Part 172
=Hamilton, Robert=, D.C.L., Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, Quebec, was born at New Liverpool, near the city of Quebec, on 1st September, 1822. His father was George Hamilton, of Hawkesbury, and of Quebec. He was educated under the Rev. Dr. Urquhart, of Cornwall, and was only seventeen years old when his father died from the effects of a severe cold caused by exposure while discharging his duties as colonel of militia during the rebellion of 1837. His eldest son, Robert, the subject of this sketch, at once undertook his share of the labors and responsibilities connected with the extensive lumbering business which had been built up slowly and painfully amid many discouragements. In those early days of the country’s growth there were none of the modern appliances for facilitating work of every kind. Large enterprises were carried on under circumstances which demanded forethought, caution, and resolution. The means of communication were limited, tedious and uncertain. There were no railways, only a few sluggish steamers—and no telegraphs. Even the mails were carried in a leisurely way over the country. When parties of men were despatched in the autumn of each year to the rivers Rouge and Gatineau for the long winter’s work of cutting down thousands of trees and placing the logs upon the ice, it was necessary to provide them with supplies of every kind. Pork, biscuit, tea, sugar, and clothing were conveyed to them by sleighs from Hawkesbury—if not from Montreal. The breaking up of the ice in the spring was always a very anxious time. The rapid rise of the rivers rendered the return journey of the men very perilous. The booms stretched across the mouth of each river sometimes proved quite insufficient to withstand the pressure of the water covered with thousands of logs. The mills built at Hawkesbury for cutting up the logs and preparing them for the British market were extensive and kept in a state of admirable efficiency, being supplied each winter with every new improvement. The season for work was very short—for the waters fell as rapidly almost as they rose—and the difficulty of conveying the logs in rafts to New Liverpool became serious as the summer advanced and the rivers became shallow. Six weeks represented the long voyage of a raft from the mills at Hawkesbury to the cove at New Liverpool. Here the tedious process of washing each deal with buckets and brooms and then marking its quality—whether 1st, 2nd or 3rd class—occupied many weeks. Then followed the delivery of the deals on board the ships which in those days were generally chartered to carry them to London, where another washing and examination followed their delivery at the docks, and then they were sold as promptly as the market would permit, for the capital represented by them from first to last was very large and long locked up—from the crown license to cut down the trees on through the months of winter, spring, summer and autumn, and in some cases a second winter and spring—before the London market was reached. Such a business in its numerous departments and in its unceasing demands for judgment, patience, endurance and persistence was an education in itself. The best qualities of a man’s head and heart were sure to be exercised, developed and strengthened. Robert Hamilton quickly and resolutely gave himself in the most thorough systematic manner to his life’s work and has not only built up a liberal fortune, but guarded and promoted the welfare of the large family of whom he was the eldest—but seventeen years old, as he said, at the time of his father’s death. Mr. Hamilton, in the use of his fortune, has afforded an example much needed in every young community. In no sense has he been brought under the power of wealth, and in no direction has wealth spoiled or marred his character. He has studied and realized in his family, and in his life in the community, the rare satisfaction of using money liberally, judiciously, and with taste, avoiding every abuse of it. His home at Hamwood on the St. Foy road, near Quebec, is a pattern of simplicity, taste and comfort—all that an educated gentleman of refinement should have about him, and for the comfort and advantage of his family, he has brought together in a home which is full of pleasant memories and rare attractions to many because of the quiet enjoyment which its hospitalities have afforded them. He has never taken any part in the politics of the country—his tastes and preferences drawing him to the study and promotion of other interests. As a member of the Church of England, he is widely known for his generous aid to all good works. The diocese of Quebec has found in him a true and intelligent friend. He has never put himself forward to relieve others of their proper responsibilities, the due discharge of which has so much to do with their characters and their happiness in life. Recognizing the responsibilities attaching to him as a man of wealth, he has been no easy, good-natured careless giver, but has patiently and thoroughly studied the best ways and methods of applying his large and generous gifts both to parishes and to the diocese of Quebec, and to the University of Bishop’s College, Lennoxville. These have been so applied as to call out the active energies and co-operation of others, and the result is to be seen in the permanent and satisfactory endowments so needful for a church whose members in such a community as the province of Quebec must always be few in number and weak in resources. The University of Bishop’s College, in recognition of his position and services, conferred upon him in 1885 the honorary degree of D.C.L. In 1845 he married the eldest daughter of the late John Thomson of Westfield, near Quebec. He has a large family, and is surrounded by an attractive crowd of grand-children. His summer resort at Cacouna is full of attractions—foremost amongst them being the gathering of his children and their families about him.
