Part 28

ERNEST R. DECARY.

Ernest R. Decary, senior member of Decary, Barlow & Joron, one of the foremost firms of notaries in Montreal, occupies a distinguished professional position, viewed not only from the extent, but as well from the prominence of his clientele. Mr. Decary is a native of Montreal and was born on December 9, 1878. He received an excellent education, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from St. Mary’s Jesuit College and beginning his business career alone, subsequently joined with him Mr. Barlow and Mr. Joron, and he has since continued in that relationship. This firm specializes in railway and bank work and they have come to occupy a position second to none in Montreal professional circles.

Mr. Decary personally acts as notary for the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Canadian Northern and the Dominion and Traders Banks and the Canadian Express Company, as well as for many other institutions and corporations.

Although Mr. Decary has never aspired to political office, he is deeply interested in the growth and expansion of his city and readily gives of his time and means in support of worthy enterprises. In politics he is a liberal. He is a member of the Montreal, Royal Montreal Golf, University, Royal St. Lawrence Yacht, and Lachine Boating and Canoe Clubs, and has views upon business and social conditions. Yet a comparatively young man, he occupies a position of dignity in the life of the city to which his ripe judgment on matters of a commercial or legal nature fully entitles him.

BENJAMIN NAPOLEON LADOUCEUR.

One of the well known legal practitioners of Montreal and a notary public, Benjamin Napoléon Ladouceur has a clientele both representative and important. He is yet a young man, barely thirty years of age, but has demonstrated his ability to capably handle the most intricate legal problems. He was born on the 15th of January, 1883, at Ste. Marie de Monnoir, and is a son of Mathias and Azilda Ste. Marie Ladouceur, both natives of Ste. Marie de Monnoir. The paternal grandfather was Benjamin Ladouceur, called Martin, his birthplace being Côté des Neiges. His wife was Cèleste Vient, a native of Ste. Marie de Monnoir. The grandfather in the maternal line was Jean Baptiste Ste. Marie and his wife was Henriette Bédard, also natives of Ste. Marie de Monnoir.

Benjamin Napoléon Ladouceur was educated at the College of Ste. Marie de Monnoir and took his law degrees at Laval University in July, 1910. He has since engaged in practice in Montreal and also acts as notary public. No long novitiate awaited him for he soon demonstrated his ability along legal lines and now enjoys an important and lucrative practice. In his political views he is a nationalist, a party which has for its aim the amelioration of certain conditions of government which make not for the best of the masses. In some ways it may be said that it is similar to the progressive movement in the United States and this movement has largely for its object a restricting influence upon political malpractices. Mr. Ladouceur also interests himself along other public and semi-public lines although he has never cared for official positions. He is loyal to the city of his adoption and ever ready to give his share of time and money in promoting her interests.

WILLIAM RUTHERFORD.

The steps in the orderly progression of William Rutherford whereby he has reached his present advanced position in business circles of Montreal are easily discernible and each forward step has brought him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. Born in Montreal, April 22, 1864, he is a son of William and Elizabeth (Jackson) Rutherford, both of whom are of Scotch birth, the former coming from Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, and the latter from Biggar, Lanarkshire. They were representatives of the excellent Scotch type that has done so much for Canada and its substantial upbuilding. The father was a member of the first council of Cote St. Antoine, which afterward became Westmount. He was an enthusiastic curler and greatly enjoyed other outdoor sports. His interests, however, were largely concentrated upon the development and management of important business interests. He founded the lumber firm of William Rutherford & Sons in 1852 and was largely instrumental in developing it into one of the most extensive lumber enterprises of Canada.

