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Chapter IV: Part 4

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=Cole, Wilmot Howard, ex-M.L.A., Colonel= (Brockville, Ont.), was born at Brockville, February 16, 1834. The patronymic Cole is of very ancient Saxon origin: It appears in the “Domesday Book.” The public records show that in the year 1640, Sir John Cole, of Shenley, in Hertfordshire, England, was a landed proprietor. His son, Adam, married and had issue a son, Cornelius. This Cornelius Cole emigrated to America in the year 1708; in 1711 he became a justice of Albany County comprised within the limits of what was called “Livingston Manor.” His land was next to that of W. T. Livingston, and extended from the Manor House road to Jansens’s Kill, or creek, and was one of the finest farms in the Manor. He had three sons, named Nicholas, John and Adam. On the breaking out of the rebellion, Cornelius Cole and his sons, John and Adam, espoused the cause of England, and the sons joined the Royalist forces. As the war proceeded the feeling ran so high against the “Tories,” as the Royalists were called, and Cornelius Cole, although an old man, was seized and imprisoned, where he died a victim of fidelity to Motherland. His property was confiscated, and his sons forced to seek a home in the wilds of Canada. In 1773 John and Adam Cole with his wife and her two brothers, Jonathan, Jr., and Abel Fulford, left with other United Empire Loyalists for Canada, and passing up the St. Lawrence, they landed and settled in the County of Leeds, in that part now called the Township of Elizabethtown, at a point on the River St. Lawrence about five miles west of the present town of Brockville, which place is still called “Cole’s Ferry.” Here Adam Cole settled, being, as he was frequently heard to say, the first person to begin a settlement in the Township of Elizabethtown. Some years after the close of the war, Peter, a son of John Cole, returned to his grandfather’s old home in Ulster County, to ascertain whether he could recover some of the family estate, which had been confiscated, but failed, as the authorities had granted the property to other persons. Adam Cole’s wife was Thankful Fulford, also descended from Loyalist stock. Her father, Jonathan Fulford, sen., with the rest of his family came in 1784, and settled in the same neighborhood, and left numerous descendants. Adam Cole’s family, in 1812, consisted of nine sons and seven daughters, besides four who died in infancy. Five of the sons served in the War of 1812, the eldest, Peter, having assisted in the capture of Ogdensburg, and subsequently held the rank of captain. The house of Adam Cole was the general headquarters of the military, when they were in that section of country, or when moving between Montreal and Kingston. It is related of Peter Cole, the eldest son, that in the year 1810, the mail carrier was taken sick at his father’s house, and Peter took the mail to Kingston, where he received that from Toronto and carried it back to Montreal. At Montreal he took charge of the mail for the west, which had been accumulating for a month and weighed upwards of sixty pounds, and carried it to Kingston. He accomplished the whole trip, going and coming, of 430 miles on foot, in fourteen days, and this was in March, when the trail most of the way was through the forest and very difficult. He received for this service, from the Government the sum of fifteen dollars. Abel Cole, who was the youngest son of Adam Cole, died December 9, 1893, aged 88 years. His wife, Catherine Seaman, a grand-daughter of Caleb Seaman, died Nov. 2, 1893, aged 83 years, being one of the sons of Caleb Seaman who was with Lord Cornwallis at York Town. Wilmot Howard Cole, second son of Abel Cole, was educated at Brockville. He commenced mercantile business in 1855, and continued in the same until 1882. The old spirit of loyalty which he inherited, prompted him upon the organization of the Volunteer Militia of Canada in 1855, to become a member of the old “Brockville Rifle Company,” commanded by Major Smythe (later of the 100th Regiment, British Army). The late Col. James Crawford, William Fitzsimmons (a former postmaster of Brockville), the late Samuel Ross, William Morris, Thomas Camm and other business men of Brockville, shouldered their muskets and learned the drill at the same time. Wilmot Howard Cole filled every position in rank from private to colonel of battalion. In December, 1864, he went with the Brockville Rifle Company, as lieutenant, to Amherstburg, in the County of Essex, remaining there on duty until the following May. In November, 1865, the fear of a Fenian Raid was so strong in the vicinity of the River St. Lawrence, that the officers of the Brockville Rifle Company (who were at the time, the late Col. Crawford in command, Lieut. Cole, Lieut. Robert Bowie, and the late Lieut. Windeat), offered their services without pay, and to increase their company to 100 men to do duty for the protection of Brockville and vicinity, by drilling the men and mounting a heavy guard every night, with sentries posted in different parts of the town, the men only being paid twenty-five cents per day. The offer was accepted by the government and that duty performed until the ensuing March, when a large portion of the volunteer force were called out, and a provisional battalion formed at Brockville, under command of Col. Crawford, Lieut. Cole assuming command of the Brockville Rifle Company, with which he remained on duty until the next November, part of the time at Brockville and part at Cornwall. Again in 1870, as major of the 41st battalion, he was on duty at Cornwall during the Fenian excitement. On June 28, 1871, he was appointed to the command of the 41st battalion; on June 28, 1898, he resigned, having held the command for 27 years, and was a member of the active force for 43 years. In 1913 the Militia Department honored him with the full rank of Colonel. Col. Cole occupied various positions of trust and importance in the gift of his fellow-citizens. He was a member of the Town Council of Brockville for fourteen years; a director for many years, and president of the Johnstown Mutual Fire Insurance Company; a member of the Independent Order of Oddfellows for many years, filling various offices in the local lodge and also in the Grand lodge and Grand Encampment. He was chosen by his brethren to fill the position of Grand Master the year the Sovereign Grand Lodge met in Toronto, in September, 1880, who were entertained by their Ontario brethren. He always took an active part in everything that would advance the interests of his native town. In connection with the late Allan Turner, he worked for many years to obtain a system of waterworks for Brockville, and in 1881 they organized a company, consisting of Allan Turner, John McMullen, Thomas Gilmour, George A. Dana, and Wilmot H. Cole, to construct waterworks; and as a result of the efforts of these gentlemen, Brockville has now a most excellent system of water supply for all purposes. Colonel Cole was elected a member of the Legislature of the Province of Ontario for the Brockville riding, in the Liberal interest, at the general elections in 1875, and was a warm supporter of the Mowat Government. He received the appointment of Registrar for the County of Leeds in February, 1882. He was president of the Brockville Loan and Savings Company. Col. Cole was a member of the Methodist Church, and for over fifty years a trustee of the Wall Street Church in Brockville, and was looked upon by his fellow church members as ready to assist in carrying forward all enterprises for the benefit of the church. Col. Cole married Jane Adelaide, youngest daughter of the late Abram Philips, of New York. Their family consisted of four children, two sons and two daughters. The sons, following the traditions of the family, entered the volunteer force very early. The elder, Eugene Maurice Cole, was bugler in the Brockville Rifle Company in 1866, and did duty with that company whenever on service; he subsequently became lieutenant, after which he resigned, having removed from Brockville. The youngest son, Capt. George Marshall Cole, was captain of No. 4 company, 41st battalion. The latest enterprise which Col. Cole had been connected with and will eventually benefit his native town more than all the others, was the Brockville, Westport and Sault Ste. Marie Railway. The idea of a railway from Brockville to Westport had been entertained, and a charter was procured, but nothing further was done, and after a time the charter expired. Subsequently, Eugene M. Cole, who was in business in New York City, and enjoyed commercial relations with gentlemen interested in building railways and other public works, conceived the idea that a line of railway from Brockville to Sault Ste. Marie would prove an advantageous route in many ways, and at the same time benefit his native town. After much labor in gathering statistical information, he laid the whole matter before his father, who had it brought before the leading men of the County of Leeds, and the proposition made that if the municipalities would bear the expense of preliminary survey and obtain the charter, and grant aid by way of bonus to the extent of $125,000, Eugene M. Cole would work up the scheme and obtain the capital and contractors to build at least the first section of the road to Westport. This was agreed to, the last bonus by-law being passed on July 15, 1885, and work on the construction of the railway commenced on January 13, 1886. Although ably assisted by many persons in the County of Leeds in connection with the enterprise, the credit of the inception of the scheme, and the labor in working it up materially and financially, belong to Eugene M. Cole. Colonel Cole died December 13, 1915, in his eighty-second year, being pre-deceased by his wife by about two months.

