Hould, Jean Baptiste Ludger, LL.B., Barrister, Three Rivers, who is one of the most prominent lawyers in Three Rivers, was born on the 3rd of September, 1841, at St. Angèle de Laval, and is the son of Jean Baptiste Hould, who for many years was mayor and member of the council of the latter place. His mother was Olive Tourigny, of the same place. Mr. Hould was educated at the Seminary of Nicolet, where he succeeded in securing a good education. He afterwards studied law at Laval University, during which term he was engaged in the office of the then well-known firm of Casault, Langlois & Angers, the Hon. Mr. Casault, now judge of the Superior Court, and the Hon. Mr. Angers, the present lieutenant-governor of Quebec, being members of it. Mr. Hould was admitted to the bar of Lower Canada in July, 1864, and commenced practice at Three Rivers in 1865, and since then he has enjoyed by far the most lucrative practice in that city. Amongst his many duties, he has pleaded at the Court of Review, in the Queen’s Bench and in the Supreme Court. He held office for many years in the city council, but his multifarious duties in connection with his practice compelled him to relinquish his connection with municipal affairs. He was elected twice president (bâtonnier) of the bar of Three Rivers, and in May, 1883, was also chosen president (bâtonnier-general) of the bar of the province of Quebec. He is acknowledged by his confrères as possessing a great amount of professional ability; is greatly respected by the community at large, and highly deserving of the confidence for integrity reposed in him. Mr. Hould helped to have the tax of $4.00 abolished which each advocate was formerly compelled to pay for the publication of the Lower Canada Reports; and he established a law library for the bar of Three Rivers. He is one of the founders and the first president of the literary and scientific society called Société Basault, which was founded in 1863, at Laval University, in Quebec. He acted as advocate for F. H. B. Methot, H. Montplaisir, H. G. Mathiot and F. Trudel when their elections were contested. He married on the 30th June, 1869, Sarah, daughter of the late Francis Xavier Turcotte, who was for many years clerk of the peace for Three Rivers. By this marriage there has been issue nine children, five of whom survive.
Taschereau, His Eminence Elzéar-Alexandre, Cardinal and Archbishop of Quebec, was born on the 17th February, 1820, at St. Marie de la Beauce, Quebec province. This illustrious prince of the Roman Catholic church is descended from Thomas Jacques Taschereau, a gentleman who came to Canada in the early part of the seventeenth century from Touraine, in France, and whose descendants have ever since occupied prominent positions in the province of Quebec. Soon after the arrival of the founder of the Canadian branch of the family, he was appointed to the office of marine treasurer, and in 1736 received a grant of a seigniory on the banks of the Chaudière river. The Cardinal’s grandfather was the late Hon. Gabriel Elzear Taschereau, who, during his lifetime, was a member of the Legislative Assembly. His father was Jean Thomas Taschereau, who was a judge of the King’s Bench and died in 1832. His mother, Marie Panet, was a daughter of the Hon. Jean Antoine Panet, who was the speaker of the first Legislative Assembly of Canada. This estimable lady died in 1866. The future Cardinal, when a mere lad, was sent to the Quebec Seminary, where he soon became distinguished as a student. Here he pursued a course of classical studies, and then entered the Grand Seminary, where he began the usual course of theology. In 1836, when he was in his seventeenth year, he visited Rome in company with Abbé Holmes, of the Seminary, and in the following year received the tonsure at the hands of Monsigneur Piatti, archbishop of Trebizonde, in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Shortly after this he returned to Quebec and again took up his theological studies, which, with other branches of learning, occupied his attention for about six years, when, though he was still under canonical age, he was ordained priest. His ordination took place on the 10th September, 1842, at the Church of St. Marie de la Beauce, his native place, in the presence of Monseigneur Turgeon, then coadjutor, and subsequently successor to Archbishop Signal. Within a short time after his ordination he was appointed to the chair of philosophy in the