A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose

rank of Major. For over fifteen years Mr. Stevenson has taken a very prominent part in the exhibition affairs of the Dominion. He entered on the work in 1872, as assistant at the first large provincial exhibition held at Montreal. Mr. Stevenson worked so efficiently, and made himself so useful everywhere at this time, that his services were called into requisition at the next provincial exhibition, held in the following year on the new grounds at Mile End, Montreal. On this occasion he showed himself so energetic and capable that he was placed in entire charge of the industrial department of the exhibition. We next find that in the preparations made for the representation of Canada at the great Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, in 1876, Mr. Stevenson was appointed secretary to the advisory board, in succession to Mr. H. Beaugrand, mayor of Montreal, and when the exhibition opened he was appointed special commissioner there for the province of Quebec. He had secured a magnificent display of products and manufactures from Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, and the province generally. The services he rendered at the great American Centennial were of a most important character, not only in the amount of well-directed labor he performed, but for his good influence in promoting the commerce and interests of his native country generally. On Mr. Stevenson’s return, his practical services were acknowledged by the gift of a splendid gold watch and chain and an address. In the next year a permanent exhibition committee for the province of Quebec was named, and Mr. Stevenson was unanimously chosen secretary, and has held the position till the present time. In that capacity he originated and managed the first of the series of Dominion exhibitions which have been held in various parts of Canada ever since, and which have been the means of greatly fostering the inter-provincial relations of the country. In fact, it was at this exhibition that the attention of that large portion of the people of the older provinces who had never troubled themselves much about it, became earnestly concentrated upon the great North-West, Mr. Stevenson having obtained a most interesting collection of exhibits from Manitoba and the adjoining territories. Till now all the principal exhibitions in Canada had been provincial in character, but a new era was opened by this event, and the Dominion government, having voted a special grant of $5000, have maintained the exhibition ever since, it being held in different cities and different provinces each year. Mr. Stevenson was the chief organizer and manager of all the exhibitions held in Montreal since 1872, and in 1883 contributed much to the success of the Dominion exhibition at St. John, N.B., by the contributions he raised in Quebec and Ontario, as he did also to the success of the International Exhibition at Antwerp in 1885, at which Canada was well represented. His work in connection with the Colonial and Indian exhibition is too well known to the public of Canada and England to need an extended reference here. From the moment the idea was started Mr. Stevenson entered heart and soul into the work, and organized the largest collection of exhibits ever sent out of his province. He gave many suggestions of value to the Dominion government, and at the request of Sir Charles Tupper, was dispatched to London to assist in arranging the details of the Canadian section, alloting the spaces, etc. That Mr. Stevenson worked well, and that he rendered the most valuable service in the interests of all parts of the Dominion, is admitted on all sides, and that he triumphed successfully over the difficulties of want of space and the inconvenient arrangement of the building will also be most readily admitted by those who best understood the nature of the task before him, as well as by those who had an opportunity of seeing the admirable arrangement of the Canadian court. He took the initiative in the formation of the Exhibitors’ Commercial Exchange at the exhibition, established for the purpose of developing and fostering closer commercial relations between the various British colonies, and was its provisional chairman. Mr. Stevenson is secretary of the Council of Arts and Manufactures of the Province of Quebec, under whose direction is placed the technical and art education of the province. He is director of technical and art instruction, and has taken a warm interest in the work of the schools under the control of the council. He has contributed several valuable articles on technical education. Mr. Stevenson took a prominent part in inducing the American Association for the Advancement of Science to hold its sessions in Montreal in 1882, and was also one of the local secretaries, in conjunction with Hon. Thomas White, ex-Mayor Rivard and Mr. S. E. Dawson, on the occasion of the famous meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held there in 1884. Mr. Stevenson’s wide and varied experience in exhibition