benevolent work. He was the founder of the Home for Incurables
in Montreal, which was opened in 1894 under the charge of the
Sisters of St. Margaret, and Lady Drummond bestowed much care and
thought on the preparation of the interior of the institution.
She has been connected with many societies and movements in
Montreal that have to do with the betterment of the people, the
city or its conditions. She is president of the Montreal Charity
Organization and is actively connected with the Victorian Order
of Nurses and with various other bodies. She was also a member
of the Quebec Tercentennial celebration in 1908. She was the
first president of the local branch of the National Council of
Women. She was elected president of the Women’s Canadian Club of
Montreal for 1907-8, and Lady Aberdeen places her “at the head
of the Canadian sisterhood for activity in ‘promoting all that
is true and just and beautiful among women, and for a consuming
hatred for unrighteousness in every form.’” She presented a
silver cup for competition by the members of the Royal Montreal
Ladies’ Golf Club in 1905. Her name is not unknown in literary
circles and among her writings is an essay entitled “Purity of
Speech and Accent.” She was the first woman to speak at a public
banquet in Montreal, being thus honored in 1898. In 1902 Sir
George and Lady Drummond were presented at court.
On the occasion of the visit of our present King and Queen to
Canada as Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York Lady Drummond
drew up and presented an address to Her Royal Highness on behalf
of the National Council of Women of Canada, while Sir George
Drummond at the same time presented to His Royal Highness the
citizens’ commemorative medal. Lady Aberdeen has characterized
Lady Drummond as “a woman of distinguished presence, with great
personal charm, gifts of rare eloquence and the power of clothing
her thoughts in most expressive language.” She is a member of the
Anglican church, to which Sir George also belonged.
Sir George was much interested in agriculture and the breeding
of fine stock. Huntlywood, his magnificent country place at
Beaconsfield, was one of the finest country estates on the
continent. He took great pride in its well kept condition, his
private golf links affording an opportunity for indulgence in
a recreation that he was fond of. He kept only the finest live
stock that he could procure. His first Southdown sheep were bred
from stock he secured from King Edward. In live-stock breeding
Sir George aimed to maintain the same high standard of excellence
that characterized everything he did. His stock nearly always
won first prize at the big stock shows in Canada and the United
States, where he met in competition the most noted breeders of
his day. Sir George also maintained a beautiful country house,
Gads Hill, at Cacouna, now the summer home of Lady Drummond. He
took a most deep and helpful interest in all those things which
promote the aesthetic and moral nature of the individual and
which act as broadening and uplifting influences in the lives of
all. He was the owner of one of the finest galleries of paintings
on the American continent and was for some time president of the
Art Association of Montreal. It is said of him that he “derived
greater pleasure in pinning a badge to the breast of a member of
the Victorian Order of Nurses and wishing a hearty God-speed to
that devoted agent of good than in talking in millions around
the directors’ table of the Bank of Montreal.” He was a knight
commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George and his
character and his ability made his presence an honor in any
gathering.
High encomiums were passed upon him by various members of the
senate when he was called from this life on the 2d of February,
1910. One of the local papers said: “Flags flying at half-mast
from many of the chief public and commercial buildings of the
city yesterday testified at once to the extent of the interests
with which Sir George A. Drummond was in his life connected,
and to the respect in which he was held for his character, his
ability and his public services.” The council of the Board
of Trade, of which he had been president, said he was “long
regarded as Montreal’s most eminent citizen and one of the oldest
and most distinguished members of this board.” Senator Lougheed
said that he “doubted if any other name had been more closely
linked with the industrial life of Canada during the early part
of the present generation than that of Sir George Drummond. Not
only has he been associated with the material development of
Canada, but he was equally a supporter of the arts and sciences
and the great sociological questions of this progressive age.
In 1903 he was the recipient of very distinguished honors at
the hands of his sovereign on account of the eminent public
services which he had rendered Canada. His name should long be
revered in Montreal, where it was identified with the great
commercial, educational and philanthropic institutions.” Senator
Dandurand said of Sir George: “He was esteemed in Montreal
as a liberal-minded man who did his utmost to maintain good
understanding between the races in that city, always showing an
earnest desire to promote harmony. He was a benefactor of all
institutions that needed private help and will be missed by the
community at large, as he was whole-souled, kind-hearted and one
who played a most important role in all the affairs of the city.”
