Part 62

The specific and distinctive office of biography is not to give voice to a man’s modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to leave the perpetual record establishing his character by the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellowmen, and any history of Montreal introducing biographies of her citizens whose activities and influence have been for the city’s growth and betterment, would be incomplete without reference to Thomas Gauthier.

His life has been so varied in activity, so honorable in its purposes, so far-reaching and beneficial in its effects that it has become an integral part of the history of the city and also left an impress upon the annals of the province. His business interests are extensive and important, but by no means cover the scope of his activities, as he has been identified with various movements and projects having to do with the public welfare along material, political, social and moral lines.

Mr. Gauthier was born in Montreal in 1844 and attended the Lachine Commercial School, but is largely a self-educated as well as a self-made man. He has ever been a reader and thinker and in the school of experience has learned many valuable lessons. At times he has acquired with labor and difficulty the knowledge which he has been so anxious should be given others, his efforts in behalf of education being well known. He began his active business career in Montreal in 1869, and for many years he conducted the Place Chaboillez establishment with conspicuous success. During this time, having become widely and favorably known, he was elected president of the old Society of Mutual Assistance--the Union St. Joseph.

In 1881 the Association of Retail Grocers, of which he was one of the founders, appointed him president and through his active exertions the Chamber of Commerce of Montreal was established. Along these and various other lines he has promoted the business activity of Montreal, pushing forward the wheels of progress in such a way that the entire city has benefited thereby.

His public service in connection with municipal affairs has been equally notable and commendable. He was one of Montreal’s aldermen from 1890 to 1893, and his labors were effective and beneficial as a member of the committees of police and hygiene. He was largely instrumental in establishing the mutual benefit fund among the members of the police force and also in establishing the first public bath in Hochelaga ward. All this, however, does not cover the scope of his activities, for in various other fields of usefulness his labors proved resultant. In the year 1883-4 he was general treasurer of the St. Jean Baptiste Society and was treasurer of the Montreal Exposition Company, in 1891, the only year in which it showed a surplus. He was a member of the finance committee of the National Association for a number of years, being also one of the promoters of the building of the Monument National, and in 1909 he was elected vice president and in 1911 became president, serving until April, 1913.

One of the most important of Mr. Gauthier’s public services has been in behalf of education. It was largely through the missionary work done by him and the assistance he received from the Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trade and the Builders’ Exchange that the government was induced to take up the establishment of technical schools in Montreal and Quebec. In this connection Mr. Gauthier has done a noble and patriotic work, the value of which cannot be estimated. He has been president of the Council of Arts and Manufactures continuously since 1897, and more than three thousand scholars are now participating in these classes.

He has ever believed in that special training which will enable the individual to develop his native talents and thus qualify for the business life to which he is best adapted. Mr. Gauthier was associated with Dr. Adami in the general presidency of the Child’s Welfare movement.

In the various movements and projects with which Mr. Gauthier has been associated, whether financial, educational, philanthropic or commercial, he has shown the same intelligent and careful interest as in his own private business affairs.

In connection with the affairs of La Caisse Nationale d’Economie, of which he was one of the founders in 1899, he has taken a very active and prominent part. Ever since its organization he has been chairman of the finance committee, also chairman of the committee of administration, and has been no small factor in the splendid success of this association.

He is an extensive holder of stock in the Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company, as well as in the Lake of the Woods Milling Company, and is president of the Amherst Park Land Company.

Mr. Gauthier is an exceptionally well preserved gentleman for one of his years, and among his extensive acquaintance he is spoken of in terms of admiration and respect.

He has continuously been a student of the signs of the times, of existing conditions and keeps abreast with the best thinking men of the age in his knowledge of political, economical and social questions affecting the welfare and progress of the race.

WILLIAM DOUW LIGHTHALL.

The position of William Douw Lighthall has for many years been one of leadership. He has exerted wide and beneficial influence on public thought and action and as lawyer, author and the promoter of various prominent societies his name has become known throughout the length and breadth of the land. He has been termed “a living example of good citizenship ... a man of high culture, refined tastes and exceptional literary ability.” His efforts along all the lines in which his activities have been put forth have been productive of far-reaching and beneficial results. He was born at Hamilton, Ontario, December 27, 1857, a son of William Francis Lighthall, who is the doyen of the Montreal notarial profession, and is descended from the Schuyler, Van Renssalaer and Van Cortlandt families, three of the most prominent Knickerbocker families of New York. The mother, Mrs. Margaret Lighthall, was the eldest daughter of Captain Henry Wright, of Chateauguay, who was a son of Major James Wright (McIntyre), the commander of the British settlers of the district in the War of 1812.

