lots on the island of Montreal. He is a director of La Société
du Boulevard Pie IX, Limitée and of Salmon River Gold Fields
and of the Montreal Consolidated Real Estate and Investments,
Limited. His connection therewith has resulted in bringing him
good financial returns, while in his profession he is making
continuous advancement.
On the 9th of October, 1905, Mr. Couture was married to Miss
Mathilda Ida Lachapelle, a daughter of Alfred and Mathilde
(Beauchamp) Lachapelle, the former in his life time a merchant
of Montreal. Mrs. Couture died at Maisonneuve, at the age of
twenty-seven years, on the 17th of December, 1913, leaving no
issue. Mr. Couture is a member of the Roman Catholic church
and in politics he was formerly a conservative but became a
nationalist as he did not approve of the naval policies of either
the liberal or conservative parties. He is still, however, a
member of the Montreal Liberal-Conservative Club. He was for
three years recording secretary of Court Gounod No. 3240, I. O.
F., of which he is now deputy chief.
HON. J. O. VILLENEUVE.
The name of Hon. J. O. Villeneuve is inseparably interwoven
with the history of Montreal and its progress. Modesty at all
times characterized his bearing and simplicity his habits, yet
the sterling worth of his character and the high order of his
ability brought him to a position of leadership in connection
with municipal and provincial affairs. He labored untiringly for
the best interests of Montreal while acting as chief executive
of the city and was equally faithful in his support of matters
relating to the provincial welfare when serving as senator. A
native of the county of Terrebonne, he was born at Ste. Anne des
Plaines, on the 4th of March, 1837, and his life record covered
the intervening period to the 27th of June, 1901, when he passed
away at the age of sixty-four years. He was but a young lad at
the time of the removal of his father, Octave Villeneuve, and
the family to Montreal, so that he was indebted to the school
system of this city for his educational opportunities. He started
in the business world as clerk in a dry-goods store in 1853,
when a youth of sixteen years, and his traits of loyalty and
faithfulness were manifest from the beginning, as is evidenced
by the fact that he remained with one establishment until 1865.
Ambitious to engage in business on his own account, he carefully
saved his earnings until his industry and economy had brought him
sufficient capital to enable him to open a grocery store at Mile
End. There he conducted business for some time and subsequently
founded the wholesale grocery house of J. O. Villeneuve &
Company, which rapidly gained patronage and a high and well
merited reputation in commercial circles. He was a farsighted
man and one who on recognizing a public need at once sought
to meet it. Realizing the lack of communication between the
extreme northern section of Montreal and the outlying parishes,
he established an omnibus route in 1860 between Mile End,
Terrebonne, Sault au Récollet and New Glasgow, which he later
sold to the Montreal Street Railway when it seemed feasible to
extend the railway lines into that section.
Mr. Villeneuve was frequently called to public office and it is
a notable fact in his career that no public trust reposed in
him was ever betrayed in the slightest degree. For more than
seventeen years he was mayor of St. Jean Baptiste village and
again, when the organization of the town took place, he served
for four years more, carefully guiding the interests of village
and town so as to bring about needed reforms and improvements.
Following the annexation to the city in 1885 he represented
St. Jean Baptiste ward from that date until 1894 in the city
council and as a member of the finance committee his experience
in financial matters was found to be of great service to the
public. Higher official honors awaited him, however, for in 1894
he was elected Montreal’s mayor and filled that position for two
years, proving a capable executive and one who most carefully and
systematically safeguarded the public interests. For eighteen
years he served as warden of the county of Hochelaga and in 1886
was elected to represent that county in the Quebec legislature,
where his record was so commendable that he was reelected in
1890 and again in 1892. In 1888 he was made a member of the
harbor commission and served for several years on that body.
In January, 1896, he succeeded the late Hon. Joseph Tasse as
senator for the De Salaberry division. All this, however, did
not cover the many phases of his activity. For many years he was
a member of the Board of Trade, and he had important business
connections, serving as director of the Dominion Cotton Company,
in addition to which he had other large manufacturing, mercantile
and real-estate interests in the city. He was resident director
of the Banque Nationale and a member of the harbor board and a
governor of Laval University. He was also senior partner of the
firm of L. Villeneuve & Company, wholesale lumber dealers.
