Part 83
=Irving, Andrew=, Registrar of the County of Renfrew, Pembroke, Ontario, was born at Chatham, Miramichi, Northumberland county, New Brunswick, on the 14th of December, 1820. His father, Andrew Irving, was a second cousin of the celebrated preacher and divine, Edward Irving, the founder of the sect known as the “Irvinites,” and was born in the parish of Middlebec, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He emigrated to New Brunswick in 1816, and lived a quiet life as a farmer on the banks of the Miramichi river, about a mile from the town of Chatham, where he died in 1864. His mother, Margaret Henderson, came to this country some time after her husband, and died at a ripe old age in 1871. Mr. Irving’s grandfather, John Henderson, married Clarinda Douglas, the daughter of Sir Archibald Douglas, of Castle Milk, and had the Cleugh Brae farm presented to him by Sir Archibald on the day of his marriage. He died at the age of fifty-eight. Having made his will only eight days before his death, it was declared illegal, from the circumstance that at that time the law of Scotland required that a testator must attend both kirk and market, and live six weeks after making his will, otherwise it would be null and void. The family contested the validity of this will in the courts, with the usual results, namely that of financial ruin to them all. Andrew, the subject of our sketch, was educated at the Grammar School at Chatham, and afterwards studied medicine for three years with Dr. Key, then the most successful practitioner in New Brunswick. Finding, however, that too close application to study was endangering his health, he abandoned medicine, and resolved to seek his fortune in Western Canada. With this object in view, in the summer of 1842 he began his journey westward, and rather than slowly voyage on board a schooner from Miramichi to Quebec he chose the land route. He rode on horseback from Miramichi to Dalhousie, a distance of over a hundred miles, then crossed the Restigouche river at Campbelltown with his provisions on his back, and walked across the country to the St. Lawrence river at Metis, a distance of nearly a hundred miles. The road for the greater part of the route was only a footpath, and the sole guide he and his party had was the Indian blaze; and it took three hard days’ travel to make the journey. He then walked the entire distance, two hundred miles, from Metis to Quebec, in five days. When he arrived at Bytown (now Ottawa city), he crossed the Ottawa river, and was driven to Aylmer in a vehicle called a stage, a distance of nine miles, by a man named Moses Holt, who is still alive, though bordering on his one hundredth year. The next day he took passage in a bark canoe, working his way as far as Fitzroy Harbor, a small village on the south banks of the Upper Ottawa. The following day he embarked on the steamer _George Buchanan,_ which at her best could not steam more than five miles an hour, and came on with her as far as Farrel’s Wharf, in the township of Horton. The distance from this point to Pembroke by the then route was nearly fifty miles, and our dauntless young Scotch settler accomplished the distance in a day and a half, arriving at his destination in good health and spirits. At this time it took a traveller three days from Ottawa to Pembroke, and now the journey can be made in about as many hours. In January, 1842, he began his career as a teacher in Pembroke, the settlers having erected for him a log school-house, in the bush, and agreeing to pay him a salary of forty pounds ($60) and board for a year, which, we may say, was not always promptly paid. However, our young teacher was satisfied, and his indomitable pluck carried him through all difficulties, and he is now one of the leading men in his county. For about three years Mr. Irving filled the office of clerk of the township and village of Pembroke, and was Division Court clerk for over twenty years. In 1861 he was chosen county treasurer, and held the office until 1875. He was local superintendent of education for a part of the county before the law abolishing this office came into force; and was a member of the Board of Education for a number of years, during three of which he acted as its chairman. In 1861 he was appointed a justice of the peace; and for upwards of ten years was license inspector. In 1866 he was appointed registrar of the county of Renfrew, and this office he still holds, and devotes all his time to the performance of his duties. Mr. Irving has always taken a deep interest in municipal affairs, and it was he who during the years from 1861 to 1865 led in the county town struggle for Renfrew county, and it has since been conceded by both friends and foes that it was through his good management that Pembroke came off victorious. He has been an ardent politician, and was always found fighting in the Reform ranks. On one occasion, during a hard election contest, he was approached by an old and valued friend, and offered a lucrative office if he withdrew his opposition to the government candidate, but, with true Scotch pride, he replied, “My principles are my own; they are neither those of John A. Macdonald or George Brown, and you would think very little of me if I would abandon them for any such offer.” This answer led to an estrangement between him and his friend, but after some years his friend admitted he was right, and so the matter was forgotten. Unfortunately Mr. Irving is not so liberal in his religious views as he is in his political. He is a very strict Presbyterian; and the highest of Calvinists, and would resist to the death any innovation or reform in his church standards. In 1844 he was married to Jane Reid, the eldest daughter of the late Peter Whyte, the first settler in Pembroke. She died in 1852, and two of her children survive her. He again married in 1860, his second choice being Mary, daughter of the late Doctor William Cannon, of the Royal navy. This lady is still alive, and has been the mother of five children, four of whom are living.
