Читать книгу A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time - Various - Страница 16

To the Reverend H. Pickard, D.D.:

Dear Brother—The members of the New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Conference, assembled in annual session, desire to express to you their hearty congratulations upon the completion of Fifty Years in the honourable work of your ministry. We also express our gratitude to God, that he has so long spared you to see the growth, prosperity, and influence of the church to whose interests you have given such rich qualities of learning, wisdom, and piety.

We rejoice that through all these years your moral and ministerial character has been preserved without a stain. We are profoundly conscious of the far-reaching influence of your life in our Academic and College work. The ministry of this and other churches, as well as the business and professional life of our provinces, have been enriched by the ripe scholarship and godly zeal of those who owe much to you for their culture and their ability in their callings. We are not unmindful that other departments of our church work have been benefited by your consecrated zeal and wisdom. As early life directs and tinges the thoughts of advanced age, we fail not to discern in you the earnestness of purpose, the singleness of aim that mark the years of the early itinerant. Your company has almost gone before, and while with the few venerable men whom we lovingly call Fathers, you wait the summons of the Master, you say—

“In peace and cheerful hope I wait,

On life’s last verge quite free from fears,

And watch the opening of the gate,

Which leads to the eternal years.”

We desire that your day, as it draws to its close, may be brightened by the glory of the sunset, full of the golden promise of the eternity of light.

Signed by order of the Conference,

C. H. Paisley, Robert Wilson,

Secretary. President.

Marysville, N.B., June, 1887.

Mr. Pickard was twice married, first at Boston, on October 2nd, 1841, to the daughter of Ebenezer and Hannah M. Thompson, by whom he had two children—Edward Dwight and Charles F. Allison, who died in early childhood and infancy. Mrs. Pickard died at Sackville, the 11th of March, 1844. She was a lady of superior ability, and much literary talent, her memoirs and selections from her writings were published at Boston, by the Rev. Edward Otheman, A.M., in a duodecimo volume of upwards of 300 pages, in 1845, which is now out of print. He was married again on the 5th of September, 1846, to Mary Rowe Carr, who was born at Portland, Maine, United States, the daughter of John and Avis Preble Carr. This second wife bore him two daughters, the first, Mary Emarancy, is the wife of Andrew M. Bell, hardware merchant in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the mother of two boys, Winthrop P. and Ralph P. The second, Amelia Elizabeth, is the wife of A. A. Stockton, D.C.L., M.P.P., of St. John, New Brunswick, and mother of six living children, three daughters and three sons. The second Mrs. Pickard died on the 24th of January, 1887, in the 77th year of her age.

Kennedy, George, M.A., LL.D., Barrister, Toronto, was born on 1st March, 1838, at Bytown, now the city of Ottawa, Ontario. His father, Donald Kennedy, was born near Blairathol, in Scotland, and came with his father to Canada in 1818, the family settling in the township of Beckwith. About the time of the building of the Rideau canal the father of the subject of this sketch removed to Bytown, engaged in business as a contractor and builder, was employed for some time as surveyor for the district of Dalhousie, now the county of Carleton, and for many years carried on, in partnership with John Blyth, an extensive cabinet-making business. An ancestor of his took part in the battle of Culloden, on the side of Bonny Prince Charlie, by some called the “Pretender,” and the dirk he used on the occasion is still in the possession of the family. Dr. Kennedy’s mother, Janet Buckham, was born in 1807, in Dunblane, Scotland, and came, with her father, to this country in 1828. This family settled in the township of Torbolton, and Mr. Buckham went into farming on a large scale at the head of Sand Bay, where he planted one of the finest orchards in that part of the country. The Buckhams were descended from an old Border family that have resided in Jedburgh from the time of Queen Mary, of Scotland. Mrs. Kennedy died in 1856; but Mr. Kennedy is still alive, and resides about three miles from Ottawa city, on a picturesque spot overlooking the Rideau river. George received his education at the Carleton county Grammar School (now the Ottawa Collegiate Institute), and at University College, Toronto, where he matriculated in 1853, taking the first-class scholarship in classics, and in his subsequent course held first-class honors also in mathematics, metaphysics and ethics, natural sciences, modern languages, logic, rhetoric and history. In 1857 he graduated B.A. with gold medal in metaphysics and ethics; took M.A. in 1860; LL.B. in 1864, and LL.D., in 1877. In 1859 Dr. Kennedy occupied the position of master of the Grammar School of Prescott; and during the years 1860–1 he was second master in the Ottawa Grammar School, and had charge of the branch Meteorological Observatory at Ottawa. In 1862 he began the study of the law in the offices of Crooks, Kingsmill and Cattanach, Toronto, and was admitted as an attorney and solicitor, and was called to the bar of Ontario in Hilary term, 1865. He then began the practice of his profession in Ottawa, and for six years carried on his business in his native place. In February, 1872, he received the appointment of law clerk to the Crown Lands Department of Ontario, and moved to Toronto, where he has ever since resided. During the years 1878–9-80 the doctor was examiner in law at the University of Toronto. He was one of the founders of the Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society, formed by the amalgamation of the Mechanics’ Institute and Natural History Society, and was secretary for some years, and as a recognition of his labours in connection therewith was made a life member. He was also one of the original members of the University College Literary and Scientific Society, and is a member of the Canadian Institute, of which he was for three years a vice-president, and is now editor of “The Proceedings.” For some time he has been secretary to the Toronto St. Andrew’s Society, and as such prepared a history of the Society as a memorial for its jubilee year, 1886. Dr. Kennedy is an omnivorous reader, and as a consequence has a large and well-selected library—indeed he considers a library the most important part of any home—and few men are better posted in book-lore than he. He, too, has seen a good deal of Canada and the United States, and is familiar with the principal places in North America, ranging from the Southern states, the Western states, the Maritime provinces, the Muskoka district, and the regions beyond Ottawa. As might be expected, Dr. Kennedy was brought up a Presbyterian, but when quite young he began to entertain doubts as to the correctness of the Calvinistic faith of his church. For several years he was greatly troubled about this matter, and finding he could no longer stifle his convictions, he broke away from the church, and became almost an Agnostic. After a while, however, he joined the Unitarian church, and no one has now a firmer faith than he in the Divine Fatherhood, and the infinite possibilities of human progress. On the 6th June, 1883, he married Sarah, daughter of the late Henry Jackson, a well-known jeweller, and once resident of Toronto.

