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

and was appointed a magistrate in 1873. Although his business life has been a most active one, yet he has found time to travel through several of the states of the neighbouring Republic and in the provinces of Canada. During these rambles he has been a keen observer, and never failed to store his mind with facts likely to prove useful to him in the prosecution of his business. He has never been an aspirant for official honours, the only office he ever accepted being a seat in the Portland town council in 1874 and 1875. He has always been a constant advocate of temperance, and is a member of several temperance societies. In religious matters he is an adherent of the Episcopal church. Active in all movements calculated to improve the condition of the poor and to elevate the masses to a better appreciation of the duties and responsibilities of life. Five children have been born to Mr. Kennedy, one son and four daughters. Mr. Kennedy, we may add, is a Conservative in politics. * * * * * =Cameron, Charles=, Manager of the Great Northern Transit Company, Collingwood, Ontario, was born on the 24th February, 1835, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He is the son of Donald Cameron, of Appin, Argyleshire, one of the clan of Lochiel, and a slate manufacturer. His mother was Isabella Harper, and belonged to the parish of Marnoch, in Banffshire, Scotland. Mr. Cameron received a liberal education at the public schools of his native town, and was apprenticed to the joiner and millwright trade, and came to America in 1853. After spending one season in Cleveland, Ohio, and a second in Toronto, he went north to Collingwood, arriving in that place on the 7th February, 1855. After working at his trade for about two years, on the fine railway station, which is so conspicuous an ornament of the town of Collingwood, he went into the hotel-keeping, combining therewith livery stables, and controlling the principal mail stage routes of the vicinity, until 1871, when he retired from this business, and since that time has devoted his time mostly to the shipping enterprises with which he has since become identified. Mr. Cameron has ever been in the front with any and every undertaking calculated to benefit the town he has chosen as his home. He built the first schooner ever launched in the port, and was the primary promoter of the Collingwood Tug and Wrecking Co., the Georgian Bay Transportation Co., the Great Northern Transit Co., and the Collingwood Iron Foundry—all of them pioneer enterprises. Mr. Cameron is also an active member of the Agricultural and Horticultural societies in the county of Simcoe, and has been of great service to the farming community of this part of the province. He has aided greatly in the importation of valuable draught stallions, and thus gave an early impulse to the improvement of the breed of horses, now so noticeable in the local fall shows. Mr. Cameron held the offices of a councillor, reeve, and deputy-reeve for nine years, closing with the office of warden, to which he was elected by a unanimous vote of the county council of Simcoe, which at that time numbered fifty-four members, and ranked the fourth largest legislative body in the dominion. Although declining all municipal honours since 1881, he still enjoys the esteem of his former colleagues by representing them on the Collegiate Institute board, and this position he has held for the past fourteen years consecutively. Mr. Cameron is also vice-president of the Farmers’ North-West Land and Colonization Co., a director of the Collingwood Horticultural Society, treasurer of the North Simcoe Conservative Association, and manager of the Great Northern Transit Co. He is the largest property-owner in the town of Collingwood, and one of the largest in the county of Simcoe. Mr. Cameron is a Knight Templar of the Masonic order, in which he has held the office of eminent preceptor. He is a strong Conservative in politics, and in his religious opinions adheres to the Presbyterian church of his ancestors. He was married, in February, 1860, to Margaret Barron, daughter of George Lunan, formerly of Lower Canada, by whom he has had seven children. Four are living, viz., Isabella H. (married to Chas. E. Holmes, of Toronto), Alexander B., Chestena C., and Charles H. M. Mrs. Cameron died 12th April, 1885. * * * * * =Cameron, William=, Farmer, Sutherland River, Pictou, M.P.P. for Pictou county, Nova Scotia, was born at Sutherland River, Pictou, N.S., on the 25th September, 1847. His parents were Alexander Cameron and Margaret McKay, of New Glasgow. His paternal grandfather emigrated from Inverness, Scotland, and settled in Pictou about 1801, and his maternal grandmother came from the same place about 1790, and her parents were among the earliest settlers in New Glasgow. Mr. Cameron received his education at Dalhousie College, Halifax, and graduated from that institution in 1873 with the degree of B.A. He taught school for some years before going to college, and afterwards during college recess. He was for a time principal of the high schools of Westville, River John, and Bridgewater, and closed his teaching career in the mathematical department of the New Glasgow High School. For two years Mr. Cameron studied medicine at the Medical School at Halifax, but his health failing, and on account of the death of his brother, which took place in 1877, he abandoned his medical studies, and returned home to assist his father, who was now growing old, and his mother very infirm, both of whom demanded his company as well as his care. He has been auditor of the municipality of Pictou since 1884. In 1873 he joined the Masonic brotherhood, and has ever since taken an interest in the order. On the 8th March, 1887, a vacancy having occurred in Pictou county, in consequence of the resignation of A. C. Bell, the sitting member, Mr. Cameron offered himself as a candidate, and was elected for his native county to a seat in the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia. In politics he is a Conservative, of the independent type, and is a thoroughly practical man. In religion he is an adherent of the Presbyterian