magnitude could scarcely be overestimated. His self-sacrificing
devotion to the service of his race, his ceaseless labor in
everything which could elevate and promote both their moral and
intellectual welfare, his quick readiness to assuage, with kind
counsel and help, the lot of those in adversity, and the rare
talents which he had displayed in his multifarious writings, had
won for him the warmest admiration and attachment of his people
and had gained him a reputation among them that was world-wide.
His loss, indeed, was scarcely less regretted by Gentile than
by Jew, for the prominence which his scholarly attainments had
acquired for him among Canadian litterateurs, the active role
which he had for thirty-five years played in our various learned
bodies, and the distinguished position which he held in our
leading university, achieved for him an illustrious place among
Canada’s public men.
Dr. de Sola was married in 1852 to Esther Joseph, the youngest
daughter of Henry Joseph, of Berthier, one of the earliest Jewish
settlers in this country. Of his several children, the eldest
son, the Rev. Meldola de Sola, succeeded him as rabbi of the
Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal, and another son,
Clarence I. de Sola, is general manager of the Belgian syndicate,
“Comptoir Belgo-Canadien.”
ROBERT MEIGHEN.
The history of Canada’s great industrial and commercial growth
during the past thirty or forty years is but the history of
such men as Robert Meighen one of the foremost business men
of his generation, whose intense and intelligently directed
activity constituted a potent force in the material development
and progress of not only the city and province of his adoption
but various other sections of the Dominion as well. His birth
occurred at Dungiven, near Londonderry, Ireland, April 18, 1838,
his parents being Robert and Mary (McLeghan) Meighen, whose
family numbered five children. The family history shows a long
line of Irish ancestors.
Robert Meighen was educated at Perth, Ontario, for following the
father’s death the mother brought her family to the new world,
settling at Perth, where her sons were educated and established
themselves in business as retail and wholesale merchants. The
firm of A. Meighen & Brothers has for many years been one of
the most extensive mercantile firms doing business in the
old Bathurst district. Robert Meighen carried on business in
partnership with his brother at Perth, Ontario, until 1879, when
he removed to Montreal and entered into business relations with
his brother-in-law, Sir George Stephen, later Lord Mount Stephen,
whom he succeeded as president of the New Brunswick Railway,
which now forms part of the Canadian Pacific Railway system.
Successful from the outset of his business career, Mr. Meighen
continually extended his efforts into other fields. He became
one of the founders of the Lake of the Woods Milling Company,
establishing and operating mills and elevators at Keewatin and
Portage la Prairie, which are among the largest and best equipped
in the world. Shortly after the organization of this company
Robert Meighen became its president, which position he retained
till the time of his death, directing its policy and formulating
the plans upon which the mammoth business was constructed. This
represented, however, but one phase of his activity. He
carried his efforts into many fields, none of them failing to
profit by his cooperation.
[Illustration: ROBERT MEIGHEN]
“The Gazette,” at the time of Mr. Meighen’s death, said in part:
“Mr. Meighen was a self-made man and was proud to designate
himself as such. From the day he entered business pursuits at
Perth, many years ago, down to the time he became a director of
the Canadian Pacific Railway, an institution he had championed
from its inception, in commerce, in finance and in imperial
politics, Robert Meighen was never at home except on the firing
line. Although the fact is only perhaps known to the newspaper
fraternity and to some of the leaders of tariff reform in
England, he advocated closer relations between the mother country
and the outlying dependencies of the empire even before Mr.
Chamberlain took the platform in England as the champion of such
a policy.
“Mr. Meighen was known in eastern Ontario as a clever business
man, a follower of Sir John A. Macdonald, and as a man who had
ideas and could fearlessly express them on the stump and at the
fireside, many years before he came to Montreal. It was ere his
removal to this city that he had secured, most successfully, the
right of way for the Ontario & Quebec Railway, now the Montreal
& Toronto section of the Canadian Pacific, and later on he was
entrusted with the promotion of a bill which was of the utmost
importance to that railway. Mr. Meighen was not a member of
parliament, but he stated his case to the members outside and in
the lobbies of the house with such forcefulness, such clarity of
view and in so straightforward a manner that few could withstand
his cogent arguments. It was a tribute to his power that Sir
Richard Cartwright’s denunciation of him was quite as vehement as
the thunderbolts which the chief antagonist of the great railway
project used to launch against Sir John Macdonald, Sir Charles
Tupper and the other parliamentary giants of the day.