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=Scott, James Guthrie=, the prominent railway manager of Quebec City, was born in that city on February 13, 1847, the son of Hugh Erskine Scott. His mother’s maiden name was Margaret Chillas. The family of the Scotts has filled an important place in the community since the days of Mr. Scott’s grandfather, who came from Scotland. Mr. Henry S. Scott, hardware merchant, was his uncle, and Mr. William C. Scott and Mr. Charles Scott, his brothers, all of whom took an active interest in the progress of the city, as has their distinguished relative. The latter received his early education at the Quebec High School. In his seventeenth year he had his first start in business in the offices of the Montmorency Lumber Mills, where he eventually became head of one of the departments. In 1879, he entered the service of the Quebec and Lake St. John Railway, becoming, in time, its general manager and assuming the onerous task of having that line completed as far as Chicoutimi and extended, under the name of the Great Northern, to Hawkesbury, Ont., across the Ottawa, a distance in all of five hundred miles. But for Mr. Scott’s supervisory tact and engineering skill, Quebec would hardly have become the important railway terminal that it now is, not only of the Canadian Northern System, but of the National Transcontinental. During the earlier operations of the Quebec and Lake St. John Railway, Mr. Scott and his Board of Directors organized a system of assisted colonization that peopled the parishes all along their line, as many as from ten to twelve thousand families being induced to take up homesteads in the districts opened up for settlement. For twenty-five years Mr. Scott was _facile princeps_ in these beneficent operations; and it was only when the Canadian Northern Railway Company took over the properties supervised by him in 1908, that he decided to retire from office to take up other work involving the commercial advancement of his native city. In 1916 he was elected President of the Quebec Board of Trade, after many years of active service as one of its members, and is also President of the British Columbia Skeena Coal Company. For many years he has been a member of the Quebec Geographical Society and other associations; and his contemporaries can look back with satisfaction at the civic progress he awakened as a railway projector and business man, and the manufacturing centres he succeeded in locating from the time he undertook to complete the Lake St. John Railway. In June, 1908, upon his retirement from the management of the railway, he was given a banquet by the citizens of Quebec at the Chateau Frontenac, in recognition of the enterprising and successful work he had done while completing extensions north and west from the city, and at the same time was presented with testimonials of value. And in addition to the story of his life as a railway manager and projector, Mr. Scott has to his credit twelve years’ service in the Militia, having been called out to frustrate the advance of the enemy in certain border raids near Windsor, Ontario, in 1865, as well as to protect Canada from the Fenian Raids, during the four years succeeding that date. In 1873 he married Miss Sophy Mary Jackson; and in 1901 was married, for a second time, to Miss Cordelia Mary Jackson, daughter of Dr. Alfred Jackson, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Laval University. By his first marriage he has had two sons and a daughter, and by his second, one son and one daughter.

