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1927 Men of Achievement, Essex County, Volume 1 Francis X. Chauvin

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ESSEX COUNTY

By FRANCIS X. CHAUVIN, M.A.

VOLUME I

1927 EDITION "G REAT as has been our increase in the last twenty-five years since the union between Upper and Lower Canada, our future progress will be vastly greater, and when, by means of this rapid increase, we become a nation of eight or nine millions of inhabitants, our alliance will be worthy of being sought by the great nations of the earth." -From speech by George Brown durmg the Confederation debates of 1865

"S OME among us will live to see the day when, as the result of this measure, a great and powerful people may have grown up in these lands, when the boundless forests all around us shall have given way to smiling fields and thriving towns, and when one united government, under the British flag, shall extend from shore to shore." -From speech by Sir John A. Macdonald during the Confederation debates of 1865

Page 'Two INTRODUCTION

II!'-JI!,_IHE earliest biographies are found in the Old Testa... , ment. They are, however, only simple accounts of the patriarchs. Later, the Greeks and the Romans wrapped their legends about their gods and heroes. Plutarch is the most celebrated among the biogra... phers of that ancient period. In the Middle Ages many bio ... graphies were written; but they are little more than chronicles of the happenings in the hfe of a man. Biography in its modern form dates from the seventeenth century. The method consists in selecting the more important events in a person's life, and in emphas~ing the relation of these events to character, traits and conduct. Biography is the simplest form of literature. In writing "Men of Achievement," I have tried, as much as possible, to avoid becoming a melancholy climber of family trees. I have kept in mind the adolescent- present and future- who is,or will be, endeavouring to orient himself in a world that seems to be growing more and more disharmonious. I trust that he will find in the men I have portraitured- Oh, how imperfectly!­ something that will bridge the gulf between child faith and adult consciousness, and also something that will bridge the still wider gulfbetween adolescence and maturity. FRANCIS X. CHAUVIN. Tecumseh, Ont., July 1, 1927.

Page 'Three CONFEDERATION

TY years prior to its accomplishment, the idea of ~Rm~~ uniting the British Provinces of North America under a single Government had occurred in the minds of public men. In 1808 one R. ]. U niacke mooted that ~~~!P union. Six years later, in 1814, Chief Justice Sewell, of the Quebec Bench, suggested a similar plan. Lord Durham, in his famous report of 1839, also urged the idea. But the scheme did not enter the domain of practical politics until railway communications were introduced!. Thereafter, the idea made rapid progress. In 1854 the Nova Scotia Legislature adopted this resolution: "That a union or confederation of the British provinces on just princi­ ples, while calculated to perpetuate their connection with parent state, will promote their advancement and prosperity, increase their strength and influence, and elevate their position." In 1856 Sir A. T. Galt advocated a confederation of all the pro­ vinces. In 1858 theCartier-Macdonald Government sent a delegation to urge union upon the Imperial authorities. Finally, in 1864, at the Quebec Conference, it was resolved: "That the best interests and present and future prosperity of British North America will be promoted by a federal union under the Crown of Great Britain, provided such union can be effected on principles just to the several provinces." In1866,the details of the British North America Act were framed at the London Conference; the Act itself passed the Imperial Parlia­ ment, and the royal assent thereto was given July 1, 1867. "Four nations welded into one, with long historic past, Have found in these our western wilds one common life at last· Through the young giant's mighty limbs, that stretch from ~ea to sea, There runs the throb of conscious life, of waking energy. From Nova Scotia's misty coast to far Columbia's shore, She wakes, a band of scattered homes and colonists no more But a young na~ion, with her life full beating in her breast; A noble future m her eyes, the Britain of the West."

FRANCIS X. CHAUVIN. Tecumseh, Ont., July l, 1927. THE COUNTY OF ESSEX

HE first Whites to tread upon Essex soil were two French priests. This was in 1669. A few years later, Cavelier de LaSalle, the great ex­ plorer, plied the waters of our lakes with his Griffon and took possession of all this Western Country in the name of His Christian Majesty, the King of France. However, the first to plant a colony here was Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701. After the Seven Years'War, Canada became a British colony, but Essex has conserved its dual complexion-Anglo-French. After one hundred and sixty-five years of British rule, this com­ plexion remains the same. The descendants of the original settlers mix, in a happy and harmonious life, with their fellow citi4ens of British blood. The world has changed much since the days of Pontiac and Gladwin, but that august tradition of inter-racial friendship and amity still goes on, the greatest living example of true civili4ation. The County of Essex has just reasons to be proud of its past history, and of its present standards ofachievement. The sturdy caliber of its pioneers is represented in the character of its present-day population. The spirit of tolerance is at the basis of its social life; whilst in its commercial and industrial activities the spirit of progressiveness is everywhere manifest. Progres­ siveness and tolerance are two elements that are indispensable to achievement, whether personal, regional, or national. God grant that the future betray not the past! FRANCIS X. CHAUVIN. Tecumseh, Ont., July 1, 1927.

Page Five HIRAM WALKER

O FIND the means of being able, honest, became engaged in the teaching profession. In T pious, temperate, patient, virtuous, ben­ 1664 Thomas Walker removed to Sudbury, evolent, progressive, enterprising and success­ Mass., and during King Philip's War (167~-6) ful, in an atmosphere of feverish speculation, of his house was transformed into a garrison, hliD­ growing materialism and luxury, at a time when self shouldering the musket in defense of industry was primitive, the channels of trade property and freedom. He died in 1699. and commerce few and dangerous, progress still hampered by a stubborn atavism, the world After him the Walker lineage consists of unsettled in its political and economical sys­ Thomas Jr., Obadiah, Benjamin and Willis. tems, and experiments perilous, denotes a man Hiram Walker was born July 4, 1816, at East of strong character. Douglas, Massachusetts, the third of f?~ r Such was Hiram Walker. children issued from the marriage of Wtlhs Walker and Ruth Buffum. He was only nine He belonged to that stock of sturdy, adven­ when his father died, a victim of the epidemic of turous, hardy pioneers who laid the foundation small pox that visited Douglas in 1825. At of the great American nation. He was the sixth sixteen he had finished his primary educatiOn, direct descendant of Thomas Walker, who came and at twenty he had left the parental fire~ide to from England to Boston, in 1661, where he seek fortune in Boston. The surroundmgs of Page Six his youth, and the death of his father at a time tion increased; better communications with when the mind is retentive and impressions Detroit were established, and a fuller and lasting, had made him old for his age. He was rounder life was enjoyed by the community. of a quietness, a pensiveness and a thoughtful­ In this remarkable achievement Hira:n Walker ness seldom fou nd in a lad of 20. was greatly aided by his three sons, Edward Hiram Walker remained two years in Boston, Chandler, Franklin H. and James Harrington, being employed as a clerk in a dry goods store. all of whom became, in turn, associated with In 1838, business protraction in Boston caused their father, between 1871 and 1878. Unfortu­ him to look for new fields, and the wave of emi­ nately the three died prematurely, E. C. at 64, gration that swept the Atlantic coast i:.1 that F. H. at 62, and ]. H. at 60. In their resting year carried him to Detroit. places what hopes and dreames are buried! He was 22, inexperienced, money less; but he They were the three of Hiram Walker's eight was full of energy and confidence. He found children who rose to greater prominence in the employment in a grocery store, and continued industrial and commercial world. From their to work for various patrons until1845, when he parents they had inherited those qualities of formed the partnership of Walker & Parker: heart and mind that make big achievements: "leather dealers and tanners." clearness of vision, loftiness in the ideals of life Hiram Walker's first ventures in business and conduct, loyalty of character, love for work were disastrous. The partnership of Walker & and humanity, respect for the opinions of others, Parker lasted only one year. In 1846, he started broadmindedness and generosity. Industry in a grocery of his own, but failed. A second Walkerville owes much to their spirit of enter­ attempt in the tannery business in company prise, and Arts, Music and Architecture a great with Nehemiah Ingersoll resulted in a complete deal to their taste and their filial devotion. loss by fire in 1849. By that time he had married The success achieved by Hiram Walker and Mary Abigail Williams- a woman of great by his sons- a success which is being continued refinement and character- and his respo:1sibili­ by the present generation-is due chiefly to ties had thus increased considerably. He re­ hard work, courage and perseverance. Luck turned to the grocery trade, branching out was not a factor in it. Hiram Walker drank some three years later into distilling and grain­ from the cup of adversity upon many occasions buying, and this time he was successful. In in his long business career, long indeed, for he seven years he managed to save $40,000. lived to the ripe age of 83, the date of his death In the meantime transportation facilities had being January 12, 1899. But adversity only been opened to the East by the completion of served to stimulate his courage, to inflame his the Great Western Railway in 1854, on the hopes and to sustain his physical and mental Canadian side of the Detroit River. This, energy. He did not finally attain his ambition added to a combination of other circumstances, until1876. He was then a man of wealth; but acted as a strong suggestion upon Hiram he continued to give the world the example of Walker's alert mind. Instability of liquor legis­ perseverance in work and endeavour. lation in Michigan, absence of keen competition in Canada, better means of transport and pros­ Hiram Walker also gave the example of pects of great strides of progress in the Domin­ modesty. He never sought prominence in ion, brought him to this country in 1858. social or public life. His chief aim was to leave a good name and a good reputation. His bene­ The story of the development of the Walker factions to charitable institutions were numer­ institutions since the establishment of the ous and large; but more escaped the knowledge Walker Distillery and the Walker Flour :\Ifill in of the public than reached it. 1858, is common property. It is a fine record of achievement, perhaps unparalleled in the history As these hnes are being written a oovement of industrial Canada. Industries rose in the is being started to erect, in Walkerville, a new settlement of Walkerville; factories sprung monument to Hiram Walker. Among the great up, and a flourishing town was founded. New men whose life achievements are being pre­ areas were developed by the building of a rail­ served in bronze and granite, Hirao Walker road; agriculture, in all its branches, saw stands in prominence. He will honour the periods of unprecedented prosperity; popula- bronze as much as the bronze will honour him.

Page Seven JACK MINER

UCH ink has been poured over his semi­ living citi~en. His name will go down in history M bald cranium. Semi-bald? \Vhy one alongside those of John Burroughs, Luther could almost say that there is hardly a hair Burbank, and other great world benefactors. In betv.·een Jack Miner and the heavens. the opinion of the 116,000 readers of McLea~s \Vhen I met him- for the first time- he was Maga:ine an opinion which was expressed JO \'ery close to Nature ... he was barefoot. As a recent \'Ote- Jack lvfiner ranks fifth among we were tramping about together, through his the ''Greatest Living Canadians." picturesque villa, over the warted crust of his It has been said that the world is made up in dried out bird pond, and over tv.·ig-strewn part of experience and m part of fancy. In as paths and lanes--even the Lovers' Lane- under much as experience has not yet been able t~ the mterlacmg thickets, I asked him: '·Mr. lv1mer, don't you feel any pain in your feet from sattsfy all man's desi:"es, the stateme~t '~ wallang that way?" .. \Vhy no," he answered perhaps true. But as C:.me goes on expenence qmckly, .. I am used to that: I was torn lessens more and more the scope of f~ncy . 11a~ barefoot." is QTadually learnina to control his phystca etwtronmentb to musterb the forces of Na t ure· . · Farmer, manufacturer, lecturer, author, natu­ and as he so' does, he also learns to sh ape hts ra),,·, bird man, he is Canada·::; most renowned aims and processes upon the pattern of Nature. But there are left man's instincts and emo­ the sun and the birds to come. The sun came tions. Although the world has been completely first, then, almost at the same time, a flock of revolutionized since the promulgation of the geese, and two men who were doing some Copernican theory, these remain, at least ditching near about. The sun and the geese he relatively, unchanged ... perhaps because they welcomed with delight, but it was with disgust are Nature'::. chilJu~n. It seems as if control that he saw the men roaming around. How­ and dominion over them can come only from ever, these same men were the means of the God himself. discovery that started him upon the road to his Jack Miner is a Naturalist-but not an remarkable achievement. adherent of that philosophical theory known as Much to his astonishment, the geese passed Naturalism. He is a Naturalist in the sense right over the two men, without any signs of that he studies Nature's ways .. . God-created fear, and sailed straight on in the direction of ways, God-ordained courses. Everything is his hiding contrivance a blanket staked in the understandable, but not in man's terms. The ground. But they had not yet come within rationality of the universe can be discovered shooting range from Jack Miner, when the only if man recognizes that it is an attribute of wily leader let a sharp "Khonk, Khonk." the Great Ordainer. God does not recede Immediately every goose in the flock darted for because man, step by step, gains control of the life, leaving poor Jack to his disappointment. universe. On the contrary the greater that He returned home that morning, feeling "like control, the more manifest His influence. That a one-cent piece coming home from Klondyke." is Jack Miner's philosophy. Here is the way (Jack Miner and the Birds, page 96). he puts it: 'Tve got nothing to boast of. Back of Jack Miner's been the powerful hand of the But on his way home this wise thought Unseen." flashed through his mind: "Why did these geese fly within shooting distance from these But who is Jack Miner? And what has he two men, and shy so suddenly when they done to have become one of Canada's most caught a glimpse of me? Plainly i: must be famous men? because they regard the men as their friends, and me as their enemy." From that time forth Jack Miner was born in the little hamlet of Dover Center, in the state of Ohio. He is the writes Miss Margaret Wade: "It became the fifth of a family of ten born to John Miner and ambition of Jack Miner's life to be known among the birds themselves, as the friends of the Anne Broadwell. At thirteen he was taken to Kingsville, Ontario, by his parents, and he has birds." since lived there. Born April 10, 1865, he is Since that time Jack Miner has restocked now 62 years of age. His only learning was in South Essex with Quail; he has brought back to the rude arts of the axe and the gun. The one his native haunts the gentle Woodcock, after an he wielded to carve a family home in the exile of forty years; he has lured the Purple forests, the other to put food on the table, and Martin to his home and protected the amiable to satisfy an innate love for sports, clean sports. Robin against its natural enemies; he has made the rafters of his barns the dwelling place of Manifestations of Jack Miner's love for whole colonies of swift-winged swallows, and God's dumb creatures came early in life. His won the confidence of the Bluebird, that first pet was a blue jay. He loved him so much warbling pretty among the pretties; he bas that he stuffed him with fish worms until the given a habitat to the Mourning Dove and a jay was all gone, leaving nothing but the blue. cozy haven to the Wren; most astonishing of all, He also had rabbits, coons, squirrels, foxes, he has made friends of those highly-intelligent, crows, ravens and even a hen hawk for pets. exceedingly keen-visioned, wary and harried But it was not until he had grown to full man­ denizens of the air and the marshes, the Goose, hood that the idea of protection for, and con­ the Duck and the Swan, and has brought them servation and care of "wild" fowl struck him to his paradisical sanctuary by the thousands with irresistible force. every season; he has changed the migrations of It was in the Spring of 1903. Jack Miner this waterfowl and saved thousands from was hunting geese on the Cottam Plains, and destruction in the treacherous Niagara; he has was crouched in his hiding place, waiting for given the hunters of Essex County an overflow