Seminary, and this important position he held for twelve years. Previous to this, even in 1838, he held the professorship of Latin and Greek, and in 1841 he was professor of rhetoric. A very interesting episode in this illustrious clergyman’s life occurred shortly after this date, which we cannot help recording here, and which deserves to be written in letters of gold. About thirty miles below the port of Quebec, in the St. Lawrence river, and nearly opposite St. Thomas, is a small island known by the name of Grosse Isle, which has been used for a great number of years by the government of Canada as a quarantine station, where all ships carrying emigrants are required to report before sailing further up the river. In 1847 a malignant fever broke out among the emigrants there which ran a rapid course, and the victims died in great numbers. At this time the emigrants coming in were chiefly Irish Roman Catholics who had been driven by poverty and famine to seek a home in Canada; their vitality had been greatly impaired by starvation before leaving home, and they fell easy victims to the ship fever then so prevalent, which in some cases carried them off in a few hours. The greater part of the island was for a time little better than a mass of loathsomeness and pestilence, and the heroism that would enable a man to face such a state of things is much more praiseworthy than the courage required to enable him to walk up to the mouth of a cannon. Father Taschereau felt the call of duty and volunteered his services to assist the Rev. Father Moylan, who was then chaplain at Grosse Isle, to minister to the spiritual necessities of the victims of the fever. His kind offer was thankfully accepted, and he landed on the island where he remained until he himself was stricken down by the scourge and brought literally to death’s door. His conduct at this time endeared him very much to the Irish Roman Catholics in Quebec and their countrymen throughout the west. But, to resume, Father Taschereau was appointed professor of theology in the Seminary in 1851, and three years afterwards, in 1854, he again visited Rome, charged by the second Provincial Council of Quebec to submit its decrees for the sanction of his Holiness the Pope. He spent two years at this time in the Eternal City, during which period he occupied himself chiefly in studying the canon law, and while here (July, 1856) the Roman Seminary conferred upon him the degree of doctor of canon law. On his return to Quebec, he was appointed director of the Petit Seminaire, a position which he filled until 1859, when he was elected director of the Grand Seminaire, and appointed a member of the Council of Public Instruction for Lower Canada. In 1860 he became superior of the Seminary and rector of Laval University. In 1862 he accompanied Archbishop Baillargeon to Rome on business connected with Laval University, and on his return the same year, was appointed vicar-general of the arch-diocese of Quebec. Again in 1864 he paid a visit to Rome on similar business connected with Laval. In 1866, his term of office as superior of the Grand Seminaire having expired, he was again appointed director, and three years afterwards, on the expiration of another term, he was re-elected superior. In 1870 he paid another visit to Rome, this time as secretary to Monseigneur C. Baillargeon, archbishop of Quebec, who went there to attend the Vatican Council, and on his return the same year he resumed his duties as superior of the Seminary and rector of Laval University. After the death of Archbishop Baillargeon in October, 1870, he administered the affairs of the arch-diocese conjointly with Grand Vicar Cazean. On the 13th Feb., 1871, it was announced that he had been appointed successor to the late archbishop, and on Sunday, the 19th of March, following, he was consecrated to this high office in the presence of a vast concourse of people, many of the clergy of the diocese and of the bishops of Quebec and Ontario,—the Archbishop of Toronto officiating. In 1872 and 1884, business again led him to Rome. And in 1887, on his last visit to the capital of Christendom, he was presented with the Cardinal’s hat. His Eminence is the first Canadian who has thus been so honored by his church, and his Protestant fellow-countrymen are as proud of the honor conferred upon him as his co-religionists, for he is held in high esteem by persons of all classes and creeds in the Dominion for his work’s sake.
