Grant, Rev. R. N., Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Orillia, was born in the neighbourhood of Peterborough, Ontario. His father, Alexander Grant, was a native of Sutherlandshire, Scotland. He came to Canada in 1832, and began his Canadian life in what was then called the Newcastle district, where he taught school for about nine years. In 1840 he moved to that part of Western Ontario known in those days as the Huron Tract, and settled in the township of North Easthope, now one of the wealthiest townships in the county of Perth. Alexander Grant was a man of much more than average ability and attainments. His services were soon sought by the settlers around him, and he was elected to the positions of township clerk and treasurer for several years. He afterwards represented his township in the county council for twelve successive years, and finished his long municipal career in the warden’s chair in 1859. He was frequently urged to stand as a candidate for parliamentary honours, and it was believed by his friends that he could easily have carried his county in the Liberal interest at the general election of 1854 had he entered upon the contest. Like many of his countrymen, Alexander Grant had a fair share of the military spirit. He was one of the oldest and most enthusiastic captains of his battalion, and was the first to offer his services during the Trent difficulty. Though a decided economist in ordinary matters of public expenditure, he was always in favour of giving liberally for the defence of the country. He had several relatives and connections in the Highland regiments that took part in the Crimean war, and his enthusiasm knew no bounds when news came that the kilted soldiers had carried the old flag to victory. He died in January, 1863, and his remains were followed to their last resting place by large numbers of sorrowing friends, among whom were representative men from all parts of the surrounding country. Mrs. Alexander Grant, mother of the subject of the present sketch, was born in Wick, Caithness-shire, Scotland. She was, though for many years an invalid, a woman of strong character and high ambition, and nothing gratified her so much as to see her family rise to positions of honour and usefulness. Their other children were Alexander Grant, barrister, late mayor of Stratford, who died about two years ago—Mrs. Hislop, wife of the late Rev. J. K. Hislop, and Miss Grant. Both daughters are at present residents of the young city of Stratford. Having received such an education as the common schools of those days could afford, Robert was sent to the Grammar School of the county—an institution which was then in its infancy, but which has now become one of the leading collegiate institutes of the province. The scholars met in a small room in the north-eastern angle of the court house. Some of the boys who met in that room have since made a fairly good mark in Canada. Among others might be mentioned James P. Woods, the present county judge of Perth, and James Fisher, the well known barrister of Winnipeg. The school was then and for many years afterwards taught by C. J. McGregor, M.A., the first mayor of the young city of Stratford. Following the usual line of aspiring young men in those early days, young Grant left school when he got a first-class certificate, and went into the teaching profession to earn some money, his intention being to study law. One of the trustees of the school he taught was James Trow, M.P., the present popular member for South Perth, and one of the whips of the Liberal party in the House of Commons. Having taught for a year, he entered the Georgetown Collegiate Institute, in 1858, and continued his studies chiefly under the Rev. Malcolm MacVicar, the present principal of McMaster Hall, Toronto. In the following year he taught for a few months in the village of Millbank, in his old county, and began the study of Greek under the Rev. W. T. McMullen, then pastor of the Presbyterian congregation of Millbank, and for the last twenty-seven years pastor of Knox Church, Woodstock. For reasons which need not be given here, Mr. Grant had abandoned his long cherished ambition to become a lawyer, and had decided to enter the ministry of the Presbyterian church. Not the least potent factor in bringing about the change was the earnest searching and thoroughly evangelical preaching of the youthful Presbyterian pastor of Millbank who was then beginning his long and honoured ministry. In 1859, Mr. Grant entered Knox College, Toronto, and pursued his literary studies under Prof. George Paxton Young, then of Knox College, and in University College, Toronto. His theological teachers were Prof. Young, and Drs. Burns and Willis, for all of whom he left the college cherishing feelings of profound respect. Graduating in April, 1865, he was soon afterwards licensed by the Presbytery of Paris. In the autumn of that year he received calls from the Presbyterian congregations of Markham, Picton, and the united congregations of Waterdown and Wellington Square. The call from the last named congregation was accepted, and the ordination and induction took place on the 23rd of January, 1866. For five years and a half