A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1878. Since then he has successfully practised his profession in
12276 words | Chapter 183
Amherst. At the general election held in 1878, he unsuccessfully opposed
Sir Charles Tupper, in Cumberland county, for a seat in the House of
Commons at Ottawa, but shortly afterwards he was returned for the same
county to the Legislative Assembly of his native province. On the 3rd of
August, 1882, he became president of the executive council and premier
of the government. He declined the office of attorney-general. On the
15th July, 1884, he retired from the ministry, and finally, two years
afterwards, from political life. In politics Mr. Pipes is a Liberal, and
in religion an adherent of the Church of England. He has travelled a
good deal, and has visited England, Ireland, France, and the United
States of America. On the 23rd November, 1876, he was married to Ruth
Eliza, daughter of David McElmon. Mr. Pipes has spent an active and
useful life, and is greatly respected by his friends and acquaintances.
* * * * *
=Smith, George Byron=, Wholesale Dry Goods Merchant, Toronto, M.P.P. for
East York, is one of those whom nature has designed to become a leader
of men. His paternal grandfather came from the state of Connecticut,
United States, and settled near Cobourg, Ontario, many years ago. His
maternal grandfather was a United Empire loyalist, and emigrated from
Massachusetts to Canada shortly after the revolutionary war. George
Byron Smith, the subject of our sketch, first saw the light on the 7th
March, 1839, at Newtonville, Durham county, and received his education
in the public schools of his native place. Having secured a good
commercial education, he removed to St. Mary’s, and began business as a
merchant in that then thriving town. Here he was very successful, and
having accumulated considerable wealth, resolved to seek a larger field
for his operations, and some years ago he removed to Toronto, where as a
merchant he has been equally successful. While in St. Mary’s he served
two years in the town council, and in Toronto he served as alderman for
one year. Having aspirations of a higher order than that of alderman, he
began to take an active interest in politics, and at the last general
election for the Ontario legislature was returned to represent the East
Riding of York in that body, defeating his opponent, H. P. Crosby, by
765 votes. In politics Mr. Smith is a staunch Reformer, and in religion
he belongs to the Presbyterian church. He has already made his mark in
the legislature, and we predict for him a brilliant future. He is
married to Maria, daughter of William H. Allen, of the township of Hope,
and has a family of two daughters, one of whom is married to a son of
James Trow, M.P. for South Perth, Ontario.
* * * * *
=Gould, George=, Walkerton, Ontario, was born in Enniskillen, Ireland,
on the 5th November, 1827, and came to Canada with his parents in 1829.
His father, William Gould, was a lieutenant of the 86th regiment of the
line. His grandfather, who died in India, was also in the Imperial
service and was killed in one of the battles of the Mahratta war. Mr.
Gould was an only son and was educated at Nashville, Tennessee,
University, where he received a classical and engineering education.
After his college course he entered the service of the United States
government as chief clerk in the post office in Nashville, which
position he occupied for four years. The insalubrity of the climate,
however, compelled him to return to Canada in 1845, where he followed up
his profession as a surveyor and engineer. Mr. Gould was one of the
first settlers in the town of Arran, and facts connected with his active
and energetic participation in the early development of that wealthy
municipality are fully on record. Three townships of Bruce were
originally surveyed by him, namely, Amabel, Albemarle and Arran, and in
Grey county he also surveyed five townships. In 1860, Mr. Gould was
appointed second provisional clerk of the provisional county of Bruce,
and held the position until Bruce became an independent county, when he
was appointed in 1867 the first county clerk, and has performed the
duties of that office uninterruptedly ever since. He continued for a few
years to follow his profession of engineering till the duties of his
office became such as to require his whole time. In 1857, Mr. Gould was
made a justice of the peace; he is also a notary public and a
commissioner in the Queen’s Bench, and has held a number of other
important official positions. In politics, Mr. Gould is a staunch
Conservative, and in religion, an earnest member of the Methodist body.
On the 19th of January, 1855, Mr. Gould became a benedict, marrying
Elizabeth Snowden, of Owen Sound. He has had by this marriage six
children, four sons and two daughters. Two of his sons, one a lawyer and
the other a doctor, both died early in life. Had they been spared, they
would, no doubt, have been an ornament and credit to their professions.
His daughter, Minnie, married Dr. John Gardner, who, at one time, held
the position of court physician to the king of the Fiji Islands. Mr.
Gould is a courteous, talented and obliging man, thoroughly conversant
with all the details of his business, while in private life he is one of
the most popular and highly esteemed citizens of Walkerton.
* * * * *
=Moore, Dennis=, Hamilton. By the death of Mr. Moore, on the 20th
November, 1887, the city of Hamilton lost one of its most prominent,
staunch and active citizens. He was born at Grimsby, on the 20th of
August, 1817, and hence was in his 71st year at the time of his demise.
He came to Hamilton in 1831, and had resided here ever since. Not long
after coming he was apprenticed to Edward Jackson, with whom he remained
until he was promoted to a partnership in the business. On the
retirement of Mr. Jackson, Mr. Moore became senior of the firm of D.
Moore & Co., which position he held until his death. His thorough
business habits and consequent success generally drew him into a number
of other enterprises in addition to his own business. Although never
very strong physically, he led a very active life. He was stockholder
and director in several manufactories, banks and insurance companies,
the principal ones being the Canada Life Assurance Company, the Hamilton
Provident and Loan Society, the Bank of Hamilton, the Traders Bank, the
Canada Landed Banking and Loan Company, the Ontario Cotton Company, the
Hamilton Bridge and Tool Company and the Burn-Robinson Manufacturing
Company. He was never neutral or silent on social, religious or
educational questions, but always threw himself into movements that
tended to the upbuilding of society. He was a member of the Centenary
Methodist Church, a class-leader, trustee and treasurer, and it is no
exaggeration to say that his death caused a greater blank there than
could be made by the death of any other man since the days of Edward
Jackson. The whole congregation was bereaved in his death, for every
interest of the church had his hearty assistance and cordial sympathy.
He became a member of the church in his boyhood; and it was one of the
pleasantest recollections of his life, as well as an earnest [missing
text] of what was to come, that the first sovereign he ever earned was
given to a benevolent object. Many kind memories gather round his name,
not simply because he was an honorable and successful business man, nor
because of his numerous and liberal contributions to the various
benevolent associations, nor because of his long continued official
standing in his church, nor because of the prominent part that he took
in the political welfare of Canada, but rather because that as a man he
always showed a practical sympathy with every movement for the relief
and elevation of his fellow-men. To secure his co-operation in any
movement one had only to show him that it was likely to do good. He was
eminently catholic in his religious convictions, and had a creed broad
enough to take in all that loved the Saviour of the world. It is not
claimed for him that he was a theologian, but such a life as his
proclaims the gospel that this world needs most. He had a profound
conviction of the truth of Christianity, and what it had proved to him
he desired all others to share. Hence he was a very liberal contributor
to missionary objects. To that cause he gave thousands, and his
contributions were not of the spasmodic or fitful kind, but steady and
on principle. It was so with educational matters also. When Canada had
not a college for the education and graduation of young ladies, he
united with others in the establishment of the Wesleyan Ladies’ College.
He was one of its largest stockholders, and had been president of its
board for several years. In his death, Victoria College lost one of its
most liberal friends. For several years he supported the chair of
Natural Science, and it is understood that he made permanent provision
for that chair. He seems to have enjoyed the luxury of giving—hence his
work will go on and continue to bless the generations yet to come. But,
wiser than many successful men, he did not leave for his will his
largest donations. For years he had been scattering his bounty, and he
enjoyed the rare pleasure of seeing the results of his givings. Many a
man much richer than he has passed away “unwept, unhonored and unsung.”
