Part 4

Mr. Ross was identified with many public interests and ranked with loyal Canadians whose efforts have been effective forces in promoting general progress.

He was a governor of McGill University, of the Royal Victoria Hospital, of the Alexandra Hospital and of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane at Montreal. He was likewise a trustee of Bishop’s College at Lennoxville, P. Q., and in 1900 he was appointed honorary lieutenant colonel of the Duke of York’s Royal Canadian Hussars. He took an active interest in yachting and was the owner of the Glencairn, which won the Seawanhaka-Corinthian cup for half raters in American waters in 1896. He subsequently bought the late Joseph Pulitzer’s large steam yacht, Liberty, of one thousand six hundred fifty tons, which he renamed the Glencairn, and in which he spent much of his vacation time in the Mediterranean. It might be interesting to note here that both the small half rater and the large steam yacht were named in memory of the large full-rigged ship Glencairn, which was owned and commanded by his late father, Captain John Ross, of Cromarty. Mr. James Ross was for many years commodore of the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, and was honorary commodore for life, and was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Mr. Ross was well known in club circles, holding membership in the Mount Royal, St. James, Forest and Stream, Canada, Montreal Hunt, Montreal Jockey, Montreal Racquet and Montreal Curling Clubs of Montreal; Rideau Club of Ottawa; Manitoba Club of Winnipeg; Toronto Royal Canadian Yacht and York Clubs of Toronto; Union Club of St. John, New Brunswick; Halifax Club of Halifax, Nova Scotia; New York Yacht and Manhattan Clubs of New York; Royal C. B. Yacht Club of Sydney, Nova Scotia; and the Constitutional Club of London, England.

Following the demise of Mr. Ross the Gazette of September 22, 1913, said editorially: “The history of James Ross is to some extent the history of the financial and creative progress of Canada. He has been associated with many of our greatest enterprises and always in positions of prominence and leadership. In any list of citizens whose financial power must be reckoned with in predicting the course of supreme events in this country, the name of James Ross would have stood near the top. Many of his fellow citizens will think of him, however, as a generous and discriminating collector and exhibitor of art. At a time when Montreal had not many men who both appreciated and possessed the financial ability to purchase splendid specimens of the best art which the old world has produced, James Ross entered that field, and soon made his private collection one of the things of which Montrealers were proud. The public generally have had a chance to admire some of his treasures at Loan Exhibitions; and, in this fashion, the pleasure and benefit of his collection have been widely shared.”

Tributes of respect and regard were paid to Mr. Ross by people in every station in life. The high and the low, the rich and the poor did him honor. The following letter was received by his son, Mr. James K. L. Ross:

“The engineers on the S. and L. were much surprised and deeply grieved when we heard that your father had passed away. Our deepest sympathy goes out to you in your sad bereavement. We all feel that we have lost a good and true friend. No other man we have worked for gave our men the feeling of security in their position that he did. We always were satisfied that if we did what was right no other influence could hurt us or our families. When some of us were unfortunate enough to err in judgment and our error cost the company quite a lot, in the usual course of railways the officials had nothing to do but severely discipline us. Your father used his own position not to discipline our men but to give them a good man’s advice, which has helped our men and also the company which he then presided over. Acts like these are never forgotten by railway men and there were many sincere expressions of sorrow heard when the news of his death flashed over our road. They have also instructed us to convey to your sorrowing mother our deepest sympathy in her trying hour.

“On behalf of the S. and L. engineers, we are sincerely yours (Signed) D. W. Macdonald, chairman; Parker Holmes, secretary and treasurer; Hugh MacPherson, chief engineer.

“Glace Bay, Cape Breton, Canada, September 20, 1913.”

Another well merited tribute being from Principal Peterson of McGill University, who said:

“The other day we were greatly gratified to learn that a member of the board of governors, the late James Ross, had remembered McGill University in his will to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Ross was one of our friends. His connection with the administration of the university had given him many opportunities of appreciating the difficulty of carrying on an institution whose needs in the very nature of things, are always outrunning its resources; and his kindly thought of us has touched a chord in our hearts that vibrates with gratitude and appreciation.

“It is a melancholy pleasure to record also our indebtedness to Mr. Ross for much help and advice given as a member of the governing body of the university, especially in the department of mechanical engineering. Besides being a great and experienced engineer, he was a patron also of the arts and sciences. He took an active interest also in the well-being of our hospitals, and as they are in a sense university institutions, his bequests to the Royal Victoria and Maternity Hospitals may be cited here as additional reasons for gratitude. He was a man of high artistic culture, one who ‘loved that beauty should go beautifully.’ Mere splendor without taste would always have been repellent to him. Perhaps his best memorial, apart from the magnificent collection of pictures which he got together with such care and discrimination, and which was the joy and pride of his wide circle of friends, will be the beautiful building on Sherbrooke Street to which he has contributed so largely as the permanent home of the Art Association. Such men lend valuable aid in the way of enabling a community to realize some aspects of its higher self.”