matters is well appreciated and recognized by those who know him in America, and he was consequently elected vice-president of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions at the annual convention of that body held in St. Louis, Mo., in 1884. He was also appointed honorary commissioner for Canada for the Boston Foreign exhibition, held in 1883. That the people of his own city have confidence in his judgment in exhibition matters is evidenced by the fact that the Montreal Board of Trade desired to have his views and his advice before commiting itself to any line of action in connection with the proposed permanent exhibition, as suggested by the London Chamber of Commerce, in 1886. It is pleasing to notice that, notwithstanding the calls on Mr. Stevenson’s energy, he can still find time to promote the athletic sports of Canada. He was for some years secretary of the old Dominion Lacrosse and Snow Shoe Club, and has several good records to his credit; was president of the Independent Lacrosse Club and of the Wolseley Snow Shoe Club, and in 1880 he was elected president of the National Lacrosse Association of Canada. Mr. Stevenson is thoroughly acquainted with the French language, which is of great advantage in the province of Quebec, and has travelled extensively through Europe, United States and his own country. He is a member of the Presbyterian church of Canada. Mr. Stevenson is a member of the “Societé de Géographie Commerciale,” of Paris, and a corresponding member of the Industrial Education Association, of New York. He is also a director of the Great Northern Railway Company. In 1878 Mr. Stevenson was married to Gertrude, daughter of Col. Caldwell, of Delaware, a relative of the late Bayard Taylor on her mother’s side, and whose great grandfather was a general in the Revolutionary war. * * * * * =Keirstead, Rev. Elias Miles=, M.A., Professor of English Literature and Psychology in Acadia College, Wolfville, N.S., is a native of New Brunswick. He was born at Collina, Kings county, in that province, February 11th, 1850. His father, Rev. Elias Keirstead, was a Baptist minister, well known in the maritime provinces, his mother being Margaret Ganong, of a family also equally well known. The family of Keirstead is originally of German extraction, but for six generations our subject’s branch has resided on this continent. John Keirstead, of New York, is the first of the family of whom we have any record, as far as the new world is concerned. He had a son, Jacobus, and he was the father of James, who, with five of his brothers and one sister, came to New Brunswick as loyalists. Isaiah, our subject’s grandfather, was born in the United States, and came to Kings county, New Brunswick, when a child. He (Isaiah) married Lydia Gray, a daughter of Captain William Gray, who was also a loyalist. Our subject’s mother was the daughter of James Ganong, also of loyalist stock, he being a son of Thomas, who founded the family in New Brunswick. Thomas was of Irish descent on his father’s side, and English on that of his mother. Thomas had two brothers, officers in the English army, and who were with Wellington at Waterloo. James’ wife, and grandmother of the subject of this sketch, was Margaret, a daughter of Captain William Cox, who was also a loyalist. Prof. Keirstead was educated primarily at the common and superior schools of his native parish, when he entered the University of New Brunswick, and subsequently Newton Theological Institution, Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated at the head of his class in 1873, at the university, and at the Newton Theological Institution in 1876, and subsequently obtained the degree of M.A. from Acadia College. At the university he took all the studies in the prescribed course for B.A., and, in addition, took honors for special work in mathematics, English language and literature, and French language and literature. At the Theological Institution he followed the regular course of three years for full graduation. The course embraced among other studies, New Testament interpretation (Greek), Old Testament interpretation (Hebrew), systematic and biblical theology, pastoral theology, homiletics, church polity, church history, and history of doctrines. He also took special lectures in Hebrew. As might be expected, from the position Professor Keirstead occupies, he holds strongly the views of the Baptist denomination. As a controversialist he is one of no light calibre, having great force of character, and intellectual gifts, both natural and acquired, of the highest order. He married, June 21st, 1877, Mary J., second daughter of the late Joel Fenwick, of Millstream, Kings county, N.B. The Fenwicks are of English descent, Matthew, the father of Joel, coming from that country and settling in New Brunswick. Matthew Fenwick’s wife was Miriam, a daughter of William Freeze, who settled in Amherst, N.S., from England, and afterwards migrated to New Brunswick. Mrs. Keirstead’s mother was Ann, daughter of Robert McLeod, whom it is not necessary to state was of Scottish