After being dux of the high school of Montreal William D. Lighthall pursued a classical course in McGill University, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree and the Shakespeare gold medal in English literature in 1879. He then entered upon the study of law at McGill, which conferred upon him the B. C. L. degree in 1881, and he took the honorary degree of M. A. in 1885. With the completion of his law course he was called to the bar and began practice as an advocate. Nature endowed him with keen mentality, and the thoroughness with which he prepared his cases and the earnestness with which he presented his causes before the courts won him success and advancement. He was created king’s counsel in 1906. For a long period he has been accounted one of the distinguished representatives of the Montreal bar, practicing as senior member of the law firm of Lighthall & Harwood.

What he has accomplished as a member of the legal profession would alone entitle W. D. Lighthall to mention among the representative men of Montreal, yet he has gained equal prominence as an author, as a promoter of various societies, as an antiquarian greatly interested in historical and antiquarian research, and as a public-spirited citizen who takes cognizance of the needs of the hour and employs practical methods in working for high ideals for the benefit of city, province and Dominion. He was the founder of the Society of Canadian Literature, the Canadian National League, the Westmount Liberal Club, the Montreal Tourist Association, and originated and, in connection with De Lery Macdonald, established the Chateau de Ramezay Historical Museum. He was also the founder of the Union of Canadian Municipalities. He was one of those largely instrumental in securing the erection of the Maisonneuve monument at Montreal and was the discoverer of the Indian burying ground at Westmount. He is interested in all that pertains to the history of the country from prehistoric times down to the present, and his researches and investigations have been carried far and wide, bringing to light many interesting points bearing upon the travel history of the North American Indians as well as upon the period of the early colonists and the development of Canada. He is a member of the Scotch Society of Literature and Art; a vice president of the National Municipal League of America; a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature; an honorary member of the Women’s Historical Society of Canada and of the Chateauguay Literary and Historical Society; life corresponding member of the Quebec Literary and Historical Society; president of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society; a governor of the Congregational College of Canada and of the Joint Board of Theological Colleges of McGill University; and has been a representative fellow of the University. In 1910 he was appointed a member of the Metropolitan Parks Commission.

In all these years, retiring to the quiet of his study, he has devoted hours to writing, and his authorship has gained him equal renown with his efforts in other directions. His first published volume, Thoughts, Moods and Ideals (verse), came from the press in 1887 and was followed in 1888 by The Young Seigneur. Then came The Battle of Chateauguay, in 1889; Montreal After 250 Years, in 1892; The False Chevalier, in 1898; a Prehistoric Hochelaga Burying-ground, in 1898; A Link in Iroquois History, in 1899; The Glorious Enterprise, in 1901; Hiawatha the Great, in 1901; and Westmount: a Municipal Illustration, in 1902. This last book followed his three years of service as mayor of Westmount, so that he was qualified to discuss the subjects of which the volume treated. The same year he brought forth a volume entitled To the Boers: A Friend’s Appeal from Canada. In 1904 he published Canada, a Modern Nation, and Thomas Pownall: His Part in the Conquest of Canada. In 1908 he added to the list of his publications A Romance of Prehistoric Montreal and The Master of Life; and in 1910, The Governance of Empire and Sights and Shrines of Montreal. He also published Songs of the Great Dominion (Windsor series) in 1889, and Canadian Poems and Lays (Canterbury Poets series) in 1891.

There are few men in possession in so eminent a degree of the habits, tastes and ability of the scholar and at the same time in so large a measure the practical qualities which find expression in successful professional service and in public-spirited citizenship. Mr. Lighthall has studied as closely the signs of the times and the questions of the hour as he has the history of the past. His deep interest in the cause of education was manifest in his service as chairman of the board of school commissioners of Westmount, to which office he was appointed in 1909. He is an imperialist in principle and at the same time a strong believer in the necessity and advantage of organizing the intellectual and higher interests of Canadian nationality and retaining state ownership and control of forests, railways, land tenure, coal mines and other public resources.