In the acquirement of his education William Rutherford attended successively the schools of Cote St. Antoine, the high school of Montreal and the private school conducted by Hon. E. H. Springrice. He crossed the threshold of the business world as a junior clerk with Gillespie, Moffat & Company, general merchants, and subsequently became a clerk for the Pillow Hersey Manufacturing Company, owners of rolling mills, etc. Subsequently he entered the firm of William Rutherford & Sons of Montreal and upon the incorporation of the company became its treasurer. The business is today conducted under the style of William Rutherford & Sons Company, Ltd., dealers in and manufacturers of lumber and timber. The business is now one of mammoth proportions and in his official capacity William Rutherford of this review is bending his energies to administrative direction and executive control. Into other fields he has also extended his efforts and his business interests are now of considerable volume and importance, placing him among the prominent representatives of commercial and industrial activity in the province. He is now the president of the Dominion Box Company, Ltd., of the Grier Timber Company and the Dominion Park Realty Company, Ltd.

On the 16th of May, 1894, in Montreal, Mr. Rutherford married Miss Ida Bulmer, a daughter of John Bulmer and a representative of a well known Montreal family. Their children are William J., John B., Jean, Andrew S. and Marjorie. Presbyterians in religious faith, the family hold membership in St. Andrew’s church of Westmount. Mr. Rutherford is a liberal in politics, conversant with the leading questions and issues of the day. He has filled a number of local offices, having been elected alderman of Westmount in 1908, while in 1910 he was chosen mayor of the city. In 1913 he was made school commissioner of the city and in 1912-13 was a member of the executive committee of the Canadian Manufacturers Association. He is also a member of the committee of St. Andrew’s Society, while along more strictly social lines his membership is in the Canada, Engineers, Manitou and North Lake Fish and Game Clubs. His success permits him that leisure which enables him to enjoy fishing, hunting and other outdoor and indoor sports, but he is preeminently a business man and one whose successful methods might be studied by all who wish to gain prosperity within the legitimate lines of business.

CARL ROSENBERG.

Among the mercantile houses of Montreal the British American Import Company occupies a place of prominence and importance. Under this firm style Carl Rosenberg is connected with Canadian trade interests. Mr. Rosenberg was born in Kishenev, Russia, on the 15th of July, 1870, a son of Wolf and Bessie (Dachis) Rosenberg, both now residents of Montreal. The former has now retired from active business life.

Carl Rosenberg was one of those who did not find the opportunities which he sought in his native country and, seeking the benefits of British freedom, selected the Dominion of Canada for his field of operation and came to Montreal twenty-five years ago, or in 1889, when a young man of about nineteen years. After his arrival he went into partnership with a cousin, who had preceded him to the Dominion and who was engaged in the importing and dry-goods jobbing business. The name of the firm was Shiller & Rosenberg and they continued for two years, when the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Rosenberg became the leading factor in the establishment of the British American Import Company, who opened their place of business on St. Paul Street, Montreal. His ability as a merchant, his ready understanding of local market conditions and his indefatigable energy led to such growth of business that in 1909 the firm was enabled to put up a large building of their own at 516 St. Lawrence boulevard, into which they moved in 1910. The British American Import Company occupies a leading place in its line in Montreal and their reputation is of the highest. Its success is largely due to the executive ability of Mr. Rosenberg, its founder.

In 1888, when but eighteen years of age, Mr. Rosenberg, while yet in Europe, was married to Miss Clara Sperling and to them were born the following children: Hannah, who married Dr. Tannenbaum; Sarah, now Mrs. Aronson; and Madge, Rose, Sadie, David and Moses.

Mr. Rosenberg is a liberal and, adhering to the faith of his fathers, he was during 1910-11 a director of the Baron de Hirsch Institute, but his fast expanding business interests forced him to relinquish this position. He is a justice of the peace; vice president of the Herzl Dispensary; a founder and an ex-president of the Jewish Eagle Publishing Company, holding the latter office for five years; and a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 54, of the Masonic order. He is a shrewd and able business man and his name and that of his firm stand for successful accomplishment in the trade annals of the city.

REV. ALLAN PEARSON SHATFORD.

Rev. Allan Pearson Shatford, known in Montreal and throughout the province of Quebec as a forceful and eloquent preacher, holding a high position in Masonic circles as grand chaplain of the grand lodge of Quebec and known in this city as most earnest, zealous and consecrated in his work as rector of the Church of St. James the Apostle, was born at St. Margaret’s Bay, Nova Scotia, and is a son of the late James E. Shatford, a resident of Indian Harbor.