In 1861 Mr. Villeneuve married Miss Susan Ann Walker, a daughter
of Captain James Walker, of Sorel, Quebec, who survives together
with their four children. Her father was a captain in the
regiment stationed at Sorel and was a son of Dr. Edward Walker,
surgeon of that regiment. Jacques Villeneuve, the eldest of the
four children, residing at St. Jerome, Quebec, is proprietor of a
stone quarry and brick manufacturing business there. He married
Miss Lamontague and they had seven children, Jacques, Edgar,
Charles Eugene, Lia, Adrienne, Marguerite and Jeanne. For his
second wife Jacques Villeneuve wedded Miss Poitevin, and they
have a son, Jean. Eugene W., the second member of the family,
was born in Montreal in 1865 and was associated in business with
his father until the latter’s death. He brought about the royal
commission, giving a change of administration and management of
the city by a board of control. In November, 1910, at a meeting
held at St. Jean Baptiste market hall, he proposed that the
centenary of the birth of Sir George Etienne Cartier should be
appropriately commemorated and that steps should be taken for the
erection of a monument to his memory. Since then the monumental
enterprise has assumed not only national but empire scope and
representatives of every portion of the empire will be present at
the commemorative celebration September 6, 1914. Mr. Villeneuve
has served faithfully as president of the executive committee in
charge of the celebration and the erection of the monument. He
married Miss Alice Crompton, and their children are James and
Reginald. Frederic Villeneuve, the third member of the family,
is a graduate of Laval University and was afterwards advocate
in Montreal and in Edmonton, Alberta. For several years he was
editor of Canadian West and for four years, from 1898 until 1902,
sat for St. Albert in the legislature. In 1909 he was appointed
librarian of the Montreal Civic Library. He married Miss Howie,
of St. Johns. Rachel Villeneuve, the youngest of the family,
married Alphonse Morin, protonotary of St. Johns. Their children
are Josephine, Louise, Susan, Pierre Villeneuve, Lucie, Madeleine
and Andre, and they reside at No. 629 Dorchester West.
The death of Hon. J. O. Villeneuve occurred on the 27th of
June, 1901, at the family residence at 862 St. Denis Street.
Editorially the Gazette said of him: “Senator Villeneuve is dead
at the comparatively early age of sixty-four. His career was a
typical one and included fully thirty years of public service,
municipal and parliamentary. His straightforward conduct and good
faith gained him general respect and for almost a generation
he could count on election to whatever office in the gift of
the county of Hochelaga or city of Montreal he aspired to. His
municipal career was crowned by the mayoralty of Montreal and
his political work by a senatorship. He was a thoroughly well
meaning man, of modest bearing and simple habits, whose innate
worth was behind his business and public success. In his death
Montreal loses a good citizen and parliament a member of safe
judgment and right purpose.” To thus win the merit and plaudit
of the press shows that the life of Hon. J. O. Villeneuve was
one of far-reaching usefulness and of importance in Montreal. He
neglected no opportunity, slighted no duty nor passed unheedingly
the chances to benefit city or province by helpful service on his
part.
JOHN DILLON.
John Dillon, for many years one of the best known merchants of
Montreal, was a member of the firm of Reford & Dillon. He was
born in Chambly, March 18, 1836, a son of John Dillon, Sr., a
native of Belfast, Ireland, who emigrated to Canada and for some
years resided in Toronto and Montreal, his death occurring in the
latter city in 1875. He was father of two sons, George Graham
and John Dillon. The former passed his active business life in
Toronto, where he was connected with the retail dry-goods house
of George Bowes & Company. He died in Toronto, while his widow,
Mrs. Catherine Jacques Dillon, passed away in Montreal. They were
survived by a daughter, Miss Elisabeth J. Dillon, who for many
years lived with her uncle, John Dillon, who never married.