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=Laliberté, Jean Baptiste=, Fur Merchant, St. Roch, Quebec, was born in the city of Quebec, in 1843. His father, who was the owner of one of the largest tanneries located on St. Valier street, in that city, sent him early to the Quebec Normal School, where he received a sound commercial education. On leaving school he commenced work with a merchant, and was afterwards apprenticed for a few years to a furrier to learn the trade. Here he soon acquired a thorough knowledge of it in all its branches, and laid the foundations of a successful business career. In May, 1867, he began, in a small way, on his own account. Being attentive and obliging and keeping all the latest styles in his stock, customers came dropping in; and at the end of five years, having worked very hard, he had accumulated sufficient means to enable him to re-build the store in which he had begun, and which had now become too small to accommodate his growing trade. After a lapse of a few more years he began again to be crowded for room; and he then decided to enlarge his premises. This time he erected a handsome building on St. Joseph street, St. Roch’s, containing six floors, 110 x 45 feet, which he now occupies. On the top of the building is a dome and flag-staff, on which he always hoists the French flag on the 24th of June of each year, this being the anniversary of his patron saint, St. Jean-Baptiste. Mr. Laliberté has made it a rule to purchase his goods in the best markets of the world, and to offer for sale only articles which may, by their excellence in regard to quality and workmanship, defy the keenest competition. Not content with visiting only the fur markets of New York, London, Paris and Leipsic, he, in 1880, and every year since, has visited in person the great fur emporium of Russia, being the first furrier from the province of Quebec who has done this. He has now branch offices in the principal cities of Europe, and his managers at these places advise him weekly as to prices, etc. Mr. Laliberté employs over three hundred persons, several of whom are constantly employed trapping and hunting in our own northern forests, and are paid the highest prices for furs and peltries in season and of the best grades. He is both an importer and exporter, and when a choice set of furs is wanted, even for the far west, the St. Roch fur emporium is generally called upon to supply it, as it is well known that from his immense stock, said to be the largest in Canada, it can readily be selected. Mr. Laliberté is erect in stature, manly in bearing, and is noted for his courteous demeanour to his fellow men. In short, he is a fair representative of the progressive French Canadian of the present day.
