Part 72

HENRY MORGAN & COMPANY, LIMITED.

For nearly three-quarters of a century the name of Henry Morgan has been inseparably interwoven with the mercantile progress and advancement of Montreal and in more recent years, with the branching out of the house he founded, it has taken a foremost position, in its various lines, among the big mercantile and industrial institutions of the Dominion.

The Henry Morgan & Company, Limited, of today, is the outgrowth of a business established early in the year 1843, on Notre Dame Street, a few doors east of McGill Street, by Henry Morgan and David Smith, under the firm name of Smith & Morgan. From a small dry-goods house carrying only a limited number of lines it has developed into a great and powerful departmental store and what might be justly termed one of the mercantile successes of Montreal, whose capabilities are almost as varied as the city’s needs.

Henry Morgan, the founder of this house, was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1819, and when a young man in his early twenties, came to Montreal, where he entered into the dry-goods business, as previously stated.

The original location of Smith & Morgan’s store was soon found inadequate, and in 1854 the business was removed to McGill Street, just south of St. Joseph, now Notre Dame, in a building occupied by Latineer. In 1860 an addition was made extending to Notre Dame Street and when the old American Presbyterian church, corner of Victoria Square and St. James Street, was removed, the business was transferred to that location in more commodious quarters.

In 1852, Mr. Smith retired from the business, and that same year the firm of Henry Morgan & Company was established, Mr. James Morgan of Glasgow, Scotland, a brother, becoming a member at that time. The latter, a native of Saline, Fifeshire, Scotland, had entered the dry-goods business early in life and for a number of years was a member of the firm of Muirhead & Morgan, of Glasgow. The personnel of the firm practically remained unchanged until 1876, when James and Colin D. Morgan, nephews of Henry Morgan and the former a son of James Morgan, became members, and upon whom most of the burden of the business has fallen.

In 1891, this firm completed on St. Catherine Street, opposite Phillips Square, one of the finest business blocks in America, to which its mercantile business was transferred. This move became necessary in order to meet the requirements of a constantly growing business, and a shift in the retail section to that part of the city.

Mr. Henry Morgan, the founder of the business, died December 12, 1893, at which time the Gazette said in part: “No Montreal merchant and not many Canadian merchants could claim to be better known than Mr. Henry Morgan, who passed to his rest yesterday, after a busy, successful and well spent life of almost seventy-five years. His character was marked by many of those traits which have made men of Scottish birth so prominent a factor in the upbuilding of Montreal’s commercial prosperity. Mr. Morgan was of a somewhat retiring disposition. His store and his farm home at Maisonneuve divided his time, and though he enjoyed a very large share of public respect, he never sought to enter public life. He was unmarried. His death was due to influenza, the cause of so many deaths of prominent men lately, acting on a constitution weakened somewhat by previous illness. The funeral takes place today from St. Andrew’s church, of which he was an esteemed elder.”

The death of Mr. James Morgan had preceded that of his brother but a few months, and occurred on March 28, 1893, at which time the Gazette said in part: “By the death of Mr. James Morgan, Sr., Montreal has lost one of its oldest citizens and one who for well nigh half a century was an intelligent sharer in its commercial and industrial progress. The deceased gentleman was in his eighty-sixth year. Mr. James Morgan was a man of strong intellect, diligently cultivated, an assiduous but judicious reader until his eyesight became impaired, and his opinion on questions to which he had given thought was ever listened to with attention. With few persons was it more profitable to converse, especially on the higher themes of religion, philosophy and science. His views were broad and so was his charity. Although as a business man he had little spare time for writing, Mr. Morgan could wield an able pen and has written not only prose but poetry. He was long an esteemed member of the Church of the Messiah. But though a man of strong convictions, as he was a thorough Scotchman, neither in creed nor in nationality was he of the narrow type.”

The business of Henry Morgan & Company from its very inception, has never been at a standstill, success following the firm’s every move. In 1906 it was incorporated as a limited liability company under the present title of Henry Morgan & Company, Limited, with Mr. James Morgan, as president. The development and expansion of this firm’s interests have come to include several large factories which it owns and operates, among these being the foremost high class wood-working plant in the Dominion, which places the company in a position to build homes as well as to decorate and furnish them even to the smallest detail. In this respect the firm has become widely known throughout Canada, and its successful undertakings include decorative schemes and interior furnishings of some of the finest homes in practically every province in the Dominion.

Its business policy has always been one of absolute integrity and business honesty, and this has exerted a strong influence upon the life of a great city. The public who come in daily contact with the various branches of this great organization readily feel that spirit of industry and enterprise that has made possible the accomplishing of great things and the building of a great business dedicated to the best interests of the public whom it serves.

HON. JAMES MCSHANE.

In the political history of Montreal during the past half century no name has been more familiar to the people than that of the Hon. James McShane, who in all of his public connections displayed a masterful grasp of every problem presented for solution combined with thorough understanding of human nature and the springs of human conduct. A firm belief in the principles which he advocated combined with the qualities of leadership enabled him to become a directing force in public affairs.

Mr. McShane was born in Montreal, November 7, 1833, a son of James and Ellen (Quinn) McShane, who came from county Armagh, Ireland, and settled in Montreal in the summer of 1833. The mother died during the cholera epidemic of 1834.

