Part 64

Mr. Holgate is of English ancestry and was born at Milton, Ontario, September 14, 1863, the seventh son of John and Jane (Browne) Holgate, the former of whom was in charge of the division court at Milton. Judge Holgate passed away in 1896 and his wife in 1902.

Henry Holgate was educated in the Toronto public schools and after having completed his studies served an apprenticeship with the Northern Railway of Canada, which lasted for five years. He continued with them for three years and became their chief engineer in 1884, so continuing until 1893, when he took charge of the Central Bridge Company’s works at Peterboro, Ontario. During this time, in 1887, he became a member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, contributing a paper to its transactions for which he was awarded the Gzowski medal. He remained with the Central Bridge Company for about a year and then joined the Royal Electrical Company in Montreal as engineer in charge of the steel plants and general construction. The years 1896, 1897 and 1898 were spent that way, and he then became engineer of the Montreal Park & Island Company, constructing and managing all their lines. He then went as manager and engineer to Kingston, Jamaica, and constructed all of the works of the Western Electric Company there, returning to Canada in 1900. He established himself in a private engineering practice in that year and in 1902 formed a partnership with Mr. Ross, under the firm name of Ross & Holgate, consulting engineers. This partnership was dissolved in 1911.

Mr. Holgate has on various occasions been retained by the federal and provincial governments for special engineering inquiries and reports. He was so retained in regard to the reorganization of the Trent Valley Canal works and was appointed chairman of the royal commission to report on the collapse of the Quebec bridge in September, 1907. He is widely recognized as one of the able men along his line and has had charge in late years of the building of several large hydraulic power plants.

Occasionally Mr. Holgate contributes interesting articles to technical works. He is the author of an exhaustive paper on Northeast Canada, which was published in 1908, and he has lectured extensively, one of his subjects being “Some Facts Regarding the Upper St. Lawrence.”

Mr. Holgate is independent in his political views and nonsectarian in his religious belief. He is a patriotic Canadian and has always at heart the interests of the Dominion. He believes in a Canada for Canadians and for any others who will become good citizens, recognizing the value of desirable immigration.

On September 19, 1888, Mr. Holgate was married to Miss Bessie Bell Headley, a daughter of Edward Headley, of Milford, Delaware. They have two sons, Henry Watson and Edwin Headley. The family residence is at No. 44 Rosemount Avenue, Westmount. He is a member of the Engineers Club of Montreal.

LEGLEUS ANTOINE GAGNIER, M. D.

Dr. Légléus Antoine Gagnier is widely and favorably known to the public as a general medical practitioner and more specifically in connection with the special work which he does in treating nervous diseases by electrical methods. He is a man who has never ceased to be a student and still frequently makes trips to Europe in order to attend the clinics conducted by the most eminent specialists in the profession. There is no new phase brought out in the world of medicine with which he is not thoroughly acquainted and which he does not thoroughly understand, and his complete knowledge has naturally resulted in a large and lucrative practice. Freeing himself from many of the old medical prejudices he applies modern thought in his treatments and more closely follows his own logical conclusions than book prescriptions. He believes that in numerous cases massage treatments, X-Rays, light baths and general hydrotherapy will achieve more beneficial and lasting results than the older treatment of giving medicaments internally. His well equipped offices, modernly appointed and filled with all the appliances necessary to follow out his methods, are located at No. 256 St. Denis Street, Montreal, and there ever can be found a long line of patients, rich and poor, old and young, waiting to be admitted for treatment.

Although the family of Gagnier is not among the very earliest Canadian settlers, it is an old one. There were variations in the name of Gagnier and extensive records show the name as Gagné and Gagnesse in Abbé Tanguay’s Dictionnaire Généalogique.

Légléus Antoine Gagnier was born at Ste. Martine, in the county of Chateauguay, on October 4, 1871, a son of François and Sophie (Perras) Gagnier, both deceased. The doctor received his classical education at Ste. Thérèse and St. Hyacinthe Seminaries and graduated in medicine from Laval University in 1895. He pursued special studies in Paris and has ever since continued to attend clinics in that and other European cities. Capable, earnest and conscientious, he has not only a reputation for ability but enjoys the utmost confidence of his patients, to whom he is more than a doctor, as they see in him their best and truest friend. He is physician for a number of French and English mutual associations and president of the Medical Board of Union St. Pierre of Montreal.

On September 28, 1897, Dr. Gagnier was united in marriage to Miss Delia Collerette, a daughter of O. Collerette, and they have the following children, Yvonne, Légléus Adolphe, Gaston, Gabrielle, Marie Régine, Germaine and Paul Emile.

The religious faith of Dr. Gagnier is that of the Roman Catholic church. For many years he was a conservative in politics but of late has allied himself with the nationalist movement, a party which in scope of progressiveness stands foremost of the three political organizations of the Dominion and has for its intention the improvement of general conditions not only political and governmental but also sociological. In the material growth of Montreal Dr. Gagnier is interested as a director of the Greater Montreal Land Investment Company, Limited. He has an interesting military record to his credit and has been in command of the Sixty-fourth Regiment of Chateauguay and Beauharnois for three or four years and since January 23, 1901, he has been on the officers reserve as lieutenant colonel. His deep love for mankind finds expression in his public-spirited actions, and he is never called upon in vain to give his support to any enterprise which will benefit the people of his city or country. Careful of his own interests, he is more minutely careful of those of others and influenced at all times by the thought of the broader effect which his work has upon his community, exemplifying in his conduct the lofty ideals of his nation and of a noble calling. He honors his profession by paying it honor and by his adherence to the solid virtues and enlightened principles underlying it.

GEORGE STEPHEN CANTLIE.

