French-Canadians--that of the Roman Catholic church and his loyal
adherence thereto increased with the passing years. There was a
time, however, when, on account of his political liberalism and
alliances, his orthodoxy was more than once seriously questioned
by his political foes to his personal and party detriment.
This, however, passed by and the Papal authority conceded that
a man may be a liberal in politics and yet a good Catholic,
while the clergy of Lower Canada came to know that he was not
only a devoted churchman in theory and practice, but also that
the interests of Catholicism were as safe in his hands as in
those of its self-constituted champions who proclaimed their
zeal for the faith from the housetops. There was in him nothing
of narrow-minded bigotry and perhaps no prominent statesman
or political leader of his day has shown himself so free from
religious or sectional bias in the conduct of affairs relating
to the entire community. A French-Canadian in heart and soul and
a thorough son of the soil, still, “strict and impartial justice
to all classes, races and creeds and undue favor to none,” seems
to have been the motto upon which Honore Mercier always acted.
In 1893 he undertook a campaign in favor of the independence of
Canada and advocated this both here and in the United States, but
with no tangible results. Though received enthusiastically in the
eastern states, he met with a rebuff in Chicago, and abandoned
the campaign to resume his practice in Montreal.
Two notable features in his life history were the torchlight
procession in his honor in Montreal following his return from
Europe, and the reception he tendered the ex-Papal zouaves at his
country seat at Ste. Anne de la Perade, when he distributed the
medals awarded them by the pope. On that occasion Mr. Mercier
appeared in the gorgeous uniform of commander of the Order of St.
Gregory the Great--the first time it had been seen in Canada.
The wide recognition given his ability is attested by a partial
list of the honors conferred upon him. Not only did he receive
the grand cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great from the
pope but His Holiness also raised him to the rank of count. He
was in addition to these honors officer of the Legion of Honor;
commander of the Order of Leopold I, King of the Belgians; and
chevalier of the Order of St. Sepulcher. He was made queen’s
counsel and received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Laval
University, the University of Fordham, New York, and the
University of Georgetown.
A man of his ability and eminence could not fail to have enemies,
but he had also hosts of friends. He possessed that quality
which, for want of a better term, has been called magnetism. He
was most generous and ever had a helping hand out-reaching to
those who needed assistance. His residence both in Montreal and
in Quebec was always filled with his admirers. It has been said
repeatedly that his so-called friends were largely responsible
for any errors that he may have committed. He was particularly
helpful to young men, many of whom have reason to remember him
with gratitude. It was his delight to assist a struggling youth
in his law studies or in other ways.
Mr. Mercier was twice married. On the 29th of May, 1866, he
wedded Leopoldine Boivin of St. Hyacinthe, who died leaving a
daughter who subsequently married Sir Lomer Gouin and who is
now deceased. On the 9th of May, 1871, Honore Mercier married
Virginie St. Denis, also of St. Hyacinthe, and they had two
sons and one daughter to reach adult age, Honore, Paul-Emile
and Héva. The elder son is a member of the Gouin cabinet and a
sketch of his life appears elsewhere in this work. The younger
son is a civil and consulting engineer and is mentioned elsewhere
in this history. Héva married Dr. Homère Fauteux and resides in
Beauceville.
The death of Hon. Honore Mercier occurred October 30, 1894, on
which occasion the Montreal Daily Star said editorially: “The
career of the late Hon. Honore Mercier is one that will long live
on the lips of those who delight in political reminiscences
of this historic province. He played a conspicuous role in the
political drama; and, while he was on the stage, pretty well
absorbed the attention of the multitude. That he was a man of
rare ability in many ways, his swift attainment of the highest
positions in Quebec amply attests.
“It is too late in the day for those who contributed to his
overthrow in ’92 to make mawkish pretension of blindness to his
faults, but it may truly be said that he gained striking success
in spite of his faults, and, further, that it was his own hand
that turned the current of destiny against him. Like all strong
characters, he made many warm personal friends, and there will be
more sincere mourning at his bier than falls to the lot of most
mortals.”
Senator L. O. David, an intimate and lifelong friend of Mr.