But Dennis Moore, in the unselfish out-goings of his life, touched the
city of his adoption in so many ways that he left a blank that few, very
few, men could possibly fill. In politics Mr. Moore was a life-long
Reformer. He was extensively engaged in manufactures, and at a time when
many of his old political and business associates were leaving the fold
with the hope of making money faster, pressure was put upon him to do
likewise. But Dennis Moore never wavered. He did not think that a
business man ought to look to the legislature for his profits. He let
everybody know where he stood, and he worked harder and subscribed more
liberally than ever to obtain Reform success. In 1882 he was a Reform
candidate, along with Mr. Irving, for the House of Commons, but was
defeated. Mr. Moore died in the bosom of his family. His wife and
children were present. He had four daughters and one son: Mrs. W. A.
Robinson, Mrs. Charles Black, Mrs. W. H. Glassco, Mary Moore, and Edward
J. Moore.
* * * * *
=Rolland, Hon. Jean Baptiste=, Montreal, was born at Vercheres, Quebec,
on the 2nd January, 1815. His grandfather came from France over a
century ago, and his father, Pierre Rolland, was born at Vercheres, so
that it can be seen that the family come of an old and honored ancestry.
His mother, Euphrasine Donais, of the parish of Contrecœur, was also a
member of an old French-Canadian family. The subject of this sketch was
educated in the parish school of St. Hyacinthe, but when seventeen years
of age he determined to seek his fortune elsewhere, and possessed of
indomitable pluck and energy, and with only twenty-five cents ready cash
in his pocket, he set out for Montreal. Although he was friendless and
alone, he soon made some headway, entering the office of _La Minerve_ as
an apprentice to the printing trade, and afterwards worked for some
years on the _Courrier_. In 1842, Mr. Rolland started in the book, paper
and fancy goods trades, and the firm of J. B. Rolland & Fils, has for
many years past been favorably known to the trade of the entire Dominion
as extensive dealers in home manufactures, as well as large importers of
French, German and English fancy goods, with a very large paper mill at
St. Jerome. Leaving the active management of the mercantile business in
the hands of his sons, Mr. Rolland entered extensively into the real
estate business, buying valuable properties in the city of Montreal,
besides acquiring extensive tracts of land in the adjoining village of
Hochelaga. He built largely on his lands, both in Montreal and
Hochelaga, acting as his own architect as well as contractor; and his
success is an excellent illustration of the fact that money can always
be made through judicious investments in real estate. In politics Mr.
Rolland was always a pronounced Conservative, rendering valuable aid to
his party, and his services in this respect were recognised by his being
called to the Dominion Senate in 1887, in succession to the late Senator
Senecal. In March of this year (1888), the honorable gentleman was taken
suddenly ill at his residence in Montreal, and despite prompt and
skilful medical attendance, died on the 22nd March, deeply regretted by
a large circle of public and private friends. Mr. Rolland took an active
interest in municipal affairs, having been alderman for East Montreal
ward for nine years, and a magistrate since 1855. He was always prompt
in identifying himself with any movement likely to build up the city of
his adoption, and was at various times president of the Board of Trade
and Manufactures, and of the St. Jean Baptiste Society; a director of
the Citizens’ Insurance Company, and one of the harbor commissioners.
Although himself a Roman Catholic, Mr. Rolland was one of these gentle,
conciliatory spirits, who was on the most cordial terms with all
classes—not only in politics, but in religion. He was married in 1839,
to Esther Dufresne, of St. Laurent, and had issue twelve children, six
sons and six daughters, four of each still living.
* * * * *
=Drysdale, William=, Bookseller, Montreal, was born in the city of
Montreal on the 17th of April, 1847. His father, Adam Drysdale, was a
native of Dunfermline, Scotland, settled in Canada many years ago, and
for a long time held a position in the civil service of Canada,
conferred upon him by the late Lord Elgin. His grandfather was one of
the first persons to engage in the shipping trade between Scotland and
Canada, especially to the port of Montreal. William Drysdale, the
subject of our sketch, was educated at Montreal, in the school conducted
by Mr. Hicks, who afterwards became the first principal of the Normal
School in that city. Here he received a thorough commercial training,
but owing to the serious illness of his father at the time, he was
prevented from taking a classical course. After leaving school he
entered the office of the late John Dougall, who was then publishing the
_Weekly Witness_, and also carrying on a book business. Young Drysdale
was given almost the entire charge of the book branch, which he
conducted to the satisfaction of his employer. After a short time he
entered the service of another bookseller, Mr. Grafton, with whom he
remained for ten years, and was the confidential manager of the firm. In
1874 he commenced business on his own account, and owing to his early
training and urbanity of manner soon acquired a business that is now
second to none in the Dominion. His business relations extend from Gaspé
to British Columbia. He has already published a number of important
Canadian works that are of great value, in a historical sense, to the
country at large. Mr. Drysdale, having strictly confined himself to
business, has not had much time to devote to political affairs. He is in
no sense a party man, but he takes a broad view of things generally. As
a private citizen he, however, always takes an active part in whatever
tends to improve his native city and help his fellow-citizens. He is on
the executive of the following:—Society for the Protection of Women and
Children, the Dominion Temperance Alliance, Boys’ Home (of which he is
treasurer), Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, a life member of the
Mechanics’ Institute, governor of the Montreal Dispensary, and is one of
the most active promoters of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane. Mr.
Drysdale is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is a superintendent
of one of the Sunday schools. He was married in 1888 to Mary Mathie
Wales, daughter of the late Charles Wales, merchant, of St. Andrews
East. Duncan MacGregor Crerar, a New York poet, sums up Mr. Drysdale’s
character in the following lines:—
Some are while careful of their own affairs,
And when successfully amassing wealth,
Who oft times will withdraw as if by stealth,
To render good to others unawares.
Well known to them the haunts of poverty,
Clothed are the naked, and the hungry fed,
Oft take they place beside the patient’s bed,
To cheer sad hours; to soothe keen agony.
These are earth’s salt—they labor with a mind,
Distress relieving, lessening human woe;
In all their actions earnest, gentle, kind,
Leaving sweet impress whereso’er they go.
Theirs Heaven’s reward; a crown upon each brow,
Warm hearted DRYSDALE! such a man art thou!