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=Bender, Prosper, M.D.=, and Litterateur (Quebec City), was born in Quebec on July 30, 1844. He was the son of L. P. Bender, Advocate, his mother’s maiden name having been Miss Jane McMillan. His school education began at the Quebec Seminary and was continued at Laval University, where he went through a successful course in _belles lettres_ and collateral studies. Thereafter he entered McGill University, where in 1864 he took his degree of M.D. On the following year he entered upon his career as a medical man in his native city, where, in 1868, he married Miss Amelia Scott, daughter of A. S. Scott. At the time of his graduation, the Civil War between the Northern and Southern States of the American Republic was nearing its climax, and in the excitement of events an opportunity offered itself to the young student to mature his skill in surgery and the healing art on the battlefield. He was given employment in the army in North Virginia, which was then under the command of General Ulysses Grant. As an assistant surgeon he remained with that army up to the time of General Lee’s surrender, his faithfulness and skill bringing him to the notice of his medical associates and eventually to the notice of the General in person. After the war, Dr. Bender proceeded to New York to gain further professional experience in the hospitals, before entering upon the first period of his residence in Quebec as a medical practitioner. During that period he came into touch with several of the rising public men of the town, who made a kind of literary rendezvous of his residence, much as years afterwards the Circle de Dix used to hold their seances out at Spencer Wood, under the hospital auspices of Sir Adolphe Chapleau. The social gatherings at Dr. Bender’s had no doubt the effect of turning the attention of the successful physician to literary work, leading him to publish two volumes, respectfully titled, “Literary Sheaves,” and “Old and New Canada.” In 1884 he removed to Boston, where he practised as a homeopathist, and won a reputation among the literary men of that city, as a contributor to the magazines and reviews. Within the last ten years preceding his death in 1917, he had his residence again in Quebec. During these years he published in amplified form a series of sketches about the friends of his earlier comradeship. These sketches embodied the characteristics of the brilliant literary guests who had once met round his table, and were read with the greatest of interest by the public as they appeared from time to time, as an illustration of the author’s geniality of spirit and literary acumen. Altogether, Dr. Prosper Bender’s professional and literary career stood as a blend of duly recognized medical skill and critical literary insight, holding always the confidence of his patients and being widely esteemed for his bonhomie and intellectuality as a writer of books worth reading.

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=Girard, Joseph= (St. Gideon, Que.), son of Patrice Girard and Marie Tremblay, his wife, both French-Canadians. Born at St. Urbain, County of Charlevoix, Aug. 2, 1854. Educated at the Seminary of Quebec. Came to Lake of St. John in 1880 as a settler, cleared his land and lived on it all the time, and has been one of the most progressive and influential farmers of the district. Was President of the Dairy Society of Quebec Province and President of the School Commission. On April 5, 1875, Mr. Girard was married to Emma Cote, daughter of Vitol and Ursule Cote, and is the father of the following children: Meridee, Philippe, Tanevide and Marie Louise. First elected to the Quebec Legislative Assembly for Lake St. John District at the general elections of 1892 and re-elected in those of 1897. In 1900 he was elected to the House of Commons at the general elections, for Chicoutimi and Saguenay, which includes the local riding of Lake St. John; he was re-elected for the House of Commons in the general elections of 1904, 1908 and 1911. Mr. Girard is a member of the following societies: Dairy Society of Quebec, Agricultural Society of Lake St. John and Farmers’ Club of St. Gideon; he is also a member of the Automobile Club of Chicoutimi. In religion Mr. Girard is a Roman Catholic and in politics is an Independent Conservative.

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=Dawson, Arthur Osborne= (Montreal, Que.), was born at New Borden, N.B., March 28, 1864, son of Richard Dawson and Mary Lockhart, his father being a farmer and a grindstone manufacturer. Rev. G. F. Dawson, M.A., St. John, N.B., and W. J. G. Dawson, M.D., Eldridge, Cal., U.S.A., are brothers, and Rev. James Henderson, D.D., pastor of the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, Toronto, is father-in-law of Mr. Dawson, who was educated at Campbellton, N.B., and Montreal. Married, June 30, Mary A. Le Rossignol, step-daughter of Rev. Dr. Henderson of Toronto, mentioned above. Five children are the fruit of the union, viz., Ruth, Howard, Katharine, Isabel and Olive. Mr. Dawson is a Methodist in religion, a Conservative, a member of the Montreal Club and a Justice of the Peace for the District of Montreal and connected with the following large business enterprises, Vice-President and Managing Director Canadian Cottons, Limited; President Belding, Paul, Corticelli, Limited; Vice-President D. Morrice Co., Limited; President Inter-provincial British Company of Canada, Limited, Toronto; Vice-President Gowland Optical Company, Limited, Montreal. Recreations, fishing, tennis and boating.

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=Douglas, James= (Hepworth, Ontario), son of James Douglas, Roxborough, Scotland, and Isabella Dixon, Lauderdale, Scotland, was born in the township of Brant, Bruce County, in August, 1858. Here he spent his early days, receiving his education in the public schools. For a time he followed farming as an occupation. However, he was inclined towards mercantile pursuits and gave up the farm to become a general merchant at Dobbington, in the township of Elderslie. The lumbering business attracted his attention and he gave up the store for that occupation, which was extensively carried on in those early days in Bruce. In 1902 he moved to the village of Hepworth, where he became Vice-President of the Hepworth Manufacturing Co., and also manager. Here he has resided ever since, successfully conducting the business he is connected with. Beside this he is interested in a number of other enterprises, being a director of the Canada Beds Co., of Chesley, and a shareholder in the Vincent Steel Process Co., of Detroit. He has always had a love for municipal life, and for eight years has served the village of Hepworth as reeve in a most competent manner. As a member of the County Council he has served on most of the prominent committees, but the Educational Committee has always been his favorite. Being a self-educated man, he strove hard for the vast fund of knowledge he has acquired. This has made him a warm friend toward all branches of education, and he is ever ready to forward its best interests. His ripe business judgment has ever been recognized by his colleagues in the County Council. He is a man of genial disposition and well liked by all. He is a member of Burns Lodge, No. 436, A.F. & A.M., Hepworth. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and in politics he is a Liberal. He was twice married, his first wife being Francis Bradley, daughter of John Bradley, of Greenock township.