WALTER R. L. SHANKS.

Among the younger members of the well known and distinguished law firm of Brown, Montgomery & McMichael, advocates and barristers, is Walter R. L. Shanks. He was born March 20, 1886, at Millers Falls, Massachusetts. In 1908 he received from McGill University the Bachelor of Arts degree and in 1911 that of Bachelor of Civil Law. In July of that year he was admitted to the bar and has since been a member of the above firm. Mr. Shanks is a young lawyer of promise, and it may be said that his ability--or such ability as his opportunities have permitted him to demonstrate--entitles him to be included among those young men to whom the future holds out rich fields along professional lines. Mr. Shanks is socially popular and is a member of the University Club of Montreal and the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

GEORGE ALEXANDER BROWN, M. D.

George Alexander Brown, M. D., one of the best known physicians of Montreal, his powers developing through the exercise of effort, was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on the 28th of June, 1866. The Browns are one of the old families on that island and representatives of the name in different generations have been prominently identified with professional interests. The paternal grandfather of Dr. Brown was president of the Prince of Wales College, while the maternal grandfather was the leader of the government in Charlottetown for twenty-one years.

Reared in the place of his nativity, Dr. Brown pursued his early education in St. Peters Boys’ School and subsequently continued his studies in Kings College University at Windsor, Nova Scotia. The classical course which he there pursued constituted the foundation upon which he built the superstructure of professional learning. Entering McGill University, he won the degrees of M. D. and C. M. from that institution where he graduated with the class of 1889. During the succeeding year and a half he was resident physician of the Montreal General Hospital, thus putting his theoretical knowledge to the practical test and gaining that broad and valuable experience which only hospital practice can give. For more than twenty years Dr. Brown has successfully followed his profession in Montreal and in addition to an extensive private practice is acting as physician to the Montreal Dispensary and is in charge of the tubercular clinic. He has been a close and constant student of his profession, interested in all that tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life and his own investigations and research have resulted in bringing to light some valuable truths.

In February, 1906, he submitted to the Montreal Medico-Chirurgical Society, a new treatment for consumption which he has used in his practice with great success. This consists of the injection into the human system of a solution principally of iodine and in April, 1912, he read before the International Tubercular Congress at Rome, Italy, a paper upon this treatment. He is a member of the Montreal Medical Society and keeps in close touch with the advanced work that is being done by fellow members of the profession through the perusal of medical journals and the latest contributions to medical literature as well as through his connection with medical societies.

Dr. Brown was united in marriage to Mrs. Elizabeth (Conroy) Muldoon of Watertown, who by her former marriage had two children, William and Ella. Dr. and Mrs. Brown have become the parents of two children, Elsie and Basil. They have a wide acquaintance socially and are connected with the Unitarian Society, while Dr. Brown is also a member of the University Club. Year by year has marked his steady progress in his profession, and today his position of prominence is accorded him by the consensus of opinion on the part of colleagues and contemporaries.

SIR EDWARD SEABORNE CLOUSTON.

