Part 171
=Macallum, Archibald=, M.A., LL.B., Hamilton, Ontario, was born in the parish of Killmichell, Argyleshire, Scotland, on the first day of August, 1824. His parents were Donald and Mary Macalpine Macallum. He was the third son and the eighth child in a family of eleven. When he was about six years of age he came with the other members of the household to Canada, and after a short delay settled in East Hawkesbury, county of Prescott. He was, during the first fourteen years of his life, a healthy, active boy, full of life and spirits, and always cheerful and hopeful. But at the end of that period he had a severe attack of inflammation of the lungs, which, owing to the heroic treatment then in vogue, permanently weakened his constitution and probably laid the foundation of the disease that caused his early and lamented death. During Mr. Macallum’s boyhood he spent a number of years in attending school and working at intervals on the farm. The facilities for securing an education were, in those days, and in that locality, very limited. The schools in the country sections were of an inferior character, and books were difficult to obtain, but by availing himself of every opportunity of securing tuition, and perseverance in private study, he was enabled, at a comparatively early age, to fit himself, in some measure at least, for the profession of a teacher, and taught for a few years in his own vicinity with acceptance and success. Sometimes, in order to keep ahead of his more advanced pupils, he was compelled to study with great diligence in the intervals of school work, but he then formed the habit of constant progress in the search for knowledge which remained with him for life. He was always advancing in his attainments, and never satisfied with the progress he had made. Once only did he yield to the restlessness and love of change that characterize the average boy. He tried for one winter the life of a lumbering man, and went to Quebec on a raft during the following summer; but that life was not to his taste, and he returned to the work of teaching. When the Normal School at Toronto was about to be opened, the late Dr. Ryerson proposed that each county council should send one student, who, after taking the Normal course, at the expense of the council, should return and illustrate and apply, in a sort of model school, the principles he had learned in the provincial institution. In accordance with this suggestion, the council of the counties of Prescott and Russell arranged for an examination of candidates for this purpose to be held at L’Orignal. Mr. Macallum was advised to attend this examination. He succeeded in the competition, and was sent as the leading student of his county to Toronto. He was one of the earliest pupils of the Normal School, immediately took a high position, and obtained the first first-class certificate ever granted by the Educational department of Upper Canada. He was soon appointed to the position of principal of the Provincial Model School in connection with the institution in which he had received his training. Nothing could more fully show the high esteem in which he was held by the instructors of the school, and by Dr. Ryerson, who at that time took a direct personal interest in the welfare of the Normal and Model Schools. It is worthy of remark that Mr. Macallum’s high sense of honor would not allow him to accept the distinguished office offered him until he had received the full permission of the Prescott county council, and pledged himself to refund all advances made by them on his behalf. He entered upon his duties as principal with his usual energy, and from the first the Model School was a success. He secured the respect and affection of his pupils, and received many tokens of their esteem. He remained in Toronto until the year 1858, when he removed to Hamilton to take charge of the public schools in that city. He was principal of the Hamilton Central School until the passing of the Educational Act of 1874, when he became Public School Inspector. For twenty years he remained at the head of the school system of Hamilton, and the marked progress of the institutions under his care gave evidence of the ability and assiduity with which his important duties were prosecuted. He died in the midst of the people in whose service he had spent the richest and ripest years of his life. The flags flying at half-mast in every part of the city, the distinguished cortege that followed his remains to their last earthly resting-place, and the resolutions of sympathy sent to his widow from all the leading societies, told of the esteem in which he was held. Hamilton mourned for him as for an honored father. Mr. Macallum’s career as a student kept pace with his work as an educator. In 1864 he took the degree of B.A., in Toronto University; in 1866 he obtained his M.A., and in 1877 his LL.B. As an author, Mr. Macallum occupied no mean place. His publications were principally practical