L. JOSEPH THEOPHILE DECARY.
L. Joseph Theophile Decary, an architect of pronounced ability
and prominently known as a water color artist, was born at St.
Jerome, Quebec, September 21, 1882, a son of Jean Baptiste and
Marie Theolinde (Lauzon) Decary, natives of Lachine and St.
Jerome respectively. When the north was open for settlement
in 1876 the father went to St. Jerome to establish business
as a jeweler and has there since resided. He is of the eighth
generation in direct descent from Jean Decarys, who came to
Canada with Maisonneuve in 1642. The name has since been
variously spelled Decary, Decaire and Descarries.
L. Joseph Theophile Decary, whose name introduces this record,
pursued a commercial course in St. Jerome, leaving the school
there in 1900. He afterward spent a year in a pharmaceutical
establishment and a year as a telegraph operator at St. Jerome
Junction on the Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern of Quebec
Railroads. When nineteen years of age he left home, without
funds, to go to Boston, hoping there to find the opportunity
which would enable him to develop his latent talents in drawing.
From an early age he had displayed considerable ability in that
direction and believed that his line of life should be determined
thereby. After reaching Boston he secured a situation in an
architect’s office which brought him a salary of two dollars per
week. He learned quickly and won the confidence and assistance
of Guy Lowell, architect, who sent him to the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in Boston in October, 1903. There he
followed a special course in architecture until 1905, and he now
holds a degree from the association of architects of the Province
of Quebec Architects’ Association. Following his return to Canada
he opened an office in Montreal, where he has since practiced
his profession, his ability gaining him a large clientage. He
made the architectural design and plans for the Ecole des Hautes
Etudes Commerciales of Montreal for Messrs. Gauthier and Daoust.
His talent has been further developed in the field of fine arts
as shown in his exhibitions in water colors at the season
exhibit of the Art Association of Montreal in 1910. He is a
member of the National Gallery of Ottawa.
[Illustration: L. J. T. DECARY]
On the 23d of April, 1906, at Point St. Charles, Montreal, Mr.
Decary was united in marriage to Hattie G. Blanchard, a daughter
of Captain J. B. Blanchard and widow of John Weatherburn. In his
political views Mr. Decary is a liberal and is without political
ambition or aspiration. He finds pleasant association with men
of similar professional talents in the Technology Club of Lower
Canada and interest and recreation through his membership in the
St. John Yacht Club, of which he was vice commodore in the year
1913.
ALEXANDER DRUMMOND STEWART, M. D.
Dr. Alexander Drummond Stewart, a successful physician and since
1903 connected with the department of the interior of the port
of Montreal, is a native of Toronto, Ontario, and acquired his
preliminary education in the public schools of that city. He
studied medicine in McGill University, graduating with the degree
of M. D. in 1888. Since that time he has been continuously in
practice.
Dr. Stewart opened his first office in Richmond, Quebec province,
and he continued there until 1898, building up a large and
representative clientage and in addition to its conduct serving
in an able way as medical officer for the Grand Trunk Railway at
that point. From Richmond he came to Montreal and in this city is
now a successful practitioner. Besides conducting his extensive
private practice he is medical officer of the department of the
interior of the port of Montreal, an office to which he was
elected in 1903.
Dr. Stewart married Miss Emma Christie of Lachute, Argenteuil
county, Quebec, and they have become the parents of a daughter,
Bessie. Dr. Stewart is a member of St. Paul’s Presbyterian
church. He belongs to the Outremont Golf Club and the University
Club. Along professional lines he is connected with the Montreal
Medico-Chirurgical Society, and he keeps in touch with the most
advanced medical thought, remaining always a close and earnest
student.
JOHN MITCHELL.