Mercier, in making a parallel between the three most popular men
of our time, Laurier, Chapleau and Mercier, has written of the
latter: “Mercier is the heaviest of the three, the strongest
built and the most muscular; he is tall, with black eyes and
hair and a heavy mustache--a veritable type of musketeer--the
personification of strength and energy. He walks heavily with
the assurance of a man who believes that the earth belongs
to him. Mercier is the most solid, the most vigorous and the
most penetrating. Penetrating is, indeed, the word which best
describes his eloquence. See his movements; they resemble those
of the axeman who strikes the tree at the root and at each blow
removes a chip. Mercier is a parliamentary orator, a lawyer, a
tribune. He is the strongest, cleverest, and most indefatigable
speaker whom I have heard in the house or on the hustings. While
I write these words I learn that he is dead. Is it possible that
so much of life and intellect are gone forever? What a loss!
How little we mortals are! Alas; had he struggled to preserve
his health as he fought to regain it, he would not have died so
young. Yes, so young, because he was built to live thirty or
forty years more. Death has seldom met a more valiant fighter; it
has vanquished him, but he died almost standing, as he often said
he would.
“Before the grave, which opens to receive his mortal remains,
criticism will disarm, no doubt, to render homage to the splendor
and power of his intelligence, his political genius, to the
energy of his character and the sincerity of his patriotism.
Through all the vicissitudes of a stormy life, in spite of his
faults and weaknesses, he preserved until the last moment all the
fervor of the religious and patriotic sentiments of his youth.
Of all the political men I have known, he is the one who, in all
things and under all circumstances, was most given to consider
questions from a national standpoint. He was frankly, sincerely,
profoundly patriotic and without fanaticism. Few men have had
more devoted friends, enthusiastic admirers, and secured more
brilliant triumphs and undergone such crushing defeats. He was
stronger in defeat than in victory. Much will be forgiven him
because he suffered much.”
HON. HENRI C. BERRYER-SAINT-PIERRE.
The subject of this short biographical sketch was born at Ste.
Madeleine de Rigaud, during a short stay of his parents in that
parish, on the 13th day of September 1842, but was brought up at
Isle Bizard, on the Lake of Two Mountains, near Montreal. His
father, a farmer, was Joseph Berryer-Saint-Pierre of Isle
Bizard, and his mother, Demitilde Denis dit Saint-Denis, who had
been born at Pointe Claire. Young Henri received his classical
and literary education at the old Montreal College on Collège
Street near McGill Street. On leaving college he was sent up to
Kingston, Ontario, where he began his law course, the object
in sending him up there being to give him an opportunity of
improving his knowledge of the English language. Having passed
the required examinations for his admission to the study of the
law, he availed himself of the permission which had been granted
him to go and visit Niagara falls and the city of Buffalo. The
great battle of Gettysburg had just been fought and won by the
northern army, and on his arrival at Buffalo, he found the people
delirious with the news of the recent victory. Our young student,
who had inherited from his ancestors a marked taste for the
military career (a career by the way for which there were but few
openings for a young French Canadian in those days, in Canada),
was altogether carried away by the enthusiastic demonstrations
which he then witnessed and made up his mind to give up the
doleful study of Blackstone to enter the American army. A short
time later, the runaway student was a member of Company F in the
Seventy-sixth New York Volunteers. At the battle of Mine Run
which was fought on the 27th November, 1863, he was wounded and
reported as dead at the regiment. The same report having been
reproduced in the Montreal papers, the usual service for the dead
was celebrated for him at the Montreal College and at Isle Bizard
where his widowed mother was living. He was picked up from the
field however by the southern cavalry and sent to the military
prison of Belle Island in the city of Richmond from which he
was later on transferred to Andersonville in Georgia. After the
capture of Atlanta, he was removed with the other prisoners first
to Savannah, and then to Florence and finally to Charleston’s
race ground in South Carolina, where he regained his liberty in
the spring of 1865 on the city being evacuated by the southern
troops. On his return to Montreal after the war, he resumed his
legal studies first in the office of Sir George Etienne Cartier,
for whom he, for a time, acted as private secretary, and later
on in that of the Hon. J. J. C. Abbott who some years afterward
became premier of Canada.
