Alan Judah Hart, founder of the Hart Manufacturing Company, of Montreal, is a descendant of one of the oldest English speaking families of Canada, the ancestry being traced back to one who came from New York with General Amherst in 1759. For many generations the family was represented at Three Rivers, Canada. Lewis A. Hart, father of Alan J. Hart, has for forty years or more been a notary in Montreal. He was born at Three Rivers and was educated in Montreal, supplementing his preliminary studies by advanced courses which won him the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Civil Law. He married Fanny Elizabeth Benjamin and they became the parents of four sons and four daughters: Claude Benjamin, a commission merchant; Arthur Daniel, a manufacturer’s agent; Philip Beyfus, a commercial traveler; Alan Judah; Ethel Muriel; Mabel Ruth; Gladys Judith; and Dorothy Marguerite.
Alan Judah Hart was born in Montreal, October 4, 1879. He was educated in Montreal and for some years was employed by E. A. Small & Company, manufacturers of men’s clothing, and later was with A. H. Sims & Company, manufacturers of ladies’ clothing, acting as superintendent of the house for three years. In 1902 he established the Hart Manufacturing Company for the purpose of manufacturing ladies’ tailor-made suits and cloaks and in the conduct of this business he has been very successful. Mr. Hart is a director of H. Vineberg & Company, Limited, manufacturers of the Progress Brand clothing and has become widely and favorably known in commercial circles.
Mr. Hart married Miss Eva Vineberg, a daughter of Harris Vineberg, and they have a family of five children: Edward Henry, Gordon David, Lawrence Ezra, Alma Ruth and Vera Esther.
Mr. Hart is a life governor of the Montreal General Hospital and a director of Mount Sinai Sanitarium at Ste. Agathe. He was likewise a member of the executive board of the Canadian Manufacturers Association, serving in that capacity in 1912 and 1913, and he is a member of the Montreal Board of Trade and of the Royal Arcanum. His interests and activities are varied and important, winning him recognition of his worth in both commercial circles and in public life.
HON. LOUIS JOSEPH FORGET.
Hon. Louis Joseph Forget, whose name is written large on the pages of financial and industrial history of Montreal during the past forty years, left the impress of his great constructive force and energy upon mammoth projects which are figured as some of the Dominion’s leading enterprises. He was born March 11, 1853, at Terrebonne, P. Q., a district that has produced many eminent statesmen, writers, merchants and financiers. He was one of the nine sons of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Forget and was descended from a family that came to Canada from Normandy in 1600. Among those nine sons there were two priests, one of whom declined episcopal robes, a notary, two lawyers, two contractors, one farmer and he who was destined to become a power in the financial world, Louis Joseph Forget. His education was acquired at Masson College and his entrance into business circles was in connection with a dry-goods establishment. He had almost reached the determination of trying his fortune in the United States when he chanced upon a newspaper that contained an advertisement of office help being needed by Thomas Caverhill. Mr. Forget applied for the position the next morning and was accepted. From the beginning of his work with Mr. Caverhill the young man displayed unusual aptness as well as great eagerness to learn. He was not an ordinary boy. He took great interest in his work and often asked questions about other features of the business that did not come within his particular line of duties, but a knowledge thereof added to his capability and rendered him fit for promotion and opportunity offered later. It is only natural that a young man of this character should attract the attention of his employer. Mr. Caverhill took great interest in him and was instrumental in causing Mr. Forget to enter the brokerage business. The financial exploit during Jay Gould’s celebrated Black Friday in Wall Street reflected no little credit upon Mr. Forget, displaying in notable manner his insight and ability, and soon afterward he was nominated for membership in the Montreal Stock Exchange by his former employer. It is interesting in this connection to note that he was the first French-Canadian to be admitted to membership in that body and that before he had reached his majority he purchased his seat therein at a cost of nine hundred dollars. He began business as a stock broker in Montreal in 1873, from which time until his death, thirty-eight years later, his prominence and success in the investment security business were not over-shadowed by that of his contemporaries. He founded the financial house of L. J. Forget & Company, one of the foremost in its line in Montreal and remained its head during his life time. The Paris branch of L. J. Forget & Company at 7 Rue Auber, was the first to be established in continental Europe by a Canadian financial house and readily secured a clientele that materially broadened the operations of the firm.
HON. LOUIS J. FORGET
Senator Forget was elected president of the Montreal Stock Exchange in 1895 to succeed H. S. Macdougall and in May, 1896, was reelected. His business and financial connections had been constantly broadening and had long since included a prominent identification with the foremost financial and industrial projects of the time. In 1892 he became president of what was then the Montreal City Passenger Railway Company, now the Montreal Tramways Company. He remained its directing head until 1911, in which connection he accomplished what has meant much to Montreal. To no one man is the city indebted as largely for the upbuilding and development of its transportation system as to Senator Forget. Under his regime the motive power was changed from horses to electricity and the market value of the company’s stock advanced from around one hundred dollars to three hundred and thirty-seven dollars and a half per share.