Ball, George, Lumber Manufacturer, Nicolet, Quebec province, was born at Champlain, Quebec, 11th September, 1838. His parents were Reuben Ball and Flavia Fontaine. Mr. Ball is one of our many self-educated men, as in his early days schools were not as numerous as they are now, and he had to satisfy himself with a few months at a grammar school. In early life he decided to enter into mercantile business, in which he soon evinced marked ability, and his future success fully proved the wisdom of his choice. He is now one of the largest lumber manufacturers in the province of Quebec, his mills at Nicolet having a capacity of over 10,000,000 feet of lumber per annum. He has taken an active part in the municipal affairs of his town, and in 1885 was elected mayor, being re-elected to the same office in 1887, and is held in the highest esteem by his fellow-townsmen and all who know him. In politics Mr. Ball is a Conservative. He was married in 1864 to Eliza Thurbar.
Boulton, D’Arcy Edward, Cobourg, Ontario, Lieutenant-Colonel of The Prince of Wales’ Canadian Dragoons, headquarters at Cobourg, was born at York, Upper Canada, on the 2nd of February, 1814. He is the present surviving son of the late D’Arcy Boulton and Sarah Robinson, of The Grange, Toronto, nephew of Sir John Beverley Robinson, and grandson of the late D’Arcy Boulton, one of the judges of the Queen’s Bench of then Upper Canada, at that time a Crown colony, all of that party known as the Family Compact. Judge Boulton brought his young family to Canada in 1796, and on a voyage to England a few years after, the vessel he was in was captured by a French frigate after an engagement, in which Mr. Boulton received a cutlas wound, and was carried a prisoner of war to France, where he remained on his patrol of honor at Verdun for three years prior to Bonaparte’s march to Moscow. The wound on his arm grew so as to affect the circulation of the blood, so much so that he went to England in 1830, and an operation by Sir Benjamin Brodie removed the part, by cutting out a pound of flesh at the risk of life. He afterwards returned to Toronto cured of this trouble. The subject of this sketch was educated first under the late Bishop Strachan, and in 1829 went to complete his education in England, at Tiverton, Devon, in Blundell’s school. He returned to Canada in 1832, and adopted the profession of the law. He was made a barrister in 1837, and practised in the profession from that date at Cobourg, his place of residence. In 1836 he was elected a member of the board of police, and sat for years in it, and afterwards as a member of the town council; he was also a member of the county council. He was mayor of Cobourg in the year 1853 and three following years, and devoted himself to the promotion of harbor extension and the construction of gravel and plank roads leading from Cobourg into the country, east, west, and north to Rice Lake, and in 1855 carried through the legislature a charter to build the railway to Peterboro’, as a feeder to the Grand Trunk Railway. He was afterwards largely interested as shareholder and director in the Midland Railway, and for a period was president of the company. He was a commissioner of the Cobourg Town Trust, and in 1883 was appointed by the Dominion government one of a Royal commission with George M. Clarke, judge, and Frederick Broughton, manager of the Great Western Railway, to investigate numerous old standing claims by contractors against the Dominion government, amounting to several millions of dollars. This inquiry was very thorough, extending over a period of about two years, till every claim was disposed of. In 1854 he was engaged by Col. Sloo, possessor of a Mexican grant or charter, confirmed by treaty between Mexico and the United States of America, to procure English contractors to build a railway from Vera Cruz on the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific ocean, known as the Tehuantepec Railway, and to assist at Washington in getting a confirmation of the treaty by Congress. The result of his work was a contract with Messrs. Sykes, of England, to advance $600,000 to Mexico, the price of the charter, and to build the railway, for which service he was handsomely rewarded by the railway company, of which Colonel Sloo was president. The contract afterwards fell through, by the loss of the senior Sykes, with engineers and full staff, who were lost in the steamer Arctic, which went down at sea with all hands. In 1854 Mr. Boulton was named by a Conservative convention to contest the West Riding of Northumberland, but was defeated by the corrupt expenditure of very large sums of money. He was a consistent Conservative, and president for several years of the Liberal-Conservative Association from its first organisation. At the beginning of the rebellion in 1837 he joined the order of Loyal Orangemen, and in 1846 entered the Masonic order and the order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity, about the same period; and is now one of the oldest members of the Masonic and Orange fraternities, is one of the senior members of the bar, and is senior officer of the active militia service on duty. In 1837 he raised a company of infantry and volunteers, and as captain, was enlisted with his men—into the incorporated regiment of the Queen’s Own, under Colonel Kingsmill, and served in Toronto and on the Niagara frontier till the troubles were over. When the active militia was reorganised in 1855, Captain Boulton raised a volunteer cavalry troop, known as The Prince of Wales’ Canadian Dragoons, wearing the scarlet uniform of the English regiment. This troop was increased to a squadron in 1857, when the captain was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in November of that year, and in 1875 the corps was increased to a regiment, with head-quarters at Cobourg, and has always been efficient for duty. From his birth a member of the Church of England, he has served at different periods as churchwarden and delegate to the Synod. In 1826 he rode on horseback with his brother William from Toronto to Peterboro’ to visit the located site of the town, it being founded by his uncle, the Hon. Peter Robinson, commissioner of crown lands, who brought the first Irish emigrants as colonists to Upper Canada. At that time the townships north of Port Hope were receiving their first settlers, and a dozen or so log huts were erected on the banks of the Otanabee river to receive the immigrants prior to going upon their lands. Colonel Boulton in 1838 married Emily Heath, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Heath, of the East Indian Company’s service, who died in India when his three children were in childhood. His widow spent many years on the continent, in Italy and Paris, where she educated her children, and in 1836 brought them to Toronto, Canada. The mother died in 1874 at Cobourg. Her son, Charles Wallace Heath, of Toronto, and her two daughters, are still living. Colonel Boulton’s family consists of three sons and four daughters living. The eldest son, Major Boulton, entered the army, receiving a commission in the first organization of the Royal Canadian regiment. He was stationed at Gibraltar and Malta for some years, and returned with his regiment to Canada. He sold out, and joined the active militia; and in 1885, when settled in Manitoba, he raised and commanded the corps known as Boulton’s Scouts, and did good service quelling the Indian rebellion. After entering into the organization and business of railways, Colonel Boulton in 1865 ceased the practice of his profession, and devoted his latter life to agriculture. He organised the first Farmers’ Institute in his riding, over which he was elected to preside. He has been for years a member of the local Agricultural Association, and was one of the originators of that association in 1835 or thereabouts. He was a zealous supporter of the turf and the hunt, and is now a breeder of thoroughbred stock of horses, short-horns, and Shropshire Down sheep, and still pursues an active, busy life. Two sons and four daughters are married, and have families growing up.
Baptist, George, Three Rivers, Quebec. The late Mr. Baptist was born in the town of Coldstream, Berwickshire, Scotland, 7th January, 1808, and came to Canada, after arriving at the years of manhood. Being possessed of great natural talent and a practical machinist as well as a millwright, he was entrusted with the management of the Etchemin saw mills, owned by Sir John Caldwell, then the largest lumber merchant at the time in Canada. After spending some years as manager of those mills, he leased the Point Levi mills from the government, and here he continued till his final removal to the town of Three Rivers, in 1846. On his arrival there he bought the Cache mill situated on the river St. Maurice. Feeling that the amount of business being done at the mill was not nearly as large as the demand required, he went on a prospecting tour, and finding an eligible location for a more extensive business, built what was known as the grey mills, with a capacity of 12,000,000 feet of lumber. Finding that this mill was not large enough for his still growing trade, he built another mill adjoining the first, which enabled him to cut double the quantity produced by the first mill; this mill was however destroyed by a freshet in 1873. He then built a steam saw mill on Baptist Island, with a capacity of 15,000,000 feet of lumber annually. In consequence of the large volume of business transacted in connection with the mills established by Mr. Baptist necessitating the employment of a large staff of men and material, the present location which is still in possession of his sons—a place which was once a barren wilderness—has been transformed by his enterprise and industry into a well populated district of villages and fine cultivated farms. From the time of Mr. Baptist’s first settlement on the St. Maurice his business progressed with remarkable rapidity, and is still another proof of what can be accomplished by perseverance, joined with industry and shrewdness, aided by a thorough practical knowledge of the mechanical part of his business acquired in his native land. He founded a lumber business in the province of Quebec, which still rivals that of any in Canada, and to-day his son, Alexander, is one of the largest dealers and exporters on the continent. Mr. Baptist was married at Point Levi, in the year 1834, to Isabella Cockburn, who was born in the same town as himself. Mrs. Baptist was of great assistance to her husband in his efforts to achieve the success which he so successfully won. In politics he was a Liberal-Conservative. He always took an active part in local contests, and at one time contested the Senatorial division of Shawinigan in opposition to the Hon. Dr. Malhiot. Mr. Baptist was a member of the Presbyterian church. He died on the 11th May, 1875, well beloved by his fellow townsmen for his genial, reliable, and strictly upright character. His family consists of two sons and five daughters. The property left by Mr. Baptist to his heirs amounted to half a million dollars.