Turnbull, William Wallace, Merchant, of the firm of Turnbull & Co., Flour Dealers, Commission Merchants, and Importers of West India Goods, St. John, New Brunswick, was born on the 23rd of May, 1828, at Bear River, Annapolis county, Nova Scotia. His father was William Baxter Turnbull, and his mother, Relief Ann Tucker. His father’s grandparents emigrated from Edinburgh, Scotland, in the last century, and settled at a small place now known as Bay View, about three miles distant from the town of Digby, N.S., and here the father of the subject of our sketch was born. His mother’s grandparents were U. E. loyalists, and came to Nova Scotia from the United States shortly after, or during, the revolutionary war between Great Britain and that country. Mr. Turnbull, sen., was characterized by his keen sense of humour, his cheerfulness, and his affectionate nature, his sympathy for the weak and suffering, his strong religious convictions, and by his fealty to whatever he believed to be just and right. He died at the comparatively early age of forty-five years, and was buried at Bear River, greatly respected and beloved by all who knew him. William’s education was confined to the English branches, and was obtained at the Grammar School at Bear River, and also by attendance, for a short time, at the Grammar School at Albion Vale, a place about one mile distant from Annapolis, N.S. The school at Albion Vale was taught by the late Andrew Henderson, and it was at the time a somewhat celebrated place of instruction. Mr. Turnbull, sen., died, in July, 1845, leaving a widow and nine children (two sons and seven daughters), William being the younger of the two brothers. On the winding up of his estate, and the payment of all just debts, what remained for the family did not much exceed $1,000. For some time previous to this event William’s health was in such a precarious condition that it created a good deal of anxiety to the family, and it may be readily supposed he could do little towards the support of his mother and sisters, and to add to their troubles one of the younger sisters, eight years old, died. In the following spring (1846) all of the family except the brother removed to St. John, and shortly after their arrival in that city William obtained a situation as clerk with W. D. W. Hubbard, auctioneer. In this office he remained for about eighteen months, when he became book-keeper for G. & J. Salter, a firm then largely engaged in the West India trade, and as shipbuilders and shipowners. On the 1st May, 1851, he left their employ and struck out for himself as a wholesale flour, provision, and grocery merchant, adding thereto a few years afterwards shipowning and sailing, and in this business he is engaged at this time. When he started business he had a capital of about $200.00, very small indeed, but he had himself earned this money, and therefore knew its value. Owing, perhaps, to his youth and inexperience, for many years his progress was very slow, he having made a good number of bad debts and unwise ventures, yet notwithstanding these drawbacks he managed to meet all his liabilities as they matured, and now the reflection that throughout his business career he has been able to meet every honourable obligation, affords him the greatest satisfaction. Since his removal from Bear River he has always lived in St. John. The changes or experiences that he has had are perhaps such as are common to men engaged in business for so long a period as thirty-six years, particularly during a time when railroads, steamships and telegraphs have wrought such great changes in the methods of business, and to which we may add the change resulting from the confederation of the provinces into the Dominion of Canada. When Mr. Turnbull was about twenty-four years of age he became a member of the order of Sons of Temperance, but after a few years he withdrew, not because he had ceased to believe in the soundness of total abstinence principles, but because he became so immersed in business that his mind seemed to be wholly absorbed by it, and he felt, owing perhaps to the limitation of his capacity, unable to keep up his interest in the organization. He has always been, and still is, a total abstainer, but is not at present associated with any society having for its object the dissemination of temperance principles. During his connection with the Sons of Temperance he held a number of offices in the division, and afterwards became its presiding officer; and still later a member of the Grand Division of the province of New Brunswick. In May, 1884, Mr. Turnbull was elected president of the St. John Protestant Orphan Asylum, and also a director of the Bank of New Brunswick, which positions he still holds. He, with about a dozen other persons, built a railway from Gibson (opposite Fredericton) to Edmundston, a distance of about one hundred and sixty miles, with branches in addition to Woodstock, N.B., and Fort Fairfield, Maine, and he continued to be connected with this enterprise until the road was sold in 1880 to a number of capitalists in Montreal. He is a member of the Board of Trade of the city of St. John. In 1883 he took a trip to the Old World, and spent some time abroad, visiting Britain, Germany, and Switzerland. Mr. Turnbull’s father was a Presbyterian of the old school, and of course the son was brought up in the same faith; but he now attends the Episcopal church with his family. He, however, is not a member of this or any other church, not that he objects to churches, but simply that his mind is unsettled as to what is really the orthodox doctrine of faith and practice. One thing is certain, however, Mr. Turnbull finds great pleasure in relieving the wants of the deserving poor, and in doing all the good he can to his fellow-men. He does not consider himself in any sense a politician, yet nevertheless he holds decided opinions on most of the political questions that now agitate the country. He is strongly opposed to what is known as the national policy, for he believes it wrings large sums in taxes from the pockets of the people, without its being able to give them in return any compensating advantages. He is also strongly opposed to the expenditure of large sums of money on public works of an unremunerative character, and on public works which exist, as he is satisfied many in Canada do, only by reason of sentiment or false pride. While he recognizes that free trade, in its entirety, owing to the enormous debt of the Dominion, is not now practicable, he holds that it is thoroughly sound in principle, and being so would work the greatest good to the greatest number of our people, he would therefore favour its adoption to as large an extent as might seem to be practicable. He believes in the fullest individual liberty and freedom, consistent with a just regard for the rights of others, and is in favour of all measures having for their object the elevation of the masses. He is, in its true sense, a Liberal, but with enough conservatism in his composition to cause him to oppose any change in the laws of our country that he did not feel firmly convinced would be for the better. Mr. Turnbull was married at Maugerville, Sunbury county, on June 6, 1854, to Julia Caroline, daughter of the late Calvin L. Hatheway, of that place. Mr. Hatheway was of loyalist stock, his father having taken a somewhat prominent part in the revolutionary war between Great Britain and the United States. Mr. Turnbull’s wife’s mother was a daughter of Lieutenant James Harrison, who was also a loyalist, and who came to this province from the United States. He has a family consisting of five children living, namely, three daughters and two sons.

Sprague, Thomas Farmer, M.D., Woodstock, New Brunswick, was born on the 30th of August, 1856, at Brigus, island of Newfoundland. He is a son of the Rev. S. W. Sprague and Jean Manson Sprague. Thomas was educated at Mount Allison Academy, Sackville, New Brunswick, and at the Provincial Normal School. After leaving school he adopted the profession of teaching, which he successfully followed for some years, and then, in 1877, moved to the city of New York, and began the study of medicine. He entered the medical department of New York University, and successfully graduated in the spring of 1880 from this institution. Dr. Sprague then removed to Welsford, in New Brunswick, in April of the same year, and began the practice of his profession. He remained in that place for two years, and in June, 1882, went to Hartland, New Brunswick, where he stayed until June, 1883, and then took up his abode in Woodstock, county of Carleton, New Brunswick, where he has been successfully practising ever since. The doctor was brought up in the faith as taught by the Wesleyan Methodists—his father being a clergyman of that church—and he has seen no reason to change his religious belief since growing up into manhood. He married on the 17th of June, 1884, Loella Nourse, of Boston, Mass.

Gaynor, John Joseph, M.D., St. John, New Brunswick, was born of Irish parents, at Chatham, New Brunswick, on the 19th of March, 1854. They were educated Irish Catholics, his father being a native of the county Meath, and his mother of the county Clare, Ireland. They might well be classed as Irish-Americans, as they were both brought by their respective parents to this country while yet infants. Dr. Gaynor’s father, Thomas Gaynor, was educated at the Grammar School, Chatham; and his mother, Catharine Buckley, at a seminary for young ladies, conducted by a Mrs. Merry at Newcastle, New Brunswick. This privilege, so exceptional for Irish Catholics in those early days, was doubtless the reason which determined the doctor’s parents to bestow in turn a liberal education on their own offspring. On his father’s side Dr. Gaynor comes of the best blood of historic Meath, being a descendant of the same family that in the last century produced General Hand, of revolutionary fame as adjutant-general to Washington during the war of American Independence, and that in the present century gave birth to such eminent churchmen as the late Father Hand, founder of All Hallows College, Dublin, and the present patriotic Bishop of Meath, the illustrious Dr. Nulty. According to family tradition also, one of Dr. Gaynor’s ancestors fought under King James at the ill-fated battle of the Boyne, and was killed while defending the “Bridge of Slane.” His name, the same tradition says, was Thomas Gaynor. While on his father’s side Dr. Gaynor is thus descended from a liberty-loving race, on his mother’s side he is connected with that aristocratic class known in Ireland as “Castle Catholics.” His mother, who was born at Ferhill Castle, Blackwater, county Clare, was also closely allied by ties of blood to the famous fighting “Goughs of Clare,” whose name is historical through General Gough, of India fame. Dr. Gaynor is the eldest member of a family of twelve, eight of whom are still living. One of his brothers, the Rev. William C. Gaynor, is Roman Catholic pastor of Richmond, in Carleton county, New Brunswick. Father Gaynor is a writer of great power on theological questions, and is the author of “Papal Infallibility,” published in 1885, and of a Commentary in Latin on the Summa Theologica, of Thomas Aquinas, now in press in Paris. Another brother, P. A. Gaynor, is a member of a large lumbering house in Pennsylvania, and is now in the Redwood district of California, where he has established a branch firm. Dr. Gaynor was educated partly at St. Michael’s College, Chatham, and partly at St. Joseph’s College, Memramcook. In the former institution he studied mathematics and the exact sciences under the most distinguished teacher of his day in New Brunswick, Thomas Caulfield, M.A., of Trinity College, Dublin. His subsequent studies in logic and metaphysics were pursued at St. Joseph’s College, Memramcook. In this institution he taught the higher mathematics. It was here also that in 1877 he began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. H. E. Boissy, resident physician to St. Joseph’s, and leading medical practitioner among the Acadians of New Brunswick. From St. Joseph’s Dr. Gaynor went in 1878 to Buffalo, New York. There he attended the lectures in the medical department of Buffalo University. He followed also the different courses of the newly established College of Physicians and Surgeons in the same city. Graduating in 1881, after a four years’ course, he carried off the honours of his class, and was immediately offered the chair of chemistry and toxicology in his alma mater. This honourable position he declined at the insistance of his friends in New Brunswick, and immediately returned to his native province. Shortly after his return he read by invitation a paper on “Chloroform as an Anæsthetic,” before the Medical Society of New Brunswick. Establishing himself at DeBec, Carleton county, he soon acquired a lucrative practice. It was here that for the first time in the history of medicine in New Brunswick nitro-glycerine was employed, by Dr. Gaynor, for remedial purposes. Finding that his sphere of labour was too circumscribed, and desirous of entering into a larger field, Dr. Gaynor removed, in 1884, to St. John city, where he has since resided. On February 20, 1884, he was united in the bonds of holy wedlock to Nora Costigan, of St. John, a relative of the Hon. John Costigan, Minister of Inland Revenue. By her he has three children—Walter and Frederick, born February 16, 1885, and James, born August 28, 1886. During his vacations, while yet a medical student, Dr. Gaynor travelled extensively through the Northern, Western, and Middle states, spending some time in the Oil regions of Pennsylvania, and at the watering places on the Atlantic coast. In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative, with no love, however, for toryism as it exists in the mother country. The descendant of a family that fought and bled for human liberty, he is naturally a liberal in sentiment and aspiration. It is his belief, however, that so far as principles are concerned, there is no essential difference between the Conservative party led by Sir John Macdonald and the Liberal party led by Edward Blake. It is tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee; and in the end the people always rule. Such being his opinion of the two great political parties into which the Canadian people are divided, Dr. Gaynor has pronounced views as to the position which his Irish Catholic co-religionists should take in dominion politics. They should, he believes, adopt Parnell’s famous motto, Support the party which does the most for you. They would thus as a body be bound to neither political party, and would gravitate from one to the other consistently with the fair or unfair, just or unjust, treatment they might receive from either party. Outside his native province Dr. Gaynor is best known as a writer on materia medica. He has made a specialty of the study of new drugs; and his articles in the “Investigator”—a medical monthly of Buffalo—on this and kindred subjects, have attracted unusual attention from the medical profession in America. He also wrote and published in the same journal a series of articles in explanation and defence of the Catholic doctrine on craniotomy. In those articles he triumphantly refuted all the objections brought forward by his adversaries, and abundantly proved, in defence of the Catholic position, that the rational soul animates the human fœtus from the very first moment of conception, and that consequently it is as great a violation of divine law to destroy the living embryo as it would be to murder the new-born child. Dr. Gaynor’s views of medical practice are wide and comprehensive. His motto as regards remedial agents is:

“Seek the best where’er ’tis found,

On Christian earth or pagan ground.”

Yet he is not an eclectic in the narrow sense of the word, which is now practically synonymous with homœopath. A thorough knowledge of anatomy, a complete acquaintance with the physiological effect of every drug or remedy, a no less complete acquaintance with pathology, and a virility of character sufficient to elevate the mind above the crude ideas of past generations, whether sanctioned by usage or made sacred by great names, must in future, he contends, be characteristics of the successful medical practitioner. A determined opponent of everything irrational or unintelligent in medicine, Dr. Gaynor has ever raised his voice against that hit-or-miss method, facetiously yet correctly styled “shot-gun practice,” which combines, for example, in one prescription three, four, or six different remedies, with the hope that if one misses some of the others will touch the target. He is, by consequence, a strong believer in the single remedy in every prescription. Dr. Gaynor is also a specialist in gynecology, his practice in St. John being almost limited to this department of his profession. He resides at number 2 Germain street.

de Martigny, Adelard Le Moyne, Notary and Cashier of La Banque Jacques Cartier, Montreal, was born at Varennes, on the 25th of December, 1826. He is the son of Jacques Le Moyne de Martigny, seigneur of de Martigny, St. Michel and La Trinité, and of Dame Suzanne Eléonore Perrault, daughter of the late François Perrault, prothonotary of the Superior Court at Quebec. Mr. de Martigny is descended from that distinguished family of Le Moyne, who arrived in this country in 1611, of whom were the de Longueuil, de Ste. Hélene, d’Iberville, de Bienville, de Chateauguay, de Sévigny, and de Maricourt; one of his ancestors, J. B. Le Moyne de Martigny, was at the capture of Fort Bourbon by d’Iberville, and was left there as commander of that fort. Having terminated his classical studies at the Montreal College, under the gentlemen of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, he studied law under J. N. A. Archambault, notary, at Varennes, and was admitted to practice in January, 1848. In August, 1856, he was appointed registrar of the county of Beauharnois; and in 1871 manager of the branch of the Merchants Bank of Canada, established in the town of Beauharnois. He, however, resigned these different positions to accept the one as manager of Le Crédit Foncier du Bas Canada in 1875; and finally he was offered the position of cashier of La Banque Jacques Cartier in Montreal in 1877, which he accepted and still occupies. He is one of the executors of the estate of the late Hon. Charles Wilson. Mr. de Martigny is one of the owners of a large asbestos estate in Coleraine, Megantic county, and one of the proprietors of a pulp and paper mill in Sorel, and was president of the Joliette Railroad Company at the time of the sale of that road to the government. In 1855 he married Aglaé Globensky, daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Globensky, one of the officers under Colonel de Salaberry, at the battle of Chateauguay. He has four sons by this marriage, one of them, the oldest, Louis Le Moyne de Martigny, is manager of the Jacques Cartier Bank at Salaberry de Valleyfield. He was married again to his first cousin, Marie Malvina Le Moyne de Martigny, daughter of Hugues Le Moyne de Martigny, seigneur of de Ramezay and Bourgchemin.

Rogers, Henry Cassady, Postmaster, Peterboro’, Ontario, was born at Grafton, Northumberland county, Ontario, on the 16th of July, 1839. He is the second son of the late Lieut.-Col. James G. Rogers and his first wife, Maria Burnham. His father died at his residence in Grafton on the 27th of November, 1874, in his seventieth year, greatly regretted by all who knew him. He (J. G. Rogers) came to Grafton with his parents from the village of Brighton, his birthplace, when he was only five years of age, and his life was spent amidst a people many of whom were the contemporaries of his youth. He was an upright magistrate and a sincere Christian. His grandfather, David McGregor Rogers, was a U. E. loyalist, who came to this country from New England with the first loyalists after the termination of the revolutionary war in 1776. He settled first on the Bay of Quinté, afterwards moving to Presqu’Isle, and finally to the township of Haldimand (now the village of Grafton), where he opened the first post-office between Kingston and York (now Toronto), and where three generations of the family have been born. The homestead is now occupied by his brother, Lieut.-Col. R. Z. Rogers, commanding the 40th battalion. He (D. McG. Rogers) was for twenty-four years a member of the Upper Canada legislature; and died on the 13th July, 1824, in the fifty-third year of his age. In his political opinions he was a warm admirer of the British constitution, and during the time he sat in the legislature no member guarded the rights and interests of the people more zealously than he did. His great-granduncle was the famous Col. Rogers of “Roger’s Rangers,” who was a man of note during the last century—best known as Major Rogers. He first became famous as a scout in the Indian troubles. His exploits furnished Fenimore Cooper with the ground-work of his tales of the “Leather-stocking,” and “Horrors of the Backwoods.” He was commissioned to raise and organize a regiment of scouts during the French war. This corps rendered valuable service at the taking of Canada from the French, and on its surrender Rogers was entrusted by the commander-in-chief with the arduous duty of proceeding west from Montreal, and taking possession in the name of the king of Great Britain, of the country including forts Frontenac (Kingston), Niagara, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Mackinaw, etc., as far as the Mississippi in the west and Lake Superior north. He had therefore the honour of commanding the first British expedition that passed through the great chain of lakes, interesting accounts of which may be found in his “Journal,” published in London, England, in 1765; “Heely’s Wolfe in Canada,” “Parkman’s Conspiracy of Pontiac,” chap. vi.; and many others. The Rangers were re-organized on the breaking out of the rebellion in 1765, by a brother of the first commanding officer Colonel James Rogers who was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, commanded at St. John’s, Quebec (the key of Canada as it was then called), and were called the “Queen’s Rangers,” but many of the leading spirits joined the rebels, among others Putnam and Stark, who were lieutenants in the Rangers, and who became celebrated generals in the American army. Great inducements were offered the Rogers to join Washington, but they remained staunch to the Crown, for which they not only lost their homes and possessions (some 30,000 acres of land in New England), but had their good name calumniated, being called traitors and spies by the partisan press of the revolutionists. The mother of H. C. Rogers was third daughter of the late Hon. Zaccheus Burnham, of Cobourg, who came to Cobourg with his four brothers from New Hampshire at the end of the last century, and who carved out homes and affluence from the forest, and left a large circle of descendants who are filling many positions of trust and honour throughout the Dominion. Henry Cassady Rogers, the subject of our sketch, received his primary education in the public school at Grafton; then when twelve years of age he was sent to the Model School at Toronto, and finally to the Grammar School at Kingston where he graduated. He then apprenticed himself to his uncle, the late Lieut.-Colonel R. D. Rogers, of Ashburnham, who learned him how to conduct a commercial business, and with this uncle he remained from 1855 to 1860. He then went into business in Peterboro’ with his brother-in-law, Harry Strickland, son of Colonel Strickland, of Lakefield, and for ten years they carried on a successful mercantile lumbering and mining business under the name of Strickland & Rogers. In 1871 Mr. Rogers retired from the firm and was made postmaster of Peterboro’, which office he now fills with satisfaction to the public. Mr. Rogers has inherited from his illustrious ancestors a love of military life, and when only sixteen years of age, on the Rifle company being formed at Peterboro’ in 1855, he joined that corps; and in 1866, on the promotion of Captain Poole, he was given command of the company, and acted as its captain during the various Fenian raids of that period. In 1867, when the 57th battalion was formed, he and his companions became No. 1 company of the battalion. In this connection, we may here say, that his brother, Lieut.-Colonel Robert Z. Rogers, commands the 40th (Northumberland) battalion; and his cousin, Lieut.-Colonel James Z. Rogers, the 57th battalion Peterboro’ Rangers. In 1872 he raised and commanded the Peterboro’ Cavalry troop, which now forms C troop of the 3rd Prince of Wales Canadian Dragoons. Mr. Rogers is an active member of the Masonic brotherhood, and belongs to Corinthian lodge, No. 101, Peterboro’. He crossed the Atlantic in 1862, and made himself familiar with many cities of the old world. In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative; and in religious matters he is an adherent of the Episcopal church. In 1863 he was married at Smith’s Falls, to Maria, eldest daughter of Dr. W. H. Burritt, a scion of an old U. E. loyalist family of the Rideau, who settled at Burritt’s Rapids many years ago.

