A Roman order founded by Paul III., in 1554, or by Pius IV. in
1559, has been established, according to some writers, by
Constantinus, as far back as 312, to commemorate his victory
over Maxencius, and approved since then by the Pope St.
Sylvestre. Its object was to reward civil merit, admitting only
noblemen; it could also be conferred on foreigners. Some
princely families of Rome and a few high dignitaries could
confer the order, which soon occasioned serious errors. Gregory
XVI. reformed the order in 1841, and gave the name of St.
Sylvestre, or the Reformed Golden Spur. The knights wore a
golden cross with eight points, and white enamelled, showing the
portrait of St. Sylvestre. It is worn with a ribbon striped red
and black; between, the branches of the cross hangs a golden
spur. Before the Reformation, when England was Catholic, and
when the relations of that country with the court of Rome were
uninterrupted, as soon as a chief justice of the Court of King’s
Bench, was appointed, the writ of commandership of the order of
St. Sylvestre was forwarded to him by the Pope, and he wore on
his chain of office the letters S. S. Since England has become
Protestant, the writ is not sent to that country; nevertheless,
when a new chief justice is appointed, and when he orders at the
court goldsmith the chain of office which he wears on his neck,
he receives it still with the same initials S.S., as in olden
times.
This fact is warranted by photographs of Chief Justices Bovill and
Campbell, which Judge Berthelot has in his possession, and which were
given him by his friend, Judge Mackay. In a legal review, entitled
_Albany Law Journal_ for 1874, in the issue of the 8th of August, we
find an article headed, “Article on Campbell’s Lives of Chief Justices,”
with the following comments:
And while there were among the wearers of the collar of S. S.,
men whose lives are neither helpful nor inspiring, there were
many of whom it is good to read.
In Canada the first person who received a writ of commandership of St.
Sylvestre, was the late Sir L. H. Lafontaine, chief justice, in the year
1853. Judge Berthelot was appointed in 1875, as above mentioned. In
1876, after eighteen years of judicial services, he asked and obtained
his superannuation, and on this occasion the _Montreal Gazette_, of the
28th of August, 1876, published the following:
The Ottawa Government has at last come to a determination which
enables it to accept the resignation of Mr. Justice Berthelot.
Nearly a year has elapsed since it was generally understood that
Mr. Justice Berthelot desired to obtain that relaxation from
judicial duties to which twenty years service had fairly
entitled him, but as our readers are aware, ministers were
seriously embarrassed in the disposal of this piece of
patronage, and the learned judge was requested to defer his
proposed relinquishment of official duties. Before reference is
made to his successor, it is but justice to say a word or two
respecting Hon. Judge Berthelot. If the hon. judge has not
obtained the first rank of judicial fame, no one will venture to
deny that he has occupied a most honourable position on the
bench of this province, or that his services have been of a
highly beneficial character. It were scant justice to say that
his character has been constantly honourable, his impartiality
unchallenged, and his intelligence of the most vigorous type.
Laborious without complaining, diligent without ostentation, Mr.
Justice Berthelot has never proved unequal to the arduous
demands of his position. His knowledge of real estate and
insurance law, extensive and profound, and his decisions upon
these, as well as many other branches of the law, were received
with the utmost respect and confidence. In determination of
cases in which juries are more or less liable to be influenced
by sympathy for the sufferers, he did not hesitate to adhere to
those leading principles which have been consecrated by time and
experience, in preference to yielding to impulses which might
create a dangerous precedent. In fine, Mr. Justice Berthelot’s
judicial career has been conscientious, able and upright, and
entitles him to the gratitude of his countrymen.
_Le Nouveau-Monde_, on 29th of August, 1876, reprinting the above
article from the _Gazette_, accompanied it with the following remarks:
This testimony is corroborated by all those who had occasion to
appreciate personally the talents, the carefulness, the
integrity, and the knowledge displayed by this hon. judge in the
exercise of his judicial duties. Some of his decisions in cases
of the highest importance fully demonstrated the fact, that he
was imbued with a sound judgment and a knowledge of
jurisprudence and statutory laws sufficient to make his
reputation and authority cope with that of the most
distinguished judges who have illustrated our Canadian bench.
Liberated from the toils and fatigues of the important position
which he has just vacated, Judge Berthelot, we hope, will not
withdraw entirely from public life, and the population of this
province could still benefit by his great experience, his
serious studies, and his deep knowledge of men and things, which
he has acquired during more than twenty years on the bench.
Judge Berthelot has since remained in private life, without an occasion
to make himself useful to his country. Whilst he was practising at the
bar, he had been often requested to enter parliament by several counties
of the district of Montreal, and in 1858, when the division of Alma was
to elect its first representative in the Legislative Council, he had
been requested to be a candidate by a great number of the citizens of
the division, one of the two candidates at that time being willing to
withdraw in his favour if he accepted the candidature. But Mr. Berthelot
had always refused, in order that his partners and friends, Sir L. H.
Lafontaine and Sir George E. Cartier, be not deprived of the services he
was rendering them, while these statesmen were engaged in political
life, with so much credit to themselves and satisfaction for the
country. Mr. Berthelot since that time has travelled several times in
England, France and Italy, where he has made several friends, with whom
he still keeps an active correspondence. In conclusion, we may say that
during the second rebellion, in November, 1838, Mr. Berthelot was
arrested and sent to gaol without cause or warrant, with many of the
best citizens of Montreal, viz., Messieurs Lafontaine, the two Messieurs
Viger, M. Papineau, a brother of the speaker, Dr. Lusignan, Mr. Fabre,
Mr. DeBoucherville, sr., Amable Badeaux, his cousin, and his young
friend Dr. Perreault. The latter was soon let free to attend his young
wife. Mr. Berthelot, having inquired, by a letter addressed to Colonel
Goldie, secretary of his Excellency the Governor, Sir John Colborne, for
the cause of his arrest, expressing by his letter his readiness to be
brought to trial, received no written answer, but a few days after was
invited to leave the gaol and go to his home. At the same time he had
also written to the late Andrew Stuart, solicitor-general, residing at
Montreal, with whom he was well acquainted, representing in proper terms
against his unjust detention, and always thought that he owed much to
the interest of Mr. Stuart for his immediate release. Of Mr. Stuart, the
solicitor-general, much can be said; that he was at least equal, if not
superior to his brother, the late Sir James Stuart, chief justice of
Quebec.
* * * * *
=MacLeod, Rev. John M.=, Presbyterian minister of Zion church,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This greatly respected divine was
born at the West River of Pictou, in the province of Nova Scotia, on the
25th of August, 1827. His father, Ebenezer MacLeod, was also a native of
the West River of Pictou. He was a man of fair education, of sound
judgment, of extensive information, and of deep and fervent piety. He
was for many years an elder in the congregation of Salem, Green Hill,
and was secretary of what is claimed to have been the first temperance
society in this Dominion. His parents were from Scotland. He was married
to Barbara Benvie, daughter of James Benvie, of Musquodoboit, and died
in the 82nd year of his age. The subject of this brief sketch, having
received a good English education in the common schools of the country,
entered a printing office in the town of Pictou, and served a regular
apprenticeship to the printing business. He, however, in compliance with
the earnest wish of his parents, resumed his studies with a view to the
ministry. He entered the Pictou Academy, where for two years he studied
Latin, Greek, natural philosophy, and mathematics, under Professors Bell
and Hay. About this time the Presbyterian church of Nova Scotia, for the
purpose of training a native ministry, opened what was known as the West
River Seminary, the head teacher of which was the Rev. James Ross, D.D.,
afterwards principal of Dalhousie College, Halifax. Mr. MacLeod was one
of twelve students who entered the first year this institution was
opened. Here he took the regular arts course of four years, and studied
theology three years under Rev. John Keir, D.D., and Rev. James Smith,
D.D. He was licensed in the spring of 1853, was called to the
congregation of Richmond Bay during the following summer, and after
taking another term in the Theological Hall, was ordained and inducted
into the pastoral charge of the above named congregation on the 9th
Nov., 1854, where he laboured with much success for nearly seven years.
During the fourth year of his ministry he was married to Amelia Parker,
daughter of Francis R. Parker, of Nova Scotia, who for many years was a
member of the Provincial legislature. He was married to his present
wife, Mrs. L. G. Taylor, in 1879. In 1860 Rev. Mr. MacLeod accepted a
call to Newport, Hants county, Nova Scotia, where he continued to labour
with acceptance and success for ten years. While in Newport he declined
a call to Boston, Massachusetts, and in 1870 accepted one to New
Glasgow, Pictou, Nova Scotia. But there being at this time four
Presbyterian congregations in the small town of New Glasgow, and Rev.
Mr. MacLeod, believing that his labours were more required elsewhere,
accepted a call to his present charge, into which he was inducted on the
19th of July, 1871. His labours in this field have been crowned with a
fair measure of success. On two different occasions additions of over
one hundred and twenty, mostly young persons, were made to the communion
roll. Mr. MacLeod is at present clerk of the presbytery. He has held
that position for twenty-one years in the Presbytery of Prince Edward
Island, and for seven years in the Presbytery of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
* * * * *
=Sifton, Hon. John Wright=, Brandon, Manitoba, was born in the township
of London, county of Middlesex, Ontario, on the 10th August, 1833. He is
the youngest son of Bamlet and Mary Sifton, who came from the county of
Tipperary, Ireland, in 1832, and settled in London township. His
ancestors on both sides were English. He received his education in the
public and grammar schools of London. Up until 1860 he devoted his time
to farming and other business, when he removed to Oil Springs, in
Lambton county, and engaged in the oil business as producer and refiner.
Here he purchased a large tract of oil lands immediately surrounding the
famous gum beds, and afterwards sold them to an American company. This
was the first foreign company that invested in Canadian oil property,
and they continued to develop the resources of their territory until the
enormous yield of oil at Petrolia made it impossible for them to
successfully compete with this more productive locality. In 1870, Mr.
Sifton removed to Paris, Brant county, with the object of having his
children educated at the grammar school there; and in 1872, in company
with his brother, contracted for and built forty miles of the track of
the Canada Southern Railway. In 1873, he moved to London, and was
appointed secretary of the Oil Association, and this office he held
until the association ceased operations. In 1874, in company with two
other gentlemen, whose interests he soon after bought out, he was
awarded the contract for building and maintaining for five years a
telegraph line from the city of Winnipeg to Fort Pelley, and clearing
the track a hundred feet wide, for a distance of about three hundred
miles, for the then contemplated Canadian Pacific Railway. Although this
contract, when it was entered into, appeared to be one likely to give a
fair profit, yet it afterwards turned out the opposite way. The fearful
wet seasons of 1876, ’77, and ’78, flooded the country for forty miles
east of Lake Manitoba, and sixty miles west along the line to, in some
places, a depth of six feet, making it impossible to keep the line up,
and as the Government refused to make any allowance for this, the loss
was very great. Some idea may be formed of the difficulty of performing
work in this country at that time, when we state that, one winter,
provisions having ran out at one of Mr. Sifton’s camps, he had to send
supplies by dog-trains 160 miles, and then have it carried on men’s
backs, 60 miles further, making it to cost twelve cents per pound
freight from Winnipeg to the camp, and at no time during the best part
of the season could he deliver the same goods at their destination for
less than five cents per pound freight. In 1875, the firm of Sifton,
Ward & Co. were awarded the contracts for sections thirteen and fourteen
of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Mr. Sifton, the senior member of
the firm, undertook charge of section fourteen, which commenced at Red
River, and extended a distance of seventy-seven miles to Cross Lake.
