Part 25

After attending the Abingdon school, Mr. Walker became a student in McGill University, completing the arts course in 1904 and the law course with the class of 1907. His standing is indicated by the fact that he won the Elizabeth Torrance gold medal and the Macdonald scholarship. Following his graduation with the class of 1907, which was indicative of the completion of the thorough course of law prescribed by McGill, he was admitted to the bar and after a year spent in France returned to Montreal to enter upon the active practice of his profession, which he now follows as a member of the law firm of Chauvin, Baker & Walker. An extensive practice is fast adding to his experience and developing the powers with which nature endowed him.

In Montreal, in 1911, Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Miss Hazel A. Hart, a daughter of R. A. Baldwin Hart. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, and something of the nature of his recreation is indicated in the fact that he is a member of the Beaconsfield Golf Club. He is a typical young professional man of the age, alert, energetic, watchful of opportunities. His friends anticipate for him future success, and the record he has already made shows that he has taken a far step in advance since entering upon the active practice of law.

JOSEPH BOWLES LEARMONT.

The history of a country is no longer an account of wars and conquests, but is a record of notable business activity, of intellectual, aesthetic and moral progress and political management and control. While never active in the field of politics, Joseph Bowles Learmont was not only highly successful where his tastes led, but was as well one of the foremost merchants of the city, and well known in the business community of Montreal. He cooperated in various interests having broad humanitarianism as their basic principle, and he was a connoisseur on rare books and engravings. His interests were wide and varied and brought him into close connection with many of the leading citizens of the Dominion.

Mr. Learmont was a native of Montreal. From the beginning of his business career success attended him so that he at length was numbered among the city’s most substantial business men. In all his career there was no esoteric phase, his advancement having been through constructive and progressive methods. Studying the demands of the times and the conditions of trade he was no small factor in the growth and development of the extensive wholesale hardware business of Caverhill, Learmont & Company, of which Mr. Learmont was the senior member. This well known house succeeded Crathern & Caverhill (which was established in 1854) and occupies a foremost position in its line, with a reputation for commercial integrity second to none.

Successful business man that he was, commerce constituted but one feature in the life of Mr. Learmont. He was of decided literary tastes and was frequently heard on literary and historical subjects. He was, moreover, the author of a most interesting paper on folk lore, in which extended mention is made of the folk lore of Canada. Another paper of equal interest from his pen is on The Canadian Indian. Mr. Learmont was widely known as a collector of rare books and manuscripts, etchings, engravings and autograph letters, his knowledge of such being that of a connoisseur. His collection of Bibles comprised more than one hundred rare volumes. He also wrote on engravings, translations of the English versions of the Bible, children’s elementary books, etc.

Mr. Learmont’s keen interest in matters historic was probably best shown in his purchase of Quebec House, the home of Major General James Wolfe, Westerham, Kent, England. The motive which inspired him to make the purchase was to secure the property for the Canadian people, to be held by them in perpetuity “irrespective of race, language or creed.” His desire was that the Canadian people maintain it so that it may be open to visitors and free to all that are interested in Canada. Mr. Learmont always manifested the keenest interest in anything associated with Wolfe and had made a collection of engravings of the famous general. He also possessed an excellent painting of Wolfe’s father, the work of Sir James Thornhill.

Mr. Learmont was a member of the council of the Montreal Art Association and treasurer of the local branch and one of the council of the Archaeological Institute of America. He likewise became one of the early members of the Antiquarian Society of Montreal.

Mr. Learmont was first married to Miss Amelia Jane Holton, a daughter of the late Hon. L. H. Holton, M. P., a prominent parliamentarian and statesman. Following her death, he married, in 1882, Charlotte Smithers, a daughter of the late Charles F. Smithers, president of the Bank of Montreal. Mr. and Mrs. Learmont were always in full accord concerning religious and charitable work. He was connected with the Congregational church and a generous supporter of church and benevolent enterprises. Mrs. Learmont is particularly well known in efforts to ameliorate the conditions of life for the unfortunate. She is interested in the movement for providing playgrounds for children; is vice president of the Montreal Day Nursery; vice president of the local branch of the Needle Work Guild, and president and convener of the local branch of the ladies’ committee of the Victorian Order of Nurses. She is likewise a director of the City Improvement League; was one of the directors of the Royal Edward Institute, and is one of the honorary presidents of the Young Women’s Christian Association. She was one of a deputation, headed by the Countess of Aberdeen, who presented Queen Alexandra an address of congratulation from twenty-five hundred women of Canada.