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=Cross, Charles Wilson= (Edmonton, Alta.), Attorney-General for the Province of Alberta, was born in Madoc, Ont., November 30, 1872, the son of the late Thomas and Marie Cross. He was educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto University and Osgoode Hall, graduating in 1895 as B.A., and the following year as LL.B. He married Annie Louisa, daughter of Frederick and Isabella Lynde, in 1900, by whom he has three children—Thomas, Helen and Margaret. Becoming a barrister in 1898, he has since practised his profession at Edmonton, and is a member of the firm of Short, Cross, Maclean, Ap’John & Laidlaw; his present office as Attorney-General of the province he has held since 1905, sitting as member for Edmonton and Edson in the Legislature. While at college he was a famous lacrosse player and is Vice-President of the Canadian Amateur Athletic Union for Alberta. He was a member of the Ottawa and Quebec Interprovincial Conferences in 1906, is a Liberal in politics and a Presbyterian in religion.

=Pardee, Frederick Forsyth, K.C., M.P.= (Sarnia, Ont.), son of the late Hon. Timothy Blair Pardee and Emma K. Pardee, _née_ Forsyth, was born at Sarnia, Ontario, on December 29, 1867, and was educated at the Sarnia School and at Upper Canada College. He subsequently entered the study of Law and graduated at Osgoode Hall, being called to the Bar in 1890. He was created a King’s Counsel in 1908, and became head of the law firm of Pardee, Burnham & Gurd. In his student days and in the earlier years of his professional career he took a keen interest in various athletics and was a cricket player of note. He married, on December 31, 1892, Mary E. Johnston, daughter of Hugh Johnston, and to them was born one daughter, Pauline L. Early in life Mr. Pardee began to interest himself in public problems and public affairs, and in 1898, when but 31 years of age, he was chosen as Liberal candidate for the provincial riding of West Lambton, being elected to the Legislature of Ontario the same year. He sat in the Provincial House until 1902, when he was defeated by Hon. W. J. Hanna, who subsequently became Provincial Secretary in the first cabinet of Sir James Whitney. In the Dominion by-election of November 22, 1905, made necessary by the death of Dr. Johnston, the sitting member, Mr. Pardee was chosen by the electors of West Lambton to represent them in the Dominion House of Commons. He was re-elected at the general elections of 1908 and 1911. In November, 1909, on the nomination of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, then Prime Minister of Canada, he was unanimously chosen as Chief Government Whip, and still retains the important position of Chief Liberal Whip to the present time (1917). In the Dominion Parliament, as well as throughout the country, Mr. Pardee’s public work soon won him a position of usefulness and responsibility. He is a forceful and effective public speaker, and few public men are so universally popular and so highly esteemed. During his parliamentary career he has presided over, and served upon, many of the most important legislative committees of the House of Commons and Senate. In 1910 he was chosen by Sir Wilfrid Laurier to accompany him on his memorable tour through the Canadian West, making the first visit with the then Prime Minister to the new Pacific port of Prince Rupert. When, in 1911, the Administration of Sir Wilfrid Laurier was defeated at the polls upon the issue of reciprocal trade in natural products with the United States, and the Liberal party passed into Opposition, Mr. Pardee continued as Chief Whip and had a large share in the arduous parliamentary and organization work which ensued. Following the outbreak of the great war it was he who defined in Parliament, amid hearty approval from both sides of the House, the patriotic obligations which devolved upon Government and Opposition. He devoted his time and energy, both in the House and out of it, to patriotic endeavor, addressing recruiting rallies and contributing to the various national efforts of service and sacrifice. He moved in Parliament for the appointment of a special committee to consider national steps to recompense and aid returning wounded and maimed soldiers and was named by the House as a member of that committee. In 1918 he resigned the post of Liberal Whip and supported Sir Robert Borden on the question of Conscription, but declined a portfolio in the Union Government. In the general elections of that year he was again re-elected for West Lambton by a handsome majority. Mr. Pardee is strongly democratic in spirit, and during the parliamentary session of 1913-14, made a vigorous plea to the House against the indiscriminate bestowal of titles in Canada, and issued a warning against the danger of creating a pseudo-aristocracy in this young Dominion. In religion he is an Anglican and is a member of St. George’s Church, Sarnia.