* * * * *
=Van Koughnet, S. J.=, Q.C., Toronto, Ontario.—The subject of this
sketch, born in the year 1832, or 1833, was a younger, though now the
oldest surviving, son of the late Hon. Colonel Van Koughnet, of
Cornwall, for many years a member of both legislatures of old Canada,
who had seen service in the war of 1812, and afterwards commanded a
regiment at the battle of Prescott in 1837, as also at the Coteau, of
which regiment, when put on an Imperial footing, he retained command
until disbanded several years subsequently. The Van Koughnet family is
probably one of the oldest in the country. Their native place was
Colmar, Alsace, from which they emigrated in 1750, coming to the present
United States of America, and settling in Massachusetts, on the site of
the present city of Springfield—the Woolwich of that country, that city
in fact being built upon their property. In the war of 1783 they
maintained their allegiance to the British crown, and the grandfather of
the subject of the present sketch was accordingly proscribed by the
United States government, his property confiscated, and he obliged, with
many others, to flee the country or take the consequences of a price
having been set upon his head. He accordingly left with his wife and two
infant children, taking an Indian for his guide, and crossed in the
depth of winter to British territory, striking Cornwall, in the county
of Stormount, then a wilderness, with the exception of a few Dutch
settlers who had found their way thither. The original name was von
Gochnat, which subsequently became corrupted into van Koughnet, the
prefix of which, van, is Dutch, and the change was brought about by
contact with the Dutch residents, who did not understand the German von,
and was acquiesced in by the family, who seemed to have little anxiety
for anything, in their straitened condition, than finding the ready
means of subsistence for themselves. S. J. Van Koughnet was named after
his uncle, the Rev. J. J. S. Mountain, brother of the late bishop of
Quebec. Mr. Van Koughnet was in the first place educated in the same old
school-house in Cornwall where the late Bishop Strachan had educated his
father, the late Sir John Robinson, Sir James McCauley, Chief Justice
McLean, Judge Hagerman, and many others of Canada’s noted men. Mr. Van
Koughnet then matriculated at Trinity University, being one of its
earliest students, having taken a scholarship as a result of his
matriculation examination. There he was a very hard worker, taking, as
shown by the university calendar, prize after prize, and graduating in
first-class honors in classics in 1854, having been sent the Oxford
degree examination papers for that year. He had also previously in that
year taken the English essay prize which in England is the most coveted
of all, and he was gold medallist as a result of his degree examination.
Mr. Van Koughnet had been originally, like his late brother, the
chancellor, intended for the church, and went through the usual divinity
course with that view. He subsequently, however, like him changed his
mind, chiefly it is said in consequence of a dread of the grave
responsibility of the office. This it is also said he ever afterwards
regretted, though some of his friends believed it was well he did, as
his very advanced views were unsuited to this country, and his course in
church politics it was thought, when party warfare ran high in the
church in this diocese, fully justified this opinion. In these, at the
time indicated, he might have said of himself, “_Magna pars fui_.” He
was noted for his unswerving fidelity to his friends and loyalty to the
church and her doctrines as he claimed to understand them. When those
troublous times happily came to an end, on the election of the present
bishop (Sweetman), whom he agreed loyally to support, though he humbly
differed from him in his views on several cardinal points, Mr. Van
Koughnet at once retired from church politics, and never afterwards
appeared in the synod, where he had been for twenty years so well known,
and where, though seldom taking a conspicuous part in debate, he was not
the less attentively listened to when he did. On giving up the church
Mr. Van Koughnet studied law, and was called to the bar in 1859, and
entered into partnership with his late brother, M. R. Van Koughnet. On
his first appearance in court he was congratulated by the late C. J.
Draper on the eloquence of his address to the jury in opening a case for
malicious prosecution, in which he obtained a verdict for his client.
After a few years he dissolved his connection with his brother, and did
a large business alone, then confining himself principally to equity,
where he soon acquired a lucrative practice. He had not long been
practising there before he was appointed by the late V. C. Esten
guardian of infants in that court, and among the most perplexing cases
of the kind he ever had to do with was that of the late Mrs. Ellis,
daughter of the late highly respected Peter Paterson, whom, when only
sixteen or seventeen years of age and then a ward of the court, the late
Mr. Ellis, the well-known King street jeweller, married without the
consent of the court. This had always been considered, and very
properly, an offence, and contempt of court, and Mr. Van Koughnet, who
was then acting for her, felt bound in the exercise of his official
duty, however reluctantly, to bring the matter before the notice of the
court and ask for direction as to the course to be pursued. The
presiding judge on this occasion happened to be his own brother, the
late chancellor, who heard the statement of facts and, with that
kindness of heart so characteristic of him, having known both families
for many years, came to the conclusion that the young lady would be
properly cared for, and, her property being judiciously settled, that
there was no occasion for rigidly enforcing the rule of the court, and
so allowed the matter to drop. This appointment Mr. Van Koughnet held
for some years, when he was deprived of it in some mysterious way he
could never exactly discover, and the present guardian, J. Hoskin,
succeeded him. He spoke to his brother the chancellor on this subject,
but he from obvious motives, declined to interfere, though expressing
himself strongly on the subject at the time. In 1864 Mr. Van Koughnet
was appointed legal reporter to the Court of Common Pleas, and soon
achieved a reputation for himself, not only for the ability with which
he conducted his reports, but for the wonderful dispatch with which he
issued them. Hitherto there had been great and it was thought
inexcusable delay in the publication of the reports of this court, and
Mr. Van Koughnet was determined that the reproach should be speedily
removed, and so it was; and he has ever since been noted for the same
characteristics in connection with the reports, both as reporter of that
court and of the Court of Queen’s Bench, which he now holds, in
succession to Christopher Robinson, Q.C., with whom as fellow reporter
he worked for several years. Indeed, his present serious illness, which
at the moment of writing we regret to learn is likely to become still
more serious, is largely attributable, his medical attendants we
understand state, to over-devotion to his work at Osgoode Hall, which it
is said he should have abandoned long before he at last consented, when
probably too late, so to do. It was thought by many of his friends that
Mr. Van Koughnet was unwise to bury himself, as in their opinion he was
doing, in the mere literary work of the profession, as that of a
reporter is said to imply, and that he should have thrown himself more
into the active work of the bar, for which his undoubted talents and his
display of forensic ability on several occasions amply fitted him; but
his inclinations were always of a literary tendency, and he has been
heard to say that he could not condescend to many of the tricks and
almost dishonesties which seemed inseparable from the successful career
of a _nisi prius_ counsel in particular. These considerations, and the
demands of a rapidly increasing family upon his purse decided him upon
accepting the more quiet but congenial position of reporter to the
courts; besides, as he used to say, he got rid of the _profanum vulgus_
in the shape of clients. In politics Mr. Van Koughnet was always a
strong Conservative, but, though no family was ever better entitled to
it, he neither sought, it is said, nor ever received government
patronage of any kind, unless, indeed, having acted as secretary to the
celebrated Royal commission in connection with the Pacific Railway
investigation is to be looked upon as partaking of that character. For
that position, however, he was designated by the late Hon. J. H.
Cameron, and suddenly called to Ottawa by telegram, hardly knowing for
what. The duties of the office in question he discharged with marked
ability, though he had never before acted in a similar capacity, largely
assisting in organising the whole work of the commission, advising on
difficult questions of law as they arose, and drawing from the
commissioners at the conclusion of his work a flattering testimonial,
from which what is above written has been in fact taken. The report of
that celebrated investigation was drawn by him, and was considered a
highly able document, covering, as it did, many pages of an octavo
pamphlet. Mr. Van Koughnet, we have heard, bitterly regretted having
given up his original intention of taking orders; in fact it was said he
considered many a disappointment in after life and many a sorrow but the
consequence of his change of intention in that respect. Among the
several distinctions he was honored with were those of M.A., D.C.L. (by
examination), and Q.C., which he was created some five years ago. Most
markedly belonging to the old school in social life, now fast dying out
in Canada—shall we not say on many accounts to be regretted?—Mr. Van
Koughnet for many years past has been little seen in society, which he
seemed to avoid, though of a most genial nature and with a vein of humor
not alien to the family. His bearing to all, whether high or low, was
ever courteous and obliging; and at Osgoode Hall, where he was perhaps
best known, he was a recognised favorite, particularly among the younger
bar, with whom in his position as reporter he was necessarily much
brought into contact, and to whom he always lent a ready and sympathetic
ear. Mr. Van Koughnet married in early life, and whilst still a student,
a daughter of the late Senator Seymour. Six children comprise his
family, his eldest daughter being married to Albert Nordheimer, of
Toronto, and two younger daughters to the only son of Sir John Macdonald
and Rev. Canon Machray, of St. John’s College, Winnipeg, respectively.