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=Lount, William=, Q.C., Toronto, Ontario, was born at Newmarket, on the 3rd of March, 1840. His father was George Lount, then registrar, and brother of Samuel Lount, who was executed with Matthews in 1837, during the rebellion. The subject of this sketch received his education at the Grammar School, Barrie, studied law with Mr. (now Sir) Adam Wilson, finishing his last years with Mowat & McLennan, and was called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1861, when he immediately commenced the practice of his profession in Barrie. In 1867 he ran for the Ontario legislature, for the North Riding of Simcoe against Angus Morrison. He was elected by a fair majority, and supported the Sandfield Macdonald government for four sessions; but on seeking re-election he was opposed by W. D. Ardagh, the regular Conservative nominee, and H. H. Cook, the Reform nominee and was defeated, Mr. Ardagh being elected. He then retired from politics owing to its taking too much of his time from his profession. He had in the meantime formed a partnership with Mr. Boys, now the junior judge of the county of Simcoe, which lasted for some years, when a new partnership was formed by the admission of D’Arcy Boulton, Q.C., and H. D. Stewart. Five years later this firm was dissolved, Mr. Lount retiring and forming a partnership with his brother, as Lount & Lount. This partnership was continued until the decease of the late James Bethune, Q.C., when Mr. Lount entered into partnership with Mr. Bethune’s late partner, Mr. Marsh, under the name of Lount & Marsh, in Toronto, which firm still continues. He received his patent as Queen’s counsel from the Ontario government on 11th March, 1876, and from the Dominion government in 1877. He has acted as Crown counsel for the Ontario government on several important cases. He has always been president of the North Simcoe Reform Association, taking a very active interest in its affairs, laying all the plans and organizing the party for the fray. He was married on the 17th July, 1874, to Miss Orris, daughter of John Orris, on lake Erie, near Dunnville, and grand-daughter of Colonel Cotter who fought at the battle of Waterloo, in which action he took a very active part as captain in a British regiment of the line.
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=Buchanan, Wentworth James=, Montreal, General Manager of the Bank of Montreal, is one of a class of native Canadians of which the Dominion has reason to be proud—a class of men who, beginning life with the prestige of an honorable family record, won by industry, energy and integrity in the professions, make it their aim to increase that prestige by their own personal exertions. Mr. Buchanan’s grandfather came to Quebec with the 49th regiment,—Colonel (afterwards Sir Isaac) Brock, in command—and was a surgeon in that regiment. His father, Alexander Buchanan, was only four years of age when he accompanied his parents to Canada. After receiving a good education in the then available schools, he studied law with the late Andrew and James Stuart (afterwards Sir James), of Quebec, rose to be one of the ablest jurists who ever practised at the Montreal bar, and was a Queen’s counsel in the days when this honor was conferred upon very few. At the time of his death he was the oldest judge of the Superior Court of the Lower Canada. James Wentworth Buchanan was the second son of this venerable judge, and was born on the 11th December, 1828. He received a sound commercial education; and the great monetary institution in which he was destined to attain so prominent a position was not yet thirty-five years in operation when he began his career. That was in 1847, when he entered the Commercial Bank as a clerk, and five and a half years later he obtained a situation in the Bank of Montreal. From March, 1853, until 1858, he applied himself steadily to his duties, with such satisfaction to his superiors that in the latter year he was appointed manager of the branch at Woodstock, and, subsequently, held in succession a similar charge at Brantford, Cobourg, Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario, acquitting himself at each of these places in such a way that confidence in his ability and integrity increased from year to year. In 1874 he was promoted to the post of local manager at Montreal. In 1880, the late Mr. Smithers being made general manager, Mr. Buchanan became assistant general manager; and in 1881, on the election of the former gentleman to the presidency, he was chosen his successor, and since then he has occupied the highly responsible position of general manager.
