Mr. Campbell was married in Ottawa to Miss Elizabeth Henderson of Ottawa, whose father, John Henderson, is city clerk there. Mr. Campbell belonged to the Canadian Club and his social nature gained him many warm friends. He was a public-spirited man and gave generous and helpful support to projects for the general good. He belonged to the Board of Trade and was in hearty sympathy with its plans for Montreal’s improvement. He was also a member of the American Presbyterian church and his life exemplified his belief.
ALBERT H. CAMPBELL
JOSEPH ISRAEL DESROCHES, M. D.
Capable, earnest and conscientious, Dr. Joseph Israël Desroches has for many years exercised his profession in Montreal, where he is widely known to the general public and enjoys high prestige among his colleagues, especially in regard to hygiene and children’s hygiene, upon which subjects he is an expert. His standing is quite evident from his connection with some of the foremost societies in the medical line in the world and it is therefore not surprising that his practice should be extensive and representative as well as lucrative to him. Dr. Desroches was born in October, 1850, at St. Esprit and is a son of André and Héloïse (Mercier) Desroches, the former in his day a well known agriculturist of St. Esprit. The Desroches family is descended from one Jean Deroches, who was born in 1614 and in 1641 left Ste. Lucie, near Autun, France, for Villemarie. He made the journey with one Monsieur de Maisonneuve. In 1647 he married Françoise Godet and this marriage was the first contract of that kind to be registered at Villemarie. Jean Deroches had a family of eight children, of whom his son Pierre married Marie Beaudry on November 24, 1698, at Pointe-aux-Trembles. It was he who added the s to the original name of Deroches. Jean Deroches died at Quebec on August 23, 1664. This record of the early ancestors of Dr. Desroches is to be found in Abbé Tanguay’s Dictionnaire Généalogique, in volume I, page 184.
Dr. Desroches pursued his classical studies at the Seminary of Joliette and received his medical education at the School of Medicine and Surgery of Montreal. There he received his degree of M. D. in 1877. He has ever since engaged in his profession at Montreal and, deeply studious of mind, has ever continued in perfecting his wide knowledge and keeping up-to-date with the latest discoveries made in the world’s medical science. The humane element in his nature is strongly developed and much of his success must be ascribed to the confidence which he inspires in his patients and which is recognized today as being one of the larger factors in effecting a cure. Careful in diagnosis, he is decisive in his actions after reaching a conclusion and there are hundreds who can testify to his ability and are grateful to him for having given them back health and happiness.
It is but natural that a man of Dr. Desroches’ ability should turn to the scientific side of his profession, not finding his sole satisfaction in mere attendance upon and ministrations to the sick. In 1884 he was chosen by the Hygienic Society of the Province of Quebec as manager of the Journal of Popular Hygiene and had charge of this valuable medium of influence until 1895, contributing many articles toward the enlightenment of the general public. In 1887 Dr. Desroches was nominated an honorary member of the Société Française of Paris and in the same year, on the occasion of the exposition of children’s hygiene, held in Paris, he received from the Hygienic Society for Children, of that city, a diploma and a gold medal and was chosen a corresponding member of the society. In 1889 he was made a corresponding member of the Society of Physical, Natural and Climatological Sciences of Algiers. From 1892 to 1895 and from 1898 until 1901 Dr. Desroches had charge of the medical bureau of the province of Quebec and from 1894 until 1900 was a member of the Provincial Council on Hygiene, of Quebec.
On February 9, 1881, Dr. Desroches was united in marriage to Miss Albertine Groulx, a daughter of Louis Thomas and Cornélie (Doyou) Groulx, the former a well known barrister and notary public of Joliette. Dr. and Mrs. Desroches have the following children, Jeanne, Gilberte, Henri, Juliette and Lucille. In various connections the Doctor has made valuable contributions to hygienic science and the subject of medicine and several of the works of which he is the author enjoy a wide circulation and are considered standard by the profession. He is a public-spirited man, progressive not only in his profession but in regard to all subjects that affect his home city and is ever ready to give his warm support to worthy public enterprises. His deep knowledge assures him of a position of distinction, while his kindly spirit has gained him a place in the hearts of his fellowmen.