Part 67

PAUL BRISSET DES NOS.

Prominent in real-estate circles of Montreal is Paul Brisset des Nos, whose activities in that field have had an important bearing upon the growth of the city. He has successfully handled important deals and has been connected with some of the largest transactions consummated in real estate. At present he is manager of the L’Alliance Immobilière, Incorporated, which he established in 1912 and which is capitalized at one hundred thousand dollars. He is among the successful Parisians who have selected Montreal as their field of labor, and yet he often visits the land of his birth. Having had all the advantages of an excellent education, he understands mankind and judges conditions correctly, and these features are largely the corner stone of his success. He was born in Paris, November 17, 1873, and comes of a distinguished family, his father being André Brisset des Nos, for many years manager for La Foncière, Paris, and his mother Clémentine Hébert de la Rousselière.

Paul Brisset des Nos enjoyed the advantages of a classical course, attending the College of the Jesuits in his native city, located at the rue de Madrid, and also the school of the same order at the rue Bleury at Montreal. He made his first step into the business world as partner of his father, who was engaged in the wholesale wine and liquor business at 23 Gosford Street, Montreal, the business being conducted under the name of André Brisset & Fils. He was connected with this firm for six years but in 1906 he opened a real-estate office. For about seven years he was located at Pointe-aux-Trembles but subsequently gave much of his time to two tracts of land which he had acquired in the district of the Rivière des Prairies, which he subdivided into eighteen hundred lots, all of which have been disposed of today. Among other enterprises he was concerned in the building of four butter factories near Montreal. In 1912 he established and incorporated the L’Alliance Immobilière, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, and has since been manager thereof. He is a number of the Montreal Real Estate Exchange.

On the 11th of February, 1901, at Montreal, Mr. Brisset des Nos was united in marriage to Miss Yvonne Lareau, a daughter of the late Edmond Lareau, deputy of Rouville. Mr. and Mrs. Brisset des Nos have the following children: Paul, ten years of age; Aliette, aged eight; Yves six; and Madeleine, three.

It is conceded on all sides that realty activities largely contribute to the growth of a community and in that way Mr. Brisset des Nos has participated in the development and commercial expansion of Montreal. He is public-spirited and takes a deep interest in any forward movement promoted in the cause of the general welfare. Although he has been connected with real-estate transactions for a comparatively short time, he has made his influence felt in that field to such an extent that his opinions and advice are often sought by investors. L’Alliance Immobilière, founded upon a solid basis, may well look toward a prosperous future under the able management of Mr. Brisset des Nos, whose wide experience and sound judgment are among the most important assets of the corporation.

HON. SIR LOMER GOUIN.

Hon. Sir Lomer Gouin, a distinguished representative of the Montreal bar and a statesman whose grasp of affairs has made him largely master of situations affecting government interests, was born at Grondines, P. Q., March 19, 1861, a son of Dr. J. N. and Victorie Seraphine (Fugere) Gouin. The family has long been established in this province. Sir Lomer Gouin in the attainment of his education attended successfully Sorel College, Levis College and the Laval University. He won his LL. B. degree in 1884 and in 1902 the honorary degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him while McGill also created him an LL. D. in 1911. He pursued his law studies under the direction of the late Sir John Abbot and the late Hon. R. Laflamme, two of the most eminent members of the bar of Montreal. Passing the required examinations, Sir Lomer Gouin was admitted to practice as an advocate in 1884, and his advancement in his profession has brought him to a position of leadership at the provincial bar. He was at one time a law partner of Judge Pagnuelo and afterward of the late Hon. H. Mercier. His knowledge of the law is comprehensive and exact and in the application of its principles he has proven himself one of the ablest representatives of the bar in Montreal. He was elected batonnier-general of the provincial bar in 1910, was appointed an officer of de l’Institut Public of France in 1902 and also of the Legion of Honor in 1907. Aside from his profession, he is known in financial circles as a director of the Royal Trust Company, of the Montreal City and District Savings Bank and of the Mount Royal Assurance Company. The Venerable Archdeacon Kerr characterized him as “a straightforward business man,” and in all his career he has never deviated from high standards of manhood and citizenship.