“Mr. Meighen believed not only in the Canadian Pacific project
itself, but also in the ultimate value of the great tracts of
land lying for a thousand miles along to the north of where the
line was being run away up to the Saskatchewan, and, if he died a
rich man, it was due to abiding faith in the future of Canada’s
western domain and in the ultimate development of the Dominion
as a whole. It was in reply to a jocular observation from Mr.
Choate, the then American ambassador at the court of St. James,
who had asked Mr. Meighen when Canada was going to throw in
her lot with the United States, that the Montreal imperialist
declared that it was customary for the larger unit to absorb the
smaller, and no doubt at her pleasure Canada would follow the
established precedent.
“A good many shrewd Montreal merchants smiled when Mr. Meighen
came from a small Ontario town to this city as the promoter of
a great industry, but many months had not passed before they
discovered that both in commerce and finance a rival worthy of
their keenest steel had taken his place amongst them and ever
after, when any important subject was up for discussion on the
floors of the Board of Trade, the opinions of the man from Perth,
uttered with characteristic Irish eloquence and wit, invariably
commanded respect and attention. His fellow members did not
always agree with him, but they were always ready to admit that
he was sincere and that he spoke the truth as he felt it.
“Returning from England some years ago, when everything spelt
unrest in industrial Britain, Mr. Meighen gave an interview to
The Gazette which has perhaps been quoted more frequently by
politicians on both continents, as well as by Canadian public men
of all parties, than any other of his utterances. Mr. Meighen,
who was always a great reader, declared that England at that
time could only be compared to Athens when Diogenes, the Greek
philosopher, went out with his lantern looking, as he said, for a
man. He said, however, in the course of that interview, that the
man would be found, and sure enough it was not long before Joseph
Chamberlain was entering upon his whirlwind campaign in favor of
imperial preference and the absolute unity of the British empire.
Mr. Meighen was denounced more than once at the Montreal Board
of Trade, but a good many of the men who came to scoff remained
to pray, to use Mr. Meighen’s own graphic language. Three years
ago, when a resolution was to be introduced before the Montreal
Board of Trade on the policy of imperial preferential trade, Mr.
Meighen was particularly anxious that it should be fathered by
a leader in commerce and finance. He prepared the resolution,
called upon the late Sir George Drummond, president of the Bank
of Montreal and universally admitted to be the first authority
on matters of trade and finance in the Dominion, asking him to
move it. Sir George Drummond’s answer was characteristic of the
man. ‘Mr. Meighen,’ he replied, ‘this resolution meets my views
exactly, but the honor of moving it belongs to you and you alone
and I will take a second place. You will move the resolution and
I will be only too happy to second it.’ Mr. Meighen delivered a
masterly address on that occasion and the resolution was carried.
“His greatest energy was centered in the development of the
company over which he presided up to the hour of his death, yet
he stated not very long ago that he was shaping things in such a
manner as would permit younger men to assume the responsibilities
of management and that after the million-dollar bond issue had
been retired he would then feel that he could take a rest.
“The late president of the Lake of the Woods Company was from the
outset an uncompromising opponent of the Washington reciprocity
pact and he did not hesitate to state on every offered occasion
that the ratification of such a treaty would be a severe blow
aimed at the unity of the empire, and a decided mistake in the
widest interests.
“He was the confidential friend and associate in various business
enterprises of both Lord Mount Stephen and Lord Strathcona. These
eminent men had implicit confidence in Mr. Meighen’s business
judgment, and as a matter of fact many other men high up in
imperial statecraft came to him for advice on both Canadian
and British trade matters. Indeed, some of the best speeches
delivered on the unionist side during the last two British
elections drew their information from, and were in part, inspired
by the ideas of this foremost, perhaps, of Canadian tariff
reformers.”
