Part 14

=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.

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=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.

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=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.

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=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.

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=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.

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=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.

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