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=Hinds, Leonard D’Arcy Bernard=, Judgment Clerk of the Supreme Court of Judicature for Ontario, born Oct. 19, 1868, at Barrie, Ontario. Educated at Barrie Collegiate Institute, St. Michael’s College, Toronto, and Osgoode Hall Law School, of Toronto. Past President of the Toronto Liberal-Conservative Club. Secretary of the Toronto Branch of the United Irish League. Appointed to present office by the Whitney Government in 1905. Son of the late Bernard Hinds of Barrie, a native of Omagh, County of Tyrone, Ireland (whose father, Bernard Hinds, Irish “Aidhne,” pronounced Aion, anglicized the name to Hinds, and settled with a large family in Vespra Township, Simcoe County, in the year 1842), and Anna Leonard, formerly a teacher in the French settlement public school at Penetanguishene. Married Pauline Matson, the daughter of R. H. Matson, founder of the National Life Insurance Co. of Canada. Holds commission as Captain and Paymaster in the 110th Irish Regiment, Toronto, which Regiment he was authorized to establish in 1914, by Sir Sam Hughes, then Minister of Militia. Captain Hinds largely helped to establish the 208th Canadian Irish Bn. C.E.F., in which he was also appointed Paymaster with the rank of Captain. He was forced to withdraw from the 208th, on account of an injury which he received at Camp Borden. He has one son, Paul I. Bernard, who is on active service as an officer in the British Expeditionary Force. Captain Hinds is an ardent student of Gaelic Literature, Language and Art, and possesses one of the best Erse Libraries in Canada. He is a Catholic in religion. Address: Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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=Clute, Arthur Roger= (Toronto, Ont.), was born in Belleville, Ont., on August 24, 1874. He attended the Belleville Collegiate Institute, from which he matriculated with honors in 1892, and thereupon entered the University of Toronto, from which he graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1896, with first-class honors, in the Department of Political Science and History, having been awarded during his course one of the Alexander Mackenzie Scholarships in that department. In 1901 he received from his Alma Mater the Degree of LL.B. He was articled as a student at law to his father, the Honorable Justice Clute, in 1896; and studied law at the Law School at Osgoode Hall, Toronto, where he obtained first-class honors and was awarded a scholarship in each year of his course, together with medal upon his call to the Ontario Bar in June, 1899. Since that time Mr. Clute has practised his profession in the city of Toronto, and has acted for several years as examiner at the University of Toronto, and at the Law School, and is now also a Lecturer at the University of Toronto. In politics he is a Liberal.

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=Goodeve, Hon. Arthur Samuel= (Ottawa), Dominion Railway Commissioner, English and Canadian origin, son of Arthur Henry and Caroline Goodeve, born at Guelph, Ont., Dec. 15, 1860, where he received his education at the Public Schools and Collegiate Institute. A graduate of the Ontario College of Pharmacy. Mayor of Rossland, B.C., 1889-1900. Appointed Provincial Secretary in the first Conservative Government in British Columbia, June, 1903, the McBride Administration; resigned portfolio, returned for Kootenay District, in the House of Commons, general elections 1908, appointed a member of Timber and Forestry Commission, B.C., 1909-10, a Conservative Whip, House of Commons, 1910; resigned seat on being appointed a Dominion Railway Commissioner. Married, April, 1884, Ellen Elizabeth Spence, daughter of James Spence, Toronto; father of four boys and two girls. Member of following clubs: Rideau, Ottawa, and Rossland, B.C.; and the Masonic order, Blue, Chapter and Commandery. A Presbyterian in religion. Before accepting his present office, Hon. Mr. Goodeve was recognized as a formidable campaigner and painstaking representative.

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=Guilbault, Joseph Pierre Octave, B.A., LL.D.= (Joliette), Notary, was born Sept. 3, 1870, at St. Paul de Joliette, Province of Quebec, son of Joseph Guilbault and Adelaide Renaud, French-Canadians; educated at L’Assomption College, P.Q., and Laval University, Montreal. Married, Sept. 20, 1898, Clementine, daughter of Urgel Richard, of St. Jacques de L’Achigan, has one son, Fernand, and one daughter, Germaine. For ten years Secretary-Treasurer of Commissioners for Schools in Joliette, where he practices his profession of a Notary. Elected to the House of Commons for the constituency of Joliette in 1911. A Liberal-Conservative in politics. Mr. Guilbault has not been defeated—sickness prevented him from being a candidate in the election of 1917. In religion Mr. Guilbault is a Roman Catholic.

