Part 56

Alfred Forest was born on the 8th of June, 1881, in the parish of St. Patrick of Rawdon, in the county of Montcalm. His parents were Urgel Forest, gentleman, and Eliza (Mousseau) Forest, a niece of the late Hon. Alfred Mousseau, in 1882 prime minister of the province of Quebec and later minister of public service in the cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald in 1884. In 1886, when he died, he was judge of the superior court of Montreal and was always a leading conservative.

In the acquirement of his education Alfred Forest attended the Seminary of Joliette and then followed the philosophical course at the Seminary of the St. Sulpice Fathers in Montreal, graduating in 1905 with the degree of B. A. This was followed by a law course at Laval University, where on December 21, 1907, he obtained his degree of LL. L. with distinction and was admitted to the bar on the 15th of January, 1908. In 1906 he was secretary of the law students at Laval University and in 1907 was their president. During his law course he received practical training in the office of the Hon. Judge Paul Martineau and with the Hon. P. E. Le Blanc, ex-speaker and ex-leader in the legislative assembly, with whom he is now connected under the firm style of Le Blanc, Brossard & Forest. After settling down to his practice no long novitiate awaited him for he soon demonstrated his ability to cope with the most intricate legal problems. His reasoning is sound, his logic forceful and, being a student of humanity as well as book lore, he easily perceives the vital point in the most difficult legal tangles. As the years have passed he has made himself felt in the legal fraternity. Moreover he is now connected with some of the largest interests of the city, this connection having led him to become a director of the Modern Gas Light, Heat & Power Company, in which organization he served in that capacity in 1912 and 1913.

On April 30, 1913, in Montreal, Mr. Forest was united in marriage to Miss Hélène Jondreville, only daughter of Charles Jondreville, formerly of Paris, France. Her parents came directly from that city to Montreal in 1880. Of a distinguished family, Mrs. Forest is a cultured young lady of rare attainments and many accomplishments and will no doubt take a prominent part in the social life of the city.

Mr. Forest has always been a profound student and is an expert on political economy. He is a member of the conservative party and was offered the candidature in the federal election of 1911 by the electors of the county of Montcalm but declined, as his private interests practically forebade him to divert his time. He is an adherent of the Catholic church and holds membership in the Canadian Club, L’Alliance Française and the Conservative Club. Mr. Forest is loyal to the interests of Montreal, of which he is considerate and which he always tries to promote, proving thereby his value as a citizen. He is esteemed and respected not only among the legal fraternity but among the general public, who have recognized his worth as man, citizen and lawyer.

WILLIAM PATERSON.

Personally popular, William Paterson left behind him a large circle of friends at his death on the 23d of October, 1902. For twenty years he had been engaged in the tailoring business in Montreal, where he enjoyed a wide acquaintance. He was born December 2, 1858, in Montreal, a son of James Paterson, a native of Scotland, who passed his youthful days in that country. He there married Miss Ellen Swanson and afterward left the land of hills and heather for the new world. To him and his wife were born seven children.

The father was a tailor by trade and it was under his direction and guidance that William Paterson learned the business. He pursued a public-school education and then entered his father’s shop, devoting many decades to that pursuit. He was in business on Notre Dame Street for two decades, having one of the well equipped establishments of the city and gaining a liberal patronage, which grew with the passing years and made his one of the prosperous tailoring establishments of the city.

On the 18th of August, 1881, Mr. Paterson was united in marriage, on Prince Edward Island, to Miss Arabella Le B. Graves, of Nova Scotia, and they became the parents of four children: Leslie J.; William Henry; Alice G., who is Mrs. James J. Aird; and Grace W.

Mr. Paterson voted with the conservative party but never took an active interest in politics to the extent of seeking office as a reward for party fealty. He was very prominent in fraternal circles, serving as worshipful master of Elgin Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and in 1898 he was elected district deputy grand master of the Montreal district. He was past grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was also a life member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, and was one of the members of Knox Presbyterian church, serving for several years on the board of managers. His varied interests and activities of life maintained an even balance and made him a forceful and influential factor in support of the business, social and municipal affairs with which he was connected.