During this time he removed to Manitoba, settling at Selkirk, and here
he remained until the completion of his telegraph and railroad
contracts. The money involved in these two operations amounted to about
a million and a half dollars. In 1879, he took up his abode in Winnipeg,
where he purchased some real estate outside the city limits, and erected
for himself a fine residence. Taking advantage of the “boom of 1881,” he
sold out this property and moved to Brandon, where he now resides. Here
he has invested a considerable sum of money in farming lands, and for
four years succeeded in raising in each year from 10,000 to 18,000
bushels of grain. But the years of frost (1883, ’84, ’85) having made
the raising of wheat or grain in large quantities a risky business, and
the collapse in values of all kinds of property, especially real estate,
have forced Mr. Sifton to suspend business operations in this direction
for the present. However, from his experience of over twelve years in
the North-West country, and a thorough practical knowledge of farming,
he thinks that although extensive farming has been in the past, and may
prove in the future from certain causes, a failure, when compared with
Ontario, yet he is impressed with the idea that it cannot be equalled on
this continent for fertility; always providing, however, that the
present hindrances to its prosperity be removed. What Mr. Sifton wants
for his country is fair competition in freights; the abolition of all
monopoly; readjustment of our present tariff, so that it may have the
same chance as Ontario; a reasonable homestead law that will not be
changed every year, and pre-emptions at such a price that the settler
can meet it in a reasonable time. If these concessions were made, he
thinks the North-West would make such strides onward that the most
sanguine of us would fail to realize. Mr. Sifton, during his busy life,
has devoted time to other things besides purely business matters. In
1852, he became a member of the Order of the Sons of Temperance, and in
1854, he also joined the Good Templars, and has kept up his connection
with these active temperance organizations to the present time. In 1867,
he became one of the United Templars, and from 1876 to 1883 he acted in
the capacity of president of their Grand Lodge in Manitoba. He was grand
worthy chief templar of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba of the Independent
Order of Good Templars in 1884, and is at present president of the
Manitoban Branch of the Dominion Alliance for the suppression of the
liquor traffic, and has been since its formation in 1879. He took the
leading part in the contest for the Scott Act, when it was passed in the
counties of Lisgar and Marquette. These counties extend over about three
quarters of the old province of Manitoba. The act was carried by very
large majorities,—more than two to one voting in its favour; but on
account of the vagueness of the meaning of some of its provisions in
reference to counties in Manitoba, and the impossibility of getting it
amended, it still remains a dead letter. In politics, Mr. Sifton is a
Liberal. In 1878, he received the unanimous nomination of the Liberal
party for the Commons for the county of Lisgar, and organized and
carried on the campaign up to the memorable day, the 17th of September,
1878. The 18th being nomination day in Manitoba, and the news reaching
there of the defeat of the Mackenzie government, his committee had a
hurried meeting on the morning before nomination, and decided that it
would be better for the county if he would withdraw, and allow a
supporter of the Macdonald government to be elected by acclamation, and
this he consented to do. In the fall of the same year he received the
nomination for the Local House for the electoral division of St.
Clemens, and was elected by a large majority, and on the assembling of
the house he was elected speaker. During the sitting of this parliament
a redistribution bill was passed, giving the new settlers something like
fair representation, which they had not hitherto enjoyed. At the next
general election he ran for one of the new electoral divisions, and was
defeated. In 1881, when the province was enlarged, he ran for the
division of Brandon and was elected. In the general election of 1883 he
was defeated; and again at the last general election for the division of
West Brandon he met the same fate by a small majority. Mr. Sifton was
reeve of Oil Springs and a member of the County council of Lambton
during the years 1867, ’68 and ’69. He was chairman of the school board
of same place in 1868-69, and was reeve of the municipality of
Cornwallis for 1885-86, but declined the nomination in 1887. He has been
a justice of the peace for the province since 1875. He has travelled
over the whole of the Dominion of Canada, and is familiar with all parts
of the United States north and south, and as far west as Omaha. Mr.
Sifton is a member of the Methodist church from choice. Before the union
he was a Wesleyan Methodist, and since then his opinions have not
changed much on religious subjects, except that he has more confidence
in those who differ from him in church affairs than he had in his
younger days, and now has a greater love for and confidence in the
teachings and doctrines of the church of his choice. He was a member of
the General conference of 1882, and a member of the committee appointed
by that conference to confer with committees appointed by other branches
of the Methodist church on union. He was strongly in favour of union,
and was a member of the conference held in Belleville when the union was
consummated. At the conference in 1882, he took the leading part in
having Manitoba and the North-West set apart as a separate annual
conference, which was agreed to at that conference. He was also a member
of the General conference held in Toronto in 1886. He is now a member of
the general board of missions of the Methodist church, and has been a
member of the local board of missions in the Manitoba and the North-West
conference since its formation. He has also been a member of Manitoba
and North-West annual conference since the admission of laymen, and is
president of the Brandon branch of the Upper Canada Bible Society. He
has always been actively engaged in Sabbath school and church work, and
is superintendent of the Brandon Sabbath-school. And as for temperance
work, he has spent much time and labour in this direction, and has
spoken in almost every section of the country on the subject. He was
married 1st October, 1853, to Kate, third daughter of James and Sarah
Watkins, of Parsonstown, King’s county, Ireland, and has three children
living. His oldest and only daughter, Sophia, was educated at Hamilton
Female College, and is married to A. N. Molesworth, civil engineer, now
construction engineer for the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba
Railway Co. His oldest son, Arthur Lewis, graduated from Cobourg
University in arts, studied law in Manitoba, was called to the bar in
1882, and is now practising law in Prince Albert. His youngest son,
Clifford, graduated from Cobourg, and is a gold medallist; he studied
law in Manitoba, was called to the bar in 1882 in his twenty-second
year, and is now practising law at Brandon.
* * * * *
=Armstrong, Rev. W. D.=, M.A., Ph. D., Pastor of St. Paul’s
(Presbyterian) Church, Ottawa, Ontario, was born at Cavan, Durham
county, Ontario, on the 28th of July, 1845, and is the son of John D.
Armstrong, yeoman, of that place. After a preliminary education in the
schools of his native place, he entered Upper Canada College, and soon
attained to a front place in his classes. At the close of his term he
carried off the Governor-General’s prize, and the classical, the
mathematical, and modern language prizes. He then entered the Toronto
University, and graduated from that institution in 1870, the silver
medallist in metaphysics and ethics, and prizeman in Hebrew, Chaldee and
Syriac. During his course in the university he also obtained a number of
scholarships and prizes in various departments. After leaving Toronto
University he took a course in theology in Knox (Presbyterian) College,
Toronto, where he likewise distinguished himself. On the 14th of May,
1874, he was ordained pastor of his present charge, and has continued
ever since (with one short break, when he was sent to Great Britain in
1883 for a few months, in the interest of the French Canadian missions),
as the faithful exponent of Christ’s message of love to the world,
greatly appreciated and esteemed by his congregation. In 1886, the
Boston University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Rev. Dr. Armstrong has a strong liking for literature, and amidst his
various arduous parish cares and duties, has found time to contribute a
good many articles to the newspaper press, and publish several sermons.
On the 29th of September, 1886, he married Jean W., daughter of Henry J.
Johnston, of Montreal, a very accomplished lady, and one who has proved
a true helper to him as minister of a large congregation.
* * * * *
=Guthrie, Donald=, Q.C., M.P.P. for South Wellington, Guelph, Ontario,
was born on the 8th May, 1840, in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was
Hugh Guthrie, and his mother, Catharine Macgregor, sister of Patrick
Macgregor, M.A., barrister-at-law, Toronto, a distinguished Gaelic and
general scholar. Mr. Guthrie received his early education in his native
city, and, when about fourteen years of age, he left his fatherland. He
reached Toronto in August, 1854. Here he entered the office of the Hon.
Oliver Mowat, as a junior clerk; and afterwards became managing clerk
for John Helliwell, barrister. In 1859 he left Toronto and settled in
Guelph as managing clerk for Fergusson & Kingsmill, barristers. The Hon.
Fergusson-Blair, one of the partners of the firm, having retired in
December, 1863, Mr. Guthrie was admitted into partnership, and the name
of the firm was changed to Kingsmill and Guthrie. Under this style the
business was carried on until Mr. Kingsmill was appointed judge of the
County Court of Bruce, in January, 1867, when Mr. Guthrie became head of
the firm, and has continued such ever since, the firm now being known as
Guthrie and Watt. Mr. Guthrie was admitted an attorney in 1863;
barrister in 1866, passing his examinations with distinction; and, in
March, 1876, was created a Queen’s counsel by the Lieut.-Governor of
Ontario, and by the Governor-General of Canada, October, 1885. In
December, 1882, he was elected a bencher of the Law Society, and was
re-elected for five years in April, 1886. Since 1863 he has been
solicitor for the county of Wellington, and also for the same period he
has been solicitor for the city of Guelph, and acts in this capacity for
several other municipalities, banks, etc. He has been president of the
Guelph Gas Company since its incorporation in 1870; is a director of the
Guelph Junction Railway Company, and of the Wellington Hotel Company. He
occupied the position of treasurer of the St. Andrew’s Society of
Guelph, from 1862 to 1869, and in 1870 was chosen its president. Mr.
Guthrie was elected a member of the House of Commons in 1876, as
representative for South Wellington, and served until the general
election in 1878, when he presented himself for re-election, and was
returned by 303 majority. He continued in the House of Commons until the
general election of 1882, when he voluntarily retired from active
political life, with the view of devoting his whole attention for some
years to his professional duties. However, in 1886, he once more sought
parliamentary honours, and the sturdy Liberals of South Wellington sent
him to the Ontario legislature as their representative on the 28th of
December in the same year, by the handsome majority of 671. Mr. Guthrie
was selected in February, 1877, to move the reply to the speech from the
throne in the House of Commons; and on the 2nd March, 1887, he moved the
reply to the Lieut.-Governor’s address in the Ontario legislature. While
in the House of Commons—1876-78—Mr. Guthrie was a supporter of Mr.
Mackenzie’s government, and was an active member of the special
committee appointed to inquire into the affairs of the Northern Railway
Company. This committee sat for several weeks, took an immense mass of
evidence, and made an exhaustive report, which enabled the government to
secure from the railway company a large sum in place of moneys
improperly expended in elections, etc. Mr. Guthrie was also an active
member of the Committee of Privileges and Elections at the time when it
investigated the charges against Mr. Speaker Anglin, and other members,
for alleged breaches of the Independence of Parliament Act. After the
defeat of Mr. Mackenzie’s government in 1878, Mr. Guthrie, with his
political friends, went into opposition. He actively opposed the new
government on the tariff, the Letellier matter, the Canadian Pacific
Railway contract, the disallowance of the Streams Bill, the Gerrymander
Act, etc. Mr. Guthrie is a member of the Presbyterian church. On the
17th of December, 1863, he was married in Montreal to Eliza Margaret
MacVicar, youngest daughter of John MacVicar, formerly of Dunglass,
Argyleshire, Scotland, and latterly of Chatham, Ontario. Mrs. Guthrie is
a sister of the Rev. D. H. MacVicar, D.D., LL.D., principal of the
Presbyterian College, Montreal, and of the Rev. Dr. Malcolm MacVicar,
professor of theology in the Toronto Baptist College (McMaster Hall),
Toronto.