In 1908 he was knighted by King George at the Quebec Tercentenary celebration. His public service has been of an important character and is of wide scope, and in 1898 he was appointed a member of the council of public instruction, P. Q., and in 1910 was elected president of the North American Fish and Game Protective Association. He has likewise been president of the Canadian Camp. In 1900 he was chosen an alderman of Montreal and exercises his official prerogatives in support of various measures for the general good. Mr. Gouin is a liberal in politics and for some years has been active in the party. He unsuccessfully contested Richelieu for the House of Commons at the general election in 1891, and he sat for Montreal, St. James division, in the local house in 1897-1908. Since then he has sat for Port Neuf. He is regarded as an administrator of breadth of view, great knowledge and ability and unimpeachable probity. From 1900 until 1904 Sir Lomer Gouin was commissioner of public works under the Parent administration, and since March 23, 1905, has been premier and attorney-general for the province of Quebec. An eminent statesmen has characterized him as “the greatest prime minister the province has ever known.” His comprehensive knowledge of the law and his ready grasp of affairs, combined with his unfaltering loyalty to the best interests of government, classes him with the most prominent Canadian statesmen. In 1906 he was chairman of the Ottawa Inter-Provincial Conference and was a delegate thereto in 1910. He has edited a special edition of the Quebec Municipal Code, and he seems familiar with all the various phases of the important municipal, provincial and national problems which are now engaging public attention.

Sir Lomer Gouin was married in May, 1888, to Miss Eliza Mercier, a daughter of the late Hon. Honore Mercier, prime minister of Quebec. Lady Gouin passed away in September, 1904, and in September, 1911, he wedded Alice, daughter of the late Auguste Amos of Montreal. Sir Lomer Gouin was present by invitation at the coronation of King George and Queen Mary in Westminster Abbey in June, 1911. He is well known in club circles as a member of the Garrison Club of Quebec; the Club St. Denis, the Montreal Reform Club, and the Mount Royal Club of Montreal. His religious affiliation is with the Roman Catholic church.

ISAAC GOUVERNEUR OGDEN.

The enterprise which has brought the western world to a par with the old world in all that touches business activity and progress finds exemplification in the life record of Isaac Gouverneur Ogden, now vice president of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. It would be a partial view, however, if one were to consider his life record only from the standpoint of business advancement, as his labors have been directed with equal efficiency along lines which touch the general interests of society or have their root in a broad humanitarian spirit.

Born across the border, Mr. Ogden is a native of New York, the date of his birth being October 10, 1844. His parents were Isaac Gouverneur and Elizabeth Katherine (Williamson) Ogden, representatives of old and distinguished families of the Empire state. His education was acquired in local public schools, while his early business training came to him in a mercantile house in his native state where he secured employment in 1860. He early recognized the eternal principle that industry wins, and industry became the beacon light of his life. He turned from merchandising to banking, entering the house of Fisk & Hatch with which he remained until March, 1871, when he made his initial step in railway service as paymaster and accountant for the Chicago & Pacific Railway Company. The duties of the dual position were promptly and capably discharged until 1876, when he was made auditor, serving in that capacity for five years under a receiver.

In 1881 he became auditor for the western division of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, was advanced to the position of auditor for the Canadian Pacific in 1883 and so remained until 1887. For fourteen years thereafter he was comptroller for the Canadian Pacific and since December, 1901 has been vice president of the most important railway that crosses the Dominion. Long experience has made him familiar with various phases of railway operation and management, and thus he came well equipped to his present position, ready for administrative direction and executive control.

In early manhood Mr. Ogden wedded Miss Julia M. Baker and they reside at No. 457 Mackay Street. Home and business interests, however, by no means comprise the extent of his activities which reach out into the fields of religious and philanthropic work and also prominently into club life. He is an Anglican, is president of the Montreal College of Homeopathic Physicians and Surgeons; and is a life governor of the Montreal Homeopathic Hospital. In 1901 he was elected president of the Association of American Railway Accounting Officers and in 1905 was a delegate to the International Railway Congress. He brings to bear upon public questions the same keen discrimination and sound judgment that have characterized his activities in railway circles. His social nature finds expression in his membership in the St. James, Mount Royal, Forest and Stream, Royal St. Lawrence Yacht and Montreal Hunt Clubs of Montreal; the Lotus and Transportation Clubs of New York, and the Manitoba Club of Winnipeg.