D. AUG. FONTAINE.

D. Aug. Fontaine is a well known lawyer and notary of Montreal, being located at No. 244 St. Catherine Street East. Born in the town of Marieville, Rouville county, February 2, 1872, he comes of distinguished French-Canadian ancestry. The Rev. Damase Limoges is an uncle and Morrainé Alphonsine Lemieux, his cousin. The Rev. Damase Limoges was curate of the Catholic parish of St. Jean Baptiste, in the county of Rouville, and our subject was baptized in the Catholic church in that parish on the 4th of February, 1872. His father was Felix Fontaine, a notary at Marieville, and his mother Claire (Limoges) Fontaine. The former was born at St. Charles sûr Richelieu or at St. Hyacinthe about November 24, 1832. He studied in the Seminary of St. Hyacinthe and served a legal clerkship at Marieville with the notary Laberge. He afterwards established himself in that city as a notary and there practiced for the rest of his life, being recognized as a brilliant lawyer and gaining great success. He was a member of the Chamber of Notaries for about twenty-five years and when he died was vice president of this institution. The mother was born at Terrebonne, about August 2, 1840, a daughter of Pierre Limoges, a blacksmith, and Dame (Viger) Limoges. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Felix Fontaine, a teacher at St. Hyacinthe. The maternal grandfather, Pierre Limoges, and Charlotte Luce (Viger) Limoges, his wife, were the parents of twenty-three children, three daughters of whom embraced holy orders, one of them having joined the Ladies of the Sacred Heart at Montreal. One of their sons, Joseph Magloire Limoges, is a curate at Sorel; another, Damase Limoges, a curate at Beloeil and Farnham. A daughter, Claire Limoges, is the mother of our subject.

Louis Fontaine received his education in the elementary school at the Hospice of Ste. Croix at Marieville. He completed his commercial and classical studies at the Seminary of Ste. Marie de Monnoir at Marieville, having terminated his course in 1893. He studied law at Laval University of Montreal from 1893 to 1897 and served a clerkship with Maître J. A. Dorval, of Montreal. He received his notaryship at Quebec (with distinction) September 14, 1897. Mr. Fontaine then formed a partnership with his former preceptor, Maître Dorval, under the firm name of Dorval & Fontaine. Following, he associated himself with his classmate, Oscar Desautels, continuing the partnership of Fontaine & Desautels until 1899. At the end of that time he succeeded his father, Felix Fontaine, as notary in Marieville. Taking up his father’s practice, he there followed his profession for about ten years and has been actively engaged in legal work in Montreal since 1910. He was secretary-treasurer of the school commission of Marieville and also was manager of the Marieville branch of a private bank, known as “La Caisse d’Economie de Drummondville.” He also was for some time collector of customs at Marieville. In politics he was a strict liberal until 1909 and although he yet gives his allegiance to that party, is a nationalist at the same time.

On the 29th of July, 1896, Mr. Fontaine was married in the town of Marieville, which is now annexed to Montreal and known as the town of Ste. Cunegonde, to Miss Marie Eugenie Anna Vezina, daughter of Alexandre and Emma (Chagnon) Vezina. The father is engaged in the saddlery business. Mr. and Mrs. Fontaine have three children: Marie Eugenie Claire Ubaldine, fourteen years of age; Marie Marguerite Jeanne, twelve years of age; and Joseph Alexandre Felix Auguste, aged eleven.

Mr. Fontaine is a member of the Roman Catholic and Apostolic church. He is a musical composer of no mean ability and has produced a pleasing repertoire of Canadian songs. He is the author of the Canadian national song, which was written to the words of Abbé A. Fournet, P. S. S. He was a prize winner in the competition between Canadian poets in 1908 and the newspaper La Presse paid him one hundred dollars, le prix de concours. He is adviser to the singers of Notre Dame parish church of Montreal. Mr. Fontaine deeply interests himself in all matters pertaining to public affairs and is interested in the cause of education and in arts and letters. He is a lawyer of ability, a patriotic citizen and a man who stands for the higher things in life and who finds great pleasure and satisfaction in following his aesthetic tastes and in implanting his art ideas in others. His talent along musical lines has been ably put to use in elevating the musical standards of the city and in bringing more closely before the public the idea of creating a home musical art particularly and peculiarly Canadian.

ARTHUR SURVEYER.

In the field of engineering the name of Arthur Surveyer is widely known. Liberal training and broad experience have brought him to a prominent position and won for him the liberal patronage that is accorded him as senior partner in the firm of Surveyer & Frigon, consulting engineers of Montreal.