extraction. Professor Keirstead was ordained a pastor of the Baptist church at Milton, Yarmouth, N.S., December 5th, 1876. In 1877 he was installed as pastor of the church of the same body at Windsor, Nova Scotia, which pulpit he occupied until called upon to fill his present high position. He is secretary of the Baptist Convention of the maritime provinces, and has occupied that relation to the body for nine years. Professor Keirstead is also known in literature, more particularly, of course, in that connected with the church to which he is such an ornament. At the present writing his family consists of two children; one boy and one girl, both of whom are, of course, still young. * * * * * =Fitzpatrick, Charles=, Advocate, Quebec. Although still quite a young man, the subject of this sketch has already won a foremost position at the Quebec bar, and his reputation is more than local. There are few members of his profession whose name is more widely known beyond the limits of that province. It sprang into general prominence with the Riel case, and during some anxious months it was constantly before the world in connection with the trial of the half-breed leader, and the efforts made to obtain a commutation of his sentence. Mr. Fitzpatrick is of Irish Catholic parentage and was born at Quebec on the 19th December, 1853; his father’s name being John Fitzpatrick, and his mother’s, Mary Connolly. His ancestry were always noted for their devotion to the cause of Ireland, and our subject is, in this respect, an ardent follower in their patriotic footsteps. His grandfather, James Fitzpatrick, was a prominent supporter of the great Irish leader, Daniel O’Connell, during the repeal agitation. Young Charles Fitzpatrick was educated at the Quebec Seminary and Laval University, of which last he was, in 1876, the Dufferin medallist in the law faculty. On being admitted to the practice of the law, he rapidly pushed into note, and acquired a large business. His ability as a criminal lawyer was so marked that, under the Joly provincial government in 1879, it singled him out for the crown prosecutorship for the city and district of Quebec; and in that responsible capacity he acted for some time to the satisfaction of the public and the enhancement of his own reputation. Upon the defeat of the Joly ministry he was replaced by their successors; but, on the return of the Liberals to power in the province, with the Hon. H. Mercier, in 1887, he was again appointed crown prosecutor for the Quebec district, and still holds the office. During the interval, between 1880 and 1887, he figured prominently in most of the important cases before the provincial courts. He represented the Belgian government in the celebrated Tournai frauds case at Montreal, and the United States government in the great Eno extradition case at Quebec, and, in 1885, he woke to find himself famous all over the Dominion, by his retainer as one of the leading counsel for the defence in the Riel case. In politics he is a strong Liberal, and has taken an active part in nearly all the federal and provincial elections in his section since 1878. He speaks both languages with equal familiarity and fluency, and is as much at home in addressing a French as an English audience. He has travelled in America and Europe. In religion he is a Roman Catholic. He married on the 20th May, 1879, Corinne, daughter of the late Hon. R. E. Caron, the second lieutenant-governor of the province of Quebec under Confederation, and a sister of Sir A. P. Caron, Dominion minister of militia. * * * * * =Williams, Richard Wellington=, Three Rivers, Quebec, Druggist, and one of the prominent Temperance leaders of that province, was born in Montreal, July 15th, 1853. He comes of English stock, his father being Richard Williams, a confectioner, and native of Tavistock, Devonshire, England, his mother’s maiden name being Gendle, also a native of the same place. His father died while our subject was very young, and his mother married, some time afterward, Thomas Roderick Massey, J.P., of Nicolet county, Quebec, where Mr. Williams received his earlier education, including the rudiments of French. In 1865, the family moved into the town of Nicolet, where, after attending a French grammar school for some time, he entered Nicolet college, where he took a commercial course for two years, succeeded by a classical one of the same period. Completing his collegiate studies, on the 8th of July, 1870, he was apprenticed with a druggist in Three Rivers. In August, 1875, he removed to Montreal, and matriculated at the Montreal College of Pharmacy, taking a season’s course, and receiving a certificate as “certified clerk,” carrying off honors as a medallist. Soon afterwards, Mr. Williams was engaged as assistant at the laboratory of Dr. J. Baker Edwards, D.C.L., F.C.S., etc., at the same time pursuing his second course at the Pharmaceutical college, acting as assistant to Dr. Edwards, who was professor of practical chemistry, toxicology, and microscopy, at Bishop’s College; professor of chemistry at the college of