Page ]l{ine of at least five thousand birds; finally he has the most prominent men on the American studied, patiently and accurately, the ways, continent. To name a few: Henry W. Leland customs and habits of all these dumb creatures, Henry Ford, Tyrus R. Cobb, Sir Willia~ as well as of their enemies, and has given the Mulock, Judge Lennox, Sir William Hearst world- he, that Jack Miner who never went Hon. E. C. Drury, W. K. Kellogg, Dr. Johr~ to school and who could not read intelligently Harvey Kellogg, Captain Eddie Rick en backer, until he had reached thirty-five- the benefit of Governor Green of Michigan, Ex-Governor his experiences and experiments in an extremely Grosbeck, also of Michigan; Richard B. Mellon, interesting and valuable book, entitled "Jack W. D. Robb, John Haggerty, David Brown and Miner and The Birds." Howard Wade, of Detroit and many others In respect of geese, Jack Miner is the first who have visited the Miner Sanctuary and seen man on earth to catch and tag them. He is the the birds. first man on earth to prove that wild geese are The Miner Sanctuary is a place of pilgrimage not wild. "Only Humans are wild," says he. for thousands every Spring and Fall. As one He is the first man on earth to have used wild Toronto paper stated: "Jack Miner has not only geese as missionaries. By stencilling on every advertized Kingsville and Essex County, but tag, a verse of the Scripture, he has caused these has also advertized Canada and been the means strong-winged messengers to carry the gracious of attracting thousands of visitors to Canada promises of the Great Master, not only to the from the United States, to view his Sanctuary Indians and Esquimaux of the far north, but when birds are in flight." As many as 15,000 even into the heart of a murderer in the cells people have been attracted to Kingsville by the of a southern prison. Miner Sanctuary in one day. Jack Miner is not noted only for his Judge James Edmond Jones, of Toronto, achievements as a naturalist and author, but after having visited the Miner Sanctuary, left also as a lecturer. In that capacity he has the following in the office of Jack Miner's son, appeared before the largest and most distin­ Manly F.: guished audiences on the North American JACK MINER continent. He has been the guest of such clubs The Sole Professor and Proprietor and societies as the National Geographic of the Society, the American Camp Club, the Garden Miner University of Original Research and Flower Club of Chestnut Hill, Mass., the American Game Protective Association, and I subscribe to this description with enthusi­ on April9 of this year, before the Izaak Walton asm. No institution on the American continent League of America, at the Sherman Hotel, in has achieved what Jack Miner has achieved, Chicago, Hon. Herbert Hoover being on the single-handed, with very little governmental same platform as speaker. During the year 1926 aid and without material assistance of any kind no less than one thousand invitations from all from any source. Jack Miner deserves well of over Canada and United States, one from Country, Humanity and God. England and one from Scotland have been sent to him. In Canada he has appeared several Mrs. Jack Miner, prior to her marriage to times in such large auditoriums as Massey Hall, him, on December 23, 1888, was Laona Wigle, in Toronto. daughter of Thos. H. Wigle and Elizabeth Rogers. T here are three children, all boys: Jack Miner's achievements with the birds Manly F., William Edward (Ted), Joseph have for many years attracted the attention of Wilson.

Page 'Ten CHARLES STANLEY KING

HARLES STANLEY KING inherited his C pronounced business instinct from his father, the late Sidney Arthur King, M.D., who was a factor for many years in the business and professional life of the County of Essex, and whose father, James King, was the founder of the progressive Town of Kingsville. Mr. King's large interests in industrial, sport and commercial undertakings testify not only to his business acumen, but also to his spirit of enterprise. He directs most of his projects from a little office in the Gas Building, at 124 Chatham Street West, in Windsor, Ont., where the absence of clerical staffs supplies evidence of his own capacity for work, and of his acquaint­ ance with even the smallest details of adminis­ tration. Charles Stanley King is Vice-President and Director of the Windsor Ice and Coal Company; Vice-President and Director of the Waller Gas and Oil Company; President and Director of the Peninsular Security Company, Ltd.; Presi­ dent, Treasurer and Director of Border Cities When time permits, Mr. King takes pleasure Arena, Ltd.; Director of the Windsor Jockey in Golf and Fishing, and is member of the follow­ Club; President of the Stratford Gas Company; ing clubs: Windsor Club, Detroit Club, Detroit and President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Country Club, Essex Golf Club, Walkerville Canadian Professional Hockey League. Tennis C lub and Beach Grove Club. He has He began his career in Detroit, in the brass travelled extensively, both in America and manufacturing business. He became associated Europe, and has a vast store of knowledge of with the Windsor Gas Company in 1899. He men and conditions. sold his interests in that company in 1913, Mr. King married, April14, 1909, Nenone L. and has since been devoting his time to his Carling, daughter ofT. H. Carling, of London, private interests, and to the promotion and management of industrial and commercial Ont. They live on Devonshire Road, Walker­ enterprises. ville, and their home is enlivened by the pres­ ence of three children: Nenone Barbara, Charles Dignified, with a physiognomy that is open Peter and Annette Ellen. and frank, he resembles more a philosopher or a jurist than a cool, calculating business man. Mr. King, prior to 1919, was for three years Despite the multiplicity and importance of his in the Council of the Town of Walkerville, interests he is of a modesty that denotes char­ and during 1919 and 1920, filled the office of acter and culture. His freedom from display is mayor for that town. He is Conservative in pleasing. politics.

Page Elcve n OSCAR ERNEST FLEMING I T WAS forty-one years ago in March, 1927, shoulders, impeccable in dress, he recalls those that Mr. Fleming was admitted to the bar, gentlemen ofold, when knighthood was in flower. after a brilliant course at Osgoode Hall, in That he has achieved great success in the prac­ Toronto. Fortified by study and experience, tice of his profession is not to be wondered at. inspired by innate principles of honesty and up­ He is at present the senior member of the legal rightness, directed by a clear, vivacious and fer­ society of Fleming, Drake, Foster, Fleming and tile intellect, he is, at sixty-six, a great legal Gignac, whose offices are in the Equity Build­ light, conscientious in his advices, accurate in ing, Chatham Street, in the City of Windsor. his interpretation of laws. He continues to be an indefatigable worker, a slave to duty. He Born at Milton, in Halton County, March was created a King's Counsel in 1908. 17, 1861, Mr. Fleming was young when he came to Windsor with his parents, Samuel and Sober of speech, precise in his statements, Sophia (nee Harwood) Fleming. Educated 10 prudent in his counsels, delicate in his remarks, the Windsor common and high schools, he he is the very picture of the professional diplo­ afterwards studied Ia w, and had for preceptor mat. His physical appearance adds to that im­ at Toronto, that celebrated professor and coun­ pression. Tall, erect, chin well set, broad of sel, John Hoskin, K. C . Upon his admission Page 'rwdve to the bar, he opened an office in Windsor, and tor, so far as Canada is concerned, in this vast has since been practicing in that city. international project, which will link the Cen­ Mr. Fleming quickly rose to prominence as tral West with the Atlantic Ocean, and the a professional lawyer, and the citizens of Wind­ victory gained at Washington over the pro­ sor, recognizing his qualifications for public moters of the Mississippi Development is due office, repeatedly elected him to represent them largely to his personal labours at the American on their educational and municipal boards. He Capital. He is now engaged in mitigating was three years a member of the Windsor Quebec's opposition to the project and I ven­ School Board, three years an alderman on the ture to predict that he will be successful in his council, and three years mayor. When on the efforts. Already he has won considerable Windsor council, Mr. Fleming advocated the grounds by his proposals of financing the pro­ transfer of the water utilities to a commission, ject, and his appeals in favour of a broad Can­ and succeeded in converting his fellow-alder­ adian outlook, as against a narrow Provincial men to his opinion. The present Public Utili­ view, have also won over powerful support at ties Commission is the outgrowth of that pro­ Ottawa, Montreal, and even Quebec. gressive movement. He was mayor when Apart from his professional interests, and Windsor was incorporated into a city in 1892, activities in the matter of deep water transpor­ and thus has the distinction of having been tation, Mr. Fleming is engaged in several large the Town of Windsor's last mayor and the business enterprises which call for a great deal City of Windsor's first mayor. He was also of attention. He is director of the following President of the Windsor Board of Trade, and companies: Kelsey Wheel Company, Limited; has always been active in everything that Cadwell Dredging Company, Limited; Wind­ tended to promote the community's welfare sor Truck and Storage Company, Limited; Can­ and interests. adian Steel Lands, Limited. He is Chairman of Mr. Fleming has also taken a prominent part the Board of Directors of: Cadwell's Limited; in political affairs. He has been for several Ontario Gravel Freighting Company, Limited; years member of the Conservative Union of and Cadwell Sand and Gravel Company, Lim­ Ontario, and in local politics he has been a con­ ited. He is also interested in several other cor­ sistent and staunch supporter of Conservative porations, either as shareholder or chief counsel. policies. He styles himself a Tory, but I Mr. Fleming has travelled extensively on should, in preference, qualify him as an ad­ this and other continents. He has been in vanced Conservative. In the days of George Europe several times, and has also seen Egypt Brown he might have been a Clear Grit. Since and Palestine. He has on conditions in many Confederation, however, Toryism and Gritism foreign countries a mine of valuable first-hand have died away, and have been superseded by information which he freely imparts for the Conservatism and Liberalism, which do not benefit of the country. His personal library is differ materially on fundamentals, the line of well stocked with literature, the type of which demarcation between the two being based indicates the serious trend of his mind, and his principally on the fiscal question. Mr. Flem­ love of things intellectual. ing's only right to the title of Tory rests with his instinctive unflinchingness in matters of In 1890, Oscar E. Fleming was married to principle and basic policies. Caroline M. Drake, daughter of the late Dr. Mr. Fleming was the Conservative candi­ W. H. Drake, of Kingsville, Ont. To this date in the federal election of 1908. This was union eleven children were born, six girls arid the time when Sir Wilfrid Laurier's popularity five boys. In religion he is an Anglican, and had attained its greatest height, and Hon. R. F. fraternally he is a prominent Mason and Odd Sutherland, a popular man also, won the con­ Fellow. test in North Essex by a small majority. He Mr. Fleming is a member of the following has not since sought federal honours, his busi­ clubs: Essex Golf and Country Club; Rideau ness and professional interests claiming all his Club of Ottawa; Albany Club, of Toronto; attention. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, of Toronto; and In the eyes of posterity, Mr. Fleming's great­ British Empire Club, London, England. His est achievement will have been his work in con­ principal recreations are Golf and Yachting. nection with the St. Lawrence Great Water­ He resides at 1015 Sandwich Street, West, ways System. He has been the principal fac- Windsor, Ontario.