A native of Montreal, George Stephen Cantlie was born May 2, 1867, a son of James Alexander and Eleanor Simpson (Stephen) Cantlie. The father is a prominent merchant of Montreal and a son of the late Francis Cantlie, a native of Mortlach, Banffshire, Scotland, who married Mary Stuart. James Alexander Cantlie was born June 5, 1836, and married in May, 1866, the second daughter of the late William Stephen, of Montreal. J. A. Cantlie came to Canada in 1863. He was for years head of the well known wholesale dry-goods house of J. A. Cantlie & Company, which was founded in 1868. He is connected with a number of important commercial enterprises and is one of the foremost men in business circles in Montreal.

George S. Cantlie received private tuition and attended the Montreal high school and McGill University in the acquirement of an education. In 1885 he entered the service of the Canadian Pacific Railway as clerk in the audit department. He became consecutively clerk in the comptroller’s office, chief clerk to the assistant general manager, to the assistant president and to the vice president. He was then made general baggage agent, general stationary agent and superintendent of car service. Since November, 1908, Mr. Cantlie has been at the head of the car service as general superintendent.

Colonel Cantlie has for a number of years been connected with the volunteer service. He has been lieutenant colonel in command of the Fifth Regiment, Royal Highlanders of Canada, since May 11, 1905. He commanded this regiment at the Quebec Tercentenary celebration in 1908 and at the Lake Champlain celebration at Plattsburg, New York, in 1909, when he received high commendation from President Taft on the splendid appearance of his men. In 1908 he was awarded the long service decoration.

In November, 1896, Mr. Cantlie was married to Miss Beatrice Campbell, a daughter of the late W. D. Campbell, queen’s notary, of Quebec. Mr. and Mrs. Cantlie make their home at No. 502 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal. He is a member of the Mount Royal, St. James, Montreal Hunt, Forest and Stream, Back River Polo, Auto and Montreal Jockey Clubs. He also is enrolled in the York Club of Toronto and is a member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association.

CHARLES LYMAN.

One of the best known men in his line of business in Canada was the late Charles Lyman, wholesale druggist, who died November 17, 1909, after a successful business career of nearly two score years, all of which was spent in his native city. He was born in Montreal, April 3, 1849, a son of Benjamin Lyman and Delia A. Wells. These parents, both natives of the state of Vermont, whose ancestry in the United States dated back almost to the landing of the Mayflower, might account for the strong interest in the affairs of that country which was one of the pronounced characteristics of Mr. Lyman. He was educated in the Montreal high school, the Hopkins grammar school of New Haven, Connecticut, and Yale University, from which he graduated in the class of 1871.

In his senior year at college he was elected a member of the Scroll and Key Society, then as now one of the most coveted distinctions outside of the purely academic sphere. He always retained a very absorbing interest in the affairs of Yale, returning almost annually to his class reunions.

After leaving college he entered his father’s business, Lyman, Clare & Company, in which he shortly became a partner. This business in 1879 was styled Lyman, Sons & Company, under which name it was known until 1908, becoming incorporated then as Lymans, Limited.

In 1887 Mr. Lyman together with James W. Knox and F. Gold Lyman established the business of Lyman, Knox & Company, which continued under this style until in 1906 it became part of the National Drug & Chemical Company, Limited, of which corporation Charles Lyman was secretary from its inception until he retired from business in 1908. Mr. Lyman was of a studious disposition, and his chief interest was perhaps centered in his family life. He was known for his broad culture and was a close follower of the public affairs of both the United States and Canada. Together with the late Goldwin Smith he was a firm believer in the eventual unity of political interest of these countries.

Mr. Lyman was married October 1, 1874, at Stelton, New Jersey, to Kate Dean, daughter of the late Henry Dean of New York, who survives him, together with their three children: C. Philip Lyman and Frank D. Lyman, both of Montreal; and Ruth Delia, the wife of William G. MacNaughton of Port Edwards, Wisconsin.

Mr. Lyman was a member of The University Club, of which he was one of the founders and The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. He was a member of the American Presbyterian church, the corner stone of the present edifice having been laid by his father, Benjamin Lyman. The higher, better elements of life always made strong appeal to him, and the principles which governed his conduct make his example as a man and citizen one well worthy of emulation.

FREDERIC ORR-LEWIS.

Frederic Orr-Lewis was born at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the second son of the late William Thomas Lewis and Mary (Graham) Lewis, and a grandson of the late William Lewis, sheriff of Glamorganshire, Wales. The father was a shipowner in Canadian Inland Lakes. William Thomas Lewis came to Canada from Swansea, Wales, in 1852, locating at Hamilton. He became a prominent figure on the inland lakes between Chicago and Kingston and was a large shipowner. He retired from active business in 1890 and moved to Montreal, where he departed this life in 1908. For more than two decades he had survived his wife, who passed away in 1886.

Frederic Orr-Lewis was educated in Kingston, Ontario, and on leaving school went with J. Muckleston & Company, wholesale hardware merchants of the same city. He resigned from that position to establish his own business in Kingston in 1888 and removed the establishment to Montreal in 1889, associated with his brothers James Graham Lewis and Thomas Graham Lewis. The firm was then Lewis Brothers, which was later formed into the limited liability company of Lewis Brothers, Limited, of which he is still the president. From the beginning their trade has extended to such an extent that they now occupy the entire eight-story building which covers Nos. 20 to 42 inclusive on Bleury Street, Montreal, with sales offices in Ottawa, Toronto and other western cities. They have been recognized as one of the leading hardware establishments of the Dominion.

Frederic Orr-Lewis is also a director of the Merchants’ Bank of Canada and director of the Montreal Cotton Company and president of Canadian Vickers, Limited, which is associated with the English firm of Vickers, Sons & Maxim. In 1903 he was elected to the presidency of the Dominion Wholesale Hardware Merchants’ Association.