for little children, and in fact every kind of philanthropic
institution which knew and enjoyed his generous help, the list
would indeed be a long one and few such in Montreal omitted from
it. Some of his largest donations were to the Montreal General
Hospital of which he was a life governor and to which in recent
years he gave thirty-five thousand dollars; to the Young Men’s
Christian Association he gave ten thousand dollars, and a like
sum to the Diocesan Theological College.
In manner the late Robert Reford was somewhat abrupt but this
arose purely from that eagerness and energy which every move of
the body seemed to betray, and not from any unkindly feeling.
He was an exceptionally clear thinker, his mind worked with
precision; his plans were made and carried out with unvarying
promptitude and method which perhaps supply the key to his
amazing capacity for the accomplishment of work. Self indulgence
knew no place with him and to the end he adhered to his stern
habits of life, granting himself but little respite and no
holidays. From the age of twenty-two when he was made captain of
No. 4 Company in the Queen’s Own Rifles his interest in civic
affairs never waned. He fought untiringly for reforms, often with
a lack of support which would have discouraged most men, but this
North of Ireland man was not of such stuff. He was of the kind
which the hand of Providence seems to have scattered far from
their native shores, over the face of the British Empire to give
it that salt, without which it could have no savor.
Mr. Reford was twice married; first to Miss Margaret McCord,
daughter of A. T. McCord, chamberlain and treasurer of the city
of Toronto, who died within a year after the marriage. In 1866 he
married Miss Katherine S. Drummond, daughter of Andrew Drummond
of Stirling, Scotland. Mrs. Reford survives him, as do five of
his children, they being: Robert Wilson Reford, president of the
Robert Reford Co., Ltd.; A. D. Reford; L. L. Reford, M. D.; Mrs.
H. B. MacDougall; and Miss Kate Reford.
Mr. Reford was a member of St. George’s church and a stanch
believer in the power of the church to be a light unto the
lives of men. In all things he acted as he believed and so the
community is bereft of a personality of strength, of courage and
of truth.
MORRIS STANSFELD BLAIKLOCK.
Morris Stansfeld Blaiklock entered the service of the Grand
Trunk Railway over thirty years ago and since 1907 has held the
position of engineer of maintenance and survey in connection with
this road. He is a son of the late Frederick William Blaiklock,
who died in 1900, and Elizabeth (Whittaker) Blaiklock, who died
in 1889. The father was public land surveyor and head of the
Cadastral Bureau of Montreal. The family has long been prominent
in engineering circles, the grandfather of our subject, Captain
Blaiklock, having been one of the Royal Engineers. A brother of
our subject was the late Major W. F. Blaiklock, of the Royal
Scots. The family is of English origin.
Morris S. Blaiklock was born in the city of Quebec on the 19th of
July, 1859. He pursued his early education in a private school in
Quebec and upon the removal of the parents to Montreal in 1870
attended the high school in this city, rounding out his course
by receiving private tuition. He then studied architecture for
three years and in 1879 entered the employ of the Grand Trunk
Railway as assistant engineer, remaining in that position until
1889, when he became resident engineer for the St. Clair Tunnel
Company in connection with the same road, holding this office
until 1892. In that year he was promoted to the position of
inspector, continuing as such until 1897, when he became engineer
of the eastern division of the Grand Trunk Railway. In 1902 he
was appointed superintendent of the eastern division and in
1907 engineer of maintenance and survey for the system. He has
held this latter office ever since. He is one of the foremost
men in his line, basing his success upon native ability, a vast
experience and executive force of rare quality.
On November 12, 1889, Mr. Blaiklock married Miss Mary Elizabeth
Tunstall, eldest daughter of the late Gabriel C. Tunstall, of
Ste. Anne de Bellevue, province of Quebec. Mr. and Mrs. Blaiklock
have two children, Jessie B. and Stansfeld. The family residence
is at No. 405 Mackay Street, Montreal. Mr. Blaiklock is a
member of the Church of St. James the Apostle (Episcopalian).