* * * * *
=Hinson, Rev. Walter=, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Moncton, New
Brunswick, was born at Chesham, England, on the 14th of May, 1858, and
came to Canada in 1879. His father, Thomas Hinson, and mother, Mary
Benwell, are both alive, and are residing in Hertfordshire, Eng.; he has
a brother and sister in London. Rev. Mr. Hinson was educated at Hulme
Cliff College in Derbyshire, and Harley House, East London, England. He
studied for the ministry, and was ordained in 1880. He is a member of
the Eastern New Brunswick Baptist Association, and the church of which
he is pastor is one of the most important centres of religious activity
in the district. It has a membership of between six and seven hundred,
and over four hundred scholars in its Sunday-school. For general
benevolence and Christian aggressiveness its record is good. Rev. Mr.
Hinson has always been a total abstainer, and from early youth connected
with temperance societies. He is at present a member of the Moncton
Division, Sons of Temperance, and is considered one of the most
aggressive of the temperance army in New Brunswick. Mr. Hinson was
brought up among the Baptists, and very naturally feels greatly at home
in, and is one of the leading lights of, the denomination. In the pulpit
he possesses a peculiar power, his manner and matter being forcible and
original, and we have no doubt there is a great future of usefulness
before this young and rising divine. He was married in July, 1886, to
Jennie A. Austin, of Herts, England.
* * * * *
=Allison, Charles F.=—The late Charles F. Allison, of Sackville, New
Brunswick, who was born on the 25th of January, 1795, and died the 20th
of November, 1858, at the age of sixty-three years, was the second son
of James Allison, whose father, Joseph Allison, of Newton Limavady,
county of Londonderry, Ireland, emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1769, and
settled at Horton, Kings county, where he continued to reside until his
death in 1794. James Allison married and settled at Cornwallis, where he
lived and died at the ripe age of ninety years. Here Charles F. was
born, and received his education at the Grammar school, and in 1812
moved to Parrsboro’, where he found employment as a clerk in the
establishment of James Ratchford until 1817, when he went to Sackville,
New Brunswick, and entered into partnership with the late Hon. William
Crane, in a general mercantile business, and in this he continued until
1840. On the 4th of January, 1839, Mr. Allison addressed a letter to the
chairman of the New Brunswick district of Wesleyan ministers, in which
he proposed “to purchase an eligible site and erect suitable buildings
in Sackville, in the county of Westmoreland, for the establishment of a
school, in which not only the elementary, but the _higher_ branches of
education may be taught, and to be altogether under the management and
control of the British conference in connection with the Wesleyan
missionaries in these provinces;” and he proposed to give £100 ($400)
per annum for ten years towards the support of the school. This generous
offer having been accepted, he made arrangements to proceed with the
erection of a suitable edifice for the academy—the corner-stone of
which was laid on the 9th of July, 1840, and from that time to the close
of his life in 1858, he devoted a large share of his time and business
talent to watching over and promoting the financial interests of the
educational enterprise which, under his fostering care, developed
wonderfully. In addition to the $20,000 which he had given to establish
the older branch of the institution, he gave $4,000 to aid in the
erection of the ladies’ branch, which was opened in 1854; and in his
will he left $2,000 for the academies, and $1,000 for the college
whenever it should be organized. So that of the moderate fortune which
he had accumulated before retiring from mercantile life in 1840, at
least $30,000 were employed in founding and establishing the educational
institutions which bear his name, and which stand as the enduring
monument of the far-seeing wisdom and liberality of this unselfish
Christian patriot. Mr. Allison was married to Milcah, daughter of John
and Anne Trueman, on June 23rd, 1840. Mrs. Allison survived him, but
died on the 14th of June, 1884. Mary, their only child, was born 1st
Sept., 1847, and died 1st Jan., 1871. At the date of Mr. Allison’s
demise, _The Borderer_, a local weekly paper, thus kindly alluded to
him:
“Our sheet this week appears in mourning, because we are called
to record the death of one whose removal is indeed a public
loss, and one, too, of no ordinary magnitude. Almost every
individual in our community feels the death of Charles F.
Allison as a public bereavement. But far beyond the circle of
personal acquaintanceship, everywhere throughout the lower
British American colonies, Mr. Allison’s name has been known and
his influence felt, as the most munificent public benefactor who
has yet arisen in these provinces, to bless his country and
benefit the world. Mr. Allison was a native of Cornwallis, Nova
Scotia, but came to this place when a young man, and here
carried on, in connection with his partner, the late Hon. Wm.
Crane, an extensive business until 1840. In all his business
transactions he was remarkable for diligence, promptitude,
punctuality, and rigid honesty. He did not make haste to be rich
by embarking in any rash speculation, being, doubtlessly, more
inclined to the _safe_ than to the _rapid_ mode of acquiring
wealth. He was, however, quite successful, so that when he was
led, many years since, to the more earnest consideration of the
fundamental doctrine of the Christian system of practical
ethics, ‘_Ye are not your own, but bought with a price_,’ etc.,
he found himself in possession of a considerable amount of
property, of which he evidently, thenceforward to the end of his
life, considered himself but the steward; and as such he was
eminently wise and faithful, so that, we doubt not, he has been
greeted by his Divine Master with the commendation, ‘_Well done,
good and faithful servant._’ A large portion of the last
eighteen or twenty years of his life was most unostentatiously
employed in various works altogether unselfish. The noble
educational institutions which he founded, and which he has so
largely helped to build up to their present state of pre-eminent
usefulness, have occupied a great deal of his time and
attention, for he not only cheerfully paid six thousand pounds
and upwards to ensure their establishment, but without fee or
reward discharged the onerous duty of treasurer, and watched and
labored with parental kindness, solicitude and devotion, to
promote their prosperity. These, we believe, will long stand,
monuments of the wisdom as well as of the benevolence of the
Christian patriot and philanthropist. We have not room to
enlarge upon the modesty, gentleness, affability, and other
traits of character which so endeared him to all who had the
privilege of his personal acquaintance. Nor yet can we speak of
the many ways in which his quiet influence will be so much
missed in our neighborhood. ‘_He rests from his labors, and his
works do follow him._’”
In _The Provincial Wesleyan_, of the same week, published at Halifax,
Nova Scotia, a similar notice of Mr. Allison’s death appeared, in which
the writer said:
“He was a benefactor to his race, a blessing to his country, an
ornament to the age in which he lived. He lived not for himself,
but for his generation and for generations yet unborn. Fortune,
this world’s wealth, he sought and won; but lavished it not on
personal pleasures or selfish aggrandizement. His time and his
means were freely given to the noble cause of securing to the
youth of these provinces a sound, liberal, and religious
education. His humility equalled his munificence. He thirsted
not for fame. But he has left a monument for himself more noble
than sculptured stone in the institutions he has reared, and
with which his worthy name must be forever associated.”
The Mount Allison _Academic Gazette_, in its first issue after the death
of Mr. Allison, said:
“The relation which Mr. Allison sustained to the institution,
and to all who were connected with it, was such as no other
individual can ever sustain. His removal is, therefore, to it
and to them an irreparable loss. The feeling of sadness and
anxiety induced by this event must, therefore, with those who
understand the matter, be altogether other than an evanescent
one. But although we are sure that we shall find everywhere many
to sympathise with us in our abiding sorrow as we think of the
deep affliction which befell us and the institution when its
father was taken from us, we think it more becoming for us to
ask them to rejoice with us in gratefully acknowledging how much
he was allowed to accomplish for it whilst he yet lived. Nearly
nineteen years were added to his life after he had formed the
noble design of founding such an institution, and during all
these years he labored and studied and prayed for its
prosperity, as its father only could do. The value of the
services which he rendered to the institution, ‘not grudgingly,
as of necessity,’ but ever most cheerfully, and, be it
remembered, entirely gratuitously, cannot be estimated. Probably
if an accurate account had been kept of them, charging for each
item its fair business value, they would be found to amount to
scarcely less than the sum of his princely money benefactions to
the founding and establishing this institution. Certainly it may
well be questioned whether the devotion of twice the six or
seven thousand pounds, which he gave, would without such
personal attention and services, have secured the establishment
of such an institution as he has left to perpetuate the blessed
memory of his name.”
The board of trustees of the institution, at a special meeting held on
6th Jan., 1859, passed the following resolutions, among others:
“1. That although we are deeply conscious that the academy has
sustained an irreparable loss in the decease of Charles F.
Allison, Esq., and although the remembrance that his work on
earth is done, that the invaluable services which, as treasurer,
chairman of building, furnishing, and executive committees of
the institution, he has ever been wont so ungrudgingly to
render, have now ceased, and that the board can no more hope to
be aided in its deliberations by his eminently sage counsels,
induces a feeling of sadness almost overwhelming; yet the board
would recognize as ground for profound gratitude to Him without
whom ‘_nothing is wise, nothing good_,’ the magnitude of the
work which our departed brother was enabled and allowed so
wisely to undertake and successfully to accomplish in founding,
and so essentially helping to build up to its present eminently
prosperous condition, the Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy in its
two affiliated branches.
“2. That in the judgment of this board, Mr. Allison, in devoting
so large a portion of his time and wealth to the establishment
of an educational institution which is of such wide-spread
influence and usefulness, acted as a truly wise Christian
steward, and fairly entitled himself to the pre-eminently
honourable position which has been assigned to him as ‘_the
noblest public benefactor which has yet arisen in these
provinces to benefit his country and bless the world_;’ and
believing that so long as this institution may continue in
operation true to his design and worthy of its past history, it
will stand the monument of the distinguished Christian patriot
and philanthropist, perpetuating the memory alike of his wisdom
and his benevolence, this board will, as performing a sacred
duty, earnestly endeavour to maintain in ever increasing
efficiency.”
Resolutions of a similar character were passed by the Wesleyan Methodist
Conference of Eastern British America at its next ensuing annual
session. See published minutes for the year 1859, pp. 21-22.
* * * * *
=Senkler, William Stevens=, Judge of the County Court of the County of
Lanark, Perth, is an Englishman by birth, having been born at Docking,
Norfolk county, England, on the 15th of January, 1838. His father was
the Rev. Edmund John Senkler, M.A., of Cains College, Cambridge, a
clergyman of the Church of England; and his mother was Eleanor Elizabeth
Stevens, daughter of the Rev. William Stevens, M.A., Oxon, of Sedberg,
Yorkshire, England. The parents of Judge Senkler, with their family of
nine children, came to Canada in May, 1843, and resided in the city of
Quebec, where the Rev. Mr. Senkler occupied for some time the position
of rector of the High School. He then moved to Sorel, and in September,
1847, to Brockville, at which place he died on the 28th of October,
1872, Mrs. Senkler following him to the grave on the 16th of March,
1873. Judge Senkler was educated by his father, and commenced life in
mercantile pursuits; but afterwards studied law with the Hon. A. N.