It was in Toronto that John Dillon formed a partnership with
Robert Reford under the firm name of Reford & Dillon, wholesale
grocers, and in 1867 the business was moved to Montreal. This
association continued for about forty years and the business
was most successfully and capably conducted according to
modern progressive methods. A few years prior to his death Mr.
Dillon retired from the firm, but maintained his interest in
other industrial and commercial institutions. Up to the time
of his death he was a director of the Mount Royal Milling and
Manufacturing Company and was also vice president of the Gould
Cold Storage Company. His business judgment was sound, his
discrimination keen and his enterprise unfaltering. He could see
farther than many a man in business circles, foretelling the
outcome of any enterprise from the beginning and, moreover, he
had the power to coordinate and unify forces into a harmonious
whole.
[Illustration: JOHN DILLON]
Mr. Dillon was much interested throughout his lifetime in
charitable work and among other institutions with which he was
actively associated was the Old Brewery Mission. He was an active
member of the Dominion Square Methodist church, which he joined
as a charter member upon its organization.
The Montreal Star in announcing his death on the 15th of May,
1908, said, “In the death of Mr. John Dillon which took place
this morning very suddenly at his residence, 19 McGregor Street,
Montreal loses one of its oldest and most respected citizens. Mr.
Dillon, who had been in good health, was speaking to a relative
about 11:30 today, when he was overcome by heart failure, his
death taking place almost immediately. Thus passed onward one who
always strove to do his duty by his fellowmen.”
CARLOS A. HAYES.
Carlos A. Hayes, who for a number of years was connected with
the Grand Trunk Railway, lastly as freight traffic manager,
was on July 1, 1913, appointed general traffic manager of the
Canadian Government Railways, with headquarters at Moncton, New
Brunswick. Mr. Hayes has long been prominently connected with
Canadian railway service and has in that way contributed toward
the opening up of vast natural resources in the Dominion.
He was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts, March 10, 1865,
and when a boy of seventeen entered the railway service in 1882,
continuing along that line with various roads in the United
States until the year 1892, when he was made New England agent
and, in 1896, manager of the National Despatch-Great Eastern
Line. He held this position until 1903, when he became connected
with the Grand Trunk Railway as assistant general freight agent
in Chicago. Readily grasping railroad problems and possessed of
the true generalship of a railway executive, he was chosen in
1908 to succeed J. E. Dalrymple as general freight agent of the
Grand Trunk, with headquarters at Montreal, and there remained,
first as general freight agent and later as freight traffic
manager, until his recent appointment. Mr. Hayes is a well
known figure in Dominion railway circles and stands high in the
estimation of business men.
JOHN EDWARD MARTIN.
John Edward Martin, K. C., a well known member of the Montreal
bar, was born in September, 1859, at Shefford, in the province of
Quebec. He received his early education in the public school at
Waterloo, P. Q., and at McGill Normal School, and later entered
McGill University, where he graduated with the Degree of Bachelor
of Civil Law in 1883, being the medallist of that year.
In July, 1884, he was admitted to the practice of law and
began the practice of his profession at Sweetsburg, P. Q., in
partnership with the late Senator Baker. In 1893 he removed
to Montreal and for over twenty years has been a member of the
law firm of Foster, Martin, Mann, Mackinnon & Hackett, and his
constantly expanding powers brought him prominently before the
public as an able lawyer and led to his being named king’s
counsel in 1903.
The litigated interests intrusted to his care have on the whole
been of a most important character, and he has successfully
practised before all the courts of the province, the supreme
court of Canada, and has frequently appeared before the judicial
committee of the privy council in London, England.
Mr. Martin has specialized in corporation and insurance law,
and his preparation of cases is always thorough and exhaustive,
and the court records indicate his ability in securing verdicts
favorable to his clients.
He was a member of the council of the bar of Montreal for several
years and batonnier of the bar of Montreal and batonnier-general
of the bar of the province of Quebec during the year 1913-1914.
In 1913 he was elected an honorary member of the American Bar
Association.
Mr. Martin has been married twice. His first wife, Nellie,
daughter of J. Rooney of Sweetsburg, P. Q., died in January,
1909. In December, 1910, he married Emily Violet, daughter of
James Patterson of Guelph, Ontario.
