Daniel Wilson in a number of the larger and more substantial
buildings of the city, where for a long period he engaged in the
business of general contracting. He was born in Avoch, Scotland,
March 2, 1827, and was in the seventy-ninth year of his age when
he passed away. He had been a resident of Canada since 1853,
having come to the Dominion to take charge of stone quarries
at Pointe Claire for the construction of the Victoria bridge.
After the completion of the bridge he entered upon the work of
general contracting and erected many of the largest buildings of
Montreal, including the Royal Insurance building, Molson’s Bank,
the Merchants Bank, the Mutual Telegraph building, the Erskine
church, the Windsor Hotel, and others. He retired from business
about 1886, having met with notable success that brought him a
gratifying income.
Mr. Wilson was prominent in public affairs. For eight years
he represented St. Antoine ward in the city council and was
interested and active in support of various projects which have
had to do with the welfare and upbuilding of this city. He was
also Protestant school commissioner for a number of years and
aside from positions having to do with the public service he
was connected officially with various charitable and benevolent
projects. For six years he was on the board of the Outdoor Relief
and the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, was a life governor
of the General Hospital and a trustee of Mount Royal Cemetery
Association. He was also one of the oldest members and for eleven
years a deacon and twelve years elder of the Crescent Street
Presbyterian church and when other interests left him leisure
for sports, he enjoyed curling and became one of the founders of
the Caledonia Curling Club.
Mr. Wilson was married in Scotland to Miss Margaret Stephen,
who died in Montreal in 1856, being the mother of two children:
James, a resident of Montreal; and Margaret, the widow of Henry
Downs, of St. Paul, Minnesota. In Montreal, in 1858, Mr. Wilson
married Miss Catherine MacGregor, a daughter of Daniel MacGregor,
and to this union six children were born: Robert, a contractor
residing in Vancouver; Lillias Ann, who died in young girlhood;
Lillias Isabella, the wife of Peter C. Small, of Vancouver;
Christina, who married James Sutherland and died in Montreal in
1896; Kate, who is Mrs. William A. Coates, of Montreal; and John
William, a contractor of Montreal.
On the 14th of February, 1906, Daniel Wilson was called from this
life, leaving behind him a record of many good deeds undertaken
for the benefit of his fellowmen and consummated in following the
highest ideals of manhood and responsibility toward those with
whom and for whom he lived.
ARTHUR ECREMENT, B. A.
Arthur Ecrement, who for many years has figured prominently
in the public life of the province and is a well known
representative of the notarial profession, was born at St.
Gabriel de Brandon, on the 29th of June, 1879. Liberal
educational opportunities were accorded him and after attending
Montreal College and Laval University he entered upon public
life. In fact his activities have always been of a public or
semi-public character and his labors have been of far-reaching
and beneficial effect. For five years he was secretary to the
Hon. R. Dandurand, speaker of the senate, and he was also
secretary of the liberal organization of the district of
Montreal. He was first elected to the house of commons in 1908,
in the liberal interests, and his efforts as a member of that
body have been pursued with a singleness of purpose in the
interest of general progress and good government. He brings to
bear in the discharge of his duties executive ability, keen
insight into the situation and a loyalty to the public good that
is above question.
REV. FRANK CHARTERS.
One of the most popular and able ministers in the Anglican church
in eastern Canada is Rev. Frank Charters, who for the past
seventeen years has done earnest and zealous work as rector of
St. Simon’s church, Montreal. He is a man of force, experience
and capacity, high in his ideals, earnest in his purposes and
straightforward in his methods, and his labors have been potent
forces in the spread of the doctrines in which he believes and in
the promotion of the moral development of the community in which
he resides.