Richards, late lieutenant-governor of British Columbia, and also with
the Hon. Edward Blake. During the Michaelmas term of 1860, he was
admitted as solicitor; and was called to the bar in Trinity term, 1861.
He then began the practice of the law in Brockville, first, with J. D.
Buell, then with Hon. A. N. Richards, and lastly, with his brother,
Edmund John Senkler (now county judge of Lincoln), down to December,
1873, when he was appointed by the Mackenzie government, judge of the
County Court of the county of Lanark. On the 15th of October, 1875, he
was appointed master in chancery at Perth, by the judges of that court.
On the 10th of October, 1877, referee of titles by the judges of the
Court of Chancery. On the 14th of March, 1882, he was made local judge
of the High Court of Justice for Ontario; and on the 26th of October,
1885, he was appointed to the position of revising officer for the south
riding of Lanark by the Macdonald government. Judge Senkler has taken an
active interest in military matters, and helped to organize the
Brockville Light Infantry Company, which now forms part of the 42nd
battalion. He held the rank of ensign in his company. True to the
traditions of his house, the judge is a member of the Church of England,
and served as church warden in St. Peter’s Church, Brockville, and St.
James’ Church, Perth, for several years. He has also acted in the
capacity of lay delegate to the Synod of the diocese of Ontario from St.
James’ Church, Perth. Judge Senkler was married on the 21st of May,
1862, by the late Rev. Dr. Adamson, in the Episcopal Cathedral, Quebec,
to Honor Tett, daughter of the late Benjamin Tett, of Newboro’, Ontario,
who at that time represented South Leeds in the parliament of Canada,
and who sat for the same riding in the first parliament of Ontario. The
issue of this marriage has been two daughters and one son. Judge Senkler
is a hale and hearty man, and we predict for him a long life of
usefulness.
* * * * *
=Hill, Andrew Gregory=, Police Magistrate, Niagara Falls, was born on
the 23rd of September, 1834, in the township of Clinton, county of
Lincoln, Ontario. His ancestors were among the pioneers of the province.
They came to this country immediately after the revolutionary war of
1776, and took up land as U. E. loyalists. The township of Clinton was
then an unbroken wilderness, without a habitation, and without a road,
save the track of the red man. Newark, now Niagara, about twenty-five
miles distant, was the nearest village, and the only practicable means
of reaching it was by boat down the lake. It is difficult for us now to
realize the privations that the early settlers had to undergo,
especially when we consider the severity of the winters, the proximity
of the Indian bands, and the inaccessible condition of the country. Even
in later years when small plots of land were reduced to a state of
cultivation, they were compelled to manufacture their own meal by the
most primitive methods. Solomon Hill was one of the second generation
after these pioneers, and in 1833 he married Eleanor Gregory, also the
descendant of a U. E. loyalist family. Andrew Gregory Hill was the
eldest child of this marriage. Both his grandsires bore arms in the war
of 1812, and were both severely wounded. Solomon Hill, his father,
served with the militia in the rebellion of 1837, but privately
sympathized with the patriot cause, and in later years became a great
admirer of William Lyon MacKenzie, the patriot leader. Andrew was
brought up to farm life, attending the public school in winter, and
assisting his father in summer. At the age of eighteen he was sent to
Victoria College, Cobourg, where he subsequently graduated in arts and
in law, having in the meantime taught school for nearly two years in
order to provide funds with which to prosecute his studies. He
subsequently studied law in Cobourg, and afterwards in St. Catharines,
and lastly with the late Adam Crooks, at one time minister of education
for the province of Ontario, in Toronto. Mr. Hill was admitted to
practice in 1862, and called to the bar in 1864. He commenced practice
in St. Catharines, but only continued there a few months, when he
entered into partnership with Warren Rock, late of London, and removed
to Welland. Here he practised for more than ten years. He took an active
interest in all local matters, being for many years in succession a
member of the school board, the village council, the county council, and
the county board of education. In 1864, Mr. Hill became identified with
the local press, and shortly afterwards started _The Welland Tribune_,
which paper at once became, and has since continued to be, the organ of
the Reform party in the county. In 1872 Mr. Hill, being an active
politician, was nominated by the Reform party of the county of Welland
for the House of Commons, in opposition to the late Mr. Street, a tory,
who had held the county for many years, but was defeated. In 1874 he was
appointed police magistrate for the town of Niagara Falls, under the
special “Act to provide for the better government of that part of
Ontario situate in the vicinity of the Falls of Niagara,” which position
he has held since that time. His administration in that capacity has
been prompt and vigorous—some of his judgments being regarded by many
as severe—but in consequence of the bold stand he took as a magistrate,
he soon brought about a beneficial change in the locality, and drove
away large numbers of the criminal class who formerly infested the
neighbourhood. Notwithstanding his appointment as police magistrate, he
still continued to practise his profession, and in 1886 was appointed
solicitor for the town of Niagara Falls, for the Imperial bank of Canada
at Niagara Falls, and for the Niagara Falls Street Railway Company. In
1865 Mr. Hill married Isabel Thompson, daughter of Archibald Thompson,
of Stamford, who was for many years treasurer of the county of Welland,
and whose ancestors were among the earliest settlers of this county.
* * * * *
=Anderson, Alexander=, Principal of the Prince of Wales College,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, was born at Aberdeen, Scotland,
30th September, 1836. His father, Alexander Anderson, and his mother,
Margaret Imray, belonged to families residing in the adjacent parishes
of Banchory Ternan and Midmar. Until 1854, he attended school in the
town of Aberdeen. The six or seven years prior to that date were passed
under the tuition of William Rattray, an educationist of considerable
repute in the north of Scotland. Government grants and inspection were
then in their infancy, and Mr. Rattray was one of the first in that
quarter to hail the advent of a system which, sooner or later, was bound
to develop into a national scheme of education. From Aberdeen, Mr.
Anderson proceeded to Edinburgh to the Training College at Moray House,
having gained the first scholarship at the annual competition held in
that city. At this institution he remained two years. Moray House was
then under the able rectorship of James Sime, one of the best scholars
and most enthusiastic teachers of whom Scotland could then boast, and
was, during his incumbency, several times reported as the best college
of its kind in Great Britain. When Mr. Anderson finished his course at
the Training College, he was selected as an assistant master in the
public school in connection with it. He held this position for more than
two years, and only resigned it to complete his studies at the
university. At the University of Edinburgh, whose classes he attended
for four years, his career was distinguished. In the classes of
mathematics and natural philosophy he took the first place, and in both
was bracketed with another for the Straton gold medals, at that time the
highest mathematical honours conferred by the university. In the spring
of 1862, the proposal was made, through the rector of the Training
College, that he should take the second professorship in the Prince of
Wales College. This appointment he accepted, and proceeded to Prince
Edward Island in November of that year. In 1868 he was appointed
principal, and on the amalgamation of the Prince of Wales College and
Normal School, principal of the united institutions, and a member of the
Board of Education. On the schools of Prince Edward Island, Mr. Anderson
has made a marked and lasting impress, which is every year deepening.
His remarkable accuracy of information, his thorough scholarship, and
his enthusiastic devotion to the cause of education, have had a most
astonishing effect in arousing an interest in the public schools
throughout the province. In addition to this, his integrity of purpose,
his high sense of honour, and his love of truth, have been instilled
into the minds of his pupils, and made effective through that
extraordinary force of character which has rendered all his teaching so
impressive. He has a wonderful tact in finding out and developing talent
in his pupils, and many a young man has been started by him in a career
of usefulness and distinction, who might otherwise have remained
unknown. Two of Mr. Anderson’s pupils won, successively, the Gilchrist
scholarship. The highest honours in the Maritime provinces are generally
gained by students from his classes. During the twenty-four years Mr.
Anderson has been in the province, he may be said to have taken the
leading part in every forward movement in the cause of education.
* * * * *
=Reddin, James Henry=, Barrister, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island,
was born at Kew, Surrey, England, on the 9th January, 1852. He is the
eldest son of James Reddin, formerly a merchant in Charlottetown, but
now holding the position of Government inspector of weights and measures
for Prince Edward Island. His mother, Louisa Anna Matthews, was a
daughter of John Matthews, a retired London merchant, and a freeman of
that city, related through his marriage with the widow of Henry Monk, a
scion of the family of Monk, of Albemarle, to the Kershaws, Millers,
Chadwicks, and other well known commercial families of Liverpool and
Manchester. James Reddin’s father, Dennis Reddin, was the son of a
manufacturer in Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary county, Ireland, by his
marriage with Miss O’Meara, a daughter of an old established family in
the south of Ireland. Dennis Reddin emigrated to Prince Edward Island
during the latter portion of the eighteenth century, and having been
possessed of a better education than most Irish settlers of his day, he
taught school for some time on the island. He afterwards became engaged
in mercantile pursuits, notably in the building of ships, in which he
was very successful until the year 1847, when a great fall took place in
this class of property, and he, like many other shipbuilders, became
involved in the common ruin that ensued. The Reddin family have been for
nearly a century the leading Irish Catholic family of Prince Edward
Island, and one of the sons of the late Dennis Reddin has successively
held the position of solicitor-general and attorney-general of the
province, and is at present a county court judge,—he being the first
Roman Catholic in Prince Edward Island appointed to a judicial office.
James Henry Reddin, the subject of this sketch, was educated at a
private school, and then at the Prince of Wales and St. Dunstan’s
Colleges. After leaving school he occupied for some time the position of
clerk in his father’s office, and when that gentleman gave up business,
he commenced the study of law with his uncle, Richard Reddin, and
continued it in the office of the Hon. Neil McLeod. In July, 1885, he
was admitted an attorney of the supreme court, and a barrister the
following year. Mr. Reddin has been connected with several literary
societies, has written on various occasions for the press, and delivered
before the public lectures on literary and other subjects. Mr. Reddin’s
father is a Roman Catholic, and he has followed in his footsteps; his
mother, however, was a member of the Episcopal church. In politics he is
a Liberal-Conservative. In conclusion, we may add that Mr. Reddin’s
father for many years filled the position of president of the Benevolent
Irish Society, established by Lieut.-Governor Ready in 1825, and on his
retirement from office was elected patron of the society in the room of
the deceased Hon. Daniel Brenan.
* * * * *
=Galbraith, Rev. William=, B.C.L., LL.B., Pastor of the Methodist
church, Orillia, was born in the township of North Monaghan, three miles
from Peterboro’, on 13th of July, 1842. His parents, William Galbraith
and Mary MacGlennon, were both natives of Ireland. His mother is a woman
of strong mind and great force of character, and her son has inherited
from her those qualities which have made him a power in the church. The
subject of this sketch was converted at the age of eleven years, and
united himself with the Wesleyan Methodist church, and has continued
connected with that body of Christians ever since. He received his
education for the ministry at Victoria College, Cobourg, and when only
seventeen years of age was licensed as a local preacher. In June, 1861,
before he was nineteen years old, he entered the ministry, and was
ordained in June, 1865. While doing the work of a heavy city
appointment, he took up the law course in McGill College, Montreal, and
in 1875 received the degree of B.C.L. In 1881 he received the degree of
LL.B. from Victoria College. Rev. Mr. Galbraith has been delegate at
four general conferences; chairman of a district for seven years; was
the last president of the Montreal Conference of the Methodist church of
Canada, and the first president of the Montreal Conference of the
Methodist church after the union in 1884. Apart from his pulpit duties,
the Rev. Mr. Galbraith has taken a deep interest in the educational work
of the church, and has contributed liberally to the support of Victoria
College, Stanstead Wesleyan College, and the Wesleyan Theological
College, Montreal. He has been twice married. His first wife was Hettie
Howell, the only child of Isaac Reid and Nancy Howell, of Jerseyville,
Ontario. She died when only thirty years of age, leaving three children.