Politically he is an independent conservative.
ALEXANDER MICHAUD.
Progressive citizenship in the twentieth century finds a
prominent exemplar in Alexander Michaud, mayor of the city of
Maisonneuve, who is an active factor in public affairs and
business life of the city. His clear insight, his keen sagacity
and his public spirit have made his influence a potent factor in
bringing about not only Canada’s commercial progress, but also
her moral uplift. He might be termed a practical idealist, for,
while he strives for the betterment of many civic and commercial
conditions, the methods which he employs take cognizance of
present day situations and opportunities and present none of
the impractical views of the dreamer. In a word, he is a man of
action rather than of theory.
Mr. Michaud is a representative of one of the old French families
of Quebec, while the maternal line is of an unadulterated Irish
strain. He was born January 27, 1868, at Back River, Quebec, a
son of J. B. and Norah (Connolly) Michaud. His education was
acquired at the Christian Brothers school and in the Plateau
Academy of Montreal. In 1881 he entered the employ of his father,
who was a well known miller and flour merchant, remaining with
him until 1885. During that period Alexander Michaud, while
acting principally in a clerical capacity, also acquired a good
general knowledge of the business in its various departments.
In 1885 he accepted a position with A. L. Hurtubise & Company,
grain merchants of Montreal, with whom he remained for several
years in the capacity of bookkeeper and confidential clerk. His
ability gained him recognition, followed by promotion, and at the
time he resigned his position in that house he was manager of the
business.
[Illustration: ALEXANDER MICHAUD]
It was then that Mr. Michaud organized the firm of Michaud
Brothers & Company, which soon took a foremost position among
the leading wholesale grain and export firms of Montreal.
Its existence covered a period of about fifteen years and an
extensive business was conducted, constituting another forward
step in the career of Alexander Michaud. However, recognizing the
fact that the field of real-estate activity and land speculation
in Montreal afforded great opportunity for profitable investment,
he withdrew from active connection with the grain trade and
entered the real-estate business. It is unusual for a man who
has been so long identified with one line of business to make so
radical a change, but the subsequent success of Mr. Michaud is
indicative of his splendid business foresight and capability.
The success that he has achieved in the real-estate business has
been substantial, is well deserved and represents methods that
have lent dignity to the undertaking. There are few, if any, who
have more intimate or comprehensive knowledge of realty values
or whose judgment is more to be relied upon and these facts have
served to bring him an extensive and desirable clientage.
In connection with his public career a Montreal paper has said:
“Perhaps the field in which Mr. Michaud was best known to the
citizens of Montreal is political. He was an alderman and was
president of the finance committee of Maisonneuve from 1905
to 1909 and was elected mayor by acclamation three times in
succession. During this time Maisonneuve has made those wonderful
strides in growth which have been the admiration of the entire
country and have placed herself on a footing which is attracting
the attention of the entire world. The part played in this
great advance in manufacturing and commerce by the city is not
a little due to the energy and foresight of her mayor, who has
brought his business acumen and farsighted commercial judgment
into play in running the civic side of affairs, the same as he
did as a merchant or miller. Mr. Michaud prefers to talk about
Maisonneuve rather than about himself, about the opportunities
there are there for capital, the splendid locations for factories
and the many other inducements which have made the city one of
the leaders in commercial advancement during the past five years.
It is an interesting subject and more Aladdinlike than Africa
diamond mines or the gold strewn coasts of Alaska.” It may be
mentioned here that Maisonneuve, though surrounded by the city of
Montreal, is an entirely separate city, having its own autonomy.
Perhaps the most unique point in Mr. Michaud’s public career
is its cause. Like many other men who had been similarly
attracted to that locality, Mr. Michaud took up his residence
in Maisonneuve but with neither time nor inclination for public
office. The city at that period had a population of seven
thousand. Twenty-four liquor licenses had been issued and the
town, in modern parlance, was “wide open.” It was a great
rendezvous for hundreds of people from Montreal who would go down
there on Sundays, the open saloons serving as a great attraction.