Dr. Charters was born in Montreal, March 16, 1865, and acquired
his preliminary education at Arnold school and Fettis College. He
afterward entered McGill University, from which he was graduated
with the class of 1888. In the same year he completed a course
in the Montreal Diocesan College, and in 1911 he was given the
honorary degree of D. C. L. from the University of Bishop’s
College in Lennoxville. He is a governor of the Montreal Diocesan
College and a member of the corporation of the University of
Bishop’s College. He was ordained deacon in the Anglican church
in 1888 and received full orders in the following year, going
immediately afterward to Iron Hill and West Brome, Quebec,
of which he became Incumbent. In 1896 he was transferred to
Montreal, and here since that time he has done earnest and
capable work as rector of St. Simon’s parish. This congregation
was organized in 1892 and the church building erected in the same
year by Dean Carmichael. Rev. Samuel Massey was first pastor and
officiated until the spring of 1896, Dr. Charters succeeding
him. The latter has proved a capable and efficient rector, fully
conscious of the obligations and responsibilities which devolve
upon him, and he has accomplished in the course of years a great
deal of consecrated work among his people, whose love he holds in
large measure. He is, moreover, a man of good business ability
and foresight, and the affairs of his parish have been ably
administered and the funds carefully conserved. Dr. Charters
has two hundred and seventy-five families under his charge and
manages a church property valued at fifty thousand dollars. He is
very popular among people of all denominations in Montreal and
his unostentatious life, filled with well directed and zealous
labor and characterized by earnest personal service, has brought
him the esteem and confidence of all who are associated with him.
JOHN T. WILSON.
The life record of John T. Wilson spanned sixty-four years. He
was born in Greenup, Scotland, February 9, 1841, and died in
Montreal on the 23d of February, 1905. His parents were John and
Mary (Thomson) Wilson, the former a sea captain. The youth of
John T. Wilson was marked by events and experiences such as come
to the lot of all. He reached a turning point on the journey of
life, however, when he bade adieu to friends and native country
and sailed for Canada. Settling in Montreal, in 1866, he became
one of the city’s foremost business men, his name being engraved
high on the roll of those who contributed most largely to the
commercial greatness and consequent prosperity of the city. He
was for forty years the senior member of the firm of Wilson,
Paterson & Company, importers and general manufacturers’ agents,
continuing in active business until his demise. The volume of
trade developed with the growth of the city and had its inception
in the progressive methods, initiative spirit and undaunted
enterprise of the partners.
When business hours were over and the cares of the day were put
aside, Mr. Wilson greatly enjoyed a game of golf or billiards.
His interest, too, reached out to many of those projects which
recognize the needs of the city and the claims of humanity. He
attended St. Paul’s Presbyterian church. For ten years he was a
member of the council of the Board of Trade and was ever keenly
alive to the projects instituted by that society for the benefit
and upbuilding of the city. He belonged to the Canadian and
St. James Clubs of Montreal, and the Hunt Club. His business
activity was evenly balanced with his honorable methods in trade;
his interest in club life and in manly outdoor sports giving him
the necessary rest and recreation from that line of work which
takes strong hold upon the emotions and calls forth the more
tender sentiment in nature. In a word, his was a well rounded
character and his place as a representative citizen of Montreal
none contest.
CHARLES BYRD.
Successful in business, Charles Byrd rejoiced in his prosperity
not so much because of the opportunities which came to him from
his wealth, but because it enabled him to again and again aid his
fellowmen. In this he was prompted by no sense of duty but by
a higher interest in humanity--a genuine regard for his fellow
travelers upon life’s journey. His hand was ever downreaching
to aid those who were struggling to raise and he shed around
him much of the sunshine of life not only through his material
assistance, but also through the words of encouragement and
inspiration which he spoke.
Mr. Byrd was born at Lachute, province of Quebec, March 4, 1848,
and was therefore sixty-three years of age when he passed away at
Nassau, Bahama Islands, on the 3d of March, 1911. He had been a
resident of Montreal from early manhood, embarking in the grocery
business upon his arrival here. This he abandoned to enter the
Munderloh firm in 1868, at which time its founder, William C.
Munderloh was in control. After the death of this gentleman
Mr. Byrd entered into partnership with Henry Munderloh, son of
William C. Munderloh, in the continuation of the business. In
1909 the firm was organized as a joint stock company and Mr.
Byrd had active voice in its control, assisting in formulating
plans which had to do with its substantial growth and progress.
It became one of the important enterprises of the kind in the
city and through his connection therewith Mr. Byrd won notable,
gratifying and enviable success.
Mr. Byrd was united in marriage in 1873 to Miss Kate Macdonald,
a daughter of the late Alexander Roy Macdonald of Montreal.
