White, Hon. Thomas, Ottawa, Minister of the Interior of the Dominion of Canada, M.P. for Cardwell, Ontario, was born at Montreal, on the 7th of August, 1830. His father was Irish, a county Westmeath man, and his mother Scotch, having been born in Edinburgh. Mr. White, senior, carried on business as a leather merchant in Montreal for many years, where he was greatly respected. He sent Thomas, the subject of this sketch, to the High School of that city, where he received the education which in later years he was destined to turn to such excellent account. Having left school, he engaged for some years in mercantile pursuits, but this was not according to his taste, and he soon made up his mind to abandon the calling, and accepted a position on the editorial staff of the Quebec Gazette—which position was offered him in consequence of an address he had delivered on temperance in the city of Quebec some time before, and which attracted great attention. In 1853 he started, in company with his brother-in-law, Robert Romain, the Peterboro’ Review, which he was connected with until 1860. Then he entered upon the study of law in the office of the Hon. Sidney Smith, Q.C., of Peterboro’, and prosecuted his studies during the full term of four years. He then removed to Hamilton, and, with his brother Richard White, purchased the Spectator newspaper, which they conducted with great energy from 1864 to 1870. Mr. White, from an early age, evinced a marked interest in public affairs; and when he was yet a very young man, was chosen reeve of the town of Peterboro’. He likewise always took a great interest in educational affairs, and served upon the Grammar School boards in Peterboro’ and Hamilton. In Montreal, where in later years his chief personal interests were centred, he took an important part in civic and general business. He was for a number of years representative of the Montreal Board of Trade in the Dominion Board; for three years a member of the executive committee of the Dominion Board of Trade, and representative for five years of that body at the National Board of Trade of the United States. But important and ever conspicuous connection with civic matters, and with associations, did not satisfy the ambition of Mr. White. He had been for years a close and careful observer of political events, and a conscientious student of public questions. So he resolved to seek admission to parliament; and when he sought that admission he did not go as a raw recruit, who has to study public questions after he has entered the legislature. His mind was well stored with practical information, and his judgment ripened by a wide experience. In 1878, he was first returned to parliament for Cardwell, his present seat. But this success was not achieved without much perseverance and strong efforts. In 1867, he was an unsuccessful candidate for South Wentworth in the Ontario legislature; in 1874, for the county of Prescott, in the House of Commons; and in 1875 and 1876, respectively, for Montreal West, in the House of Commons. It may be pointed out that the aggregate majority against him in the three first elections amounted to only sixteen votes. Mr. White has retained his seat for Cardwell since 1878. He has always been an able and very conscientious supporter of the Conservative party’s national policy, and is always prepared with an invincible array of arguments to defend the position which he takes upon this question. He is one of the most industrious members of the House of Commons, and best informed on the government side of the house on questions of trade and commerce. Hon. Mr. White is a graceful, polished and telling speaker; always conveys the impression of being master of his subject, and never becomes confused when he gets upon his feet. In 1885, affairs in the Northwest Territories assumed a very unsatisfactory state, rebellion broke out, and general discontent prevailed anent the government’s management of that vast territory. At this time Sir David Macpherson, minister of the interior, was suffering from illness and unable to cope with the many questions forced upon him through this unfortunate state of things, and when compelled to resign and go to Germany to restore his health, every one began to search for a man of ability to take charge of the vacated departmental headship. Sir John A. Macdonald selected the member for Cardwell to fill the vacancy, and the most complete satisfaction was evinced by the public, indeed even organs most bitterly opposed to the government admitted that the selection was a most admirable one, for the industry, the ability for organization, and the capacity of the minister elect, were known to every one. Almost immediately after receiving the appointment, Mr. White proceeded to the Northwest, and made painstaking investigation into the many unsettled affairs in that region; and it is not necessary to show how numerous, how tedious, and how immense this task was, and the work which afterwards fell to him at his office in the capital. We mention this to show the grave responsibility resting upon the shoulders of the minister of the interior, but there is much satisfaction in knowing that there is no public man of whom we have any knowledge better fitted to cope with the Northwest difficulties than Mr. White. Before closing the sketch, we think it is only fair to mention that the Hon. Mr. White, like many of the leading men who now hold public positions, received his early training as a speaker in the division rooms of the Sons of Temperance, and that, when a young man and a resident of Lower Canada, he occupied one of the highest offices in the Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance of the province of Quebec, and was the first in Canada to write a pamphlet explaining the aims and objects of an order of temperance workers, that are as active to-day in extending the cause of temperance and prohibition as it was about forty years ago, when the order was first introduced into Canada.
Duplessis, Louis Theodule Neree LeNoblet, Advocate, Three Rivers, M.P.P. for the county of St. Maurice, Quebec province, was born at St. Anne d’Yamachiche, on the 5th March, 1855. He is the fourth son of Joseph LeNoblet Duplessis and Marie Louise Lefebvre Descoteaux. His ancestors came from France at the end of the seventeenth century, and settled at La Pointe-du-Lac, in the district of Three Rivers. He was educated at the Seminary of Nicolet and at the Seminary of Three Rivers. He studied law as a profession, and in January, 1880, was called to the bar of Lower Canada, and is now practising in Three Rivers, in partnership with J. M. Deselets, Q.C. Mr. Duplessis did not take an active part in politics until the general election of 1886, when he was returned to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for the county of St. Maurice. In religion he is an adherent of the Roman Catholic church, and in politics a Conservative. He is a rising man, and not many years hence will make his mark in the legislature of his native province. On the 14th July, 1886, he was married to Bertha Cécile Genest, daughter of L. U. A. Genest, clerk of the peace for the district of Three Rivers.
Clarke, Henry Edward, M.P.P. for West Toronto, the subject of this sketch, and one of the rising men in the provincial capital, was born at Three Rivers, Quebec, on the 20th of March, 1829. He is a son of Henry Clarke, and Ellen Armstrong, both of whom came from Midhill, county of Fermanagh, Ireland. Our subject received his tuition, which comprised a sound and practical English education, from public teachers and private instructors, and at fifteen years of age Mr. Clarke left home to push his fortune in the world. Commerce drew him into its busy and active field. At the age of eighteen he had learned the trade of saddle and trunkmaking, and found employment in one of the largest shops in Montreal. Here he remained until 1848, and then removed to Ottawa (then Bytown), where, in the following year, when barely twenty years of age, we find him foreman of the largest saddlery shop in the town. At Ottawa he remained for about four years, working diligently, and perfecting himself in his trade. Mr. Clarke again returned to Montreal in 1853, and the next year he was sent to Toronto to open a branch trunk store for R. Dean & Co., of Montreal. Mr. Clarke now resolved to carry on business for himself, and in ten months after his arrival here he bought out the business of R. Dean & Co. Although he had little capital at his command, he had industry and perseverance, and the result is that we now find him at the head of one of the largest trunk manufacturing establishments in America, and one of the most solid and enterprising of Toronto’s citizens. Although an active man in his own business, yet Mr. Clarke has found some time to devote to public affairs. For eight years he was a director of the Mechanics’ Institute; was alderman for St. George’s Ward in 1879, and for St. Andrew’s Ward for the years 1881, ’82, and ’83. He was chairman of the Court of Revision in 1881, and of the Executive Committee in 1883. He was elected, in 1883, and again in 1887, to represent Toronto West in the Ontario Parliament, and this seat he still holds. He was also for a time one of the directors of the Federal Bank. As a politician Mr. Clarke has achieved distinction and won a high place for himself in the Ontario legislature. He is an effective speaker, and has on repeated occasions ably supported his leader, Mr. Meredith, in the active duties of legislation, and done good service to his party on the floor of the house. As an ardent Conservative, he sits at present in the cold shades of opposition; though did a change of government come, Mr. Clarke would find himself not only “on the Treasury benches,” but no doubt among the prominent members of the cabinet. He possesses an active and practical mind, is fairly well read, and keeps himself posted on all the leading questions of the day, in so far as they come under the purview of politics. Lately he has taken a prominent part in opposing the Commercial Union of Canada with the United States, feeling that it might tend to an undesirable political alliance with the Republic, and retard the industrial life and development of Canada. On this subject, Mr. Clarke contributed his views on the opposition side of the argument to the Canadian Almanac for 1888, Mr. Erastus Wiman, of New York, taking the affirmative side. On other subjects of practical moment, in the domain of politics and legislation, Mr. Clarke has written and spoken much, and his views always command considerable public attention. Mr. Clarke is an Orangeman, having joined the order in 1849. He travelled extensively in 1878, and visited London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Paris, Geneva, Mont Blanc, Berne, Lucerne, Munich, Vienna, Trieste, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, and other historic places. On his return, he delivered a lecture called “Impressions of a Tour in Europe,” in Richmond street Methodist Church, and afterwards published it in pamphlet form. Mr. Clarke belongs to the Methodist denomination, and in politics is a Conservative. He married in May, 1856, Anne, daughter of the late Thomas Kennedy, of Montreal, and has a family of three children, a boy and two girls. His son died at the age of fourteen years. Mr. Clarke’s career has been industrious and honorable, and he enjoys the fruits of his labors and the respect of his fellow men.