Klein, Alphonse Basil, Barrister, Walkerton, Ontario province, was born on the 11th of September, 1851, at the town of Berlin, county Waterloo, Ontario. His father was John Klein, a well-known newspaper writer, and his mother was Ludovika Lang, and were both natives of Baden, Germany, who settled in Canada many years ago. Mr. Klein was educated by his father and in the Berlin Grammar School, and speaks and writes the German language. He commenced to study law in 1868, was admitted to practise as attorney and solicitor in May, 1874, and called to the bar in 1879. He began practice in 1874 in Walkerton, in partnership with W. Barrett, now junior judge of Bruce. The same year he joined the 32nd battalion, Bruce Volunteer Militia, and received the commission of paymaster in the same battalion in June, 1881. During the North-West rebellion, in 1885, his battalion was called out, but after laying at Southampton for a week, it was ordered to return home. Mr. Klein was public school trustee for Walkerton from 1876 to 1883, and was chairman of the board in 1882. He was elected mayor of Walkerton for 1883, and re-elected by acclamation to the same office in 1884. He has been president of the Walkerton Horticultural Society for the last four years. Is a member of Branch 46, C.M.B.A., located at Walkerton. Was president of the South Bruce Liberal-Conservative Association in 1884, 1885, 1886; and secretary-treasurer from 1874 until 1884, of the same association. He received the unanimous nomination of the Liberal-Conservative party to contest South Bruce in the local elections in 1886 against Mr. O’Connor, the Liberal candidate, but failed to secure his election. In politics Mr. Klein is a Liberal-Conservative, and in religion a Roman Catholic. He was married on the 9th September, 1879, to Sophia A. Klein, daughter of the late Richard Morden, one of the first settlers in Brant township, near Walkerton. Her father’s family were U. E. loyalists, and are of Welsh descent, and in former times were Quakers. Her mother was born in England. The fruit of this marriage has been one daughter.
Honey, John Sleep, Montreal, Joint Prothonotary of the Superior Court of Quebec, and Joint Clerk of the Circuit Court of the same province, was born in the borough of Callington, county of Cornwall East, within three miles of the river Tamar, on the borders of Devonshire, England. His father was a master builder, and for many years was extensively engaged as such. He was a man distinguished for his industrious habits and high probity of character. At the age of thirteen John S. Honey entered the office of a distinguished lawyer in his native borough as clerk, and continued in this employment for four years. In the month of July, 1832, the family sailed from Plymouth for Canada, and fortunately arrived in Montreal in the month of September, just as the cholera, which had been so fatal that year, had begun to abate. Mr. Honey was favored when leaving the office of his patron in Callington, and through his influence, with a kind letter of introduction from Sir William Pratts Call, baronet, to Lord Aylmer, then governor of Lower Canada. In December following his arrival, Mr. Honey had the good fortune to find employment in the office of Monk & Morrough, the joint prothonotaries of the then Court of King’s Bench. He was first employed as enquette clerk, and at the end of the engagement, which lasted only about a week, he became clerk in the inferior term of the Court of King’s Bench, whence, after two weeks’ service in this office, he was promoted to the permanent staff of the Court of King’s Bench. In six months after his promotion he was articled for five years as a law student in the office of the prothonotaries, who were both lawyers, and at the end of his term was duly admitted to the bar, but as his services in the department were considered valuable by the prothonotaries, and his salary having been handsomely augmented, he declined to enter upon the practice of his profession. In the course of four years Mr. Honey’s administrative capacity effected many important changes in the office, which continue in operation to the present period. The most valuable of these improvements was the introduction of the Court Book, known as the “Repertoire,” in which he embodied particulars of the cases which had been instituted since 1827. This laborious work was performed after office hours, and extended over a period of twelve months. It was presented to the prothonotaries on the 1st of January, 1837, and was so highly appreciated by the authorities of the court, the bar and even the mercantile community, that a handsome gift in money was handed by the prothonotaries to Mr. Honey. In 1850 the fees of the court in Lower Canada were ordered by law to be funded. About the same period, under another enactment, further decentralization of the administration of justice took place, which, by establishing several courts in new localities, so reduced the fees in all the old districts that the government was obliged to pay from the general revenue a large amount annually to meet deficiencies. In order to remedy this defect in the working of these several courts, Mr. Honey submitted to the government in the year 1860 a re-adjustment of the Montreal tariff of fees for the Superior Court, which was adopted in 1861, and extended uniformly to all the districts. As a result of this change, instead of a deficiency in the district of Montreal of $5,932 in the year 1857, there was an annual surplus, the amount of the year 1874 not being less than $6,825. In the year 1862 Mr. Honey rendered important services to the legal profession by the publication of a “Table of Fees and Disbursements Payable to Attorneys and Officers of the Courts in Suits at Law”; also “Rules of Practice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, and Tariffs of Fees for Registrars, Advocates, and Officers of the Courts, including Schedule of Taxes upon Proceedings in Courts of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction in Lower Canada.” In the year 1834, on the death of Mr. Morrough, he was appointed deputy prothonotary of the Superior and Circuit Courts, and so continued till the year 1865, when, upon the demise of Mr. Monk, he received the appointment of joint prothonotary, and this office he still continues to fill.