During the last years of his life Mr. Byrd was in poor health
and, accompanied by his wife, had spent two winters in the West
Indies. He went again in February, 1911, in order to escape the
rigors of the Canadian winter and there passed away on the 3d of
March.
His memory is enshrined in a halo of good deeds, for he was
continually active in support of organized charities or in
individual assistance. He gave liberally to a number of the
benevolent organizations of Montreal and served on the board
of management of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane at
Verdun to which he made a contribution of five thousand dollars.
He was also one of the board of managers of the Montreal
General Hospital to which he gave ten thousand dollars; was
vice president of the Protestant House of Industry and Refuge
at Longue Pointe, to which he gave ten thousand dollars; was
vice president of the Moore Home and an officer of the Irish
Protestant Benevolent Society, to which his contribution was
five thousand dollars. He gave twenty-five hundred dollars
to the Western General Hospital; two thousand dollars to the
Alexandra Hospital; two thousand to the Montreal Protestant
Orphan Asylum; five hundred dollars to the Boys’ Home; one
thousand dollars to St. Patrick’s Society, a goodly sum to the
Erskine church for home movements and a sum of twenty-five
thousand dollars for foreign movements. He was an elder of the
old St. Gabriel church on St. Catherine Street and afterward
joined the Erskine Presbyterian church when it was amalgamated
with the Chalmers church. A high-minded Christian gentleman,
the principles of his religion permeated his life in all of
its different connections and his contribution to the world’s
progress along moral and religious lines was a valuable one.
[Illustration: CHARLES BYRD]
DAVID MORRICE.
The life record of David Morrice might be summed up in the term
successful achievement. It has, however, been more than the
success that is calculated in the terms of dollars and cents,
for his outlook of life has ever been broad, his conceptions of
its opportunities accurate and his recognition of its duties
and obligations correct. He has as fully and carefully met the
last mentioned as he has his chances in a business way. While
he has passed the eighty-fourth milestone on life’s journey, in
spirit and interest he seems yet in his prime. To him might be
applied the words of Victor Hugo: “The snows of age are upon
his head, but the spring of youth is in his heart.” He was born
in St. Martin, Perthshire, Scotland, August 11, 1829, and after
acquiring his early education there, started in business life
as an employe in dry-goods stores, remaining for some time in
that connection in Dublin, Liverpool, Manchester and London.
The growing western country attracted him with its almost
limitless opportunities, and in 1863 he established himself in
Montreal where he founded the business that has since become
one of the most important commercial enterprises of the city.
Under the name of The D. Morrice Company the business is now
one of extensive proportions. Manufacturers’ agents and general
merchants, they have one of the largest and best appointed
establishments of the city, and Mr. Morrice is also at the head
of important productive industries and is said to be one of
the best authorities in cotton matters in the Dominion. He is
president of Penman’s Limited; of the Canadian Cottons, Ltd.; and
of the Montreal Investment & Freehold Company. He is likewise
a director of the Bank of Montreal; of the Dominion Textile
Company; and of the Mount Royal Cemetery Company. While he has
now in large measure retired from active management of these
interests, his opinions still carry weight in business councils,
and his judgment and discrimination are those of a man of not
more than three score years and ten. While conducting important
and extensive commercial and manufacturing interests, he has
found time to become a factor in the management and control of
many projects for the benefit of his fellowmen in the alleviation
of the hardships of life for the unfortunate. He is now vice
president of the Montreal Tubercular Association; president of
the Montreal General Hospital; president of the Montreal Sailors’
Institute; president of the Mackay Institute for the Deaf and
Dumb; and governor of the Montreal Boys’ Home. He has long been
an interested member of the Montreal Art Association of which he
is one of the councillors and he maintains an equal interest in
Christian education as chairman of the board of managers of the
Montreal Presbyterian College, in which position he has remained
for forty-two years. He has ever been a firm believer in the
early religious training of the young and has labored untiringly
to advance the interests of moral direction for the youth of the
land. In 1905 he was chosen vice president of the Quebec Sunday
School Union and in 1902 was president of the Presbyterian Sunday
School Association. In 1882 he erected the David Morrice Hall of
the Montreal Presbyterian College at a cost of ninety thousand
dollars. His gift to the Montreal General Hospital in 1906 made
that institution richer by twenty-five thousand dollars and in
1910 he gave ten thousand dollars to the Montreal Art Association.