John Mitchell, deceased, who was for thirty years a produce
merchant of Montreal, was born at Dufftown, Scotland, in 1830,
and his life record covered the intervening years to the 23d of
November, 1904. His is a history of intense and well directed
activity along the line in which he engaged. Educated in
Scotland, he came to Quebec when sixteen years of age, having
a brother, Robert, in this province. He made his entrance into
business life as an employe of a Mr. Symes, a merchant; but after
a short time he left the city of Quebec for Montreal at the
solicitation of his uncle, Alexander Simpson, who was manager
of the Bank of Montreal. Mr. Mitchell embarked in business in
connection with others as a wholesale dealer in molasses, sugar
and grain in the West Indies, but the business failed and for
a short time thereafter Mr. Mitchell was a resident of Chicago,
Illinois. Later he went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but soon
returned to Montreal and here engaged in the produce business in
which he continued for thirty years, or until his death. He lived
a quiet life, being modest and unassuming in manner, and his
uprightness and his honorable qualities won him the admiration
and respect of all.
Mr. Mitchell was married to Margaret Turner of Keith, Scotland,
and they became the parents of two children: John Alexander,
living near Edmonton, Canada; and Alice Margaret, who is a member
of the editorial staff of the Montreal Weekly Star. In 1871 Mr.
Mitchell was again married in the cathedral of Montreal to Miss
Elizabeth Scott, a daughter of Dr. Alexander Scott, who came
from Keith, Scotland, and practiced in Montreal, but died when
his daughter, Mrs. Mitchell, was but five years of age. In later
years Mrs. Scott lived with her daughter until her death. The
children of Mr. Mitchell’s second marriage were four in number,
of whom two are living: Walter Scott, a resident of Sorrento,
Notch Hill, British Columbia; and Charles Stewart, who is with
the Ogilvie Flour Mills Company of Montreal.
The family attend the First Presbyterian church, of which Mr.
Mitchell was a devout member. He was also one of the founders of
the St. James Club and one of the original members of the Thistle
Curling Club. While quiet and unassuming in manner, the circle
of his friends was almost coextensive with the circle of his
acquaintances, a fact indicative of an honorable and well spent
life.
BARUCH BLOOMFIELD.
In the history of Judaism on the American continent the name of
few deserve equal prominence with that of Baruch Bloomfield,
scholar, educator and philanthropist, actuated at all times by
the highest spirit of humanitarianism and moral force. He was
born in Russia. He had liberal educational advantages for his
time and throughout his life was a close and discriminating
student. Crossing the Atlantic to the new world, he settled first
in New York, where he engaged in teaching for about ten years.
He was one of the greatest Hebrew and Talmudic scholars of his
time. About 1870 he removed from New York to Montreal, which city
remained his place of residence throughout the rest of his life.
His family is one of the oldest Jewish families in Montreal,
having been represented here for close to a century. For a
quarter of a century prior to his demise he was a representative
in Montreal of the German Jews in Jerusalem and was a prominent
member of the McGill College Avenue synagogue to which he
rendered great services at various times. A part of his life work
was the collection of funds which he forwarded to the Holy Land,
and to the cause he was himself a most generous contributor.
Mr. Bloomfield was united in marriage to Miss Dora Albert and
they became the parents of five sons, four of whom still survive,
Abraham, David, Harry and Samuel, together with the mother. In
1901 the family were called upon to mourn the loss of a daughter
and sister, Jessie, whose death was an irreparable blow to the
household. It was while still grieving over the loss of this
daughter that Mr. Bloomfield went to New Orleans, called there by
the sudden illness of his son, Moses, who was traveling through
the south for a Canadian firm. He was a young man of twenty-five
years and was looked upon in the community as a model young man
of sterling character, of the highest honor and integrity, and
of ideal purity in life. The father hastened to his bedside and
every possible thing was done to restore him to health, but a few
days after the father’s arrival Moses Bloomfield passed away.