Mr. Grant laboured in this field with a good measure of success, and did his full share of work for his neighbours, especially in Hamilton where his services were often sought on the platform. He was the greater part of the time a member of the Board of Education for the county of Wentworth. Under his ministry two young persons united with the church whose names are now well known to the Presbyterians of Canada—the Rev. W. A. Wilson, M.A., one of the missionaries in India, and Mrs. Builder, wife of the Rev. Mr. Builder, another missionary in the same distant field. Owing to ill health caused partly by driving between his congregations, Mr. Grant decided that he must change his field of labour, and in July, 1871, accepted a call from Knox Church, Ingersoll. Here he laboured for nearly eleven years, identifying himself with all the interests of his town, and doing a considerable amount of work in the pulpit and on the platform for his neighbours. In 1877 he received a call from St. Andrew’s Church, Chatham, offering some tempting inducements, among others a considerable increase in salary. The congregation of Knox Church strongly resisted the proposed translation, and in addition to the steps usually taken in such matters, presented a petition to the presbytery, signed by the whole congregation, asking that their pastor’s services be retained. Mr. Grant declined the call, but afterwards had some grave doubts as to whether he had taken the proper course. In the early part of 1882, some informal steps were taken by a number of persons to unite the two Presbyterian congregations of Ingersoll. Mr. Grant had no confidence in the movement—a movement which afterwards turned out a disastrous failure—but not wishing to oppose it, determined to remove to another field of labour. In May he received a unanimous and enthusiastic call from the Presbyterian congregation of Orillia, which he accepted, and was inducted and warmly welcomed on the 19th of July. Previous to leaving Ingersoll, a large and influential farewell meeting was held at which all the religious denominations of the town were represented. Mr. Grant was presented with three hundred and seventy-five dollars as a farewell gift, and Mrs. Grant with a valuable silver service. In the early part of 1880, Mr. Grant, believing that his alma mater was placed at a disadvantage on account of not having the power to confer degrees in divinity, prepared an overture to the general assembly, asking that this power be granted to Knox and the Presbyterian College of Montreal. He supported the overture in the presbytery of Paris and in the synod of Hamilton and London by both of which it was adopted, and sent on to the supreme court. After a lively debate the prayer of the overture was granted by the Assembly, and the necessary legislation by the legislatures of Ontario and Quebec at their next session. On the 9th of May, 1866, Mr. Grant was united in marriage with Marianne McMullen, third daughter of the late A. McMullen, of Fergus, and sister of the Rev. W. T. McMullen, of Woodstock, and James McMullen, M.P. for North Wellington. Besides ministering to the large and influential congregation of which he is pastor, Mr. Grant is a voluminous contributor to the press. He has also written about a dozen popular lectures, some of which have been frequently delivered.
Chauveau, Hon. Justice Alexandre, B.C.L., Q.C., Justice of the Court of Quarter Sessions, Quebec, second son of Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, Q.C., D.C.L., now sheriff of Montreal, and late prime minister of the Province of Quebec, in 1867, first provincial government, and ex-speaker of the Senate, was born on the 23rd day of February, 1847. He was educated at the Jesuits’ and Montreal Colleges, at Laval and McGill Universities, at which latter he took the degree of B.C.L. in 1867. He studied law with S. Leliëvre, Q.C., in Quebec, and with the late Sir George Cartier, in Montreal; and was admitted to the bar of his native province, on the 4th of March, 1868, and practised in partnership with the late Hon. Justice Alleyn up to the date of his appointment to his present position, viz., Justice of the Court of General Sessions. Mr. Chauveau entered the political arena at the early age of twenty-four, and contested the county of Rimouski, in April, 1872, against Dr. Fisét, and was elected by a large majority, as the ministerial candidate. His father was then premier of the province. During the sessions of 1872-73-74, Mr. Chauveau gave an independent support to the Conservative government, although often voting with the opposition during the last session of that parliament. He was unanimously returned by the same constituency at the general election of 1875 as an independent member, and continued during the sessions of 1875-76-77 to judge political questions on their merits when brought before the legislature. He was appointed solicitor-general in the Joly administration, in March, 1878, after the coup d’état of Mr. Letellier, and was re-elected as such at the general election of the same year. On the 19th of March, 1879, he was appointed provincial secretary and registrar for the province of Quebec, which office he held