His fourth daughter is still unmarried, and two sons are engaged in
banking business. It may be added that the learned gentleman’s children
are noted for their almost phenomenal beauty.
[NOTE.—The above facts were with difficulty secured from Mr. Van
Koughnet’s family, by whom access was given, after more than one
application, to several old family documents, from which the particulars
were obtained.]
* * * * *
=Aikins, William T.=, M.D., LL.D., Dean of the Medical Faculty of
Toronto University, was born in the county of Peel, Ontario, on the 4th
of June, 1827. His father, James Aikins, emigrated from the county of
Monaghan, Ireland, to Philadelphia, in the year 1816, and after a
residence of four years there removed to Upper Canada with his family,
and purchased a quantity of land in the first concession north of the
Dundas road, in the township of Toronto, about thirteen miles from the
town of York. This was over sixty-seven years ago, when that township,
like nearly every other part of the province, was sparsely settled, and
there was not a church or place of worship in the neighborhood; the
itinerant Methodist preacher being the only exponent of the Gospel to
the people. Mr. Aikins, like the greater part of the immigrants from the
north of Ireland, had been brought up in the Presbyterian faith, but
soon after settling in Peel he joined the Methodist body, and his house
became a well known place of meeting for worship among the people of the
settlement. Dr. Aikins received his education, like his brother, the
Hon. James Cox Aikins, the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, in the
public schools of the neighborhood, and afterwards attended Victoria
College, Cobourg. After passing through that university he removed to
Toronto, where he took up the study of medicine, and was granted a
license to practise in 1849. He, however, to better fit himself for his
important calling went to Philadelphia and entered the Philadelphia
College of Medicine, and graduated in 1850 with the degree of M.D. On
his return to Toronto Dr. Aikins soon began to take a foremost position
in the profession, especially in surgery, and is now one of the leading
surgeons of the present day. He is one of the first members of the
College of Physicians and Surgeons, and has been the treasurer of the
same since its foundation. For about twenty-four years he was one of the
medical staff of the Toronto General Hospital, and is now consulting
surgeon of the same institution. He also holds the position of surgeon
to the Central Prison, Toronto. But it is in his connection with the
Toronto School of Medicine that Dr. Aikins has most signally
distinguished himself. He has been one of its faculty from its
inception, first as professor of anatomy, and subsequently on surgery,
as well as dean of the faculty. For thirty-eight years Dr. Aikins has
been engaged in assisting the young members of the profession to qualify
themselves for the duties of life; and in order that he might be the
better enabled to accomplish this, he took a trip to the principal seats
of learning in Great Britain and the continent of Europe, so as to study
the latest scientific methods of treatment and see experiments performed
that would be of benefit to his pupils on his return. The question of
organizing a medical faculty to the University of Toronto having become
a public matter, Dr. Aikins and the faculty of the Toronto School of
Medicine were invited by the senate to amalgamate their school and
become part of our national university. This, after mature
consideration, was acceded to, and in the fall of 1887 Toronto School of
Medicine ceased to exist as a separate institution, and is now an
integral part of Toronto University, Dr. Aikins being elected dean of
the medical faculty and professor of surgery in the new medical branch
of the university. In 1884 his _alma mater_, Victoria University,
conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. In religion he is a
member of the Methodist church, and takes an active interest in
everything that helps to advance her interests. In politics he is a
Reformer.
* * * * *
=Mackenzie, John Mills=, Mayor of Moncton, New Brunswick, was born at
Moncton, county of Westmoreland, N.B., on the 27th April, 1825. He is,
on the paternal side, of Scotch descent, his grandfather having come
from Scotland many years ago, and settled in the maritime provinces. His
father, William Mackenzie, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and his
mother, Charlotte Mills, of English descent, first saw the light in
Moncton, having been the first child by English parents born in the
locality in which her father and mother resided after coming from
Poughkeepsie, state of New York, at the close of the American
revolutionary war. Mr. Mackenzie was educated at Moncton, and received a
sound English course. When quite a young man he started out in life and
was engaged from 1842 to 1851 as a school teacher in his native county
and the adjoining county of Albert; and afterwards he engaged in
commercial pursuits for a period of nine years. He then became
deputy-sheriff of Westmoreland county, and from 1861 to 1867 held this
office, and became curator of the Westmoreland bank—having been
appointed to that position by the Supreme Court of New Brunswick—and
wound up its affairs. Subsequently he was appointed official assignee by
the Dominion government under the then Insolvency Act. He was by the
local government appointed to the office of justice of the peace and
commissioner for taking special bail, and for taking affidavits to be
read in the Supreme Court. Mr. Mackenzie took an active part in the
purchase of the Moncton Tannery Company’s property, and assisted in the
organization of a new company which was successfully operated until its
property was destroyed by fire. The company immediately rebuilt its
premises, but before the expiration of the second year the building was
again destroyed by fire, when the company paid their liabilities in full
and gave up business. After this he helped to organize the following
companies, namely: The Moncton Gas-Light and Water Company, the Moncton
Sugar Refining Company, and the Moncton Cotton manufacturing Company,
all of which have since been successfully carried on. Mr. Mackenzie is
connected with the Masonic brotherhood, and is a member of Keith Lodge,
and also of the Botsford Royal Arch Chapter, both of which he helped to
organize. He has occupied the position of town councillor for several
terms; and was elected to the position of mayor of the town in March,
1887, and this honorable position he still occupies. He is one of
Moncton’s most spirited citizens, and takes great interest in every
movement that has for its object the moral and material interests of its
inhabitants. In religion he belongs to the Baptist denomination. On the
3rd April, 1855, he was married to Sarah Caroline Cornwall, who is of
English loyalist descent.
* * * * *
=Gibbons, Robert=, Goderich, Sheriff of the County of Huron, belongs to
an old Birmingham family (of England), where his father, William
Gibbons, and his ancestors for several generations, were born, though he
himself dates his birth to Glasgow, Scotland, December the 24th, 1811.
His father was an ingenious machinist, and was engaged for years in
turning, finishing and fitting up machinery. The maiden name of the
Sheriff’s mother was Margaret M. McDonald, who was born in Scotland. In
June, 1820, the family left the old world for Canada, landing at Quebec
in August, and settled on land in the county of Lanark. About four
hundred persons came out on the same vessel from Glasgow, and made their
home in the same county, each head of the family having received 100
acres of land from the government, on condition that they would occupy
and improve it. Robert aided his father in clearing a farm there. In
1827, he went with the family to Pottsdam, St. Lawrence county, New
York, where he spent five years in cultivating the soil, and where he
received most of his education. On leaving here on 16th May, 1832, he
reached Goderich, walking all the way from Toronto, a distance of 135
miles. The place then contained about two hundred and fifty inhabitants,
and he has seen it expand into a town of about six thousand people. When
Mr. Gibbons reached this point he had but a few dollars left, but he had
the wealth of a sound constitution, two hands already toil-hardened, and
a disposition to use them to good advantage. After working a few months
at farming, he opened a meat shop, and for sixteen years was a butcher
and cattle buyer, in which he proved himself a very energetic business
man. After a short time, he again turned his attention to farming and
stock-raising, which he continued until a few years ago. When the
rebellion broke out he went into the militia as a sergeant, and retired
in March, 1838, a lieutenant. In 1867 Mr. Gibbons was elected to the
Ontario legislature, to represent South Huron; lost his seat during the
second session; was re-elected in 1871, serving two sessions, and in
November, 1872, resigned, and accepted the shrievalty of the county,
which position he still holds, and is an efficient and obliging officer.
