Turcotte, Hon. Arthur, Q.C., Three Rivers, Quebec.—The distinguished subject of this sketch bears a name deservedly honored in Lower Canadian annals, and for over half a century intimately associated with the institutions, development and history of the city of Three Rivers. His father was one of the most remarkable of the eminent public men of Lower Canada during the last generation. The Hon. J. E. Turcotte was, during his lifetime, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of United Canada and a member of the Macdonald-Cartier Cabinet, and played a leading part in the politics of his day, besides endowing Three Rivers with important public works of all kinds, which have handed down his fame to a grateful posterity. Among these lasting mementoes of his services to his constituents may be more specially mentioned the railway from Arthabaska to Doucet’s Landing, and the extensive wharves on the water front of the trifluvian city. The first charter of the Piles Railway was secured through his exertions, and, though he did not live to see that road built, the honor of its initiative still remains attached to his memory. He further earned the title of a public benefactor by his large and generous gifts to local institutions of charity, education and religion, which still sacredly cherish his name and lineaments, while his energy and eloquence continue to be household words throughout the province of Quebec. His son, the Hon. Henri René Arthur Turcotte, is the worthy representative of a distinguished father, whose life-work he has warmly taken up, and in whose footsteps he has faithfully walked; so that between the careers of the father and the son, there are many striking points of analogy. Both have played a controlling part in the general politics of the country, as well as in the affairs of Three Rivers as a city, fighting the same battles, and filling the same positions as ministers and speakers of the House. In both, too, are to be found united the same energy and industry, the same civic spirit, which have raised them to the pedestal of public benefactors in the eyes of their fellow-citizens. Hon. Arthur Turcotte is still in the full vigor of manhood. Born at Montreal, on the 19th January, 1845, he received a brilliant education at the Jesuits’ College, Montreal, and Stoneyhurst College, Lancashire, England. He early developed remarkable literary and artistic tastes, and the oratorical talent which he inherited from his father, one of the most eloquent men of his time. In 1867, Mr. Arthur Turcotte was admitted to the bar, where he soon won a prominent position. In 1879 he was appointed a Queen’s counsel. He took an active and important part in the municipal affairs of his native city, and represented his fellow citizens during a number of years successively as councillor, alderman and mayor. He was returned to the Quebec Legislature by the popular vote for the first time in March, 1876. Two years later, the electoral division of Three Rivers re-elected him by acclamation, and on the 4th June, 1878, the Legislative Assembly of Quebec raised him to the dignity of its speaker, which he continued to fill until the dissolution of the houses, in 1881. At the general elections of 1881, he was again a candidate for Three Rivers, but the close of the polls found him in a minority. The election of his successful competitor, Mr. Dumoulin, having been set aside, however, for corruption, a new election took place in March, 1884, and Hon. Mr. Turcotte was again returned to the legislature. At the general elections of the 14th October, 1886, superhuman efforts were made to defeat him, but he once more triumphed with a considerable majority of the popular vote. When Hon. H. Mercier was charged with the formation of a new cabinet for the Province of Quebec, in 1887, Hon. Mr. Turcotte was asked to enter it, and did so as a minister without portfolio. Some months later he was called to act as commissioner of crown lands, during the absence of the actual incumbent, the Hon. Mr. Garneau, who was in Europe, for the benefit of his health. In November, 1887, ill-health having forced Mr. Premier Mercier to take a rest for some time, Hon. Mr. Turcotte was charged by him to act as Premier, and preside over the cabinet councils during his absence. The acting prime minister of Quebec is generally admitted to be one of the most powerful and popular tribunes of his day. In the house, he never speaks without adding new and precious light to any question under debate, and his deliverances are always marked by much originality and independence of thought. He has ever been the friend of the masses, and to his exertions they are indebted for the Quebec Statute, exempting from attachment one-half of workmen’s wages. His industrious habits make him a valuable representative, and he has always taken an active part in public legislation. He has been the author of numerous amendments for the simplification of the civic code, and of the procedure before the Civil Courts. He has also done much for the city of Three Rivers, where, notwithstanding the bitterness of political contests, his name is exceedingly popular. Like his illustrious father, he has contributed largely to the improvement and extension of its railway facilities. The Three Rivers “loop line,” an important local accommodation, is due to his initiative and exertions, and he is actually engaged in promoting another great public enterprise, the Three Rivers and North-Western Railway, which promises most beneficial results. Hon. Mr. Turcotte is a director of the British Empire Life Assurance Company. On 16th January, 1873, he was wedded to Marie Eleanore Isabella, only daughter of Angus Macdonald, of Becancour.
