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

and was forced to take refuge in the United States, along with one of his sons, the late L. P. R. Blanchard, C.E. and P.L.S. Mr. Belanger studied at St. Hyacinthe College from 1853 until 1860, when he removed to Sherbrooke, and spent two years as professor in the old Commercial French College of those days, and in this town he has resided ever since. He began the study of law in 1862, with the late William-Locker Felton, Q.C., who sat in parliament for Richmond and Wolfe, during the years 1854-’58, and took an active part in the separate school bill then before the house,—his wife being a Roman Catholic and one of the most accomplished women of her time—and was admitted to the bar of Quebec province, in October, 1866. On the 13th October, 1866, he entered into partnership with H. C. Cabana, now joint prothonotary of the Superior Court for the district of St. Francis, as advocates, etc., and with him established the _Pionnier de Sherbrooke_ newspaper, being the first French newspaper published in the Eastern Townships. In July, 1874, the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Belanger practised law alone for a while. In the autumn of that year, he and his brother, L. A. Belanger, purchased the _Sherbrooke News_ and started the _Progrès_, both of which they published until May, 1878, when they sold their establishment to a company by which the _Pionnier_ has been published ever since. In 1882, he started the _Progrès de l’Est_, which he handed to his brother now with him, and to which he is an active contributor. He was a member of the 53rd battalion from 1882 until 1885, as active captain of No. 4 company, composed chiefly of French Canadians. From 1881 until 1883, he occupied a seat in the council, and was president of the St. Jean Baptiste Society in 1874, at the time of the National Convention at Montreal, and also in 1884, when the great celebration took place in the same city. Was one of the organizers of the St. Joseph Society, a Workingmen’s Mutual Benefit Society, in 1874. He has also been a school commissioner ever since 1865. In August, 1874, he was made honorary member of the St. Patrick’s Society, of Sherbrooke and vicinity. In 1876, he contested Richmond and Wolfe with Lieutenant-Colonel Hanning for the House of Commons, secured a majority of 114 in Wolfe, but was defeated by a larger majority against him in Richmond. Again, in February 1887, he contested the seat in Sherbrooke with R. N. Hall, the sitting member. There had been no contested election in that constituency for the Commons up till this time, since 1867, but after a most gallant fight, he was defeated. He had conducted the Crown business (French cases), ever since 1878, and he is now the sole Crown Prosecutor for the district of St. Francis, since February, 1887. In religion, he is a Roman Catholic, but well-known for his liberal views in religious and educational matters. In politics, he is an independent Conservative, but separated from the present government on account of the North-West troubles. On October 23rd, 1865, whilst studying law, he married Margaret Henrietta Bradshaw Unsworth, daughter of the late James Unsworth, who came from England to this country about the year 1852, and was engaged on the editorial staff of the Montreal _Gazette_ for a while, after which he removed to St. Hyacinthe, where he held the office of agent for the Grand Trunk Railway Company, and died of cholera in