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=Bronson, Henry Franklin= (Ottawa, Ont.), the one man, it has been said, who understood the feasibility of converting the large lakes and furious foaming falls of the Ottawa River into a channel for the driving of saw-logs, was born in the town of Moreau, Saratoga County, New York State, on February 24, 1817. His parents were Alvah Bronson and Sarah Tinker. Mr. Bronson is of mixed Scottish and Welsh descent, and the family, which is now scattered through most of the Northern States, at an early period settled in New England. Members of this enterprising and clever family were the Hon. Greene C. Bronson, of the New York bench, and the Rev. Asa Bronson, who was for many years pastor of the First Baptist Church, at Fall River, Massachusetts. The first of the family to find his way to Canada was the subject of our sketch, and shortly after he came here he led off in the lumber business. H. F. Bronson spent his youthful days at Queensbury, Warren County, New York, in the family of the late J. J. Harris, and he concluded his education at the Poultney Academy, of Vermont. “Young Bronson,” says a reliable authority, “became an apt scholar in agricultural sciences, but soon showed a preference for woodland foraging, pre-destined, as he was, to become a great marauder of pine forests.” In 1840, Mr. Harris, already alluded to, purchased extensive pine tracts, erecting mills on one of the upper Hudson lakes. He formed a partnership with his young and trusted friend, Mr. Bronson, “whose assets consisted of a sound constitution, a resolute will, unbending integrity, skill with the hand, and a mind to work.” The partnership continued for twenty-two years, and during the last ten years of the association, the greater portion of the business responsibility fell upon our subject, owing to the failure of Mr. Harris’ health. It soon became plain that the pine was rapidly disappearing from the upper Hudson; therefore, in 1848, Mr. Bronson passed over to Canada, proceeding along the Ottawa Valley till the thunder of the Chaudiere Falls burst upon his ears. At once he was satisfied that here was an excellent place to begin lumber operations; for the timber seemed inexhaustible, and the water power magnificent. He returned home, but in 1852 he persuaded Mr. Harris to accompany him to the Ottawa Valley. When they reached again the region of kingly pines and booming waterfalls, they were everywhere met with testimony from river experts, saying that the Ottawa was not suitable for the safe driving of saw logs, but Mr. Bronson recommended to his partner the purchase of hydraulic lots at the Chaudiere Falls, then held by the Crown. At the sale of the lots, made by Mr. Horace Merrill, general superintendent of the Ottawa River works, a purchase was made, and here, under the personal supervision of Mr. Bronson, their mills were built within sound of the thunder of the falls. The mills having been erected, Mr. Bronson removed his family to Ottawa, and there they were established permanently. The relation of Mr. Bronson to the sawn lumber trade of the Dominion of Canada will be better understood when it is learned that his was the first movement in the Ottawa District for the manufacture of sawn lumber for the United States market. The original mill embodied all the modern improvements of the times, including iron gates of novel model, a contrivance planned by Mr. Bronson himself, and afterwards used in most of the gang saw mills on the Ottawa River. Several other gentlemen, stimulated by the enterprise and success of Mr. Bronson and his partner, likewise set out for Ottawa; and, after a time, chiefly owing to the persistency of Mr. Bronson, a series of costly river improvements were constructed, which made the driving of logs upon the Ottawa a matter of greater convenience than upon many a smaller stream, which has no large lakes to act as a reservoir for checking the fury of the spring freshets. In 1864, Mr. Harris retired from the business, Mr. Bronson still continuing the extensive manufacture of sawn lumber, and owing to his splendid abilities as a manager, his operations not alone maintained their ground, but gradually increased. The present firm at Ottawa is known as The Bronson Company. Mr. Bronson married, on November 5, 1840, Editha E. Pierce, of Bolton, N.Y., and had four children. Gertrude, the only daughter, is the wife of Levi Crannell. The sons are Erskine Henry, Frank P., and Walter G. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Bronson, like another great prince of business men, Sir Hugh Allan, did not care for political life, and held himself aloof from parties, but he was connected with several benevolent institutions and business enterprises. In 1889, death called this pioneer Canadian lumberman and high-principled citizen. His private and social relations had won for him everywhere good will and highest regard. Men had learned to esteem the man because of his tested and sterling worth. In the commerce of Canada Mr. Bronson’s name will go down in history as the first lumberman in the Ottawa Valley to manufacture sawn lumber for the American market, and as a pioneer in the development of the resources of that section of Canada to the point where its principal city was deemed worthy of being named as the Capital City of the Dominion. Business courage and keenness of perception were required to accomplish these ends, but in more ways than one Mr. Bronson had shown himself to be a man of practical vision and rare foresight. To men like the late Henry Franklin Bronson, Canada and in particular the business life of the Capital, must ever remain in debt.

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=Lemieux, Auguste, K.C., F.R.C.I., LL.B.= Few barristers in Ottawa are better known or more popular than the subject of this sketch, who occupies offices at No. 30 Rideau Street. Mr. Lemieux was born in Montreal, February 20, 1874. His father, H. A. Lemieux, was Inspector of Customs for the Province of Quebec until 1911. Some of his elder brothers are Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, K.C., P.C., M.P., ex-Postmaster-General and Minister of Marine and Fisheries in the Laurier Cabinet; Dr. L. J. Lemieux, Sheriff of Montreal, and Chairman of the Board of Censors of the Province of Quebec, and Dr. Gustave Lemieux, M.L.A., for Gaspé, P.Q. Mr. Auguste Lemieux received his education at L’Assomption College and St. Mary’s College (Jesuits), Montreal, graduated from Laval University with honors and was conferred the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in 1898. He was called to the Quebec Bar in the same year and to the Ontario Bar four years later. In 1908, at the early age of 34, he was created K.C., and practised, successfully, his profession in Montreal from 1898 until 1902, when he located in Ottawa, and has since established a wide and ever increasing clientele in that city. His brilliant defence saved Laderoute from the gallows in the Bryson murder trial of 1906, and Blondin (charged with murdering Dr. Empey) at L’Orignal, in 1910. He was Councillor of the Ontario Bar Association from 1910 to 1913; President of L’Institut Canadien Français, of Ottawa, 1903 to 1905; President of La Société du Monument National, Ottawa, 1909 to 1910; President of the Belcourt (Liberal) Club for several years; Vice-President of the Ottawa Reform Association, 1904 to 1906; President of Le Club Littéraire Canadien Français, Ottawa, 1911 to 1918. He is a member of the Y.M.C.A., and also a member of the Ontario Club of Toronto. Mr. Lemieux has been frequently mentioned as candidate for Parliament. He is the author of the work on the Quebec Law of Landlord and Tenant and writes frequently for the French and English Press. In April, 1914, the French Government, in recognition of Mr. Lemieux’s proficiency in French literature, conferred on him the decoration of “Officier d’Académie” (Academic Palms), through Monsieur Réné Viviani, then Minister of Public Education of France. He was also elected, in 1913, Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute of London, England, for life. Mr. Lemieux is an eloquent platform speaker and has frequently rendered services to his party. He married Esther Barbeau, daughter of the late Henry Barbeau, General Manager of the City and District Savings Bank and Assistant Receiver-General, Montreal, in October, 1899, and has one son and two daughters. He resides at 16 Somerset Street West.