Page 'Thirteen CHARLES JAMES STODGELL

HARLES JAMES STODGELL was only extensive reading developed in him the hitherto C twenty-two when he left his native village latent instinct of adventure. From that day of Fivehead, County Somerset, England, and on, tea blending became a drudgery to him, emigrated to America. This was in 1882, forty­ and he cast a longing eye in the direction of five years ago. America. He was a tea-blender and foreman in a whole­ Going to America in those days was a daring sale grocery in Langport, England, and a good venture, and Charles James Stodgell's idea did one, but Charles ]. Stodgell could see no future not appeal to his parents, Simeon and Emily (nee in that employment. He had been obliged to Witcombe) Stodgell. Notwithstanding, the 22- leave school at ten, but, being studious and year old tea blender of Fivehead departed, and ambitious, he had, for a number of years after­ ten days later landed in New York. wards, frequented evening schools, where he To find one's self suddenly cast in a city of learned the rudiments of bookkeeping and the size of New York, after having lived for acquired the habit of reading, reading good years in a small town is quite an experience. books, history, biography and classical liter­ But in this case it was somewhat of a sad one, ature. The knowledge he acquired through his for the tea-blender's pocketbook was nearly

Page Fourteen empty. Moreover, work was not plentiful in From 1889 to 1894, Mr. Stodgell conducted the American Metropolis at that time, and a grocery business in what was then known as "Charlie" Stodgell did not get any. What to the Crown Inn Block, now the Devonshire do? No time must be lost if the scanty funds Apartments. In 1894 an opportunity pre­ were to be expected to last. Mr. Stcdgell sented itself to secure a license for a w[lolesale moved swiftly, and boarded the next train to liquor store in Walkerville. Mr. Stodgell Chicago, in company with a friend with whom hesitated to apply for it. In his mind a tee­ he had crossed the Atlantic. totaler selling wines and spirits seemed an In Chicago, same situation. No work to be anomaly. But he, at length, heeded to his found. Finally an employment official informed friends' advice and his application was favorably him that a certain farmer at Des Plaines needed considered. He consequently sold his grocery help. The next day the tea-blender from Five• stocktoMr.]. E. Lajeunesse, and started a whole­ head was there. That was Charles]. Stodgell's sale wine and spirits business that was to first "job" on the American continent. continue twenty-two years thereafter, that is He had been six weeks on this farm at Des until 1916, when he retired, having in thirty­ Plaines, Illinois, when he decided to retrace his two years, through wise investments, hard steps a few hundred miles and call on some work and economy, accumulated enough distant relatives, who had left England some worldly goods to assure ease and comfort for forty years previously, and who had settled in the balance of his natural life. the vicinity of Pine Lake, Michigan. That visit That is, in a few words, the story of Charles to these distant relatives was the turning point James Stodgell's earlier business career. It ofStodgell's life. sounds like a novel. Yet it is merely a vivid They received him with open arms, and upon illustration of what can be accomplished by hard inquiry, told him of conditions in Detroit, and work, steadfastness, wisdom in grasping op· suggested that, should he not find work in portunities and resoluteness. Any nan can Detroit, he might take his chances with a achieve great things if he has something in him, certain Hiram Walker, who was a distiller and and is able to increase and discipline that some­ big employer of labour in a place called Walker­ thing. Education and college degrees are not ville, in Canada. He bade good-bye to his kind passports to success. Too often education and generous hosts, and ten days later, April leads to a tragic snobbery. Charles Stodgell 1884, he was a farm-hand in Hiram Walker & left school at ten. What education he has he Sons' employ. acquired by personal study, reading, observing and developing his facuty of thinking. It is in Charles James Stodgell did not stay long on the power of every man to do likewise. Nothing the Walker farm; he soon made himself con­ can stand in the way of the man who really spicuous by his all-around ability, aptitude and wants to succeed. trustworthiness. In church he sang in the choir and in social circles, his fine manners, his witty But Charles James Stodgell did more than conversation, and his general deportment drew achieve success in business. The tea-blender attention, and he passed from the farm to the from Fivehead, the farmer-apprentice from Des telephone office, where he received calls from Plaines, the bookkeeper from Hiram Walker & the night watch, responded to fire alarms, Sons, rose to be mayor of the progressive Town computed grain tickets and checked grain of Walkerville. His first experience in public shipments. From there he was promoted to the affairs was gained on the Walkerville School position of bookkeeper in the Walker general Board, of which he was a member for three store, and assistant postmaster. From there years. Then he was elected to the Council, and again he was appointed head bookkeeper at the for four years, 1917 to 1920, inclusive, was a Mettawas Hotel, in Kingsville, and when he member of that Council. 1921 saw him in the resigned from Hiram Walker & Sons in 1889, to mayor's chair which he also occupied in 1922 start a grocery business, he had filled several and 1923. When he retired from the mayoralty positions of trust and confidence. of Walkerville, he continued to serve the people

Page Fifteen ario. He is also Vice-President of B t N as their representative on the Library Board, and Bread Limited, of Walkerville u ter- ut he is now in his fourth term on that important board. In 1890, Mr. Stodgell married Edith M daughter of James and Sarah Macaule . ., It was during Mr. Stodgell's regime that the . d Th. . Y8 tee, of transfer of Willistead, where the municipal Wm sor. 1s unton has been blessed with offices of the town are housed, was made by the three chtldren: Blanche B., who married Alfred ·c Walker heirs to the Town of Walkerville. His Charles Symes, of Leamington; Emily 0f .ll. W · h f ' Wlie name is thus recorded in the annals of the town W1 1am J. ng t, o Wal~erville, and Francis]., in a documer:t that marks an epoch in the his­ a student at Toronto Umversity. tory of Walkerville. His name is also indelibly Fraternally, Mr. Stodgell is a prominent printed in the history of Walkerville through Mason, and a men:ber of the Canadian Order the naming of that town's principal park after of Foresters. Hts club activities are ~ him. Stodgell's Park is the Navin Field of the although he holds a membership in B~~vh Border Cities. Grove Country Club and the Walkerville Mr. Stodgell's present occupation is that of Tenms Club. President of the Stodgell and Symes Motor Sales Company, Limited, of Leamington, Ont- Both Mr. and Mrs. Stodgell are Anglicans.

Page Sixuen GEORGE CANUEL

E IS a member of the partnership of H Labutte and Canuel, of T ecumseh, Ont. Born at Le Bic, in Rimouski County, May 23, 1872, he was quite young when his parents, Narcisse Canuel and Mayrance Couillard emi­ grated to Essex County. He acquired his education in Essex County common schools, at­ tending school at Amherstburg, Edgar Mills and Stoney Point successively. He, however, left the school benches for the farm when he was only thirteen. He is another of our Essex business men who owe their success to hard work, natural ability and perseverance. Mr. Canuel farmed on the paternal home­ stead at Stoney Point, until he was 19. Then he left home and went to Detroit to seek employ­ ment. His first employer was Pat Buckley, who owned a small grocery at the corner of Franklin and Riopelle. Clerking in a grocery might have been interesting, but Mr. Canuel preferred a trade, and went to the Michigan Stove Works, where he became an iron moulder. For fifteen years he kept at this work; but in tribute to Mr. Canuel's mental and organizing 1906, he found an opportunity of acquiring a qualities. small25-acre plat of farm land in Tecumseh, and In addition to his everyday activities Mr. he purchased it. Farming then became his George Canuel has an interest in the Tecumseh chief occupation, although he also dealt in hay Brewing Company and in Hebert Bros., Limited. and straw, in a commercial way. After eight years at farming, he removed to Tecumseh to He has been active in local politics from the take a rural mail route. In 1917 he again time he went to Tecumseh. He was council­ changed his occupation and built a grist mill in man for the years 1921, 22 and 23, and although at present out of the council, he takes a deep Tecumseh. He ground chops for the farmers of interest in the progress of the town, to which the community until 1923, when he formed a he contributes materially. partnership with Mr. Auguste Desjardins in the cement contracting business. This partner­ On August 3, 1896, Mr. Canuel married Eva ship was later in the year joined by Mr. Frank Trudel, daughter of Pierre Trudel and Elisa Labutte, but it was eventually dissolved, Mr. Faucher, of Stoney Point. They have no Desjardins dropping out. The present firm of children. Labutte and Canuel was organized in 1924. Mr. George Canuel is a Roman Cathloic, and Mr. Canuel brought to it a practical business is a member of the following fraternal societies: expenence, a sound judgment, and a great Knights of Columbus, Holy Name, and St. Jean capacity for hard work. Its success is a Baptiste.

Page Seventeen SIDNEY CECIL ROBINSON

HE member for West Essex in the Cana­ not the case of Sidney Cecil Robinson. T dian House of Commons celebrated h1s before he entered the political arena 1 fifty-seventh birthday, January 12, 1927. He gained honours in the Canadian Militia was born at Toronto, in 1870. civic life. Under a physical organism that is in appear­ Mr. Robinson's military record is r ance, delicate, he conceals the nature and able for length and prominence. Private courage of a soldier, a strong intellectual faculty, 21st Regiment- better known as the a sympathetic character, a well-balanced tem­ Fusiliers-in 1895, he is now Colonel, h perament, a fecund imagination, and a general motions having been gradual, and ba~ attitude that makes you feel in the company of a service and merit. During the entire pe good fellow. the Great War, he was Commanding Of Politics is a dangerous siren; its voice is the the 21st Essex Fusiliers, organized th1 echo of those perishable sentiments which the Battn., C. E. F., the first County Ba love of glory and the applauds and bands of organized in Canada for overseas purpos1 fame plant in talented souls, only to lead them, gave his services at no expense to the G oftentimes, in premature courses. But such is ment- anevidenceofhis deep-rooted patr Page Eighteen In recognition for his long and distinguished long period of years, and who, after the tradi­ military career, he has been awarded the tion among his maternal ancestors, was also a Officers' Long Service Decoration. lawyer. His mother was Eliza Harriett Hamlin, English by parentage and birth. Like many prominent citizens of Walkerville, Col. S. C. Robinson began his business career In 1899 Colonel Sidney Robinson married with Hiram Walker & Sons. This was in 1887, Martha Maud, daughter of Timothy and Betsy upon the completion of his education, in the Stanley, of Woodstock, Ont. From this union Windsor Public and High Schools, and at the six children have issued: Cecil S. K., Florence Detroit Business University. He started as an M., Sidney H., Edith H., Louise D.,and Edward Office Boy, but in due time rose to the position A., all of Walkerville. They live with their of cashier. His employment with Hiram parents in "Pentilly," 93 Devonshire Road. Walker & Sons lasted until 1923, his offices Mr. Robinson's first entrance in Dominion during this long period of twenty-six years, politics occurred in 1923, when at a bye-election including those of Manager and Secretary­ occasioned by the death of the then member, Treasurer of the Walkerville Water Company, Hon. W. C. Kennedy, he was chosen by the and Director and Assistant Manager of the Conservative Party to oppose the Liberal candi­ Walkerville Light and Power Company. date, Mr. A. F. Healy. He was defeated, but His retirement in 1913 came after careful in­ greatly reduced the majority of the victorious vestments and years of economy had earned him party. At the general elections of October 29, a competence. But his resignation from the 1925, he was again in the field in opposition to firm of Hiram Walker & Sons did not mean his Mr. E. B. Winter, and was elected by an over­ indifference to financial and business affairs. He whelming majority. The Coups d'Etat of is director of the Trusts and Guarantee Com, July, 1926, which brought about the resigna­ pany, Limited, of Toronto, the Wellington Fire tion of the Liberal Government of Rt. Hon. Insurance Company, Toronto, St. Clair Beach, W. L. Macken4ie King, and that of the Govern­ Limited, of Walkerville, and of the Seymour Arm ment headed by Rt. Hon. Arthur Meighen, Fruit Lands, Limited. He is also Secretary­ within a few days after its formation, necessi­ Treasurer of the latter corporation. In addition, tated another election, which was held on the he is Treasurer and Trustee for the Walkerville following September 14. Colonel Robinson General Hospital. was once more the choice of his party in this Col. Robinson's civic record is in keeping election, and succeeded in defeating the strong­ with his other public activities. In 1905, he est man the Liberals could have had to oppose was elected to the council of the Town of him, Mr. John H. Rodd. Walkerville, but pressure of personal affairs How long Col. Robinson will remain in forbade his continuing in the municipal politics politics is difficult to say. He is a firm believer of his home town. He has been a member of the in the Two-Party system, and his experience in Council of the Village of St. Clair Beach since the House of Commons, during the stormy ses­ 1914, and of the Village of Ojibway since 1924. sion of 1926, is not in accord with his conception Socially, Colonel Robinson is a member of the of responsible government. If he remains in the following clubs: Albany and Ontario, of field after the expiration of his term, it will be Toronto; Essex County Golf and Country because of his desire to serve his country, more Club; Beach Grove Country Club; Windsor than as a result of a craving for personal hon­ Club; Walkerville Boat Club; and the Windsor ours, or of his love for the glamour of political Rotary Club, of which he was President in success. 1923-24. His principal recreations are Golf and Colonel Robinson's rise from the humble horseback Riding. position of Office Boy to that of the highest post Mr. Robinson's ancestral line is traced, on in the gift of the people is an achievement that both sides of his family, to England. His grand­ is worthy of being recorded in the annals of mother was the daughter of Sidney Smith, judge history. Honesty, probity, integrity, faithful­ of His Majesty's High Court of Chancery. His ness to tasks and duties, however humble, are father was the late Cecil Hawkes Robinson, virtues that never fail of reward. Mr. Robin­ who was clerk of the Town of Walkerville for a son embodies them to the highest degree.