Fabre, Most Rev. Edward C., Roman Catholic Archbishop of Montreal, was born in the city in which he holds such a high and holy office, on the 28th February, 1827. His parents, Edward Raymond Fabre, and Lucy Perrault, were both born in Montreal. His father for many years carried on the business of bookselling, standing, during his lifetime, high in the estimation of his fellow citizens, and was mayor of the city in 1849-50. Archbishop Fabre is the eldest of a family of five children who survive their father. A younger brother, Hon. Louis R. Hector Fabre, occupied a seat in the senate of the Dominion for a number of years, for La Salle; and a sister, Hortense, was married to the late Sir George E. Cartier. The Most Rev. Archbishop Fabre was educated at St. Hyacinthe College, Quebec province, and at Issy, near Paris, in France. He received the tonsure at the hands of Archbishop Affre, of Paris, on the 17th May, 1845, and, returning to Canada, was ordained in Montreal on the 23rd February, 1850, by Bishop Prince. After remaining four years in Montreal, he was appointed curate of Sorel, where he proceeded and entered upon his duties on the 3rd of April, 1850. In 1852 he was promoted to the office of parish priest at Pointe Claire, on the St. Lawrence river, between Lachine and St. Anne. Here he remained until November, 1854, and then returned to the bishop’s palace, at Montreal. He was made a canon on the 25th December, 1855; on the 1st April, 1873, was appointed bishop of Gratianopolis, and was consecrated by Archbishop Taschereau, of Quebec, on the 1st of May following. In 1876, on the resignation of Bishop Bourget, he became bishop of Montreal, and entered upon the important duties of that office in September of that year, and was created Archbishop of the same See on the 8th of June, 1886, on which date the See was created an Archbishopric. Archbishop Fabre has a large territory under his control and superintendence, but he has not shrunk from his duties. He is beloved by his people, and works in the full consciousness that he is in the right path, and has been called of God to do His work on earth.
Mackintosh, Charles H., Journalist, Ottawa, was born in London, Ontario, in 1843. He is a son of the late Captain William Mackintosh, county engineer of Middlesex, Ontario, who came to Canada as an attaché of the ordnance branch of the British army. Mr. Mackintosh has led an unusually active life, and has succeeded in making his way, unaided, from an humble position to one of honor and influence. He was educated at the Galt Grammar school and Caradoc Academy, two well-known institutions at that time. When almost yet a schoolboy he had strong impulses toward a literary life. When the Prince of Wales came to Canada, in 1860, an ode of welcome from the pen of Mr. Mackintosh, then a youth of seventeen, was read in his honor, and presented to His Royal Highness. Two years later, under the title of “Fat Contributor,” he wrote for the London Free Press a series of bright articles which were characteristically named “Hurry-Graphs.” These attracted so wide attention, that the entrance of the young writer into journalism was a foregone conclusion. He gave up the study of law, upon which he had entered, and became first reporter, and soon afterwards city editor of the Free Press. His journalistic career was marked by rapid progress. In 1864 he was city editor of the Hamilton Times. A year later he founded the Dispatch, of Strathroy, which he conducted until 1874. In 1868 he married Gertrude Cooke, daughter of T. Cooke, J.P., of Strathroy. In 1871, he founded the Parkhill Gazette, which he controlled for some time, while still managing the Dispatch. In the same year he unsuccessfully contested North Middlesex as Conservative candidate for the local legislature. In 1871 he visited Chicago during the fire, and wrote a description of the terrible event; 60,000 copies were sold in two weeks. In 1873 he was elected a member of the town council of Strathroy, in which capacity he exhibited talents, as a public man, which afterwards showed to better advantage in a wider sphere. Believing in himself, as all men do who come to the front in human affairs, he deliberately proceeded to fit himself for the higher place in public life which he believed himself destined to fill. Thinking that the protection system which had long been established in the United States would come up for active discussion in Canada, he went to Chicago, accepting the position of managing editor of the Chicago Journal of Commerce. While resident in the western metropolis he studied carefully the protection system, as well as other institutions of the United States. He also wrote a graphic account of the United States “panic, of 1883.” Returning to Canada, he declined an editorial position on the Mail; sold out his interest in the Strathroy Dispatch, and went to Ottawa, where he became editor of the Ottawa Citizen, the Conservative journal of the capital. He at once attracted attention, not only because of the vigorous management and writing of the Citizen, but because of the active interest he displayed in public questions. At the celebration of the O’Connell centennial he wrote a poem which won the gold and silver medal over many others submitted. He was an ardent protectionist long before the Conservative party accepted that system as a plank in their platform, and must be counted as one of the leaders in that great movement. In 1877, the late John Riordon, of St. Catharines, urged Mr. Mackintosh to cooperate with him in reorganizing the Mail, but the offer was again declined. His active interest in public affairs, combined with an unusual share of those qualities which make men popular