Part 42

=Patton, Hon. James=, Q.C., LL.D., Collector H.M. Customs, Toronto, was born at Prescott, Ontario, on the 10th of June, 1824. He is the fourth son of the late Andrew Patton, of St. Andrews, Fifeshire, Scotland, and formerly major of her Majesty’s 45th regiment of the line. Mr. Patton’s eldest brother (for some years rector of Cornwall and Belleville and archdeacon of the diocese of Ontario) died in Belleville in 1874. The family having removed from Prescott to Toronto in 1830, James was sent to Upper Canada College, where he received the rudiments of a sound education; and in 1840, having resolved to follow the legal profession, he entered the office of the late Hon. John Hillyard Cameron, who then carried on business with the late Chancellor Spragge, to study law. In 1843, on the opening of King’s College (now the University of Toronto), he matriculated in arts, and graduated in law, and in 1858 took the degree of LL.D. In 1845 he was called to the bar, and took up his abode in the town of Barrie, Simcoe county, where in a very few years he acquired an extensive practice. At an early period of his career Mr. Patton took a deep interest in politics. The agitation consequent upon the passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill, and the burning of the Parliament buildings in the city of Montreal, seem to have acted as a stimulus to his conservative instincts. Therefore, in 1852, he started the _Barrie Herald_ as the mouth-piece of his party, and conducted it with great energy for several years. At this time there was only one other paper published north of Toronto, whereas now there are nearly forty. In the meanwhile he was also engaged in legal literature,—having published the “Constable’s Assistant”—and in 1855 aided in the establishment and publication of the “Upper Canada Law Journal.” In 1859 he was elected a bencher of the Law Society, and having afterwards been a solicitor-general, is now a life bencher by statute. In 1862 he was created a Queen’s counsel. In 1853 Mr. Patton took into partnership Hewitt Bernard, and the year following the late Sidney Cosens, and in 1857 William D. Ardagh, the Barrie firm changing to Patton & Ardagh on Mr. Bernard being appointed deputy Minister of Justice. In 1860 he opened a branch office in Toronto, and the year following was joined by a former pupil, Featherston Osler, now one of the hon. justices of the Court of Appeal, and subsequently by the late Chief Justice Moss, the firm being known as Patton, Osler & Moss, and soon obtained a prominent position. In 1864 Mr. Patton having been invited by Sir John A. Macdonald to take charge of his large business, left for Kingston, but returned again to Toronto in 1872, on the removal of the Trust and Loan Company’s office to that city, Macdonald and Patton being the company’s solicitors. This partnership continued until 1878, when Mr. Patton retired from the active practice of his profession, in which he had been engaged for thirty-three years, and took charge of the English and Scottish Investment Company of Canada. This important position he held until 1881, when the Dominion government appointed him Collector of Customs for Toronto. Since that period he has faithfully performed the duties of this responsible trust, and has done a great deal to improve and simplify this branch of the civil service. Although in his younger days Mr. Patton was an active politician, yet he did not seem to aspire to parliamentary honours though often asked to become a candidate. However, when in 1856 the Legislative Council (now the Senate) was made an elective body and Upper and Lower Canada were mapped out into forty-eight electoral divisions, with twelve members to be elected every two years, he presented himself as a candidate, and was one of the six returned that year for what is now Ontario, for the group of counties consisting of Grey, Bruce and North Simcoe, known as the Saugeen Division. As a member of the Legislative Council Mr. Patton was a staunch Conservative, and he, without consulting the government, moved (seconded by the late Sir E. P. Taché) in 1858 in that body the resolution condemning the Brown-Dorion government—the same being taken up by Sir Hector Langevin, seconded by Hon. John Beverly Robinson, the next day in the Legislative Assembly—and carried it by sixteen to eight. In 1862 he became a member of the Cartier-Macdonald ministry, with a seat in the Executive Council (now the Privy Council) as solicitor-general for Upper Canada—Sir John A. Macdonald being attorney-general—but was defeated when seeking re-election, and with the fall of the government a few weeks later, he retired from public life. While in parliament the Hon. Mr. Patton carried through among other measures the Debentures Registration Act, and the act that has elevated the _status_ of attorneys, by requiring the passage of examinations in addition to the mere service under articles; also amendments to the Grand Jury law, but was unsuccessful in his attempt to introduce the Scotch system of doing away with the required unanimity of twelve petit jurors—the bill, though passed by large majorities in the Council in four consecutive sessions, was invariably thrown out by the Legislative Assembly. The Hon. Mr. Patton assisted at the formation of the University Association, and was its president for several years, holding the office until his election as vice-chancellor of the University of Toronto. This latter office he held from 1860 to 1864, when he was succeeded by the late Hon. Adam Crooks, Minister of Education. In 1861-2 he was chairman of the University Commission issued by the Crown. In 1886 he occupied a seat in the council of the Board of Trade of Toronto, and did good service as such in helping to prepare the laws that govern that important and influential body. In 1853 he was married to Martha Marietta, the eldest daughter of the late Alfred Hooker, of Prescott.