Wilson, J. C., M.P. for Argenteuil, Manufacturer, Montreal, was born on the 19th of July, 1841, near Rasharkin, county of Antrim, Ireland, and came to Montreal with his parents in September, 1842, and near this city the family settled. His father, Samuel Wilson, belonged to a numerous family of farmers and artisans in Antrim county; and his mother, Elizabeth Crocket, was descended from similar stock. Her forefathers were of a roving disposition, and their descendants are scattered all over the British colonies. Both Mr. Wilson’s parents were religious people, and held a prominent position in the church. His mother died at an early age from the excessive hardships she had to endure in the vicinity of Montreal, as a pioneer settler. His father, as a youth, received no training as an artisan, yet having a natural talent for using tools, he adopted the trade of carpenter, and in a very few years thereafter became an expert mechanic. He designed and made the first railway snow-plough used in Canada, and from his model the plough now used is still made. He entered the employ of the Grand Trunk Railway Company, and up to the time of his death was engaged by that company in building their cars. He was a very industrious man, and in the evenings, after leaving his usual work, frequently spent hours in his own workshop in his house at his lathe and bench, making furniture for himself and his neighbours. James, the subject of this sketch, was educated by an old-fashioned schoolmaster in the rudiments of learning, and had to work for a living at a very early age. He was apprenticed to mechanical engineering in 1853, and until 1856 he worked at his trade, when, having met with an accident that injured his right arm, he had to give up the trade of a mechanical engineer. Mr. Wilson now shows with pride some fine machinist’s tools he made when he was an apprentice. On recovering from his injuries, a kind friend observing the talents and perseverance of the lad, sent him to the Model School, and from there to the McGill Normal School in Montreal, and in July, 1859, he graduated as a teacher. In 1859 he removed to Beauharnois, and taught the dissentient school in that town until 1862, when he moved west to Belleville, where he clerked until December of that year, when he moved to Toronto, and accepted the position of clerk in the office of a wholesale news company. In 1863 he went to New York, and from November of that year until January, 1867, he had the management of the publishing house of T. W. Strong, of that city, and through his perseverance and industry gained the highest rung of the ladder of fortune in Mr. Strong’s establishment. While Mr. Wilson resided in New York he was a great favourite among the Canadians visiting there, and helped many of them when they were in need. A deep-seated love for Canada, and a special inducement brought him again back to Montreal in January, 1867, and he at once assumed the position of cashier and bookkeeper in the office of Angus, Logan & Co., paper manufacturers (now the Canada Paper Co.) He remained with this firm until September, 1870, when he went into business on his own account. He began the manufacture of paper bags by machinery, and was the first in Canada to supply the grocers all over the Dominion with this very useful article. This proving, by energy and ability, a prosperous business, in 1880 he built a large paper mill at Lachute, province of Quebec, and in 1885 had to double its power so as to be able to make six tons of paper per day. In 1880 Mr. Wilson was elected an alderman for the city of Montreal, and was again returned by acclamation in 1883. For six years he represented St. Lawrence ward in the city council, and for four years was chairman of the light committee. He was president of the Fish and Game Protection Club of the province of Quebec for two years; president of the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society for two years; and has occupied the principal chairs in several other societies in Montreal. Mr. Wilson is a life governor and vice-president of the Montreal Dispensary; a governor of the Protestant Insane Asylums of the province of Quebec; one of the board of Protestant School Commissioners of Montreal; principal and head of the firm of J. C. Wilson & Co., paper and paper-bag makers, Montreal; and at the general elections held February 22, 1887, he was elected to represent the county of Argenteuil, province of Quebec, in the House of Commons at Ottawa. Mr. Wilson is an ardent fisherman, fond of lakes and brooks, and never hesitates to drive thirty or forty miles over a rough road to enjoy a few hours’ trout-fishing, and thoroughly enjoys camp life. In business he is active, pushing, hard-working, and far-seeing in his plans, and never puts off until to-morrow what can be done to-day. With his employees he is a favourite, and is looked upon by them as most generous and kind. Mr. Wilson has adopted as his motto, “It pays to think.” In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative, and in religion an adherent of the Presbyterian form of worship. On the 6th of November, 1865, he married Jeanie, third daughter of the late William Kilgour, of Beauharnois, province of Quebec, and has a family of five children—three sons and two daughters.

Wedderburn, Hon. William, Q.C., Hampton, Judge of the County Courts of Kings and Albert counties, New Brunswick, was born at St. John, October 12, 1834. He is a son of the late Alexander Wedderburn, of Aberdeen, Scotland. Imperial emigration agent at St. John, New Brunswick, and Jane Heaviside, of London, England. His father was the author of several pamphlets and letters on important public affairs. Judge Wedderburn was educated at the St. John Grammar School, and entered as a student for the profession of the law in the office of the Hon. John H. Gray, (now judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia); was called to the bar in 1858, and created a Queen’s counsel in 1873. Until he entered political life he enjoyed a very large and leading law practice. For several years he was intimately connected with the press as a contributor and editor, and in both capacities, as well as on the platform, took a very prominent and pronounced stand in favour of the confederation of the provinces. At the general elections of 1870 he first presented himself for parliamentary honours, and was returned for the city of St. John to the New Brunswick legislature. In 1874 he was re-elected by a very large vote; and again in 1878 he was honoured by re-election. While in parliament he took a very prominent part in the discussions before the house, and was the author and promoter of a series of resolutions in favour of “better terms” for New Brunswick, and was afterwards delegated on several occasions to go to Ottawa on this subject. The result of the agitation was a very large increase to the income of the province, secured with other advantages when the delegates pressed the matter finally and with effect upon the settlement of the export duty question during the discussion of the Washington treaty. Mr. Wedderburn was also the author and mover of the famous resolutions—known and published throughout the election as the “Wedderburn resolutions”—on which the School bill contest in 1874 was conducted, re-affirming the principle of the School law, and protesting against any interference by the parliament of Canada on the subject. Very many laws were added to the Statute Book upon his motion. On February 18, 1876, he was elected speaker of the House of Assembly by acclamation, and while holding this office he was requested to report a code of laws for the government of the house during business and in committee. The rules at this time were very few and incomplete, and quite behind the age. At the following session he reported to the house. Taking the practice of the Imperial and Canadian Houses of Commons, and the rules of parliament, and of the different legislatures of the provinces—the report provided a full and complete course of procedure. After full discussion during that and the following session the whole of the rules were adopted with very little, if any, material amendment. The committee reported a grant of five hundred dollars to the speaker for his work—which had, of course, been prepared without charge. Mr. Wedderburn ranked high as a parliamentary authority, and is thought not to have been excelled in the chair. At the close of the term of the Assembly, the leader of the opposition, in a very complimentary speech, moved the thanks of the House to Mr. Speaker for his ability, etc., in the government of the house. The premier (now Judge King) seconded the motion, and highly eulogized the Speaker, and concluded by saying that “if he (Mr. Wedderburn) had not been so good a Speaker, he (Mr. King) would have been a better parliamentarian.” Immediately after this, Hon. Mr. Wedderburn was appointed to the office of provincial secretary, and this office he held until he accepted the position of judge of the County Courts of Kings and Albert. He twice refused a seat in the government of 1870, and the appointment of commissioner to consolidate the provincial statutes. He has been prominently identified with the temperance movement, and has filled various important positions in this army of moral reform, among others that of grand worthy patriarch of the Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance of New Brunswick. He was president of the Mechanics’ Institute of St. John for three years consecutively, 1869–72, as well as holding other offices in the institute. He was first president of the Provincial Board of Agriculture, created by a law passed by the government of which he was a member, and the address delivered by him at the inauguration of the board was greatly complimented, and published or largely quoted in English and French throughout Canada and in the United states. And it was largely through his means that the stock farm was undertaken by the government. Hon. Mr. Wedderburn has been speaker, orator, and lecturer on many important public and private occasions, commanding the close attention of his auditors at all times by his eloquent, powerful and ornate deliverances. Among his efforts in this direction may be mentioned his address at the memorial services held in the city of St. John for President Lincoln; his oration as provincial secretary at the memorial services of President Garfield; at the laying the corner stone of the Masonic Temple in St. John; at the ceremonial in celebration of the Centennial of the introduction of Freemasonry into New Brunswick; his great lecture on “Colin Campbell,” in the Mechanics’ Institute, on behalf of the volunteers during the Fenian troubles; and his brilliant oration, delivered by request of the city corporation of St. John, upon the Centennial celebration of the landing of the loyalists in New Brunswick. Many others might be mentioned. Judge Wedderburn has always been prominently identified with the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons. He was initiated in St. John’s lodge, of St. John, June 19, 1857, and was senior warden in 1860, and worshipful master in 1862 and 1863. The capitular degrees were received in the New Brunswick Royal Arch Chapter. He was the first of, and the most prominent among, those who advocated the erection of an independent Grand Lodge in and for New Brunswick; promoting the movement by his voice and pen, particularly by the latter in the columns of the Masonic Mirror, the organ of the order, and of which he was the editor. At the formation of the Grand Lodge, October, 1867, he was unanimously elected deputy grand master, in which position he continued up to 1870, when he was elected grand master, and occupied the latter office for two years. Although the removal of his residence to his villa at Hampton, Kings county, and the prosecution of his judicial functions have drawn him away from active participation in the work of the craft, nevertheless he continues to retain his membership in the lodge, and to preserve a warm interest in the prosperity of the brotherhood. The editor of the Parliamentary Practice thus refers to him when he was provincial secretary:—“Upon the floor of the House he was a leading spirit; eloquent and argumentative, a keen debater, and a master of sarcasm.” Judge Wedderburn is married to Jeannie, daughter of the late C. C. Vaughan, of St. John, New Brunswick.