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=Lawlor, H. W.= (Hawkesbury, Ont.), was born at Hawkesbury, September 12, 1863, of Irish and American parentage. The son of Richard Lawlor, of Hawkesbury, for many years Coroner of this district, and grandson of William Lawlor, for over forty years manager for Hamilton Bros., and Sarah Hersey, daughter of Z. S. M. Hersey, a New England pioneer, who settled in Hawkesbury shortly after the British-American War of 1812, and who at the time of his death was the town’s most prominent citizen; he was educated in the Provincial Schools and graduated from Osgoode Hall in law in 1890. In 1896, was appointed agent for the Justice Department in his district, and has conducted some important litigation on behalf of the Crown, the most prominent being the Exchequer Court Case of Stewart vs. King, in which the late B. B. Osler made his last public appearance. He has been Police Magistrate of Hawkesbury for over eighteen years and has never had a conviction appealed or quashed. Has been Local Solicitor for the Canadian Northern Railway since the date of its construction; is Town Solicitor and also Solicitor for the several banking institutions. Has never entered Municipal politics, but has sat on the Board of Education; was first President of Hawkesbury Board of Trade. Is a Presbyterian and a Liberal-Unionist.

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=McNeillie, James Richardson=, Clerk and Treasurer, County of Victoria, Lindsay, Ont., was born in the Parish of Johnstone, Dumfries-shire, Scotland, July 18, 1846, and came to Canada with his parents, Rachel Kerr and James Richardson McNeillie, public school teacher, in 1853, who settled in the County of Durham, where he was educated in the Public School. He spent eleven years, from 1861 to 1872, in the village of Omemee, where he was associated in the drug business and in municipal work with Mr. Thomas Matchett, who was the first member of the Legislative Assembly for South Victoria after Confederation. From 1872 to 1875 he was engaged in the business department of the Montreal Telegraph Company at Toronto, but returned to the County of Victoria on the invitation of the Hon. S. C. Wood, to become his assistant in the office of Clerk and Treasurer. When the latter became Provincial Secretary, Mr. McNeillie retained the same position under Mr. Matchett from 1875, until his own appointment as Clerk and Treasurer of the County, in 1900. When the Ross Memorial Hospital was founded by the late James Ross, of Montreal, in 1902, he was appointed a Governor under the Act of Incorporation, and is Secretary-Treasurer of the Trust. He is also a member of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, and was Chairman of the Board of Education of the Town of Lindsay for nine years, following on nineteen years’ service as member. Always taking an active interest in movements for the betterment of the criminal and mentally enfeebled classes of the Province, he was President of the Canadian Conference of Charities and Correction for the year 1909. In politics he is a Conservative, and in religion a Presbyterian. He married Esther (deceased), daughter of William Thorton, of Emily, January, 1872; and Loretta, daughter of Ralph Gardiner, of Morpeth, 1882. He has three sons, James Kerr, Ralph Gardiner and George Gardiner, and one daughter, Alice Gardiner. J. K. McNeillie has been successively, Divisional Superintendent of the Canadian Pacific Ry., General Superintendent of the Canadian Government Railways, and now Superintendent of the Susquehanna Division of the Delaware and Hudson Railway. R. G. McNeillie is Assistant General Passenger Agent of the Canadian Pacific Ry. at Winnipeg, Man., and G. G. McNeillie is a member of the Albert Kerr Company, Limited, Toronto.

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=Chadwick, Edward Marion, K.C.= (Toronto, Ont.), was born at Cravendale, Township of Ancaster, Ont., Sept. 22, 1840, and is the third son of the late John Craven Chadwick, Guelph, Ont. He received a thorough scholastic training. The bend of his mind being in the direction of the law, he pursued his studies therefor, and was called to the Bar and associated himself with the late W. H. Beatty, and has been a partner in the firms successively formed by him in which many prominent members of the legal profession have been partners, during a period of more than fifty years, the firms being recognized as among the most important engaged in their profession in Ontario. While perhaps it is unnecessary to say anything here as to Mr. Chadwick’s ability as an author, we cannot refrain from noting the publication of a work entitled “Ontarian Families” (1894), being the genealogies of United Empire Loyalist and other pioneer families of Upper Canada; he has also been a writer for magazines on heraldic subjects, in which he is reputed to be the leading authority on this side of the Atlantic. Mr. Chadwick was for a number of years an officer in the Queen’s Own Rifles, retiring in 1882, with the rank of Major. For the last forty years Mr. Chadwick has been identified with church work, being an indefatigable worker, and he at present holds the important office of Treasurer of St. Alban’s Cathedral.

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=Hackett, Edward= (Orangeville, Ont.), was born at Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland, son of the late William and Mary Hackett. He was educated at Ranelagh School, Athlone, and at Santry School, Dublin, graduating from the Royal University in the Irish Capital in 1905, with the degree of B.A., and is recognized as being one of the prominent educationalists of the Province of Ontario. Mr. Hackett came to Canada in 1908, and before leaving Ireland, was Senior Mathematical Master in the Blue Coat School, Dublin, an institution which was established by Charles the Second. He attended the Faculty of Toronto University, and taught mathematics in the Galt Collegiate Institute for the year 1909-10, also at Meaford High School for four years (1911-15), and succeeded as principal the late Alexander Steele, who had been the head of the Orangeville High School for upwards of thirty years, the present staff consisting of five teachers and the splendid standing and prestige of the school being maintained under his principalship. In 1914, Principal Hackett married Winnifred, the daughter of Dr. J. G. Clarke, of Meaford. He is a member of the Canadian Club of Orangeville, and Chairman of the Public Library Board, and is a member of the Masonic, Oddfellows and Orange Orders. He is an adherent of the Church of England, and a Liberal-Conservative in politics. Recognizing the usefulness of the Cadet movement he has taken the course prescribed for instructors and the Orangeville High School Cadets have attained much efficiency under his direction. Principal Hackett is a man in the prime of life, well informed on all matters of national importance, and gives generously of his time and talents in the promotion of the best interests of the community, in which he occupies so important a position. His chief recreation is motoring.