This disregard of the law and the undesirable notoriety it gave
the town aroused the indignation of the better class of citizens,
who, however, were powerless, owing to the inactivity of those
who were in charge of the city government. Mr. Michaud was one
who set about to bring order out of chaos and while his first
article in the local papers attracted attention, his second and
subsequent ones certainly aroused the opposition of the lawless
element whose arrogance had so long held sway. Personal violence
was threatened Mr. Michaud and his residence was attacked by
a mob that broke every window within reach. Missiles of every
description were hurled inside. This cowardly attack instead of
intimidating Mr. Michaud, only spurred him on to further action
and showed that the Irish blood in him could mean fight--not
fight in the brutal sense of the mob but with that courage that
comes of honest conviction combined with fearlessness. In the
face of such bitter opposition Mr. Michaud became a candidate
for alderman, was elected and wielded such an influence in favor
of good government and progress that from the time he entered
politics to the present he has made a most creditable record. No
citizen of Maisonneuve has worked so incessantly or taken greater
pride in what has been accomplished. That city today, with forty
thousand population, contains but nineteen licensed saloons, all
conducted under strict observance of the law. He is, indeed, a
resourceful man and in the management of public affairs displays
the same spirit of careful watchfulness and wise control that
he does in conducting his private interests. He was named by
the provincial government a member of the Metropolitan Parks
commission of Montreal, of which body Sir William Van Horne is
president.
In 1909 Mr. Michaud was the chief factor in the organization
of the Dominion Light, Heat & Power Company and during the two
years of its successful operation, before being absorbed by the
Montreal Public Service Corporation, he was prominently connected
with its management. He is a man but little past middle age and
his whole capital when starting in life was energy and ambition,
yet he has been highly successful, not only in the way of
winning prosperity, but also in valuable service to the city and
province. He gets much out of life in comfort and pleasure and
has never lived solely to accumulate wealth, but has ever been a
lover of nature and of outdoor life and it is only severe weather
that prevents him from enjoying the four and a half mile walk
daily from his office to his home. In the latter his greatest
interest centers and he is always happiest when in the company of
his family. Mr. Michaud was married February 21, 1898, to Miss
Marie Virolle and to them have been born four children: Margaret,
Paul, Germaine and Alexander. Mr. Michaud is an indulgent father
and the comrade of his children. For a number of years he has
spent the summers with his family at Old Orchard, Maine.
JOHN MILNE BROWNING.
In the later years of his life John Milne Browning lived retired
in Montreal. He was of Scotch birth, a native of Edinburgh,
born in June, 1826. His father, Matthew Browning, died when
the son was a young man and the latter, who had been educated
in the schools of his native country, came to Canada in 1852,
when twenty-six years of age. He located at Beauharnois, where
he continued until 1873 and then removed to Montreal, where he
resided through the succeeding fifteen years. In 1888 he went to
British Columbia, where he lived for eleven years, but on the
expiration of that period returned to Montreal, where he spent
his remaining days in well earned and honorable retirement from
business. He had been a land commissioner and was also connected
with the Canadian Pacific Railway Townsite Company. He displayed
excellent business ability in that connection and handled
important realty interests.
In 1855 Mr. Browning was united in marriage to Miss Magdeline
H. Norval, born in 1833, in Beauharnois, Quebec, a daughter of
R. H. Norval, who came from Edinburgh when twenty-one years of
age and remained thereafter a resident of Canada until his death
in 1856. His daughter, Mrs. Browning, has seen Montreal develop
from a comparatively small place into a wonderful city, being
ever an interested witness of the changes which have occurred.
It was on the 20th of December, 1906, that Mr. Browning was
called from this life and his loss was mourned in the various
localities where he was well and favorably known. He was a member
of a number of clubs and won popularity in those organizations.
His public spirit found tangible expression in many ways and his
religious faith was evidenced in his membership in the Crescent
Street Presbyterian church. His life was honorable and upright at
all times and he left behind him an untarnished name.
