A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose
1855. His mother, Ann Evans, was a native of Shrewsbury, Shropshire,
1181 words | Chapter 47
England, born 3rd April, 1800, and died in Montreal, 13th August, 1870.
This couple were brought up as members of the Church of England, and
were married by the late Dean Bethune, of Montreal, and their children
christened by the same clergyman; but they afterwards joined the
Congregational body, and the family were brought up in that church. This
worthy couple had a large family, five of whom still survive, two
sisters and three brothers. The sons are, George Thomas, the subject of
our sketch; William, a retired builder, who from 1873 to 1876 sat as
alderman in the city council of Montreal, and is at present (1887) a
member of the same body, and also holds a commission as
lieutenant-colonel of the Montreal Engineers; and Richard A., M.A.,
M.D.C.M., who is a practising physician in Montreal. He is also emeritus
professor of obstetrics and diseases of children in Bishop’s College,
Lennoxville, and consulting physician to the Montreal Dispensary,
physician to the Western Hospital, etc., Montreal. Professor Kennedy was
educated in Montreal, first at a private school, then at the Church
Colonial School, and at the McGill Model and High schools. He then
entered the arts department of McGill University, in September, 1864,
and graduated B.A., with first rank honours in geology and natural
science, in May, 1868. During the winter of 1869-70 he attended the
Sheffield Scientific School, in connection with Yale College, New Haven,
U.S., and whilst in New Haven he took a select course of post graduate
studies, including practical chemistry, mineralogy, mining, assaying,
German, etc. After his return home in the winter of 1870-71 he became
assistant to Sir J. William Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., in the chemical
laboratory and museum of McGill College. In the fall of 1871, Mr.
Kennedy entered as a graduate student in the applied science department
of McGill, and in May following received the degree of M.A. (in course).
In May, 1873, he graduated B.A.Sc. in civil and mechanical engineering
in the same college. In the summer of 1873 he was elected professor of
chemistry and natural science by the governors of Acadia College,
Wolfville, N.S., and in October of the following year entered upon these
duties. In 1881 he resigned the chair of chemistry in Acadia College;
and in the fall of 1882, the chair of chemistry and geology in King’s
College, Windsor, Nova Scotia, becoming vacant, he was offered the
position by the late Dr. Binney, bishop of Nova Scotia, president of the
Board of Governors, which he accepted, and entered upon his duties in
January, 1883. In the spring of 1885, when the teaching staff of the
college was re-organized, Mr. Kennedy was re-appointed to the same
professorship. On the 29th June, 1887, the governors of the college
elected him vice-president of the institution. In 1883 he was appointed
librarian and scientific curator of the college museum, both of which
positions he still holds. In November, 1876, Professor Kennedy was
elected an associate member of the Nova Scotia Institute of Natural
Science; in August, 1880, a member of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science; in December, 1883, a Fellow of the Geological
Society of London, Britain; in August, 1884, a member of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science, and before leaving Montreal
he was a member of both the Natural History and the Microscopical
Societies of that city. In the summer of 1869, Dr. G. M. Dawson, F.G.S.,
of the Canadian Geological Survey, and Professor Kennedy assisted Sir J.
W. Dawson in the geological examination of the Devonian rocks of Gaspé
Bay. And during a portion of the summer of 1871, in company with J. F.
Whiteaves, F.R.S., palæontologist of the Canadian Government Survey, the
professor also assisted in dredging, in the Canadian government
schooner, for marine life in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. During the summer
of 1832, Professor Kennedy commenced dredging the Basin of Minas, Nova
Scotia, with the view of studying the marine life in that basin; and the
work he is still carrying on. For several years past, as time permits,
he has been examining the geology of Nova Scotia, and has also found
time to contribute a series of articles to our scientific papers and
magazines. He is an adherent of the Episcopal church. On the 17th July,
1878, he was married to Emma, daughter of John D. Longard, of Halifax,
Nova Scotia.
* * * * *
=Adams, Hon. Michael=, Barrister, Newcastle, New Brunswick, was born at
Douglastown, Northumberland county, N.B., on the 13th August, 1845. His
parents were Samuel Adams and Mary Ann Adams, who were both natives of
Cork, Ireland, and emigrated to this country. Mr. Adams received his
education in the common school of the place of his birth. Having chosen
law as a profession, he entered the law office of Hon. E. Williston in
1864, and continued to study under this gentleman until 1867, when he
entered with the Hon. Allan A. Dawson, and in 1869 he was admitted to
the bar of New Brunswick. The following year, 1870, he presented himself
as a candidate for parliamentary honours, and was elected to represent
Northumberland in the New Brunswick legislature. At the next general
election he again offered himself for election, but the education
question being before the county, and he being a strong supporter of the
separate school system, he was defeated by about two hundred votes.
Again, in 1878, he came before the electorate, and was returned by his
old constituency; and in June of the same year he was made a member of
the government, with the portfolio of surveyor-general. This
necessitated another appeal to his constituents, when he was elected by
acclamation. This office he held until 1882, when a general election
took place and he was once more returned to parliament. In 1883, the
government, of which he was a member, having suffered a defeat on a non
confidence motion, he and his friends retired from office. At the
general election held in 1886, the Hon. Mr. Adams was again returned;
and in 1887 he resigned his seat in the local assembly to contest the
county of Northumberland, in the interests of the Liberal-Conservative
party, against the Hon. Peter Mitchell, an Independent Liberal, and was
defeated. Since then Mr. Adams has been attending to his professional
business, which is large and claims nearly all his attention. Hon. Mr.
Adams visited Leadville, Colorado, some years ago, in the interest of a
silver mining property partly owned by his brother, Samuel Adams, who is
now State Senator for Colorado, and another, John J. Adams, United
States Congressman for the city of New York, and who has a large
interest in the Adams Manufacturing Company. As will be seen, Hon. Mr.
Adams is a Liberal-Conservative in politics, has worked hard for his
party, and we have no doubt that at no distant day he will be found in
the House of Commons at Ottawa. He is an adherent of the Roman Catholic
church. He was married in 1869 to Catherine L. Patterson, who died in
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