CHARLES HAZLITT CAHAN.

It cannot be denied that members of the bar have been more prominent actors in public affairs than any other class of the community. This is but the natural result of causes which are manifest and require no explanation. The ability and training which qualify one to practice law also qualify him in many respects for duties which lie outside the strict path of his profession and which touch the general interests of society. Holding marked precedence among the members of the bar and recognized also as an influential factor in political circles, Charles Hazlitt Cahan is a well known and honored resident of Montreal. He comes of a family of Irish origin and was born at Hebron, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, October 31, 1861, his parents being the late Charles and Theresa Cahan, of Yarmouth. He supplemented his early educational training by study at Yarmouth Seminary and in Dalhousie University, winning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1886 and Bachelor of Laws degree in 1890. He began practice as a barrister of Nova Scotia in 1893 and was created king’s counsellor there in 1907. In the same year he entered upon the practice of law in the province of Quebec and was made king’s counsellor in this province in 1909. While a resident of Halifax he was a member of the law firm of Harris, Henry & Cahan but since 1909 has been in practice in Montreal. He has always specialized in corporation law, in which department he has had wide and varied experience in North and South America and in Europe.

There was an interval between the completion of his course and his active connection with the bar in which he devoted his time and energies to journalistic interests, being connected with the Halifax Evening Mail and Herald, resigning, however, to devote his attention to law and politics in 1894, and he has made for himself a prominent name and position in the latter as well as in the former connection. He contested Shelburne, Nova Scotia, in the conservative interest and following the election sat in the Nova Scotia legislature from 1890 until 1894, during which period he was the recognized leader of the opposition. In 1896 he unsuccessfully contested Shelburne and Queen’s for the house of commons, and also Cumberland at the general election in 1900. He declined a nomination for the St. Lawrence division of Montreal at the general election of 1911, and he also refused political honors when he decided not to accept the portfolio offered him in the Dominion cabinet in 1896. Public activity has ever been with him a matter of public duty, as he has ever placed the general good before partisanship or self-aggrandizement. He was for several years honorary secretary of the Halifax branch of the Imperial Federation League and honorary secretary of the Liberal-Conservative Association in Nova Scotia. With all the duties that have been imposed upon him in his political and professional connections, he has found time and opportunity to cooperate in the management of various successful business corporations and interests. He is now the president of the Western Canada Power Company and of the Corporation Agencies, Ltd., and a director of several other important financial and industrial companies. He has closely studied vital public problems, and he took a decided stand against the Taft-Fielding reciprocity compact, against which he delivered various addresses during the political campaign of 1911. He has been termed a courageous, ready and powerful speaker. He presents his arguments with clearness and force, and their logic is convincing.

On March 1, 1887, Mr. Cahan was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary J. Hetherington of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and they now reside at No. 740 University Street, Montreal, with a summer residence at “Belmont,” Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mr. Cahan’s club relationship is with the Mount Royal and Montreal Clubs, Montreal; the Halifax Club, Halifax; and the Jockey Club of Mexico. He filled the presidency of the Dalhousie University Alumni Association in 1893-4. One of the elements of his success is found in his ability to entirely concentrate his thought and efforts upon the question or work in hand and then turn with equal enthusiasm and capability to his next duty or undertaking. The trend of his mind is analytical, logical and inductive, and as a corporation lawyer he stands among the foremost representatives of the profession in Montreal.

LEANDRE BELANGER.

Leandre Bélanger, for forty years or more one of the most prominent notaries of the province of Quebec, was born March 29, 1848, at St. François de Sales, Laval county. His father, Leandre Bélanger, was a carriage maker by trade and married Marie Nadon. His grandfather, François Bélanger, was a farmer of Laval county.

In his native village Leandre Bélanger, Jr., spent his boyhood and was educated at Terrebonne College. For five years he studied law in the office of Melasippe Prevost in Terrebonne and on the 11th of June, 1871, was commissioned a licensed notary in Quebec. For a year thereafter he engaged in practice at St. François de Sales, but, seeking a more extensive field, he located in Montreal on the 1st of May, 1872, and in this city soon built up a large and lucrative practice. Until 1909 he was alone in practice, but in that year formed a partnership with his son Adrien under the name of Bélanger & Bélanger, with offices at No. 30 St. James Street. For twenty-five years Mr. Bélanger has been a member of the board of notaries of the province of Quebec and for three years served as president of that board. For eight years he was president of the Montreal Association of Notaries and his contemporaries in the profession accord him a high position in their ranks. He has been a member of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society for many years, and he is also a member of the Chambre de Commerce.