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=Harrison, Hon. Archibald=, Member of the Executive Council of New Brunswick, Maugerville, New Brunswick, was born at Cambridge, Queens County, New Brunswick, on the 27th May, 1834. He is a son of the Hon. C. Harrison, at one time member of the Legislative Council of New Brunswick, and Mary, daughter of Jeremiah Burpee, of Sheffield, one of the first English inhabitants of the province. His grandfather, James Harrison, was a United Empire loyalist. Archibald removed with his parents from Cambridge to Maugerville, Sunbury county, in 1847, and here the family has continued to reside ever since. He received his education at Cambridge and Maugerville, and after leaving school adopted farming as a profession. In 1868 he was elected a member of the Provincial Board of Agriculture, and for the two following years occupied the same position. At the bye-election in 1868, he contested Sunbury for a seat in the legislature, but failed to secure a majority vote. In 1870 he was chosen warden of his county, and at the general election held during this year was elected to represent Sunbury county in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, and on the 8th April, 1874, he was called to the Legislative Council; on the 3rd of March, 1883, he was made a member of the Executive Council, and shortly afterwards was appointed a member of the Lunatic Asylum Commission. In 1886 he was appointed a member of the board of works. In 1873 he was made a member of the senate of the University of New Brunswick, and on the expiry of his term of office, in 1885, he was re-appointed to the same position. Politically, Hon. Mr. Harrison sides with the Liberals; while religiously he belongs to the Congregational body of Christians. On the 5th November, 1862, he was married to Amy, daughter of W. S. Barker, who at one time represented Sunbury county in the New Brunswick legislature.

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=Gilmour, John Taylor=, M.D., M.P.P. for West York, residence West Toronto Junction, was born in the township of Clarke, county of Durham, Ontario, on the 3rd March, 1855. His father was a farmer and manufacturer of lumber, and his mother, was descended from the United Empire loyalists. He received his education at Port Hope High School, and after leaving this institution he practised the profession of teaching for two years. Tiring of this, he resolved to adopt the medical profession, and entered Trinity Medical College, Toronto, from which college he graduated in 1878. He then opened an office in Durham county, and continued his practice here until 1884, when he removed to West Toronto Junction, county of York, and here he has since resided, and has met with a fair measure of success. Early in 1886 Dr. Gilmour was chosen by the Reformers of West York to become their candidate, and when the general elections came on in December of that year he succeeded, with the aid of his friends, in redeeming the riding for the Liberals. In politics he is strongly democratic, and is destined to make his mark in the political arena. He is an adherent of the Methodist church. He was married on the 18th March, 1878, to Emma Hawkins, of Canton, Ontario; but death claimed this estimable lady on the 18th March, 1886.

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=Williams, Rev. William=, D.D., Pastor of the Division Street Methodist Church Cobourg. The Rev. Mr. Williams is the eldest son of William and Margaret P. Williams, and was born in Stonehouse, Devon, England, January 23rd, 1836. His mother was a daughter of Robert Pearse, of Camelford, Cornwall, England. In 1842 the subject of this notice removed with his parents to Toronto. During the four years of his residence in that city he attended school, and the latter part of the time he was engaged in preparing to enter Upper Canada College. Before he had completed his preparatory studies he removed with his parents to Weston, and some time later to the township of Holland, where his father settled upon a farm. Though removed from school at a comparatively early age, he steadily pursued a carefully prepared course of reading and study, and in his nineteenth year he entered the ministry of the Methodist New Connexion church. His record in that community was that of a successful minister of the gospel. Before the union he was during four years chairman of a district; was one year president of the Methodist New Connexion Conference, and was acting president during the greater part of the following year, filling the place left vacant by the lamented death of the president, the Rev. Samuel P. Gundy. The Rev. W. Williams took an active part in promoting the union of the New Connexion and Wesleyan Methodist churches in this country, being on both committees; and in 1874 he was sent by his conference, with the late Robert Wilkes, M.P. of Toronto, as a deputation to the New Connexion Conference of England to obtain the consent of that body to the contemplated union in Canada. In this he and his companion were completely successful. Not only was the requested consent given, but Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Williams were heartily thanked for the manner in which they had presented the matter before the conference. In 1875, after this union had been consummated, and while he was in charge of the church in Simcoe, Rev. Mr. Williams was sent with W. H. Gibbs, of Oshawa, by the Central Board of Missions as a deputation to attend the missionary services in the leading Methodist Churches in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. In 1876, in response to the special request of the Centenary Church, Hamilton, Rev. Mr. Williams was sent to that charge, then the largest and most influential in the London conference. He remained there for the full term of three years. A leading member of that church speaks of his ministry in that place:—“His discourses showed him to be a man of culture, of extensive reading, of careful thought, and of sound judgment. The Centenary Church never, I believe, had a better expounder of the Word of God, or a more faithful preacher of the gospel. Conscientious in the discharge of his duty, whatsoever he seemed to feel should be said he spoke boldly whether it was likely to please or displease. At the same time he evinced such qualities of heart, such sympathy, such desire to do his people good, as secured for him their affection, and made him very influential. As a man, Mr. Williams was liked by all who knew him. He was pleasant and unassuming, easy to approach, and was ready to lend a helping hand.” In 1879 Rev. Mr. Williams became pastor of Norfolk Street Church, Guelph. He remained there during the full term of three years, was acceptable and useful, and during his ministry there the membership of the church and congregation was largely increased; the debt upon the building in which they worshipped reduced by several thousand dollars; and the financial condition of the church greatly improved in other respects. He was also chairman of the Guelph district during the three years of his pastorate in that city. The following three years were spent by him in Woodstock, where he ministered to a very large congregation in one of the finest church edifices in the province. The first year of his pastorate in Woodstock was marked by his elevation to the presidency of the London Conference. This position he filled with acceptance and ability. He was chairman of the Woodstock district during the full term of his ministry in that rapidly rising town. At the request of the Cobourg (Division street) Church Rev. Mr. Williams was, in 1885, transferred to the Bay of Quinté conference, and appointed to Cobourg. There he preaches to a large and intelligent congregation, comprising, in addition to the general hearers, the principal, professors and students of Victoria University. Mr. Williams is also chairman of the Cobourg district. In May, 1887, the senate of Victoria University conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity.