The same paper said editorially: “A worthy and widely respected
citizen was lost to Montreal by the death yesterday morning
of Mr. Robert Meighen. In business he won marked success. He
helped in no small way to show the great possibilities of the
milling trade of Canada and so profited the country as well as
himself and his associates. He judiciously employed the wealth
that came to him and greatly increased his store. The largest
business enterprises sought his counsel on their directorates
and profited by his connection with them. He was a man of ideas
in matters outside of commerce, and held and advocated views
about the country and the empire with vigor and courage and the
broadest loyalty. In private life his sincerity, earnestness
and kindliness caused all men to give him their regard. In his
capacity as merchant, citizen and man he rose to high stature;
and at a ripe old age closed a worthy career, leaving a memory
that is a help to what is good and creditable in business life.”
Among his business connections, not already mentioned, Mr.
Meighen was managing director of the Cornwall Manufacturing
Company, a director of the Canada Northwest Land Company, the
Bank of Toronto, the Dominion Transportation Company, the St.
John Bridge & Railway Company, the Montreal Street Railway
and the New Brunswick Land Company. His activities likewise
extended to other fields having to do with many subjects of vital
interest to city and country. He was a director of the Montreal
Parks and Playground Association and was president of the New
Brunswick Fish and Game Club. He was likewise vice president of
the King Edward Memorial Committee of Montreal, was chairman
of the Canadian board of the Phoenix Assurance Company and was
a governor of the Royal Victoria, the Western and Maternity
Hospitals of Montreal. The Montreal Standard named him as one
of the twenty-three men at the basis of Canadian finance, and
it was a recognized fact that few men were more familiar with
the problems of finance or did more to establish a safe monetary
system. Mr. Meighen belonged to various prominent social
organizations, including the St. James Club, the Mount Royal
Club, the Canada Club and the Montreal Club.
He was a Presbyterian, a member of St. Paul’s church and chairman
of its board of trustees. All his life Mr. Meighen was a firm
believer in the copartnership of capital and labor and in the
coexisting duties, on a fair basis, of one to the other. He
realized and carried out the idea of their inter-dependency.
When labor had contributed to the success of capital he never
allowed it go without recognition and its just reward, with the
result of absolute confidence on the part of his employes in
his fairness and regard for their interests, and a willingness
to give, in turn, their loyal and honest support to capital.
Above all Mr. Meighen had keen human sympathies. He delighted
in the energetic young man cutting out his road to success, but
this did not prevent him from having patience and sympathy with
those who, perhaps through lack of natural gifts or unfortunate
circumstances, found life an uphill pull. In astonishing numbers
both kinds of men seemed to bring their successes and their
failures to him, and to both, provided they showed honesty of
purpose, he would give his time, his advice and his help in the
open-hearted way characteristic of a man who had not a single
ungenerous impulse in his nature.
At the time of his death when the press throughout Canada was
giving appreciations of his ability and of his success one of
his intimate friends remarked, “They have omitted the biggest
thing about him--his heart”--and so it was. When these two, great
heart and much ability, go hand in hand and work together, one
vitalizing, as it were, the conceptions of the other, a potent
force is felt to be abroad. Well is it for our Canadian business
world to have had such a force in its midst as the late Robert
Meighen truly was. He died when still, one might say, at the
height of his activities and with a heavy burden of work upon
him, but to work was his pleasure. His loss was deeply deplored
by all who knew him and he left behind him a record of a man who
in all things was the soul of honor and an example to those who
come after--“Follow on.”
Mr. Meighen left a widow, Elsie Stephen, daughter of the late
William Stephen, formerly of Dufftown, Scotland, and three
children, Lieutenant Colonel F. S. Meighen, who has succeeded his
father as president of the Lake of the Woods Milling Company,
Mrs. R. Wilson Reford and Mrs. R. O. Harley.