In politics he is a Reformer, and has spent much time and money for the
benefit of the cause and in disseminating the principles of his party.
Mr. Gibbons has done an unusual amount of work in the town and county
municipalities. Commencing in the district council in 1848, he served as
reeve nearly twenty years, and warden thirteen years in succession,
first in the united counties of Huron and Bruce, then of Huron alone. He
was elected mayor in 1853, 1854 and 1855, and his labors in the town and
county have been of great value to the community. In 1868 he was elected
a member of the Board of Agriculture and Arts Association of Ontario,
and served in that position for nine years. He was vice-president in
1873, and president, in 1874, and his address the latter year was
ordered to be printed in pamphlet form, and was widely distributed. He
is an adherent of the Presbyterian church, is one of the most liberal
supporters of the gospel in Goderich, and has assisted many houses of
worship in the county as well as in the town. Although he has been
always a hard-working man, and is now well up in years, yet he is well
preserved; has a cheerful disposition, and a good share of _bonhomie_,
which qualities shorten no one’s days. He has been twice married, first
in November, 1835, to Jane Wilson, of Cumberland, England, who died in
May, 1873, leaving five children, one of whom shortly afterwards died;
another, the only son, dying in February, 1879. His second marriage took
place in June, 1874, to Alice Roddy, also from England.
* * * * *
=Robertson, Hon. Thomas=, Hamilton, Ontario, Judge of Chancery Division,
High Court of Justice, was born in the village of Ancaster, on the 25th
January, 1827. At that time Ancaster was the most important business
centre west of York. His father, the late Alexander Robertson, of
Goderich, a remote descendant of the clan Donnachie, came to Canada in
1820, from Foxbar, in Renfrewshire, which had been the home of his
family for several generations, since the time when the misfortunes of
Prince Charles, having proved the ruin of so many of his adherents, not
a few of the Robertsons had left their beloved Rannoch to seek for
better fortunes in the, to them, unwontedly peaceful pursuits of the
lowlands. He was married in 1824 to Matilda, eldest daughter of Col.
Titus Geir Simons, high sheriff of the old Gore district, who had served
in command of his regiment in the war of 1812-13, and fought at Lundy’s
Lane, where he was dangerously wounded. Of this marriage the Hon. Mr.
Robertson is the eldest child. He was educated at the London and Huron
District Grammar Schools and the University of Toronto; studied law
under the late Hon. John Hillyard Cameron; became an attorney in 1849,
was called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1852; became a Queen’s counsel
under patent from the Earl of Dufferin, governor-general in 1873, and a
bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, in 1874. He began his
professional career at Dundas, whence he subsequently removed to
Hamilton, where he enjoyed a large practice, and a widely extended
reputation as a leading _nisi prius_ advocate. He was the first Crown
attorney for Wentworth, and remained such until 1863, when he was
superseded by the appointment by Sandfield Macdonald of the late S. B.
Freeman, Q.C., to the clerkship of the peace, whereby he became also
_ex-officio_ Crown attorney. At the first general election after
Confederation, Mr. Robertson contested South Wentworth with Mr. Rymal,
the then sitting member for that constituency, at whose hands he
suffered defeat by a majority of twenty-seven votes. Mr. Robertson and
his colleague F. E. Kilvert, now collector of Customs for Hamilton, were
elected at the general election of 1878, in opposition to Mr. Irving,
Q.C., and Mr. Wood, the late members, to the representation of the
constituency for which they were then returned, at the general election
in 1882, and continued to represent that city until his elevation to the
Bench of the High Court of Justice of Ontario of the Chancery Division
in February, 1887. In politics he was a Liberal-Conservative and a
supporter of the National Policy, which in its main features he strongly
advocated in 1867, in his contest with Mr. Rymal in South Wentworth. He
was also in favor of compulsory voting, which he suggested as a
desirable amendment of the law, both through the press and in letters to
Hon. Edward Blake and other persons so long ago as 1870. Hon. Mr.
Robertson married, in June, 1850, Frances Louisa, youngest daughter of
the late Theodore Reed, one of the earliest pioneers of the Huron Tract,
by whom he has three sons and one daughter living.
* * * * *
=Murray, William=, Sherbrooke, Quebec, was born in the county of Armagh,
Ireland, on the 15th day of August, 1845. He came to Canada with his
parents when a lad, and was educated at St. Edwards, in the county of
Napierville, P.Q., taking a commercial course. He was then apprenticed
to the grocery trade in Montreal with Alexander McGibbon, and remained
with him from 1861 to 1865. He then went to Sherbrooke, and opened a
retail general store, in which he continued till the year 1881. By
strict attention to business he succeeded in building up a large trade
connection. In 1881, believing that he could increase his business still
further, he sold out the retail store and started as a wholesale
merchant, and his business at the present time is a large and lucrative
one. Mr. Murray has always taken a great interest in municipal affairs,
and has been a school trustee since 1876. He was appointed in 1878 by
the government a member of the commissioners’ court for the township of
Ascot, P.Q., and continued to hold this office until 1887, when, on the
coming into office of the Mercier administration, his commission was
revoked on political grounds. In 1885 Mr. Murray was elected for the
first time to the city council, and was chosen chief magistrate of
Sherbrooke in 1887. In January, 1888, his friends again elected him to
the city council, and this time by acclamation. He is also one of the
trustees of the St. Michael’s cemetery, being elected one of the first
members of the board. He is a director of the Eastern Townships
Colonization Company, and was elected its president in 1888. As the
principal shareholders of this company are in Nantes, France, it will be
seen that though not one of their countrymen, his fellow shareholders
have the greatest confidence in his financial abilities. He was also one
of the founders of the Typographical Printing Company, has been a
director since its organization, and in 1877 was its president. In
politics Mr. Murray is a Liberal-Conservative, and in religion a Roman
catholic. He was married on the 25th of May, 1868, to Amelia Moreau,
daughter of Michael Moreau, of Montreal, a descendant of an old French
family, by whom he has a family of three daughters and two sons.
* * * * *
=Young, Edward=, A.M., Ph.D., Member of the Statistical Society of
London; Member of the Geographical Society of France; United States
Consul at Windsor, N.S., son of Clarke and Sarah Wingate Young, was born
December 11, 1814, at the family household, in Falmouth, a village in
Hants county, on the river Avon, opposite to Windsor. The Youngs are of
Scotch descent; an ancestor, a Scotch covenanter, forced by persecution
to leave his native land, settled in Massachusetts, from which colony
Edward’s grandfather, Thomas Young, then a youth, came to Falmouth, with
his widowed mother, about the year 1762. He afterwards married a sister
of the celebrated evangelist, Rev. Henry Alline, called the Whitefield
of Nova Scotia, who travelled and preached in Acadia from 1776 until a
short time before his death in New Hampshire, February 8, 1783. His
journal was published by his nephew, Clarke Young in 1806. The original
in shorthand invented by himself, is now in the possession of the
consul. A volume of hymns, entirely of his own composition, was
published by Mr. Alline, one of which—“Amazing Sight, the Saviour
Stands,” may be found, uncredited, in almost every hymnal now in use.