Steeves, James Thomas, M.D., Superintendent of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, St. John, New Brunswick, was born at Hillsborough, Albert county, N.B., on the 25th of January, 1828. He is a brother of the late Hon. W. H. Steeves, senator, and one of the delegates or founders of Canadian confederation; and is of German ancestry. His great-grandfather was born in Osnaburgh, Germany, whence he removed to Philadelphia, and his grandfather, the Rev. Henry Steeves, removed thence to Albert county, N.B., about the beginning of the present century. Dr. Steeves is a Baptist in religion, as all his fathers were; in fact “his fathers” were the pioneers in disseminating Baptist doctrines over a large portion of the province. His literary education was obtained at the Grammar School at Hillsborough, at Sackville Academy, and finally at the Baptist Seminary, Fredericton, under the late Dr. Spurden. After the completion of his literary course, he entered upon the study of medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical College—attracted by the famous surgeon, Valentine Mott—the following year he matriculated at the University of New York, and graduated in the class of 1853. From the medical faculty of the university he received a certificate of honour for proficiency and for having pursued a more extended course of instruction than that required by the college curriculum. In June, 1854, the doctor established himself in Portland, St. John, N.B., and entered upon the practice of his profession. After the lapse of a few weeks Asiatic cholera made its appearance there in all its terribleness, spreading dismay and death on every hand. During the prevalence of this fearful scourge, extending over a period upwards of four months, Dr. Steeves, by his unswerving fidelity to his professional duties under every circumstance, and his good measure of success, fairly placed himself among the leading physicians of New Brunswick. In 1864 he removed to the city of St. John and erected the fine block of four brick and stone buildings situated on the corner of Wellington Row and Union street, which escaped the great fire of 1877, and still stand as a monument to his success and enterprise, and where he resided until 1875. On the opening of the General Public Hospital in 1864, the doctor was appointed upon the staff of visiting surgeons, and was the last of the original staff retiring. When the late Dr. J. Waddell was about retiring from the superintendency of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, Dr. Steeves was recommended by his professional brethren almost as a body, as a suitable successor for the position. Under the management of Dr. Waddell the asylum for the insane had attained a high position for successful work; and since under the present administration it has not lost a whit, but has kept fully abreast with the various modern improvements incident to asylum treatment everywhere. Dr. Steeves is a strong advocate for segregation, pavilion accommodation, and employment for the insane. By means of his advocacy with pen and voice, he has induced the government of New Brunswick to purchase a large farm, and to erect thereon a group of pavilions for the care and employment of a suitable number and class of the most healthy, indigent and pauper insane. The establishment is in full working condition, and is regarded as a complete success, in that it is far better than the old hospital system for this class of patients, giving them more freedom and out-door work, and that it is far more economical both in buildings and maintenance. Dr. Steeves was elected a member of the first medical council of New Brunswick on the introduction of the English Medical Registration Act in 1860. He has occupied the position of vice-president of the Canada Medical Association; he is an honorary member of the American Medical Association; he was elected unanimously first president of the New Brunswick Medical Society under the New Brunswick Medical Act of 1880; and is past president of the New Brunswick Medical Council. The Dr. was married to M. A. McMann, daughter of the late Captain L. McMann, of the city of St. John, in May, 1856; by whom he had born nine children. The eldest son, Frank H. Steeves, M.D., a very promising young man, graduated in medicine at Bellevue Hospital College, N.Y., and soon after went to St. Thomas Hospital College, London, England, in 1880, to further pursue medical studies. There he contracted acute phthisis, to which disease he succumbed in March, 1882. The second son, J. A. E. Steeves, A.M., M.D., is the assistant physician in the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, St. John, at the present time.

Van Wyck, Rev. James, Pastor of the Euclid Avenue Methodist Church, Toronto, was born in Stamford village, in the county of Welland, Ontario, on the 16th of May, 1846. He is descended on his father’s side from an old Dutch family, who many centuries ago were seigniors of Wyck in Holland, but through political intrigue lost their feudal rights. The first Van Wyck in America emigrated from Holland in 1660, and he and his son Theodoras took the oath of allegiance to the British government in 1681. Since then the family has multiplied considerably, and is now scattered throughout the United States, many of them filling important positions, both in church and state. Rev. Mr. Van Wyck’s grandfather was the only one of this name who came to Canada, to make for himself a home, and he settled in the Niagara peninsula, where Daniel Van Wyck, the father of the subject of our sketch, was born, on the 7th of October, 1812, his mother being Nancy Kilman. Daniel Van Wyck was a farmer, a man of good judgment and sterling integrity, and was invariably sought after in cases of arbitration. During the Mackenzie rebellion, he stood by the “old flag.” He took a deep interest in education—filling the position of school trustee for many years, and was an ardent supporter of free schools. In politics he was a Conservative. James Van Wyck, like a great many boys in their days, had to help his father on the farm or in the workshop, and got very little time to attend the public school after he was ten years of age, except a few months in winter, and not even that after he was fifteen years of age. Misfortune had befallen his father, and the son worked hard to help him to regain his former position. When he had reached his nineteenth year, having despaired of getting what his mind craved after, an education, he apprenticed himself to an elder brother in the town of Welland, to learn the carpenter trade, and having served the usual time, he left Welland and went to Lockport, New York state, where he remained for about eighteen months. During these years he had been improving his mind, and had united himself with the Methodist Episcopal church. On his return to Canada in 1869, he entered the ministry of that church, and after preaching four years, and pursuing the required course of study, he was ordained to the work of the ministry in 1873, by the late Bishop Richardson. In the fall of that year he entered Albert College, Belleville, where he remained for four years, and graduated in arts in June, 1878. He was also valedictorian of the year, besides receiving the silver medal. He was then invited to a church in Strathroy, where he remained for nearly five years by special request (it being a privilege at that time to those who were preferred). Next he went to Hamilton, where he remained for three years, and in 1886 he was invited to take charge of the church in Euclid avenue, in Toronto, the pastorate he now fills, with honour to the Master and satisfaction to his people. Rev. Mr. Van Wyck has always taken an active part in temperance work, and from 1879 to 1882 occupied the office of president of the branch of the Dominion Alliance, for the suppression of the liquor traffic in the county of Middlesex. He is a member of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, and he has also been connected with the Sons of Temperance, and the Good Templars for a number of years. He is one of the board of management of Alma College, St. Thomas, and also one of its board of examiners. He occupied a seat on the board of examiners of the Albert College, Belleville, from 1878 up to the time of the union of the Methodist churches a few years ago. He has also been associated with the board of examiners in the Annual Conference of the Methodist church since 1878. Rev. Mr. Van Wyck has been repeatedly appointed a delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist church, and when the question of union was discussed, he supported the union with all his ability. He has been very happy in his church relations, and in all his charges has enjoyed great prosperity. In his earlier years, Mr. Van Wyck was somewhat prejudiced in favour of the denomination in which he was brought up, and thought John Wesley infallible, but Ephraim has now somewhat modified his views. Although he is a firm Arminian, and believes in the genuineness, authority and inspired character of the divine revelation contained in the Bible, yet he sometimes wishes that the creeds of the Evangelical church had more specified articles of faith in them, and that they were more liberally interpreted. He was married on the 24th of August, 1866, to Maria Fares, who was educated in Toronto and Belleville, and is a daughter of Isaac Fares, of Humberstone, Welland county, Ontario.