works on education. Several valuable charts, some historical, and one relating to the animal kingdom, were prepared by him. He was the author of a work on grammar, and another on history, and in 1878 he published an English Literature Primer, the merit of which was so universally recognized that in a single year it ran through five editions. As a lecturer he met with considerable success, choosing in almost every case scientific subjects. As a citizen and a man of business Mr. Macallum’s abilities were known and appreciated. He was a director of the Canada Fire and Marine Insurance Company, the Canada Loan and Banking Co., the Hamilton Street Railway Co., and The Hamilton Ladies’ College. In the several patriotic and fraternal societies which draw men nearer to each other, and foster brotherly feeling and national sentiment, Mr. Macallum found a worthy place. As a Scotchman he had that love for his native land that characterizes every good man and true. At the time of his death he was the honored president of the St. Andrew’s Society in Hamilton. He was an organizer, and chief, of the Caledonian Society. He was also a respected member of Barton lodge, A. F. & A. M. His charities in connection with these and other institutions were large, and so unostentatiously dispensed, that their full extent was not known until after his death. In politics Mr. Macallum was a Liberal. Though he held decided views on many of the public questions of the day, he was moderate in expressing them, and kind and considerate towards all who differed from him. He had deep convictions of the responsibilities and duties belonging to good citizenship, and he was never led by mere sentiment. He made up his mind carefully on these as well as on other subjects, and was not to be moved from his conclusions after having reached them. His piety was deep and fervent, but undemonstrative. He was not the man to parade his cherished emotions and experiences before a mixed multitude, yet with those of kindred spirit he delighted to hold Christian fellowship. His parents belonged to the Established Church of Scotland, in which communion they remained to the end of life. Their son found his way, while yet a youth, to a Wesleyan place of worship, and at the age of sixteen years, he remained after the public service to a class-meeting led by the Rev. Franklin Metcalf, and united with that church. To the day of his death he remained a Methodist, and during his residence in Hamilton he held the positions of class-leader, trustee, and steward, in the Centenary Church. He was a consistent, earnest, and thoughtful Christian, and kept himself unspotted from the world. His sympathies and efforts were not, however, confined to his own communion, for every evangelical community found in him a brother and co-worker. The esteem in which he was held by the Christian public appeared in the fact that he was chosen as the first Canadian delegate, with the Rev. Dr. Gibson (then of Montreal), to the International Sunday School Lesson Committee from 1872 to 1879, the year in which he died. His eminent literary abilities, his rich scholarship, and his profound acquaintance with the word of God, made him an exceedingly valuable workman in this important field. In connection with these duties he visited New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta and New Haven. During the early part of Mr. Macallum’s residence in Toronto, he married Maria, daughter of the Rev. Ezra Adams. This union was a very happy one, though not of long duration. Her early and unexpected death was deeply felt by him. Some years after, in 1859, he married Mary Biggar, daughter of Herbert Biggar, of Mount Pleasant, in the county of Brant. Mr. Biggar is still living at the advanced age of more than eighty years. He was for some years a member of the old Canadian parliament, and served his friends nearer home for a length of time in the county council. Mr. Macallum’s second marriage was an exceedingly happy one. Their home was one of quiet comfort, made bright and beautiful by mutual kindness. All that a wise and thoughtful affection could do to aid him in health and soothe and comfort him during the lingering illness that took him away, was done. His wife and five children survive him. Though he died at the early age of fifty-five years, few names were so long and prominently before the public as an educator. For more than thirty years he occupied a position amongst the teachers of this province second to none. Largely self-educated and self-developed, he was a bright example of what may be done, with little or no aid from others. His life in the home, the school, the church, and among his fellow-citizens was one of quiet power. Few men did more for the educational interests of this country in his day than he did. But his intellectual attainments and accomplishments were rendered more influential by the unswerving integrity of his life and the moral beauty of his character.