Page N.ineteen HON. RAYMOND DUCHARME MORAND

E IS one of those who have a passport for paddled his way behind the Founder of Detroit. H posterity. If his family name had not He arrived at "Le Detroit" in 1703. Charles been written in the annals of history by five Morand gave to St. Anne Cemetery, in Detroit, generations of stalwarts, he would have made a his ashes, and to posterity a good name. niche for it. He has no need of borrowing from Hon. R. D. Morand's parents are Moise the past; he has an inalienable right to carry Morand and Virginie Ducharme, the latter a his head above his shoulders by virtue of his descendant of an old Quebec French family that own personal merit and achievement. has had branches in Essex County for more than The first Morand to come to these parts was three generations. He was born in the Town­ Charles Morand, dit Grimard, a native of ship of Sandwich South, January 30, 1887. The France. He was not an adventurer, but he 100 year-old log house in which he first saw the loved adventures. For him the colony of New light of day is still standing (1927), 2Y2 miles France was a land of romance; and he left "sa from Public School No. 6, where the future doulce patrie" for the wilds of Canada. When Physician, M. P., and Cabinet Minister w he ~rrived at Montreal (Ville-Marie then) ceived his primary education. Cad1llac was at the height of his fame, and he From the public school, Mr. Morand passed

Page 'Twenty to the Windsor Collegiate, but left before After serving a term as Member of Parlia­ securing matriculation for entrance to Univers­ ment, his leader, Rt. Hon. Arthur Meighen, ity. He bad, however, set his mind upon a following the defeat of the King Ministry in the profession- Medicine. But before be could House of Commons, was called upon to form a bring his youthful dream to realiz;ation, be had government, and Dr. Morand was included in to pass through several years of hard extra the new cabinet. To Dr. Morand, therefore, mural work. He was successively farmer, goes the honour of having been the first French­ banker and insurance agent. During that period Canadian from Ontario to have ever been (1901 to 1908) he determinedly stayed with his selected for a position in a federal cabinet. He books, securing his Matriculation Certificate, was however defeated in the general landslide and gaining his entrance into Western Univers­ that swept the Conservative Party out of power ity in 1908. He obtained his M. D. degree in in the elections of 1926. 1912, and after a year's Interneship at St. From junior clerk in a bank to minister in the Joseph's Hospital, in London, Ont., he began government of his country is no mean achieve­ his practice in the City of Windsor, in 1913. ment. Yet Dr. Morand is only in mid-stream. He soon rose to prominence in his profession, He is but forty years of age. He has ability, and was successively President of the Board courage, a solid grasp of public affairs, political of Health of the Border Cities, President of sagacity . . . and many friends. Whether, Essex County Medical Association, and Presi­ with so many personal endowments and advan­ dent of Hotel Dieu Staff. He is now a member tages, he can be kept out of public life is difficult of Hotel Dieu Staff, and Consultant at Grace to believe. Moreover, Dr. Morand is a capable Hospital. speaker, in both English and French . . . another qualification that leads to public life. Dr. Morand has shown, in his activities, a He speaks with vigour and conviction. He has publ:c-spiritedness that placed him in the lime­ elegance in the mien, health and strength in the light early in life. He was for five successive body, sincerity in the heart, and stores of years elected by acclamation in Riverside as practical knowledge in the brain. If the chances Member of the Border Utilities Commission. of the political game are not too strongly against His services on that important body have been him, he should reappear on the scene in a very highly commended. He has displayed a breadth few years. of vision and a spirit of progressiveness that are expressed in several improvements of a per­ Hon. Dr. Morand is married and lives at 1032 manent character in the Border Cities. Ouellette Avenue, in the City of Windsor. Mrs. Morand was formerly Miss Blanche In politics, Dr. Morand is a Conservative, Moore, whose parents John S. Moore and and an active one. President of the Conserva­ Lillian Charlotte Cookes- are descendants of tive Association for North Essex for six years an old English Catholic family of pre-Reforma­ (1917 to 1923), much of the success achieved by tion days. Mr. and Mrs. Morand were that party is traceable to his untiring efforts and married June 23, 1913. There are three activity. His personal success in the general children: Doris Marie, Donald Raymond, and elections of 1925 is undoubtedly his outstanding Eleonore Virginie, all at home. achievement as a public man. Candidate for his party in that election he won a battle that was Dr. Morand's club affiliations are with the generally conceded as hopeless. He was the St. Clair Golf and Country Club, of which he first representative in the House of Commons was one of the founders, and the Windsor Club. for the constituency of Essex East, being elected He was also one of the founders of LaSalle Club, over Edmond G. Odette, Liberal, by a com­ and was President of that club in 1925. His fortable margin. recreations are Golfing and Motoring.

Page 'fwenty -onc =

EDMOND G. ODETTE

E IS the representative of the constituency commercial and industrial development of his H of East Essex in the House of Commons. country was the building of the Weit4ellocks in He is also a business man and a manufacturer. the Soo canal. His aptness for, and love of public life he in­ Edmond G. Odette was born in Windsor, herited from his father, and his business instinct May 22, 1884. He received his elementary partly from his father and partly from his education in St. Alphonsus School, and after mother. His father was Daniel B. Odette, a graduation there, entered Assumption College, great patriot, first treasurer of the City of at Sandwich where he took classics. He left Windsor, founder and first president of the St. college when' still in his teens to start life on ?is Jear Baptiste Society of the County of Essex, own account. His first employment was wt~h Conservative candidate in 1896 in opposition to the Burroughs Adding Machine Company m William McGregor, and for many years a faith­ Detroit. This was at the time when the autO' ful servant of the public, in positions of honour motive industry was in its formative pe~iod, and and trust. His mother was Annie Irving, the rapid development of that great mdustry daughter of Captain George Irving, one of proved a strong attraction for him. In 1907 he Detroit's prominent business men of the 70's left the Burroughs Company to join the staff ~f and 80's, whose greatest contribution to the the Regal Motor Car Company. Mr. Odette 5

Page 'i'wenty-two affiliation with that company was of sufficient field. The fact remains, however, that Edmond duration to make of him a man of matured ex­ G. Odette is a politician by force of circum­ perience when the automobile industry passed stances, whereas he is a manufacturer by virtue its experimental stage in 1909 and 1910. The of a natural instinct and as a consequence of the colossal progress of that industry need not be logical development of his keen business intel­ related here, except perhaps to mention the lect. He is one of the pioneers of the motor fact that it has provided opportunities unusual industry in the County of Essex, and he is in character and scope for men of ability, justly regarded as an authority on all matters courage and vision. pertaining to that industry and its ramifying Personal success in life is invariably due to branches. one's ability to sense opportunities and to his Edmond G. Odette's first entry into public courage in seizing them. Mr. Odette saw op­ life dates back to 1921, when he was elected portunities in the automobile industry, both in Mayor of the Town of Tilbury. He occupied United States and Canada, and he risked his all that post until1925, when he resigned to accept to grasp them. He organized in 1910, the the reeveship of the town. In the meantime a Canadian Top Company Limited, at Tilbury, convention of the Liberals of the newly-created Ontario, and for two years thereafter directed constituency of East Essex, held at Belle River, the destiny of that infant concern. In 1912 he had selected him as Liberal candidate in the accepted the presidency and general manager­ forthcoming federal elections, and he therefore ship of the American Top Company, of Jack­ decided to abandon civic affairs to enter into son, Michigan, the largest top manufacturing Dominion politics. The elections were held in plant in the world, and removed to Michigan, October of 1925. Mr. Odette's opponent was where he remained for the following four years. Dr. Raymond D. Morand, a prominent physi­ In 1916, having acquired the controlling interest cian of Windsor. Through a combination of in the Canadian Top Company, he returned to circumstances- among which not the least im­ Tilbury to take charge of the plant he had portant was over-confidence- Mr. Odette was established six years earlier. defeated by a small vote. In the parliamentary session that followed the election of 1925, the The expansion of the Canadian Top Com­ control of the House was constantly in the pany, at Tilbury, during the last eleven years, balance. This situation of uncertainty de­ is one of the many notable achievements at­ veloped into a crisis in July, 1926, when the tributable to Canadian initiative and foresight. administration of Right Han. Mackenzie King, Employing at the start only fifteen hands, and Liberal leader, was defeated by the allied that irregularly, it grew simultaneously with opposition forces. Mr. King's government the motor industry in Canada. Limited to the resigned and was succeeded by a temporary manufacture of tops at first, the company administration formed by the Right Han. gradually widened its scope, and finally launched Arthur Meighen, Conservative chief. The into the building of automobile bodies. In 1920 constitutionality of Mr. Meighen's government the original Canadian Top Company was re­ was immediately challenged on the floor of the organized under the new title of Canadian Top House by Mr. King, who called that cabinet the and Body Corporation, of which Mr. Odette "shadow cabinet." Within sixty hours a new became, and is still, the President; one unit of crisis had developed and Mr. Meighen's govern­ the plant succeeded another, and today there ment was defeated on a vote of confidence. are four units, in which more than three hundred Parliament was then dissolved and a new elec­ men and women find steady and remunerative tion was called. Mr. Odette was again selected employment. as Liberal candidate, but in the meantime his It is sometimes the lot of men to see their opponent had gained in prestige through his success in one particular endeavour outshone by appointment as minister without portfolio in their success in another field. That is perhaps Mr. Meighen's ephemeral government. The Mr. Odette's case. His rise into the limelight elections took place on September 14, 1926. as a result of his successes in the civic realm The Meighen government was defeated at the first, and later in the wider arena of federal polls, and among the victors on the Liberal side politics has probably left in an unmerited shade was Edmond G. Odette, who won over Han. his remarkable achievement in the industrial R. D. Morand by the handsome majority of831.

Page 'Twmty·three -

If Mr. Odette chooses to remain in politics Socially, Mr. Odette is affiliated with the he should go far. His courteous manners, his following clubs: Beach Grove, Chatham Club, grasp of public affairs and his appreciation of the Elmwood Golf and Country Club, Meadow responsibilities attached to a mandate such as he Heights Country Club of Jackson, Michigan, holds, are all qualities which become virtues in and the Badminton Club, of Ottawa. politics. His untiring devotion to the interests of his constituents should also insure a con­ He is President of the Tilbury Board of tinuation of confidence. Trade, member of the Border Chamber of Com­ merce, and Director of the Windsor-Niagara Edmond G. Odette was married, January 1, Highway Association. His chief recreations 1905, to Beatrice Hobson, daughter of Thomas are Golf and Motoring. Hobson and Mary MeAvinue, of Comber, Ontario. They have one daughter, Genevieve, Mr. and Mrs. Odette have travelled extens­ who is married to Mr. Curtis G. Dunham, of ively over the American Continent, and in 1914 Detroit and Puce. they visited all the principal countries of Europe, whence they brought beautiful works Mrs. Odette has always been keenly inter­ of arts and sculpture. ested in her husband's political and business career. She has been a helpmate to him in all his Associated with Mr. Odette in the Canadian undertakings. She is a great home lover, and Top and Body Corporation are his two brothers her artistic tastes are amply reflected in her Louis C. and Thomas C., and the remarkable beautiful residence. She is a charming hostess success of that corporation is in no small measure and her friends are countless. due to their cooperation and ability.

