J. ALEXANDRE BONIN
Mr. Bonin married a daughter of the late J. L. Leprohon, M. D., vice consul for Spain in Montreal, and Mr. and Mrs. Bonin are well known in social circles of this city. Mr. Bonin is a member of the Roman Catholic church and is a conservative in his political beliefs, taking an intelligent and public-spirited interest in municipal growth and advancement. He has gained prominence and distinction in a profession where advancement depends entirely upon superior merit and ability and stands among the barristers whose work is important as an element in the legal history of this province.
GUY FAMILY.
The Guy family is one of the oldest and most prominent in Montreal. Pierre Guy, the first of the name to settle in Canada, joined the French army under M. de Vaudreuil and rose rapidly through intermediate positions to the rank of captain. He participated in the engagements which occurred with frequency between the French in Quebec and the English in Massachusetts and New York and he died at the age of forty-eight years. His son, a namesake, Pierre Guy, Jr., was educated in France and also joined the French army in Canada, serving under General Montcalm in the French and Indian war. He participated in the battles of Caillion, Montmorency and the battle on the Plains of Abraham. When the power of France in Canada was set at naught, he with others left for France, where he remained until 1764. He then returned to Canada and accepted a business situation in Montreal, becoming a loyal subject of Great Britain. Soon afterward when General Montgomery invaded Canada he took up arms for the defence of the country which so exasperated the Americans that they sacked his stores after the capitulation of the city. In 1776 he received from the Crown the appointment of judge and in 1782 became a colonel of militia. He was also active in founding the college of St. Raphael and was thus prominently identified with the military, commercial and educational interests of the province of Quebec. He received from the Crown a large land grant in Montreal in that part of the city known as Bourgoyne and he it was who gave Nuns Island to the nuns and he also gave one-half of Viger Square to the city. At one time he conducted a large business as a fur trader between Montreal and France. His activities were so important and his ability so pronounced that he was a recognized leader in the different fields in which his labors and efforts were put forth.
Pierre Guy, Jr., died in the year 1812, leaving several sons and daughters. Of these Louis Guy, who by the death of his father became the oldest representative of the family, was made a councillor by King William in February, 1831, and died in 1840. Guy Street in Montreal was so called in his honor.
He had six children: Emily, who married Lieutenant Colonel De Salaberry; Caroline, who became the wife of Joseph Baby; Henry, who was a colonel in the British army; Hippolyte; Joseph, who was a lawyer of Montreal; and Adine, who married Mr. Pemberton of Quebec.
Judge Hippolyte Guy, judge of the superior court of Lower Canada, and the second son of Louis Guy, married Marianne Esther Nelson, a daughter of James Frederick Nelson and his wife Mary Ann Adelaide Regnault, the adopted daughter of Chief Justice Vallieres of Three Rivers, P. Q. Judge Guy died April 19, 1860. Unto him and his wife were born three daughters and a son. Marie Louise, the eldest, became the wife of Hon. Chief Justice Austin, of Nassau and they had three children: Barry, Gloucester and Charlotte, now Lady Napier. Marie Josephine married Dr. Duncan Campbell MacCallum, of whom there is made mention on another page of this work. Marie Ann became the wife of Alex de Lusignan by whom she had two children, Guy de Lusignan and Esther de Lusignan. She afterward married Gustave Fabre and by him has one daughter, Terese, the wife of Mr. L’Africanne. Pierre, the youngest in the family, died at the age of four years.