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

shore, and died at Barrie, in January, 1878. Captain Anderson’s father having died before his son had reached his third year, very little schooling fell to his lot, as he was in consequence obliged to face the world at a very early age. When only about ten years old he commenced sailing on the lakes, and from that time to this he has steadily risen in his profession, and has now the proud satisfaction of knowing that he is considered second to none as an inland sea navigator and is in command of one of the finest steamers—the _Alberta_—of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, on Lake Superior. Previous to his taking charge of the _Alberta_ he commanded for seven years the steamer _Quebec_, of the Beatty Sarnia & Lake Superior line, and for two years was captain of the _Campana_, of the Collingwood line, and for the last four years he has sailed the _Alberta_. Captain Anderson left Oakville in 1875, and took up his residence in Sarnia, where he has made his home ever since. In 1867 he joined the Freemasons, and since then has taken a deep interest in that ancient organization. He crossed the Atlantic and spent the winter of 1885-6 seeing the sights in Europe. The captain is a Presbyterian, and is a firm supporter of his church; but in politics he takes very little interest. In August, 1885 he was married to Lucretia Waggoner, whose parents at that time resided in Oakville, but in 1860 they removed to Ballard, Kentucky, where they both died. * * * * * =Robb, Alexander=, Iron Founder, Amherst, Nova Scotia, was born at Leicester, Cumberland county, Nova Scotia, on the 4th of March, 1827. His parents, Alexander Robb and Annie Brown, were natives of Bangor, Ireland, and settled in Nova Scotia a great many years ago. Alexander was only about eight years of age when he came to Amherst, and received his education in the public schools of the place. After leaving school he acquired a knowledge of the tin and sheet metal business. In 1848 he commenced business on his own account, and was among the first to introduce cast-iron stoves into the country. In 1866 he built a foundry and machine shops, and his business has grown steadily ever since, until his works, including salesroom and offices, now cover a space of about two acres. In outside industries, Mr. Robb has taken a great interest, having assisted in the development of the Boot and Shoe Tanning Company, which is now the most extensive manufactory of its kind in the province; and previous to his health breaking down in 1872, he was an active promoter of the Spring Hill collieries. Mr. Robb has always been a strong advocate of total abstinence, and has the honour of being one of the original members of the Amherst Division of the Sons of Temperance, the pioneer temperance organization in Nova Scotia. He took an active interest in the passage of the Free School Act for Nova Scotia, and was also an advocate of the confederation of the provinces. He had strong faith in the benefits to be derived from these measures for some years previous to their enactment, arising from a conversation he had had with the late Hon. Joseph Howe. Mr. Robb is a Presbyterian, and for the past twenty-five years has been a consistent member of that church. In 1855 he married Emeline Logan, daughter of David D. Logan, of Amherst Point, whose father, Hugh Logan, originally came from the North of Ireland, and was one of the first settlers of the county. His surviving children are:—David W. and Frederick B., who have managed the business of the firm of A. Robb & Sons since the failure of their father’s health in 1872; Walter R., who is associated with his father in farming and other private business; Maggie A. and Aubrey G., who are both at home, the latter still pursuing his studies. Mr. Robb has won for himself the character of being a man of perseverance and strict integrity, and is greatly respected by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance. * * * * * =McNeill, John Sears=, Barton, M.P.P. for Digby, Nova Scotia, was born at St. Mary’s Bay (now called Barton), in the county of Digby, N.S., on the 15th June, 1829. His parents were John McNeill and Freelove Sabean. His great grandfather, Neil McNeill, emigrated from the north of Ireland to New York, where he married a Miss Sears, an American lady, and engaged in mercantile business. After the close of the revolutionary war he and his family came, with other U. E. loyalists, and settled in Long Island, then in the county of Annapolis, now in the county of Digby. John Sears McNeill attended the public school in his native place, but only at intervals, where he learned the rudiments of reading, writing, arithmetic, and English grammar. He spent his youthful days on a farm, and had, when a mere lad, to work in the fields with the farm labourers and do his share of hard work. On his sixteenth birthday he gave up farming, and entered the store of George Bragg, of Digby, as a clerk, and in this situation he continued for three years, when he returned to Barton, and commenced business on his