In politics Mr. Martin is a conservative, and he is a member of
the Anglican church. He is a member of the Mount Royal, Forest
and Stream, Canada and the Laurentian Clubs. He has a wide
acquaintance among the leading residents of the city, where his
ability and personal worth have gained for him the high regard of
those with whom he has come in contact.
JAMES ALEXANDER LAWRASON STRATHY.
James Alexander Lawrason Strathy, long a factor in financial
circles in Montreal, was born in London, Ontario, July 22, 1857,
where his father, James B. Strathy, was at one time collector
of customs. The mother, Mrs. Elvira Strathy, was a daughter of
Dr. Hiram D. Lee and of United Empire Loyalist stock. Liberal
educational opportunities were accorded the son, who was educated
in the Moncrieff Preparatory School, in Hellmuth College at
London, Ontario, and in Upper Canada College. At the age of
seventeen years he came to Montreal and entered the employ of
the brokerage firm of Gordon Strathy & Company, later becoming
a partner in the business. He subsequently was admitted to the
Montreal Stock Exchange, while six years later he became a member
of the Board of Trade. In the following years he devoted all his
time to the Montreal Trust & Deposit Company, of which he was
one of the organizers. He was appointed general manager of the
business and remained with the company until his death. He was
also a member of the executive committee of the Royal Electric
Company and in business connections gave evidence of his ability
to handle important interests and solve intricate problems.
Mr. Strathy was a justice of the peace of Montreal and in
official position made a record equally creditable with that
which he won in business. He was a member of St. Andrew’s Society
and vice president of the United Empire Loyalist Association.
Distinction and honors also came to him along military lines,
his military record dating from his appointment as second
lieutenant of the Fifth Royal Scots of Canada, in 1880. He was
advanced to the rank of captain in 1884, became major in 1891 and
was made lieutenant colonel, commanding his regiment, in 1893,
so continuing until his connection with the regiment ceased in
December, 1897. In 1894 he became vice president of the Canada
Military Institute at Toronto and the same year was appointed
to the staff of the governor general of Canada as an extra
aide-de-camp.
Mr. Strathy was widely known in sporting circles. As a gentleman
rider he was the winner of the Montreal Hunt Cup Steeplechase
in 1880, 1881 and 1886 and of the American Grand National Hunt
Steeplechase at Saratoga in 1882 and of the steeplechase open
to gentlemen riders. His political allegiance was given to the
conservative party and the interests and duties of citizenship
found ample recognition in his life activities.
On the 9th of January, 1885, Lieutenant Colonel Strathy was
married to Miss Margaret, daughter of Andrew Robertson, of
Montreal, and they became the parents of six children, of whom
five are living: Marguerite F., Isabella D., Alison L., R. Lee A.
and Elvira M. The family circle was broken by the hand of death
when on the 7th of October, 1901, Lieutenant Colonel Strathy
passed away. He was a popular member of the St. James Club and
his position as a business man and in military and sporting
circles classed him with the representative residents of his city.
JOHN RIGNEY BARLOW.
John Rigney Barlow, a civil engineer, who in 1900 was appointed
to the position of city surveyor of Montreal, has since served
in that capacity and is one of her best known civic officials. A
native of Scotland, he was born at Stornoway, Lewis, on the 29th
of July, 1850, a son of the late Robert Barlow of the Canadian
Geological Survey. The first five years of his life were spent
in the land of hills and heather, after which the family came
to the new world. John R. Barlow was reared in Montreal and
started in the business world in the employ of the Canadian
Geological Survey, with which he remained from 1872 until 1875.
He then entered the service of the corporation of Montreal in
1876, and did important duty in that connection. He was engaged
in the construction of water works in the town of St. Henri and
did other important duties. He became assistant city engineer
of Montreal in 1880 and was made deputy city surveyor in 1882.
Further advancement came to him in his appointment to the
position of city surveyor in 1900, and he is now acting in that
capacity. He thoroughly understands the scientific principles
which underlie his work as well as every practical phase of the
business and now occupies an enviable position among the civil
engineers of Montreal.
