Cowan, William Frederick, The Late, who died on October 28, 1918, at his home in Oshawa, Ont., was long one of the noted industrial and financial leaders of Ontario. He was born in 1832, at Fintona, County Tyrone, Ireland, the son of Thomas and Charlotte Cowan. In 1841, his parents having decided to remove to Canada, he made with them the long sailing and overland voyage to Toronto, the journey occupying some months. Shortly after the family’s arrival the father died and the mother of the subject of this sketch was left with five young children. She managed, however, to give her boys a good education at Boyd’s Academy, Bay St., Toronto (conducted by the father of the late Chancellor Sir John Boyd) and one of the pioneer educational institutions of Toronto. On leaving school, W. F. Cowan first found employment with “The Colonist,” a newspaper founded by Sir Francis Hincks, an eminent statesman of the mid-nineteenth century. Subsequently he entered the employ of Alexander Laurie & Co., dry goods merchants, at the south-west corner of King and Yonge Sts., Toronto. Later he served with Walter McFarland & Co., dry goods merchants, on Market Square, King St. East, Toronto, then the heart of the retail district. In 1856 he and his brother John founded a dry goods business of their own, at the south-west corner of Yonge and Richmond Sts., Toronto. In 1862 he removed to Oshawa, establishing a large general store, and with a branch at Prince Albert some twenty miles north of the town. A few years later he acquired an interest in the A. S. Whiting Mfg. Co. of Cedar Dale, manufacturers of scythes, forks, hoes, etc., the firm becoming Messrs. Whiting & Cowan. Largely through Mr. Cowan’s modern methods of business organization, the wares of this firm became known throughout America; and Mr. Cowan was also successful in developing a large market for them in Great Britain. In 1872, in conjunction with Messrs. Wood & Winterbourne, of Albany, N.Y., he founded the Ontario Malleable Iron Co., of which Mr. D. S. Wood was the first president, and on his death was succeeded by Mr. Cowan’s elder brother John. On the latter’s death Mr. W. F. Cowan succeeded to the Presidency. He had been a director of the company since its inception. He was largely instrumental in making Oshawa one of the leading industrial centres of the province. In 1893 he established Fittings, Ltd., of Oshawa, of which he was also President at the time of his death. Altogether his interests furnished steady employment to about 1,000 citizens of the town, of which he was recognized as the industrial leader. Mr. Cowan’s financial interests were even more widely extended. In 1875 he became Vice-President of the newly formed Standard Bank of Canada, and in 1883, on the death of the President, the well-known capitalist, Hon. T. N. Gibbs, succeeded to that office, in which he continued until his demise, making weekly journeys to Toronto to attend meetings of the board until within a few days of his death. In 1886, in company with Mr. T. H. McMillan, he also established the Western Bank of Canada, which, after twenty-six years of active life, was amalgamated with the Standard Bank in 1912. Though often pressed to enter Federal and Provincial politics, he contented himself solely with municipal service and held the post of Reeve of Oshawa, and of Mayor, after its incorporation as a town, for some years. He was a steadfast adherent of the Anglican Church in religion, and a Conservative in politics. In 1864 he married Susan, daughter of the late John Groves, a well-known citizen of Toronto. On his death he left one son, Mr. Frederick W. Cowan, of Oshawa, who succeeds to his interests, and one grandson, Major R. C. Cowan, who has been overseas for the past three years.
HON. W. L. MACKENZIE KING, C.M.G.
Ottawa
Reid, Frank (Simcoe, Ont.), Barrister and Solicitor, was born at Vittoria, Norfolk County, February 22, 1862, the son of the late Archibald Reid, a cabinet maker, and Elspit Shand. He was educated at the Vittoria Public School, Simcoe High School and Osgoode Hall. He married Katherine C. Ferguson, September 17, 1890, the daughter of the late Alexander Ferguson, railway agent, of Simcoe, and has one son, Francis Macdonald Reid. In politics he is a Conservative, is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and a Mason. Mr. Reid is Town Treasurer of Simcoe, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and takes a great interest in golf as a pastime.
Minehan, Rev. Lancelot (Toronto, Ont.), was born in Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland, son of Michael Minehan and Hanna Skehan. He was educated at All Hallows’ College, Dublin, came to Canada in 1884, and was ordained at Montreal. Served as Assistant Priest at Thornhill, House of Providence, Adjala, St. Helen’s, St. Mary’s, St. Paul’s, St. Michael’s, Toronto. Was Chaplain for two and a half years at Penetanguishene, transferred to Toronto, and appointed R.C. Chaplain of the Central Prison, Mercer Reformatory and Toronto Asylum; later, was pastor at Schomberg, Ont., where he spent three and a half years, following which he was first parish Priest of St. Peter’s Toronto, where he built a splendid new church and where he ministered for over eighteen years; he is now parish priest of St. Vincent’s Church, on Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, which will be one of the finest edifices in Toronto diocese. For twelve or more years Rev. Father Minehan has been connected with “The Catholic Register,” and has been identified with various organizations for the promotion of temperance, social welfare and the moral uplift of the city. He is Vice-President of the Ontario Branch of the Dominion Temperance Alliance and Vice-President of the Moral and Social Reform League. Father Minehan is as famous for his gifts as a pulpit orator as for his eloquence as a platform speaker. His magnetic personality, frankness and loyalty have given him an assured place in the esteem of all classes. He is a man of indefatigable energy, opposed to intolerance and bigotry, with a mind fixed on the promotion of the highest ideals in all walks of life. He is a frequent contributor to the press, and is a writer of force and choice diction. His reverence favors a Canadian Navy and the development of a policy of protection under the British Flag. He exercises a wide influence both as a clergyman and a private citizen, and at his Silver Jubilee, in 1909, was presented with many proofs of his personal worth, and great popularity. Of him it has been said that he is “truly Catholic in spirit and in service and charity.”