own account. His capital was very small, but he determined to succeed, and consequently worked hard to increase his means. After a few years, having succeeded remarkably well, he resolved to extend his operations, and in the fall of 1867 opened another store at Maitland, Yarmouth county, in connection with Cyrus Perry, to whom he sold out his share in the business a few years afterwards. In 1871, in connection with several other gentlemen, he engaged extensively in the tanning business, but this venture not proving a success, in a few years it was abandoned. In 1875, in company with some others, he engaged in the manufacture of shingles and lumber at Berwick and Factorydale, in the county of King, N.S., but this, from lack of personal oversight, proved unremunerative, and was given up. In the fall of 1878 he handed over his business at home to his eldest son, and since that time has devoted all his energies to public affairs. Mr. McNeill was appointed a justice of the peace in May, 1864, and a commissioner of schools in 1867. On the 17th January, 1873, he was made a member of the Board of Health. He was clerk and treasurer of Poor District No. 2, Weymouth, from its creation into a separate district in 1851 until 1865, and re-appointed in 1868, and still holds the position (1887); and he has also been county treasurer for the years 1881, 1883, and 1884. He took the temperance pledge in 1842, when he was only thirteen years of age, and became a member of the Total Abstinence Society. On the introduction of the order of the Sons of Temperance into Nova Scotia, he joined Union Division, No. 6, Digby, on the 30th January, 1848, and continued in this division several years, when he transferred his membership to General Inglis Division, on its institution at Barton, in March, 1859. He has held nearly all the offices in the gift of his division. In 1860 he was initiated into the Grand Division of Nova Scotia, at its session held at Yarmouth, in 1860, and ever since then has been a faithful member of the order. Mr. McNeill’s father was a staunch Conservative, and his son received his political training in that school of politics. During the election contests held in 1851 and 1855 he worked and voted with that party; but in 1859 he gave his vote to the Liberals. He was opposed to the confederation of the provinces, and disapproved of the manner in which Nova Scotia was forced into the union, contending that a vote of the people should have been taken before the compact was entered into. In 1867 he was urged to allow himself to be nominated as a candidate for the Nova Scotia legislature, but declined the honour. He, however, presented himself for parliamentary honours at the general election in June, 1882, and was elected to a seat in the legislature of his native province, and was again returned to the same house in 1886. Mr. McNeill was brought up in the Episcopal church, and adhered to that church until 1862, when he united with the Methodist church, and has remained in that communion ever since. In politics Mr. McNeill is a Liberal and a Repealer, but, above both, a lover of his country, and a gentleman who has done a good deal to foster its industries and improve the social condition of its people. He was married, first at Barton, on 25th December, 1852, to Ann Eliza, daughter of William Thomas. This estimable lady died 1st October, 1869. His second marriage was solemnised at Bloomfield, Digby county, 24th January, 1870, when he united with Alice Maria, second daughter of Edwin Jones. His family consists of two sons and two daughters living, all of whom are married, except the youngest son, who is attending college at Sackville, New Brunswick. * * * * * =DesBrisay, Theophilus=, Q.C., Bathurst, New Brunswick. The subject of this sketch is a son of the late Theophilus DesBrisay, naval officer of Miramichi and the eastern ports of New Brunswick, and grandson of the Rev. Theophilus DesBrisay, graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford, and the first rector of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, who died in 1824. He is of Huguenot descent, his ancestors having fled from France to Ireland at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; the pioneer in the Dominion of Canada being Thomas DesBrisay, captain Royal Artillery, who, was sent out as lieutenant-governor of Prince Edward Island, in 1777. The mother of our subject, before her first marriage, was Lucy Wright, daughter of the Hon. Thomas Wright, first surveyor-general of Prince Edward Island, and was the widow of Captain and Adjutant Colledge, who died in the first decade of this century while in the service of the king at the fortress of Quebec. Mr. DesBrisay was born at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on the 13th of December, 1816, educated at the Grammar School, Miramichi, studied law with the late Hon. John Ambrose Street, at Newcastle; was admitted an attorney in 1839, and to the Charlottetown bar at Hilary term, 1841, and has ever since been in practice in all the courts in New Brunswick and also as barrister of