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=Glackmeyer, Charles=, City Clerk, Montreal, was born in Montreal on the 22nd June, 1820. He is of German extraction, and belongs to a family noted for its longevity, his father, Frederick Glackmeyer, having died in 1875, aged eighty-four years. His mother was Sophie Roy Portelance, a French-Canadian lady, who died about 1854. His grandfather came to Canada as bandmaster with one of the British regiments, and settled in the city of Quebec, where he was a professor of and taught music for many years, and died at an advanced age. Charles was educated at the Montreal College, taking a full course, and afterwards studied law with Peltier and Bourret. In 1843 he was admitted to the bar, and after practising his profession for three years, entered the service of the City Corporation as assistant city clerk. This position he held until 1859, when he was elected city clerk, and this office he still holds. Mr. Glackmeyer is a model official, is rarely absent from his post, and one in whom the citizens have the fullest confidence, and whom they delight to honor. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church, and people who know him best speak most highly of his moral and religious character and the purity of the life he leads. On the 30th May, 1848, he was married to M. R. Josephine Duvernay, of Montreal, eldest daughter of Ludger Duvernay, founder of the _Minerve_ newspaper, and of the St. Jean Baptiste Society of Montreal. The fruits of this marriage has been ten children, only three of whom now survive.

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=Gilpin, Edwin, jr.=, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works and Mines, and Chief Inspector of Mines for the Province of Nova Scotia, Halifax, was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the 28th of October, 1850. His father, the Rev. Edwin Gilpin, D.D., is the senior canon of St. Luke’s Cathedral, and archdeacon of Nova Scotia (see sketch of Archdeacon Gilpin in another part of this volume), and his mother is Amelia McKay, daughter of the late Hon. Justice Haliburton. Edwin Gilpin received the rudiments of his education at the Halifax Grammar School, and then entered King’s College, Windsor, where he graduated A.B., in 1871. He then took the arts course, with special courses in mining, geology, and chemistry, and received the degree of A.M., in 1873, and at the same time won the “Welsford,” “General Williams,” and “Alumni” prizes. After leaving college he began the practical study of mining-engineering in Nova Scotia, and especially in the Albion collieries of the General Mining Association in Pictou county, and extended his observations in the leading mining districts in Great Britain. On the 1st of March, 1874, he was elected a fellow of the Geological Society of London, England; and in April, 1873, a member of the Nova Scotia Institute of Natural History. On the 21st of April, 1879, he was appointed by the government of Nova Scotia, inspector of mines for the province, which position he now occupies. In September, 1881, he was appointed a member and made secretary of the Board of Examiners of Colliery Officials; and in September, 1885, was elected a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. In October, 1886, he received the appointment of deputy commissioner of Public Works and Mines for the province. Mr. Gilpin is one of the original members of the Royal Society of Canada. For a number of years he has acted in the capacity of consulting engineer in the Maritime provinces, and has done good service to his county in this direction. He is the author of a popular work on the “Mines and Mineral Lands of Nova Scotia,” published in Halifax in 1883; and has also contributed valuable papers on the “Sub-marine Coal Fields of Cape Breton;” “Nova Scotia Iron Ores;” “The Manganese of Nova Scotia;” “The Carboniferous and Gold Fields of Nova Scotia;” “The Geology of Cape Breton;” and various other papers on the geology and economic mineralogy of Nova Scotia, which have been published in the Transactions of the following societies: The North of England Institute of Mining Engineers; The Geological Society of London; The Nova Scotia Natural History Institute; The Royal Society of Canada; and The American Institute of Mining Engineers. He has also written several annual reports to the government of Nova Scotia, on the progress and development of the Crown minerals of the province. Mr. Gilpin takes no particular part in politics; but in religious matters, he is a staunch adherent of the Church of England. He was married on June 29th, 1875, to Florence Ellen, daughter of Lewis Johnstone, surgeon, Albion Mines, Nova Scotia. Mrs. Gilpin’s father is a nephew of the late Equity Judge Johnstone, and provincial grand master of the Masonic order. Three children have been born of this union.

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