[Illustration: H. C. BERRYER-SAINT-PIERRE]
He was admitted to the bar in June, 1870. His career at the
Montreal bar was a most successful and brilliant one, and he soon
became one of the leading lawyers in the province of Quebec,
being particularly noted for his success as a criminal lawyer.
His record as such was never surpassed at least in his province
and but seldom equalled anywhere. It is said that he pleaded
not less than thirty-three cases of murder, securing complete
acquittals in most of them. Not one of those he defended was ever
found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be
hanged, except Shortis who had killed two men at Valleyfield and
wounded dangerously a third one. In this last case, the plea of
impulsive insanity was urged for the first time in the province
of Quebec as a ground of defense and proved successful in the end
in spite of the verdict of the jury. Shortis is today detained
in the penitentiary of Kingston as “a dangerous lunatic.” Judge
Saint-Pierre frequently associated in the defence of persons
accused of serious crimes with Donald MacMaster, K. C., now a
member of the English parliament, who was his intimate friend.
In 1889, he was created a queen’s counsel by the Earl of
Aberdeen. Judge Saint-Pierre never showed any great inclination
for politics but confined his labor and efforts more particularly
to secure the highest position in his profession as a lawyer.
Being a liberal, he consented however to be the nominee of the
liberal party in the county of Jacques-Cartier, for the local
seat in 1878 against the old member, but was defeated by a small
majority.
He was married in 1874 to Marie Albina Lesieur, daughter of
Adolphe Lesieur, a merchant of Terrebonne. She died on the 19th
December, 1908, leaving five children, three boys and two girls
who are all married and settled. In 1902 on the occasion of his
being raised to the bench, he was made an officer of the order of
the Crown of Italy upon a petition presented to the King of Italy
by the Italian colony at Montreal supported by the Italian consul.
Judge Saint-Pierre has been the organizer of the Canadian
Veterans as a body and has been their honorary president ever
since their organization some fourteen years ago.
His eminent ability as a legist led eventually to his appointment
to the bench. He was first named for the district of Beauharnois
on the retirement of Hon. Mr. Justice Belanger in June, 1902,
and was transferred to Montreal in March, 1909, so that he is
now presiding over the district of Montreal. His decisions are
strictly fair and impartial and render him the peer of the ablest
men who have presided over Montreal’s courts.
The Judge is a Roman Catholic of the broad liberal school. He is
known to be a great admirer of British institutions though much
attached to the French civil law which he holds to be superior to
the common law of England.
The press has united in passing high encomiums upon him. The
Montreal Herald styled him “a man of great vigor.” The Montreal
Star spoke of him as broad-minded and public-spirited. The
Toronto Star said “Judge Berryer-Saint-Pierre is gifted with fine
powers of eloquence and is broad-minded and tolerant.” Perhaps
his lofty patriotism is best indicated in his own utterance: “Be
English, be Scotch, be French, be Irish, if you will,” he often
said in his public utterance, “but above and before all, let us
all be Canadians.” Judge Saint-Pierre’s residence is at 2330 Park
Avenue, Montreal.
DONALD FORBES ANGUS.
Successfully operating in mercantile circles, Donald Forbes
Angus has also extended his efforts along those lines whereby
are promoted aesthetic culture and humanitarian interests, thus
rendering his life a serviceable factor in the world’s work. A
son of Richard Bladworth Angus, he was educated in England and
Germany and in February, 1894, was united in marriage to Miss
Mary Ethel Henshaw, the daughter of the late F. W. Henshaw.
In his business connections Mr. Angus has so directed his
efforts that substantial results have accrued, and he is today
a prominent figure in commercial circles as director of the
Intercolonial Coal Company and of the Paton Manufacturing
Company, both of which are important forces in the business
progress of the city. He is also director of the Bank of
Montreal; director of the Standard Life Assurance Company; and
vice president of the Guardian Accident & Guarantee Company.