Mr. Surveyer was born in this city on the 17th of December, 1878, son of L. J. A. and M. A. Hectorine (Fabre) Surveyer, of whom more extended mention will be found elsewhere in this book, and supplemented his course of study in St. Mary’s College by a course in L’Ecole Polytechnique in which he won the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Applied Science and was graduated as a civil engineer. He also pursued a special post-graduate course at L’Ecole d’Industrie et des Mines du Hainout, Mons, Belgium. His liberal training and broad experience have made him one of the most efficient representatives of the profession. From 1904 until May, 1911, he was in the service of the Canadian department of public works and was engaged on the survey, plans and estimates for the Georgian Bay Ship Canal project and the survey of the Richelieu river for a twelve-foot canal. He was supervising engineer during the construction of the Port Arthur Dry Dock and reported on several hydro-electric projects on the St. Lawrence river. In May, 1911, he left the public service, in which he was connected with many important works, to enter upon private practice, but has been retained as consulting engineer by the public works department in a number of important matters such as the preparation of Canada’s case against the Chicago drainage canal and the report on the plans submitted to the government by the Montreal Tunnel Company and by the Montreal Central Terminal Company. Mr. Surveyer is a member of the St. Lawrence River commission, is engineer for various municipalities and is a member of a number of professional societies and associations, including the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers and the Hydrotechnic Society of France. Thoroughness has characterized all that he has undertaken. That quality was manifest in his preparation for his profession. He was a most discriminating and earnest student and in his practice he has lost sight of no detail of his work and at the same time has given due prominence to its most important problems and features. His entire professional career has been characterized by continuous advancement.

J. F. OLIVAR ASSELIN.

J. F. Olivar Asselin was born at St. Hilarion, in Charlevoix county, P. Q., November 8, 1874, a son of Rieule and Cedulie (Tremblay) Asselin, the latter of whom is still living. He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1892, and in Fall River, Massachusetts, J. F. Olivar Asselin was for two years employed in the cotton mills.

Taking up journalism, he was at first connected with small French weekly publications. He afterward became editor of La Tribune, a Woonsocket, Rhode Island, daily, in which capacity he enjoyed the friendship and confidence of the Hon. Mr. A. J. Pothier, then lieutenant governor, and now governor of Rhode Island. While practicing his profession in Woonsocket, Mr. Asselin was principal of an evening public school in that city in 1897 and 1898.

He was the first man to enlist in the First Rhode Island Volunteers, at the breaking out of the Spanish-American War.

Returning to Canada in 1900, he was successively connected with the Montreal Herald, La Patrie, Le Journal, La Presse, La Nationaliste and Le Devoir, with a two years intermission--1901-1903--during which he was private secretary to the Hon., now Sir Lomer Gouin, then minister of colonization and public works of the province of Quebec. In 1902 he organized the Nationalist league, being for several years president of the Montreal branch. This indicates his deep interest in political problems and to disseminate the principles in which he believed, he founded La Nationaliste as the organ of the party, and for a time was editor of that publication.

He has written much upon various subjects, his publications including a series of political brochures with the title, Feuilles de Combat. He is also the author of “A Quebec View of Canadian Nationalism, an Essay by a Dyed-in-the-Wool French-Canadian,” which was published in 1910.

He has been in business for four years as manager of the Credit Metropolitain, one of the well known real-estate and financial firms of Montreal.

In 1912, he was appointed by the federal government, a special commissioner to French and Belgium, to study the question of emigration from those countries to Canada. Mr. Asselin has made a special study of municipal questions, and is well known as a member of the National Municipal league, as well as a contributor to the Municipal Journal. Mr. Asselin stood twice as a candidate for parliamentary honors, without success, a result which, in one case at least, was said to be due to his caustic spirit. In 1913 he was elected general president of the great St. Jean Baptiste Society, the national society of the French.

In 1903 Mr. Asselin wedded Mlle. Alice Le Bouthillier of Montreal.

JOSEPH ASSELIN, M. D., C. M.

A specialist in the treatment of children’s diseases and prominently known in connection with both hospital and private practice, Dr. Joseph Asselin is one of the best known physicians of Montreal. He was born in Joliette, Quebec, August 10, 1858, a son of Eusebe and Elmire (Cornellier) Asselin. The father was a merchant and proprietor of an important seigneury.