After pursuing his early education under Daniel Mahoney, a well known Irish schoolmaster of that period, and spending some years as a student in the Sulpician College, James McShane, at the age of eighteen years, joined his father who had become an extensive cattle exporter. The son eventually succeeded to the business and it is a matter of history that he was the first to export cattle to Europe, his first shipment of three hundred head being made October 5, 1874, on the steamship George, to Liverpool. For four years he also had the contract to supply the British troops when they were stationed here.

While engaged in this business Mr. McShane, with the natural love of the Celt for such matters, found time to devote to political problems and activities, both municipal and federal. In 1863 he was a justice of the peace and for twenty-one years he represented St. Ann’s ward as an alderman. During those years he became known as “the people’s Jimmie,” for he knew every man, woman and child in the ward, calling them by their Christian names and ever manifesting deep and sincere solicitude for their welfare. He possessed a wonderful gift of memory enabling him to readily recall names and faces and incidents connected with the individual to whom he was speaking. All this made him personally popular and was an effective element in his leadership.

At various periods Mr. McShane represented Montreal West and Center in the legislature, continuing to sit from 1878 until 1892. In the formation of the Mercier cabinet he accepted the important portfolio of minister of public works in which he continued in 1887-8. When the late Mr. Justice Curran was raised to the bench in 1875 Mr. McShane contested St. Ann’s division in the liberal interests against Sir William Hingston whom he defeated. In 1891 and 1892 Mr. McShane was mayor of Montreal, and his administration of municipal affairs was characterized by many needed reforms and improvements. In 1887 he was a member of the Quebec Interprovincial Conference, and he was at one time president of St. Patrick’s Society. He served as an officer in the volunteer militia in the first administrative battalion in the Fenian raids of 1866 and was granted a medal for his service. He is now eighty years of age, but is splendidly preserved physically and mentally, in both regards being the superior of many men of sixty years. He possesses all the virtues and specific activities of the sons of Erin. In 1910 when he was far past the span of life allotted by the psalmist, he fell victim to an acute attack of pneumonia, but by sheer force of will passed through a crisis after he was given up by his old family physician and friend, Mr. McShane remarking that “he felt quite fit and that this business of making him stay in bed was only a joke.”

Mr. McShane has been married twice. In 1863 he wedded Elizabeth Jane Darrah, who died June 25, 1867. In 1870 he married Miss Josephine Kathleen Meron of Plattsburg, New York, who died January 1, 1910. Unto them were born six children, three of whom survive the mother: Mrs. Richard Barry of Montreal; Mrs. Henry M. Tracy of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who has two children; and Mrs. Kathleen H. Buckley of New York city, who has five children.

HON. JEAN BAPTISTE ARCHAMBAULT.

Hon. Jean Baptiste Archambault, judge of the circuit court of Montreal, took to his judicial duties an excellent record as a lawyer whose ability and success had won for him a foremost place among the strong and forceful representatives of the Montreal bar. A deep thinker, logical reasoner and well versed in the science of his profession, he was eminently well fitted for the judgeship to which he was appointed November 29, 1913.

He was born at St. Antoine, Vercheres county, P. Q., on the 21st of March, 1871, and comes from one of the old and prominent families of the province, one that has given to the legal profession more members than any other one family.

In the attainment of his education, Judge Archambault attended St. Hyacinthe Seminary and Laval University, winning the degrees of B. L. and B. C. L. in 1895. From the outset the science of his profession, as well as its practical phases, proved a strong attraction for him. He entered upon active practice in 1895 and soon demonstrated his ability to successfully cope with intricate and involved legal problems.

His preparation of cases was always thorough and his presentation of a cause marked by perspicuity. His standing among his professional brethren is indicated by the fact that in 1905 he was chosen by the council of the bar of the province of Quebec to assist in editing the judicial reports of the superior court and the court of king’s bench.

Vital political problems have always greatly interested him, and he has been active and zealous in support of principles in which he believes. He was a recognized leader of the conservative party in his native county and was a candidate for the legislature in 1904. He has ever been a close student of the signs of the times and the questions of the day, and although still a conservative in principle he holds to more independent views than formerly, his comprehensive study leading him to see many questions in a different light. He has been spoken of as “a man who has thought out problems for himself and is an authority on economics, political and social.” He was one of the first to advocate proportional representation in Canada, has delivered many lectures upon the subject and has written many articles which have done much to foster and promote the idea.

His wide general information is one of the strong elements of his power and ability as a lawyer and jurist. His broad knowledge, which enables him to understand life in its various phases, and his masterful grasp of every problem presented for solution, are qualities which, combined with a familiarity of the law and with precedent, equip him for his work on the bench.

Judge Archambault withal is possessed of a genial nature, is kindly in spirit and unfailingly courteous. He belongs to a number of the leading social clubs and in their membership is most popular.

SIR HUGH ALLAN.

Sir Hugh Allan, one of the foremost men in the early development of Canada’s foreign commerce and the practical founder of the Allan line of steamships, was a man whose initiative spirit enabled him to recognize, appreciate and understand situations incomprehensible to men of less sagacity and insight. The success of his undertakings made him one of the foremost figures in the history of Canada’s commercial greatness. He stood as a leading representative of navigation interests and was almost equally well known in banking and industrial circles. Indeed many business interests profited by his cooperation and ability and his memory is still honored by those who cherish the history of their country and recognize its real upbuilders.