On the 14th of June, 1860, Mr. Morrice married Anne S. Anderson
of Toronto, and of their children, William J. and David J., are
connected with The D. Morrice Company. The others are Robert B.,
who is connected with Penman’s Limited; Arthur A., a resident of
Toronto; James Wilson, a distinguished artist; and a daughter,
who is now the wife of Allen G. Law, of the firm of Law, Young
& Company of Montreal. The son, James Wilson Morrice, born in
Montreal in 1864, attended the city schools and the Toronto
University and afterward developed his art talent by study in
Paris. He has not only won high reputation in that city but also
in London and is considered one of the greatest painters of
Brittany coast scenes. He has been a frequent exhibitor at the
Paris Salon and one of his pictures has been purchased by the
French government and another by the Canadian government for the
National Art Gallery at Ottawa. He largely paints landscapes, yet
gives some attention to figures and in all of his work there is
an even balance maintained between technique, creative faculty
and poetic feeling.
Mr. David Morrice is now eighty-four years of age, but still
maintains deep and active interest in the church and in the
benevolent and civic projects with which he is identified.
Moreover, he still holds membership in the St. James Club, the
Montreal Club, the Mount Royal Club, the Montreal Hunt Club and
the Forest and Stream Club. Someone has said, “there is an old
age which need not suggest idleness or lack of occupation; on the
contrary there is an old age which grows stronger and better,
mentally and morally as the years advance and gives out of the
rich stores of its wisdom and experience for the benefit of
others.” Such is the record of David Morrice.
J. F. DUBREUIL.
One of the able advocates of Montreal and one who has filled
with honor various official positions, is J. F. Dubreuil, a
descendant of a distinguished family which has found mention
in Abbé Tanguay’s “Dictionnaire Généalogique.” In this book
L’Abbé Cyprien Tanguay mentions among the earliest ancestors
of the house of Dubreuil the following. Christopher Dubreuil,
born in 1696; Jean Du Breuil, born in 1655, a son of Pierre and
Catherine (Gosselin) Du Breuil, married September 28, 1682, at
Montreal; wife died December 22, 1685: one child; married August
6, 1686, Ste. Famille Marguerite Gaultier: seven children. Jean
Etienne Dubreuil was a notaire royal and a brother of the above
mentioned Jean. He married twice and had a family of many sons
and daughters.
J. F. Dubreuil was born at Lachine, province of Quebec, January
24, 1845, and is a son of Joseph and Hélène (Barré) Dubreuil,
the former of Pointe-aux-Trembles and the latter, of Montreal.
The father was for many years a notary public. J. F. Dubreuil
received his education at the Jesuit College of Montreal,
famed for its thorough teachers, and completed the course of
instruction by graduation on February 6, 1866. He subsequently
engaged as an advocate and as he was able, capable and
conscientious, soon enjoyed a profitable practice, his services
being demanded by a representative clientèle. He served from 1873
to 1882 as deputy clerk of the crown and peace, and from June,
1883, until June, 1889, as deputy sheriff of Montreal.
On January 26, 1869, at Sorel, Mr. Dubreuil was united in
marriage to Miss Marie L. C. Beaupré and they have the following
children: J. F. L., vice president of the Commercial Travelers
Association; George, who is employed in the registry office at
Hochelaga; Charles, of Richelieu, Ontario; and Raoul, who is with
the Canadian Electric Company.
In his political faith Mr. Dubreuil is a conservative, giving his
support to that organization. For many years he has made Montreal
his home and has witnessed the change from a comparatively small
city to that of a world’s metropolis, having participated in
bringing about the transformation according to the best of his
ability. He is deeply interested in the growth of the city along
material, as well as intellectual, lines and as he has always
lived a life of conscientious righteousness, is highly esteemed
and respected in the community where he is widely known.
JOHN RANKIN.