His second wife is Kate Breden, daughter of John Breden, Kingston,
Ontario.
* * * * *
=Craig, James=, B.A., Barrister, Renfrew, Ontario, was born at
Inveraray, Scotland, on the 31st of July, 1851. He is son of George
Craig, of Arnprior, Ontario. This gentleman was born at Ellon,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and his wife, Annie Clark, was born at Daviot
in the same county, and Mrs. Craig, sen., is sister of the Rev.
Professor William Clark, of Trinity College, Toronto. Mr. Craig, sen.,
came to Canada in 1854, and after residing in Ottawa city for about
three years, settled in Arnprior in 1857, where he has since resided.
For many years he has been a prominent justice of the peace there. James
Craig studied in McGill College, Montreal, and graduated in arts in
1874. In the same year he was articled to W. A. Ross, then barrister in
Ottawa, and now county court judge for the county of Carleton, and was
called to the bar and sworn in as solicitor in May 1878. In this year he
began to practise his profession in Pembroke, but shortly afterwards
moved to Renfrew, where he has since resided and practised with
considerable success. Mr. Craig has always taken an active interest in
public affairs, and was for over four years president of the Mechanics’
Institute, and occupied a similar position in the Curling Club. He is
now master of Renfrew Masonic lodge. Mr. Craig is a Presbyterian, and in
politics a Reformer, and is likely some day to sit in one of our
legislative assemblies. He was married in New York city on the 22nd of
May, 1879, to Lizzie Olivier, daughter of the late Judge E. S.
Macpherson, and Elizabeth Balmer Penton, who was a daughter of William
Penton, of Pentonville, England. Mr. Penton, the grandfather of Mrs.
Craig, was a man owning considerable property in England, and occupied a
good social position, but having taken a strange dislike to the
monarchical form of government that the people of Great Britain are so
proud of, he embarked in 1835 with all his family, servants, and effects
to the United States of America. After residing there for some time he
was induced by Lord Gosford, then governor-general of Canada, and an old
friend of his, to come and settle in Her Majesty’s possessions. To this
he consented, and took up his abode in Port Hope, on Lake Ontario; but
feeling dissatisfied, he again returned to his favourite republic, and
fixed his home at Utica, New York State, where he died. His descendants
are very numerous, and during the late war many of them were found
fighting on opposite sides. His grandson, a Federal officer, on one
occasion chased his uncle, a Confederate colonel, with a view of taking
him prisoner.
* * * * *
=Smith, John H.=, Manager of the Mercantile Agency of R. G. Dun & Co.,
Buffalo; though a resident of that city, may be fairly claimed as a
Canadian, and one who has done honour to his country. Born in
Portsmouth, England, June, 1840, when but five years of age he came with
his parents to Canada, and the family settled in Kingston on their
arrival. Scarcely had ten summers passed over his head, when both
parents died, leaving behind them very little means. Until he was
seventeen years of age he resided in the Limestone City, in the meantime
attending the public school, which he left when he had attained his
thirteenth year, and then made a living by acting in the capacity of
clerk in various stores and in a law office. In 1857 he came to Toronto,
and having resolved to learn a trade of some kind, he decided on
becoming a printer, and apprenticed himself to the _Globe_ office. In
this establishment he acted in the capacity of compositor and
proofreader until 1863, when he gave up printing, and accepted a
position in the mercantile agency of R. G. Dun & Co. (now Dun, Wiman &
Co.). At this time Erastus Wiman was the manager of the Toronto branch
of the firm, and Mr. Smith first met Mr. Wiman in the _Globe_ office,
where, like himself, he had been an employee, and since then the warmest
friendship has continued to exist between them. Mr. Smith, through
strict attention to his duties, soon won the respect of his employers,
and in 1866 he was sent to the city of Buffalo to open a branch office
there. Since then he has managed the business so well that it has grown
to large proportions, and not only does he continue to take charge of
the Buffalo office, but he has nine other branches under his
superintendence. Mr. Smith, having a large capacity for work, and
realizing the great truth that the world had claims upon him outside the
narrow walls of his office, took an active interest in the welfare of
his adopted city, and we now find him greatly interested in several
public projects. Among others in two land companies that have for their
object the development and settlement of several hundred acres of land
in the northern part of Buffalo, just adjoining the beautiful park the
citizens of Buffalo are so justly proud of. This piece of land is now
being laid out in villa park lots, under the supervision of Frederick
Law Olmsted, the celebrated Boston landscape architect and surveyor, and
it is expected that in a very few years this section of the city will be
taken up and built upon by the more wealthy of the inhabitants. Mr.
Smith is also interested with Mr. Wiman in his Staten Island
enterprises, and his movement for bringing the Baltimore and Ohio
Railway into the city of New York. Through his business ability and
tact, Mr. Smith has acquired a large amount of wealth, and is now
reckoned as one of the rich men of Buffalo; yet he does not forget the
land in which his early days were spent, and where he struggled so hard
to get on. We, therefore, find him spending a month with his family each
summer among the islands and lakes of the Muskoka district, or at
Gananoque and the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence, where he enjoys
the sports that those regions so abundantly supply. Mr. Smith is still a
favourite among his Canadian friends, and whenever he finds time to pay
a visit to Toronto or other city where he is well known he is always
heartily welcomed by them. He is a member of several clubs in Buffalo,
among others the “Idlewood” and the “Oakfield,” and is also an honorary
member of several of our Canadian clubs. Mr. Smith has been an
industrious and hence a successful man, and his example cannot fail to
prove an incentive to many a young Canadian now setting out to battle
with the world. He married, in 1863, Jane Reeves, of Toronto, and has
now a family of eight children.
* * * * *
=Cairns, Thomas=, Postmaster, Perth, county of Lanark, Ontario, is an
Irishman by birth, having been born on the 4th of May, 1828, in the
county of Fermanagh. He was educated in a private school in his native
place, and in 1851 he came to Canada, and settled in Perth. Shortly
after his arrival he took a position in the _British Standard_ newspaper
office, in which place he remained for some time. In 1861 he established
the _Perth Expositor_. This paper he managed for about five years, when
as a reward for his industry as a public man, he was appointed
postmaster of Perth in January, 1866. Mr. Cairns is a member of the
Board of Education of Perth, and is a member of the Methodist church. It
is almost needless to add that Mr. Cairns is highly respected by the
people among whom he has lived for over thirty-five years, and is a
faithful public servant.
* * * * *
=Cairns, George Frederick=, Barrister and Solicitor, Smith’s Falls,
county of Lanark, Ontario, was born in Perth, county of Lanark, on the
27th October, 1857, and is a son of Thomas Cairns, postmaster of Perth,
his mother being Jane Meuary. He received his education in the High
School of Perth, his native place. After leaving school he decided to
make law his profession, and with this object in view he entered, in
1879, the office of F. A. Hall, barrister, Perth, where he spent a few
years. Then in 1882 he went to Toronto, and entering the office of
Watson, Thorne & Smellie, barristers, of that city, he finished his
legal education with them, and was called to the bar in February, 1884.
The same year he went to Smith’s Falls, where he now successfully
practises his profession. Mr. Cairns is a rising man, and we have no
doubt he will soon reflect great credit on his country. He is a member
of the Methodist church.
* * * * *
=Wright, Aaron A.=, of the firm of Barr & Wright, General Merchants,
Renfrew, Ontario. This gentleman, who is one of the bulwarks of the
Reform party in Central Ontario, was born near Farmersville, county of
Leeds, June 6th, 1840. He comes of U. E. loyalist stock, his grandfather
and grandmother on both sides being U. E. loyalists. His father, Israel
Wright, was a native of Leeds county, and his mother as well, her maiden
name being Stevens, a daughter of Abel Stevens. Our subject was educated
in a public school of his native country, and also in a select school
under John B. Holmes. In 1864 Mr. Wright entered the Normal School,
Toronto, and obtained a first-class certificate there. After this he
became head master of the Gananoque Public School. In 1866 he entered
the Military College at Montreal, and obtained a first-class military
certificate of the highest grade. Soon afterwards he succeeded in
obtaining a first-class Model School certificate for French and English
for Lower Canada. Late in the same year he was appointed principal of
the Model School at Lachine, and the Fenian troubles of that time
impelled him to organize the Lachine company of light infantry, of which
he was gazetted captain. These positions he held until his removal to
Renfrew, in 1870, where he entered mercantile pursuits, which still
engage his attention. Mr. Wright, ever since his settlement in Renfrew,
has always taken an active interest in all matters relating to the
welfare of the village and county. When he first came the place was
entirely without railway communication, and he soon became prominent in
an agitation to extend the line of the Canada Central to that point; the
terminus at that time being at Sand Point, some sixteen miles distant.
Mr. Wright addressed meetings, organized deputations, &c., until the
point was carried and Renfrew was made the terminus of the road. Since
that time, however, the Canada Central has become merged in the vast
system of the Canadian Pacific. This was not by any means all of Mr.
Wright’s railroad experience, for when the Kingston and Pembroke line
was mooted, he took a lively interest in the scheme, which is now
completed from Kingston to Renfrew. In politics, Mr. Wright is an ardent
supporter of the Mowat government and of Mr. Blake. When the Reform
Association for the south riding of Renfrew was organized, in 1875 or
1876, Mr. Wright was elected first vice-president, which position he
holds to this day. He has often been urged to allow his name to be used
for parliamentary honours, but, unfortunately, has persistently refused,
business men of his calibre being sadly lacking in our legislative
halls. Mr. Wright is the president of the County of Renfrew
Horticultural Society, and has held that office since its inception four
years ago; he is also director for division No. 2 of the Fruit Growers’
Association of the province of Ontario. For the past twelve years he has
been chairman of the High School Board of Renfrew, his earlier
experiences eminently fitting him for the position. His partner in
business is David Barr, and it needs scarcely be said it is the most
important and wealthy firm in this locality. They have recently built
what is probably the finest brick block for business purposes in Central
Ontario, which they occupy exclusively for the carrying on of their
extensive trade. To facilitate their extensive and largely increasing
grain trade, they have also erected the finest and best equipped grain
elevator in the Ottawa valley. And in addition to all this, they were
not only the first to introduce gas into the town, but were also the
first to put it out, and introduce the system of lighting by
electricity, being the proprietors of the electric light plant, with
which they light their own building, besides furnishing it to other
private firms, as well as to the corporation for lighting the streets of
the town. Mr. Wright’s busy life has precluded the possibility of
extensive travel, save that connected with business. In this regard,
however, he has on many occasions visited the markets of Europe and this
continent. In religion Mr. Wright is a Baptist, and as might be
expected, believes in water as opposed to whisky in the warfare now
being waged against the latter, in fact, was an ardent supporter of the
Canada Temperance Act, and favours the still more radical measure, viz.,
total prohibition. In 1871 he married Jane, a daughter of Theophilus
Harvey, of Lachine, by whom he has issue five boys and one girl.