Page 'T wrnty-four ROBERT LAWRENCE DANIELS

E IS Mayor of the Town of Walkerville. H Somewhat pensive in attitude, but alert of mind and imagination, deliberate in his utter­ ances, Solon himself would have envied the sobriety of his judgment. He is medium in stature, quick of step and bold in his gait. Behind his unrimmed lens there is an eye that sparks; and behind that eye a brain that has been tempered by study, reflexion and the influence of his early environment. He fills more functions than any other man in the Border Cities. He is Vice-President and Managing Director of Walker Sons, Limited, and The Walkerville Land and Building Com­ pany, Limited; Director and Secretary of Walkerside, Limited; Director of The Walker­ ville Water Company, Limited; Director of Walkerville Construction Company, Ltd.; Sec­ retary of the Partnership of E. C. Walker and Brothers; Assistant Secretary and Treasurer of the Walkerville and Detroit Ferry Company. Yet he finds time, not only to direct the deliberations of the Walkerville Town Council, but also to act on several important commis­ sions, to attend meetings of Rose Lodge, A. F. & A. M. No. 500, of Windsor, to take an active interest in Rotary, to play golf at the Essex County Golf and Country Club, to enjoy fish­ ing at Morton's Point, Limited, in the Parry serves unselfishly, and gives of talent, energy Sound District, of which Club he is a Director, and vision unsparingly, for the benefit of the and to attend, in his capacity as mayor, count­ community and of society in general. Perhaps less functions of an official character. he does not attain wealth or fortune, but he bequeaths to a world in need the invaluable Robert Lawrence Daniels was born at Chat­ treasure of good example. ham, October 25, 1888. His parents were William Walter Daniels and Mary Isabel It was inevitable that a man of M r. Daniels' McLellan. He attended McKeough School, in type should, even early in life, enter civic Chatham, until 10, then Walkerville Public politics. His conception of duty to community School, and finally studied one year in the and society marked him for posts of honour and Windsor Collegiate Institute. He started to public trust, and his official positions gave him work for Walker Sons, in 1902, when only in the advantage of experience in the management the thirteenth year of his age. Beginning as and administration of public affairs. He in­ Office Boy, he has filled nearly every post from creased this experience by sitting in the council Messenger to Managing Director. Cashier at as alderman, and became Mayor of Walkerville, 18, accountant at 20, etcetera until1926, when December, 1926. he rose to his present position of trust. Mr. Daniels was married December 31, 1918, In the history of the Border Cities there are to Christine Alexander, daughter of William but few such examples of functional achieve­ and Jean Alexander, of Windsor, Ont. There men.t. . We are living in an age when personal are three children: Mary Jean, Edith Anne and ment nses above influence and money. The Robert Alexander, all at home at 90 Navaho real foundation of society is service, and the real Street, in Walkerville. builder of society is the functionary, who plans Mr. and Mrs. Daniels are Anglicans, and and executes, who creates and directs, who attend St. Mary's Church in their home town.

Page 'fwenty•five ECCLES JAMES GOTT

N THE constituency of South Essex he is it took "'pep" to do it; but not all of &k 's pep, I familiarly known as "Eck," and the people for he had plenty left for the elections of 1926, there pronounce the cognomen as it is spelled. when he was returned over Thomas Rowley, They don't say "by heck," but they swear who ran as a Liberal-Protectionist-Farmer. "by Eck." He is also known as "Pep," and that Is no more a misnomer than "Eck." He "&k" Gott won his seat in the House of has pep and plenty of it; it is because of the Commons, October 29, 1925. But he had superabundance of pep in him that he popular­ started to win months before that eventful day. l::ed the abbreviated "Eck." Months? No, years ..... 27 of them. How come? All this is true of Eccles James Gott. But there Is som~thmg else just as true about him. It is like this. It was in the federal elections It Is, m the first place, that he is Member in the of 1900. "Eck" was then sixteen, and a stU' House of Commons for South Essex, and that, dent in the Essex Centre High School, whe~e second\), he "got" there by defeating at the he was showing considerable aptness for pubh.c polls one of the most prominent men in Cana­ discussion of public affairs. One evening Lew1s dian politics, Right Hon. George P. Graham. \Viglc invited him to speak on his behalf at a That was m the general elections of 1925, and meeting called in his interests. "Eck" accepted and delivered a spirited address. What the made the friends? Who made the bonds of subject of his address was I ~o not know_, b~t friendship so strong as to break down political one thing is certain: that meetmg aroused m his passions, tear down party affiliations, and dis­ soul a hope, the laudable hope of some day rupt years-long party associations? "Eck," representing South Essex in the House of Com­ alias "Pep" Gott. mons. As he grew older that hope became his Mr. Gott lives in Amherstburg, where he ambition; he nurtured that ambition and it, in was also born September 4, 1884, the son of turn became his objective. Meanwhile years Eccles ]. Gott and Cecelia Brett. His father pass~d by. Mr. Gott was no longer "the apt died when he was very young, and he has since student" in Essex High School. He had become lived with his mother, caring for her, causing an employee of the Buffalo Dredging Company, her to share his triumphs, taking her to Ottawa which was deepening the channel at Amherst­ during sessions, bestowing upon her a filial burg, and after a few months in the employ of affection that is exemplary. that concern, had been selected as foreman of the Drill Boat crew. Later he had accepted an Educated in the Public Schools of Amherst­ appointment in the Dominion . Immigration burg and Gesto, he finished his educa~ion in the Service at Windsor, and later agam (1916) had High School at Essex. When a high school opened a Real Estate office, in company with student he enlisted with the 21st Mounted his brother Stanley, in Windsor. Rifles, of Windsor, for service in the South African War, but his application was refused Whether at one task or another, Eccles on account of being under age. That desire to James Gott, who had early graduated to be the fight was not an outburst of spasmodic enthu­ full-fledged "Eck," always kept in mind the siasm; it was pep, that North of Ireland cen­ passion of his young days ...... become the tury-old heritage which was manifesting itself. M. P. for South Essex. It was not to that end During the Great War Mr. Gott was prevented that he had, for many years been active in the from service by his responsibilities at home. promotion of sports, that he had in 1919, But he took revenge for his inability to tramp fathered the organization of the Essex County the veldts of South Africa or face the enemy Amateur Baseball League, which through his in Flanders by giving to the "boys" all that was personal efforts has been maintained as_ a strictl_Y in him. Red Cross work, Patriotic Fund work, amateur organization, that he had, m all his Victory Loan work, he had a hand in every­ activities, shown enthusiasm, ardour and pep, thing. He was "Gott" through and through. and that he had continued to take a leading part in political campaigns. But all this had Mr. Gott is a celibate. His mother shares helped to make him a popular figure in South his happy home, a short distance south of his­ Essex- where he could call every person by toric Fort Malden. To her he ascnbes the his or her first name, and where he was regarded major portion of the success he has attained; as a square-shooter. But what _had b~en in he claims, and rightfully, that the greatest asset any public man can have is the bles~ings of a direct pursuit of his design wa~ his co~tmuous study of political and economic questiOns, his Christian mother. Mr. Gott and his mother mastering of the technique of political cam­ are a wonderful inspiration to each other; they paign organization, and his preaching the gospel join in the general activities of the community of "An Essex South man for South Essex." And both in joy and sorrow, and are examples of when the time arrived to bring to realization genuine humanitarians. Yes, "Eck" Gott is a the dream of his youth, Mr. Gott was ready. bachelor, and you may guess why. It is really inspiring to hear him relate his "thousands of I am inclined to consider Mr. Gott's political reasons" for remaining in celibacy. He becomes successes in South Essex as entirely personal actually eloquent then. ones. South Essex is traditionally Liberal-Mr. Got t put it in the Conservative column a~ainst He is an all-round goodfellow, never loses barriers that seemed unbreakable, and agamst a an opportunity to perform an act of charity or man who seemed unbeatable. Only the capi­ kindness, fights to win but fights squarely, talization of his personal popularity, aided by a likes it when things are hotsy-totsy, tackles systematical and methodical organization could tasks with the assurance of a Hercules, laughs have "done the trick." But "Eck" does not give heartily, and is all full of gusto. What he would himself the credit for his two victories- he do if he lost in a fight I do not know, for he has says that his friends did it. Quite so, but who never lost one.

Page 'I"went)' •seven PAUL POISSON

HYSICIAN, surgeon, military officer, club­ logic that is sometimes disarming, attacks with Pman, politician and good sport, Paul Pois­ intrepidity, and defends himself with vigour. son, member for North Essex in the Ontario Dr. Paul Poisson is the son of Damase ]. and Legislative Assembly is all of this and as pro­ Helene Poisson, whose maiden name was Dies­ ficient in one activity as in the other. bourg. He acquired his primary education in Of a robust constitution, straight as an I, the separate schools of Belle River. At thirteen facial features that denote vivacity and hardi­ he had passed his matriculation examinations, ness, a firm mouth, penetrating eye, elastic gait, and five years later he had completed his course energetic of speech and gesture, Dr. Paul Pois­ at the Windsor High School. From the high son is possessed of moral qualities that corre­ school he went to Western University, at Lon­ spond with his physical exterior. He has don, Ontario, where he obtained the degree of strong religious convictions, is an ardent de­ M.D. in 1909. With the exception of the years fender of French-Canadian rights, full of aggres­ that he served overseas in the Canadian Army siveness in discussion, irreproachable in profes­ Medical Corps, he has practiced the medical sional etiquette and personal conduct, and loves profession in Tecumseh, where he still resides, popularity. Endowed with the gift of elo­ and where he has received many expressions of quence- although not a litterateur- he is force­ public confidence. A lthough practicing general ful in argumentation, presents a case with a medicine, he specializ;es in surgery, for which he

Page 'T wenty·eigl•t is eminently fitted by temperament and train­ occasion, and the manner in which he treated ing. He f~rms part ?f the Senior Staff of_Hotel public questions of national scope and import­ Dieu Hosp1tal, of Wmdsor, and the prommence ance stamped him as a coming man in the to which he has risen in his profession has Canadian political arena. gained him the honour of being chosen President Prior to his entry into the larger field of pro­ of the Essex County Medical Society for the vincial politics, Dr. Poisson had acquired a wide year 1927. experience in municipal politics. When Te­ During the Great War, Dr. Paul Poisson cumseh was incorporated into a town in 1921, served overseas in the C. A. M. C. He enlisted he was chosen as its first mayor. In 1922 and August 11, 1914, and was discharged March 29, 1923 he again occupied the mayor's chair, but in 1919. In 1916 he was honoured by being 1924 he sponsored the election to that post of awarded the Military Cross. Previous to his Mr. M. S. Clapp, thus cementing the friend­ enlistment in the C. E. F., Dr. Poisson had had ship between the two races that compose the nine years' experience in the Canadian Army population of the town, and giving the country Medical Corps. In the official records of the a fruitful example of the cooperation, under­ country he is listed as Major Paul Poisson, standing and amity that should exist among the M.C. various elements that Providence has cast upon this great land of ours. In 1925, in response to a Whether Dr. Poisson entered politics in order general demand from the people, he again en­ to perfect his experience by the study, at public tered the contest for the mayoralty and was meetings and in the Legislature, of the "col­ elected by an overwhelming majority over Mr. lective phenomena of psychology and physi­ Maurice Renaud. He retired at the end of his ology," I would assert with diffidence. It is term and personally moved the election by ac­ more probable that his instinctive devotion to clamation of his opponent in the preceding Canada and the Empire was the reason. election, Mr. Renaud, who has since been He was only twenty-seven years of age when mayor of the town. he became the Conservative candidate in the In 1911, Dr. Paul Poisson married Miss provincial election of 1914. He was defeated Gertrude Connor, daughter of Michael Connor, by Mr. Severin Ducharme. In 1919 he was of Kitchener, Ontario. Six children have been again the choice of his party, but the U. F. 0. born by this marriage, all of whom are living at wave that swept the Hearst Government out of home. The eldest of the family, Gerald, is a office in the election of that year, also carried student at the Jesuits' College, at Sudbury, him, and Mr. Alphonse G. Tisdelle, who had Ontario. the combined support of the Liberals and the Farmers, won the contest by a large majority. Dr. Poisson is a member of the following In 1926, when Premier Howard G. Ferguson fraternal societies: Knights of Columbus, appealed to the people and made of Govern­ Canadian Mutual Benefit Association, Artisans ment Control of Liquor the main issue to be Canadien-Francais, and Le Cercle Canadien decided, Dr. Paul Poisson once more responded Catholique, which he himself founded in order to the call of the Conservative Party, and to arouse in the youth the spirit of mutuality, became a Fergusonian candidate. The retire­ cooperation and neighbourliness, and with the ment of his opponent, Mr. Edward P. Tellier, view of stimulating a desire for artistic and representative of the constituency since 1923, intellectual attainments. gave him an acclamation on December 1, date of Dr. Paul Poisson's achievement brings out the election. In the first session that followed with force this practical and moral lesson: the election of that Parliament, he was given the Indifference, indecision and indolence accom­ honour of seconding the Address to the Speech from the Throne, and acquitted himself with plish nothing. Real success is obtained only by credit to himself, to his constituents and to his direction of mind, firmness of opinion, stick-to­ compatriots. The form of his speech on that it-iveness, and even doggedness.