with their fellows, caused him to be nominated as mayor of Ottawa in 1879, and the result of the election was his return by a large majority. In the two succeeding years he was re-elected, and though unseated on a technicality after the third contest, he was a fourth time favored with the support of the people and fulfilled his term. As mayor of the capital of Canada he inaugurated many reforms which have proved of the greatest benefit to the city. In the general election of 1882 he was one of the Conservative candidates in Ottawa for the House of Commons, and both he and his colleague were elected by sweeping majorities. During his term in parliament he made several speeches which were marked by a combination of keen common sense, full information and finished oratory. He spoke but seldom; but when he took the floor he always secured a careful and attentive hearing. Mr. Mackintosh resigned his seat for Ottawa in July, 1886, but at the request of his friends agreed to hold it until the dissolution, which he did. The capital of Canada is no bed of roses for any active or generous man, and thus the senior member found it, hence his positive objection to being again a candidate. In the last general election Mr. Mackintosh, by the unanimous wish of the Conservative party, contested Russell against Mr. W. C. Edwards, the largest manufacturer and most popular Liberal in the county, and was defeated by a narrow majority, owing mainly to the feeling against the government among the French-Canadians, aroused by the execution of Riel. He polled 2,146 votes, or between 400 and 500 more than were ever given to a Conservative candidate in that county. The Home Rule and Riel cries concentrated at least 1,700 votes solidly against any Conservative nominee, the constituency being largely catholic. The election has been contested, and at this writing the trial on the merits of the case has not been held. Mr. Mackintosh, besides the prominent part he has taken in public affairs, has done much to benefit the Ottawa region by the formation of public works. Notably he was the chief promoter and president of the Gatineau Valley Railway Company, and succeeded in interesting a syndicate of capitalists in the enterprise, so that the road is now under construction. Quite recently Mr. Mackintosh declined to be a candidate for the mayoralty of the capital in 1888.
Paton, Andrew, Sherbrooke, Managing Director of the Paton Manufacturing Company, Sherbrooke, dates his birth on the 5th of April, 1833, near Stirling, Scotland, his parents being James Paton and Mary Harvey, the former dying before his son was born. He received a fair English education, and at an early age became an apprentice to J. and D. Paton, woollen manufacturers, of Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, for which firm he worked after finishing his apprenticeship. In 1855, Mr. Paton came to this country, engaged in business, with another man, in the manufacture of cloth at Galt, Ontario, and six years later went to Waterloo, in the same province, and continued the same business under the firm name of Paton and Brickes. Mr. Paton was the first man in Canada to make double and twist, or Scotch tweeds. In 1866, he came to Sherbrooke, and took charge of what shortly afterwards became the Paton Manufacturing Company, he supervising the erection of all the buildings now owned by that company, one-half being put up that year, and the rest in 1872. The main building next the office is 212 feet long, and four stories above the basement; the other large building is 216 feet long, and five stories high. Besides these two buildings, which are used for carding, spinning, weaving and finishing, are the dye rooms, 150 feet long; dressing room, 100 feet long, and three stories high including basement; two warehouses the same height, and over 100 feet long; and a number of other buildings, including boiler-houses, machine and carpenters’ shops, office, etc., all of solid brick. It is the largest factory of the kind in the Dominion of Canada, being a twenty-two set mill. The ground plan of the several buildings, their construction and internal arrangement, and the whole management of this mammoth institution are highly creditable to the mechanical talents and business capacity of Mr. Paton. The company gives employment to about five hundred and fifty men, women and children, and pays out to those operatives more than $140,000 annually. Such mills add largely to the population of a town or city, and greatly benefit the surrounding country, as well as the place in which they are located, affording a ready and good market to the farmers in the vicinity for their wool, wood, etc. The leading fabrics manufactured in this mill are tweeds, cassimeres, overcoatings, shoe-cloth and military cloth, in all about 1,000,000 yards, representing a money value of $600,000. It is needless to say that to act as managing-director of such a concern, and to do it well, requires a clear head as well as an active body, and an almost ubiquitous presence. Yet Mr. Paton is cool, calculating, far-seeing and methodical, and never seemingly in a hurry. He thoroughly learned the business of cloth-making in the first place, understands it to perfection, and everything in the mill moves like clock-work. Mr. Paton has done good work in the city council, of which he was a member for eight years, acting as chairman of the Fire Committee, and has been a trustee of the Congregational church, in which he has a membership. He is a man of solid Christian character, and one of those citizens whom Sherbrooke could ill spare. In 1859, he was joined in marriage with Isabella Moir, an estimable Scotch lady, and they have six children.