Bronson, Erskine Henry, M.P.P., for the city of Ottawa, was born on the 12th of September, 1844, at Bolton, Warren county, New York state. He is a son of Henry Franklin Bronson, and Edith E. Pierce, of Bolton, and a member of the firm of Bronsons & Weston, lumber manufacturers, Ottawa city. Mr. Bronson, senr., came to Canada in 1849, when Erskine was a mere child, and visiting the Ottawa valley became greatly impressed with the idea that the Chaudière Falls was a splendid place to begin lumbering operations. The timber supply in the neighbourhood seemed inexhaustible, and the water power magnificent. After a short stay, however, he returned to his home in the state of New York, and thought little more of the matter until 1852, when he persuaded J. J. Harris, an extensive lumberman, with whom he was associated, to go with him to Ottawa. Arrived at their destination, the river experts tried to persuade them that the Ottawa river was not suitable for the safe driving of saw logs. But Mr. Bronson thought differently, and persuaded Mr. Harris to purchase certain water lots at the Chaudière Falls, which he accordingly did, from the Crown, and here, under the personal superintendence of Mr. Bronson, were erected mills, portions of which still exist and form part of the splendid works since erected by Bronsons & Weston. Shortly after the erection of the first mill, Mr. Bronson removed his family to Canada, in the fall of 1853, and made his permanent home at Ottawa. Erskine was brought up here, and received his education in the best schools in the place, and at Sandy Hill, New York state. After finishing his education, he took a position in the business; and in 1864, on the retirement of Mr. Harris, he was admitted a partner into the new firm, which was then established, and which consisted of Henry Franklin Bronson, who with Mr. Harris originated the business, Erskine H. Bronson and Abijah Weston, of Painted Post, New York, and which has since traded under the name of Bronsons & Weston. This firm owns two mills at Ottawa, running ten gates, with a capacity of producing 60,000,000 feet of lumber during the season. They have also close business relations with John W. Dunham, of Albany, New York, and Herman K. Weaver, of Burlington, Vt., and have also a yard in Albany, for the sale of lumber in the rough. Though in the building up of this great concern, the Liberal member for Ottawa has played no inconsiderable part, he has also done something to prove himself a good and useful citizen. He has been a member of the School Board for the last fourteen years, during the past four years of which he has been chairman of the committee on school management. He was first elected to the city council by acclamation in 1871, and served continuously until the close of 1877. During the last year he was in the council he prepared the act consolidating the city debt, and secured its passage in the Ontario Legislature in the session of 1878. This act relieved the city by the extension of the time of the payment of its bonds of a large annual levy for a sinking fund, and fixed the maximum of taxation at one and a half per cent., instead of two per cent. as before, under the general municipal law. Mr. Bronson in politics is a Reformer, and in religious matters an adherent of the Presbyterian church. He is one of our rising men, and we feel that Ottawa in electing him as one of its representatives in the Ontario Legislature, has done something that shall redound to its credit. Mr. Bronson was married in 1874, to Miss Webster, the only daughter of Professor Webster, a Southern gentleman, at one time a resident of the capital, by whom he has two children.

McPherson, R. B., Thorold, Ontario, was born in 1817, in Kingussie, Inverness-shire, Scotland. His father was a merchant; and having a family of twelve children, he considered it would be to their interest if he emigrated to Canada. He therefore left his native country in 1822, and located himself in Glengarry, about twenty miles east by north of Cornwall. Here R. B. McPherson was brought up, and received the very scant education given in the back township schools in those days, the principal being the reading of the Bible and the committing to memory the Shorter Catechism and the Paraphrases. At the age of thirteen he left home, and found employment in a country store, the proprietor of which was in the habit of purchasing timber for the Quebec market. Here Mr. McPherson remained for some time, and frequently had to act in the capacity of raftsman, and help bring his employer’s timber down to Quebec. He often ran the risk of losing his life in the St. Lawrence river rapids before the rafts were safely anchored in the timber coves at Quebec. During the rebellion of 1837–8, Mr. McPherson took sides with the loyalists, and had command at one time of a guard at the river Beaudette bridge near Coteau Rapids, Province of Quebec, whose duty it was to intercept rebels coming or going over it, more especially the late Sir George E. Cartier, for whose head a large sum of money had been offered, and who it was thought would endeavour to escape across the St. Lawrence at this point. In 1840 Mr. McPherson left Lower Canada and came to Toronto, where he remained a short time, and then crossed over to Rochester. From this place he travelled through the Genesee country to Buffalo and the Falls of Niagara, and when at the latter point, he saw Mr. McLeod, of Caroline steamer notoriety, a prisoner, surrounded by a strong guard at the hotel. He again returned to Canada, and found employment near the town of Simcoe. In this place he remained for a short time, and then left for New York, intending to sail from that port to Buenos Ayres, South America, and try his fortune there. On his arrival at New York, he learned that Buenos Ayres was blockaded by a French squadron, and being advised to abandon his southern trip, he remained in New York until his means were exhausted, and then, in the month of January, he left with the idea of tramping his way to New Orleans by way of the Mississippi. On his route he passed through Philadelphia and Baltimore. At Baltimore he took the turnpike road to Pittsburg, but after a while got so tired and footsore with travelling in the snow that he turned off the main road, and took the road right across the state of Pennsylvania through the coal mines, making his way towards Lake Erie. When he reached the Alleghany river he followed its course for a long distance, and then struck off to Jamestown, just then starting into existence, and then on to Buffalo. From this point he walked across Lake Erie on the ice to Port Colborne and then on to St. Catharines. Here he found employment as bookkeeper, paymaster, etc., in the office of Thompson, Haggert & Burford, contractors engaged in building the Welland canal. Frank Smith (now senator) was at this date employed by this former firm and was in charge of a store that shipped goods to the labourers’ employers on the works. After the completion of this famous Welland canal contract Mr. McPherson went to Toronto, and meeting a Mr. Logan, a then prominent merchant in that city, who controlled about a dozen stores in various country parts north and east of Toronto, he entered into an engagement with him to take charge of a store at Oshawa; and while here Mr. Logan’s storekeeper in the village of Markham was murdered (the murderer being afterwards executed in Toronto), and Mr. McPherson was transferred to that village leaving the employ of Mr. Logan, he went to the village of Bradford and took charge of a store for Mr. Cameron, son of the late Colin Cameron, of Hogshollow, Yonge street. In the spring of 1849 Mr. McPherson again got restless and left Bradford with the intention of going to California, but on his way, at Buffalo, he met the late Mr. Brown, who had a large contract in the Welland canal, and abandoning his California trip, he arranged with that gentleman to become his general manager, and once more returned to Canada. Mr. Brown was a large contractor, and shortly after Mr. McPherson joined him, he secured a contract amounting to about two million dollars on the new canal; but before he had half completed the work, he met with an accident which caused his death. Dying without a will, Mr. Brown’s affairs were put into Chancery, and Mr. McPherson was appointed administrator of the estate. He went to work and completed Mr. Brown’s contracts. When the estate was wound up, it was found that Mr. McPherson had faithfully done his duty, and that the sum of six hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars had been realized for Mr. Brown’s heirs. In 1869 Mr. McPherson built a grist flouring mill, and another in 1878, to supply flour, etc., to the men building the canal, both ventures turning out fairly. From 1856 to 1862 he was a member of the town council, and for two years a member of the county council, and when acting as county councillor he had the pleasure of taking part in the reception given the Prince of Wales at Chippawa. Mr. McPherson was a Liberal in politics ever since he knew the meaning of the term, and always took a lively interest in political matters. In 1881, on the death of his wife, he took a tour through the Southern States, and in his rambles visited Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky, returning through some of the Northern States; and came to the wise conclusion that Ontario suited him best, and in this province he spent the remainder of his days. Although Mr. McPherson’s parents were, in the old country, Baptists, and in Canada attended the Presbyterian church, and were very strict observers of Sunday and all the doctrines held by that church, yet as a young man he began to wonder why God was so particular about Sunday. Being of an inquiring turn of mind and not afraid to think for himself, he began reading philosophical works, and works on the religions of antiquity, and comparing them with the writings of the Jews, he gradually relinquished the Christian dogmas, and became an Agnostic. Mr. McPherson was married in 1855, to Miss Secord, whose parents reside near St. David’s, a few miles from Queenston. Her grandmother gained considerable renown during the war of 1812, having walked from Queenston in the night through the enemy’s lines to give important information to the British general stationed about twenty miles west of that place. While on a visit to Buffalo, Mr. McPherson was suddenly taken ill, and died on the 1st December, 1886, in that city, aged sixty-nine years, leaving behind him an honourable record for integrity and usefulness.

