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

Heidelberg, Germany, prosecuting his studies, and took at Edinburgh the medal, one first, and three other prizes. Returning to New Brunswick, he assumed the duties of his chair in the university at the end of 1873, and occupied the same until 1st January, 1879, when he resigned. Acadia College, N.S., conferred upon him the title of D.C.L., in 1885. He was examiner in Grammar and English at the Provincial Normal schools, Fredericton, from 1874 to 1879. Early in life—in the thirteenth year of his age—Mr. Foster identified himself with the order of the Sons of Temperance and later with the British Templars, the United Temperance Association, the Dominion Alliance, and the International Temperance Association. He filled the office of Grand Worthy Patriarch in the Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance of New Brunswick; Most Worthy Grand Templar of the British Templars of Canada; National Chief of the United Temperance Association, vice-president and president of the Executive of the Dominion Alliance of Canada, and president, for four years, of the International Temperance Association. During Professor Foster’s occupancy of the university chair, he frequently delivered lectures and addresses upon temperance topics, and upon his resignation, engaged in an extensive lecturing tour, delivering addresses on the total abstinence and prohibition questions in all the provinces of Canada, and most of the eastern and western states of the United States. He likewise edited several temperance papers. He has been identified for many years with the Young Men’s Christian Association of Fredericton, and was a member of the executive of the International Sabbath School Committee. After a lecturing tour of remarkable success, Professor Foster resolved to try what fortune had in store for him in the political sphere, though considering how wide and how brilliant his achievements had been, we may be sure he had no misgivings in taking the contemplated step. In looking about him for a constituency, naturally that one nearest his heart, the county wherein he first drew breath, suggested itself, and to King’s he went, though it was represented by that stalwart politician, Major James Domville. The friends of Mr. Domville considered the act of Professor Foster as one that could be properly described only by the phrase “cheeky,” but what they thought made no difference to the young candidate—he proceeded with his canvass, addressing the people everywhere upon the leading topics of the day. Against such eloquence as Professor Foster brought into the field, Major Domville was powerless. But apart from his ability as a debater, the people of King’s had put the highest estimate upon the integrity and character of the young candidate, and they accordingly elected him in June, 1882, to represent them in the House of Commons at Ottawa. His election was voided; but he was again elected in November of the same year, and still continues to represent King’s county at Ottawa. On December 10th, 1885, he was sworn in a member of the Privy Council, and invested with the portfolio of marine and fisheries. Professor Foster has travelled in all the provinces of Canada, and through the greater portion of the United States, and has also visited England, Scotland, France, Germany and Switzerland. In religion he belongs to the Free Baptist denomination, and for many years has been, and is still, a prominent member of its conference. He was president of the Union Baptist Educational Society in 1884-5. The Hon. George Eulas Foster is a Liberal-Conservative in politics, and a full believer in the future greatness of Canada. He favors a civil service system which shall, so far as consistent with the peculiar circumstances of our country, conform to the system in operation in Great Britain, a moderate protective tariff, such as shall maintain our markets for our own manufactures, and at the same time not conduce to the formation of monopolies, a wise, tried economy in the administration of the finances of the country, and an enlightened, progressive and comprehensive policy. He is one of the foremost speakers in the country, if force and clearness of statement, fluency, and adherence to logic can entitle him to that place. He is a man of great energy, and of boundless nervous force. A literary grace pervades his style, but his speeches are never florid, or beyond the bounds of good taste in this respect. There is a singular earnestness in his manner, and nearly every speech that he delivers resolves itself into a series of propositions, one consequent upon the other. As we have said, he is a speaker of much force, and sometimes his eloquence rises to the height of passion. * * * * * =Leclerc, Rev. Joseph Uldaric=, Montreal, was born at Isle Bazarre, August 7th, 1836. He is the son of Francis Leclerc, farmer, and Josephte Demers, his wife. While still a youth, his parents determined to dedicate their son to the service of the church, and with this object in view his education was properly attended to. He took, first, a classical course at Montreal College, after studying philosophy at St. Mary’s College, Montreal, and St. Michael’s College, Toronto. He