pharmacy, and professor of chemistry, physics, etc., at the McGill Normal School, besides being public analyst as well. During this period Mr. Williams made the most of his advantages, graduating as pharmaceutical chemist in the spring of 1877, being the medallist of his year. Mr. Williams commenced business in Three Rivers in April, 1878, where he has succeeded in building up a lucrative business. In early life Mr. Williams was confirmed in the Episcopal church, his step-father being a member of that communion, but later on he gave his adherence to the Presbyterian church in Canada, and is a member of St. Andrew’s church of Three Rivers. In 1880, he was elected a manager of St. Andrew’s, and for four years filled the office of Secretary-treasurer, and now occupies the position of chairman of the board. In politics, Mr. Williams has always occupied an independent position as between the two great political parties, but is an out-and-out Prohibitionist, and is quietly waiting the formation of a national party, having the prohibition of the liquor traffic as its main platform. Mr. Williams is a Mason of some prominence in his native province, he being chairman of the permanent committee of the G.C. of Quebec R.A.M.; is also P.Z. and P.G. Superintendent of the same body; also Grand Rep. of the G.C. of Dakota, near Quebec. Mr. Williams also holds the rank of P.M., and a P.D.D.G.M. of the Grand Lodge of Quebec A. F. and A. M. Our subject is also a prominent member of the Independent Order of Foresters. In 1871, Mr. Williams joined the Independent Order of Good Templars. In 1878, he took the G.L. degree of that order, and in 1881, he was elected Grand Treasurer of the G.L. of Quebec, which office he continuously held until 1886, when he was unanimously elected Grand Chief Templar of that province, again being unanimously re-elected to fill that high position in 1887. In 1886, he was one of the two representatives sent by Grand Lodge to the R.W.G.L. session, in Richmond, Va., and in 1887, to the session of that body held in Saratoga, N.Y., both years being drafted upon important committees. Mr. Williams is a member of the American Pharmaceutical Association, and also of the Board of Trade of his town. In 1886, he was elected one of the twelve councillors who compose the council of the Pharmaceutical Association of the province of Quebec, and the same year was appointed one of the six examiners in connection with this association. He still holds the position of examiner, being re-appointed in 1887. Mr. Williams has travelled somewhat extensively upon this continent, but has never, to the writer’s knowledge, crossed the Atlantic. Mr. Williams married, October 9th, 1879, Alice J., eldest daughter of John Thomas Lambly, son of the late John Robert Lambly, registrar of the county of Megantic, Quebec, and niece of Rev. O. R. Lambly and William H. Lambly, the present registrar, etc., of Megantic county. Mr. Williams has had two children, one son and one daughter. Personally, Mr. Williams is a genial, pleasant gentleman, and naturally has hosts of friends, but these traits of character are never allowed to interfere with the predominant idea of his life, viz., to do all that lies within his power to curtail, and, if possible prohibit, the liquor curse of his native country. * * * * * =Duncan, John=, formerly of St. John, New Brunswick, was born in Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in the year 1797, and landed in Miramichi, New Brunswick, in 1821. About the year 1832 he became connected with Mr. John Owens, of St. John, N.B., where, under the firm of Owens & Duncan, they conducted, with great success, a ship-building and ship-owning business, until the death of Mr. Owens, in 1867. The firm was widely known and respected for the management of their affairs under the strictest business morality. Mr. Duncan devoted much of his time as director and president of many private and corporate bodies. He died 31st January, 1869. * * * * * =Girard, Abbé Pierre=, Priest, Master of Arts, and Superior of the Seminary of St. Charles-Borromée, Sherbrooke, Quebec, was born February 14th, 1849, at St. Marie de Monnoir, at the foot of the woody Mount Johnson. He was the son of Pierre Girard, husbandman, and of Marie Peletier. On his father’s side he belongs to a large and influential family, who have furnished many men of merit to the country, and exercised a great influence in the United States. From his mother he inherited many of the Peletier qualities, so well known for their enterprising spirit, firmness, and indomitable energy. His father passed the greatest part of youth at Detroit, where he owned a vessel and coasted between that town and Chicago, then a humble village. A prolonged storm which he endured on Lake Michigan, and the rigors to which he was subjected, determined him to abandon this perilous life and return to his native country, after an absence of seven years. The childhood of Mr. Girard was passed under the watchful eyes of a loving mother. Being the eldest of the family, and more separated from the