The consul’s mother was a daughter of George Johnson—one of a family
who came from Yorkshire to Norton about 1762—and of Mary, his wife, a
daughter of Benjamin Cleaveland, who came from Connecticut, in 1760,
with the New England colony that settled in Norton after the expulsion
of the Acadians. “Deacon” Cleaveland, as he was called, was a brother or
cousin to Rev. Aaron, great grandfather of President Cleveland, who, in
1755, or ’56, came from Connecticut to become the minister of the Mather
(afterward, St. Matthew’s Presbyterian) Church, in Halifax. Benjamin
Cleaveland, who died in 1811, published a hymn book, one of the hymns,
of his own composition—“O, could I find from day to day, a nearness to
my God,”—appears in many modern hymnals. The Cleavelands are noted for
their longevity, averaging nearly ninety years at death. One of
Benjamin’s daughters died in 1877, aged 101 years and 4 months. The
consul is one of a family of five, all living; the oldest, William H.,
emigrated to Australia, George and Margaret, both unmarried, reside at
the old homestead, while the older sister, Mrs. William Church, is also
a resident of Falmouth. After receiving the best education the common
schools of that day could give, Edward was one of the first pupils at
Norton Academy in April, 1829, of whom the “Records of Students” says:—
Though quite a lad, he showed aptness for learning. Subsequently
he left the province and became Chief of the Bureau of
Statistics at Washington, received the degree of M.A. from
Acadia College, and afterwards Ph.D. from Columbian University,
Washington. He has proved himself the constant friend of Acadia.
As donor for several years of an annual gold medal for
proficiency in the higher mathematics, he is remembered with
interest, respect and affection.
He lived several years in Windsor, acquired a knowledge of mercantile
business, and believing that the United States offered greater
advantages to young men, left his native place in October, 1835, went to
the west, and settled in Indiana. There he engaged in business and to
some extent in politics. His first vote was given for General Morrison,
the Whig candidate for president, who failed of election in 1836, but
succeeded in 1840. The severe and long continued illness of Mr. Young’s
father induced him to return and remain some years in his native
province, during which period he was united in marriage to Maria Bishop,
of Horton, some of whose ancestors, the Bishops and Gores, of
Connecticut, came with the New England colony in 1760. She is a
descendant also of Joseph Jencks, a colonial governor of Rhode Island.
After his marriage in December, 1840, he resided in Halifax, engaged
partly in commercial pursuits, owning some vessels trading to the United
States and the West Indies, himself visiting for purposes of trade the
West India islands, South America and the Southern ports of the United
States. He edited and published, from 1843 to 1845, a weekly paper, _The
Olive Branch_, the first temperance paper in the Maritime provinces, if
not in British North America, except, for a short period, one published
also in Halifax, by Edmund Ward. Sustaining losses by shipping, he
removed in 1849 to Boston, where he remained till 1851, when he engaged
in permanent business in Philadelphia, as publisher of books and a
weekly newspaper devoted to American industries, in copartnership with
E. T. Freedly, author of a “Treatise on Business,” and other practical
works. Their most important publication was “A History of American
Manufactures, from 1608 to 1866,” 3 vols. octavo, edited by his wife’s
brother, John Leander Bishop, M.D., who was for three years surgeon of a
Pennsylvania regiment during the late war. Not only in the United States
but by the London _Times_ and other leading journals of England, by the
“Westminster” and other reviews, was the highest praise awarded to the
author. Even now it is the standard authority on the early history of
manufactures in that colony and in the United States. Dr. Bishop was one
of the earliest graduates of Acadia. The hardships he endured during the
war hastened his death, which occurred in 1868. Not only as a historian
and scholar was he lamented, but as the highest style of a man—a
Christian gentleman. A statistical work compiled by Mr. Young, attracted
the notice of the Washington authorities, and the superintendent of the
census offered him a place in that bureau which he accepted, and removed
to Washington in 1861, where as chief of division he superintended the
compilation of the statistics of industry, and prepared for publication
a voluminous report on the manufactures of the United States, the first
of the kind. On the completion of this important work, in 1865, he
accepted a place in the revenue commission tendered him by its chairman,
Hon. David A. Wells, the celebrated economist, and in the following year
and subsequently while Mr. Wells was special commissioner of the
revenue, he was assistant or deputy commissioner. How faithfully Mr.
Young performed his work, how thoroughly he mastered the then
complicated revenue system of the United States, Mr. Wells has ever
since taken pleasure in manifesting. The imperfect manner in which the
commercial statistics were compiled in the treasury department induced
Mr. Wells to have a statistical bureau established which was authorised
by Act of Congress, and the bureau organized in September, 1866. In the
administration of this important bureau the director failed to give
satisfaction, and was afterwards legislated out of office, and Mr.
Young, who had resigned and resumed his publishing business in
Philadelphia, was induced by Mr. Wells to return to Washington and
devoted his energies to the work of the bureau. For a few months as
chief clerk, and for more than eight years as chief of the bureau, he so
improved it that it was acknowledged to be peer of older institutions of
Europe, and the work of its director commended, and the accuracy of his
statements acknowledged on the floors of both houses of Congress and in
foreign countries. A similar bureau was established in Chili, on a plan
prepared by Mr. Young; and one in Japan, partly through correspondence
and partly by exhibiting to commissioners sent to examine it, the
operations of the Washington bureau, and explaining the details, of
which full notes were taken. In addition to the monthly, quarterly and
annual reports of the chief of the Bureau of Statistics, as required by
law, Mr. Young prepared and published several special reports of great
interest and value. In 1871 he published “A Special Report on
Immigration,” “A Special Report on the Customs-tariff Legislation of the
United States,” and other works. In consideration of these labors,
Columbian University at Washington conferred upon him the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy. The report on Immigration, or more properly
“Information for Immigrants,” was welcomed with enthusiasm, as it gave
detailed information as to the advantages offered by the sparsely
settled states and territories to individuals and families in Europe who
were desirous to emigrate to America. Tens of thousands of copies were
distributed throughout Europe, not only by the United States government,
but by steamship, transportation and other companies, who purchased the
work in sheets from the public printer, and distributed it through their
agents. Dr. Young had it translated into the French and German
languages, also into Swedish; and ten thousand copies in French and
about twelve thousand in German were printed and circulated in European
countries where those languages are spoken. The result was a great
increase each year in the number of immigrants, especially of the more
valuable classes, as compared with the arrivals in preceding years. So
valuable was it regarded in other countries that the celebrated French
economist, Michel Chevalier, in an extended article published in a
French periodical, commended Dr. Young’s book, and suggested that a work
on the same plan be prepared by the French government, showing the
advantages offered by Algiers to those who desired to make their homes
in a sparsely settled country. The German government, finding that its
people in great numbers were emigrating to the United States, interposed
obstacles to the general distribution of this volume full of
information. The Marquis of Lorne personally solicited the author to
prepare a volume on a similar plan, presenting the great advantages
offered by Manitoba and the North-West Territories to those desirous of
emigrating to some part of America. The author of the “Special Report on
the United States Tariff” was gratified when, during the exciting tariff
discussion in the Canadian House of Commons in 1879, his book was
observed in the hands of members of both parties, and extracts read
therefrom. His greatest work, however, completed in 1875, after years of
preparation, was called, “Labor in Europe and America,” 864 pages,
octavo, and was republished in 1879, by Dawson Brothers, Montreal, from
the original stereotype plates. This is an elaborate special report on
the rate of wages, the cost of subsistence, and the condition of the
working classes in Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, and other
countries of Europe, and also in the United States and British America.