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=White, Hon. Thomas=, Ottawa, Minister of the Interior of the Dominion of Canada, M.P. for Cardwell, Ontario, was born at Montreal, on the 7th of August, 1830. His father was Irish, a county Westmeath man, and his mother Scotch, having been born in Edinburgh. Mr. White, senior, carried on business as a leather merchant in Montreal for many years, where he was greatly respected. He sent Thomas, the subject of this sketch, to the High School of that city, where he received the education which in later years he was destined to turn to such excellent account. Having left school, he engaged for some years in mercantile pursuits, but this was not according to his taste, and he soon made up his mind to abandon the calling, and accepted a position on the editorial staff of the Quebec _Gazette_—which position was offered him in consequence of an address he had delivered on temperance in the city of Quebec some time before, and which attracted great attention. In 1853 he started, in company with his brother-in-law, Robert Romain, the Peterboro’ _Review_, which he was connected with until 1860. Then he entered upon the study of law in the office of the Hon. Sidney Smith, Q.C., of Peterboro’, and prosecuted his studies during the full term of four years. He then removed to Hamilton, and, with his brother Richard White, purchased the _Spectator_ newspaper, which they conducted with great energy from 1864 to 1870. Mr. White, from an early age, evinced a marked interest in public affairs; and when he was yet a very young man, was chosen reeve of the town of Peterboro’. He likewise always took a great interest in educational affairs, and served upon the Grammar School boards in Peterboro’ and Hamilton. In Montreal, where in later years his chief personal interests were centred, he took an important part in civic and general business. He was for a number of years representative of the Montreal Board of Trade in the Dominion Board; for three years a member of the executive committee of the Dominion Board of Trade, and representative for five years of that body at the National Board of Trade of the United States. But important and ever conspicuous connection with civic matters, and with associations, did not satisfy the ambition of Mr. White. He had been for years a close and careful observer of political events, and a conscientious student of public questions. So he resolved to seek admission to parliament; and when he sought that admission he did not go as a raw recruit, who has to study public questions after he has entered the legislature. His mind was well stored with practical information, and his judgment ripened by a wide experience. In 1878, he was first returned to parliament for Cardwell, his present seat. But this success was not achieved without much perseverance and strong efforts. In 1867, he was an unsuccessful candidate for South Wentworth in the Ontario legislature; in 1874, for the county of Prescott, in the House of Commons; and in 1875 and 1876, respectively, for Montreal West, in the House of Commons. It may be pointed out that the aggregate majority against him in the three first elections amounted to only sixteen votes. Mr. White has retained his seat for Cardwell since 1878. He has always been an able and very conscientious supporter of the Conservative party’s national policy, and is always prepared with an invincible array of arguments to defend the position which he takes upon this question. He is one of the most industrious members of the House of Commons, and best informed on the government side of the house on questions of trade and commerce. Hon. Mr. White is a graceful, polished and telling speaker; always conveys the impression of being master of his subject, and never becomes confused when he gets upon his feet. In 1885, affairs in the Northwest Territories assumed a very unsatisfactory state, rebellion broke out, and general discontent prevailed anent the government’s management of that vast territory. At this time Sir David Macpherson, minister of the interior, was suffering from illness and unable to cope with the many questions forced upon him through this unfortunate state of things, and when compelled to resign and go to Germany to restore his health, every one began to search for a man of ability to take charge of the vacated departmental headship. Sir John A. Macdonald selected the member for Cardwell to fill the vacancy, and the most complete satisfaction was evinced by the public, indeed even organs most bitterly opposed to the government admitted that the selection was a most admirable one, for the industry, the ability for organization, and the capacity of the minister elect, were known to every one. Almost immediately after receiving the appointment, Mr. White proceeded to the Northwest, and made painstaking investigation into the many unsettled affairs in that region; and it is not necessary to show how numerous, how tedious, and how immense this task was, and the work which afterwards fell to him at his office in the capital. We mention this to show the grave responsibility resting upon the shoulders of the minister of the interior, but there is much satisfaction in knowing that there is no public man of whom we have any knowledge better fitted to cope with the Northwest difficulties than Mr. White. Before closing the sketch, we think it is only fair to mention that the Hon. Mr. White, like many of the leading men who now hold public positions, received his early training as a speaker in the division rooms of the Sons of Temperance, and that, when a young man and a resident of Lower Canada, he occupied one of the highest offices in the Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance of the province of Quebec, and was the first in Canada to write a pamphlet explaining the aims and objects of an order of temperance workers, that are as active to-day in extending the cause of temperance and prohibition as it was about forty years ago, when the order was first introduced into Canada.
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=Duplessis, Louis Theodule Neree LeNoblet=, Advocate, Three Rivers, M.P.P. for the county of St. Maurice, Quebec province, was born at St. Anne d’Yamachiche, on the 5th March, 1855. He is the fourth son of Joseph LeNoblet Duplessis and Marie Louise Lefebvre Descoteaux. His ancestors came from France at the end of the seventeenth century, and settled at La Pointe-du-Lac, in the district of Three Rivers. He was educated at the Seminary of Nicolet and at the Seminary of Three Rivers. He studied law as a profession, and in January, 1880, was called to the bar of Lower Canada, and is now practising in Three Rivers, in partnership with J. M. Deselets, Q.C. Mr. Duplessis did not take an active part in politics until the general election of 1886, when he was returned to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for the county of St. Maurice. In religion he is an adherent of the Roman Catholic church, and in politics a Conservative. He is a rising man, and not many years hence will make his mark in the legislature of his native province. On the 14th July, 1886, he was married to Bertha Cécile Genest, daughter of L. U. A. Genest, clerk of the peace for the district of Three Rivers.
