Elliott, George, Guelph, Ontario, formerly one of the leading merchants of that city, and largely identified with its municipal history, is a native of Rochester, county of Kent, England, having been born there on the 27th May, 1819. His father, George Elliott, a country gentleman, was descendent from an ancient Scottish family, and his mother, Elizabeth Moulden, from an old Kentish family. Mr. Elliott, the subject of our sketch, who received a good education, including mathematics and classics, came to Canada with the family in the autumn of 1832. He was in business in Toronto and Cincinnati, Ohio, for several years, and coming to Guelph in 1850, carried on business as a general merchant until 1865, when he retired, having been very successful in his business operations. His father died in Guelph a few years ago, in his ninety-fifth year, much lamented by many friends. Mr. Elliott served in the town, city and county councils at various times, for over twenty years, and held the positions of town councilman, deputy reeve, reeve, warden and mayor. He has performed a great deal of valuable work in the interests of Guelph and the county of Wellington, and was chairman of the building committee when the town hall and other public buildings were erected. He was chairman of the old Board of Public Instruction, and for six years was a member of the High School Board of Trustees. He took great pleasure in aiding in the elevation of the standard of public instruction, and found many earnest and efficient co-operators in this noble work in the town. When in the council he was almost constantly chairman of the finance committee, having fine business talents, and thoroughly trustworthy. He was arbitrator on behalf of the town, upon the adjustment of the indebtedness between it and the county, when Guelph was raised to the dignity of a city. Is a justice of the peace. When the Guelph General Hospital was organized and opened in 1875, he was made chairman of the board of directors, which position he still holds. Mr. Elliott is a Reformer, and quite an influential member of that party, having been for some time, president of the Reform Association for the South Riding of Wellington. He is also president of the St. George’s Society, Guelph. In religion, he is a member of the Church of England, was warden of St. George’s Church, Guelph, for several years, and is a continuous lay delegate to the Diocese of Niagara, and also to the Provincial Synod which meets at Montreal. He is a prominent member of these bodies, and takes a very active part in the proceedings and discussions. Mr. Elliott is an efficient and able speaker on public matters, and a clear writer on questions of a financial and public interest. He was a member of the building committee, and treasurer, when the St. George’s magnificent house of worship was erected, and continues to be indefatigable in church and other work. The poor find a warm friend in Mr. Elliott, and his equally benevolent wife, and his sister, who resides with him. His residence, “Vinehurst,” on the Paisley street hill, is one of the most sightly and pleasant homes in the young and beautiful city of Guelph.
Ives, Hubert Root, Montreal, was born in the town of Farmington, Hartford county, state of Connecticut, United States, on the 15th September, 1833. His father was at one time a prominent farmer and breeder of full-blooded stock. In the same county also for a number of years he held the responsible position of judge of probate in the town of Farmington, and on resigning the office he removed to New Haven, Connecticut, when he entered into the manufacture of hardware, and became after a short time one of the most successful manufacturers of that busy city. Mr. Ives received his early education at the Hopkins Grammer School, New Haven, Conn., where he received a full classical course, after which, unlike most young men, he took a full and complete commercial training, which fitted him in after life for the large and various experiences that he passed through as a manufacturer. After leaving school, young Ives was sent on a lengthy tour through the United States and Canada, with the object of selecting a suitable place wherein he could build up for himself a name worthy to be looked upon with respect and admiration by those who were to follow after him. In 1856 Mr. Ives also travelled extensively over the continent of Europe, visiting all the capital cities of renown. In 1859 he settled in Montreal, and became the founder of the large business now carried on by the firm of H. R. Ives & Co., one of the largest in Canada. The firm, then known as Ives & Allen, was the first to establish a foundry and hardware manufactory in Canada, in which was manufactured small hardware, and the obstacles to be overcome, in order to find a market in a young country for their productions were very great, but eventually the perseverance which