next went to Sandwich College, as professor, in 1858, but soon resigned this position to enter on a course of study in theology, at the Grand Seminary at Montreal, being ordained priest in June, 1862. His first clerical charge was at Vaudreuil, where he was curate for two years. In 1865 he left Vaudreuil, having been appointed chaplain of the Reformatory Prison, at St. Vincent de Paul. In 1873 he was appointed chaplain to the great penitentiary there, and for the ten years following he filled that important post with great acceptability to the officers of the institution, who were deeply struck with the chaplain’s piety, and the zeal with which he ministered to the spiritual wants of the many unfortunate outcasts from society who were confined within its walls. In 1883 Father Leclerc was transferred to the important parish of St. Joseph’s, Richmond street, Montreal, where he has since ministered. He is also pastor of St. Anthony’s parish, for the English-speaking classes of St. Joseph’s and Cunegonde, by whom he is much beloved. About four years ago he visited Manitoba, and was much impressed with the richness of the country, and the immense resources of the Northwest territories. He has also twice visited the maritime provinces, and has thus a good knowledge of the topography of the Dominion from personal observation. * * * * * =Sanford, Hon. William E.=, Hamilton, Ontario, Senator of the Dominion of Canada, is fairly entitled to be classed among the business men of Canada who have won distinction as successful merchants, and who have by personal industry and genuine business ability succeeded in establishing wide business relations and accumulating large fortunes. No name stands more prominently before the public, or is worthy of more honourable mention than he who is the subject of this sketch. His career has placed him in the front rank of the “merchant princes” of the country. Success is always a relative term, and is used appropriately only when employed to describe conditions in which effort, guided by intelligence and skill, to a definite end, accomplishes its aims. If this be true, then no man in Canada to-day has a stronger claim to this distinction than the Hon. Mr. Sanford. His business life has been simply a series of triumphs over difficulties that would have daunted weaker natures, and these victories have been won by tireless energy, unyielding perseverance, a keen foresight of events, a skilful adaptation to the tastes and necessities of the public, and the intelligent use of definite means to a well defined purpose. The magnificent “Sanford Block” in the city of Hamilton, consisting of offices, warerooms, stock, show and packing rooms; the extensive business connections established in every province in the Dominion, and extending from the Pacific to the Atlantic, giving employment to over two thousand hands, and employing a capital of about a million dollars, constitute a monument of which the most ambitious might be proud. Senator Sanford is a lineal descendant of Thomas de Sanford, who was knighted by William the Conqueror on the battlefield of Hastings (see Burke’s “Landed Gentry”). The American branch of the family settled in Redding, Connecticut, and one of its members, Ezekiel Sanford, engineer, built Fort Saybrook, Conn., in 1626. Born in the city of New York, in 1838, both his parents dying while he was a mere child, he was sent, ere he had reached his seventh year, to live with his uncle, the late Edward Jackson, of Hamilton, one of the pioneer merchants of that city, whose singular uprightness of life and large benefactions to religious, educational and charitable enterprises, gained for him a widespread confidence and respect. In the home of such a one, and surrounded by the most salutary influences, he was brought up, and to this formative period of his life may doubtless be traced many of those elements of character which have since distinguished his career. He received a liberal education in one of the academies of New York, and at the age of fifteen made his first venture in business, entering the then well-known publishing firm of Farmer, Brace & Co., of New York, in whose employ he continued until he reached his majority. The remarkable business ability displayed by him, even at this early period, won for him the esteem and confidence of the firm, and also an offer of a partnership in the business. The death of the senior partner, occurring about this time, caused certain changes which resulted in the disappointment of young Sanford’s hopes. The firm was re-organized, leaving him out. The value of his services was, however, recognized by a rival firm, from whom he received the offer of a salary of three thousand dollars per year. This offer he declined, determined in future to sink or swim as master of the ship he sailed. His own words were, “I am determined never to accept a position as clerk to any firm.” Mr. Sanford now returned to Canada, was united in marriage to Miss Jackson, only daughter of his friend, Edward Jackson, and then went to London, Ontario, and entered into a business partnership with Murray Anderson and Edward Jackson, and under the firm name of Anderson, Sanford & Co., carried on one of the largest