Part 55

ESIOFF LEON PATENAUDE.

Among the younger members of the bar of Montreal is Esioff Léon Patenaude, a member of the well known firm of Leonard, Patenaude, Filion & Monette, who maintain offices at No. 26 St. James Street. Not only has Mr. Patenaude attained a prominent position along strictly legal lines but he has been prominent politically, having for several terms been elected a member of the provincial legislative assembly of Quebec and serving at present in that capacity. He is a member of one of the old French-Canadian families.

Esioff L. Patenaude was born at St. Isidore on February 12, 1875, and is a son of Hilaire and Angèle (Trudeau) Patenaude. Early showing a preference for a legal career, he laid the foundations of his classical education in Montreal College, from which he graduated with the degree of B. A., and subsequently studied law at Laval University, receiving the degree of LL. L. He has since taken up his practice in Montreal and, having been able soon to demonstrate his knowledge and ability, has built up a reputation as one of the foremost advocates of the city. He is a member of the firm of Leonard, Patenaude, Filion & Monette, who are connected with much of the foremost litigation before the courts, their patronage being distinctive and important.

On the 8th of May, 1900, Mr. Patenaude married Miss Georgiana Deniger and they have two children, Rose Angèle and Alphonse. In religious faith the family are Roman Catholics. The political allegiance of Mr. Patenaude is given to the conservative party and, as he has become widely known in his profession, it was but natural that he should be chosen to the Quebec legislative assembly, to which he was elected at the general election of 1908. He was returned to his seat in 1912, his reelection being the confirmation of his record. He has always exerted himself to the best of his ability in the interests of his constituents and has done valuable work in committee rooms as well as on the floor of the provincial house of parliament. Prominent among the French colony, Mr. Patenaude is highly respected by all who know him for what he has attained and for those characteristics which have made possible his success. He is ever willing to gladly bear his share in promoting the public welfare and the advancement of the city and is a forceful factor in Montreal not only along legal and political lines but in building up material progress and promoting measures which elevate moral and intellectual standards.

JOSEPH GUSTAVE AVARD.

Joseph Gustave Avard, one of the best known men in real-estate circles in Montreal, has been instrumental in promoting some of the largest projects in this city during the past ten years, notwithstanding the fact that his life record does not cover one-half the span of time of many other real-estate dealers of the city. He was born January 29, 1881, at Shirley, Massachusetts, a son of Louis and Philomene (Sasseville) Avard, both of whom are natives of St. Hyacinthe county, Quebec. For some years the father was a saddler at Shirley, Massachusetts, but since 1883 has resided at St. Hyacinthe.

The son was educated in the schools of St. Hyacinthe, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart Academy and in the St. Hyacinthe Practical Business School. For a year he was a clerk in St. Hyacinthe Bank and through the ensuing four years was with the Eastern Townships Bank at St. Hyacinthe and Waterloo, Quebec.

In 1903 Mr. Avard came to Montreal as an accountant for the firm of McPherson & Company, wholesale dealers in cheese and butter. In 1905 he opened a real-estate office at 47 St. Vincent Street under the firm name of Avard & Dagenais. This firm continued in business successfully for five years at that location. On the expiration of that period the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Avard opened an office in the Royal Trust building, where he remained for two years, removing thence to the Transportation building at No. 120 St. James Street in 1912. In that year the business was incorporated under the name of J. G. Avard & Company, Ltd. He promoted the Viauville Lands, Ltd., one of the largest deals carried through in the past decade. The firm owns the Tetreauville Annex and are agents for Hudonville Lands, Ltd. Mr. Avard is also a director of the Dominion Quarry, Ltd., of the Metropolis Apartment Company, Ltd., Montreal Playhouses, Ltd., and of the Practical Business School of St. Hyacinthe. His offices in the Transportation building are models of good taste and the casual visitor has only to glance around to see that Mr. Avard is a lover of the fine arts.

On the 2d of October, 1904, Mr. Avard was married, in Montreal, to Rachel Eva Simard, a daughter of the late Adelard Simard, a well known lawyer of Waterloo, Quebec. To Mr. and Mrs. Avard have come three children: Elise; Gaston, who died at the age of eleven months; and Jean.

Active in the social life of the city, Mr. Avard is a member of the Canadian Club, the National Sporting Club, the Reform Club, St. Denis Club and is the vice president of the Laurentide Summer Home Company, Ltd. Politically he is a liberal, and his religious faith is indicated in his membership in St. Leon’s Roman Catholic church at Westmount, where he resides.