WILLIAM ERNEST BOLTON.
Twenty years’ connection with the real-estate business has
brought William Ernest Bolton into prominence and today
he figures as a controlling factor in some of the leading
real-estate companies of Montreal. He was born in this city
April 11, 1873, a son of Richard and Elizabeth (Minchin) Bolton.
His education was acquired in the schools of his native city,
and early in his business career he became identified with
real-estate activity in which connection he has remained for
many years as a well known and successful real-estate broker. He
has been identified with many important property transfers and
with important development of real-estate interests. He is now
a director of the Montreal Loan & Mortgage Company; president
of the Birmingham-Montreal Realty Company, Limited; a director
of the Midland Investment Company, Limited; of the Richelieu
Realty Company, Limited; of the Renforth Realty Company, Limited,
and of the Riviera Realty Company, Limited. These are among the
most important corporations in that branch of business having to
do with the property interests and consequent development and
progress of the city.
In Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1905, Mr. Bolton was united in
marriage to Miss Catherine Hamilton McClure and they have become
the parents of two sons, Richard and Hamilton. Mr. Bolton votes
with the conservative party but the honors and emoluments of
public office have no attraction for him. When business leaves
him leisure for social enjoyment he spends his time at the
Montreal Club, the Beaconsfield Golf Club, the Winter Club,
the Montreal Country Club and the Montreal Amateur Athletic
Association, in all of which he holds membership.
THORNTON DAVIDSON.
Foremost among the younger generation of business men in Montreal
and one who had attained a high standing in the financial circles
of the city, was Thornton Davidson, whose untimely death in the
sinking of the steamship Titanic, April 15, 1912, ended a career
that had not only been successful, but gave great promise for the
future.
Thornton Davidson was a native of Montreal, and was born on the
17th of May, 1880. His father was the Hon. C. Peers Davidson, D.
C. L., a distinguished jurist, and his mother Alice Mattice,
second daughter of William Mattice of Cornwall, Ontario. Reared
in Montreal, Thornton Davidson attended the city schools,
graduating from high school. Throughout his active business
career he was connected with financial interests, later becoming
manager of the Montreal branch of the New York house of Charles
Head & Company.
[Illustration: THORNTON DAVIDSON]
In 1908 he established the firm of Thornton Davidson & Company
which soon took a prominent position among the leading brokerage
and investment security houses in the city. In 1909 Mr. Davidson
became a member of the Montreal Stock Exchange. His thorough
capability and great energy were factors in the success of the
business which he established and of which he remained the head
until his death. His personal popularity made him a valued member
of the club life of the city, where he held membership in the St.
James, Racquet, Montreal Hunt, Montreal Jockey, Montreal Polo,
Royal St. Lawrence Yacht, Manitou and Canada Clubs, and also in
Montreal Amateur Athletic Association.
On November 3, 1906, in Montreal, Mr. Davidson was married to
Miss Orian Hays, daughter of Charles Melville Hays. Returning
from Europe in company with his wife and the latter’s parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Hays, on the ill-fated Titanic, Mr.
Davidson was among those brave men who on April 15, 1912, gave
precedence to women and children and went down with the ship.
Such an act is just what his friends would have expected of
Thornton Davidson in such an emergency. His associates knew him
as a capable business man and a most genial companion, but they
recognized in him also the strength of character which manifests
itself in the highest type of manhood when a crisis arises.
WILLIAM FAWCETT HAMILTON, M. D.