JAMES POWER CLEGHORN.
Prominent for many years among the merchants of Montreal was
James Power Cleghorn and equally well was he known through
his support of charitable and philanthropic projects and his
cooperation in affairs of public benefit. He was born in
Montreal, October 31, 1830, and his life record covered the
intervening years to the 14th of December, 1911, when he passed
away. He was a son of Robert Cleghorn, who came to Montreal at a
very early day. The latter married Miss Eliza Power, a native of
Sorel, province of Quebec, and whose father was connected with
the commissary department of the army. Their family numbered ten
children. Robert Cleghorn was a public-spirited citizen and a
man of domestic tastes, and the influences of a home of culture
and refinement left their impress upon the life of James Power
Cleghorn, who with the passing years rose to prominence along the
different lines in which he exerted his activities.
He was educated at Howden & Taggart’s Academy and entered
commercial circles as junior clerk in the mercantile house of J.
G. Mackenzie & Company of Montreal in 1853. In that establishment
he gradually worked his way upward until admitted to partnership
in 1864, after which he had largely control of the business,
which was extensive in proportion and which ranked with the
oldest mercantile houses of the city. Mr. Cleghorn, however,
did not confine his efforts entirely to one line. In fact he
became recognized as a power in other business connections, both
commercial and financial, and was elected to the directorate of
the Intercolonial Coal Company, the Sun Life Assurance Company
of Canada, the Merchants & Manufacturers Association, the Canada
Accident Company and Molson’s Bank. He served as president of
the Board of Trade and it was during his incumbency of the
office that the site for the present building was selected. He
was also a trustee of the Mount Royal Cemetery Association and
the president of the Intercolonial Coal Company. His cooperation
was likewise sought in behalf of those institutions where
humanitarian principles must combine with executive ability in
successful management. He was made a governor of the Montreal
General Hospital, of the Montreal Hospital for the Insane and the
Montreal Dispensary. An active member in the Church of England,
he served as a delegate to the synod and cooperated in its work
along many helpful lines. In politics he was a conservative and
he stood ever for the welfare of the people.
On the 14th of February, 1865, Mr. Cleghorn was married to Miss
Anna Spalding, of Port Hope, Ontario, who was born in Peterboro,
Ontario. Five children were born to them: George S., connected
with the W. R. Brock Company, Limited; C. Power, a general
insurance broker, who married Florence Fechheimer, of New York,
and to whom have been born two children, James Power and Helen
Power; Emily C.; Helen G., who died at the age of thirteen years;
and James Herbert, whose death occurred when he was eighteen
years of age.
The family residence is at No. 256 Bishop Street, and their
summer home, “Blinkbonny” is situated at Como in the province of
Quebec. The death of Mr. Cleghorn left a gap in those circles
where he had moved as a central figure. In business and social
relations and in his connection with humanitarian interests he
had established himself in an enviable position by reason of
personal worth and capability, and his name is inscribed high on
the list of Montreal’s valued citizens.
GEORGE WASHINGTON STEPHENS.
If one would seek a fitting poetical phrase to express the life
work of the Hon. George Washington Stephens these lines might
well be chosen:
“He leaves a patriot’s name to after times
Linked with a thousand virtues and no crimes.”
For an extended period he was in public life, and whether
connected with municipal, professional, or national affairs
was always the same public-spirited, progressive citizen, ever
seeking the welfare of the constituency which he represented.
He was born in Montreal in 1832, the second son of Harrison and
Sarah (Jackson) Stephens. The father removed from the state of
Vermont to Montreal in 1828 and for years was a leading merchant
of the city.
George W. Stephens was educated at high school, afterward
entering business circles. He became identified with the firm of
Law Young & Company, but after a time determined to enter upon
professional activities, and with this end in view took up the
study of law, following a law course at McGill University, which
conferred upon him the B. C. L. degree. Called to the bar in
1863, he at once entered upon active practice and for some time
was a partner of the late John A. Perkins, an eminent barrister
of Montreal. Mr. Stephens personally conducted the cause celebre
of Connolly versus Woolrych, which he brought to a successful
conclusion. The case was a notable one, awakening widespread
interest among the legal fraternity and establishing the validity
of an Indian marriage, celebrated according to the custom of the
tribe.