High on the keystone of Canada’s financial arch was inscribed the name of Sir Edward Clouston, of whom a leading journalist wrote: “He was one of the mainsprings of Canada’s progress.” Not only did he achieve notable results in his own career but was also the adviser and counsellor of many who have stood highest in the public life and activities of the Dominion, and thus a notable figure passed from the stage of earthly activities when he was called to his final rest on the 23d of November, 1912. He was then still in the prime of life, his birth having occurred at Moose Factory on James Bay, May 9, 1849, his parents being James Stewart and Margaret Clouston. The father, a native of Stromness, Orkney, Scotland, was a chief factor in the Hudson’s Bay service. The mother was the eldest daughter of Robert S. Miles, also prominently connected with the Hudson’s Bay Company. Sent to Montreal to continue his education, the son became a pupil in the high school, of which Aspinwall How was then head master. Subsequently he spent a year in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company and then returned to Montreal when a youth of sixteen to become junior clerk in the Bank of Montreal, entering that institution in 1865. This was the initial step in his successful career as one of Canada’s foremost financiers. In his twentieth year he was appointed accountant at Brockville and two years later was transferred to Hamilton in the same capacity. In 1874 he became assistant accountant at Montreal, was attached to the London, England, office and also to the New York office in 1875. Five years later he was made manager of the Montreal branch and in 1887 was promoted to the position of assistant general manager. In 1889 he became acting general manager and from 1890 was general manager, being called to that position of grave and great responsibility when but forty-one years of age. Throughout the years of his connection with the bank he had ever in mind, not only the interest of the shareholders, but also the welfare of his subordinates, many of whom received from him unusual consideration and kindness. Sir Edward Clouston’s tenure of office in the Bank of Montreal was longer than that of any of his predecessors, the presidency during these years having been filled by Sir Donald Smith, afterward Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal; Sir George Drummond and Mr. R. B. Angus. In retiring from the general managership Sir Edward Clouston retained the vice presidency, which he had held since Sir George Drummond became president in 1906. In his official capacity as vice president he regularly attended the board meetings and never ceased to be in close touch with the important affairs and interests of the bank. The prominent place which he held in the regard of the leading financiers of the country is shown by the fact that he was again and again elected to the presidency of the Canadian Bankers Association. He was thus in constant touch with the financial world and his advice upon matters connected with it was frequently sought by the different finance ministers of the Dominion, for no man in Canada had a surer grasp of difficult financial problems, and his genius in this respect was an enormous asset to the great institution with which he was so long connected. His discernment was keen and his insight enabled him readily to recognize the possibilities and probable outcome of any business situation. The Montreal Herald spoke of him as “a man of few words, of unerring accuracy in his judgments and of a caution in business transactions which, while it protects the bank from loss, does not hinder its development.” The Montreal Witness said: “Sir Edward Clouston possesses in extraordinary degree that sixth sense of the banker--intuition as to character, rapid analysis of method, what is in a proposition from the first chapter to the last--in short knowing who and what to trust.” It was these qualities which made his cooperation sought in various directions and brought him prominently before the public in various important commercial and financial connections. He was vice president of the Royal Trust Company; a director of the Guarantee Company of North America, the Canadian Cottons, Limited, the Canada Sugar Refining Company, the Ogilvie Flour Mills Company, the Kaministikwia Power Company. He was chairman of the Canadian board of the Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance Company and the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. His cooperation and support extended to various other projects of a public or semi-public character, and at all times he manifested a deep interest in those projects relating to general progress and improvement or the betterment of social, intellectual, political and moral conditions. He was vice president of the Parks and Play Grounds Association and The Crematorium, Limited, was president of the Royal Victoria Hospital and a governor of the Montreal General, Montreal Maternity, Alexandra and Western Hospitals, the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, the Fraser Institute, the Montreal Dispensary, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and McGill University. In 1910 he was one of the principal promoters of the Typhoid Emergency Hospital and was a member of the executive committee of the local branch of St. John’s Ambulance Association. He was honorary treasurer of the King Edward VII Memorial Fund and of many other commemorative and charitable funds. He was a patron of art, and possessed many fine pictures himself, while the Montreal Art Association numbered him as one of its counselors as well as one of its generous benefactors. Sir Edward Clouston was also well known as a sportsman, taking an active interest in early life in football and lacrosse, and he was also a well known racquet player. He was captain of the Canadian team which played the Harvard University Football Club in 1875. He was president of the Montreal Racquet Club in 1888 and was appointed a trustee of the Minto challenge lacrosse cup in 1901. Sir Edward was ever willing to encourage the amateurs in sports, and in addition to those already mentioned he was a devotee of snowshoeing and fancy skating. In later years he became an enthusiastic yachtsman, motorist and golfer. He was also a clever swimmer himself and did a great deal to advance the sport in many ways. He was the donor of a trophy for competition among the members of the Royal Life Saving Station, which is being competed for annually, and many other such trophies were presented through his generosity. When the Rugby Club was organized as a branch of the Montreal Athletic Association he became an active executive officer. He was one of the trustees of the Stanley cup in the early days of its competition and acted as an official at many of the championships held under the auspices of the Amateur Skating Association of Canada.

In November, 1878, Sir Edward Clouston married Annie, youngest daughter of George Easton, collector of Her Majesty’s customs at Brockville, Ontario. Lady Clouston, who survives him, keeps up the beautiful and historic estate at St. Annes, known as Bois Briant, which was the pride and delight of Sir Edward’s later years, and she also maintains the home at No. 362 Peel Street in Montreal, known so long as the city residence of the general manager of the Bank of Montreal. This was Sir Edward’s favorite title. President and vice president appealed to him but little; it was as an administrator that he won and held his fame. He was mentioned as successor to Lord Strathcona as high commissioner for Canada in Great Britain in 1909. The previous year he had been created a baronet and in 1911 he was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England. He was one of the best known club men of Canada, belonging to Mount Royal Club; St. James Club; Auto and Aero Club; Forest and Stream Club; M. A. A. A.; Montreal Hunt Club; Montreal Jockey Club; Royal Montreal Golf Club; Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club; St. George Snowshoe Club; Toronto Club and York Club, Toronto; Rideau Club, Ottawa; Manhattan Club, New York; and Bath Club and River Thames Yacht Club, London, England.