* * * * *
=Stratford, John H.=, Brantford, Ontario, is a native of New York state,
having been born in Oswego, on the 30th May, 1840, came over with his
parents and settled in Brantford in 1844, where he has since resided.
Mr. Stratford’s father, who died in 1884, was born at Sheerness, Kent,
England, and was a gentleman of the old school. He was educated at Eton
and Trinity College, Dublin, and was highly respected by the citizens of
Brantford, for his charity and the strict sense of honour he had
practised from the day he first took up his residence among them to the
day of his death. When he retired from business in 1875, he divided his
large fortune among his three sons, retaining a life annuity. His
mother, who died in 1875, was also greatly respected and beloved for her
charitable deeds. She belonged to an Irish family, and was niece of the
late Colonel George Hamilton, for many years manager of the Canada
Company at Toronto. John H. Stratford’s grandfather, Dr. John Stratford,
and his uncle, Dr. Samuel John Stratford, both members of the Royal
College of Surgeons, London, England, were known as eminent physicians
in Canada. The latter, who was assistant surgeon in the 72nd
Highlanders, sold his commission, and with a number of other British
officers, settled at Woodstock, Ontario, where they received grants of
land from Sir John Colborne, the then military governor of Upper Canada.
In this town he successfully practised his profession for many years,
and subsequently left this country, having received the appointment of
emigration agent for the British government in New Zealand, where he
died. Another member of the family, Elizabeth Stratford, his sister,
married in 1839 Mr. Davidson, a celebrated lawyer in New York, who was
appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, but
died just before being sworn into office. Joseph and Charles, brothers
of John H. Stratford, still reside in Brantford, Joseph being a wealthy
merchant, and owner of “Stratford’s Opera House,” one of the handsomest
in the province. John, the subject of this sketch, received his
education in Brantford; and after leaving school, for a number of years
up to 1871 he managed first the retail and afterwards the wholesale drug
business of his father. In 1865, he formed with the late C. Gilbert a
partnership, the object of which was the carrying on of a wholesale oil
business; and this firm was the first to introduce on our Canadian
railways the use of natural petroleum as a lubricant for car wheels. In
1868, Henry Yates was admitted into the partnership, and it then
operated under the style of John H. Stratford & Co. The following year
Mr. Gilbert withdrew, and since then the firm has been known as Yates &
Stratford, wholesale oil and lumber merchants. In 1870, Mr. Stratford
formed, with Donald Nicholson, since deceased, and Robert Chisholm, of
Hamilton, a special partnership for the construction of that section of
the Great Western Railway, from Glencoe to Simcoe, a distance of
seventy-five miles. This piece of work, a very difficult one, owing to
the Canada Southern Railway being in course of construction at the same
time, almost parallel, was completed in 1872, to the entire satisfaction
of the Great Western Railway authorities. In 1884, Mr. Stratford
purchased seven acres of land, beautifully situated, overlooking and
within the limits of the city of Brantford, on which he erected, under
his own superintendence, an hospital capable of accommodating fifty
patients and a regular staff of nurses, etc., at a cost of over $20,000.
And on the 10th February, 1885, it was formally opened by His Honour,
John Beverley Robinson, lieutenant-governor of Ontario, and Mrs.
Robinson, in the presence of a large assembly of citizens, when Mr.
Stratford handed it over as a free gift to the city of Brantford. Mrs.
John H. Stratford and Mrs. Arthur S. Hardy also took a deep interest in
the hospital, and through their united exertions, collected from friends
$4,000, wherewith to equip it with suitable furniture, instruments, etc.
It is called “The John H. Stratford Hospital,” and is without
doubt,—being perfect as to heating, light, ventilation, laundry,
stables, and other modern improvements—one of the finest institutions
of its kind in the Dominion. When of age Mr. Stratford joined the
Masonic body, and has continued to keep up his connection with it ever
since. He is a member of the St. James Club, Montreal. He married in
1868, Sara Juson Harris, fifth daughter of the late T. D. Harris, at one
time a prominent wholesale hardware merchant in Toronto. Mr. Stratford
is a member of the Episcopal church; a thorough business man of strict
integrity, and has been eminently successful in all his undertakings.
* * * * *
=Benson, Rev. Manly=, Pastor of the Central Methodist Church, Bloor
street, Toronto, was born in Prince Edward county, Ontario, in 1842. His
parents, Matthew R. and Nancy Ruttan, were of U. E. loyalist stock, and
were among the early founders of Canadian nationality on the beautiful
shores of the Bay of Quinté. To this, doubtless, may be attributed the
sturdy mental and moral, as well as physical fibre, which characterizes
the so worthy a son of so worthy parents—the subject of our sketch. His
parents removed to the town of Newburgh, and here Manly received a good
education at the academy, and prepared himself for the work of a
teacher. At the age of ten years he was converted to God at a special
service held by the late Rev. Joseph Reynolds, the superintendent of the
Demorestville circuit, and he grew up under the fostering influence of
the Sunday-school and the class-meeting, both of which had a marked
influence on his young life, and spared him from the many bad influences
that are apt to surround young men. For a few years Mr. Benson applied
himself as a teacher, at the same time continuing his studies with the
principal of the Newburgh Academy. The piety and cultivated talent of
the young teacher attracted the attention of the members of the
Methodist church of the town in which he lived; and having undergone the
preliminary training in Christian work as a local preacher, he was
recommended by the official board of the Newburgh circuit for the
ministry. He was received on trial in 1863, and made his first
acquaintance with the activities of the work in the western extremity of
the province. For four years he travelled successively as junior
preacher on the Romney, Chatham, Windsor, and Sarnia circuits; and
having given full proof of his ministry, passing with credit all the
prescribed examinations, he was received into full connexion, and
ordained at the Hamilton conference in 1867. He then travelled, as
superintendent, the Ridgetown, Newbury, and Cooksville circuits. After
one year on the latter circuit, he was invited to the Centenary Church,
Hamilton, as colleague of the Rev. W. J. Hunter, D.D. At the end of his
first year in this charge, which date also completed the full pastoral
term of the superintendent of the circuit, he was invited by the
official board to take Dr. Hunter’s place as superintendent of the
church and circuit; but instead of accepting, suggested the name of the
Rev. Hugh Johnston, M.A., who was appointed superintendent, and with
whom he was associated for the balance of his pastoral term of two
years. The closing year of his three years’ term in this city was
signalized by the building of the elegant and commodious Zion
Tabernacle. From Hamilton he went to Stratford and St. Thomas, and spent
three years in each of these places. When closing his pastoral term at
St. Thomas, in 1881, he was invited to the pastorate of the Central
Methodist Church (Bloor Street), Toronto. No transfers were made that
year, and, on this fact becoming known, he was immediately and
unanimously invited to the Brant Avenue Church, Brantford. On the
closing of his three years’ pastoral term in that city he was again
invited by the same church in Toronto, and entered upon his duties in
the Central Methodist Church, Toronto, in June, 1855. Since he took
charge of the Central Church it has greatly prospered under his care,
both spiritually and financially. Its membership has increased from two
hundred and seventy to four hundred and fifteen, and the congregation
has also doubled in attendance. By special collections taken on the
first Sabbath of each of the three years of his pastorate, $6,000 was
contributed, being $2,000 at each collection, and, with other moneys in
hand, $7,000 has been paid off the church debt, and the regular Sunday
collections and pew rents also show a very large increase. In
recognition of Rev. Mr. Benson’s services as pastor, the official board
raised his salary from $1,500 to $2,000, and in addition to this have
furnished and provided him with a comfortable parsonage free. It is
almost needless to say that Rev. Mr. Benson is not only a favourite with
the people of his own church, but with others of the same denomination
in the city, in proof of which he has been unanimously invited, at the
close of his term in the Central Church, to take charge of the large
congregation worshipping in Berkeley Street Methodist Church. Rev. Mr.
Benson has largely enjoyed the advantages of travel, both throughout the
Dominion of Canada and in foreign countries. In 1871, in company with
the late illustrious Rev. Dr. Punshon, he crossed the continent, and
beheld the wonders of the Rocky mountains, and the Sierra Nevadas, the
Geyser springs, the Yosemite Valley, and Salt Lake City. He also enjoyed
the pleasure, or perhaps, endured the pain, of a sea voyage, and visited
Victoria, New Westminster, Fort Yale, and places on the Pacific coast.
In 1879 he crossed the Atlantic and made a still more extended tour
through France, Italy, Switzerland, South-eastern Germany, Belgium,
Great Britain, and Ireland; and during his stay in London was the guest
of Rev. Dr. Punshon, who kindly helped him to see London in all its
phases. After his return to Canada, Rev. Mr. Benson communicated the
many spirit-stirring scenes he had witnessed in distant lands to
appreciative audiences throughout Ontario, by eloquent lectures on “The
Wonders of the Yosemite,” “Across the Continent,” “British Columbia,”
and more recently, on “Memories of Rome,” “Switzerland,” “In Rhineland,”
and on London, Paris, and some of the Italian cities he had visited. He
is an earnest worker in the Sunday-school, and is always ready to labor
for the Master. As a teetotaller he is most pronounced, and is strongly
impressed with the idea that nothing short of the total prohibition of
the liquor traffic will save this Canada of ours from becoming like many
of the places he has visited in Europe—slaves to the intoxicating cup.
Rev. Mr. Benson is one of the directors of the Grimsby Park Company, and
has been director of services for the past four years. Under his able
management this park has been an extraordinary success, and year after
year it is becoming one of the most favourite resorts for those who seek
quiet, with a moderate amount of physical and intellectual excitement,
during the summer months. On the 9th of July, 1867, he was united in
marriage to Julia, third daughter of the Hon. Walter McCrea, judge of
Algoma county, Ontario, and has had a family consisting of nine
children, seven of whom are now living, five daughters and two sons.
* * * * *
=Tilley, Sir Samuel Leonard=, K.C.M.G., Lieutenant-Governor of the
Province of New Brunswick, Fredericton, one of the most prominent of our
Canadian statesmen, is the son of Thomas M. Tilley, of Queen’s county,
New Brunswick, and great-grandson of Samuel Tilley, of Brooklyn, New
York, a U. E. loyalist, who, at the termination of the American
revolutionary war, came to New Brunswick, and became a grantee of the
now city of St. John in that province. Sir Leonard was born at
Georgetown, Queen’s county, on the 8th May, 1818, and received his
education at the Grammar school of his native village, and when he had
attained his thirteenth year, went to St. John, and became apprenticed
to an apothecary. Before beginning business for himself, Mr. Tilley was
for a time in the employ of William O. Smith, druggist, a gentleman of
superior intellectual parts, and who took an active interest in all the
political movements of the day. It was probably from him that the future
lieutenant-governor of the province derived his first lessons in
political economy, and which served him so well when he was minister of
finance for the Dominion of Canada, and we say, without being far
astray, that Mr. Smith plainly saw that his lessons were not likely to
be wasted on this clear-headed and enthusiastic young man. Young Tilley
too, being sprung from loyalist stock, it is only fair to assume that
whenever, if ever he should bring himself before the public, he would
find a prepossession in his favour. He became a prominent member of a
debating society when seventeen, and took a leading part in political
discussions, and shortly afterwards became an able advocate of the cause
of temperance. It may be said here that from that far-past day to this
Mr. Tilley has always been loyal to his temperance principles, has
always seized the opportunity to forward the movement, and upon all
occasions has shown the sincerity of his character by the practice of
his precepts. In recognition of his distinguished services in the cause,
the National Division of the Sons of Temperance of America, in 1854,
elected him to the highest office in the order, namely, that of Most
Worthy Patriarch, and which position he held for two years. In enlarged
politics the first heard of Mr. Tilley was in 1849, when he was the
seconder on the paper of B. Ansley, who was returned by a good majority.
