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McLeod, Joseph

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McLeod, Rev. Joseph, D.D., Fredericton, was born in St. John, New Brunswick, June 27, 1844. His father, the Rev. Ezekiel McLeod,—born in Sussex, New Brunswick, Sept. 17, 1815, died in Fredericton, New Brunswick, March 17th, 1867,—was the leading minister in the Free Baptist denomination of Canada, and the founder and, till his death, the editor of The Religious Intelligencer. He was an earnest and influential advocate of the confederation of the British American provinces; a strong advocate of prohibition; and widely known and highly regarded both for intellectual qualities and godly character. His mother was Amelia Emery, born in Boston, Massachusetts, and survived her husband till June, 1887. Joseph McLeod was educated in the public schools, and in the Baptist Institution in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and in July, 1868, was ordained to the ministry. In the same month he was called to the pastorate of the Free Baptist Church in Fredericton, which he has held ever since. In 1875 the Rev. Mr. McLeod was chosen chaplain to the New Brunswick legislature, and still holds the office. He is a very active worker in the temperance army, and has held the office of grand worthy chief of the British Templars; president of the National lodge of the United Temperance Association of Canada, and is now, and has for several years been president of the New Brunswick Prohibitory Alliance. He is an ardent advocate of the prohibition of the liquor traffic, and has for years been a leader in this cause in New Brunswick, and has had much to do with introducing the Canada Temperance Act into New Brunswick. In addition to his strong advocacy of temperance measures, he has been an earnest advocate of the establishment of the free, unsectarian school system in his native province. In the Free Baptist denomination he also stands high as a leader in all progressive movements. He is an advocate of the union of the Baptist denominations in Canada, and by voice and pen has done much to promote the union feeling. He is a member and vice-chairman of the joint committee of the Baptist and Free Baptist bodies which now (1887) have the question of union under consideration, and are authorized to arrange a basis of union. He was secretary and a director of the Free Baptist Education Society for many years, till, in 1883, the Baptist and Free Baptist Education Societies were united by act of the legislature; since then he has been a director of the united Education Society. He has also been corresponding secretary of the Free Baptist Foreign Mission Society of New Brunswick for fifteen years; was for three years president of the American Foreign Mission Society, which includes representatives of all the free communion Baptist bodies in the United States and Canada, and is now a member of the managing board of the society. Has been moderator of the New Brunswick Free Baptist Conference twice within ten years. Since 1867 Dr. McLeod has owned and edited the Religious Intelligencer. In May, 1886, Acadia College conferred the well-earned degree of D.D. on Mr. McLeod. He is active in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the public, and is frequently called upon to do pulpit and platform service outside his own charge. He has not found time for a European tour, but has made two trips to the western states; spent the winter of 1882-3 in Florida for the benefit of his health; and in the summer of 1886 made the trip across the continent via the Canada Pacific Railway, spending several weeks in British Columbia, the North-West, and in Manitoba. Dr. McLeod’s parents were Free Baptists, and in this faith he was brought up. He at a very early age became a communicant in that church, and is now one of the most respected of its clergy. In December, 1868, he was married to Jane Fulton Squires, and is blessed with a family of five children.

A Cyclopædia of Canadian Biography

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