In these connections Mr. Angus bends his efforts to executive
administration and control, and his ability to correctly judge
between the essential and the nonessential, utilizing the one
and discarding the other, and his power to coordinate seemingly
diverse elements into a harmonious whole have been strong
features in his growing success.
Mr. Angus is a popular member of several of the leading clubs
of Montreal, including St. James, Mount Royal and the Montreal
Jockey Clubs--associations which indicate much of the nature of
his interests and the source of his recreation. He is also a life
member of the Art Association and is a friend and patron of art.
He is likewise a governor and a member of the executive committee
of the Fraser Institute of Montreal.
HENRY HOLGATE.
Not only is Henry Holgate one of the foremost civil engineers
of Montreal, but he is also an author of no mean talents on
professional and other subjects. He is now engaged in private
practice after a long and strenuous career with various large
organizations and of late has designed and built several large
hydraulic power plants for transmission of electric power. He
is a member of several arbitration committees, a past vice
president of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, a member of
the American Society of Civil Engineers and a councillor of the
American Institute of Consulting Engineers.
Mr. Holgate is of English ancestry and was born at Milton,
Ontario, September 14, 1863, the seventh son of John and Jane
(Browne) Holgate, the former of whom was in charge of the
division court at Milton. Judge Holgate passed away in 1896 and
his wife in 1902.
Henry Holgate was educated in the Toronto public schools and
after having completed his studies served an apprenticeship
with the Northern Railway of Canada, which lasted for five
years. He continued with them for three years and became their
chief engineer in 1884, so continuing until 1893, when he took
charge of the Central Bridge Company’s works at Peterboro,
Ontario. During this time, in 1887, he became a member of the
Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, contributing a paper to
its transactions for which he was awarded the Gzowski medal. He
remained with the Central Bridge Company for about a year and
then joined the Royal Electrical Company in Montreal as engineer
in charge of the steel plants and general construction. The years
1896, 1897 and 1898 were spent that way, and he then became
engineer of the Montreal Park & Island Company, constructing and
managing all their lines. He then went as manager and engineer
to Kingston, Jamaica, and constructed all of the works of the
Western Electric Company there, returning to Canada in 1900.
He established himself in a private engineering practice in
that year and in 1902 formed a partnership with Mr. Ross, under
the firm name of Ross & Holgate, consulting engineers. This
partnership was dissolved in 1911.
Mr. Holgate has on various occasions been retained by the federal
and provincial governments for special engineering inquiries
and reports. He was so retained in regard to the reorganization
of the Trent Valley Canal works and was appointed chairman of
the royal commission to report on the collapse of the Quebec
bridge in September, 1907. He is widely recognized as one of the
able men along his line and has had charge in late years of the
building of several large hydraulic power plants.
Occasionally Mr. Holgate contributes interesting articles to
technical works. He is the author of an exhaustive paper on
Northeast Canada, which was published in 1908, and he has
lectured extensively, one of his subjects being “Some Facts
Regarding the Upper St. Lawrence.”
Mr. Holgate is independent in his political views and
nonsectarian in his religious belief. He is a patriotic Canadian
and has always at heart the interests of the Dominion. He
believes in a Canada for Canadians and for any others who
will become good citizens, recognizing the value of desirable
immigration.
On September 19, 1888, Mr. Holgate was married to Miss Bessie
Bell Headley, a daughter of Edward Headley, of Milford, Delaware.
They have two sons, Henry Watson and Edwin Headley. The family
residence is at No. 44 Rosemount Avenue, Westmount. He is a
member of the Engineers Club of Montreal.
LEGLEUS ANTOINE GAGNIER, M. D.
Dr. Légléus Antoine Gagnier is widely and favorably known to the
public as a general medical practitioner and more specifically
in connection with the special work which he does in treating
nervous diseases by electrical methods. He is a man who has
never ceased to be a student and still frequently makes trips
to Europe in order to attend the clinics conducted by the
most eminent specialists in the profession. There is no new
phase brought out in the world of medicine with which he is
not thoroughly acquainted and which he does not thoroughly
understand, and his complete knowledge has naturally resulted
in a large and lucrative practice. Freeing himself from many
of the old medical prejudices he applies modern thought in his
treatments and more closely follows his own logical conclusions
than book prescriptions. He believes that in numerous cases
massage treatments, X-Rays, light baths and general hydrotherapy
will achieve more beneficial and lasting results than the older
treatment of giving medicaments internally. His well equipped
offices, modernly appointed and filled with all the appliances
necessary to follow out his methods, are located at No. 256 St.