until the 12th of September in the same year, when, after the adjournment of the house for the space of two months, during the dead-lock caused by the refusal of the Legislative Council to pass the supply bill, Mr. Chauveau sent in his resignation. The Joly government was defeated on the 29th of October, 1879, Mr. Chauveau, with a number of former supporters of the administration, voting with the majority on a motion presented by Hon. Mr. Lynch, favouring a coalition as the only remedy to settle the difficult position of the province brought about by the fact that both parties were unable to obtain in the house sufficient strength to form a strong administration. On the 15th of January, 1880, Hon. Mr. Chauveau was appointed Judge of the Sessions for the province of Quebec, and is also a commissioner of the provincial police force. Hon. Mr. Chauveau was twice elected—1884-85—president of the Société St. Jean Baptiste, the French-Canadian national society in Quebec. He is also a commissioner to act judicially in extradition matters, under the Extradition Act of Canada. He married on the 1st of August, 1871, Adèle, eldest daughter of Hon. U. J. Tessier, judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench.
Keating, Edward Henry, Civil Engineer, Halifax, Nova Scotia, the fourth son of William H. Keating, barrister-at-law, was born at Halifax, N.S., on the 7th August, 1844. He is a twin, his twin brother dying in childhood. His father when a child, in company with his parents, left Nottingham, England, in 1812, with the intention of settling in Pennsylvania, North America, but learning while on the passage out that war had been declared between Great Britain and the United States, the family changed their plans, and went to Surinam, in South America, where shortly afterwards Mr. Keating, sen. (grandfather), died. William H. Keating then went to England to receive his education, and having accomplished this object, recrossed the Atlantic, and made his home in Nova Scotia, where for many years, he filled the important office of deputy provincial secretary of the province. Edward Henry Keating, the subject of our sketch, was educated in his native town, at the Free Church Academy, under George Munroe, subsequently the great New York publisher, and afterwards at Dalhousie College; on leaving college, early in life, he went into the employ of an architect and builder, with the view of following architecture as a profession. For three or four years he was engaged in architectural pursuits, and was concerned in preparing the drawings and specifications for several public and private buildings in Halifax and elsewhere under different architects. During this period he devoted the greater part of his evenings and leisure to the study of mathematics and in improving himself in other branches. In 1863 he obtained an appointment as rodman on the Nova Scotian government railways, and from that time devoted his attention exclusively to engineering pursuits. He was engaged on the surveys and construction of the Pictou Railway, under Geo. Wightman, C.E., and afterwards under Sandford Fleming, C.E., C.M.G, from the commencement to its completion, and in consequence of his studious and painstaking habits, he rapidly rose in the estimation of his superior officers and the government, and in less than three years from the time of his appointment was called upon to exercise the duties of assistant engineer. In the early part of 1867 he was appointed in charge of the draughting office on the Windsor and Annapolis Railway by the English company who were then building the line, and designed many of the works and structures on that road, but finding the work of too sedentary a nature, he resigned that position in less than a year to take part in the surveys and construction of the Intercolonial Railway, on which he was engaged for several years in laying out the line in the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and in the execution of the heaviest and most difficult works on that railway in the province of Nova Scotia. In 1871 he left the Intercolonial Railway on the general reduction of the engineering staff, and opened an office in Halifax for the private practice of his profession, but being solicited by the government to undertake the charge of an exploration survey for the then proposed Canadian Pacific Railway, he abandoned his practice and undertook that service. After spending the greater part of the year 1872 in this work, he returned on a visit to Halifax to find that the civic authorities during his absence had elected him to the office of city engineer and engineer of the water works. Believing that the federation of the provinces and the completion of the Intercolonial Railway would have the effect of building up his native place and making it of the first commercial importance to Canada, he decided to throw up his connection with the government works, and accept the position offered him. He at once devoted himself to improving the public works of the city and the various services which then came under his control. Besides preparing and perfecting a plan for a general scheme of sewerage for the town, he effected large alterations