society of other children, he was reserved, serious and more than ordinarily timid. He then developed his aptitude for industry, of which he made such great use later. His favorite amusement was application to mechanism. In this connection he bears a long scar on his left wrist, inflicted while experimenting with a miniature saw-mill. This accident terminated an enterprise which had been closely calculated. He studied the elements of science in the common school which he attended from the age of seven years, from which he was a mile distant. His progress was so rapid that after three years his parents sent him, in 1859, to the college of Monnoir, where he studied in classics and mechanics. Endowed with unusual talents and an extraordinary memory, he made these two courses in seven years. Besides Latin and Greek, Mr. Girard speaks French, English and Italian. Through his knowledge of literature, philosophy and mathematics, he was made a professor of these sciences. He is familiar and occupied with all scientific subjects. The seminary of St. Charles-Borromée is designated by the city of Sherbrooke as one of its principal edifices. Mr. Girard draughted the plans and directed the works of construction, which is an unexceptionable proof of his architectural competency, whilst the museum is extensive and rich in mineralogy, conchology, ornithology, zoology, etc., collected under his supervision, and placing him in the first rank as a naturalist. Scarcely seventeen years of age, repudiating all the allurements and seductions of the world, Mr. Girard enrolled himself in the ranks of the Roman Catholic clergy, and it is from this epoch that his career as an educator of youth dates. He was ordained priest the 23rd September, 1871, and continued to teach in the college of Monnoir until the 14th of February, 1874, when he went to Coaticook, where he filled the office of assistant, besides officiating extensively at Barford and the boundary line. In 1875, the first bishop of the new diocese of Sherbrooke, his lordship, Ant. Racine, wishing to establish a seminary at Sherbrooke, believed he could not do better than entrust this great enterprise to the erudition, experience, and practical knowledge of the Abbé Girard. He was not deceived in his estimate of this energetic man, as the seminary of St. Charles-Borromée to-day ranks as one of the most flourishing institutions in the province of Quebec, and is patronized by the sons of the best families in the Dominion; among the number being the two sons of his honor Lieutenant-Governor Angers. The number of pupils who each year present themselves for admittance is so great that the Abbé is forced to refuse them, notwithstanding the work of enlargement which is being vigorously pushed forward. The secret of this astonishing success lies in the fact of the practical teaching of the two languages. To accomplish this it requires eighteen competent professors of many years experience. With a man of the Abbé Girard’s acknowledged ability, profound talents, and sterling piety, at the head of such an establishment, nothing more can be desired to insure its permanent success. In 1884 and 1885 he made a long voyage across the sea, in company with His Lordship Gravel, bishop of Nicolet, and the Rev. J. C. Bernard. He visited London, Paris, Rome, and the Holy Land, and then with the latter all the countries of Europe, with the exception of Spain and Portugal, which had to be omitted, being devastated with that fatal epidemic, cholera. They both have related the most interesting reminiscences of their tour, which lasted a year. Since his return Mr. Girard has entered into his work with renewed ardor. Work seems to have no effect upon his strong constitution; he utilizes his spare moments in historical researches on the Eastern townships, which he published in his Annual Memoirs of the Seminary. He printed as well as composed, in his hours of recreation, this annual, which already forms two large vols. in 8vo. In spite of all this work, he still found means of shining in the pulpit, where he preached sermons deserving of publication. A few years ago he published a “Method of Plain-Chant,” which has been well appreciated by the public, as shown by the fact of its being in its fourth edition. Being professor at the little seminary of St. Mary, he founded, in 1872, a journal, having for its name “_Echo du College de Monnoir_.” This publication, which lasted more than two years, contained articles worthy of the aptitude of his directorship. It would still exist if Mr. Girard had not been called to exercise his activity in another sphere. Mr. Girard was already episcopal counsellor of Sherbrooke up to August 9th, 1885, when his lordship, Bishop Gravel, honored him by nominating him vicar-general of the diocese of Nicolet, the 1st of November of the same year. * * * * * =Allnatt, Rev. Francis John Benwell=, D.D., Professor of Pastoral Theology in the University of Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, Quebec, was born at Clapham, a suburb of London, England, on the 15th of January,