foundries in western Canada. His wedded happiness was of short duration, for at the end of about eighteen months his accomplished wife died. Completely crushed and disheartened by the blow, he retired from the firm, and returned to Hamilton. His restless energies, however, refused to remain inactive, and with characteristic energy, he, with some New York dealers, went into the wool business. In less than a year, he was master of the situation, having obtained control of the wool market of the province, and was soon known among dealers as the “Wool King” of Canada. Not long after this, Senator Sanford entered upon the business which, under his skilful management, has grown into such large proportions, in which he has achieved his greatest success, and with which he is still identified. He formed a partnership with Alexander McInnes, for the manufacture of ready-made clothing. With that keen discernment of what the public needed that has ever characterised him, he determined, from the best goods to be found in the market, to manufacture for the public demand clothing that would combine cheapness with elegance and style of finish. Twenty thousand dollars capital was invested at the beginning. The most skilful labor to be found was employed, and samples to meet the requirements of the public produced. Mr. Sanford put the goods upon the market himself, while his partner attended to the office work. The goods were what the people needed, and from that day the trade in Canada was revolutionised; the character of the firm as “first class” established, and the foundation of future success laid. Various changes have taken place in the _personnel_ of the firm since its establishment in 1861. After ten years Mr. McInnes retired, and two of the employés were taken in as partners. These remained for a few years, and then also retired, leaving Senator Sanford sole proprietor, who now carries on the business under the title of W. E. Sanford & Co. Since the establishment of the firm, and through all its subsequent changes, Senator Sanford has been the moving and controlling spirit of the concern. He is complete master of all the details of the several departments, as well as director of the whole establishment. While he pioneers the great public contracts, he at the same time keenly observes and anticipates any change in the public taste, and invariably has the supply in advance of the demand. The requirements of each province or community is a separate study, and whether it be Prince Edward Island or Manitoba or the Pacific coast, each is suitably supplied from the endless variety produced at the central warerooms in Hamilton. While other firms are studying the problem and counting the cost, Senator Sanford is selling his goods and pocketing the profits. In social life Senator Sanford is most affable and attractive; in manners he is courteous and gentlemanly, and is always the soul of the company in which he is found. He can come from the most perplexing concerns of business, and plunge at once into all the mirth and merriment of the evening party, as though there was no such thing as care in the world. For a man whose mind is so deeply occupied with the various financial schemes with which he is identified, one would go far to find another who has the disposition, and finds the opportunity, to do so many acts of genuine kindness. A few flowers from his conservatory, or some rare relish to tempt the appetite, is his thoughtful and appropriate way of relieving the weariness of many a sick chamber. Hon. Mr. Sanford is a leading member of the Methodist church, a trustee and steward of the Centenary Church, Hamilton, and a liberal supporter of the missionary, educational and other connexional agencies of the church. To each of the recurring general conferences he has been invariably elected by the proper constituencies, and is treasurer of several of the most important church funds. As a citizen, he is public-spirited, and justly held in high esteem. He has been president of the Board of Trade, is vice-president of the Hamilton Provident Society, a Bank director, one of the Board of Regents of Victoria University, director of the _Empire_ newspaper, president of the Hamilton Ladies College, and one of the projectors and vice-president of the Manitoba and North-Western Railway Company. He is the owner of a tract of upwards of sixty thousand acres of land on the line of the above mentioned railway at a point commencing within a few miles of Portage la Prairie; and upon this he has established a large cattle and horse ranche. He has now about completed the organization of a company for the development of his immense marble deposit in the township of Barrie, which is claimed to be the largest in the world. In politics he is in sympathy with the protective policy of the present administration, and consequently gives his support to the Conservative party. A few such men make a city, and are indispensable to its prosperity and development. When shrewdness, ability, enterprise, and industry combine, and succeed in accumulating wealth, the benefit is not alone to the one who is thus gifted, but to the many to whom the means of livelihood is afforded, and to the city and country as well, on which