This death following so closely upon the death of the daughter
was more than Mr. Bloomfield could bear. He died almost literally
of a broken heart, passing away in New Orleans on the 31st of
December, 1901, aged fifty-six years. The sudden demise of father
and son has been greatly deplored by the entire Jewish community
and especially by the Shaar (Hashomayim) congregation to which
they belonged. A beautiful memorial service was held at the
McGill College Avenue synagogue. The remains of father and son
were interred in a cemetery in New Orleans, but at the memorial
service in Montreal hundreds of their friends gathered to pay
the last tribute of respect and to thus honor their memory. In
his address Rabbi Bernard M. Kaplan said: “We have assembled in
this House of God from all parts of the city to mourn a great
and grievous loss which we have sustained by the untimely demise
of two most virtuous, most pious and most respected members of
the community, a father and son who under the most pathetic
circumstances found their graves in a strange land. The son,
while yet in the freshness and bloom of life, expired in the
embrace of a loving father who had traversed almost a continent
to gaze once more upon the innocent and serene countenance of
his child.” Rabbi Kaplan said that some would mourn more deeply
the loss of the young man--his associates and friends who were
closely connected with him--while to others the death of the
father, which had come as a more telling blow, yet by all the
death of each would be felt, for each was a man largely ideal in
his home relations and in his relations to his friends and to his
congregation. Mr. Bloomfield was a most devoted and loving father
as well as a most kind, considerate and affectionate husband. “He
not only loved his wife, but true to the teachings of the Talmud,
of which he was a great student, he honored and respected her.
His family life was an inspiration to every lover of ideal home
life. His modest home was a veritable sanctuary whose atmosphere
was permeated by serene peace, true purity, and sincere piety.
And, again, every one who appreciates gentleness of manner and
gentleness of disposition, purity of life and purity of thought,
faith in God and faith in humanity, devotion to religion and
devotion to every other duty, sincerity of speech and sincerity
of action, must lament the loss which the community sustains
by the death of Baruch Bloomfield, for he embodied all these
qualities and many more. He loved peace and pursued it. He loved
Hebrew learning and devoted his life to it. He loved Judaism and
made great sacrifices for it. He loved charity and gave it. I
approached him myself several times on matters of charity. Not
only did he contribute a great deal more that I thought his means
allowed him, but what is more, he gave his share with all his
heart and soul--so much so that he reminded me of the proverbial
romantic Hebrew charity which meant not only the giving of money
but also the giving, so to speak, of the very heart with it.
“For a period of twenty-five years Baruch Bloomfield, from time
to time collected and forwarded considerable funds to the Holy
Land. It was the supreme passion of his life to step some day on
the Holy Land. His wish like that of Moses has not, however, been
realized. He died on this side of the Jordan. But, friends, there
was no need for Baruch Bloomfield to go to Palestine in order to
be on holy land. I say in all sincerity, that the ground where so
pure and so pious a man as Baruch Bloomfield stood, studied or
prayed, was holy. It was sanctified by the holiness of an ideal
Jewish life. Yea, the very ground wherein his body, the shrine
of so beautiful a soul is deposited is positively holy. Baruch
Bloomfield was an ish kaddish, a holy man in the traditional
sense of the term. A truly holy man sanctifies his surroundings.”
SIR THOMAS GEORGE RODDICK, M. D., LL. D., F. R. C. S.
Sir Thomas George Roddick, M. D., LL. D., F. R. C. S., was born
at Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, July 31, 1846, a son of the late
John Irving Roddick and Emma Jane Martin. His father was a native
of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and was for many years principal
of the government school at Harbour Grace. After pursuing his
preliminary education with his father, and, later, in the Truro
Model and Normal Schools of Nova Scotia, Sir Thomas entered
McGill University in 1864 in preparation for the practice of
medicine, which he intended to make his life’s work. He graduated
M. D., C. M., in 1868, and was the Holmes Gold Medallist and
final prizeman of his year. Immediately following his graduation
he was appointed assistant house surgeon and afterwards house
surgeon of the Montreal General Hospital, which position he held
for six years. Later, he received an appointment as attending
surgeon to that institution and in 1874 entered upon private
practice. From 1872 to 1874 he was lecturer on hygiene in
McGill University and was demonstrator of anatomy during 1874
and 1875. In the latter year he was made professor of clinical
surgery, which position he held for fifteen years, when he became
professor of surgery, occupying that chair until 1907. He was
dean of the medical faculty of McGill from 1901 till 1908.
In 1896 Sir Thomas was elected president of the British Medical
Association, being the first colonial physician ever honored by
election to that office, which he held from 1896 to 1898. He
presided at the Montreal meeting and was subsequently elected
vice president for life of that, the largest and most important
medical body in the world.