and improvements in the water works, and was the first engineer in America to introduce and apply successfully self-acting scraping machines in removing, by means of hydraulic power, deposits and iron rust from the interior of water mains and pipes. The machines he used for this purpose were made under his own directions and from his own designs, which he had patented both in the United States and Canada. Besides attending to his official duties, Mr. Keating has acted as engineer to other corporations on special occasions, and has designed and constructed sewerage and water works in some of the neighbouring towns in his own and the adjoining province. Amid these labours he continued to take a deep and practical interest in the great public works of the country, especially those affecting the welfare or interests of the Maritime provinces and the city to which he belonged. In 1885, at the time of the agitation over the route for the proposed so-called “Short Line Railway” connecting the Canadian Pacific Railway at Montreal with the principal Atlantic seaports of the Dominion, Mr. Keating, at the request of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, investigated and reported to that body upon the respective merits of the different rival routes. He earnestly advocated the construction of a railway bridge across the river St. Lawrence at Cap Rouge, near Quebec, and the adoption of a line by way of that city as by far the best commercial route, in the interests of the Maritime provinces, that had so far been brought under consideration. In this view he received the unanimous support of the Chamber as well as of the Board of Trade of Quebec. Although unsuccessful in obtaining the adoption of the line he advocated, he offered, as his contribution to the undertaking, to conduct the necessary connecting surveys through the state of Maine free of charge, in order to prove the correctness of his assertions, and his able reports and arguments on the whole question have not yet been successfully met or answered. It might also be mentioned that the city of Quebec offered to grant a sum of money towards completing the surveys on the route advocated, but, for reasons which it would be impolitic to enter upon here, the project fell through, and a more southerly route was selected, although protested against by the commercial community both in Halifax and Quebec. Mr. Keating was also prominently concerned in securing a graving dock for the port of Halifax, strongly advocating native granite as the best material for its construction. He visited, inspected, and reported upon all the graving docks along the Atlantic coast of America, including the docks at Quebec and St. John’s, Newfoundland. Recently he has been offered by the Halifax Graving Dock Company, Limited (of London), the position of resident engineer for the new dock and coaling station now under construction at Halifax. This office he has accepted and holds in combination with his civic offices. In 1875 he procured leave of absence from his civic duties, and went on a professional tour through England, France, and Italy, visiting and inspecting many of the principal engineering works in those countries. He has been for many years connected with several scientific societies, and is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers of London; a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, New York; and a member of the American Water Works Association of Cincinnati, to each of which bodies he has contributed professional papers for study and discussion. In 1869 Mr. Keating married Mary Little, eldest daughter of James Fleming Blanchard, of Truro, N.S.
McRitchie, Rev. George, Minister of the Methodist Church, Prescott, Ontario, was born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1827. His parents, James McRitchie and Elizabeth Miller, with their family of three children, came to Canada in 1844. The Rev. Mr. McRitchie received his primary education in Mr. Gilbert’s academy in Dundee; and after coming to this country entered Victoria College, Cobourg, where he studied literature and theology, and laid a foundation for future usefulness. He received his early religious training in connection with the Presbyterian church, until he reached his sixteenth year, when he began to change his theological views, and in September, 1847, joined the Methodist denomination, shortly after coming to this country. In 1850 he entered the ministry of the Methodist church as a probationer, and was ordained in Belleville, in 1854, since which time he has worked hard in the Lord’s vineyard. He has been chairman of the Kingston, Brantford, Brockville and Perth districts successively; and is now superintendent of Prescott circuit and chairman of the Brockville district. The Rev. Mr. McRitchie was a member of the committees on union in the years 1874 and 1883; in 1879 he was president of the Montreal Conference; and he has been a delegate to each general conference since he entered the ministry. In 1855 he was married to Eliza Eakins, of Newburg; she died in Brockville in 1876. He was again married in 1877, to Jamesena Dunlap, widow of the late C. D. French, of Pembroke, Ontario.