Cameron, Sir Matthew, Chief Justice of Ontario, who died at Toronto, Ontario, on the 25th June, 1887, was a son of John McAlpine Cameron, a descendant of the Camerons of Fassifern, Scotland, who emigrated from Inverness-shire to Upper Canada in 1819, settling at Dundas, where he engaged in business, and subsequently discharged the duties of deputy postmaster under Thomas Allan Stayner, then the Imperial Postmaster-General for Canada, at Hamilton. He also acted as deputy clerk of the Crown for Gore district. Later, however, he was a student at law with Sir Allan McNab, with whom he remained until he was appointed to the first permanent clerkship of committees in the parliament of Upper Canada, from which office he went to the Canada Company’s office in Toronto, where he held an important position for many years. Coming to this part of the country, as he did, when it was yet undeveloped and sparsely settled, and engaging in active life, Mr. Cameron became well and widely known. He died in Toronto in November, 1866, aged seventy-nine years. His mother was Nancy Foy, a native of Northumberland, England. The deceased chief justice received his primary education at a school in Hamilton, under a Mr. Randall, and afterwards at the District School in Toronto, which he attended for a short time. In 1838 he entered Upper Canada College, where he studied until 1840, when, in consequence of an accident while out shooting, he had to retire. Two years later he entered the office of Campbell & Boulton, of Toronto, as a student-at-law, where he remained until Hilary term, 1849, when he was called to the bar of the province of Ontario. He engaged in Toronto in the practice of his profession, first with Mr. Boulton, his former master. This firm continued until the law partnership of Cayley & Cameron was formed, the senior member being the Hon. William Cayley, an English barrister, and at one time inspector-general of the province, afterwards registrar of the Surrogate Court. In 1859 Dr. McMichael entered the firm, which then became Cayley, Cameron & McMichael. Later Mr. Cayley retired, and E. Fitzgerald became a partner in the business, and his name was added to the name and style of the firm, remaining so for several years. Alfred Hoskin subsequently became a partner, and on the retirement of Mr. Fitzgerald, the firm became Cameron, McMichael & Hoskin, and remained so until the senior member’s elevation to the bench in November, 1878. He was elected a Queen’s counsel in 1863, and elected a bencher in November, 1878. He first came into public notice as a counsel in the famous case of Anderson, the fugitive slave, the refusal to surrender whom, on the part of the British government, nearly caused war between that country and the United States. Mr. Cameron represented Anderson in this case, and made a defence which for burning eloquence and closely reasoned logic has scarcely ever been equalled at the bar in this country. It was over the magnificence of this effort that he got the title which he retained for some time of the silver-tongued orator of the Ontario bar. Partly as a result of this case he obtained a very large practice, and travelled from assize to assize, putting in an immense amount of work, though nearly all the time enduring great personal agony, as the result of an accident suffered some years before. This accident occurred while he and another gentleman were shooting in the marsh near this city. One of the guns went off prematurely, shooting Mr. Cameron in the thigh. The wound took a bad turn, and the injured leg had to be amputated. The stump never healed properly, and during the remainder of his life he was almost continually in pain from this accident. The physical suffering never prevented him from doing such a day’s work that few men in the country would have performed in the same time. In his early days, when he was a practising barrister, he would work through one assize court, and then travel all night across country roads thirty or forty miles, take up the business at another court and after going through it travel to the next court, and so on. At the assizes, as a judge, he would go to the bench early in the morning, would sit there all afternoon, and would not adjourn till four or five in the morning if necessary to get through with a case. He has worn out three juries in a day. His legal acquirements and great talents caused him to be looked up to with profound respect by the bar, the members of which also entertained much personal affection for him. His summing up of a case was a masterpiece of lucidity and force. The first public office held by the late Sir Matthew Cameron was on a commission with Colonel Coffin, appointed in 1852, to inquire into the causes of accidents which had been of frequent occurrence on the Great Western Railway. In 1859 he went into the City Council of Toronto, representing St. James ward, and thenceforward he figured prominently in public life. In 1861, and again a few years later, at the solicitation of many citizens, he contested the mayoralty unsuccessfully. In 1861 he entered the arena of national politics, and sat for North Ontario in the Canadian Assembly from the general election of that year until the general election in 1863, when he was defeated. But in July, 1864, he was re-elected for the same seat, which he continued to hold until confederation, when he was again unsuccessful. At the general Provincial elections in 1867 he was returned to the Ontario legislature for East Toronto, and re-elected in 1871 and 1875. He was a member of the Executive Council in Ontario in the Sandfield Macdonald administration from July 20, 1867, until the resignation of the ministry, December 19, 1871, and, with the exception of the last five months of this period, when he was commissioner of Crown Lands, he held the offices of Provincial Secretary and Registrar. He was also leader, and a very able one, too, of the opposition, from the general elections in December, 1871, until appointed to the judgeship in the Queen’s Bench, in November, 1878, which position he held until he rose to the chief justiceship of the Common Pleas in 1884. He aided in forming the Liberal-Conservative Association of Toronto, became its first president, and held that office until his elevation to the bench. He was also vice-president of the Liberal-Conservative convention which was assembled in Toronto in 1874. He was a member of the Caledonian and St. Andrew’s societies. He was created a Knight Bachelor on April 5th last, at the same time Chief Justice Stuart, of Quebec, received a similar honour. As a lawyer Sir Matthew had few equals either among his predecessors or his contemporaries; and as a citizen he was generous almost to excess. As a minister of the Crown, and as leader of the opposition, he was a prodigious worker, an able tactician, and a most formidable, though always courteous, enemy. As a judge he had the confidence and respect of the bar to the utmost extent, while his immense knowledge of law and the clearness of his decisions made him a most valuable public servant. Chief Justice Cameron belonged to the Episcopal denomination, and for about thirty years was a member of Trinity Church, Toronto. In politics he was a Liberal-Conservative. On December 1st, 1851, he was married in Toronto to Charlotte Ross, daughter of William Wedd, who immediately prior to his death resided in Hamilton, Ontario. Mrs. Cameron died January 14th, 1868. She was a sister of William Wedd, first classical master at Upper Canada College, and also of the late Mrs. Dr. McMichael, Mrs. Dr. Strathy, Toronto, and Mrs. Scadding, of Orillia. Sir Matthew left three sons and three daughters. His sons are, Dr. Irving H. Cameron, Ross McAlpine Cameron, and Douglas W. Cameron. His daughters are Mrs. Darling, the widow of the late son of the Rev. W. S. Darling, Mrs. A. Wright, and a young unmarried daughter.