No worthy enterprise of Montreal sought in vain the assistance
of John Rankin, and his public spirit found expression in
tangible effort for the general good. At the same time he
conducted important business affairs as representative of large
corporate interests of his native land. He was born in Lanark,
Scotland, in 1825, and had traveled far on life’s journey when
death called him February 27, 1908. Coming to Canada in 1854,
he carried on business first under his own name and afterward
as senior partner in the firm of Rankin, Beattie & Company.
He also represented J. & P. Coates, the world renowned thread
manufacturers of Paisley, for many years, and was instrumental
in establishing for them a large Canadian business. He was
likewise financial agent for the house of Arthur & Company, of
Glasgow, and in the further development of his business interests
became one of the founders of the Shedden Company and of the
Guarantee Company of North America. As his worth and business
talent became recognized his cooperation was sought along many
lines and when keen business judgment prompted his investment
in any interest he was almost at once accorded voice in the
management. He became a promoter of the New York Daily Graphic,
the Consolidated Bank and of the Montreal & Sorel Railway, now
a part of the Delaware & Hudson system. As a business man, his
position was second to none and his record was one which any man
might be proud to possess. He never made engagements that he did
not keep, nor incurred obligations that he did not meet, and his
name became a recognized synonym of integrity and enterprise in
commercial and industrial circles. At River David, in 1861, Mr.
Rankin was married to Miss Louisa S. C. Wurtele, a daughter of
Jonathan Wurtele, in his life time, Seignor of River David. The
following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Rankin: James L., a
contractor of Montreal; Archibald J., who resides in Edmonton,
Alberta, where he is a clerk in the government offices; John,
who is a civil engineer, residing at Victoria, British Columbia;
Norman S., who is connected with the Canadian Pacific Railway
at Calgary; Allan C., a bacteriologist in the employ of the
Siam government, at Bangkok; A. G. Ernest, who is a notary of
Montreal; Louisa M., who is Mrs. John Fair, of Montreal; and
Isobel S., at home.
None ever questioned Mr. Rankin’s interest in the city and the
general welfare of its people. He stood for all those things
which are a feature in civic betterment and his interest in
moral progress was evidenced in his membership in St. Paul’s
Presbyterian church, of which he was secretary and treasurer
when the present edifice was erected. He was also a governor
of the Montreal General Hospital. His high standing is further
indicated in the fact that his name was on the membership roll of
St. James Club. To him were accorded the “blest accompaniments of
age--honor, riches, troops of friends.”
The summer home of Mrs. Rankin is “Manor House,” Pointe Seche,
County Kamouraska, Quebec.
EMMANUEL PERSILLIER LACHAPELLE, M. D.
While Dr. Emmanuel Persillier Lachapelle has gained prominence
and won honor in various directions, perhaps the one act which
will longest stand as an enduring monument to his worth and work
will be the creation of the board of health of the province of
Quebec, of which he is now the president. His efforts were a
potent factor in bringing about the organization of this board,
the far-reaching effects of which are immeasurable. In this and
other connections he has entered upon a campaign of education for
the purpose of bringing to the public a knowledge of sanitary and
health conditions that will forever prevent widespread contagion
and check the ravages of disease even in individual cases. A man
of strong character and wide knowledge of men and things, his
life work has by no means reached its full fruition. In private
and hospital practice he has gained eminence and his name is
associated with one of the strongest and best equipped medical
schools of the country.
Dr. Lachapelle was born on the 21st of December, 1845, at
Sault au Récollet, Quebec, his parents being Pierre Persillier
and Marie Zoe (Toupin) Lachapelle, descendants of some of the
earliest settlers of New France. His father was born at Cote des
Neiges, in the county of Hochelaga, in the province of Quebec.
Making his home at Sault au Récollet he followed farming and was
proprietor of grain mills. His parents were Pascal Persillier
and Marie (Ladouceur) Lachapelle, who lived at Cote des Neiges.
The maternal grandparents of Dr. Lachapelle were Charles P. and
Angelique (Leduc) Toupin, of Montreal. The ancestors came to
this country in the early days of the French colony and were
married at Laprairie, near Montreal, on the south shore of the
St. Lawrence river.
[Illustration: DR. EMMANUEL P. LACHAPELLE]