Curry, Matthew Allison, M.D., of Halifax, N.S., is a native of Windsor, Hants Co., N.S., where he was born about thirty years ago. The Curry family are of Irish extraction, but have been long settled in this province, where they are principally engaged in farming and manufacturing. It is now nearly forty years since five brothers, William, Mark, Levi, Elisha and Edward started what is known as Curry’s Factory at Curry’s Corner, a point on the junction of the Halifax and Chester roads about a mile from Water street, Windsor. They were all young men and first-rate mechanics. They manufactured sashes, doors and all kinds of work in connection with house-building, carriages, railway cars, and had a machine and carriage shop. William the oldest brother, was at the head of the concern. Mark was a house joiner, Levi managed the blacksmith shop, Elisha was a painter, and Edward looked after the carriage factory. They employed nearly thirty hands, had plenty of work, but were relentlessly pursued by fire. About the year 1855 their works were completely destroyed by a fire which broke out in the night. Again in 1860 fire consumed all their property, among other valuable goods, being a number of railway cars which Edward had contracted to build for the Nova Scotia Railway. About the year 1870 Mark and Elisha started the furniture factory in Windsor, which has always done a very large business, its goods being sold all over the Maritime provinces. It is now managed by A. P. Shand. Previous to this time, however, Mark Curry had, in conjunction with A. P. Shand, carried on an extensive grocery, lumber and flour business in Windsor, under the firm of Curry and Shand. Elisha and Levi Curry died a few years ago. Mark Curry has charge of the government savings bank in Windsor, and Edward Curry is sheriff of Hants county. William Curry, the father of the subject of this sketch, has stuck to the original business at the corner, which still retains nearly its former dimensions. The last fire occurred about five years ago, when the premises were again totally consumed. William Curry, being a man of iron will and unbroken courage and perseverance, went at once to work and rebuilt his factory, which, in conjunction with his second son James, he continues to conduct. Dr. Curry is the eldest son of the above William Curry, his mother being Martha, daughter of the late Matthew Allison, of Windsor, in his lifetime a farmer and shipowner. He received his classical education at the Grammar School at Curry’s Corner, afterwards at the school conducted by the late Thomas Curren, and at the Collegiate School at Windsor, where he carried off the first prize. He entered King’s College, Windsor, in October, 1877, and graduated in June, 1881. During his course he won one of the General Williams prizes and also one of the Stevenson scholarships. After leaving college he studied two years at the Medical College, in Halifa,. N.S., subsequently spent a session at the University of New York, and graduated from the medical department of that institution in 1883. Not content with such experience in his profession as he had already obtained, he decided to cross the Atlantic, and accordingly, spent the year 1884 principally in attending the medical course in Trinity College, Dublin. He made a specialty of midwifery and the study of the treatment of the diseases peculiar to women. After completing his post-graduate studies, he availed himself of the opportunity to make a trip through Scotland and England, previous to returning home. He visited Edinburgh, Liverpool and London, and took note of the famous educational endowments and the professional resorts of those cities. After returning to this province he was in some doubt as to whether to begin practice in one of the country shire towns such as Yarmouth, or to commence in Halifax. He finally decided that, upon the whole, the chances of advancement in the metropolis were the best. The expenses of a beginner in one of the learned professions in a city are greater at first than those of a country practitioner, but in the long run a man of brains and tact will not regret the incidental outlay, in consideration of the many advantages of counsel with brother-workers, and the other opportunities open to competition in the city. Dr. Curry opened an office in Hollis street, Halifax, in the spring of 1885, and has since worked up a very prosperous practice in the south end of the city. Many young men begin among the poorer classes and gradually work into a wealthier clientèle but Dr. Curry was fortunate enough to secure rich patrons at the start. When the Medical School was established on a new basis two years ago, Dr. Curry was offered a position as lecturer, which offer, however, he declined, having some scruples about accepting an office which might seem to place him in opposition to some of the older members of the profession. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and is connected with St. Andrew’s Church in John street. He is unmarried. Being a man of great sociability and geniality of manners he is a great favorite in any society in which he happens to find himself. These traits are very helpful to a physician whose practice lies among all classes of the community, and who must freely give and take in the rough and tumble of professional work and class competition.