Important professional connections indicate the high standing of
Dr. William Fawcett Hamilton of Montreal, who, in addition to an
extensive private practice has done much hospital work. He is a
son of Gustavus W. and Eleanor (Goodwin) Hamilton, and was born
in Baie Verte, New Brunswick. His early education was acquired
in the schools of his native town and in Upper Sackville and
then, having determined upon the practice of medicine as a life
work, he entered McGill University of Montreal, from which he
was graduated with the class of 1891, receiving the degrees of
M. D. and C. M. He has now successfully practiced his profession
in this city for more than two decades and has advanced steadily
to a place of prominence as a representative of the medical
profession. From 1891 until 1894 he was medical superintendent
of the Montreal General Hospital and in the latter year became
assistant physician of the Royal Victoria Hospital, and upon the
death of Dr. James Stewart, in 1906, he was appointed attending
physician of that institution. He has proven himself a man of
ability and public opinion has accorded him rank with the eminent
physicians of the city. He is now associate professor of clinical
medicine at McGill University and as an instructor displays
capability in imparting readily, clearly, concisely and forcibly
to others the knowledge that he has acquired. In 1909 he was
elected a member of the Board of Victorian Order of Nurses, and
he is a member of the Association of American Physicians and vice
president of the Montreal Medico-Chirurgical Society. Through
these connections he keeps in close touch with the advanced work
of the profession and has himself been a leader along the line of
professional progress.
In June, 1897, Dr. Hamilton married Miss Janet Mills of
Westmount, P. Q. Aside from his activity in the professional
field Dr. Hamilton has done important public service as a
director of the Young Men’s Christian Association and as senator
of the Montreal Wesleyan Theological College. He is an active and
helpful member of the Methodist church, and his social nature
finds expression in his membership in the University Club and the
Montreal Country Club.
HON. MICHEL MATHIEU.
Hon. Michel Mathieu has engraven his name high upon the list
of Montreal’s eminent jurists, but has now retired from active
connection with the profession, spending the evening of life
in the enjoyment of well earned rest. He has passed the
seventy-fifth milestone, having been born at Sorel, province
of Quebec, December 20, 1838, a son of the late Joseph and
Edwidge (Vandal) Mathieu. His education was acquired under
private tuition and in the College of St. Hyacinthe, followed by
a professional course in Laval University. He was admitted to
the notarial profession in 1864 and was called to the Montreal
bar as an advocate in 1865. His practice of his profession has
been combined with active public service. In 1866 he was chosen
sheriff of Richelieu and continued in that position for six
years. He successfully practiced his profession at Sorel and
while at the bar was closely associated with journalism bearing
upon his profession, being the publisher of La Revue Legale,
together with some annotated reports. In 1880 he was created
king’s counsel by the Marquis of Lorne. He became widely known as
an educator, for in 1886 he became a member of the law faculty
of Laval University, receiving in that year the degree of LL.
D., and becoming dean of the faculty, which connection he still
retains.
It is a well known fact that members of the bar more than
representatives of other professions are prominent in
public office. The reasons for this are obvious and need no
amplification here, for the qualities which fit one for success
in law practice also prepare him for the thorough understanding
of involved problems affecting the public welfare, and the habit
of analytical reasoning is as forceful and valuable in one
connection as in the other. Judge Mathieu sat for Richelieu in
the house of commons, representing the conservative interests
from 1872 until 1874. He was then defeated but represented
the same constituency in the local parliament from 1875 until
1878. He took his place upon the bench as puisne judge of the
superior court on the 3d of October, 1881, and for twenty-eight
years interpreted law in opinions which were notably free from
partiality and bias. His decisions indicate strong mentality,
careful analysis and a thorough knowledge of the law. The judge
on the bench fails more frequently, perhaps, from a deficiency
in that broad-mindedness which not only comprehends the details
of a situation quickly and that insures a complete self-control
under even the most exasperating conditions than from any other
cause; and the judge who makes a success in the discharge of
his multitudinous, delicate duties is a man of well rounded
character, finely balanced mind and of splendid intellectual
attainments. That Judge Mathieu is regarded as such a jurist is
a uniformly accepted fact. He figured also in public life as a
royal commissioner to inquire into certain matters concerning
the good government of the province in 1892. He presided at
the celebrated Shortis case for murder in the ’90s; in 1910 he
lectured on the Canadian constitution and in July of that year
he was appointed a royal commissioner to revise, consolidate and
modify the municipal code of Quebec.