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=Cooley, Rev. John W.=, Minister of Zion Tabernacle, Methodist Church, Hamilton, was born in Toronto township, county of Peel, Ontario, on the 7th November, 1852. His parents were Thomas and Ann Cooley. The former was born on one of the Channel islands, where his father, a British soldier, was stationed about the date of the battle of Waterloo. He was brought up near Belfast. His mother was a native of Fermanagh, Ireland, and the family emigrated to Canada early in life. Mr. Cooley, senior, was for many years a missionary agent of the American Tract Society among the sailors on the Welland Canal, and was one of the most active agents in securing the closing of the canal against Sunday traffic. Rev. Mr. Cooley, the subject of our sketch, received his education chiefly in the public and high schools in Thorold, under the Rev. John McNeely, M.A.; Brampton High School, under John Seath, B.A., now High School inspector; and in the Galt Collegiate Institute, under the principalship of the late William Tassie, LL.D. In 1869 he became a public school teacher in the Central School, Owen Sound. For five years he continued in the profession, in different places, meanwhile prosecuting his studies privately, and taking an examination for teacher’s certificate each year. In the year 1873 he was appointed teacher of the Senior Boys’ School, Guelph. During this year his religious conversion took place, and he became active in the work of the Methodist church and the Guelph Young Men’s Christian Association, of which he was secretary. At the beginning of the year 1874, at the request of the chairman of the district, coupled with his own convictions, he accepted an appointment as junior preacher on the Elora circuit of the Methodist church. His subsequent appointments were, 1874-75, Listowel; 1876, Hamilton, Hannah street Church; and in 1877, Stratford. In 1878 he was ordained and stationed at Elmira, county Waterloo. Toward the end of his three years’ term a throat affection compelled his temporary retirement from the work of the ministry. The greater part of the next two years (1881-82) was spent in newspaper work, as a member of the editorial staff of the Winnipeg _Free Press_. In October, 1882, on his complete restoration to health, he resumed his ministerial work, being appointed to Jerseyville circuit, near Brantford. Three years were spent thereon. In 1885 he was appointed to Dunnville, and in 1887 to the pastorate of Zion Tabernacle, Hamilton, where he now is. In August, 1878, he was married to Emily H. Keeling, of Guelph, daughter of the late George M. Keeling, the founder of the _Guelph Mercury_, who died in 1861. This lady was a highly gifted musician, organist for many years, and subsequently choir leader as well, of the Norfolk street Methodist Church, Guelph. She was a very popular vocalist and was widely esteemed for her amiability, good judgment and energy in social and church work. She died in April, 1885, leaving two children, one of whom alone is now living. Rev. Mr. Cooley is a very active and pronounced temperance advocate and prohibitionist, and takes a deep interest in all other social movements.
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=Young, Hon. James=, Galt, Ontario, is of Scotch descent, being the eldest son of the late John Young and Jeanie Bell, natives of Roxboroughshire, Scotland, who came to Canada, in 1834, and at first took up their residence in the village of Dundas in the then Gore District. Almost immediately afterwards the family were induced by the Hon. Wm. Dickson to remove to Galt, and here Mr. Young engaged in business and resided until his death in 1859. James Young, the subject of this sketch, was born in Galt, on the 24th of May, 1835, and has ever since resided there. He received his education in the public schools of his native place; and at an early age displayed great fondness for books, which he has kept up since. In his youth he had a predilection for the study of the law, but finding he could not carry out this idea, he chose printing as a profession, which he began to learn when he had reached his sixteenth year. When only eighteen years of age, he purchased the Dumfries _Reformer_, which he afterwards conducted for about ten years. Under his management this paper attained a great local influence, and in addition was the means of making Mr. Young well known beyond the narrow limits of Waterloo county. During the earlier part of the proprietorship, the political articles in the paper were written by one of his friends, he himself taking the general supervision and contributing the local news. Upon the completion of his twentieth year, he took the editorial control, which he retained until 1863, when finding his health not very robust, he sold out the _Reformer_, and retired from the press for a while. He afterwards went into the manufacturing business, and became the principal partner in the Victoria Steam Bending Works at Galt, which he carried on successfully for about five years. During his connection with the _Reformer_, Mr. Young had necessarily taken a conspicuous part in the discussion of political questions, and his paper was an important factor in determining the results of several local contests. He frequently took the platform on behalf of the Reform candidate, and was known throughout the county as a ready and graceful speaker. He took a conspicuous part in municipal affairs, and for six years sat in the town council; he was an active member of the school board, and devoted a good deal of his time to educational matters; and also took a special interest in commercial and trade questions, on which he came to be regarded as a high authority. In 1857, the Hamilton Mercantile Library Association, having offered a prize of fifty dollars for the best essay on the agricultural resources of the country, Mr. Young carried off the prize. This essay was shortly afterwards published, under the title of “The Agricultural Resources of Canada, and the inducements they offer to British laborers intending to emigrate to this continent,” and was most favorably received by the public, and highly praised by the press. Eight years later (in 1865), the proprietors of the Montreal _Trade Review_ offered two prizes for essays on the Reciprocity Treaty, which was then about to expire, and Mr. Young sent in a paper which carried off the second prize. His