ALBERT H. CAMPBELL.

Albert H. Campbell, an active factor in business circles in Montreal as a member of the firm of A. C. Leslie & Company, iron, steel and metal merchants on St. Paul Street, remained in connection with that business until his death, which occurred August 27, 1907. He was a native of Ontario, born May 13, 1866, and a son of Dr. Donald P. Campbell, who was also born in the province of Ontario, where his father had settled upon coming to Canada from Scotland. Dr. Campbell was a graduate of McGill University and after preparing for the medical profession practiced in Vankleek Hill, Ontario, until his death which occurred in 1870. He was married in Montreal, in 1863, to Miss Alice Bell, a daughter of James Bell, who came to this city in 1832 from Scotland and was prominent as a contractor and builder here until his death in 1860. Following the death of her husband, Mrs. Campbell returned with her family to Montreal, where she has since resided.

Albert H. Campbell was thus reared in this city and completed his education in the Montreal high school, in 1883. He first engaged with Frothingham & Workman after leaving school, spending a few years with that firm before he embarked in business on his own account as junior partner in the firm of A. C. Leslie & Company, iron, steel and metal merchants on St. Paul Street. He then concentrated his energy upon the development of that business and was a very active representative of commercial interests in Montreal until his life’s labors were ended in death. He studied every phase of the business with which he was connected, readily recognized and utilized advantages and by methods that neither seek nor require disguise, won the confidence and respect of contemporaries and colleagues.

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.

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.

HON. HONORE MERCIER.

Hon. Honore Mercier, minister of colonization, mines and fisheries, lawyer and legislator, recognized as one of the liberal leaders of Montreal and also acknowledged one of the capable representatives of the bar, was born at St. Hyacinthe, P. Q., in 1875, his parents being the late Hon. H. M. (Count) Mercier and Virginie (St. Denis) Mercier, the former prime minister of Quebec and one of the eminent lawyers of the province, of whom mention will be found elsewhere in this work.

The preparatory education of Honore Mercier was received at St. Mary’s (Jesuit) College, following which he was privately tutored in preparation for his work at Laval University, that institution conferring upon him the LL. B. degree in 1899. He was made an advocate in 1900, since which time he has successfully practiced his profession, being now senior member of the law firm of Mercier & Beique, with offices in the Quebec Bank building. Mr. Mercier’s knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence is comprehensive and exact, and his ability, devotion to his clients’ interests and the thoroughness with which he prepares his cases have given him high standing as a representative of the legal profession in the province.

Mr. Mercier has been a prominent figure in municipal and provincial affairs, standing firmly in support of the principles and measures which he deems of vital worth. He was elected to the city council of Montreal in February, 1906, and in 1907, was appointed a member of L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, of which he is secretary and treasurer, and in the work of which institution, Mr. Mercier has proven a most capable official.

He was chosen in the liberal interest to represent Chateauguay in the provincial parliament, where he has sat almost uninterruptedly since 1907. On April 29, 1914, he was appointed minister of colonization, mines and fisheries in the Gouin cabinet. He gives earnest and thoughtful consideration to the questions of the day and is farsighted in his outlook over the political field with all that it implies in its relation to the welfare, progress and prosperity of the province and dominion.

Mr. Mercier was married, in April, 1903, to Miss Jeanne Frechette, a daughter of the late Dr. L. H. Frechette, C. M. G. Their religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church. They occupy an attractive home at No. 408 St. Denis Street, and its hospitality is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. They also have a summer residence at Bellevue. Mr. Mercier is not a club man in the usually accepted sense of the term, yet he belongs to the Club Canadien and has social qualities that make and retain friends.

ALFRED FOREST.

Natural ability and profound learning have placed Alfred Forest among the well known young barristers of Montreal, where he enjoys an extensive practice as a member of the firm of Le Blanc, Brossard & Forest, who have offices at No. 35 St. James Street. Well versed in the letter of the law, he is capable, earnest and conscientious in the discharge of his duties and has been entrusted with much important litigation since beginning his career.

The Forest family were among those French emigrants who settled in Acadia--now Nova Scotia--and the earliest record to be found of them in Montreal is that of Madeline Forest, who was born in 1709 at d’Annapolis, Acadia. On the maternal side Alfred Forest is descended from the Mousseau family, who are named among the early settlers in the province of Quebec, the first mentioned being Jacques Mousseau, who was married on January 25, 1694, at Boucherville, to Marie-Ann Daunet, or Daunais.