Rev. Allan P. Shatford acquired his education in King’s College in his native province, from which he was graduated B. A. with first class honors in English literature in 1895 and M. A. in 1898. In the former year he was made curate of the Anglican church at Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and served in that capacity until 1900, during which time he was ordained deacon in 1896 and priest in 1897. He was transferred from Bridgewater to North Sydney, Nova Scotia, where he remained as rector until 1906, moving in that year to Montreal, where he became assistant rector of the parish of St. James the Apostle. He was promoted to the position of rector in January, 1912, and still holds this position which is an important and responsible one, for the parish is one of the oldest and largest in Montreal. It was founded in 1864 by Canon Elligood and the first church was built by Mrs. Phillips on land donated by her. Canon Elligood continued as rector from 1864 to 1911, dying in December of that year at the advanced age of eighty-seven. He was succeeded by Rev. Allan P. Shatford, the present incumbent, who is ably carrying forward his predecessor’s work, giving his time, attention and unusual talents to the promotion of the interests of the parish and the spread of the doctrines in which he believes. There are about four hundred and fifty families in the congregation, and the church property is valued at seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Its administration calls for farsighted and capable work and Mr. Shatford has proved equal to the trust reposed in him, aiding the trustees in every possible way and proving his possession of unusual administrative ability and organizing power. The church has had some of the most famous ministers in Canada connected with its affairs at different times, Bishop Dumlin, of the diocese of Niagara, having been at one time assistant, as were also Bishop Duvernet, of Caledonia, and Dean Abbott, of Niagara. The affairs of the congregation are in a most flourishing and prosperous condition, and the people of the parish find in Mr. Shatford a minister well suited to their needs, a man sincere and high-minded in his aims, of scholarly attainments and well directed ability. His sermons show great force and power, and his lectures have gained him wide recognition, winning him mention by the Montreal Gazette as “an accomplished extempore speaker and a preacher of great power.”

Mr. Shatford is well known in Masonic circles, exemplifying in his life the beneficent teachings of that order. He was grand chaplain of the grand lodge of Freemasons for Nova Scotia from 1903 to 1906 and since that time has been grand chaplain of the grand lodge of Quebec province. He was a delegate to the Pan-Anglican Congress held in London in 1908; a delegate to the general synod and to the church congress held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1910, speaking there in a forceful and telling way upon parochial problems. “Today,” in his opinion, “it is Canada for the world, and we think of England as the center of an empire which tends to the solidarity of the human race and the universal brotherhood of man.”

VICTOR MORIN, LL. D.

Victor Morin, prominent in connection with the legal profession as a practitioner and as professor of administrative law and doctor of laws in Laval University, is now at the head of the firm of Morin & Mackay, notaries of Montreal. His name is also well known in literary circles and his activities and his writings have had a far-reaching and beneficial effect upon public interests. Born at St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, on the 15th of August, 1865, he is a son of Jean Baptiste Morin and Aurelie (Cote) Morin. In the acquirement of his education he attended successively Girouard Academy, the St. Hyacinthe College, from which he was graduated B. A. in 1884, and Laval University, which conferred upon him the LL. B. degree in 1888 and that of LL. D. in 1910. He studied law in the office of Papineau, Morin & Mackay and was admitted to the practice of the notarial profession in 1888. For a brief period thereafter he was a resident of Acton Vale, Quebec, but in 1890 returned to Montreal and is now senior member in the firm of Morin & Mackay. He is also custodian of the archives of his late partners, D. E. Papineau, C. F. Papineau, Durand and Morin, whose office was established in 1841. Aside from his business he has occupied many positions of importance and of public trust. While a resident of the town of Acton Vale he was secretary-treasurer of the town from 1888 until 1890. He has been treasurer of the board of notaries of the province of Quebec since 1897 and he has various important business connections. He was president of the Imperial Electric Light Company from 1899 until 1901, became secretary of the Montreal Real-Estate Association in 1904 and is now its president. He is likewise president of the Crédit Métropolitain, of the Caisse Hypothécaire, of the Montreal Debenture Corporation, of the Récollet Land Company, and of the Federal Real-Estate & Trust Company; vice president of the Security Life Insurance Company, and a director of the Provincial Life and of the Provincial Fire Insurance Companies. From 1897 to 1910, he was notary to the corporation of the city of Montreal and resigned this position in order to run for aldermanic honors. His high standing in his chosen profession is indicated by the fact that he has been made professor of administrative law in Laval University and is regarded as one of the prominent law educators of the country. His public-spirited citizenship finds expression in active support of many measures and movements for the public good and his cooperation can always be counted upon when the welfare of city, province or country is at stake. He has taken great interest for many years past in social questions, and is vice president general of the St. Jean Baptiste Society, the national association of French-Canadians. He was a director of Montreal Citizens Association from 1908 until 1910 and his position upon the temperance question is indicated by the fact that he is now the general secretary of the Montreal Anti-Alcoholic League.