Denis Street, Montreal, and there ever can be found a long line
of patients, rich and poor, old and young, waiting to be admitted
for treatment.
Although the family of Gagnier is not among the very earliest
Canadian settlers, it is an old one. There were variations in the
name of Gagnier and extensive records show the name as Gagné and
Gagnesse in Abbé Tanguay’s Dictionnaire Généalogique.
Légléus Antoine Gagnier was born at Ste. Martine, in the county
of Chateauguay, on October 4, 1871, a son of François and
Sophie (Perras) Gagnier, both deceased. The doctor received his
classical education at Ste. Thérèse and St. Hyacinthe Seminaries
and graduated in medicine from Laval University in 1895. He
pursued special studies in Paris and has ever since continued
to attend clinics in that and other European cities. Capable,
earnest and conscientious, he has not only a reputation for
ability but enjoys the utmost confidence of his patients, to
whom he is more than a doctor, as they see in him their best and
truest friend. He is physician for a number of French and English
mutual associations and president of the Medical Board of Union
St. Pierre of Montreal.
[Illustration: DR. LEGLEUS A. GAGNIER]
On September 28, 1897, Dr. Gagnier was united in marriage to Miss
Delia Collerette, a daughter of O. Collerette, and they have the
following children, Yvonne, Légléus Adolphe, Gaston, Gabrielle,
Marie Régine, Germaine and Paul Emile.
The religious faith of Dr. Gagnier is that of the Roman Catholic
church. For many years he was a conservative in politics but of
late has allied himself with the nationalist movement, a party
which in scope of progressiveness stands foremost of the three
political organizations of the Dominion and has for its intention
the improvement of general conditions not only political and
governmental but also sociological. In the material growth of
Montreal Dr. Gagnier is interested as a director of the Greater
Montreal Land Investment Company, Limited. He has an interesting
military record to his credit and has been in command of the
Sixty-fourth Regiment of Chateauguay and Beauharnois for three
or four years and since January 23, 1901, he has been on the
officers reserve as lieutenant colonel. His deep love for mankind
finds expression in his public-spirited actions, and he is never
called upon in vain to give his support to any enterprise which
will benefit the people of his city or country. Careful of his
own interests, he is more minutely careful of those of others
and influenced at all times by the thought of the broader effect
which his work has upon his community, exemplifying in his
conduct the lofty ideals of his nation and of a noble calling. He
honors his profession by paying it honor and by his adherence to
the solid virtues and enlightened principles underlying it.
GEORGE STEPHEN CANTLIE.
A native of Montreal, George Stephen Cantlie was born May 2,
1867, a son of James Alexander and Eleanor Simpson (Stephen)
Cantlie. The father is a prominent merchant of Montreal and a son
of the late Francis Cantlie, a native of Mortlach, Banffshire,
Scotland, who married Mary Stuart. James Alexander Cantlie was
born June 5, 1836, and married in May, 1866, the second daughter
of the late William Stephen, of Montreal. J. A. Cantlie came to
Canada in 1863. He was for years head of the well known wholesale
dry-goods house of J. A. Cantlie & Company, which was founded
in 1868. He is connected with a number of important commercial
enterprises and is one of the foremost men in business circles in
Montreal.
George S. Cantlie received private tuition and attended the
Montreal high school and McGill University in the acquirement
of an education. In 1885 he entered the service of the Canadian
Pacific Railway as clerk in the audit department. He became
consecutively clerk in the comptroller’s office, chief clerk to
the assistant general manager, to the assistant president and
to the vice president. He was then made general baggage agent,
general stationary agent and superintendent of car service.
Since November, 1908, Mr. Cantlie has been at the head of the car
service as general superintendent.