Page 'Twenty ·nine HARRY EGBERT GUPPY

E WAS born in Confederation year, only ber of the Windsor Board of Education since twenty-three days after the Union of the H 1911 has been a factor in the commercial life of Canadian Provinces had been inaugurated. His Windsor and the County of Essex for thirty-five father was William James Guppy, and his mother Rose Ellen Morris, of Newbury, in years, and is on the executive of the Border Middlesex County. He was educated in the Cities' most useful community organi4(ttl0n, ~he Chamber of Commerce. In 1898 he marned Newbury public school and in the Wardsville Emma Beaumes. There are two daughters, High School. His father was conducting a Margaret and Katherine. general store in Newbury, and when he per­ ceived that his son Harry could be of some At the age of sixty, Mr. Guppy has forty-six assistance in the store he requested his services. years of practical experience in wholesale and Harry Egbert Guppy then left school never to retail trading. The growth of his busmess 15 return. He was fourteen years of age. the outcome of the work of almost a lifetime, the result of assiduous attention to everyday ta_sks, Today H. E. Guppy is President of H. E. and the fruits of a well-organiz;ed and sagacwus Guppy & Company, Limited, of Windsor, mind. Ontario, one of the largest wholesale grocery houses west of Toronto. He has been a mem- His thirty-five years at the head of a ~usiness that he personally started is a record; hts mem- Page 'Thirty bership of sixteen years on the Windsor Board made to give better results by the introduction of Education is another. He has seen Border of the rotary system, which involves specializa­ business men come and go, businesses initiated, tion of subjects by teachers in the schools. In struggle for a time, and then disappear. But the latter inr.ovation, Windsor led all Canada, H. E. Guppy goes on, hale of health, vigorous of and now the plan has spread as far as Australia. body and mind, enterprising and successful. But his outstanding achievement was the His achievement in the wholesale grocery initiation of Vocational Training in the Border business illustrates vividly H. E. Guppy's or­ Cities. The present Windsor-Walkerville ganizing ability. The chain of Red and White Technical School is the outgrowth of a move­ Stores that encircles the whole County of Essex ment started in 1913, when Mr. Guppy was is his work, if not entirely his conception. chairman of the Board of Education. The Chain stores are primarily the outcome of condi­ movement first consisted of Industrial Night tions arising out of the Great War. It was Classes, which were conducted under the found that cooperation among retailers in buy­ supervision of Mr. F. Gavin, Principal of the ing and advertising was the only solution to the Collegiate Institute. It was immediately dis­ problems then facing the grocery trade. Mr. covered that the need in the Border Cities for Guppy studied the idea propounded by Mr. Vocational and IndustrialEducation was urgent. Flickenger, of Buffalo, of Chain Stores. He The War, however, interfered with the plans interviewed, or caused to be interviewed, a that were at once formulated. These plan.; number of grocery store owners, and submitted suggested a cooperative effort by all the Border to them a plan, the basis of which was collective Municipalities with a view to the establish­ buying and advertising. The results obtained ment of a separate institution for the purpose in at the very start more than justified the hopes mind. But it was not until after the War thac expressed. The plan saved many retailers from this aim was attained, and the work was carried embarrassments that might have become omin­ on by two municipalities, Windsor and Walker­ ous. Freed from the worries and confusion at­ ville. A joint board was formed, comprising tending replenishment of stocks, they gave more members of the Separate and Public School attention to service, interior decorations and general improvement. Better business followed Boards of those two muncipalities, and in 1923, all around, and today there are 87 Red and the beautiful structure, known as the Windsor­ White retailers in the County of Essex. Mr. Walkerville Technical School was officially Guppy is their adviser, their buyer, as w~ll as opened by Colonel Cockshutt, the then Lieu­ their advertising agent and the grocery busmess tenant-Governor of the Province of Ontario. is on a sounder basis. The first Joint Board of the Technical School was composed as follows: H. E. Guppy, Mr. Guppy's achievement in the ~eld ~f Chairman, H. ]. Mero, V ice-Chairman, H. ]. education has a five-fold aspect. Dunng h1s Neal, Judge ]. ]. Coughlin, M. McHenry, terms of the Board of Education, not only have Albert Long, T. McGraw, ]. Murray, N. five new schools been built, but the buildings Ortved, 0. Perry,]. McKay, and]. Hart. were modernized by the construction therein of auditoriums and gymnasiums. In addition to Such men as Harry Egbert Guppy are factors this, the curriculum has been improved by the in any community. Stalwart in character and introduction of Manual Training, Domestic progressive in ideas, they build for the future, Science and Music; and the teaching has been for eternity.

Pagt 'Thorty·ont THOMAS ZACHARIAH CHICK

HE day when Thomas Chick was handling But this first ill-fated venture in a field where Ta pick and shovel for a pittance per 10 and matured experience is almost the only guarantee 12 long hours is still within the memory of of success did not discourage the young, enter­ many in the Border Cities and the County of prising lad with the muscles and the brawn. Essex. But from the day he took his first con­ His ambition was to do things, to do big things tract for excavating, back in 1884, the name of and to do them well. He therefore went from Thomas Zachariah Chick has been a synonym the Charybdis of excavating to the Scylla of for probity, justice and uprightness. He was sewerage. When he was through with his first then only twenty, without education and with­ job he was a wreck. But Thomas Chick braced out means. His only credentials were his high up. The future belongs to those who have con· principles of honesty, his muscles, and an utter fidence in themselves : disregard for conventions regarding hours of labour. This contract was for excavating "Then take this honey for the bitterest cup, Ouellette Avenue, from Erie Street to Tecumseh There is no failure save in giving up; Road. It proved to be a profitless undertaking No real fall as long as one still tries, . For seeming set·backs make the strong man ~1se. but he carried on to the end, and the work wa~ There is no defeat, in truth, save from w1thm, . , well done. Unless you're beaten there, you're bound to wm.

Page 'Thirty•two Thomas Chick was not beaten from within. removed to Canada, and took up farming in the There was there, in his left side, something un­ Township of Sandwich South. There Thomas shakable. He was bound to win. He crossed Chick was raised; and there also he learned the the line and went to Pennsylvania, where he Th~ee R's, in the little public school, at Jack­ acquired practical experience in road and rail­ sLake Erie, Essex and Detroit On December 26, 1888, Thomas Chick was River Railroad (now the Pere Marquette), and united in marriage to Mary P. Lardi, daughter he joined the construction "gang." Things of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lardi. Six children have were brightening up. The dark hours when he issued from this marriage: John Digby, of Wind­ could not put up the tender money for a con­ sor, well known in business, political and sports tract had vanished, and he bid for the construc­ ctrcles; Thomas L. (deceased); Mary (deceased)· tion of the Walker yards at St. Thomas. Hiram Marion (deceased); Courtney B. and Bruce H.: Walker & Sons knew Thomas Chick, and they both of Walkerville. gave him the contract. Mr. Chick is interested in the following com­ From that day on Thomas Chick went for­ mercial and financial enterprises: President of ward. Pluck had saved him from a total wreck. Universal Contracting Company; President of No man can descend to such a low ebb that he Chick Contracting Company; President of cannot again rise, if he is undaunted in his cour­ Chick Fuel and Supply Company; President of age, and unstained in his reputation. What had Chick Land and Building Company; Director of been begun on three occasions, was begun once Mutual Finance Corporation; and Director of more, and Thomas Chick, fortified by experi­ Guarantee Trust Company. ence ar.d knowledge, re-entered into the con­ He is a 32nd degree Mason, a Shriner and a tracting business in Windsor. He built side­ walks and constructed sewers; he excavated Forester. He is a member of the Windsor, the and dug, and laid pavements and asphalt. He St. Clair Country, and the Essex Golf and crossed the confines of his city, and paved in Country Clubs. He is an enthusiastic baseball London and Amherstburg. From well he went fan, and the Chick team is considered one of the to good; from good he went to better, and now best aggregations in Western Ontario. He is the superlative is the only term that can be used also very fond of hockey. to describe the results of his untiring efforts. Mr. Chick has travelled extensively in Thomas Chick was born in Leroy, Illinois, Canada, United States andCuba,and has visited January 8, 1863. He was the son of John Whit­ the British Isles on one occasion. He is a lover field Chick and Elizabeth Huddleston. When of music, and beautiful paintings have a special he was only a year and one-half old his parents attraction for him. DANIEL THOMPSON

HIEF THOMPSON is 54 years of age. all the material necessary for the making of an C He was born in the Township of West ideal constable, and was offered a position on Nisouria, Middlesex County, Ontario, May 29, the local force. From that day, Daniel Thomp· 1873. His father was William Thompson, a son's career was marked. He was to be an native of Fyfeshire, Scotland, and his mother's officer of the law. maiden name was Elizabeth Davis, Canadian by Daniel Thompson remained on the London birth and parentage. He received his primary Police Force, as constable, until1905~ when hef education in the common schools of West Nis­ resigned to open a restaurant. He dtsposed o ouria. Unfortunately, the premature death of that business in the following year and accepted his father prevented his going beyond the an offer from Woodstock to become Chief of Fourth Book. He was then entering upon his Police of that City. He remained in W~d­ 16th year. For four years thereafter he helped stock until1910. In that year he became Ch1ef on the 150-acre homestead, along with two of Police of Peterborough and for a d~cade there· older brothers. One of his functions on the farm after served that town in that capactty. was to take produce to London, a distance of ten miles. On one of his periodical trips to Lon­ Chief Thompson came to Windsor, Dece~­ don he was approached by an official of the ber 16, 1920. At the time, the Wind~or Poli~~ Police Department, who had discovered in him Force consisted of 22 men. The Police Hea

Page 'Thirty-four

rl quarters were in a deplorable condition. They Another feature of Mr. Thompson's work were unsanitary, congested and offered no has to do with the relations of policemen with privacy whatever. Although plans for new young boys and girls. To the majority of headquarters had been under study, nothing children the uniform of a policeman is an object had been done. It thus became his duty to to be feared. But this is wrong. Chief press for action, for prompt action. In this he Thompson's idea is to create a feeling that the was heartily supported by Magistrate Gundy, policeman is the protector of children; that he and by Chairman Sam Keyser, of the Building is their friend, not their enemy; that his duty Committee. Work on the new building was is to direct them in the right path as much as to started in the Spring of 1921, and it was carried withdraw them from the wrong one. That is on so vigorously that Court was held in it on what he calls educational work. That sort of December 16 of the same year. The Windsor work engenders respect for authority, and Police Headquarters are unquestionably the stimulates cooperation for the preservation of finest buildings of their kind in Ontario. They peace and order. In his many addresses and are a credit to Windsor, and a tribute to the lectures before the Chief Constables Associa­ man who was chiefly responsible for their de­ tion of Canada, which he joined in 1910, his sign: Daniel Thompson. favorite theme has been "Crime Prevention," But Chief Thompson's principal achievement "Educational Law," "School Children vs. Po­ in Windsor, in the eyes of future generations, licemen," "Causes of Crime," and allied sub­ will not have been the erection of new Police jects. Headquarters. They were a necessity, and a Chief Daniel Thompson has been for several long-admitted one. His work in that city must years on the Executive Committee of the Chief be viewed from another angle. It must be Constables Association of Canada, and was viewed from its moral aspect. Police work President of that association in 1921. He is consists not only of the detection of crime; its also member of the International Chiefs of foremost object is to maintain public order, Police Association, and in 1926, was elected preserve liberty and make the life and property 3rd Vice-President of that body at the Chicago of the citiz;ens secure against assault, burglary Convention. and other forms of depredation. In other words At the Windsor convention of the latter prevention of crime is more important than de­ association, held in 1927, he was unanimously tection of crime. Now-a-days criminals can be elected First Vice-President. easily detected; but to prevent criminals from carrying out their insidious designs is more Chief Thompson was married, February 24, difficult. It is therefore in that direction that 1898, to Eliz;abeth, daughter of Charles and Chief Thompson's efforts have been aimed. It Eliz;abeth White of London. Mrs. Thompson is more human to educate against crime than to died February 19, 1925, leaving four children: punish for it. Society gains by the prevention Melville Daniel, now 28, of Detroit; Hilda of crime and loses in punishing the culprits. May, 26, who is a trained nurse at Ravens· wood, Chicago; Gordon, 24, an employee at One of the achievements to the credit of Crowley-Milner's, in Detroit; and Mildred, Chief Thompson has been the bringing into 21, at home at 35 Elm Ave. his department one of the most efficient finger· print bureaus on the North American conti· He is a Mason, and is also an active member nent. This bureau is under Constable ]. R. of the Elks, the Moose and the Foresters. Wilkinson, and has been the means of detecting If you meet a debonair gentleman, 6 foot 2, the presence of criminals in many cities, thus carrying 270 pounds of flesh and bone, straight, thwarting their purpose; and it also has been alert, military in bearing, grey-haired, clean• instrumental in bringing to justice many crimi· shaved, and with a ready, ever-present, broad nals who might otherwise have escaped punish­ and friendly smile, salute him. It is Chief ment for their crimes. Thompson, of the City of Windsor.