Prominent in the Independent Order of Foresters, Mr. Morin was its supreme vice chief ranger from 1898 to 1902, and has been its past supreme chief ranger since 1905; in 1895-6 he edited and published a paper in the interests of that fraternity called Le Forestier. Since 1890 he has delivered many lectures to fraternal societies and no man is better qualified to speak on the beneficent basic principles of the organization.

His authorship has made Mr. Morin equally widely known. He was actively interested in the literary work of the Cercle Ville Marie as its secretary from 1886 until 1888. He is the author of Vingt Ans Après, the second edition of which was brought forth in 1909. He is silver medalist of the Ligue Nationale de la Prévoyance et de la Mutualité, of Paris, France, and honorary vice president of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society of Montreal. His active interest in affairs of vital importance to the city has been manifest in his capable public service as alderman of Montreal, to which position he was elected in 1910. His political support is given to the liberal party and his religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church. He is prominent in club circles, is a member of the St. Denis and Reform Clubs, and is secretary of the Maison des Etudiants. His library, which is extensive and well selected, furnishes him his chief source of recreation and interest.

Mr. Morin was married in 1893 at Biddeford, Maine, to Miss Fannie, daughter of the Hon. D. Cote. In 1896 he wedded Alphonsine, daughter of Victor Cote, of St. Hyacinthe. They reside at No. 703 St. Urbain Street with their eleven children, and spend their summer months in their attractive villa on the slope of Mount St. Bruno. His life has been so varied in its activities and so honorable in its purposes as to leave an indelible impress for good upon the community and through his professional, business and fraternal connections Mr. Morin has come to be recognized as one of the leading residents of Montreal.

HUBERT ADOLPHE ELZEAR GRANDBOIS.

Hubert Adolphe Elzéar Grandbois, who since October, 1911, has been connected with the notarial profession in Montreal, was born in St. Casimir, Port Neuf district, in the province of Quebec, on the 15th of January, 1876, a son of Michel Adolphe and Marie Aurée (Charest) Grandbois, the former a dealer in wood. The son pursued his classical education in the Seminary of Nicolet, from which he was graduated in 1895. He afterward entered upon the study of law in Laval University at Quebec, which conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in June, 1898. On the completion of his studies he was admitted to practice as a notary in the following September and located at St. Casimir, where he remained in active practice from September, 1898, until October, 1911. He then came to Montreal, where he has since remained and has attained high standing among the representatives of the profession owing to broad and accurate knowledge, close application and fidelity to the interests of his clients.

Mr. Grandbois was married in the city of his nativity on the 7th of January, 1899, to Miss Marie Laetitia Belisle, a daughter of Octave Germain and Marguerite (Daly) Belisle. The children of this marriage are Marie Marguerite and Marie Laurette Grandbois. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church, and Mr. Grandbois has membership with the Chevaliers de Colomb.