In a review of his life history many points stand out prominently. Within a quarter of a century he rose from an humble position in the bank to that of general manager and remained vice president until his demise. He was the recognized leader of finance, whose counsel was sought and valued in connection with the greatest undertakings. His business genius and public spirit went hand in hand and each constituted factors in the progress and upbuilding of Canada and in the development and promotion of the country’s interests. His influence was far-reaching and effective as a force in national prosperity and greatness.

One who knew Sir Edward best summed up his character in the following article, which appeared in the journal of the Canadian Bankers Association after his death: “In life Sir Edward Clouston was a man of few words and I have felt that silence is my most fitting tribute to his memory. He was not an ostentatious man; he employed neither press agents nor stage managers. Many of his generous actions are known only to the writer of these lines; many others are known only to his Maker.”

PHILIBERT BAUDOUIN.

Philibert Baudouin, who has been a representative of the notarial profession since 1858, although for some years his attention was given to finance, was born at Repentigny, Quebec, April 27, 1836. He is a descendant in the direct line of Jean Baudouin, who was here bartering with the Indians as early as 1656, fourteen years after Montreal was founded by de Maisonneuve. In a fight with the Iroquois in 1660, when he killed one of their chieftains, Jean Baudouin was taken and led as a prisoner to the enemy’s country, whence he returned eighteen months afterward, having in the meantime learned the Iroquois language. A short time subsequent to his return he married and soon settled in the parish of Pointe-aux-Trembles, where he died peacefully. He had lost his eldest son in an ambush laid by the same astute foes in 1690. One of his sons, François, took a farm from the Seignior on L’Assomption river in 1699, near the present site of Charlemagne, and a few years afterward, in 1716, purchased the homestead on the north bank of the river St. Lawrence, in the parish and Seigniory of Repentigny, where he went to live and there spent his remaining days. This homestead remained in the family for almost two centuries, passing from father to son for four generations. François Baudouin left it to his son Pierre, who married three times and left it to his son Raymond. Raymond was drowned and his widow made a gift of it to their son Pierre. From this last Pierre Baudouin it went to Zoel Baudouin, one of his sons, whose daughter and only heir, Mrs. Edmond Robillard, of St. Paul l’Hermite, sold it to its present owner, Mr. Dechamp.

Philibert Baudouin is a son of Pierre and Marguerite (Etu) Baudouin, the latter, like her husband, belonging to one of the old families established in this province in the seventeenth century. The mother’s name was then written Estur, which has since been wrongly changed to Hetu. The family name Baudouin should be so spelled instead of Beaudoin, as so often met with at the present time. It is derived from two Saxon words, bald and win, and was latinized by the early chroniclers, becoming Balduinus, which was later translated into French as Baudouin but remained Baldwin in English. The first one who settled in Montreal very properly signed his name Jean Baudouin, as may be seen on the old records in the clerk’s office, and in France it is still written in the same way. Besides being a progressive farmer Pierre Baudouin was a church warden and a captain in the militia.

Philibert Baudouin was educated at L’Assomption College, in the town of L’Assomption, where he pursued a full classical course, completed in 1854. He then prepared for the notarial profession, to which he was admitted in 1858. In 1860 he settled for practice in the town of Iberville and after nearly fifteen years devoted to the profession he turned his attention to finance, devoting his energies and activities thereto until 1893, when he removed to Montreal and resumed the practice of the notarial profession. He has now passed the seventy-eighth milestone on life’s journey, but is still an active man. From 1862 until 1873 he was county clerk, clerk of the circuit court for the county of Iberville and town clerk of Iberville, his decade of public service being characterized by the utmost fidelity to duty. His financial activities covered nearly twenty years as bank manager in St. Johns, Quebec.

On the 22d of August, 1864, in St. Johns, Mr. Baudouin was married to Miss Caroline A. Marchand, a daughter of Louis Marchand, deputy protonotary at St. Johns, and of Delphine Phineas. Mrs. Baudouin belongs to the old Marchand family which settled in St. Johns in the early part of the nineteenth century. There were three brothers, François, Gabriel and Louis, the second being the father of the Hon. F. G. Marchand, late premier of the province of Quebec. Her mother was a daughter of Isaac Phineas, for a long time agent at Maskinonge, of Seignior Pothier’s estate, and who was an intimate friend of the Hart family of Three Rivers. Seven sons and two daughters have been born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Baudouin, Philibert, Annette, Gustave, Rodolphe, Joseph, Jean, Charles, Louise and Oscar. The elder daughter became the wife of Dr. J. C. Tasse, of Worcester, Massachusetts. Gustave married Augustine Hardy, of Quebec. Joseph wedded Julie Caty, of Montreal. Jean married Alice Hamilton, of Montreal. Oscar married Hilda Julien, of Montreal. Louise is the wife of Alfred Masson, of Valleyfield, a grandson of Dr. L. H. Masson, who took a leading part in the troublous times of 1837-38.