It is prefaced by a learned and exhaustive review of the condition of
the working people among the nations of antiquity and during the middle
ages. The following extracts are made from an extended review of this
book by a well-known economic writer in Philadelphia:—
The work is a striking exhibit of the industry and research of
Dr. Young. He has personally visited many of the countries of
Europe (from the Clyde to the Volga), entering factories and
mingling among working men to ascertain their actual condition,
and his notes of these visits form a very interesting part of
the book. He has also pressed United States consuls into his
service, and has received valuable information from them.
Apparently no source of information has been overlooked. Ancient
documents bearing upon the employment and compensation of labor
in remote periods have been unearthed, and their contents add
greatly to the interest and value of the volume. . . . A work so
valuable as this will be in demand in every country in the
civilized world, as one of the most elaborate contributions to
the literature of labor that has ever appeared.
The press in the United States and in England, and to some extent in
continental Europe, highly commended this report, and autograph letters
were received from men of the highest standing in all parts of America,
including two presidents of the United States, governors, presidents of
colleges, and others, particularly from Lord Dufferin, also from men of
the high standing of the great and good Earl of Shaftesbury with whom
Dr. Young corresponded, when engaged in its preparation. The part that
treats of the condition of the working people of Europe, their drinking
habits, etc., is read with peculiar interest by those who desire to do
good to their fellow men. Terence’s celebrated sentiment, “_Homo sum;
humani nihil a me alienum puto_,” was adopted by the author as his
motto. Although this book, as well as the other two special reports, is
out of print—the plates belonging to the United States government
having been destroyed—yet occasionally a copy may be found at a book
stand, and standing orders from booksellers in London, Germany and
Sweden, are held by a bookseller in Washington, to secure every copy of
this work that can be obtained. In 1872 Mr. Young was appointed by
President Grant as a delegate to the International Statistical Congress
at St. Petersburg, of which body he was vice-president for North
America. Here he had abundant opportunities of conferring with many of
the leading statisticians of the world. He also improved the opportunity
of a prolonged tour of the continent and Great Britain. From all these
sources he was able materially to increase his store of general
knowledge, as well as to improve the methods of his bureau at
Washington, and largely to gather information which he made use of in
the work on labor, above noticed. Dr. Young was frequently consulted by
the government officials, and on several occasions was confidentially
employed by Secretary Fish, who submitted for his examination and report
thereon, the “Memorandum of the Plenipotentiaries”—Hon. Geo. Brown and
Sir Edward Thornton. He was also instructed to personally investigate on
both sides of the line, the probable effect of the Treaty of 1874 (which
failed to receive a two-thirds vote in the Senate) upon the industries
of the United States. The seal of secresy having subsequently been
removed, this report became accessible to the public. Mr. Fish was
severely criticised by many of his political friends for being in favor
of the Treaty; had they known why he approved of it, as Dr. Young knew,
confidentially, his action would have been commended. As Mr. Fish’s
permission to disclose has never been obtained, a secret it still
remains. This hint Mr. Young gives—Mr. Fish was governed, not by
_commercial_ considerations, but by those of a political or patriotic
character. Dr. Young’s connection with the Bureau of Statistics
terminated in the summer of 1878, after he had devoted to it nine of the
most active and best years of his life, rendering it highly efficient
and greatly useful, and to the entire satisfaction of every secretary of
the treasury from Mr. McCulloch down to 1878. But in the Republic as
well as in the Dominion, men are occasionally observed who are willing
to sacrifice public good to personal aggrandizement. The secretary was
then, as the same able statesman is now, intensely desirous to obtain
the nomination of his party for the presidency, and expected that all
officers, and the great army of custom house and other employés of the
department, would exert themselves in his behalf. The chief of the
Statistical Bureau was, as he told the secretary, a _statis_tician, not
a _poli_tician. He neither possessed nor desired political influence,
contenting himself by voting for the candidates of the party when they
were such as he approved, for he was too independent to be a partizan,
his motto not being “My country and my party, right or wrong,” as some
say, but “My country (or my party), when in the right.” Unwilling to
stand in the way of his chief’s laudable aspirations, Dr. Young offered
his resignation provided two or three months’ leave of absence with pay
were allowed, which offer was accepted, and his connection with the
Bureau severed to the surprise and regret of statisticians and statesmen
in Europe and America. Both parties in the government of the Dominion
solicited his services. Soon after Hon. Mr. Mackenzie, then first
minister, invited him to Ottawa to consult as to the establishment of a
Statistical Bureau, but before any definite arrangement was made the
elections in September, 1878, transferred that able man to the
opposition benches. When the ministry of Sir John A. Macdonald decided,
in 1878, to establish a new tariff for the protection of Canadian
industries they cast about for some one fitted to assist them in
constructing the new list of duties. The reputation of Dr. Young as a
statistician and a tariff expert justified them in selecting him for the
position. He then went to Ottawa, and his experience and knowledge of
the theory and working of Protection in the United States enabled him to
be of material service to the Canadian government in their novel labors.
Although he had nothing to do with filling in the rates of duty, yet he
so drafted the tariff as to make it symmetrical, and avoided the
inconsistencies of the United States tariff. Its successful operation in
subsequent years proved that the design was good and the materials
sound, otherwise the blizzards that sometimes are felt, even in Canada,
would have injured or destroyed the structure. After the tariff went
into operation in 1879, it was expected that a Bureau of Statistics
would be established at Ottawa. The ablest presentation of the great
need of such a bureau, and the advantage it would confer on the
Dominion, was made by James Johnson, now of Ottawa, himself an able
statistician, in the Halifax _Reporter_ of April 16, 1879. In concluding
his argument he wrote:—
The United States found itself compelled to add a Bureau of
Statistics, and the only regret we ever heard expressed is that
the bureau had not been established years ago. * * * In addition
to all these arguments there is the fact that the government
have now in the temporary employ of the finance department a man
who till lately was chief of that bureau—a skilled, experienced
man, capable of putting the Canadian bureau into good working
order without those expenditures which are the invariable price
of experience when accumulated from a beginning of ignorance.
Such a skilled man would save the country thousands of dollars
by reason of the experience he has had. We refer to Edward
Young, Ph.D., a Nova Scotian who left this province some years
ago and worked his way up to the eminent position he held in
Washington by sheer force of ability. The time, then, is
opportune; the work is immensely important; the man is at hand.
Although Sir Leonard Tilley appreciated the importance to the government
and people of a Statistical Bureau, yet he regarded the carrying out of
the new revenue system without friction as a measure of pressing
necessity. To interpret the tariff and prescribe uniformity in the
various custom houses, a board of appraisers was appointed of which Mr.
Young was acting secretary. After a few months he resigned and returned
to Washington, and soon after established in New York the _Industrial
Monthly_, devoted to the manufacturing industries of America, and the
advocacy of protective legislation. This was published for several years
and then merged in _America_, a serial of similar views. Until his
removal to Windsor he was engaged in writing for the weekly and daily
press of New York, chiefly on economic subjects, and in advocacy of
protection, in order that the toilers in American shops, mills,
factories, and mines should receive full reward for their labor.
Although not fully in accord with the economic views of the president
and the secretary of state, yet it was the particular desire of Mr.