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=Macdonald, Augustine Colin=, Merchant, Montague, Prince Edward Island, was born on the 30th June, 1837, at Panmure, P.E.I. He is a son of Hugh Macdonald, who came from Moydart, Inverness-shire, Scotland, to Prince Edward Island in 1805, and settled at Panmure. The mother of the subject of our sketch was Catherine, daughter of A. Macdonald, of Rhue Arisaig, Inverness-shire. Augustine Colin Macdonald received his education at the Grammar School of Georgetown, and at the Central Academy, Charlottetown, P.E.I. He has taken part in all matters pertaining to the interests of the island in which he was born, and has been on several occasions a commissioner for managing the Exhibition of Local Industry for Prince Edward Island. He, too, is interested in military matters, and is captain in one of the local companies. He was first returned to the Legislative Assembly, as representative for the third electoral district of Kings county, P.E.I., in 1870. He supported the Railway bill, and on a dissolution of the house was again elected by his political friends. In 1873 he once more appealed to his constituents, and, as a supporter of “confederation” and “better terms,” was elected. When Prince Edward Island became part of the confederacy, Mr. Macdonald was returned a member of the Dominion parliament as a supporter of Sir John A. Macdonald. At the general election, held in 1874, he suffered defeat at the polls, being beaten by a small majority; but at the general election, held in 1878, he was again elected to a seat in the House of Commons at Ottawa. In politics Mr. Macdonald is a Liberal-Conservative, and during his parliamentary career at Ottawa rendered good service to the government when they were carrying through the Canadian Pacific Railway bill and the national policy resolutions. He is an adherent of the Roman Catholic church. He married at Charlottetown, on the 27th June, 1865, Mary Elizabeth, sixth daughter of the late Hon. John Small Macdonald, and has a family of seven children.
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=Harris, John Leonard=, Merchant and Manufacturer, Moncton, New Brunswick, was born in Norton, Kings county, on the 27th September, 1833. He is the second son of Michael Spurr Harris, who came to Moncton with his family in 1836. Here John L. Harris received his education, and in early life became engaged with G. &. J. Salter, shipbuilders, as their bookkeeper and chief business man. About the year 1856 he associated with him his brother, C. P. Harris, in the shipbuilding business, which they carried on under the firm name of J. & C. Harris. And since 1858, as general merchants, they have largely imported British, foreign and West India goods. From this business it may be said was developed some of the most important industries of the town of Moncton, viz.: a sugar refinery and a cotton mill—and these were established in 1880 and 1882, under the supervision of this firm—J. L. Harris being the president and managing director of both companies. But it is largely to Mr. Harris’s own personal exertions and untiring energy that his native town is indebted for the accomplishment of its most important public benefit—a work which has been of equal benefit to every citizen, and has not only placed Moncton at once in a position to prosecute the industries and arts of life, but has fixed a permanent value to real estate, while it protects property from fire, and insures health, cleanliness and comfort for future generations. It was in 1878 that he organized the Moncton Gas Light and Water Company, the works of which, although extensive, were carried to completion with great promptness and success during the same year. Within three months 30,000 days’ labor were performed; and combined with this was erected the gas works, during the same year, which subsequently included a system of electric lighting. Mr. Harris has been the president and managing director of this company, as well as of the sugar and cotton manufacturing companies, from their organization to the present time; and he has for many years been active in advocating and promoting a harbor improvement enterprise for Moncton, having, with his colleagues, obtained acts of the Dominion and Local parliaments incorporating the Moncton Dock and Harbor Improvement Company. He has also been identified with other public enterprises in the town, and generally those called into existence by reason of the national policy of Canada, which he has warmly supported. He is an upholder of the principles of the Liberal-Conservative party. In 1881 and 1882 Mr. Harris was elected to the position of mayor, and thus served two years as presiding officer of the Moncton town council. He has been for many years very active in Freemasonry, and is a past master of Keith lodge; past first principal of Botsford Royal Arch Chapter; a member of the order of Knights Templars, and has taken other advanced degrees. In religion he is an adherent of the Presbyterian church. He was married August 11th, 1864, to Mary, second daughter of the late Alexander Cowie, M.D.