Mr. Learmont was a member of the committee of management of the Montreal General Hospital; a member of the board and a governor of the Montreal branch of the Victorian Order of Nurses, and a director of the Charity Organization Society. He belonged to the Montreal Board of Trade, of which he was for two years a councilor, and in more strictly social lines was a member of the St. James, Mount Royal, Montreal and City Clubs. He was termed “a man of exquisite taste and deep knowledge on special subjects.” He was an advocate of all that is most progressive and beneficial, never choosing the second best but seeking out those things which are most beneficial to the individual and to the community, recognizing every man’s relation and obligation to his fellowman.

Mr. Learmont died March 12, 1914.

FREDERICK WILLIAM THOMPSON.

Centuries past the history of a country consisted of a record of wars and conquests--the contest of man with man; today the history is the record of man’s contests with material forces and those who are making the history of a country are the men who are controlling its important agricultural, commercial and professional interests. It is they who are shaping the annals of the nation and those who rise to leadership in any given line are the men who are preparing the records that in years to come will be eagerly read as the history of the past. In this connection the name of Frederick William Thompson stands prominently forth, for he became one of the foremost figures in connection with the milling industry of Canada. He was born in Montreal, January 16, 1862, and was but in the prime of life when he passed away in London, England, May 7, 1912. His parents were the late Andrew and Josephine (DeLesperance) Thompson. The son was educated in Montreal and in Brooklyn, New York, living for some years in the latter city. Subsequently he returned to Montreal and entered the service of the Exchange Bank as a clerk, remaining with that institution for seven years. It was thus that he gained his preliminary business experience which he later turned to account in the management of milling operations. In 1882 he joined the Ogilvie Mills in Winnipeg, becoming general manager of the Ogilvie Milling Company in 1888. Following the death of W. W. Ogilvie in 1900 the entire company’s interests were consolidated and the business purchased by Mr. Thompson and C. R. Hosmer. In 1911 the Ogilvies were made millers to the King. The business gradually grew and developed and became a focal point in the milling industry of the country, setting the standard for activity along that line. Mr. Thompson was active in coordinating forces and in developing an enterprise which became second to none in all Canada. He had wonderful powers of organization and could unite seemingly diverse elements into a unified and harmonious whole. He considered no detail as too unimportant to claim his attention, while, at the same time, he gave due regard to the major points in his business. His executive force and management were many times called forth in other connections.

He had voice in the control of many important business and financial interests and in affairs of a public and semi-public character. He was a director of the Canadian branch of the Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance Company, the Montreal Transportation Company, the Canadian Appraisal Company, the Electric Flour Patents Company, the E. N. Heney Company, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Manitoba Assurance Company, and was president of the Keystone Transportation Company and of the Canada Appraisal Company. He was also the originator of the Kaministiqua Power Company and of a large number of other enterprises which contributed to the history of the country in its commercial and financial development.

As stated, Mr. Thompson was a prominent figure in relation to many public and semi-public interests. He was a governor of the Winnipeg General Hospital; and a life governor of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, the Western Home and the Boys’ Home. In 1908 he lectured on Plain Business Facts. He was president of the Winnipeg Industrial Exchange Association and of the Winnipeg Board of Trade. He was likewise a vice president of the Winnipeg Rowing Club; president and patron of the local branch of the Royal Caledonia Curling Club, and honorary president of the Winnipeg Hockey Club. He was a director of the Montreal Association for the Blind, governor of the Montreal Western Hospital, councilor of the Montreal Board of Trade, and in Montreal no less than in Winnipeg he was greatly interested in all public enterprises and philanthropic undertakings. In 1903 he was a delegate to the Fifth Commercial Congress of the Empire.

In the previous year Mr. Thompson received the Prince and Princess of Wales, now King George and Queen Mary, at the Ogilvie Mill in Winnipeg and subsequently presented the Princess with the picture of the largest flour mill in the British Empire. It was in the same year that the largest shipment of flour to South America from the Dominion of Canada was made.

In 1882 Mr. Thompson was united in marriage to Miss Wilhelmina Reid, a daughter of the late William Reid of Bedford, province of Quebec, and their children were Marion, Fred, Alice and Helen. The first named became the wife of D. C. Rea, of Winnipeg, manager of the Royal Bank. Mr. Thompson was prominently known in club and social circles, holding membership in the St. James, Mount Royal, Canada, Forest and Stream, Royal Montreal Golf, Montreal Jockey, and Auto and Aero Clubs; Montreal Amateur Athletic Association; the Montreal Curling Club; the Rideau Club of Ottawa; the Constitutional of London; Manitoba of Winnipeg; and the York Club of Toronto.