Bayard that Dr. Young should enter the consular service and be stationed
in Canada, where his knowledge of the trade and the fishing and other
industries of the several provinces, would prove useful to the United
States government. Accordingly he was appointed and confirmed as consul
of the Windsor consular district, which embraces the counties of Hants,
Kings, and Cumberland, with parts of Annapolis and Colchester,
succeeding D. K. Hobart, of Maine, who had held the office for fourteen
years. Dr. Young spends, by permission of his government, accompanied by
his wife and daughter, some of the winter months during which navigation
on the Avon is closed, at Wolfville, where he has relations, and where
he has access to the valuable library of Acadia College. He has two
sons, both married and settled in Washington; the older, Charles E., a
civil engineer; the younger, William H. Young, B.D. (of Yale), pastor of
the Metropolitan Baptist Church. Another son who was a very able man, an
accomplished linguist, connected with the Smithsonian Institute, died
four years ago. He represented the institution at the Vienna Exposition
in 1873, and officially visited its agencies in Europe. Dr. Young
occasionally comes before the public as a speaker on moral and religious
topics. He delivers a very learned and interesting lecture on the
subject of Russia, in which he accords a high place to the late Czar,
Alexander II., for his great act, the emancipation of the serfs. He has
for a long period been actively engaged in religious and benevolent
work. For many years a member and deacon of Baptist churches, and for a
few years superintendent of a Sabbath school in Washington; and although
strongly attached to the principles of his own denomination, yet has
been actively engaged in all union efforts. He was one of a committee
that planned, and secretary of a society that established in Halifax,
about forty years ago, the first Sailors’ Home and Bethel. In the cause
of temperance he was one of the pioneers, uniting with a society
established in Wolfville in 1829, was secretary of a society in Windsor
more than fifty years ago, and in Halifax about forty-five years ago,
where he published a weekly paper devoted to temperance. His consistency
was proved by not permitting his vessels to take cargoes of rum from the
West Indies; and—the only American—by declining to partake of wine at
dinner in the palaces of the Emperor of Russia and of Grand Dukes and
other members of the Imperial family, and by declining to drink wine
with the Prince Dolgorouki, governor-general of Central Russia, at his
palace in Moscow. That his eccentric conduct produced no ill-feeling is
evidenced by the fact that he succeeded in having released from Russian
prisons twelve poor people who had been long kept there charged with
inducing members of the Russo-Greek church to unite with the Standists
(chiefly Baptists), when the Evangelical Alliance, which met in New York
in 1874, failed even to have their memorial submitted to the Imperial
court. In 1873 the Russian minister at Washington, in a despatch to the
secretary of state, asked permission to present to Dr. Young, delegate
from the United States to the International Statistical Congress in
1872, a diamond ring from the Emperor’s private cabinet, as a _souvenir_
of that congress. To overcome a constitutional obstacle, a joint
resolution was passed at the ensuing session of Congress, and approved
by the president, giving the recipient permission to accept the valuable
ring. It has the Emperor’s initials and a crown in gold and small
diamonds on blue enamel surrounded by eight large diamonds of the first
water. Although well up in years (and old only in years)—“his hair just
grizzled as in a green old age”—yet Dr. Young preserves a youthful flow
of spirits, takes great interest in the rising generation and its
pursuits, and loves sociality and friendly conversation. If he has a
craze it is the belief that English not Volapüt will be the universal
language of commerce at least, and that the two great English-speaking
peoples, having a common language and literature, and possessing greater
freedom than other nations, shall unite their efforts to extend the
blessings of civil and religious liberty to all other peoples, and to
evangelize the world.
* * * * *
=Huggan, William Thomas=, Charlottetown, Accountant and Auditor, Prince
Edward Island Railway, was born on the 24th May, 1851, at Halifax, Nova
Scotia. His father, Thomas Huggan, was born on the 5th May, 1817, at
Barney’s River, Pictou county, Nova Scotia; and his mother, Sarah
Dowler, was born on the 27th December, 1818, at Leith, Scotland. Mr.
Huggan received his educational training at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in a
private school,—Michael McCullough being master. He entered the
government employ at Halifax, on January 14, 1870, as junior clerk in
the accountant’s office, Nova Scotia railway. In August, 1870, he became
a clerk in the general store-keeper’s office; in August, 1871,
time-keeper and clerk in the mechanical superintendent’s office, and in
November, 1871, clerk in the audit office. Upon the amalgamation of the
Nova Scotia Railway with the Intercolonial and European and North
American railways in November, 1872, under the name of the
Intercolonial, he was transferred to Moncton, New Brunswick, on the 27th
of that month, as clerk in the audit office of the road. In October,
1873, he became clerk in the local store of the Intercolonial Railway;
February, 1874, clerk in the general store-keeper’s office; April, 1874,
clerk in the mechanical superintendent’s office; July, 1874, clerk in
the accountant’s office, and in November, 1875, he was appointed chief
clerk in the accountant’s office. On the 1st of July, 1882, he was made
accountant and auditor of the Prince Edward Island Railway, with charge
of the general ticket department, which office he now holds. During the
period covered above he served in the various capacities of
station-master, paymaster, cashier, etc. In January, 1881, he became
connected with St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Moncton, N.B., since
which time he has been a Sabbath-school teacher. In March, 1882, he was
ordained an elder of this church, and afterward taking up his abode in
Charlottetown, was elected to same position, that of elder in Zion
Church. Mr. Huggan has also served as manager in the former church, and
as a trustee and treasurer in the latter congregation. While always a
total abstainer, he became a charter member of Orient Division, No. 161,
Sons of Temperance, in September, 1886, since which time, he has twice
served as financial scribe. He served five years in the first battery
Halifax Volunteer Artillery. He was married, October 25th, 1875, to
Sarah L., eldest daughter of William E. Weldon, of Moncton, N.B., and
Margaret A. Church, of Point Du Bute, N.B.
* * * * *
=Brymner, Douglas=, Ottawa, Historical Archivist of the Dominion, was
born in Greenock, Scotland, in 1823. He is the fourth son of Alexander
Brymner, banker, originally from Stirling, where the family held for
many years, a prominent position. The elder Brymner was a man of fine
intellectual attainments, an enthusiast in letters, and refined in his
tastes and feelings. He had great influence over his children, and took
every opportunity to instil into their minds a hearty love for
literature in all its branches. They had the additional advantage of
frequent intercourse with living men of letters, and their acquaintance
with the writings of the most eminent and esteemed authors of the time
soon became extensive. The mother of Douglas Brymner was Elizabeth
Fairlie, daughter of John Fairlie, merchant in Greenock, who died at an
early age, leaving his widow and family in comfortable circumstances.
The subject of our sketch was educated at the Greenock Grammar School,
where, under the skilful tuition of Dr. Brown, he mastered the classics
and higher branches of study. After leaving school, Mr. Brymner received
a thorough mercantile training. He began business on his own account,
and subsequently admitted his brother, Graham, as a partner, on the
return of the latter from the West Indies, where he had been engaged for
some years. The brothers were highly successful, the younger filling, in
later years, several important offices, such as justice of the peace for
the county of Renfrew, and chairman of the Sanitary Commission for his
native town. He died in 1885, from typhus fever, contracted in the
discharge of his duties as chairman, universally regretted by all. In
1853, Mr. Brymner married Jean Thomson (who died in 1884), daughter of
William Thomson, of Hill End, by whom he had nine children, six of whom
survive. The eldest of these is William, a rising artist of an excellent
school, who has studied for several years in the best studios of Paris,
and whose recent exhibits have received general praise. The second son,
George Douglas, is one of the accountants in the Bank of Montreal, and
James, the third son, is in the Northwest. Two daughters and a son are
at home. In consequence of ill health, induced by close application to
business, Mr. Brymner was compelled to retire from the partnership in
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