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=Hunter, Lt.-Col. A. T.= (Toronto, Ont.), was born on the 25th of October, 1869, and after having received a thorough primary and elementary education at the public and high schools, he entered the Toronto University where, in 1890, he had the distinction of having the degree of LL.B. conferred upon him. He was duly admitted to the Bar in 1892 and at once embarked in the active practice of his profession, in which, he has been very successful. He maintains a handsome suite of offices at 706 Temple Building, Bay and Richmond Streets, where he enjoys a large and lucrative practice, his services being constantly retained by some of the leading firms and corporations of the city and province. Colonel Hunter is prominently identified with the Masonic craft, and is an active and influential member of the I.O.F., A.O.U.W., and a Past Master of L.O.L. No. 613. As an author Colonel Hunter is well known, and among the works emanating from his pen may be named “Power of Sale Under Mortgage,” “Foreclosure Under Mortgage,” and “Real Property Statutes.” The Colonel, prior to this war, was courageous in pointing out in speeches and contributions to the “Military Gazette,” absurdities in our military organization. Colonel Hunter has devoted some time to politics and was candidate for the riding of West Toronto in the Dominion House, of the McCarthyites in 1896, and of the Liberals in 1904. In 1914, when war was declared by Germany on England and her colonies, Colonel Hunter at once responded to the call to duty, laid aside his business and other connections, and went overseas with the 4th Battalion C.E.F. On April 23, 1915, he was wounded in the battle of St. Julien, but returned to duty in time for the battle of Festubert; after this he was placed on duty in England, and later returned to Canada on leave of absence; while in Canada he acted as Brigade-Major at Camp Borden in 1916. He again returned to England on active service, and in February, 1917, was attached to the Princess Patricias on service in France and was present with them at Vimy Ridge. He returned to Canada in November of same year and has been gazetted Lt.-Colonel of the 12th Regt. York Rangers.

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=Groves, Abraham, M.D.= (Fergus, Ont.), was born in the town of Peterboro’, on Sept. 8, 1847. He is a son of Abraham Groves, and Margaret, daughter of Gideon Gibson, one of the early pioneers of Canada, who served through the war of 1812-15, and fought at Lundy’s Lane. Mr. Groves came to this country with his parents from the County of Wicklow, Ireland, about 1826, and settled in the vicinity of Peterboro’. In 1856 Mr. Groves removed to the County of Wellington, taking up his abode in the Township of Garafraxa, where he pursued the occupation of farmer. During the Mackenzie Rebellion Mr. Groves took part on the Loyalists’ side. The fruit of the marriage was thirteen children, the subject of this sketch being the second eldest of the family. He at first attended the common schools, but afterwards entered the High School at Fergus. Some time after leaving school he resolved to study medicine, and in 1868 entered the Toronto School of Medicine, where he remained until 1871, graduating M.D. in the same year, from the Toronto University. After graduation he at once went to Fergus and entered into partnership with the late Dr. Munro, under the firm name of Munro & Groves, which partnership existed two years. After dissolution Dr. Groves practised by himself until 1874, when he took into partnership Dr. John Wishart, now lecturer at the Western University, at London, Ont., which partnership existed one year, Dr. Wishart then retiring. However, again in 1879, he took into partnership Dr. Thomas Chisholm, the association continuing for a year. In 1882 he again took another partner, Dr. J. F. McMahon, now of Toronto, but this combination too dissolved in 1883, and since that time Dr. Groves has singly conducted one of the largest practices in Fergus. In 1869 he graduated from the old Toronto Military School; in 1882 he was elected to the Village council of Fergus, and was re-elected for the years of 1883 and 1884. He was elected reeve for 1885, but owing to his position of surgeon of the county poor house, he could not retain his seat. Dr. Groves is largely interested in real estate in the village, owning some of the finest buildings there, among which structures may be mentioned the Royal Bank building, constructed of brown stone. He is a member of the Mercer Lodge, A.F. and A.M., No. 347; is surgeon and member of the Oddfellows’ lodge No. 73, and has held all of the offices in that order. He is also a member of the Royal Templars, and physician to lodge No. 124. In 1878 Dr. Groves was appointed physician and surgeon to the Grand Trunk Railway at Fergus, which position he still holds. In 1882 he was appointed physician and surgeon to the Wellington County House of Industry, and this office he still likewise retains. In politics he has held aloof from parties, though sincerely interested in the welfare of the country. He is a member of the Church of England, and has been churchwarden for twelve years of St. James’ Church, Fergus. He married in 1874, Jennie, daughter of the late William Gibbon, of Elora, and by this lady has a family of two children; she died in 1886. On January 29, 1910, he married Ethel May Burke, only daughter of the late D. S. Burke, Esq., of Fergus. Dr. Groves enjoys the repute of being a very skilful surgeon, and he was the first to perform in Canada the operation technically known to the profession as _supra pubic lithotomy_. In January, 1901, he established, in Fergus, the Royal Alexandra Hospital, which has already become widely known throughout Western Ontario. He also installed the Fergus and Elora Electric Light Plant, since taken over by the Hydro-Electric. In 1911 he was tendered by unanimous vote the Conservative nomination for the House of Commons for the South Riding of the County of Wellington, but the pressure of his professional work prevented his accepting.

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A Cyclopædia of Canadian BiographyChapter IV: Part 4

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