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=Clarke, Henry Edward=, M.P.P. for West Toronto, the subject of this sketch, and one of the rising men in the provincial capital, was born at Three Rivers, Quebec, on the 20th of March, 1829. He is a son of Henry Clarke, and Ellen Armstrong, both of whom came from Midhill, county of Fermanagh, Ireland. Our subject received his tuition, which comprised a sound and practical English education, from public teachers and private instructors, and at fifteen years of age Mr. Clarke left home to push his fortune in the world. Commerce drew him into its busy and active field. At the age of eighteen he had learned the trade of saddle and trunkmaking, and found employment in one of the largest shops in Montreal. Here he remained until 1848, and then removed to Ottawa (then Bytown), where, in the following year, when barely twenty years of age, we find him foreman of the largest saddlery shop in the town. At Ottawa he remained for about four years, working diligently, and perfecting himself in his trade. Mr. Clarke again returned to Montreal in 1853, and the next year he was sent to Toronto to open a branch trunk store for R. Dean & Co., of Montreal. Mr. Clarke now resolved to carry on business for himself, and in ten months after his arrival here he bought out the business of R. Dean & Co. Although he had little capital at his command, he had industry and perseverance, and the result is that we now find him at the head of one of the largest trunk manufacturing establishments in America, and one of the most solid and enterprising of Toronto’s citizens. Although an active man in his own business, yet Mr. Clarke has found some time to devote to public affairs. For eight years he was a director of the Mechanics’ Institute; was alderman for St. George’s Ward in 1879, and for St. Andrew’s Ward for the years 1881, ’82, and ’83. He was chairman of the Court of Revision in 1881, and of the Executive Committee in 1883. He was elected, in 1883, and again in 1887, to represent Toronto West in the Ontario Parliament, and this seat he still holds. He was also for a time one of the directors of the Federal Bank. As a politician Mr. Clarke has achieved distinction and won a high place for himself in the Ontario legislature. He is an effective speaker, and has on repeated occasions ably supported his leader, Mr. Meredith, in the active duties of legislation, and done good service to his party on the floor of the house. As an ardent Conservative, he sits at present in the cold shades of opposition; though did a change of government come, Mr. Clarke would find himself not only “on the Treasury benches,” but no doubt among the prominent members of the cabinet. He possesses an active and practical mind, is fairly well read, and keeps himself posted on all the leading questions of the day, in so far as they come under the purview of politics. Lately he has taken a prominent part in opposing the Commercial Union of Canada with the United States, feeling that it might tend to an undesirable political alliance with the Republic, and retard the industrial life and development of Canada. On this subject, Mr. Clarke contributed his views on the opposition side of the argument to the _Canadian Almanac_ for 1888, Mr. Erastus Wiman, of New York, taking the affirmative side. On other subjects of practical moment, in the domain of politics and legislation, Mr. Clarke has written and spoken much, and his views always command considerable public attention. Mr. Clarke is an Orangeman, having joined the order in 1849. He travelled extensively in 1878, and visited London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Paris, Geneva, Mont Blanc, Berne, Lucerne, Munich, Vienna, Trieste, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, and other historic places. On his return, he delivered a lecture called “Impressions of a Tour in Europe,” in Richmond street Methodist Church, and afterwards published it in pamphlet form. Mr. Clarke belongs to the Methodist denomination, and in politics is a Conservative. He married in May, 1856, Anne, daughter of the late Thomas Kennedy, of Montreal, and has a family of three children, a boy and two girls. His son died at the age of fourteen years. Mr. Clarke’s career has been industrious and honorable, and he enjoys the fruits of his labors and the respect of his fellow men.
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=Desilets, Joseph Moise=, Q.C., Advocate, Three Rivers, Quebec, was born on the 13th April, 1838, at Bécancour, county of Nicolet. He is the son of Isidore Desilets and of Marie Perenne de Moras, both belonging to old French families. He received his education at the College of Nicolet and St. Hyacinthe. He adopted law as a profession, and was called to the bar of Lower Canada on the 2nd September, 1862. He was appointed a Queen’s counsel, March 9th, 1887. He was alderman for the city of Three Rivers from 1864 to 1869; mayor of the same city from 1869 to 1872, and district magistrate for the district of Three Rivers from 1873 to 1878. Mr. Desilets is now practising in partnership with N. L. Duplessis, advocate, and M.P.P. for the county of St. Maurice. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, and in politics a Conservative. He was married, June 3, 1863, to Marie Malvina Trudel, the only daughter of the late Oliver Trudel, notary, and of Sophia Sulte.
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