Page 'fhirty·Jive CHARLES S. PORTER

OMPARED with the other business men quired at Ovid in Detroit, where he took a C of the Border and the County I would say general business course, and special courses in that he represents most perfectly the merid­ cost accounting and body engineering. ional type. Small of stature but rotund; short From the age of 25 Mr. Porter has continu­ in the step but quick in the march; rapid in the ally been identified with the automotive in­ gesture; everything about his physical butld dustry. He has lived, so to speak, in a metalhc indicates vigour, even strength. Morally and world. mentally he duplicates his physical character­ IStiCS. Expenence, reflection and perhaps the It is said that the foundations of society are mfluence of the atmosphere in which he has agriculture, manufacture and transportation. If hved have tempered a blood that is hot, calmed that be so and I beheve it is Charles S. a too vivid imagination, and matured a judg­ Porter has been in extremely close touch with at ment that is instinctively equitable. least two of the economic and social processes of society for more than a quarter of a century. He Charles S. Porter was born at Ovid, Michi­ has been an eye witness of, and a contributor to, gan, May 31, 1875. His parents were John A. the progress achieved in systems of producti~n, Porter and Elizabeth Thompson. He com­ distribution and consumption since the begm­ pleted the elementary education he had ac- ning of the motor industry. To this general

Page 'Tharty•six knowledge which includes the transition from aging Director of Gotfredson Corporation, the small-scale to large-scale production, the substi­ largest manufacturers of motor trucks in the tution of machines for men, and the complex Dominion of Canada. His rise from the lowest methods of marketing- he adds the special rung of the ladder to a high executive position, knowledge of another economic fundamental: confirms the experience in the industrial world labour, the human element of the factory. that captains if not magnates-generally come Although present industrial tendencies are to from the ranks. Initiative, administrative abil­ place the burden on mechanical rather than on ity, and trustworthiness always find their re­ muscular power, men are, nevertheless, the ward. Retributive justice compels it. directing force behind the machines. Industrial It is a significant coincidence that Charles S. relationships between employer and employee Porter should have been interested in vehicles have thus been among the many problems with long before his identification with the motor which Mr. Porter has had to deal. He has industry in 1900. Before the motor car came in brought to the solution of these problems a vogue, the bicycle was the rage, and Mr. Porter thorough understanding of man's right to his was one of the best pedalists of his day. He labour, and of labour's right to a just distribu­ was at different times champion cyclist at both tion of the wealth it creates. Mr. Porter's short and long distances. This championship success is as much due to his knowledge of men, was almost a corrollary of the function he then and of the conditions under which men should exercised, namely, Assistant Physical Director work, as it is to his knowledge of the business of in the Chicago Y. M. C. A., a position which he manufacturing. filled from 1897 to 1900. Mental and intellec­ Mr. Charles S. Porter is Secretary and Man­ tual labour is impossible without physical fit­ aging Director of the Gotfredson Corporation, ness. If the mind is the medium that electrifies of Walkerville. His first experience in the physical energy, it is the body, in the first in­ manufacture of vehicles was with the Anderson stance, that generates the current. Carriage Company, of Detroit, for whom he Mr. Porter was married June 25, 1907 to acted as Superintendent of the trimming divis­ Tracie M. Greiner, of Saginaw, Michigan. ion from 1900 to 1905. In the latter year he They have no children. They reside at 176 associated himself with the Maxwell-Briscoe Windermere Road, Walkerville. Company of Tarrytown, N.Y., in the capacity of Superintendent of body construction. After Charles S. Porter is a prominent Mason and seven years in this particular field he accepted a Shriner. Socially he is affiliated with the Beach similar post with the American Auto Trim­ Grove Country Club and with the Windsor ming Company, at Walkerville. Three years Club. later, 1915, he was appointed General Manager In addition to being Secretary and Managing of that Company, and in 1920, when the Got­ Director of Gotfredson Corporation, he is Secre­ fredson interests acquired the American Auto tary of the Border Transit Company of Walker­ Trimming Company, he was confirmed in his ville, and Secretary-Treasurer of the Curtis present position, that of Secretary and Man- Company of Windsor.

Page 'Thmy•seven JOHN GALLAGHER MULLEN

E IS President of the Mullen Coal Com­ But he was not destined to become famous as H pany of Amherstburg and Sandwich. an educator. After a term he left the tutorship Mr. Mullen's names and surname indicate his for the more promising career of business man. nationality. He was born at Westport, Ireland, His first association in business was with no April12, 1848. His father was John Mullen less a personage than John D. Rockefeller, and and his mother's maiden name was Celia for three years he rolled barrels of oil on the Gallagher. He was only twenty-two months Cleveland docks with ]. D.'s brother, Frank. old when his parents crossed the Atlantic and However the oil business was only a temporary settled in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in that city venture. John D. Rockefeller was so big in it that Mr. Mullen received his education , under that John Gallagher Mullen could not see him­ the direction of the Christian Brothers. His self in the picture. He, therefore, left oil for school days were finished at 13, and he then that other important mineral: coal. He was himself taught school for one year under his then 18 years of age. So that, in the terms by former masters. An idea of his mental aptness which time is reckoned, Mr. Mullen has actively may be gained from the fact that he became a been in the coal business for more than sixty­ teacher at such an early age. one years. It's a record.

Page 'Thirty·eight Mr. Mullen soon made himself conspicuous John Gallagher Mullen is now in his 79th to his employers by the quality of his work, and year. The weight of years and cares begins to accordingly rose in their confidence and trust. tell upon him. But the strength of his will sup­ He made himself conversant with every detail plements for the weakness of his body. He of the coal business, and, possessed of executive lately underwent a serious operation in a Cleve­ ability, he was sent, after three years, to Am­ land Hospital, but under pain and knife he con­ herstburg, Ontario, to take charge of the affairs tinued to manifest that vitality which never of a Cleveland concern there. He was only 26 betrayed him in his younger days. He still has when entrusted with that responsible mission. in the eye the flash of youth, in his conversation Three years later, in 1877, Mr. Mullen the gift of wit and humour, and in his heart the bought out the interests of his employers at courage of a giant. Amherstburg, and founded the Mullen Coal Although engaged in a pursuit that demanded Company, which he has since personally con­ his closest attention, Mr. Mullen has found it ducted, almost uninterruptedly. Among his possible to give some of his time to the service former associates in his coal enterprises were of his community. He was Mayor of Amherst­ burg in 1892, 1893 and 1895, and for the past Cuddy Mullen and Martin Mullen, the former three years he has been Chairman of the Am­ a mnker in Amherstburg, and the latter an in­ herstburg Public Library Board. He is proud dustrialist and financier of high repute in the of his town and Amherstburg is proud of Mr. business circles of the United States. Mullen's qualities as citi~en and gentleman. The Mullen Coal Company is one of the His sterling character commands respect; he largest firms of its kind on the lakes. It caters represents a type from which strong manhood exclusively to steamships, and for that purpose emanates. it has dock facilities at Sandwich as well as at Mr. Mullen married, June 29, 1881, Isabella, Amherstburg. The Mullen dock at Sandwich daughter of Dallas Norvell and Eli~ Lewis, of is the largest on the Great Lakes. In the winter Amherstburg. There are four children: ]. of 1926-27 upwards of $100,000 were spent in Norvell, P. Macomb, Eli~beth and Fanchette, improving it. It is now the last word in fuel the last mentioned being the widow of the late Harry F. Gilman. They all live in Amherst­ dock structure. burg. Part of the Mullen Coal Company equipment Some time ago Mr. Mullen purchased the old consists of two coal freighters: the "John Mul­ Reynolds Home in Amherstburg, and his sons len" and the "Alaska." These freighters are are now engaged in remodelling and moderni2;­ in service between Ohio ports and the Mullen ing it. The Reynolds Home was built in 1799 docks at Sandwich and Amherstburg. by that celebrated English gentleman and mili­ tary officer, Colonel Reynolds, who distin­ In 1909 the Mullen Coal Company was in­ guished himself on the battlefield during the corporated under Michigan laws, and J. Nor­ War of 1812. He was later appointed Com­ vell, Mr. Mullen's eldest son, was placed in mander at Fort Malden. The Reynolds Home charge of the business. However, the founder is one of the oldest and most historic in the of the company retained its presidency. F. J. County of Essex. The architects in charge of Maloney, Jr. is Secretary-Treasurer of the the remodelling are Palmer and Riley, of New Company. York.

Page 'Thirty-nine HENRY JAMES NEAL

IKE almost all the men whose life>story is that period were the Griffin Wheel Company, L told in this collection, Henry James Neal the Weaver Coal and Coke Company, and the started to struggle for life at a tender age. At 15 E. ]. Corbett Coal and Coke Company, all of he had put a coat of varnish upon the erudition Detroit, and the Neal Baking Comp~ny, ?f he had acquired in the common schools of Windsor, with which he became assoClated 10 Courtright, Ailsa Craig, Leamington and Wind­ 1907. sor, and he was ready for the fray. As he was The Neal Baking Company was the work of endowed with a precocious mind, his ten Mr. Neal's father. After the latter's death 10 months at the Gutchess Business College, in 1903 the business was carried on by his widow Detroit, were sufficient to complete his mental and his older sons, Henry James joining the equipment. firm only in 1907, as aforesaid, taking the office His higher training having been along the of Secretary. lines of "commercialism," "Harry" Neal very The history of the Neal Baking Company, consistently embraced the profession of ac­ from 1905 to 1925, is practically the history of countant. He worked in the capacity of book­ "Harry" Neal's activities in the baking bus!' keeper and accountant almost without''interreg­ ness. The concern remained a comparattv_ely num" from 1898 to 1915. His employers during small enterprise until 1915. In the roeant1me

Page Fony Harry Neal had established the Harry J. Neal many progressive reforms in pedagogica: and Bakery at Sarnia (December 1911), and in 1913 general educational work. He was Chairman he had purchased James Ruddy's business in of that Board for two consecutive years, and London and had started the Neal London is the only man in Windsor to have ever made Bread Company. In 1915 the original Neal that record. In 1921 he tried to promote the Baking Company was reorganized, and in :he interests of the Conservative Party against the process it acquired Harry Neal's establishments late Hon. W. C. Kennedy, and failed where no at Sarnia and London, and was finally incor­ one could have done better. He was also main­ porated under a new charter, the capitalization ly instrumental in bringing Mr. W. F. Herman being raised from $40,000 to $500,000. Mr. to Windsor to start The Border Cities Star. Harry Neal became President of the reorgan­ This was another form of promotion work. ized company and held that position untill925, After that I cannot dispute his right to the when the several plants, including the Spencer title of promoter. He is at present promoting Bakery at St. Thomas, which had been pur­ a new departure in Real Estate development. chased in 1916, were sold to Northern Bakeries It is based on the principle of community life, Limited, a company which is the Canadian end and its success is assured. The idea is the re­ of the Continental Baking Corporation of sult of years of study in real estate investment, United States. and it is now reaching a state of happy fruition. Such is the story of Henry James Neal's I have reference here to Roseland Park, in commercial and business activities. To confine South Windsor. According to Mr. Neal, this it to a single paragraph is not to do justice to is the "biggest thing he has ever tackled." the achievement. Such rapid progress was the The property consists of a large area of beauti­ outcome of long months and long years of care­ fully-situated subdivided land, and is being ful planning, requiring much business ability, a marketed by the real estate firm of Lambrecht­ great deal of energy and thought, and no less Kelly, Limited. In addition to being property of industry and productive labour. The lesson with inherent value, the subdivision contains an to be drawn from it is applicable to any under­ 18-hole Championship Golf Course which will taking. The prime condition of success is: be eventually owned by purchasers of re5iden­ concentration of mind, labour and capital upon tiallots. Moreover the building restrictions are the business in which one is engaged. Nobody such as to insure against infringement of any can scatter his capital without scattering his character in the future. A zoning system has brains at the same time. The old saying: been established covering every phase of com­ "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is pure munity life and development. sham. Was it not Andrew Carnegie who said : Henry James Neal was born at Morpeth, in "Put all your eggs in one basket, and then Kent County, October 9, 1883. His parents watch that basket?'' Mr. Neal's teacher at were Philip Nathaniel Neal and Jane Lucy the Gutchess Business College had undoubtedly Dickens. On September 19, 1914, Mr. Neal read the Steel King's works, and more ?ar­ took as his bride Miss Katherine Bay, daughter ticularly his Talk to Young Men, contained in of John C. Bay and Marie Hanan, of Detroit. "The Empire of Business." Their home at 680 Victoria Avenue, Windsor, Now that he is out of the baking business is blessed by the presence of five healthy and Mr. H. J. Neal styles himself a promoter. He vigorous children: Harry]., Jr., Frederick Bay, was a promoter all his life. During the time Dorrit Virginia, Barbara Shirley, and Catherine he was with the 21st Essex Fusiliers, he pro­ Audrey Marie. moted sports, and he was the star at both Mr. Neal is a member of the Windsor Club, indoor and outdoor baseball. In indoor oose­ ball the famous battery, Neal and Pon:ing and also has membership cards in the London (now with the Detroit News) is still fresh in Golf and Country Club and in the Sarnia Golf the memory of fans. In the field of social Club. The character of his recreations is indi­ activities he promoted "Rotarianism" in Wind­ cated by his club associations. He is also sor and was the first President of the Windsor President of the Essex Lawn Cemetery Co., Rotary Club. He has been for nine years a Ltd. This cemetery is on the Huron Line, in member of the Windsor Board of Education, Sandwich. This is a high-class undertaking and there, has been the chief advocate of and entirely Mr. Neal's creation. Page Forty-one VITA L BENOIT