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=Joncas, Louis Zephrin=, General Agent, Grand River, M.P. for Gaspé, is of Norman descent, and was born at Grand River, in the county of Gaspé, province of Quebec, on the 26th July, 1846. His parents were Léon Joncas and Esther Beaudin. His family was during many years engaged in the fishing industry. Mr. Joncas, the subject of our sketch, received his education at the College Masson, in Terrebonne, near Montreal, and after having gone through his classical course of studies he began studying law in Montreal, but in consequence of ill health was obliged to discontinue it and go back to his native village, where during twelve years he has carried on the business of fish-curing. In 1876 Mr. Joncas was appointed sheriff of the county of Gaspé, in place of John Short, and this office he held until the 20th February, 1887, when he resigned to run for the House of Commons. Under the name and style of L. Z. Joncas & Co., he keeps at Grand River a general agency and accountant’s office. In 1883 he was chosen by the Dominion government one of the commissioners to represent Canada, and more especially the province of Quebec, at the International Fisheries Exhibition, held in London, England, and in this capacity he won golden opinions both from the British and from the Canadian press. At the Fishery Congress in connection with the International Fisheries Exhibition, Mr. Joncas read a paper on the “Fisheries of Canada,” which has been greatly appreciated both abroad and at home. Speaking of this lecture, the London _Canadian Gazette_ of the 5th July, 1883, said: “At a conference held on Monday, the 2nd day of July inst., at the Fisheries Exhibition, the Hon. A. W. McLelan, minister of marine of Canada, presiding, a remarkably comprehensive and interesting paper upon the various fisheries of British North America was read by Mr. L. Z. Joncas, one of the Canadian commissioners at the Exhibition. The subject was a large one, but Mr. Joncas’ practical knowledge of it enabled him to do justice to all its branches, and he concentrated in his paper much information of great value upon all sections of the trade. We hope at an early date to give some extracts from it of interest to our readers. By order of the executive committee of the Exhibition this work has been published and thousands of copies are being distributed.” The London _Daily Telegraph_, alluding to the same paper, says: “The most important of the papers yet read at the International conference was that of Monday, 2nd instant., on the ‘Fisheries of Canada,’ by Mr. L. Z. Joncas, one of the executive commissioners for Canada, which was at once able, valuable, and as far as possible exhaustive.” In 1884 Mr. Joncas was asked to lecture on the same subject before the members of the British Association then assembled in Montreal, and he read a paper considering the fisheries from an economical point of view. This paper, which makes a pamphlet of over sixty pages, has been largely distributed both in Europe and in Canada by the Dominion government. In 1887, when Dr. Fortin, who had represented Gaspé in the House of Commons since 1867, signified his intention of resigning, Mr. Joncas was asked to come forward by a large number of the electors of Gaspé, and he was elected at the general election held on the 22nd March, 1887, to the House of Commons of Canada. In politics he is an independent Conservative; and in religion is an adherent of the Roman Catholic church. On the 18th July, 1870, he married Emerentienne Blouin, of St. Valier, in the county of Bellechasse, province of Quebec, a sister to the Right Rev. F. A. Blouin, curé of Carleton, Bonaventure county, and general vicar of the diocese of Rimouski, P.Q.
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=Law, William=, Shipping and Commission Merchant, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, M.P.P. for Yarmouth, was born in Belfast, Ireland, on 5th August, 1833, and in October, 1847, he came to Yarmouth. Here he remained until 1849, when he went to Oxford, in the state of Massachusetts, and did business there until 1855, when he again took up his abode in Yarmouth. Since that time Mr. Law has been extensively engaged in business, as head of the firm of William Law & Co., shipping and commission merchants. In 1870 he was appointed a justice of the peace for Yarmouth county. He has filled the office of president of the Oriental Marine Insurance Company for eight years; and was appointed manager, for Nova Scotia, of the Boston Marine Insurance Company, in 1881. In 1886 he was chosen to represent Yarmouth county in the Nova Scotia legislature. In politics he is a Liberal, and is a strong advocate of free trade and commercial union with the United States. In his religious views he is an independent. While living in Oxford, Mass., he was married to Mary A., daughter of Enoch and Abigail Brown, of Douglas, Mass. Mr. Brown represented the town of Douglas in the Massachusetts legislature.
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