has ever characterized Mr. Ives, soon prevailed, and the new venture proved a great success. In the year 1868 he still further enlarged the firm’s operations by the manufacture of stoves, and this branch is now a leading feature of their business. The quality of the work turned out by the firm speaks as a sample of the firm’s work. We need only point to the fine wrought iron gates and railings which surround the parliament buildings at Ottawa, which for graceful form and beauty of design are not surpassed on this continent. When the firm received the contract from the Grand Trunk Railway for making the locomotive and car castings, and which necessitated the enlargement of their already extensive works, the municipality of Longueuil immediately offered them a bonus of $10,000 and exemption from taxes for ten years, if they would establish a branch of their foundry in the village of Longueuil. They at once availed themselves of this offer, and buildings being promptly erected, the new establishment was soon ready for business. The new foundry is well worthy of a visit. Its capacity is such that $200,000 worth of castings can be made in a year, and a great number of hands are constantly employed in the works. Mr. Ives has been for a long time a member of the Board of Trade of Montreal; and for many years sat in its council. Mr. Ives holds the position of honorary secretary to the Egypt Exploration Fund for the Dominion of Canada. This society conducts systematic and scientific explorations and excavations in Egypt, on sites of Biblical and classical interest, under special powers delegated by the Egyptian government. The officers of this society are persons of the highest scientific and social standing in Britain, and most important discoveries have already been made. In early youth he was an adherent of the Presbyterian church, but is now a member of the Church of England. He was first married in 1858, to a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Chester, of Buffalo. This lady died in 1884. In June, 1887, he was again united in marriage to a daughter of the late Judge Daniell, judge of the united counties of Prescott and Russell.
Macdonald, Duncan, St. John’s, province of Quebec, was born in Kingston, Ont., on the 24th June, 1815. His father, Major William Macdonald, was a native of Inverness, Scotland, a captain in the celebrated “Black Watch,” or 42nd Highlanders, and came to Canada at the critical period in the history of our country when the war of 1812 was just beginning. He was attached to the 104th regiment, commanded by Colonel Drummond, and took a most active part in the campaign which followed. On his arrival at Halifax, he was ordered at once to the front, and with his regiment marched from Halifax to Quebec. This was in the depth of winter, and during the thirty-one days of the march he did not enter a house but slept in snow banks or such sheltered spots as could be found. His first battle in this country was at the Windmill Point, Prescott, and he afterwards participated in the battles of Lundy’s Lane and Sackett’s Harbor. The Macdonalds came of an old military family, the captain’s father having been killed at the battle of Bunker’s Hill, Boston, while fighting with his regiment, which like his son’s, was the “Black Watch.” The subject of this sketch was educated at Montreal and Laprairie, taking a commercial course. He then engaged in the drug business in Montreal for seven years, and afterwards removed to St. John’s, Que., where, in conjunction with his brother Edward, in 1837, he started a general store. They dealt largely in grain, and were soon known as the most extensive shippers of grain in the province. As the years went on they saw the lack of banking facilities in the neighborhood, and in 1858, decided to supply this want and started as private bankers. In 1873, the partnership was dissolved, Edward retiring therefrom; and then Duncan entered into the manufacture of stone chinaware, and the business has steadily increased until it has developed into the now well-known St. John’s Chinaware Factory, which is to-day the largest of the kind in the Dominion. Under the able management of Alexander, the son of Duncan Macdonald, the products of the factory have been brought to great perfection, and have been placed on exhibition and taken gold medals at Philadelphia, Toronto, Antwerp, Belgium, and London, England. A recent large addition to the already extensive works, now enables the firm to give employment to about four hundred people. Mr. Macdonald has visited Europe twice, and has travelled extensively in Canada and the United States. He is a justice of the peace, and mayor of St. John’s, Que. In politics he is a Conservative, and in religion a Roman Catholic. He was married in 1845, to Miss De Lisle, daughter of Benjamin De Lisle, Montreal, and has had issue three children, only one of whom is now living.