the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island. He was appointed clerk of the peace for the county of Gloucester, N.B., in 1850; and is also clerk of the County Court and clerk of the Circuits. He was created a Queen’s counsel by the Dominion government in 1881, and appointed Judge of Probates for the county of Gloucester in 1883. Mr. DesBrisay is a past master of St. John’s lodge of Freemasons, Bathurst. He is a member of the Church of England, and has served as warden of St. George’s Church, Bathurst, for many years, and also as delegate to the Diocesan Synod. He is a lawyer of excellent moral character as well as legal standing. He married, in 1851, Jemima Swayne, daughter of David Swayne, of Dysart, Scotland, and has five children—four sons and one daughter. Lestock, the eldest, is a clergyman and rector of Strathroy, Ontario; Andrew Normand, is in mercantile business in Minneapolis; T. Swayne, is an attorney and barrister practising with his father; Charles Albert is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Kingston (class 1880, the first that graduated), and a civil engineer now practising his profession in Minnesota, and Lucy Isabella is at home. * * * * * =Simcoe, John Graves=, Lieutenant-General, the first Governor of Upper Canada, was born in the town of Cotterstock, Northamptonshire, England, in 1752, and was the eldest son of Captain John Simcoe, commander of H.M.S. _Pembroke_, who was killed at Quebec, in the execution of his duty, in the year 1759, while assisting Wolfe in his siege of that city. On young Simcoe first going to school, at Exeter, at a comparatively early age, he attracted considerable notice from all with whom he came in contact for his proficiency in everything that the school taught; and he was, undoubtedly, the _dux_ of the school. At the age of fourteen he was removed to Eton, where he acquired new honours. After remaining at Eton a short time, he was removed to Mereton College, Oxford. From college, in his nineteenth year, he entered the army, either he or his guardians having selected that profession for him. He was appointed to an ensigncy in the 35th regiment of the line; and as hostilities had already commenced with the United States of America, he was despatched to the seat of war to join his regiment. He arrived at Boston on the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, and took an active part afterwards, as may be seen, in the great American war, when the American colonists threw off their allegiance to Great Britain, and declared themselves independent. Ensign Simcoe, having served some time as adjutant to his own regiment, purchased the command of a company in the 48th, with which he fought at the battle of Brandywine, and where he displayed (although very young) his courage and professional attainments by the active part he took in the day’s proceedings. Unfortunately he was severely wounded at this engagement. Captain Simcoe was always a soldier in his heart, and attentive to every part of his duty. He already saw that regularity in the interior economy of a soldier’s life contributed to his health, and he estimated the attention of the inferior officers by the strength of a company or a regiment in the field. His ambition invariably led him to aspire to command; and even, when the army first landed at Staten Island, he went to New York to request the command of the Queen’s Rangers (a provincial corps then newly raised), though he did not obtain his desire till after the battle of Brandywine, in October, 1777. The Queen’s Rangers, under command of Simcoe, acquired new laurels, and were justly celebrated, as was their leader, for their several gallant deeds and exploits. During the rest of the American war, or until their disbandment, they bore part in nearly every engagement which took place; but, unfortunately, being situated at Gloucester Point, opposite Yorktown, when the latter place was besieged by the allied French and American army, the Rangers, as well as the other portions of the British army under Lord Cornwallis’s command, were surrendered by that nobleman to the victorious insurgents. With the surrender of Gloucester Point the active existence of the Rangers terminated. The officers were afterwards put upon half-pay, and their provincial rank retained to them in the standing British army. The war for independence virtually ceased with the capture of Yorktown, and Colonel Simcoe returned to England, greatly fatigued by his late arduous duties, and greatly impaired in his constitution. The king received him in a manner which plainly shewed how grateful his Majesty was for the great services he had rendered; and all classes of society received him with the most affectionate regard, and shewed him every demonstration of their attachment. Not long after his return he entered into the marriage state with Miss Guillim, a near relation to Admiral Graves, a distinguished officer engaged in the American war. He was elected to represent, in 1790, the borough of St. Maw’s, Cornwall, in the House of Commons, which place he continued to represent, with equal honour to himself and his county, until the passing of the bill dividing the province of Quebec into two provinces, to be called Upper and Lower Canada, when he was selected as the first governor of Upper Canada, whither he proceeded, in 1791, with his wife and family, and took up his quarters at Niagara, then called Newark, where he held his first parliament in September, 1792. Upper Canada was then in a comparative state of wilderness. We cannot picture to ourselves a more dismal or a more thoroughly dejected colony than was the province at the time of which we speak. Governor Simcoe, however, entered upon his duty with a resolute heart. Newark, now Niagara, was made the seat of government, which consisted of a Legislative Assembly and Council, the former containing sixteen members only, while the latter was still smaller; and a parliament was convened so early as the 17th September of the same year. He also appointed an Executive Council, composed of gentlemen who had accompanied him out, and some who already resided in the province. He had the whole country surveyed and laid out into districts, and invited as much immigration as possible, in order to swell the population. For this purpose, those parties who so nobly adhered to the cause of Britain in the revolted colonies, and which are chiefly known by the sobriquet of United Empire loyalists, removed to Canada, and received a certain portion of land free. Also, discharged officers and soldiers of the line received a certain portion of land gratuitously; and all possible means were employed to further the projects of the governor. A provincial corps was raised, by command of the king, and Colonel Simcoe was appointed colonel of it. This corps he called the “Queen’s Rangers,” after his old regiment. Becoming dissatisfied with the position of Newark as the provincial capital, he travelled westward as far as Detroit, and back, without having come to any fixed conclusion. He resolved to inspect the northern shore of Lake Ontario, and for that purpose set sail from Newark on Thursday, the 2nd May, 1793, and on the morning of Saturday, the 4th, entered the harbour of Toronto. A short distance from the entrance to the harbour were several wigwams, inhabited by Mississaga Indians. This was the “town” of Toronto, which Governor Simcoe determined was to be the future capital of Upper Canada. He quartered a number of the Queen’s Rangers there, and improved the site and vicinity of the projected city to a great extent. Roads were constructed, so that a proper communication could be kept up between town and country. A schooner ran weekly between Newark and York, and couriers were sent, overland, monthly to Lower Canada. Of course the population increased, and the young province began to consider itself wealthy. In 1794, Simcoe was promoted to the rank of major-general; and in 1796 he was appointed to be commandant and governor of the important island of St. Domingo. Thither he, with his family, proceeded, and there he held the local rank of lieutenant-general. Though he remained only a few months, he greatly endeared himself by his kind and considerate government of the island, not only to all the residents, but to the natives themselves; and a contemporary justly remarks that, “short as was his stay, he did more than any former general to conciliate the native inhabitants to the British government.” In 1798 he was created a lieutenant-general; and in 1801, when an invasion of England was expected by the French, the command of the town of Plymouth was entrusted to him. We do not hear of him again until 1806, when the last scene in this great man’s life was to come to a close. France had long been suspected of a design to invade Portugal, and, the affair being apparent to England, public attention was called to the critical situation of that country; and as Portugal was the only surviving ally of Britain upon the continent, means must necessarily be employed to assist her. In this critical juncture, Lieutenant-General Simcoe and the Earl of Rosselyn, with a large staff, were immediately sent out to join the Earl of St. Vincent, who, with his fleet, was in the Tagus; and they were instructed to open, in concert with him, a communication with the court, so that they would ascertain whether danger was very imminent, and, if so, employ means to guard against it. But, alas, in such a glorious undertaking, which probably would have crowned him with fame and honours, Simcoe was never destined to participate to any extent. On the voyage thither he was taken suddenly ill, and had to return to England, where he had only landed when his eventful life was brought to a close. He breathed his last at Torbay, in Devonshire, at the comparatively early age of fifty-four, after having honourably served his country during many years in a variety of occupations—regretted by all, from the simple soldier whom he had commanded to the friend of his heart and his boon companion. * * * * * =Robb, David W.=, Manager of the Foundry and Machine Shops of A. Robb and Sons, Amherst, Nova Scotia, was born at Amherst on the 9th May,