Colfer, George William, Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired List), late 61st Battalion Montmagny and l’Islet Volunteer Infantry, Barrister and Chief-Clerk Provincial Secretary’s Office, Quebec, was born at Quebec, 31st January, 1837, youngest son of Charles Colfer, of Banna, county Wexford, Ireland, who came to this country in 1820, and was one of the principal founders of St. Patrick’s Church, Quebec, in which he was buried, on 19th December, 1843, and of Eliza Burke Henley, whose family came from Tipperary, and settled in Newfoundland towards the end of the last century. Educated at Quebec Seminary and Laval University, and finished a complete collegiate course at St. Mary’s (Jesuit) College, Montreal, in July, 1856. In November of the same year he entered the office of the eminent legal firm of Holt & Irvine, and after fulfilling his indentures with them, and following the law courses at Laval University, was admitted to the Quebec bar, on 7th January, 1861. When confederation was established, he entered the civil service of his native province, on 17th July, 1867, as chief clerk of the Executive Council, where he remained until November, 1869, when he was transferred to his present office. He was private secretary to the first premier of Quebec, Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, during the whole of his tenure of office, and also to several of his successors. He was called upon, on several occasions, while attending to his own duties, to replace, for lengthened periods, the assistant provincial secretary, and also acted as deputy provincial registrar for over a year. He acted also as A.D.C. and secretary, at various times, to the two first lieutenant-governors of Quebec. Lieut.-Col. Colfer might, perhaps, have attained a high position in his profession, but having a taste for things military, and not being anxious at the time about his bread and cheese, he undertook to go contrary to Cicero’s Cedant arma togæ, and paid more attention to the sword than to the gown. Having joined the Quebec cavalry, now the Q. O. C. Hussars, in 1857, he left that corps as regimental sergeant-major in November, 1864, to join the Military School, formed at Quebec, under Colonel Gordon, C.B., H. M. 17th Regiment. In December following he obtained first and second-class certificates, was immediately gazetted captain 2nd Battalion Quebec Regiment Service Militia, under 27 Vict., cap. 2, sec. 19, and sent to Arthabaska to superintend draft in that district, on 30th December, 1864-65. Drill instructor to Parliamentary Drill Association, composed of members during session of 1864-65, under the late Lieut.-Col. Suzor, A.A.G. The association was reviewed and complimented by His Excellency Lord Monck and Sir E. P. Taché, Kt. In 1865 he was appointed, April 25th, adjutant 1st Western Administrative Battalion for frontier service. He proceeded to Windsor, Ontario, on 26th same month, and served with the battalion until its recall in July following. In September, 1865, he was present at cadet camp, Laprairie, under Colonel (now Lord) Wolseley, and promoted to sergeant, the highest rank given, field and staff officers being regulars. In June, 1866—Fenian raid—he volunteered as cadet, and signed muster-roll for service in any capacity. He volunteered also to take over a company of 8th battalion R.R., as captain, if ordered to the front. In 1869-70 he attended the school, formed at Quebec, to learn new drill. In June, 1871, he was appointed paymaster of the 61st battalion Volunteer Infantry. He served as camp quartermaster of the divisional camp at Lévis. In September and October, he was present at battalion camp 61st Cap St. Ignace. In December, 1871, and January, 1872, he was A.D.C. and secretary to the lieutenant-governor of Quebec. In July he was with the battalion at divisional camp at Lévis. On June 28th he was appointed major of the 61st Battalion. He was present at successive camps, as ordered. From the 1st September to the 1st October, he was A.D.C. and secretary to the lieutenant-governor. On November 30th, 1877, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel 61st battalion. He was present at all successive camps, and served on brigade staff, as musketry instructor, in 1882. He retired, retaining rank, in July, 1883. He was married, 26th November, 1866, to Mary Rebecca Blakiston, daughter of Raymond Blakiston, of the ancient family of Blakiston, of Durham, England (whose father, at one time, expected to fall heir to a great part of the Tempest estates, through his great grandmother, Margaret Tempest, and which are now held by Vane Tempest, Marquis of Londonderry), and Elizabeth Jane Henn, of the distinguished Henn family, of Paradise Hill, county Clare, Ireland. Mrs. Colfer has always been known as a distinguished pianist, and a vocalist of rare power and sweetness. When a pupil at the Ursuline Convent, Quebec, she was chosen to sing the “Ode to the Prince of Wales,” to her own harp accompaniment, when His Royal Highness visited that institution, in 1860. She also wields a graceful and facile pen; is the author of “Stray Leaves,” and several short sketches, and often contributes to the local press, French and English, under her nom de plume. The issue of this marriage was one son and six daughters; five daughters survive, the eldest of whom graduated this year (1887) at the Jesu Marie Convent, Sillery, and had the honor of carrying off the Marquis of Lansdowne’s medal, for excellence. The Colonel was born, and hopes to die, a Roman Catholic. He is a member of the St. Patrick’s Literary Institute, of which he has been, at different times, president and vice-president; of the Quebec Historical Society, and of the Quebec Geographical Society. Being a member of the civil service, he does not consider it becoming to take part in political matters, though free to have his own opinions.