church. In 1882 he was married to Mary Catherine Dawson, of Little Harbor, Pictou county, N.S. * * * * * =Strothard, Rev. James=, Pastor of Grafton Street Methodist Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia, was born at Tadcaster, a small market town in Yorkshire, England, on the 5th August, 1847. His parents were Joseph and Mary Strothard. His father held a position of trust under the first Lord Londesborough, of Grimston Park, Yorkshire; and his maternal grandfather was a person of considerable wealth and importance, and for many years was a surveyor of highways. As a lad the Rev. Mr. Strothard attended the National Grammar School in the village of Ulleskelf, and from a very early age developed a love for books, often pursuing his studies long after the rest of the family had retired to rest. He won his first prize at school when only seven years of age, and a few years later received as a prize a fine Reference Bible. After leaving the Grammar School he spent two years in study at two first class boarding schools, and by this means he secured a good English education. He was religiously brought up in the Episcopal church, but having been converted in his fourteenth year, joined the Wesleyan Methodist Church in his native town. After attending the Sabbath-school as a scholar and teacher for four years, he was sent out as a local preacher when eighteen years of age. For several years he continued his theological studies under the guidance and with the assistance of the several ministers who successively occupied the circuit. Moving to Barnsley in 1868, he had also the advantage for two years of listening to the theological lectures from the Rev. Thos. H. Leal, at that time stationed there. While pursuing his theological studies with a view of offering himself to the English Wesleyan Conference for the West African mission field, he received in November, 1870, a letter from the Rev. Humphrey Pickard, D.D., who was then president of the Conference of Eastern British America, informing him that he had been chosen for the ministry in the Maritime provinces, and urging him to come out and accept an appointment at once. Believing this to be a call of Providence, he responded by embarking at Liverpool for Halifax on the 17th of December, 1870. His clerical companions were the Rev. Caleb Parker, now at Souris River, Manitoba, and the Rev. W. H. Emsley, of the Toronto Conference. After a stormy voyage of sixteen days, the _City of Limerick_ steamed up Halifax harbor on Monday morning, 2nd January, 1871. His destination was Miramichi, New Brunswick. He labored on that circuit under the superintendence of the late Rev. Ingham Sutcliffe, until the conference of 1872; and was then appointed to take charge of the Charles Street Church in the city of Halifax, this being a small mission church at that time, and he was its first pastor. During his three years incumbency, the congregation and Sunday-school grew so rapidly as to necessitate an enlargement of the building. At the last session of the Conference of Eastern British America, held at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in 1874, presided over by the Rev. John McMurray, D.D., he was ordained to the Methodist ministry, together with twelve other candidates, among whom were Rev. W. W. Brewer, of Centenary Church, St. John; Rev. W. Dobson, of Fredericton, and the Rev. Ralph Brecken, of Sackville, New Brunswick. From the conference of 1875 to 1878 he was stationed at Avondale, Hants county. During this period the circuit was visited with a gracious revival, and a large number was added to the church. The next three years were spent in Canning, Kings county. From thence he removed to Granville Ferry, Annapolis county, where he remained the full term. In 1884 he was invited to take charge of Providence Church, Yarmouth; and after three years of successful work in Yarmouth, he is now back in Halifax, having received an invitation to the Grafton Street Church, of which he is now pastor and doing good work in the Master’s vineyard. As a youth the Rev. Mr. Strothard served seven years in the First West York Battalion of Rifle Volunteers. He was admitted when only fourteen years of age (the regulation age being seventeen), being exceptionally tall for his age. He is associated with the Independent Order of Oddfellows; with the Independent Order of Good Templars; and with the order of Sons of Temperance, and for two years filled the office of Grand Chaplain of the Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance of Nova Scotia. He has travelled a good deal, and has twice visited Great Britain and France _via_ Boston and New York. He was married on the 8th of July, 1874, in the old Centenary Methodist Church at St. John, N.B., by the Rev. Henry Pope, D.D., to Alice Eliza, second daughter of Henry S. Beek, bookseller and bookbinder. Mr. Beek was born in Cork; Ireland, but came to New Brunswick early in life, his father being connected with the Crown Lands office in the city of Fredericton. He was married to Olivia, the daughter of Dr. Smith, of the Royal navy, by whom he had five sons and two daughters. * * * * * =Trueman, Harmon Silas=, M.D., Sackville, New Brunswick, was born on the 20th August, 1858, at Point de Bute, Westmoreland county, N.B. His father, Martin Bent Trueman (now, 1887, aged seventy-four years) was a son of Harmon Trueman, whose father, William Trueman, came to Westmoreland, then part of Cumberland, Nova Scotia, in 1775, from Yorkshire, England. He came in company with his parents, his father being also named William, and he William, junior, the only son. He, the younger William, left, however, a large family, and those descended from him now number over six hundred. Dr. Trueman’s mother, who is also still living, and aged sixty-nine years, is Bethia Purdy, daughter of Samuel Purdy, and grand-daughter of the late Colonel Gilbert Purdy. This gentleman served in the British forces during the American revolutionary war. For his bravery he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and on the declaration of peace received a life pension. His home was for many years in New York state, where he married one Phœbe Wood, and from which place he with his wife and two of his brothers removed to Cumberland, Nova Scotia, at the close of the war, they being of the true loyalist stock. Dr. Trueman received his primary education in his native parish, and afterwards carried to partial conclusion a course in arts at Mount Allison Academy and College. He took the regular medical course at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, during the years 1877-1880 inclusive. In the autumn of 1880 he settled in Sackville, and having purchased the premises of Dr. A. Fleming, who was leaving for Manitoba, he began the practice of his profession, and has ever since carried on practice without any interruption. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum. In politics he is a moderate Conservative, but takes no active part in political movements. He was brought up in the Methodist church, and still adheres to the same denomination. In 1880 he visited Europe, and travelled considerably in England and France. He has also visited most of the New England cities. The doctor takes an interest in military affairs, and has been a surgeon for two years in the 74th battalion of Canadian infantry. On the 22nd June, 1881, he was married to Priscilla Carlisle Bliss, daughter of the late A. A. Bliss, of Halifax, and closely connected with the Bliss family now largely distributed throughout America. * * * * * =Dobson, Rev. William=, Methodist Minister, Fredericton, New Brunswick, was born at Bedeque, Prince Edward Island. His father, William Dobson, was a native of Yorkshire, and came to America in 1821, and settled in Prince Edward Island, where he began farming. In 1823 he married Ann Moys, the eldest daughter of Captain Thomas Moys, of Bedeque, and the subject of our sketch is the second son of this union. Rev. Mr. Dobson received his primary education at the public schools of his native place, and when about eighteen years of age entered the Grammar School, where he remained two years. He then went to Mount Allison College, where for a time he studied Greek, Latin, German, and theology. After leaving school he entered the ministry of the Methodist church, and since then he has occupied churches in Guysborough and Digby, in Nova Scotia; and Jacksonville, Sheffield, Albert, Potton, St. John, and Fredericton, in New Brunswick. He entered his present charge in Fredericton in 1886, and is very much respected by his congregation. Rev. Mr. Dobson takes an active interest in any movement calculated to advance the Redeemer’s kingdom on earth. On the 11th of August, 1874, he was married to Ella A. Morehouse, of Digby, N.S. Her parents were of the old loyalist stock, who settled in Nova Scotia during the American rebellion. * * * * * =Robertson, George=, Merchant, St. John, New Brunswick, was born on the 30th January, 1844, at Kingston, Kent county, N.B. His father, the late Duncan Robertson, ship-builder, was a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, whose forefathers had come from Perthshire and settled in Aberdeen. The mother of the subject of our sketch was Georgina Jardine, a native of Wamphray, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Both parents first settled in Kingston, about the year 1834. Mrs. Robertson’s brothers, J. & T. Jardine have had a long and successful career as ship-builders and ship owners in Kingston; and her mother, Janet Paterson, came of a family which has provided some men of historical note: among others, William Paterson, the founder of the Bank of England, one of the promoters of the disastrous Darien scheme, etc., and Sir Walter Scott’s “Old Mortality,” etc. Mr. Robertson was educated in the English branches at the public schools, and at Sackville Academy, and spent the greater part of his boyhood in Moncton and Cocagne. He acquired some general knowledge of ship-building, shop-keeping, and farming; and in 1858-9 lumbered in a small way on his own account. The family having returned to Moncton in 1860, he shortly afterwards left for St. John in search of employment, and to make his way in the world. On his arrival in that city he found an opening in the establishment of James Macfarlane, then a leading grocer, and this gentleman he served in the capacity of clerk for seven years. In 1868, Mr. Robertson having saved some money, he began business on his own account, and continued to prosper until 1877, when the great fire occurred in St. John, and swept away a considerable portion of his property. He then retired from active business for about a year, in the meantime putting his affairs in order. In 1878 he made a fresh start, and since that period the world has gone well with him. He is now at the head of the firm of George Robertson & Co.,—having taken S. A. Corbitt, a few years ago, into partnership,—carrying on a large wholesale and retail business in groceries, and as importers of West India and Mediterranean produce. Their office is at 50 King street, and their warehouse at 17 Water street. Like all men in business, Mr. Robertson has had the usual amount of losses and worries, but has now the satisfaction of feeling that he has nevertheless succeeded, and also gained the esteem and respect of his fellow-citizens, and others, who have done business with him for many years past. Mr. Robertson was a captain in the St. John city light infantry militia. He is also a member of the St. Andrew’s Society of St. John; the Board of Trade, and a director of the Maritime Warehousing and Dock Company. He has taken part in various political discussions, and has strongly advocated trade reciprocity with the United States; St. John as a winter port for the Dominion; the short line railway with Montreal; St. John Harbor Commission, etc. In religion he is in accord with the Presbyterian form of worship, and is an elder in St. Andrew’s Church. In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative. He was married to Agnes Turner, a lady of Scotch descent, on the 18th June, 1873, and has a family of six children. * * * * * =Hopper, Rev. John Elisha=, M.A., D.D., Pastor of the Brussels Street Baptist Church, St. John, New Brunswick, is a native Canadian, having been born in Salisbury, Westmoreland county, N.B., on 18th December,