Talbot, Hon. Thomas, was born at Malahide, on the 17th July, 1771. His father was Richard Talbot, of Malahide, and his mother, Margaret, Baroness Talbot. The Talbots of Malahide trace their descent from the same stock as the Talbots who have been earls of Shrewsbury, in the peerage of Great Britain, since the middle of the fifteenth century. The subject of our sketch spent some years at the Public Free School of Manchester, and received a commission in the army in the year 1782, when he was only eleven years of age. In 1787, when only sixteen, we find him installed as aide-de-camp to his relative, the Marquis of Buckingham, who was then lord lieutenant of Ireland. His brother aide was the Arthur Wellesley, who afterwards became the illustrious Duke of Wellington. The two boys were necessarily thrown much together, and each of them formed a warm attachment for the other. Their future paths in life lay far apart, but they never ceased to correspond, and to recall the happy time they had spent together. In 1790 he joined the 24th regiment, which was then stationed at Quebec, in the capacity of lieutenant. Upon the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe at Quebec, at the end of May, 1792, Lieutenant Talbot, who had nearly completed his twenty-first year, became attached to the governor’s suite in the capacity of private secretary. Governor Simcoe, writing in 1803, says, “he not only conducted many details and important duties incidental to the original establishment of a colony, in matters of internal regulation, to my entire satisfaction, but was employed in the most confidential measures necessary to preserve the country in peace, without violating, on the one hand, the relations of amity with the United States, and on the other, alienating the affections of the Indian nations, at that period in open war with them. In this very critical situation, I principally made use of Mr. Talbot for the most confidential intercourse with the several Indian tribes, and occasionally with his Majesty’s minister at Philadelphia, and these duties, without any salary or emolument, he executed to my perfect satisfaction.” It seems to have been during his tenure of office as secretary that the idea of embracing a pioneer’s life in Canada first took possession of young Talbot’s mind. On the 4th of February, 1793, an expedition which was destined to have an important bearing upon the future life of Lieutenant Talbot, as well as upon the future history of the province, set out from Newark, now Niagara village, to explore the pathless wilds of Upper Canada. It consisted of Governor Simcoe himself and several of his officers, and the subject of our present sketch. The expedition occupied five weeks, and extended as far as Detroit. The route was through Mohawk village, on the Grand River, where the party were entertained by Joseph Brant; then westward to where Woodstock now stands; and so on by a somewhat devious course to Detroit. On the return journey the party camped on the present site of London, which Governor Simcoe then pronounced to be an admirable position for the future capital of the province. One important result of this long and toilsome journey was the construction of Dundas Street, or as it is frequently called, “the governor’s road.” Lieutenant Talbot was delighted with the wild and primitive aspect of the country through which they passed, and expressed a strong desire to explore the land farther to the south, bordering on lake Erie. His desire was gratified in the course of the following autumn, when Governor Simcoe indulged himself, and several members of his suite, with another western excursion. During this journey the party encamped on the present site of Port Talbot, which the young lieutenant declared to be the loveliest situation for a dwelling he had ever seen. “Here,” said he, “will I roost, and will soon make the forest tremble under the wings of the flock I will invite, by my warblings, around me.” Whether he was serious in this declaration at the time may be doubted; but, as will presently be seen, he ultimately kept his word. In 1793 young Talbot received his majority. In 1796 he became lieutenant-colonel of the fifth regiment of foot. He returned to Europe and joined his regiment, which was dispatched on active service to the continent. He himself was busily employed during this period, and was for some time in command of two battalions. Upon the conclusion of the peace of Amiens, on the 27th March, 1802, he sold his commission, retired from the service, and prepared to carry out the intention expressed by him to Governor Simcoe nine years before, of pitching his tent in the wilds of Canada. Why he adopted this course it is impossible to do more than conjecture. He never married, but remained a bachelor to the end of his days. The work of settlement cannot be said to have commenced in earnest until 1809. It was no light thing in those days for a man with a family dependent upon him to bury himself in the remote wilderness of Western Canada. There was no flouring mill, for instance, within sixty miles of his abode, which was known as Castle Malahide. During the American invasion of 1812–13-14, Colonel Talbot commanded the militia of the district, and was present at the battles of Lundy’s Lane and Fort Erie. Marauding parties sometimes found their way to Castle Malahide during this troubled period, and what few people there were in the settlement suffered a good deal of annoyance. Within a day or two after the battle of the Thames, where the brave Tecumseh met his doom, a party of these marauders, consisting of Indians and scouts from the American army, presented themselves at Fort Talbot, and summoned the garrison to surrender. The place was not fortified, and the garrison consisted merely of a few farmers, who had enrolled themselves in the militia under the temporary command of a Captain Patterson. A successful defence was out of the question, and Colonel Talbot, who would probably have been deemed an important capture, quietly walked out of the back door as the invaders entered at the front. Some of the Indians saw the colonel, who was dressed in homely, everyday garb, walking off through the woods, and were about to fire on him, when they were restrained by Captain Patterson, who begged them not to hurt the poor old fellow, who, he said, was the person who tended the sheep. The marauders rifled the place, and carried off everything they could lay hands on, including some valuable horses and cattle. Colonel Talbot’s gold, consisting of about two quart pots full, and some valuable plate, concealed under the front wing of the house, escaped notice. The invaders set fire to the grist-mill that the colonel had built in the township of Dunwick, which was totally consumed, and this was a serious loss to the settlement generally. Mrs. Jameson, who travelled in Upper Canada in 1837–38, has left us the following description of her visit to Port Talbot. Speaking of the colonel, she says, “this remarkable man is now about sixty-five, perhaps more, but he does not look so much. In spite of his rustic dress, his good-humoured, jovial, weather-beaten face, and the primitive simplicity, not to say rudeness, of his dwelling, he has in his features, air, deportment, that something which stamps him gentleman. And that something, which thirty-four years of solitude has not effaced, he derives, I suppose, from blood and birth, things of more consequence, when philosophically and philanthropically considered, than we are apt to allow. I had always heard and read of him as the ‘eccentric’ Colonel Talbot. Of his eccentricity I heard much more than of his benevolence, his invincible courage, his enthusiasm, his perseverance; but, perhaps, according to the worldly nomenclature, these qualities come under the general head of ‘eccentricity’ when devotion to a favourite object cannot possibly be referred to self-interest. Of the life he led for the first sixteen years, and the difficulties and obstacles he encountered, he drew, in his discourse with me, a strong, I might say a terrible, picture; and observe that it was not a life of wild, wandering freedom—the life of an Indian hunter, which is said to be so fascinating that ‘no man who has ever followed it for any length of time, ever voluntarily returns to civilized society!’ Colonel Talbot’s life has been one of persevering, heroic self-devotion to the completion of a magnificent plan, laid down in the first instance, and followed up with unflinching tenacity of purpose. For sixteen years he saw scarce a human being, except the few boors and blacks employed in clearing and logging his land; he himself assumed the blanket coat and axe, slept upon the bare earth, cooked three meals a day for twenty woodsmen, cleaned his own boots, washed his own linen, milked his own cows, churned the butter, and made and baked the bread. In this latter branch of household economy he became very expert, and still piques himself on it. To all these heterogenous functions of sowing and reaping, felling and planting, frying, boiling, washing and wringing, brewing and baking, he added another, even more extraordinary—for many years he solemnized all the marriages in his district. Besides natural obstacles, he met with others far more trying to his temper and patience. ‘He had continual quarrels,’ says Dr. Dunlop, ‘with the successive governors, who were jealous of the independent power he exercised in his own territory, and every means were used to annoy him here, and misrepresent his proceedings at home; but he stood firm, and by an occasional visit to the colonial office in England, he opened the eyes of ministers to the proceedings of both parties, and for a while averted the danger. At length, some five years ago, finding the enemy was getting too strong for him, he repaired once more to England, and returned in triumph with an order from the colonial office, that nobody was in any way to interfere with his proceedings; and he has now the pleasure of contemplating some hundreds of miles of the best roads in the province, closely settled on each side by the most prosperous families within its bounds, who owe all they possess to his judgment, enthusiasm, and perseverance, and who are grateful to him in proportion to the benefits he has bestowed upon them, though in many instances sorely against their will at the time.’ The original grant must have been much extended; for the territory now under Colonel Talbot’s management, and bearing the general name of the Talbot country, contains, according to the list I have in his own hand-writing, twenty-eight townships, and about 650,000 acres of land, of which 98,700 are cleared and cultivated. The inhabitants, including the population of the towns, amounted to about 50,000. ‘You see,’ said he, gaily, ‘I may boast, like the Irishman in the farce, of having peopled a whole country with my own hands.’ He has built his tower, like the eagle his eyry, on a bold cliff overhanging the lake. It is a long wooden building, chiefly of rough logs, with a covered porch running along the south side. Here I found suspended, among sundry implements of husbandry, one of those ferocious animals of the feline kind, called here the cat-a-mountain, and by some the American tiger, or panther, which it more resembles. This one, which had been killed in its attack on the fold or poultry-yard, was at least four feet in length, and glared at me from the rafters above ghastly and horrible. The farm consists of six hundred acres. He has sixteen acres of orchard-ground, and has a garden of more than two acres, very neatly laid out and enclosed, and in which he evidently took exceeding pride and pleasure. He described the appearance of the spot when he first came here as contrasted with its present appearance. I told him of the surmises of the people relative to his early life and his motives for emigrating, at which he laughed. ‘Charlevoix,’ said he, ‘was, I believe, the true cause of my coming to this place. You know he calls this the “Paradise of the Hurons.” Now I was resolved to get to paradise by hook or by crook, and so I came here.’ He added more seriously, ‘I have accomplished what I resolved to do—it is done; but I would not, if any one was to offer me the universe, go through again the horrors I have undergone in forming this settlement. But do not imagine I repent it; I like my retirement.’ ” He lived long enough to see the prosperity of his settlement fully assured. For many years prior to his death it appears to have been his cherished desire to bequeath his large estate to one of the male descendants of the Talbot family, and with this view he invited one of his sister’s sons, Julius Airey, to come over from England and reside with him at Port Talbot, which he did, but rusticating without companions or equals in either birth or education did not suit him, so he returned to England. Some years later a younger brother of Julius’, Colonel Airey, military secretary at the Horse Guards, came out with his family to reside at Port Talbot. The uncle and nephew could not get on together, so the uncle determined to leave Canada, and to end his days in the old world. He transferred the Port Talbot estate, valued at £10,000, together with 13,000 acres of land in the adjoining township of Aldborough, to Colonel Airey. Acting on his determination to leave Canada, he started, in his eightieth year, for Europe. He was accompanied on the voyage by George McBeth. Colonel Talbot remained in London somewhat more than a year, but finding London life somewhat distasteful to him, he once more bade adieu to society, and repaired to Canada, where he died on the 6th, and was buried on the 9th of February, 1853, leaving his estate, valued at £50,000, to George McBeth, and an annuity of £20 to Jeffrey Hunter’s widow. He was interred in the churchyard at Tyrconnel. A plate on the oaken coffin bore the simple inscription: