Rogers, Henry Cassady, Postmaster, Peterboro’, Ontario, was born at Grafton, Northumberland county, Ontario, on the 16th of July, 1839. He is the second son of the late Lieut.-Col. James G. Rogers and his first wife, Maria Burnham. His father died at his residence in Grafton on the 27th of November, 1874, in his seventieth year, greatly regretted by all who knew him. He (J. G. Rogers) came to Grafton with his parents from the village of Brighton, his birthplace, when he was only five years of age, and his life was spent amidst a people many of whom were the contemporaries of his youth. He was an upright magistrate and a sincere Christian. His grandfather, David McGregor Rogers, was a U. E. loyalist, who came to this country from New England with the first loyalists after the termination of the revolutionary war in 1776. He settled first on the Bay of Quinté, afterwards moving to Presqu’Isle, and finally to the township of Haldimand (now the village of Grafton), where he opened the first post-office between Kingston and York (now Toronto), and where three generations of the family have been born. The homestead is now occupied by his brother, Lieut.-Col. R. Z. Rogers, commanding the 40th battalion. He (D. McG. Rogers) was for twenty-four years a member of the Upper Canada legislature; and died on the 13th July, 1824, in the fifty-third year of his age. In his political opinions he was a warm admirer of the British constitution, and during the time he sat in the legislature no member guarded the rights and interests of the people more zealously than he did. His great-granduncle was the famous Col. Rogers of “Roger’s Rangers,” who was a man of note during the last century,—best known as Major Rogers. He first became famous as a scout in the Indian troubles. His exploits furnished Fenimore Cooper with the ground-work of his tales of the “Leather-stocking,” and “Horrors of the Backwoods.” He was commissioned to raise and organize a regiment of scouts during the French war. This corps rendered valuable service at the taking of Canada from the French, and on its surrender Rogers was entrusted by the commander-in-chief with the arduous duty of proceeding west from Montreal, and taking possession in the name of the king of Great Britain, of the country including forts Frontenac (Kingston), Niagara, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Mackinaw, etc., as far as the Mississippi in the west and Lake Superior north. He had therefore the honour of commanding the first British expedition that passed through the great chain of lakes, interesting accounts of which may be found in his “Journal,” published in London, England, in 1765; “Heely’s Wolfe in Canada,” “Parkman’s Conspiracy of Pontiac,” chap. vi.; and many others. The Rangers were re-organized on the breaking out of the rebellion in 1765, by a brother of the first commanding officer Colonel James Rogers who was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, commanded at St. John’s, Quebec (the key of Canada as it was then called), and were called the “Queen’s Rangers,” but many of the leading spirits joined the rebels, among others Putnam and Stark, who were lieutenants in the Rangers, and who became celebrated generals in the American army. Great inducements were offered the Rogers to join Washington, but they remained staunch to the Crown, for which they not only lost their homes and possessions (some 30,000 acres of land in New England), but had their good name calumniated, being called traitors and spies by the partisan press of the revolutionists. The mother of H. C. Rogers was third daughter of the late Hon. Zaccheus Burnham, of Cobourg, who came to Cobourg with his four brothers from New Hampshire at the end of the last century, and who carved out homes and affluence from the forest, and left a large circle of descendants who are filling many positions of trust and honour throughout the Dominion. Henry Cassady Rogers, the subject of our sketch, received his primary education in the public school at Grafton; then when twelve years of age he was sent to the Model School at Toronto, and finally to the Grammar School at Kingston where he graduated. He then apprenticed himself to his uncle, the late Lieut.-Colonel R. D. Rogers, of Ashburnham, who learned him how to conduct a commercial business, and with this uncle he remained from 1855 to 1860. He then went into business in Peterboro’ with his brother-in-law, Harry Strickland, son of Colonel Strickland, of Lakefield, and for ten years they carried on a successful mercantile lumbering and mining business under the name of Strickland & Rogers. In 1871 Mr. Rogers retired from the firm and was made postmaster of Peterboro’, which office he now fills with satisfaction to the public. Mr. Rogers has inherited from his illustrious ancestors a love of military life, and when only sixteen years of age, on the Rifle company being formed at Peterboro’ in 1855, he joined that corps; and in 1866, on the promotion of Captain Poole, he was given command of the company, and acted as its captain during the various Fenian raids of that period. In 1867, when the 57th battalion was formed, he and his companions became No. 1 company of the battalion. In this connection, we may here say, that his brother, Lieut.-Colonel Robert Z. Rogers, commands the 40th (Northumberland) battalion; and his cousin, Lieut.-Colonel James Z. Rogers, the 57th battalion Peterboro’ Rangers. In 1872 he raised and commanded the Peterboro’ Cavalry troop, which now forms C troop of the 3rd Prince of Wales Canadian Dragoons. Mr. Rogers is an active member of the Masonic brotherhood, and belongs to Corinthian lodge, No. 101, Peterboro’. He crossed the Atlantic in 1862, and made himself familiar with many cities of the old world. In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative; and in religious matters he is an adherent of the Episcopal church. In 1863 he was married at Smith’s Falls, to Maria, eldest daughter of Dr. W. H. Burritt, a scion of an old U. E. loyalist family of the Rideau, who settled at Burritt’s Rapids many years ago.
Wilson, J. C., M.P. for Argenteuil, Manufacturer, Montreal, was born on the 19th of July, 1841, near Rasharkin, county of Antrim, Ireland, and came to Montreal with his parents in September, 1842, and near this city the family settled. His father, Samuel Wilson, belonged to a numerous family of farmers and artisans in Antrim county; and his mother, Elizabeth Crocket, was descended from similar stock. Her forefathers were of a roving disposition, and their descendants are scattered all over the British colonies. Both Mr. Wilson’s parents were religious people, and held a prominent position in the church. His mother died at an early age from the excessive hardships she had to endure in the vicinity of Montreal, as a pioneer settler. His father, as a youth, received no training as an artisan, yet having a natural talent for using tools, he adopted the trade of carpenter, and in a very few years thereafter became an expert mechanic. He designed and made the first railway snow-plough used in Canada, and from his model the plough now used is still made. He entered the employ of the Grand Trunk Railway Company, and up to the time of his death was engaged by that company in building their cars. He was a very industrious man, and in the evenings, after leaving his usual work, frequently spent hours in his own workshop in his house at his lathe and bench, making furniture for himself and his neighbours. James, the subject of this sketch, was educated by an old-fashioned schoolmaster in the rudiments of learning, and had to work for a living at a very early age. He was apprenticed to mechanical engineering in 1853, and until 1856 he worked at his trade, when, having met with an accident that injured his right arm, he had to give up the trade of a mechanical engineer. Mr. Wilson now shows with pride some fine machinist’s tools he made when he was an apprentice. On recovering from his injuries, a kind friend observing the talents and perseverance of the lad, sent him to the Model School, and from there to the McGill Normal School in Montreal, and in July, 1859, he graduated as a teacher. In 1859 he removed to Beauharnois, and taught the dissentient school in that town until 1862, when he moved west to Belleville, where he clerked until December of that year, when he moved to Toronto, and accepted the position of clerk in the office of a wholesale news company. In 1863 he went to New York, and from November of that year until January, 1867, he had the management of the publishing house of T. W. Strong, of that city, and through his perseverance and industry gained the highest rung of the ladder of fortune in Mr. Strong’s establishment. While Mr. Wilson resided in New York he was a great favourite among the Canadians visiting there, and helped many of them when they were in need. A deep-seated love for Canada, and a special inducement brought him again back to Montreal in January, 1867, and he at once assumed the position of cashier and bookkeeper in the office of Angus, Logan & Co., paper manufacturers (now the Canada Paper Co.) He remained with this firm until September, 1870, when he went into business on his own account. He began the manufacture of paper bags by machinery, and was the first in Canada to supply the grocers all over the Dominion with this very useful article. This proving, by energy and ability, a prosperous business, in 1880 he built a large paper mill at Lachute, province of Quebec, and in 1885 had to double its power so as to be able to make six tons of paper per day. In 1880 Mr. Wilson was elected an alderman for the city of Montreal, and was again returned by acclamation in 1883. For six years he represented St. Lawrence ward in the city council, and for four years was chairman of the light committee. He was president of the Fish and Game Protection Club of the province of Quebec for two years; president of the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society for two years; and has occupied the principal chairs in several other societies in Montreal. Mr. Wilson is a life governor and vice-president of the Montreal Dispensary; a governor of the Protestant Insane Asylums of the province of Quebec; one of the board of Protestant School Commissioners of Montreal; principal and head of the firm of J. C. Wilson & Co., paper and paper-bag makers, Montreal; and at the general elections held February 22, 1887, he was elected to represent the county of Argenteuil, province of Quebec, in the House of Commons at Ottawa. Mr. Wilson is an ardent fisherman, fond of lakes and brooks, and never hesitates to drive thirty or forty miles over a rough road to enjoy a few hours’ trout-fishing, and thoroughly enjoys camp life. In business he is active, pushing, hard-working, and far-seeing in his plans, and never puts off until to-morrow what can be done to-day. With his employees he is a favourite, and is looked upon by them as most generous and kind. Mr. Wilson has adopted as his motto, “It pays to think.” In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative, and in religion an adherent of the Presbyterian form of worship. On the 6th of November, 1865, he married Jeanie, third daughter of the late William Kilgour, of Beauharnois, province of Quebec, and has a family of five children—three sons and two daughters.
Wedderburn, Hon. William, Q.C., Hampton, Judge of the County Courts of Kings and Albert counties, New Brunswick, was born at St. John, October 12, 1834. He is a son of the late Alexander Wedderburn, of Aberdeen, Scotland. Imperial emigration agent at St. John, New Brunswick, and Jane Heaviside, of London, England. His father was the author of several pamphlets and letters on important public affairs. Judge Wedderburn was educated at the St. John Grammar School, and entered as a student for the profession of the law in the office of the Hon. John H. Gray, (now judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia); was called to the bar in 1858, and created a Queen’s counsel in 1873. Until he entered political life he enjoyed a very large and leading law practice. For several years he was intimately connected with the press as a contributor and editor, and in both capacities, as well as on the platform, took a very prominent and pronounced stand in favour of the confederation of the provinces. At the general elections of 1870 he first presented himself for parliamentary honours, and was returned for the city of St. John to the New Brunswick legislature. In 1874 he was re-elected by a very large vote; and again in 1878 he was honoured by re-election. While in parliament he took a very prominent part in the discussions before the house, and was the author and promoter of a series of resolutions in favour of “better terms” for New Brunswick, and was afterwards delegated on several occasions to go to Ottawa on this subject. The result of the agitation was a very large increase to the income of the province, secured with other advantages when the delegates pressed the matter finally and with effect upon the settlement of the export duty question during the discussion of the Washington treaty. Mr. Wedderburn was also the author and mover of the famous resolutions—known and published throughout the election as the “Wedderburn resolutions”—on which the School bill contest in 1874 was conducted, re-affirming the principle of the School law, and protesting against any interference by the parliament of Canada on the subject. Very many laws were added to the Statute Book upon his motion. On February 18, 1876, he was elected speaker of the House of Assembly by acclamation, and while holding this office he was requested to report a code of laws for the government of the house during business and in committee. The rules at this time were very few and incomplete, and quite behind the age. At the following session he reported to the house. Taking the practice of the Imperial and Canadian Houses of Commons, and the rules of parliament, and of the different legislatures of the provinces,—the report provided a full and complete course of procedure. After full discussion during that and the following session the whole of the rules were adopted with very little, if any, material amendment. The committee reported a grant of five hundred dollars to the speaker for his work—which had, of course, been prepared without charge. Mr. Wedderburn ranked high as a parliamentary authority, and is thought not to have been excelled in the chair. At the close of the term of the Assembly, the leader of the opposition, in a very complimentary speech, moved the thanks of the House to Mr. Speaker for his ability, etc., in the government of the house. The premier (now Judge King) seconded the motion, and highly eulogized the Speaker, and concluded by saying that “if he (Mr. Wedderburn) had not been so good a Speaker, he (Mr. King) would have been a better parliamentarian.” Immediately after this, Hon. Mr. Wedderburn was appointed to the office of provincial secretary, and this office he held until he accepted the position of judge of the County Courts of Kings and Albert. He twice refused a seat in the government of 1870, and the appointment of commissioner to consolidate the provincial statutes. He has been prominently identified with the temperance movement, and has filled various important positions in this army of moral reform, among others that of grand worthy patriarch of the Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance of New Brunswick. He was president of the Mechanics’ Institute of St. John for three years consecutively, 1869-72, as well as holding other offices in the institute. He was first president of the Provincial Board of Agriculture, created by a law passed by the government of which he was a member, and the address delivered by him at the inauguration of the board was greatly complimented, and published or largely quoted in English and French throughout Canada and in the United states. And it was largely through his means that the stock farm was undertaken by the government. Hon. Mr. Wedderburn has been speaker, orator, and lecturer on many important public and private occasions, commanding the close attention of his auditors at all times by his eloquent, powerful and ornate deliverances. Among his efforts in this direction may be mentioned his address at the memorial services held in the city of St. John for President Lincoln; his oration as provincial secretary at the memorial services of President Garfield; at the laying the corner stone of the Masonic Temple in St. John; at the ceremonial in celebration of the Centennial of the introduction of Freemasonry into New Brunswick; his great lecture on “Colin Campbell,” in the Mechanics’ Institute, on behalf of the volunteers during the Fenian troubles; and his brilliant oration, delivered by request of the city corporation of St. John, upon the Centennial celebration of the landing of the loyalists in New Brunswick. Many others might be mentioned. Judge Wedderburn has always been prominently identified with the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons. He was initiated in St. John’s lodge, of St. John, June 19, 1857, and was senior warden in 1860, and worshipful master in 1862 and 1863. The capitular