success on this occasion led to his receiving an invitation to attend the commercial convention held next year in Detroit, Michigan, and he had the satisfaction of hearing on that occasion the great speech on commerce delivered by the late Hon. Joseph Howe. He first entered parliament in 1867, when he was elected by the Reform party of South Waterloo, as their candidate for the House of Commons. This was the first election under Confederation, and he was opposed by James Cowan, a Reform Coalitionist, who was also a local candidate of great influence; and in addition to this Mr. Young had to encounter a fierce opposition, the late Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald, the Hon. William McDougall, and Sir William Howland taking the field on one occasion on behalf of Mr. Cowan. These formidable opponents were courageously encountered by him single-handed, or with such local assistance as could be procured, and he was returned by a majority of 366 votes. When parliament met in the following November, he made his maiden speech in the House on the Address. He also took a conspicuous part in the debates of the session, and materially strengthened his position among his constituents. He was twice re-elected by acclamation, first at the general election in 1872, and again in 1874. Of the Mackenzie government he was a loyal and earnest supporter throughout. He was chairman of the committee on public accounts for five consecutive sessions, and after the death of Mr. Scatcherd, became chairman of the house when in committee of supply. Among his principal speeches in parliament, were those on the Intercolonial Railway, the Ballot, the admission of British Columbia, with special reference to the construction of the Pacific Railway in ten years, the Treaty of Washington (which was unsparingly condemned), the Pacific Scandal, the Budget of 1874, the Naturalization of Germans and other aliens, and the Tariff question. Soon after entering parliament he proposed the abolition of the office of Queen’s printer, and the letting of the departmental printing by tender. This was ultimately carried, and effected a large saving in the annual expenditure. In 1871 he submitted a bill to confirm the naturalization of all aliens who had taken the oaths of allegiance and residence prior to Confederation, which became law. In 1873 he brought in a measure to provide for votes being taking by ballot, and the government subsequently took up the question and carried it. On two occasions the House of Commons unanimously concurred in addresses to Her Majesty, prepared by him, praying that the Imperial government would take steps to confer on Germans and other naturalized citizens the same rights as subjects of British birth enjoy in all parts of the world, the law then and still being that they have no claim on British protection whenever they pass beyond British territory. In 1874 he proposed a committee and report, which resulted in the publication of the debates of the House of Commons, contending that the people have as much right to know how their representatives speak in parliament as how they vote. At the election of 1878, chiefly through a cry for a German representative, he was for the first time defeated. In the following spring the general election for the Ontario legislature came on, and Mr. Young was requested by the Reformers of the North Riding of Brant to become their candidate in the local house. He at first declined, but on the nomination being proferred a second time, he accepted it, and was returned by a majority of 344. For many years Mr. Young’s services have been in request as a writer and public speaker. He contributed occasionally to the late “Canadian Monthly,” and has been a regular contributor for many years to some of our leading commercial journals, the articles being chiefly upon the trade and development of the country. He has also appeared upon the platform as a lecturer upon literary and scientific subjects. As a political speaker, he has been heard in many different parts of the province, throughout which he now enjoys a very wide circle of acquaintance. He has held and still holds many positions of honor and trust. He is a director of the Confederation Life Association; and of the Canada Landed Credit Company; has been president and is now vice-president of the Sabbath School Association of Canada; is president of the Gore District Mutual Fire Insurance Company; was for eleven years president of the Associated Mechanics’ Institutes of Ontario; and a member of the Council of the Agricultural and Arts Association. A few years ago Mr. Young wrote and published a little volume of 272 pages, entitled “Reminiscences of the Early History of Galt, and the Settlement of Dumfries.” Apart from the fact that works of this class deserve encouragement in Canada, Mr. Young’s book has special merits which are not always found in connection with Canadian local annals. It is written in a pleasant and interesting style, which makes it readable even to persons who know nothing of the district whereof it treats. On June 2nd, 1883, Mr. Young was appointed by the Mowat Government, and sworn in as treasurer of the province of Ontario, and on appealing to the electors of North Brant, his acceptance of office was approved by a majority of 551. On the 29th October of the same year he was compelled to resign his portfolio on account of his health, which, impaired by political and literary overwork, particularly during the preceding twelve months, was found unable for the time being to stand the close confinement of office work. At the next election for the Ontario Legislature in December, 1886, he wrote a letter, declining to accept renomination to the local house. We are glad to say Mr. Young’s health may now be said to be fully restored, evidence of which was furnished during 1887 by the publication of a pamphlet from his pen on the subject of the national future of Canada, and discussing the question of commercial union and imperial federation. This _brochure_ opposes both these schemes, and takes strong ground in favour of Canadian nationality, and has been widely read throughout the Dominion, having gone to a second edition. In religion Hon. Mr. Young is a Presbyterian, and in politics a Liberal. On the 11th February, 1858, he married Margaret, second daughter of John McNaught, of Brantford.
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