Perhaps no better estimate of the life and character of Mr. Thompson can be given than by quoting from an editorial which appeared in one of the papers at the time of his demise and which read:

“Death has within a year robbed the Canadian milling industry of its two most prominent leaders. During the years which brought Robert Meighen and Frederick William Thompson to the top, the flour milling industry underwent an expansion and consolidation second only to that of the transportation industry and the metal industries. The process was peculiarly favorable to the rise of men of strong personal character and large intellectual capacity. It is not surprising, therefore, to find the leaders of the industry taking a larger part in the public life of the country than those of almost any other business. Without ever seeking office or public honors, for which indeed the cares of his business left him no time, the late Mr. Thompson exercised a very wide and effective influence upon the beliefs and policies of Canada in business matters. When he spoke it was not as a mere expert miller, but as an authority of the widest knowledge; and as he never wasted a public utterance by dealing with any matter on which he was not perfectly informed, he was listened to with a respect which neither his wealth nor his business success alone could have commanded. There are men still living who can remember when the flour milling of Canada was carried on in hundreds of small local mills under separate ownership. The process of centralizing the industry has been pretty well completed now; such companies as that of which Mr. Thompson was the active head are national in their scope and the extent of their properties.

“He has been cut off in the prime of life and it is difficult to conjecture what further progress of organization he might have participated in, had he lived. Whatever it might be, we can be sure that the interests of Canada would have been advantaged, for he was a thorough Canadian by birth and by conviction and ever regarded the milling industry less as a source of wealth than as a factor in Canada’s greatness. In these days the best and most practical form of patriotism is frequently to be found in business.”

WILLIAM H. HOPE.

William H. Hope, for more than thirty years an active business man on St. Catherine Street, near Mansfield, was born, March 9, 1840, in the north of England, and died September 11, 1903, so that his life span compassed sixty-three years. He came to Montreal as a young man and on July 26, 1878, was married in this city to Miss Mary E. Percy. Their family numbered seven children: Lena, who is Mrs. Thomas Bradley, now a resident of New York city; Eva, the wife of Rev. Hunter Laverie, of Forest, Ontario; William G., of Portland, Oregon; Adam V., who died in infancy; Sadie, who is the wife of George Wanless, of Outremont; Clifford R.; and Elsie.

Mr. Hope was a well known business man, conducting an art store at one location for over thirty years. His business integrity was above question and he was respected by all who knew him. In his political faith he was a conservative, but did not take an active part in politics. He was interested, however, in the promotion of athletic and outdoor sports for the young. A man of domestic taste, he found his greatest happiness at his own fireside, doing everything in his power to promote the welfare of his wife and children. He held membership in St. Paul’s Presbyterian church and his life was actuated by high and honorable principles that made him a thorough gentleman, courteous, kindly and considerate at all times.

JAMES O’CONNOR.

Prominent in the business and financial life of the city, James O’Connor was numbered among Montreal’s well known and successful business men. He was born at St. Alphonse, province of Quebec, and when a young man in his teens, came to Montreal at which time his capital was but little more than his energy, pluck and determination. From the time of his arrival here his attention was largely concentrated upon business affairs and he wisely improved his time and opportunities, thus advancing step by step until he reached the plane of affluence. For many years he had charge of the wholesale pork packing house on Williams Street and there laid the foundation for his fortune.

For a number of years before his death, Mr. O’Connor had largely confined his business activities to the stock market, where he was a prominent figure. While a man of sound judgment and keen business sagacity, one of his strongest characteristics was his great courage and persistency. During the great financial depression of 1907, when security values were slumping in a manner that brought financial ruin to many, Mr. O’Connor’s fortune suffered a large shrinkage. He had confidence in the future, however, and the pluck to hold on, with the result that he recouped his losses and added substantially to his fortune, which was estimated at over a half million dollars at the time of his retirement.

He was one of the largest individual holders of Dominion Steel preferred and also an extensive holder of the common stock. He was likewise a heavy stockholder in the Dominion Coal Company.

All his life he was a man of business, which through careful attention brought him substantial as well as honorable success. Mr. O’Connor was a figure that attracted attention and he made lasting friendships in business as well as in private life. He was known as a man of his word, and always ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate in life’s battle. Many of his acts of kindness and substantial assistance were known only to the recipients. His acquaintance was large and included the prominent business and public men of his time.