they bestow the fruits of their talents and their toil. He was called to the Senate of Canada in March, 1887, and we have no doubt he will make his influence felt in that body for the benefit of the country of his adoption. In 1866 he was united in marriage to Sophia Vaux, youngest daughter of the late Thomas Vaux, accountant of the House of Commons, Ottawa, a lady of culture and dignity, whose genial and refined spirit makes the home delightful, and whose open hand of charity is a proverb in the city in which she lives. * * * * * =Routhier, Hon. Adolphe Basile=, LL.D., Quebec, rests his claim to a prominent place in a work of this kind, not only on his eminence as a judge of the Superior Court of the province of Quebec, but on his well-earned fame as a _littérateur_ and a poet. He was born at St. Placide, in the county of Two Mountains, near Montreal, on the 8th May, 1839, his father, Charles Routhier, a farmer, whose ancestors came from Santonge, France. Educated in the classics at the college of Ste. Therese, in the county of Terrebonne, young Routhier was the first graduate of that institution to receive the degree of B.A. from Laval University, Quebec, at which he also studied law. Called to the bar in December, 1851, he settled down to the practice of his profession at Kamouraska, P.Q., and soon won success and distinction by his abilities as a pleader and a jurist. During this stage of his career, public attention was also first directed to the literary talents which he has since developed in such a remarkable degree. Newspaper writing occupied the time snatched from his profession, and his editorial contributions to _Le Courrier du Canada_, published at Quebec, and _Le Nouveau Monde_, published at Montreal, showed that a new and formidable competitor had entered the journalistic field. A Conservative in politics, he threw himself with ardor into all the controversies of the time and, before long, came to be recognized as the leader of the Ultramontane Catholic or so-called Programmist party in his native province, whose cause he championed with a vigorous pen. In 1869 he was selected as the party’s candidate to contest the seat in the Canadian House of Commons for the county of Kamouraska, but was defeated by his Liberal adversary, Hon. C. A. P. Pelletier, afterwards minister of agriculture and immigration in the Mackenzie cabinet, and now a senator of the Dominion. In 1872 Mr. Routhier was created a Queen’s counsel, and in the following year he was raised to the bench as one of the justices of the Superior Court by the Macdonald government—the judicial district assigned to him being that known as the Chicoutimi district, over which he still presides with marked credit to himself and satisfaction to the local bar and public. On the bench he is noted for his affability, painstaking character and profound knowledge of the law, and his decisions are always marked by great clearness and soundness. Indeed, Mr. Justice Routhier is a model magistrate in the fullest sense of the term, and as such, as well as for his fine social qualities, is very generally admired and esteemed throughout the province of Quebec. The question of the undue influence of the clergy of Lower Canada in politics was first raised and argued before him by Hon. F. Langelier, M.P., the present mayor of Quebec, in the celebrated case of Tremblay _vs._ Langevin (Charlevoix contested election), and though his judgment, which was in favor of the clergy and created great excitement at the time, was afterwards reversed on appeal, its powerful arguments in its own support, and its thorough impartiality, have never been questioned. Judge Routhier has been a great traveller, and to this feature of his life the country is indebted for some of his best literary works. He has made the tour of Europe several times, and, at the time of writing, is again there. He has also visited the Holy Land. When in Rome, in 1876, the late Pontiff Pius IX. conferred on him the dignity of a knight commander of the order of St. Gregory the Great, for his eminent services to the cause of religion; and during the same visit to the other side of the Atlantic, he spent four months in Paris, where he became acquainted with the leading writers of the French Catholic press and the Legitimist party, and delivered at the _Cercle du Luxembourg_ a speech which attracted the favorable notice and praise of _L’Univers_ and _Le Monde_, the great Catholic and Legitimist organs of the French capital. After his return to Canada he took a conspicuous part in the Quebec national festivities of June, 1880, and was chairman of the _Congres Catholique_ held at Laval University, and vice-president of the _Convention Nationale_. On these memorable occasions his addresses created a profound sensation and won for him from _La Minerve_, of Montreal, the leading organ of the Lower Canadian Conservatives, the title of “champion of the Catholic party of Canada.” They were afterwards published in the _Revue Trimestrielle_, of Paris, with the flattering recommendation of M. Lucien Brun, the chief of the Legitimist party of France. Judge Routhier is one of the most charming of French Canadian writers both in verse and prose. His “_Causeries du