He was one of the foremost promoters of the Railway League, organized to
secure the construction of a railway from St. John to Shediac. In 1850
he was elected to the New Brunswick legislature for the city of St.
John. Mr. Tilley was at this time a Liberal. The following year the Tory
manipulators began to undermine the foundations of their opponents, and
they seduced from allegiance the Hon. J. H. Gray and the Hon. R. D.
Wilmot [Mr. Gray was afterwards appointed a judge, and Mr. Wilmot a
lieutenant-governor], and these two leading gentlemen entered the
government. On the day that their secession became known, the Liberal
party was naturally shocked and pained at the treachery, but closed up
their ranks and resolved still to fight the enemy. Messrs. Tilley,
Simonds, Ritchie and Needham thereupon published a card to the people,
declaring that if Mr. Wilmot, who had accepted office, was re-elected,
they would resign their seats in the house, as they could not, in that
case, represent their views. The electors, however, returned Mr. Wilmot,
and all the parties on the card, except W. H. Needham, resigned their
seats. Mr. Tilley then returned to private life. But he was not long to
remain “a mute, inglorious Milton.” In 1854 the Liberals were
triumphant, and Mr. Tilley obtained a portfolio in the new
administration. From that time up to 1885, when he resigned his seat in
the House of Commons at Ottawa, with the exception of a couple of
breaks, he had enjoyed a remarkable lease of power, having been a member
of the New Brunswick and Dominion governments during many long years,
except the session of 1851, and part of the extra session of 1854. In
1856 he was beaten on the liquor question, but in 1857 regained power,
and became leader of the administration in 1860, which position he
retained till March, 1865. He attended the conference held in Prince
Edward Island to discuss maritime union, and subsequently appeared at
the Quebec conference, where he made a telling speech on the importance
of the province he represented. The proceedings of the Quebec conference
were kept from the public with the most zealous care, but one member
belonging to a sea province told his wife one day that “it was no use,”
he was unable “to keep it any longer.” He unburthened himself to a
newspaper editor, when with the speed of the wind intelligence of the
affair was spread through the British North American provinces. At once
in the lower provinces a storm of opposition was raised to the scheme,
and presses rolled out tons of pamphlets, placards, circulars and open
letters, denouncing the scheme, and calling upon the people to rise and
thwart Tilley and other enemies of his country. The ministry fell. The
Irish were all the time rampant and unappeasable. They all remembered
how Ireland had once been sold, and their representative newspaper
became so bitter as to eventually overreach its aim. To help along the
scheme and defeat the great booming of the Irish, fate brought along the
Fenian scare. The government resigned, and Mr. Tilley was sent for to
form an administration. A new election took place in 1866, and the
_antis_ got a still worse drubbing than had fallen to the lot of the
supporters of confederation. A short time afterwards Mr. Tilley attended
the conference in England, formed to procure a Chart of Union, and he
was, in July, 1867, made a C.B. (civil), in recognition of his
distinguished services. He resigned his seat in the New Brunswick
legislature and government to become minister of customs in the new
Canadian cabinet. From November, 1868, to April, 1869, he acted as
minister of public works, and on the 22nd of February, 1873, he was made
minister of finance. This office he held until the downfall of the
administration on the 5th of November of the same year. He then became
lieutenant-governor of his native province, which office he held till
1878, when he took the field again, with the triumphant result so well
known. In the new Conservative administration he became once again
finance minister, and shortly afterwards framed the legislation with
which his name will be connected so long as the history of Canada is
read, namely the National Policy. On May 24th, 1879, he was created a
Knight of the Order of St. Michael and St. George by the
Governor-General, acting for the Queen. During the session of 1885, at
Ottawa, Sir Leonard’s health having given way, he was compelled to
relinquish his parliamentary duties, and seek comparative rest and
recreation by a visit to London, England, where he gave attention to
some matters relating to the finances of the dominion, and also
considerably improved his health. On his return to Ottawa in the fall,
he however suffered a relapse, and it became very evident to his
friends, that he could no longer successfully cope with his departmental
duties, and if he would prolong his usefulness, he must abandon
parliamentary life. He accordingly sent in his resignation, which was
accepted at a meeting of the Cabinet held on the 31st October, at which
meeting Sir Leonard was appointed lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick
for a second time, the term of lieutenant-governor Wilmot having expired
several months before. On his return to his native province, he was
accorded a hearty reception by the people among whom he had grown up who
gladly welcomed him back to the position he had so worthily filled from
1873 to 1878. He was sworn into office in the legislative council
chamber at Fredericton, on the 13th November, by the chief justice of
the province, in the presence of a large number of prominent persons,
who had assembled to witness the ceremony. It may here be stated that in
December following, the Liberal-Conservative Club of St. John, N.B., was
presented by Mr. Rogerson, with a bust of Sir Leonard, on which occasion
C. A. Everett, then M.P. for the city, who had known him from boyhood,
delivered an address in which he sketched his career, and spoke in the
most complimentary terms of his great public services. It may also be
stated that before Sir Leonard entered upon his duties as
lieutenant-governor, he sent the following farewell letter to his
constituents, addressed to the Hon. T. R. Jones, M.L.C., chairman of the
Conservative Election Committee, in St. John, in the following kindly
tones:—
=St. Andrews, Nov. 9, 1885.—My Dear Mr. Jones=,—I
understand there is to be a meeting of our friends in the city
to-morrow night, to select a candidate for the vacancy caused by
my resignation. I avail myself of the opportunity thus offered
to address a few words to the electors who may there be present.
When in 1882 the electors of the city returned me to parliament
for another term, I then intimated to them that it was probably
the last time that I would be a candidate for their suffrages,
but I then hoped that I would be spared, and my health permit of
my remaining in parliament and in the government until the next
general election. But I had not taken into account the _wear and
tear_ to body and mind, to which I would necessarily continue to
be subjected in the discharge of my parliamentary and
departmental duties. My health was completely broken down last
winter, but after a serious operation there was a hope that I
might continue my work for a short time longer. I regret that my
symptoms of late have been such that I have been forced to the
conclusion that my only chance of a measure of health, and
possibly a few more years of life, is in taking comparative rest
and relief from the mental strain to which I have of late years
been subjected. I feel certain that my many indulgent friends
would cheerfully, in view of my long service, accord me that
rest. It is difficult to find words to express the very great
regret that I have felt, and still feel, at being compelled to
take that course. I took great pleasure in the work of my
department, and I flatter myself that I have been able to
perform it in a way that was acceptable to a majority of the
people. My relations with my constituents were pleasant, and I
may be pardoned if I at this time remark that recent events have
given evidence that my regard for them is reciprocated. To say
good-bye to the men who have been so true and faithful to me for
more than a third of a century is not pleasant, but it must be
said. My colleagues in the government have placed me in a
position where my responsibilities are not great, but where I
hope I may still be able to do something for my native province
and for my country. Thanking one and all for their unwavering
confidence in the past, I still wish to be considered as their
friend. By causing this to be read you will much oblige,
Yours sincerely,
(Sd.) S. L. TILLEY.
Sir Leonard and Lady Tilley visited Toronto, the Queen City of the West,
in May, 1887, and spent a week among their many friends there, who were
overjoyed at Sir Leonard’s improved health, and while here they took
part in the festivities so lavishly bestowed on the Governor-General,
Lord Lansdowne, and his party, who, at the time, were enjoying the
hospitality of the citizens. Sir Leonard Tilley has been twice married,
first to Julia Ann, daughter of James T. Hanford, of St. John, N.B.; and
second, in 1867, to Alice, eldest daughter of Z. Chipman, of St.
Stephen, N.B. Sir Leonard Tilley’s career has been an honour to his
country, and one that young men who aim to do well in public life should
seek to remember and imitate.
* * * * *
=Cluxton, William=, Peterboro’, Ontario, was born in Dundalk, county of
Louth, Ireland, on the 31st of March, 1819. When but six years of age
his father died, and six years later his mother was also removed by
death. His education had been carefully looked after by his mother. On
the break-up of the family, William, the subject of this sketch, went to
reside with an uncle and aunt who was in business in Cootehill, Cavan
county, and this worthy couple soon afterwards, having determined to
improve their condition, emigrated to America, taking with them the
orphan lad. Arrived in Canada, the family located themselves on a farm
near the then small village of Peterboro’, but now one of the most
thriving towns in the province. Here he soon discovered that nature
never intended him to spend his life on a farm. Therefore, with the
consent of his relatives—long deceased, and of whom he still speaks
with the utmost affection—young as he was, and without a single cent in
the world, he sought and obtained a very humble situation in the
employment of the late John Hall, father of the late Judge Hall, who was
then the leading merchant in the village; and in this place he remained
for some time, gradually acquiring knowledge. In 1835, after having
given the utmost satisfaction to all who had reposed trust in him, Mr.
Cluxton accepted a position in the dry goods store of John R. Benson,
and subsequently became the sole manager of his store on Aylmer street.
Here, after business hours, he devoted himself so earnestly and
labouriously to the cultivation of letters and of music, that he soon
became remarkable for his attainments, especially in the latter. In
1836, such flattering offers had been made to him, that he was induced
to leave Peterboro’ and take charge, in Port Hope, of the business of
the late John Crawford, a wealthy and well-known merchant. In this
place, however, from indisposition, being then only seventeen years of
age, he remained but one month, and again returned to Peterboro’ to take
sole charge of a branch of that gentleman’s business which had been
established there, and that was not, it seemed, succeeding so well as
desired. Here his management became so successful, that in three years
he found himself the sole buyer for all of Mr. Crawford’s
establishments, and this position he held until the death of that
gentleman, when he was appointed by the trustees of the estate to wind
up the business, which he did to their entire satisfaction. In 1842, and
after some years of the most unwearied and honourable toil, Mr. Cluxton
purchased a stock of general goods, and launched forth his bark in
Peterboro’ on his own account. From that time to the present, his
success has been of the most marked character, although it may be fairly
supposed that he has met, like all others in business, with occasional
reverses by the way. In 1872, considering his means sufficiently ample,
he retired from the drygoods business. One of its branches established
in Lindsay he disposed to a clerk, who had come to him a mere lad, but
who now, under his strict and able training, has become one of the
wealthiest and best business men in that town. To two of his sons and
another clerk he sold the Peterboro’ establishment; but he continued his
operations in produce, and of late years has only done sufficient to
occupy his mind, so as to prevent the change from an active business
life to one of leisure having an injurious effect. For thirty years or
more he moved the principal part of the grain along the whole line of
railway from Lindsay to Lake Ontario, his transactions amounting to half
a million annually. In 1852 he became manager of the Peterboro’ branch
of the Commercial Bank of Canada, which position he held for eight
years, without having lost a single dollar to the institution, resigning
it only because of its wear and tear, and because of his desire to visit
Europe for the sake of his health—which visit he made in 1862,
accompanied by his wife and a portion of his family. When he did
withdraw from this post, however, the estimation in which he was held by
the directors may be gathered from the fact that he was appointed
confidential adviser to the new manager. Few men in Canada have ever
held so many offices of important public trust as Mr. Cluxton, and no
man in the whole Dominion can boast of a more honourable record or name.