He is president of the Montreal branch of the Victorian Order
of Nurses; president of the Alexandra Hospital for Contagious
Diseases; vice president of the Royal Edward Institute;
consulting surgeon to the Royal Victoria Hospital and Montreal
General Hospital. He was a member of the royal tuberculosis
commission recently appointed by the Quebec government; is a
past president of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Montreal,
and of the Canadian Medical Association, of which latter body he
was recently appointed honorary president. When the Newfoundland
Society of Montreal was organized a few years ago he was
appointed honorary president. In 1898 Edinburgh University
recognized his services to medicine by conferring upon him the
honorary degree of LL. D.; in 1903 Queen’s University honored him
in a like manner; in 1899 he was elected an honorary F. R. C. S.,
London. After resigning the deanship of the medical faculty of
McGill in 1908, he was appointed a governor of McGill University.
He was one of the first surgeons on this continent to employ
Lister’s methods in the treatment of wounds.
[Illustration: SIR THOMAS G. RODDICK]
Sir Thomas’ connection with the militia of Canada dates as
far back as 1868, when he joined the Grand Trunk Artillery as
assistant surgeon, and was under orders for the second Fenian
raid in 1870. He subsequently commanded the University Company
of the Prince of Wales Rifles and was appointed surgeon to that
regiment in 1885. During the Northwest rebellion in the same
year he organized the hospital and ambulance service for the
expeditionary force and was in charge of the medical service in
the field, holding the rank of deputy surgeon general of militia,
was mentioned in despatches and recommended for the C. M. G. For
his services on this occasion, and for the Fenian raid, he holds
the service medals, and also the long-service medal. He attained
the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1900 and is now on the retired
list of officers.
Sir Thomas is a conservative in politics and represented St.
Antoine division over two parliaments, sitting in the house of
commons from 1896 until 1904. His chief reason for entering
politics was to exploit a scheme which he had long advocated,
viz., that of Dominion medical registration, for which a
federal act was necessary. The “Roddick Bill” so-called, passed
parliament in 1902, was amended and became operative in 1911.
Thus was established a one-portal system for entrance to the
practice of medicine throughout the Dominion of Canada. A
Dominion medical council was at once organized, of which Sir
Thomas was elected first president.
Sir Thomas was married in 1880 to Miss Marion McKinnon, a
daughter of the late William McKinnon of Pointe Claire, P. Q. Her
death occurred in 1890, and he afterwards wedded in September,
1906, Miss Amy Redpath, daughter of the late J. J. Redpath of
Montreal. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church.
He is a member of the Hunt Club, the University Club and the
Mount Royal Club. His residence is at 705 Sherbrooke Street, West.
Patriotism, courage and generosity have always characterized
him, and, notwithstanding the demands ever made upon him in his
professional life, he has always found time to take an active
part in all movements having to do with the social and moral
welfare of his adopted city.
FERDINAND GUSTAVE LEDUC.
Among the representative bankers of Montreal is Ferdinand
Gustave Leduc, manager of the Banque d’Hochelaga, and as such
enjoys high prestige among his colleagues. He is considered an
authority upon financial matters, and that this judgment is not
misplaced is evident from the success with which he manages this
eight-million-dollar institution. Although he has attained a high
place among the captains of finance he is modest and unassuming
in his demeanor, ever ready to receive a caller or listen to
the most humble of his employes in order to keep in touch with
the smallest details of his business and all situations and
conditions that might affect the financial world. Mr. Leduc is a
native of the province of Quebec, his birth having occurred at
Beauharnois on the 31st of March, 1871. He is a son of Michel
Ferdinand and Mathilde (Vachon) Leduc and was educated in his
native city in 1884, became a student at St. Joseph’s College of
Burlington, Vermont. The earliest records of the Leduc family in
Canada refer to one Jean Le Duc, born in 1624, a son of Jean and
Cécile (La Chaperon) Le Duc. On May 11, 1652, Jean Le Duc, first
mentioned, married Marie Soulinié at Montreal and died about
fifty years later, on April 19, 1702. This record is taken from
the “Dictionnaire Généalogique,” compiled by Abbé Tanguay.