Dimanche_,” “_Impressions de Voyage_,” “_Poesies_,”, and “_Conférences et Discours_,” published at various times since 1871, as well as his fugitive articles and poetical effusions scattered through the newspaper press, are marked not only by great vigor of thought, but by much beauty and grace; and in literary circles his abilities are recognized as of the highest order. Indeed, by many of the best authorities he is ranked as the greatest master of the French language at the present day in the province of Quebec—his writings being admired as much for their purity and polish as for their force. As a literary critic, he is admitted to be unsurpassed in that province, and his _Jean Piquefort_ is a perfect model of keen and polished satire. Laval University acknowledged his literary eminence in 1881 by conferring upon him the distinction of LL.D. He is also a prominent member of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1862 our subject married Miss Marie Clorinde Mondelet, only daughter of the late Jean Olivier Mondelet, advocate, and niece of one of the eminent judges of the same name, who, some years since, graced the bench of the Montreal district. Mrs. Routhier is one of the leaders of Quebec society and a lady as remarkable for her gracefulness as for her social distinction. By her he has had issue four children, three daughters and one son. * * * * * =Shannon, Hon. Samuel Leonard=, D.C.L., Halifax, Judge of the Court of Probate for the county of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was born in Halifax, on the 1st June, 1816. His father, James Noble Shannon, was a merchant in Halifax, and his mother, Nancy Allison, belongs to Horton, Nova Scotia. The Shannons, with which the subject of our sketch is connected, came from Ireland, to the colony of Massachusetts, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and the progenitor of the family was Nathaniel Shannon, who held the office of “navie officer,” at Boston, Massachusetts. His descendants settled at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and were connected with the Vaughan and Cutts families of that place. Mr. Shannon’s grandfather, Richard Cutts Shannon, was a prominent lawyer in Portsmouth when the revolutionary war broke out, and by taking the royal side became subject to persecution, imprisonment, and loss of property. His son, the father of the subject of our sketch, left Portsmouth when he was a boy, and came to Nova Scotia, and finally settled in Halifax, where he carried on business as a merchant until his death in 1857. The mother’s family, the Allisons, came from the north of Ireland about the year 1769, and settled in Horton, Nova Scotia, on land which had been previously occupied by the French Acadians. Hon. Mr. Shannon received his primary education at the Halifax Grammar School, of which the Rev. Dr. Twining was master; and in 1832 he entered the University of King’s College, Windsor, from which he graduated B.A. in 1836. He received the degree of D.C.L. from the same university, in 1875. He studied law with H. Pryor, D.C.L., and was admitted to the bar of Nova Scotia, in 1839. In 1866 he was appointed a Queen’s counsel. Having taken an interest in military affairs, he received a commission as second lieutenant in the 2nd or Queen’s Halifax regiment of militia, in 1837,—the commission signed by Sir Colin Campbell, the then governor of Nova Scotia. He was promoted lieutenant in the same regiment in 1838; became captain in same regiment in 1859,—commission signed by Lord Mulgrave, the then lieutenant-governor, and major, in 1862. He was subsequently appointed lieutenant-colonel of the reserve Halifax battalion, and commissioned by the Dominion government. Entering political life, he was elected member of the Nova Scotia legislature, for the western division of the county of Halifax, including the city, in 1859; re-elected by the same constituency in 1863; became member of the provincial government in 1863; and remained in the government until the province entered into confederation in 1867. He then retired from politics, and was appointed judge of the court of probate, for the county of Halifax, in 1881. In 1870 he received the title of “honorable” from her Majesty the Queen. Judge Shannon is president of the Nova Scotia Bible Society; president of the Nova Scotia Evangelical Alliance; a trustee and member of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Halifax, and a shareholder and member of several local mercantile companies. He has travelled extensively in the United States and Dominion of Canada, which he has visited repeatedly. In 1847 and 1848 he spent nine months travelling in England, Scotland, and on the continent of Europe. He was in Switzerland when the war of the Sonderbund took place, in 1847; in Paris, only a few weeks before the revolution of 1848, and in London, during the Chartist riots of the last mentioned year. He was brought up a Methodist, and has always been identified with that denomination. He was married in October, 1855, to Annie, daughter of Benjamin Fellows, of Granville, Nova Scotia. * * * * * =Sinclair, Donald=, Walkerton, Ontario, Registrar of Deeds for the county of Bruce, was born in the Island of Islay, Scotland, in July