Graveley, Lieut.-Colonel John Vance, Fortieth Regiment of Canadian Militia, Cobourg, is a Canadian by birth, having been born at Cobourg, on the 17th December, 1840. He is the eldest son of William and Margaret Christiana Graveley. The former was born at Knasboro’, Yorkshire, England, and was the son of John Graveley, a celebrated surgeon, who was mainly instrumental in the discovery of the murder of Daniel Clark by Eugene Aram, and on which Lord Lytton’s celebrated novel was founded. His grandmother was a Locock, and closely related to Sir Charles Locock, physician to Queen Victoria. His mother was the youngest daughter of the late Hon. Captain Walter Boswell, R.N., one of the first settlers in Cobourg, and who named the place. Lieut.-Colonel Graveley was educated at Upper Canada College, entering in the first and going out in the sixth form; and studied law, first in the office of the Hon. Sidney Smith, Cobourg, and next in the office of Cameron and Moss, Toronto, the firm at that time consisting of Hector Cameron, Q.C., and the late Chief Justice Moss. He afterwards practised his profession in Cobourg for many years. Having a strong liking for a military life, he first served as a trooper in Colonel D’Arcy Boulton’s troop of dragoons, where he soon rose to the rank of sergeant-major, and was then given an ensign’s commission in the Cobourg Rifles in 1864, having held from the sixteenth year of his age command as an ensign in the sedentary militia. In 1866 he entered the Military School at Toronto, and was attached to her Majesty’s 47th regiment, under Colonel Lowrey, and received a second class certificate the same year. His corps having been called on for active service in consequence of the Fenian invasion in June of that year, he served during the whole campaign, and earned his promotion to a lieutenancy. On the formation of the fortieth regiment of infantry, he was gazetted captain No. 1 company, and on the 14th November, 1876, was made the brevet lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. During the Fenian raid in 1870 he was again on active service. He has always taken a deep interest in rifle-shooting, and has served on various occasions as brigade musketry instructor for the 3rd district; and at present he is a member of the Council of the Dominion Rifle Association, and is president of the Cobourg Rifle Association. He was elected to the town council of Cobourg for the years 1876-7; mayor, by acclamation, in 1880, and held the office for six consecutive terms until 1885, when he retired, although urged to occupy the position for a longer period; and for these years he was also commissioner of the Cobourg town trust. He was nominated by the Conservative party for the Ontario legislature, but failed to secure his election in the contest that took place in December, 1886. Lieut.-Colonel Graveley has always been a Liberal-Conservative in politics, is an earnest supporter of all measures having for their object union and progress, and as a native Canadian is thoroughly loyal to his country, and expects a great future for her. He is a Master mason, a member of St. John lodge, No. 13, and takes a lively interest in Masonic work. He has travelled a good deal in his day, and spent some time in England, Ireland, and France. He was married in 1870 to Mary Jane Angell Campbell, eldest daughter of Thomas Clifford Angell, of London, England, and his wife, Charlotte Elson, of Hertfordshire, England, and adopted daughter of the late Major David Campbell, of her Majesty’s 63rd regiment, who was for many years on the staff. He with his brother, Lieut.-Colonel Robert Campbell, of H.M. 52nd regiment, were the first settlers in Seymour, and founded what is now the flourishing town of Campbellford, taking its name from its founder. They both had high records for military service, but the latter Colonel Campbell was famous as the leader of the forlorn hope at the storming of San Sebastian in the Peninsular war, for which, and other brilliant services during the campaign recorded in Napier’s History, he was mentioned in Lord Wellington’s despatches, and received a gold medal and clasp and his majority. Only three such medals were ever issued, and were only given for special service. Colonel Campbell died of his wounds at Campbellford; his brother, the major, survived him many years, dying in 1881 at the advanced age of ninety-seven. Four bullets received at San Sebastian, and taken from the colonel’s body after death, are preserved with the gold medal and clasp, sabre and epaulets, with highly commendatory and friendly letters from the Duke of Kent, the Duke of York, the Duke of Richmond, Lord Palmerston, and the Prince Regent, are preserved as sacred relics, and afford interesting study of departed greatness. “Sic gloria transit mundi.”