Price, Evan John, Quebec, is the present head of the great lumber manufacturing and exporting house of Price Bros. & Co., of that city, and of the Saguenay, the oldest and probably the best known to the trade, not only throughout the Dominion, but all over the continent of America and in Europe. It was founded nearly three quarters of a century ago, by our subject’s father, the late William Price, of Wolfesfield, Quebec, who died in 1867, and who was frequently styled in his day the “King of the Saguenay,” from the controlling interest he exercised over that section of the province of Quebec, through the employment afforded by his extensive lumber limits and numerous saw mills to its local population. Indeed, the Saguenay country, and it may be added, much of the region on both shores of the St. Lawrence, below Quebec, owe their development in a large measure, if not wholly, to the enterprise of the Price family. Their agents explored the whole country, and upon every stream, where prospects warranted it, a saw mill was erected with the usual result. Hundreds flocked to the place, and soon made comfortable homes for themselves. Villages sprang up, mills were erected, churches built, and localities which but a few years before, were a barren waste, rapidly blossomed into thriving communities. The present prosperous town of Chicoutimi and the outlying settlements around Lake St. John had their origin in this way, and if is not surprising that the name of Price should be venerated by their populations as few other old country names have been venerated by the French Canadian element of Lower Canada. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that the Price family have made the Saguenay region what it is to-day in point of material progress. To their enterprise, their fostering care and their unstinted generosity, the habitants of that region are indebted for the assistance which enabled them to tide over the hardships and difficulties always incidental to the early life of the pioneers of settlements at points remote from the centre of civilized life. Mr. Price was born some forty years ago, at his late father’s beautiful country residence of Wolfesfield, on the outskirts of Quebec, and in the immediate vicinity opposite the spot where Wolfe died victorious, at the battle of the Plains of Abraham. He was educated at a private school in England, and entered his father’s office, while still young, to learn the business to a share of which he was in due course admitted, his elder brothers, Hon. David E. Price, afterwards a senator of the Dominion, and William E. Price, afterwards M.P. and M.P.P., for the united counties of Chicoutimi and Saguenay, both now deceased, being already members of the firm. On the death of the venerable founder of the house in 1867, its extensive business was continued by the brothers, under the old name, which is still retained, notwithstanding the deaths of the elder brothers. The surviving partner, Evan John Price, is now the head of the house, which still holds its prominence in the trade, shipping annually a large amount of lumber of its own manufacture, both from Quebec and the Saguenay to the European market. The Price family is of Welsh descent, and their home, “Scipwick,” was at Elstree, in Hertfordshire, up to the time of his father’s death. Mr. Price’s father was born at Hornsey, near London, England, but his grand parents were both natives of South Wales, the one of Glamorganshire, and the other of Cardiganshire. On the maternal side, Mr. Price has good old Scottish blood in his veins. His mother was a Stewart, his father having married Jane, third daughter of the late Charles G. Stewart, in his lifetime comptroller of the imperial customs at Quebec. In religion Mr. Price is a member of the Church of England, and in politics, a Conservative, like all his family before him. He is unmarried.
Larue, Jules Ernest, Q.C., Quebec, Puisné Judge for the province of Quebec.—Jules Ernest Larue was born at Quebec on the 7th July, 1844. He is the son of the late W. Larue, N.P., and Louise B. Panet, daughter of the late Hon. Louis Panet, senator and M.L.C. Mr. Larue followed a classical course of studies at the Seminary of Quebec, and having taken his degrees at Laval University, was admitted to the bar of Quebec on the 6th February, 1866. He then became a member of the important firm of Larue, Angers and Casgrain, of Quebec. He was for ten years editor of the Quebec “Law Reports.” In recognition of his legal attainments he was made a Q.C. in 1882, and was appointed a puisné judge of the Superior Court for the province of Quebec on the 10th of April, 1886. He married on the 22nd September, 1880, Marie Louise, whose parents were the late François Angers, Q.C., and Marie Louise Panet, a daughter of the late Charles Panet, Q.C.