Beaubien, Hon. Louis, Montreal, born in the city of Montreal, on 27th July, 1837, is son of Dr. Pierre Beaubien, of the University of Paris. He is descended from Trottier de Beaubien, who came from St. Martin d’Ige, in the province of Perche, in France, and settled in Canada near Three Rivers, in 1650. His father was a professor in the Victoria Medical School, Montreal, and its president for many years, attending surgeon to the Montreal gaol and reformatories; and had been elected to parliament twice, for Montreal in 1841, and for Chambly in 1848. His mother, Dame Justine Casgrain, was a daughter of Pierre Casgrain, seigneur of Rivière Ouelle. She had been married first to Dr. A. Maguire, a surgeon in the British navy. Hon. Louis Beaubien was educated at the St. Sulpice College, Montreal, and after a successful course of studies, devoted himself to agriculture and stock-breeding. He entered political life in 1867, when he was elected for Hochelaga to the Quebec legislature. He succeeded in defeating successively such opponents as Mr. Dorion (now Sir A. A. Dorion, chief justice, Queen’s Bench), Victor Hudon, and others. Mr. Beaubien was elected to the Dominion parliament in 1872, and held both seats until the year 1874, when he resigned his seat in the House of Commons on account of the dual representation being abolished, but retained his seat in the local house. He was elected speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, 11th November, 1876, which position he held until April, 1878. He was re-elected for the same county in 1878 and again in 1882. But at the last general election in 1886 he declined re-election on account of ill health. Besides his agricultural pursuits, the Hon. Mr. Beaubien was an active promoter of the Northern Colonization Railway, which developed into the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway, now the eastern division of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was opposed to the sale of the eastern branch of the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway, and on that account, along with the Hon. Dr. Ross, Hon. Mr. de Boucherville, and other well-known Conservatives, withdrew his confidence from the Chapleau government. He has taken a great interest in the improvement of Canadian agriculture. After retiring from politics, he went to France for his health, and to get an operation performed on the eye of his eldest son. Being successful in this he came back to Canada, but was taken again with his former disease which for a time laid him very low. He has, we are glad to say, now recovered completely, and is as active as ever working for the establishment of an elevated railway in Montreal. Hon. Mr. Beaubien is a member of the Provincial Council of Agriculture of the Ayrshire Breeders’ Association, of the Montreal Horticultural Society, etc. He married in 1864, Susanna Lauretta, daughter of Sir Andrew Stuart, chief justice of the Superior Court, Quebec, and for some time administrator of the province.
Wright, Philemon.—The late Mr. Philemon Wright was appropriately called the “Father of the Ottawa.” He was a native of Woburn, State of Massachusetts, United States, where he was born in 1760. Mr. Wright emigrated to this country in the year 1800, and with a steady perseverance, he determined on ascending the river Ottawa in quest of a tract of land suitable for an agriculturist. With this object in view, he steadily penetrated into the country, at a great expense of mental and bodily exertion, for sixty miles beyond any previous settler, where, finding a spot adapted for his purpose, he obtained, after many efforts, and irritating delays, from government, permission to settle upon and survey the township of Hull, in the county of Ottawa, Lower Canada. This being accomplished, he went to work with a will characteristic of the early New England pioneers, and was in a few years rewarded for his toil and hardships by witnessing a thriving settlement growing up around him. In furtherance of his agricultural pursuits, he, at a very heavy cost, imported from Great Britain some of the most approved breeds of cattle, and thereby contributed in the most efficient manner to promote the interests of the settlers in that section of the country. He was also the projector of some of the greatest improvements on the Ottawa. He died at Hull, C.E., on 2nd June, 1839. He left a numerous offspring, to all of whom he was endeared by the tenderest ties of affection and esteem. His epitaph will be recorded in the beautiful and prosperous settlement of Hull, or, as it was sometimes called, Wrightstown, which he commenced and lived to see attain a degree of magnitude, where his name will be long remembered with the highest respect.