In March, 1877, Mr. Barlow was married to Margaret Coutts, a
daughter of the late Rev. William Darrach, and they reside at No.
78 St. Luke Street. Mr. Barlow is a member of the Engineers Club
and also of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, in which
he was elected to membership in 1887. His fraternal relations
are with the Masons, and his religious faith is that of the
Presbyterian church. His professional relations have brought him
an extensive acquaintance, while his sterling traits of character
have gained him firm hold upon the affectionate regard of those
with whom he has been brought in contact.
WILLIAM SMITH.
Clearly defined purposes and close application were salient
features in the career of William Smith, who died in Montreal on
the 14th of March, 1910, when nearly eighty-four years of age. He
was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, September 20, 1826, and came
to Canada when a young man. He practically spent his remaining
days in this city. He at first engaged in the dry-goods business,
which he followed for many years with good success. Eventually he
became a manufacturing tobacconist and again prosperity attended
his efforts in the commercial field. He also owned valuable
real estate, having taken advantage of early opportunities for
investment along that line. The soundness of his judgment and
the clearness of his vision were indicated in the rise in his
property values, making his holdings well worthy of consideration.
[Illustration: WILLIAM SMITH]
Mr. Smith was married in Montreal to Miss Margaret Watson,
daughter of George and Margaret (Selkirk) Watson of Montreal. He
continued to make the city his home until his life’s labors were
ended in death, when he had reached a venerable age. He was a
man respected by all and such was the regard entertained for his
opinions, that his advice was frequently sought upon important
questions. He was an attendant at Erskine church. Mr. Smith is
survived by his widow, who resides in what has been for years the
family residence, built by Mr. Smith at No. 56 Simpson Street and
which home stands on the site of the former home of Sir Alexander
Mackenzie, discoverer of the Mackenzie river and the first
European to cross the Rocky mountains.
JOSEPH ARTHUR BOURGAULT.
Joseph Arthur Bourgault is one of the most prominent figures in
real-estate circles in Montreal, his well defined and carefully
executed plans constituting a potent force in the substantial
development and improvement of various sections of the city.
He is yet a young man but has already attained a position that
many a one of twice his years might well envy. He was born May
30, 1887, at St. Louis de Bonsecours, Richelieu county, P. Q.,
his parents being Henri and Caroline (Loriviere) Bourgault, the
former a native of Ste. Victoire, Richelieu county, and the
latter of St. Judes in St. Hyacinthe county, P. Q.
Joseph Arthur Bourgault pursued his education in the schools
at Sorel, P. Q., and was graduated from St. Bernard College on
the 19th of June, 1905. He started in the business world as a
bookkeeper and afterward was traveling salesman, but eventually
turned his attention to the real-estate business, which he
conducts under the name of J. A. Bourgault & Company with offices
at No. 97 St. James Street in Montreal. His progress has been
continuous, and his efforts have been constantly of greater
public value, as he has developed and improved property which
hitherto had been an unsightly waste or had little commercial
value. In 1911 he developed and sold Montmorency Park including
eleven hundred lots which brought three hundred and seventy-five
thousand dollars; and in 1912 he sold a part of Niagara Garden
including thirty-two hundred lots, of which nineteen hundred
brought four hundred and twenty thousand dollars. He also sold
a subdivision on the south shore called Woodbine Park including
over eleven hundred lots. All this extensive property has been
sold exclusively by Mr. Bourgault. He is a wide-awake, alert,
enterprising young man thoroughly in touch with the real-estate
market. He knows what property is for sale, is conversant with
values and seems never to make a mistake in his investments. He
was graduated at the National Salesmen Training Association,
which has its headquarters in Chicago, and he is a member of the
Headquarters International Realty Company of that city.
On the 25th of November, 1912, in Montreal, Mr. Bourgault was
married to Miss Berthe Daignault, a daughter of the late J.
Daignault. They have gained many friends during the period
of their residence here. Mr. Bourgault has attractive social
qualities which render him popular socially and add not a little
to his success in the management and control of an extensive and
growing real-estate business.
DANIEL WILSON.