degrees were received in the New Brunswick Royal Arch Chapter. He was the first of, and the most prominent among, those who advocated the erection of an independent Grand Lodge in and for New Brunswick; promoting the movement by his voice and pen, particularly by the latter in the columns of the Masonic Mirror, the organ of the order, and of which he was the editor. At the formation of the Grand Lodge, October, 1867, he was unanimously elected deputy grand master, in which position he continued up to 1870, when he was elected grand master, and occupied the latter office for two years. Although the removal of his residence to his villa at Hampton, Kings county, and the prosecution of his judicial functions have drawn him away from active participation in the work of the craft, nevertheless he continues to retain his membership in the lodge, and to preserve a warm interest in the prosperity of the brotherhood. The editor of the Parliamentary Practice thus refers to him when he was provincial secretary:—“Upon the floor of the House he was a leading spirit; eloquent and argumentative, a keen debater, and a master of sarcasm.” Judge Wedderburn is married to Jeannie, daughter of the late C. C. Vaughan, of St. John, New Brunswick.
Steeves, James Thomas, M.D., Superintendent of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, St. John, New Brunswick, was born at Hillsborough, Albert county, N.B., on the 25th of January, 1828. He is a brother of the late Hon. W. H. Steeves, senator, and one of the delegates or founders of Canadian confederation; and is of German ancestry. His great-grandfather was born in Osnaburgh, Germany, whence he removed to Philadelphia, and his grandfather, the Rev. Henry Steeves, removed thence to Albert county, N.B., about the beginning of the present century. Dr. Steeves is a Baptist in religion, as all his fathers were; in fact “his fathers” were the pioneers in disseminating Baptist doctrines over a large portion of the province. His literary education was obtained at the Grammar School at Hillsborough, at Sackville Academy, and finally at the Baptist Seminary, Fredericton, under the late Dr. Spurden. After the completion of his literary course, he entered upon the study of medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical College,—attracted by the famous surgeon, Valentine Mott,—the following year he matriculated at the University of New York, and graduated in the class of 1853. From the medical faculty of the university he received a certificate of honour for proficiency and for having pursued a more extended course of instruction than that required by the college curriculum. In June, 1854, the doctor established himself in Portland, St. John, N.B., and entered upon the practice of his profession. After the lapse of a few weeks Asiatic cholera made its appearance there in all its terribleness, spreading dismay and death on every hand. During the prevalence of this fearful scourge, extending over a period upwards of four months, Dr. Steeves, by his unswerving fidelity to his professional duties under every circumstance, and his good measure of success, fairly placed himself among the leading physicians of New Brunswick. In 1864 he removed to the city of St. John and erected the fine block of four brick and stone buildings situated on the corner of Wellington Row and Union street, which escaped the great fire of 1877, and still stand as a monument to his success and enterprise, and where he resided until 1875. On the opening of the General Public Hospital in 1864, the doctor was appointed upon the staff of visiting surgeons, and was the last of the original staff retiring. When the late Dr. J. Waddell was about retiring from the superintendency of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, Dr. Steeves was recommended by his professional brethren almost as a body, as a suitable successor for the position. Under the management of Dr. Waddell the asylum for the insane had attained a high position for successful work; and since under the present administration it has not lost a whit, but has kept fully abreast with the various modern improvements incident to asylum treatment everywhere. Dr. Steeves is a strong advocate for segregation, pavilion accommodation, and employment for the insane. By means of his advocacy with pen and voice, he has induced the government of New Brunswick to purchase a large farm, and to erect thereon a group of pavilions for the care and employment of a suitable number and class of the most healthy, indigent and pauper insane. The establishment is in full working condition, and is regarded as a complete success, in that it is far better than the old hospital system for this class of patients, giving them more freedom and out-door work, and that it is far more economical both in buildings and maintenance. Dr. Steeves was elected a member of the first medical council of New Brunswick on the introduction of the English Medical Registration Act in 1860. He has occupied the position of vice-president of the Canada Medical Association; he is an honorary member of the American Medical Association; he was elected unanimously first president of the New Brunswick Medical Society under the New Brunswick Medical Act of 1880; and is past president of the New Brunswick Medical Council. The Dr. was married to M. A. McMann, daughter of the late Captain L. McMann, of the city of St. John, in May, 1856; by whom he had born nine children. The eldest son, Frank H. Steeves, M.D., a very promising young man, graduated in medicine at Bellevue Hospital College, N.Y., and soon after went to St. Thomas Hospital College, London, England, in 1880, to further pursue medical studies. There he contracted acute phthisis, to which disease he succumbed in March, 1882. The second son, J. A. E. Steeves, A.M., M.D., is the assistant physician in the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, St. John, at the present time.