In October, 1890, Mr. Lighthall was married to Miss Cybel Charlotte Wilkes, a daughter of John Wilkes and a granddaughter of the late Rev. Dr. Henry Wilkes. Mrs. Lighthall is vice president of the local branch of the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, and is also a vice president of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild. Something of the nature of his recreation is indicated in the fact that Mr. Lighthall belongs to Lac Tremblant Fishing Club, of which he was elected president in 1909, and in the same year he was admitted an Iroquois Indian chief with the name of Ticonderoga in recognition of services to that race. He furthermore belongs to the University, Canada, Reform, Montreal, Country and Canadian Clubs of Montreal and the Royal Societies Club of London, England. His winter residence, Chateauclair, is at No. 14 Murray Avenue, Westmount, while his summer home, Camp Beartracks, is at Lac Tremblant. In the review of his history it seems that his constantly expanding powers are opening to him a still broader field of usefulness and establishing him more firmly in the position of prominence which he today occupies.

JOSEPH DROUIN.

Joseph Drouin, a member of the Montreal bar, was born at Two Mountains, in the province of Quebec, on the 15th of November, 1875, a son of Firmin and Mathilde (Lafrance) Drouin, sturdy French Canadian farmers. He is of the eighth generation in descent from Robert Drouin, of Pin au Perche, France, who became the founder of the family in the new world, establishing himself at Quebec in 1635. The principal branch of the family remains in Quebec and Orleans, but in 1751 one branch detached itself from the main Quebec stem and was transplanted to Montreal, where representatives of the name have since been found in the city and surrounding districts.

Joseph Drouin pursued a classical course in the seminary of Ste. Thérèse and won his B. C. L. degree upon graduation from McGill University in April, 1904. He engaged in the practice of law, winning a liberal clientage that connected him with the important work of the courts. Of late Mr. Drouin has devoted his attention to the management of his own private interests.

Mr. Drouin is a Roman Catholic in religious faith. He was married in Montreal on the 22d of November, 1904, to Marie Orpha Leduc, a daughter of Augustin and Philomène (Lefebvre) Leduc, who were farming people at St. Benoit, Deux Montagnes, province of Quebec. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Drouin have been born five children: Cécile, Thérèse, René, Marguerite and Gabriel.

HON. HONORE MERCIER.

Among contemporary Canadian statesmen a foremost place must be assigned to the late Hon. Honore Mercier, premier of the province of Quebec. He was not only distinguished by reason of his position at the head of the government of one of the foremost provinces of the Canadian federation but attained distinction along various other lines having to do with the progress and upbuilding of the country and the upholding of its political, legal and moral status. A native of the province of Quebec, he was born at Iberville, October 15, 1840. He came of a family of unpretentious farmers, or habitants, as they are styled in Lower Canada, the ancestors originally from Old France, although several generations have been represented in the county of Montmagny below the city of Quebec. His father had to provide for the needs of a large household, but he was a man of energy and foresight and counted no personal sacrifice too great if he could thereby equip his children for the later responsibilities and duties that fall to the lot of every individual. The maiden name of the mother was Marie Catherine Laflamme.

When fourteen years of age Honore Mercier became a student in the Jesuit College in Montreal, where he completed his education, making an excellent record. Some time afterward he determined upon the practice of law as his life work and became a student in the office of Laflamboise & Papineau, who directed his reading until he was admitted to practice in 1865. While a law student he turned his attention to journalism and in 1862 became editor in chief of the Courier de St. Hyacinthe, winning distinction because of his able political editorials, his support being given to the Macdonald-Sicotte liberal administration.

Following his admission to the bar Mr. Mercier retired from the profession of journalism to concentrate his energies upon his law practice. His thorough training, his natural powers and his ambition soon brought him a prominent position at the bar and from that time forward his advancement was continuous as a factor in those affairs and events which have shaped the history of province and Dominion.

In 1871 he appeared in the political arena at Bagot as a supporter of M. Langelier, the liberal candidate. The following year, upon the earnest solicitation of his friends, he became a candidate for Rouville in the house of commons and was elected. Following the downfall of the conservative government in 1873, he yielded his seat to Mr. Cheval in 1874, to avoid dividing the vote of the liberal party in the case of the redoubtable conservative candidate, Mr. Gigault. Following his retirement to private life he entered upon a partnership with Mr. Bourgeois of St. Hyacinthe. He was made the candidate of the liberal party in 1878, standing for St. Hyacinthe, but lost the election by six votes. The following year a majority of three hundred and seven votes elected him to the legislative assembly to represent St. Hyacinthe and he became solicitor-general of the Joly administration, filling out the unexpired term of Hon. P. Bachand, deceased. Mr. Mercier continued in the office until the administration went out in the same year.