest politicians and most able judges. Young
Duchesnay received a liberal education, studying both at Laval and
McGill Universities, after having passed through a sound preliminary
training in the Seminary of Quebec. After reading a course in law, he
was, at the age of twenty-one years, called to the bar of the province
of Quebec. Being in a position to do so, he gave a great part of his
time and attention to public affairs and to great public enterprises. He
identified himself with the 23rd (Beauce) battalion of the active
militia, and became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, a position which
he was eminently fitted to hold. In 1869 he married Caroline Tetu,
daughter of C. Tetu, a well-known member of the old family of that name.
He served several terms as mayor of St. Mary, Beauce, and also as warden
of Beauce county, in which positions he qualified himself to engage in
the higher legislative duties which he was afterwards elected to
perform. He was for a time president of the Levis and Kennebec Railway
Company, of which enterprise he was one of the most active promoters. In
the general election of 1877 he was nominated as the nationalist
Conservative candidate, and succeeded in defeating his opponent by about
five hundred majority. During the short time he was in parliament he
made many friends, and his untimely death, a short time after the
session of 1878, was a subject of general regret among his
fellow-members.
* * * * *
=Duclos, Silas T.=, of the firm of Duclos & Payan, St. Hyacinthe, is the
third living son of Antoine Duclos, J.P., and Julie Philibothe, of St.
Pie, county of Bagot, province of Quebec, and was born the 23rd of May,
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