Van Wyck, Rev. James, Pastor of the Euclid Avenue Methodist Church, Toronto, was born in Stamford village, in the county of Welland, Ontario, on the 16th of May, 1846. He is descended on his father’s side from an old Dutch family, who many centuries ago were seigniors of Wyck in Holland, but through political intrigue lost their feudal rights. The first Van Wyck in America emigrated from Holland in 1660, and he and his son Theodoras took the oath of allegiance to the British government in 1681. Since then the family has multiplied considerably, and is now scattered throughout the United States, many of them filling important positions, both in church and state. Rev. Mr. Van Wyck’s grandfather was the only one of this name who came to Canada, to make for himself a home, and he settled in the Niagara peninsula, where Daniel Van Wyck, the father of the subject of our sketch, was born, on the 7th of October, 1812, his mother being Nancy Kilman. Daniel Van Wyck was a farmer, a man of good judgment and sterling integrity, and was invariably sought after in cases of arbitration. During the Mackenzie rebellion, he stood by the “old flag.” He took a deep interest in education—filling the position of school trustee for many years, and was an ardent supporter of free schools. In politics he was a Conservative. James Van Wyck, like a great many boys in their days, had to help his father on the farm or in the workshop, and got very little time to attend the public school after he was ten years of age, except a few months in winter, and not even that after he was fifteen years of age. Misfortune had befallen his father, and the son worked hard to help him to regain his former position. When he had reached his nineteenth year, having despaired of getting what his mind craved after, an education, he apprenticed himself to an elder brother in the town of Welland, to learn the carpenter trade, and having served the usual time, he left Welland and went to Lockport, New York state, where he remained for about eighteen months. During these years he had been improving his mind, and had united himself with the Methodist Episcopal church. On his return to Canada in 1869, he entered the ministry of that church, and after preaching four years, and pursuing the required course of study, he was ordained to the work of the ministry in 1873, by the late Bishop Richardson. In the fall of that year he entered Albert College, Belleville, where he remained for four years, and graduated in arts in June, 1878. He was also valedictorian of the year, besides receiving the silver medal. He was then invited to a church in Strathroy, where he remained for nearly five years by special request (it being a privilege at that time to those who were preferred). Next he went to Hamilton, where he remained for three years, and in 1886 he was invited to take charge of the church in Euclid avenue, in Toronto, the pastorate he now fills, with honour to the Master and satisfaction to his people. Rev. Mr. Van Wyck has always taken an active part in temperance work, and from 1879 to 1882 occupied the office of president of the branch of the Dominion Alliance, for the suppression of the liquor traffic in the county of Middlesex. He is a member of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, and he has also been connected with the Sons of Temperance, and the Good Templars for a number of years. He is one of the board of management of Alma College, St. Thomas, and also one of its board of examiners. He occupied a seat on the board of examiners of the Albert College, Belleville, from 1878 up to the time of the union of the Methodist churches a few years ago. He has also been associated with the board of examiners in the Annual Conference of the Methodist church since 1878. Rev. Mr. Van Wyck has been repeatedly appointed a delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist church, and when the question of union was discussed, he supported the union with all his ability. He has been very happy in his church relations, and in all his charges has enjoyed great prosperity. In his earlier years, Mr. Van Wyck was somewhat prejudiced in favour of the denomination in which he was brought up, and thought John Wesley infallible, but Ephraim has now somewhat modified his views. Although he is a firm Arminian, and believes in the genuineness, authority and inspired character of the divine revelation contained in the Bible, yet he sometimes wishes that the creeds of the Evangelical church had more specified articles of faith in them, and that they were more liberally interpreted. He was married on the 24th of August, 1866, to Maria Fares, who was educated in Toronto and Belleville, and is a daughter of Isaac Fares, of Humberstone, Welland county, Ontario.