Desilets, Joseph Moise, Q.C., Advocate, Three Rivers, Quebec, was born on the 13th April, 1838, at Bécancour, county of Nicolet. He is the son of Isidore Desilets and of Marie Perenne de Moras, both belonging to old French families. He received his education at the College of Nicolet and St. Hyacinthe. He adopted law as a profession, and was called to the bar of Lower Canada on the 2nd September, 1862. He was appointed a Queen’s counsel, March 9th, 1887. He was alderman for the city of Three Rivers from 1864 to 1869; mayor of the same city from 1869 to 1872, and district magistrate for the district of Three Rivers from 1873 to 1878. Mr. Desilets is now practising in partnership with N. L. Duplessis, advocate, and M.P.P. for the county of St. Maurice. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, and in politics a Conservative. He was married, June 3, 1863, to Marie Malvina Trudel, the only daughter of the late Oliver Trudel, notary, and of Sophia Sulte.
Morris, John Lang, B.C.L., Q.C., Barrister, Montreal, born at Perth, Ontario, in 1835, is the youngest son of the late Hon. William Morris and Elizabeth Cochrane, and was educated at High School, Montreal, and McGill College, graduating as B.C.L. in 1859. He studied law under his brother, the Hon. Alexander Morris, the late Judge Torrance and the Hon. Judge Cross, and was admitted to the Montreal bar in June, 1859. Mr. Morris has long enjoyed a large and influential practice—his partners having been Robert A. Leach, son of the late Very Rev. Archdeacon Leach, a talented young advocate whose promising career was prematurely cut short by death; the late Judge Torrance, and subsequently the late Thomas W. Ritchie, Q.C., and William Rose, son of Sir John Rose, Bart. His present partner is Charles M. Holt, B.C.L., son of the late Judge Holt, of Quebec, and the business is carried on under the firm name of Morris & Holt. Mr. Morris is a specialist in commercial, real estate and ecclesiastical law—is a clear, logical and convincing pleader, and has been for many years the counsel of the Presbyterian Church. In this last capacity he conducted successfully in all the courts of the province of Quebec, the celebrated case of Dobie and the Temporalities Board. He was retained by the church to plead the same cause before her Majesty’s Privy Council in England and although the judgment of our court was modified in some respects, he was successful in inducing that tribunal not to grant the prayer of the anti-unionists that the funds be handed over to them. Upon the strength of this judgment legislation was subsequently obtained from the Dominion Parliament which set at rest the pretensions of the minority to hold the church funds. This act, as stated by the Rev. Robert Campbell, D.D., in his “History of the St. Gabriel st. Church, Montreal,” “met with stout opposition in the private bills committee of both houses of parliament—calling forth the magnificent speeches of Principal Grant, of Kingston, Mr. Macdonnell, of Toronto, and John L. Morris, of Montreal, in reply to Messrs. Macmaster, Brymner and Lang.” In religion, Mr. Morris, following in the footsteps of his father, is a “true blue” Presbyterian, and has been an elder in connection with St. Andrew’s, and since the union of Presbyterians, with St. Paul’s Church, Montreal. He took a very active and leading part in promoting the union of the Presbyterian churches in 1875, both by his speeches on the floor of the synod and professionally in successfully defending the various suits instituted by the minority opposed to the union. He has been a Sunday school teacher and superintendent for over thirty years. Like his elder brother the Hon. A. Morris, he has taken a great interest in Canadian affairs, and has delivered a number of popular lectures upon the history of Canada. In politics, Mr. Morris has always been a consistent Conservative, and although too much devoted to the interests of his profession to have entered into public life, has in a quiet but energetic way exerted a good deal of influence in supporting his party. He is married to Agnes McCulloch, youngest daughter of the late Dr. Michael McCulloch, of Montreal, who fell a victim to his heroic devotion to the sick during the time of the last visitation by cholera in 1854. His only sister is married to W. B. Lambe, of Montreal, advocate. His brother, William J. Morris, has devoted himself exclusively to mercantile pursuits.