Mr. Bélanger is a member of the Catholic church and of L’Union Catholique and has served as a director and vice president of the latter. In politics he has ever remained independent. In 1870 he was married at St. François de Sales, to Claire Viger, and they became parents of two children: Joseph, a resident of St. Hyacinthe; and Maria, the wife of Dr. Archambault, of Fall River, Massachusetts. In 1879 Mr. Bélanger was married, in Montreal, to Miss Laura Viau and they have seven children: Leandre, an electrician in Montreal; Adrien, who is in partnership with his father; Armand; Laura; Evelina; Antoinette; and Alice. The family home is on St. Catherine road in Outremont.

HON. LOUIS ONESIME LORANGER.

Hon. Louis Onesime Loranger, whose name is prominently associated with the history of Montreal’s judiciary, retired from the bench in May, 1910, but has never ceased to feel a deep interest in his profession or in the great and vital problems which are most closely connected with the welfare and progress of the country.

He was born at Yamachiche in the province of Quebec on the 7th of April, 1837, a son of the late Joseph and Marie Louise (Dugal) Loranger. In the acquirement of his education he attended Montreal College and St. Mary’s College, the latter a Jesuit school of Montreal, and in preparation for the bar, having determined to make the practice of law his life work, he began a thorough course of reading and on the 3d of May, 1858, was admitted to practice at Montreal. He then joined his brothers, Hon. T. J. I. Loranger, late judge of the superior court and the late J. M. Loranger, K. C. They acquired an extensive practice and, in fact, were accorded a large share of the most important law work in the city during the greater part of the later half of the nineteenth century. Mr. Louis O. Loranger was created a king’s counsel by the Marquis of Lorne in 1881 and the honorary degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Laval University in 1901. He continued in the active profession of law until appointed judge of the superior court for the district of Montreal in 1882, and remained upon the bench for twenty-seven years, or until May, 1910, when he entered into the enjoyment of a full pension.

Judge Loranger’s public service aside from his connection with the judiciary has been extensive and of an important character. He was alderman of Montreal from 1868 until 1879, covering a period of eleven years, and he sat for Laval in the local legislature for a period of seven years, or from 1875 until 1882. He was attorney general in the Chapleau administration from 1879 until 1882. It was upon his retirement from that position that he was made puisne judge, continuing upon the bench for twenty-seven years thereafter. His public service also covers incumbency in the office of president of the St. Jean Baptiste Society in 1895-6. In 1906 he was elected governor of Laval University and the same year was made president of Notre Dame Hospital.

Judge Loranger was twice married. In 1867 he married Marie Anne Rosalie Lafranboise, a daughter of the late Hon. Mr. Justice Lafranboise. To them were born seven children: Louise, the deceased wife of Henry Masson; Louis J., a prominent advocate of Montreal, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; Adele, now Mrs. H. Prefontaine; Caroline, now Mrs. Hubert Desjardins; Joseph, a well known advocate of Montreal; Maurice, a well known attorney of this city; and Rosalie, now Mrs. Emile Chaput, of Montreal. The mother of these children died in May, 1883, and Judge Loranger was again married in May, 1888, his second wife being Mrs. Antonette (Valois) Verin, a daughter of the late S. Valois.

Hon. L. O. Loranger is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church. He belongs to Club Lafontaine and is an advocate to conservative principles. He enjoys high reputation as a lawyer and as a debater and still takes an exceedingly active interest in political affairs. He has long since passed the Psalmist’s span of three score years and ten, having now reached the age of seventy-seven, but in spirit and interest seems yet in his prime. Old age need not necessarily suggest inactivity; on the contrary, there is an old age which grows stronger and better mentally and morally as the years go by and gives out of the rich store of its experience for the benefit of others. Such is the record of Hon. Louis Onesime Loranger, whose opinions carry weight in many councils and are always worthy of an interested hearing.