He was for years president of the Midland Railway Company, and has been
president of the Marmora Mining Company, the Little Lake Cemetery
Company, the Port Hope and Peterboro’ Gravel Road Company, and the
Peterboro’ Water Works Company. He has in his time occupied seats in the
town and in the county council, and is at present one of the
commissioners of the town trust. He took a lively interest in the
education of the young, and for twenty-five years was an active member
of the school board. He is captain in the Sedentary militia, and in 1872
he was chosen to represent the people of West Peterboro’ in the House of
Commons. Mr. Cluxton is a Liberal-Conservative in politics. In private
life he is neither banker, merchant nor politician, but simply one of
the great brotherhood of mankind, who makes common cause with his
numerous tenants and his friends, as well as with the fatherless
children and the widow.
* * * * *
=Falconbridge, William Glenholme=, M.A., Q.C., Barrister, Toronto, was
born on 12th May, 1846. He is the eldest son of John Kennedy
Falconbridge, J.P., of Richmond Hill, in the county of York, a very well
known and highly respected retired merchant, who for many years carried
on a large and successful business in the counties of York and Simcoe.
The subject of this sketch received his chief preliminary training at
the Barrie Grammar School, and at the Model Grammar School for Upper
Canada, and matriculated with a general proficiency scholarship in the
University of Toronto in 1862. His course at the University was one of
rather unusual distinction, inasmuch as there was hardly any department
in the curriculum in which he did not at some period obtain first-class
honours. After winning college prizes and university scholarships in
each year, he graduated B.A. in 1866, with a gold medal. He then filled
for a year the chair of professor of modern languages in Yarmouth
College, N.S., and returned to Toronto on being appointed lecturer on
Italian and Spanish in University College, which position he occupied
for one year. In 1868, he commenced the study of law in the office of
Patton, Osler and Moss, and was called to the bar in 1871. (While he was
a student at law he entered the Military School, which was then
established in Toronto, as a gentleman cadet, and in due course obtained
his certificate of fitness for a captain’s commission in the active
militia—under the instructions of the officers of Her Majesty’s 29th
regiment of foot). On the 1st of July, 1871, the firm of Harrison, Osler
and Moss was formed, the members of which were the late Chief Justices
Harrison and Moss; the present Justice Osler, Charles Moss, Q.C., W. A.
Foster, Q.C., and Mr. Falconbridge. He was examiner in the University of
Toronto for several years, and was elected registrar in 1872, and held
that office until 1881, when he resigned and was immediately elected by
his fellow graduates a member of the senate of that institution, and
again elected at the head of the poll in 1886. In 1885, he was elected a
bencher of our only Inn of Court—the Law Society of Upper Canada,—and
was re-elected at the general election in 1886, ranking No. six, out of
the thirty successful candidates, those who received a larger number of
votes being W. R. Meredith, Charles Moss, Dalton McCarthy, C. Robinson,
and B. M. Britton. He was gazetted as one of Her Majesty’s counsel in
1885. Mr. Falconbridge is a pronounced and steadfast Conservative in
politics, and has frequently been solicited to enter public life,
particularly at the general elections for the House of Commons of the
Dominion in February, 1887, when he was offered the nomination for
Centre Toronto. His friends think that his abilities and personal
qualities eminently fit him for the political arena, but he has hitherto
felt obliged by the pressure of professional engagements to decline the
honour. But he has never been chary of rendering gratuitous public
services when called on to do so. He was a prominent member of the
Citizens’ Committee appointed at the time of the terrible accident at
the Humber, in January, 1884, when twenty-nine men were killed outright
or died of their injuries, and fifteen were more or less injured, the
other members of the Committee being the then mayor, A. R. Boswell, J.
H. Morris, Q.C., T. McGaw, Jno. Livingstone, H. E. Clarke, M.P.P., and
John Hallam. Largely through the intervention and efforts of these
gentlemen, more than one hundred thousand dollars were received by way
of compensation from the Grand Trunk Railway, and about fifteen thousand
dollars collected from the general public. For their services in this
connection, given ungrudgingly over a period of nearly two years, they
were publicly thanked by resolution of the City Council. Mr.
Falconbridge is now a member of the firms of Moss, Falconbridge and
Barwick, and Moss, Hoyles and Aylesworth, a strong association,
representing the survival of the numerous judicial appointments which
have been made from their ranks. In religion he has always adhered to
the Church of England, and has been for years an officer of the Irish
Protestant Benevolent Society. He is a keen sportsman and a skilful and
enthusiastic angler, and he is very popular within the circle of his
acquaintance. In 1873, he married Mary, youngest daughter of the late
Hon. Mr. Justice Sullivan, and step-daughter of the late Hon. Sir
Francis Hincks, C.B., K.C.M.G., by whom he has issue one son and five
daughters.
* * * * *
=Sanderson, Rev. Dr. G. R.=, Pastor of the Methodist church, Sarnia.
This worthy and greatly respected minister was born in the city of
Kingston, in the year 1817, so that he is now seventy years of age. He
is of English parentage. With his parents he attended the church of the
Wesleyan Methodists in Kingston, and in the year 1834, through the
ministry of the Rev. Dr. Stinson, was converted, and at once connected
himself with the church. Having a fair English education, possessing a
good voice, good judgment, and above all, a renewed heart, he was by the
quarterly official board made a local preacher in connection with the
Kingston circuit. Engaged in this relation and realizing his need of
better qualification for the work, he entered the Upper Canada Academy,
which formed the nucleus out of which Victoria University has risen,
where he completed his education. He then left the college to enter the
full work of the ministry. The late Rev. Dr. Carroll writes of him: “His
going out as chairman’s supply, one year before his formal reception on
trial, was at the conference of 1836, and his introduction into his
ministerial work was under circumstances which entitle him to rank among
the pioneer preachers. He was first sent to the extensive boundaries,
miry roads and miasmatic atmosphere of the old Thames circuit; and
received a fitting seasoning for its toils by a ride on horseback from
Kingston to Chatham. In the course of this journey the writer first met
and admired the pluck and heroism of the boy of twenty.” A list of the
circuits on which Dr. Sanderson has travelled since entering the
ministry will no doubt interest many readers. In 1837, he travelled the
old Thames circuit, going thence to Newmarket, Grimsby and Hamilton
respectively. In 1841 he was ordained and sent to Stamford, where he
remained for two years, then to St. Catharines for two years, and thence
to Toronto, where he was elected and ably performed the duties of editor
of the _Christian Guardian_. Upon relinquishing the editorial chair,
which position he held for five years, he was appointed to Cobourg for
three years, during which period he was elected secretary of the
conference, and was thence sent back to Toronto to take charge of the
Methodist Book and Publishing House. From the successful discharge of
these important interests of the church he came to the city of London,
where he remained for three years. In the year 1861 he was elected
representative from the Canadian Conference to the Wesleyan Conference
of Great Britain. In 1860 he was elected chairman of the London
district, which position he has held without a break on the several
districts on which he has been placed from that period until the
present. From London he went to the following places in order, remaining
in each the full allotted time of three years: Port Hope, Picton,
Belleville, Kingston, St. Catharines, London (Wellington street), London
(Dundas street east), and Strathroy. In 1876 he was elected president of
the Conference of the Methodist church of Canada, for which position his
many years’ experience as chairman well qualified him. The honorary
degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by his _alma mater_,
Victoria University, in May, 1876. Victoria has never honoured a more
worthy son, and Dr. Sanderson has always been a noble representative of
the claims of this university upon the Methodist people of this
dominion. Dr. Sanderson is a fine specimen of the Christian minister.
During his long period of service there has been no time that he has
been laid aside from work by illness, and no year that there has not
been a revival of religion on his circuit. The statement may be ventured
that Dr. Sanderson has been the instrument in God’s hands of winning
more souls to Christ than any other minister in the regular work in the
Methodist church. He is now the oldest man in the active work of the
ministry, and at a conference lately held in St. Thomas, a testimonial
in the shape of a purse of $120 was presented to him in honour of his
advent upon the 50th year of his ministry. Dr. Sanderson as a preacher
is at times eloquent, always practical and strictly evangelical. As a
speaker he is chaste, polished and powerful, and when in debate he waxes
warm with his theme he invariably carries his hearers with him. As a man
he is sympathetic and tender and withal firm and unflinching in what he
believes to be right. To quote Dr. Carroll again—“He has not been
without difficult positions to keep, and has had his trials; yet he has
proved faithful to his trust, and has usually triumphed. He is
self-contained, manly and enduring, and has never failed in a
connexional trust.”
* * * * *
=Hunter, Rev. Samuel James=, D.D., Pastor of the Centenary Church,
Hamilton, Ontario, one of the leading preachers in connection with the
Methodist denomination, is a Canadian by birth, having been born in the
village of Phillipsburg, province of Quebec, on the 12th April, 1843. He
is of Irish parentage, his father and mother having been born and
married in Strabane, county Tyrone. The subject of our sketch removed,
with the other members of the family, to Upper Canada, and settled in
East Gwillimbury, which was then almost a wilderness. He early developed
an unconquerable thirst for knowledge, and when a mere lad had reached
the limit of the common school teacher’s power to instruct. The few
books in scanty libraries here and there amongst the neighbours were
read with avidity and studied with care. The first money he ever earned
was invested in three works that opened to him the vast world of
thought, namely: Dick’s works, Rollin’s Ancient History, and a Latin
grammar and reader combined. When seventeen years of age he was led into
a religious experience through the ministry of the Methodist church,
which he subsequently joined. At the age of eighteen he was received as
a probationer for the ministry, and began his labours in the township of
Walpole. Four years afterwards he was publicly ordained in London,
Ontario. For many years he did the hard work of a Methodist preacher,
and at the same time pursued secular study under private masters. His
fields of labour have been—one year in Walpole, two in Oakville, two at
Thornhill, one at Bowmanville, six in Montreal, twelve in Toronto (six
of which were in Elm street, three in Queen street, and three in
Sherbourne street Church). He is now completing his second year in
Centenary Church, Hamilton, one of the largest and most important
congregations in the Dominion. At the convocation of 1886 the Senate of
Victoria University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
Dr. Hunter, though a member of every general conference that has been
held, has no taste for debate, and seldom enters the arena. He is
regarded as orthodox in his teachings, but never takes things on trust
merely. He thinks for himself, and never burkes his opinions, even when
they seem to be out of harmony with the generally accepted creeds. He
married, in 1871, Miss Ruston, of Montreal, and has a family of two
children.
* * * * *