After a number of years devoted to successful law practice, Mr.
Stephens was obliged to abandon the profession in order to assume
the management of his father’s estate, and proved himself
equally capable, sagacious, farsighted and enterprising in that
connection. His ability and his devotion to the general welfare
led to his selection again and again for public office. In 1868
he was elected alderman of Montreal and for seventeen consecutive
years remained a member of the city council, during which period
he served on several occasions as acting mayor. He did much
during that period toward shaping the policy of city affairs and
upholding those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and
civic pride. In fact he became distinguished for his constant
opposition to wrong-doing and dishonesty, and his stalwart
support of a prudent and economical progressive administration.
From the time that age conferred upon him the right of franchise
he advocated the principles of the liberal party and upon its
ticket was elected to the provincial legislature, representing
Montreal Centre in the Quebec assembly from 1881 until 1886,
and so earnestly and faithfully guarded the public interests
as to earn the title “watch dog.” At the general election of
1892 he was returned for Huntingdon and was reelected at the
general election in 1897. On the formation of the Marchand
administration in May of the latter year he was called into the
cabinet, without portfolio. He was the organizer of the Good
Government Association of Montreal and in January, 1897, received
the thanks of that body for his “vigorous efforts and judicious
action” in the Quebec assembly in reference to certain local
measures. In 1896 he promoted a measure prohibiting indecent
play bills and posters being displayed on the public streets. No
one ever questioned the honesty and virtue of his position and
his belief. Though others may have differed from him in policy
they recognized the patriotic spirit which actuated him in all
his public service, and none was more earnest in opposition to
misrule in public affairs.
[Illustration: HON. GEORGE W. STEPHENS]
Aside from his active work in the assembly, Mr. Stephens utilized
many other opportunities for advancing public progress and
improvement. He was at one time a member of the council of the
Montreal Board of Trade, was president of the Mercantile Library
Association and president of the Citizens Gas Company. He was
also a governor of the Montreal General Hospital and of the
Protestant Hospital for the Insane. His cooperation could ever
be counted upon in support of any measure or plan to ameliorate
the hard conditions of life for the unfortunate and, as a member
of the Unitarian church, he took an active interest in all good
works done in the name of charity or religion.
Mr. Stephens married first in 1865, Elizabeth Mary MacIntosh and
afterward in 1878, Frances Ramsay MacIntosh, daughter of Nicholas
Carnegie MacIntosh, of Edinburgh, Scotland. For many years
Mrs. Stephens was president of the Decorative Art Association
of Montreal and a recognized leader in social circles. She has
accomplished work of far-reaching importances and benefit in
connection with the Woman’s Immigrant Society; the Soldiers’
Wives League, which was organized during the South African war;
the Maternity Hospital, and the Montreal Cooking School. In
religious faith she is a Unitarian and in more strictly social
lines is connected with the Canadian Woman’s Club, the Ladies
Morning Musical Club and the Royal Montreal Ladies Golf Club.
The children are two sons and two daughters: Major G. W. and F.
C. Stephens; and Mrs. J. Wedderburn Wilson and Mrs. A. Hamilton
Gault.
Mr. Stephens was devoted to his family and ever held friendship
inviolable. He belonged to both the St. James and Union Clubs and
his military experience covered service as a cavalry major until
he was placed on the retired list, his connection being with the
Montreal Rifle Rangers. One of the leading newspapers styled
him “a liberal of the old school, fearless and brave.” The same
qualities characterized him throughout his entire life in every
relation, and many who were his associates and contemporaries
felt at his passing, which occurred at his country residence, Lac
à l’eau Claire, in 1904, that,
“He was a man. Take him for all in all
I shall not look upon his like again.”
MAJOR VICTOR EVELYN MITCHELL.