T ASALLE and Vital Benoit are synonyms. broker, hotelman, financial adviser, and he is L LaSalle was Mr. Benoit's idea; it is also his again engaged in the brokerage business. He ach1evement. The locality was formerly known belongs to the "'self-made" class. He started as Petite Cote, on account of its geological at ~era, but he never took his eyes off the ther, features: the pioneers had the custom of naming mometer, and as he kept "things hot" the places after therr physical structure. The com­ thermometer has always been rising. The munity is now known as LaSalle, after the mercury now registers a high mark in the scale, great explorer, Cavelier de LaSalle, and thus it and Mr. Benoit is only 50. Will he reach the has acquired a new significance in the eyes of "bmhng pomt"? I believe it. historians. It is because of this second bap­ Vital Benoit was born in Paincourt, March tism that LaSalle has become synonymous with 15, 1877, the son of Crysologue Benoit and V1tal Benoit, who was chiefly responsible for Emihe Goudreau. He attended the local com' the selection of the name, and who has been the mon schools until he was twelve, when he pnnc1pal factor in the development of the place. followed his parents to Cohoes, N. Y. !here Few men have had a more varied career than he worked as a weaver in a factory for a time­ Vital Benoit. He as been, in turn, weaver in he was the youngest weaver in that particular a factory, farmer, storekeeper, real estate factory but his father soon began to long for

Page Porry·two farm life, and the Benoit family returned to tion of a tramway line between Windsor and Paincourt in 1892. Vital thus became a farm­ Amherstburg had begun. He installed an hand on his father's homestead, working out at acetylene lighting system and a water system intervals in order to obtain a little cash. But in his hotel, and caused the Bell Telephone as he could only command a "salary" of 25 cents Company to extend its service to Petite Cote. per day, the process was a slow one. However, He dredged a canal from his hotel to the he "kept at it" until he was 23, when he de­ D~troit River, built a dock, and brought into cided to strike out for himself. He had no extstence a passenger-boat service between money, very little schooling, and no experience. Ecorse and Detroit, with stops at Wyandotte, But "Audaces Fortuna Juvat," and within a the Wellington House and Shore Acres. Petite few months Mr. Benoit was conducting a gen­ Cote was gradually finding a place on the map eral store in the Town of Warren, in Northern of the County of Essex. As time went on the Ontario, which he started on a "shoe-string," locality grew, and signs of general prosperity but which he quickly transformed into a pros­ began to manifest themselves throughout the perous establishment. It was while he was at whole of the Border Communities, from Am­ Warren that he married Miss Margaret Ben­ herstburg to Tecumseh. Mr. Benoit kept his nan, a school teacher, whose parents, Joseph eyes open and invested all his loose cash in real Patrick Bennan and Honore Crowley, lived in estate. In a short time a second chapter in his Toronto. Miss Bennan became Mrs. Benoit story had been written. He had "arrived." July 25, 1900. Then came 1924. The time to give the com­ Mr. Benoit remained at Warren one year munity he had helped to build a certificate of only. He disposed of his business there early identification had come. Hitherto Petite Cote in 1901, and went to Sault Ste. Marie, which had been part of the Township of Sandwich was then experiencing a hectic boom. Such West. But now the locality was assuming a was the boom that no house could be found for character of its own. It had population, a rent. Anyone going there to live was forced growing population; it had nearly all the to buy a house. That is exactly what Mr. utilities that urban areas enjoy. Why continue Benoit did. In fact he did more than that. He an alliance that might prejudice the future on bought property and built several houses. He account of the divergent needs of the consti­ invested heavily in Soo real estate, and in six­ tuting elements? Mr. Benoit correctly judged teen months he reaped enough to buy a 50-acre the situation. Petite Cote must separate and farm in his native Paincourt, pay cash for it, become a municipality, distinct and with a and have a reasonably fat bank account besides. government of its own. He was the first to As the boys were wont to say at Paincourt: urge that need, to press for action upon it and "Vital has cleaned up." But the statement was to take the steps necessary towards carrying not exactly true. Vital had not cleaned up; he out the object in mind. His success was un­ had kept the torch upon his thermometer, qualified. Petite Cote passed away and La­ that's all. Salle came into being. Mr. Benoit remained on "his" farm for nearly First in promoting the creation of the Town, two years. During that time he scouted about, he became first in all its activities. He was looking for further commercial opportunities. LaSalle's first mayor. Nominated by an Act He found one in 1903, at Petite Cote, in the of Parliament in 1924, he has been elected ever hotel business, and he grasped it. He purchased since. He was the first elected separate School what was then known as the Wellington House, trustee; he was the first President of the So­ and he became an inn-keeper. ciety of Ushers; he was the first Postmaster of the Town, and the first President of the St. At the time Petite Cote was far from being Jean Baptiste Society. He was also the first the prosperous-looking place that LaSalle is to­ representative of the Town on the Border day. There was no lighting system, no water Utilities Commission and he still is a member system, no telephone system, and public trans­ of that body. He is LaSalle through and portation to Windsor and Amherstburg was through, and LaSalle recog.ni~es it. by bestowing of the primitive horse-stage. But b~ ~eans upon him all the honours 10 1ts gtft. Wtthin a year things had changed. He circu­ lated petitions praying for improvements in He is "Vital" not only in name but also in transportation facilities, and soon the construe- fact.

Pag< Forty-thr« WALTER THOMAS PIGGOTT

A FTER all, life is short; it is as fugitive as It was a fitting comment. For Walter .fl.. shadow. He was so full of life, so vigor­ Thomas Piggott was a builder. He built hi~­ ous, so active! When he died, September 1, self up, he built a great business, he butlt 1924, his numerous friends mournfully re­ slogans, and he built a good reputation. Whe~­ marked: "How death seems to take pleasure in ever he fell- and he was not without hts felling the strong oaks, in striking at the mon­ reverses- he had the courage to rise again, the archs of trade and business~" courage to continue smiling, to keep on boost­ Walter Thomas Piggott was a monarch. He ing, and not to forget that "knocking never was supreme in his occupation ... one of those gets anyone anywhere." heads that are always raised towards the He was principally known as a lumberman. zenith, one of those minds whose motto is Son of John Piggott, the lumber king of Chat­ EXCELSIOR. Com_menting upon his demise, ham, he was raised in the lumber yard and plan­ the Border Cities Star said editorially: " . . . ing mill atmosphere; he grew in that atmos­ As the elder business men pass, one by one, we phere later became its chief element, and finally should stop to realize what their service has died i'n it, leaving it, however, pregnant with meant in the way of laying the foundations for his spirit of enthusiasm, his energy, h1s ardour the greater Border Cities." and his keenness.

Page Fcmy·four But his genial character carried his acquain­ The late Walter T. Piggott's principal trait tances even farther than did his business con­ was his aggressiveness. Once decided upon a nections. He was everybody's friend and course he brooked no challenge to its pursuit. everybody was his friend. There was no move­ He saw in the Windsor, Essex and Lake Shore ment set afoot for the good of the community Railway an enterprise that would eventually that did not count him among its chief promo­ develop the County of Essex, and despite ters; no patriotic organization that did not seek difficulties that seemed insurmountable he held and obtain his liberal assistance; no welfare on to his opinion. He was one of the original body that did not enjoy his generous patronage. stockholders of the company, also one of the He was one of those souls whose loyalty knows largest, and from 1909 to 1914 he was manager no breach, whose elan recognizes no obstacle of the company. It was during that period that ... one of those natures whose exhuberance the extension of the line from Essex to Leaming­ finds an outlet only in cheerfulness, kindness ton was constructed. During the War the and magnanimity. W. E. & L. S. Railway went to the wall, and Walter T. Piggott went down with it. All his Walter T. Piggott was born at Chatham, cash assets were wiped out; he had not a cent to March 5, 1870. His father was John Piggott his credit. Even his lumber business had been and his mother Elizabeth Cunningham. He was materially affected by the collapse, but he educated in the public schools, Collegiate Insti· buckled to the new task confronting him, risked tute and Business College of his native city. He his reputation against great odds, and finally began his career in the lumber trade in 1887, succeeded in rebuilding his shattering business. becoming associated in that year with the firm Within a few years that business was again founded by his father in 1869, of which he impregnably strong. assumed the managership in 1892. In 1894 John Piggott & Sons purchased W. G. N utson 's Combined with this spirit of aggressiveness lumber business in Windsor, and in 1911, the was his happy faculty of avoiding friction in his late W. T. Piggott removed to that city and relationships with other business men or with became the manager of that growing concern. associates. He had the knack, or adroitness, of Immediately upon his arrival in Windsor he humanizing business, of softening it, and of became identified with nearly all the active com­ getting "things done without driving." This mercial, sport and social organizations of that combination of opposed faculties is an unusual thriving city. He was a member of the Border possession. It may be described as a paradox in Chamber of Commerce, of the Retail Mer­ a man's make-up. But it was the chief factor in chants' Association and of the Builders' and Walter T. Piggott's success. Perhaps is it also Contractors' Association of the County of one of the many reasons why his name and Essex, of which he was President in 1916. achievement are yet- despite a world so busily Socially and fraternally he was associated with engaged in forgetting- so vivid in the memory the St. Clair Country Club, the Essex Golf and of Borderites. Country Club, the Windsor Club, the Trans­ portation Club of Detroit, the Elks, the Mr. Piggott was very fond of politics. A I. 0. 0. F., and the Masons. strong Liberal he was always at the helm when a political fight was being waged. Prior to his In 1918 the original name of John Piggott & Sons was changed to that of Walter T . Piggott coming to Windsor he had sat for three years on Lumber Company. In July 1924 that compa':ly the Chatham City Council, where he was for was incorporated under the laws of Ontano, two years Chairman of the Board of W arks and and it became a limited company, with Mr. Industrial Committee. He never himself, how­ Piggott as President. He died two months ever, nourished any political ambition in any later, of blood poisoning, and since his death his wider field than municipal affairs, although his widow, nee Josephine Smith, daughter of natural endowments might have gained for him Angus M. and Elizabeth Smith, of Algonac, a pronounced success in public li~e . Michigan, whom he had married December 11, Here's to Walter T. Piggott's memory ... 1920, has been President of the firm .

Page fqrty•{>llt WILLIAM THOMAS WESGATE

HEN one passes on Sandwich Street, at sion of many worldly goods. Consequently W the southwest corner of the intersection young William Thomas had no opportunity of of that street with Strabane Avenue, in the pursuing his studies beyond the Fourth form . Town of Ford, Ontario, his attention is drawn He was only fourteen when his father died. by the sight of a giant sign, on which he reads: Although not homeless, he found himself IT'S PURE obliged, after this sad occurrence, to embark THAT'S SURE upon the boat of life without means and wtth That is William Thomas Wesgate's Ice but a smattering of education. Nothi?g was Cream Manufacturing Plant. left for him but to work, and work he dtd. Mr. Wesgate was born at Moorefield, On­ His first employment was in a flax mill in tario, on Christmas Day in the year 1870. His the Town of Palmerston. There he toiled for father was George Wesgate and his mother's two years, saving his pennies and getting some maiden name was Kezia Armstrong. He ac­ insight into the complexes of life. At the end quired his elementary education in the public of two years he had saved enough pennies to school of Palmerston, whereto his parents had pay his fare to Buffalo; and to Buffalo he went, gone when he was but two. His father was a in the hope of finding employment that would carpenter, and was not blessed with the posses- hold some promises for the future. He found

Page Fcmy•six work and also a future. For seventeen years and took it to his home on Langlois A venue. be re~ained in Buffalo, driving milk wagons, There he began to make ice cream by hand. doing every specie of work a~ut dairi~s, and He made ice cream by day and he made ice operating a mtlk and cream busmess on hts own cream by night. He sold that ice cream to all account for thirteen years. In 1905 he dis­ corners of the city, and soon Wesgate's ice posed of his Buffalo business at a good profit cream became as popular in Windsor as Lipton's and came to Windsor where he continued in the Tea in England. It was then (1911) that he same pursuit. It was Mr. Wesgate who intro­ purchased a piece of property at the corner of duced the practice of selling milk and cream in Strabane Avenue and Sandwich Street, in Ford, bottles. Some time afterwards he added to this and started his present plant. In 1912 he business, bakery, confectionery and ice cream. equipped that plant with modern machinery His store was in the Heintzman Building, on Ouellette A venue. It was his second attempt and began to build, on the solid rock of sound in the field of competitive endeavour, and after commercial principles, a business that has now struggling for five years he found himself in the attained proportions unequalled in the Border hands of the sheriff. He had failed. It was a Cities. serious blow. After twenty-four years of hard IT'S PURE work, he was no farther ahead than when he THAT'S SURE started, perhaps worse. But in the cataclysm says Mr. Wesgate. he had saved his reputation. This he had kept intact and unstained, and it is that cleanliness Such is William Thomas Wesgate's achieve­ of business repute that later lifted him from 6e ment. The success of a man is always measured mire of penury. from the point at which he starts to the point Realizing that he was in a state of indigence, which he finally reaches. W. T. Wesgate was William T. Wesgate crossed over to Detroit in forty-one years old when he discovered his search of work, any kind of work, providing it rainbow. At one end of the rainbow Wa3 an afforded subsistence. He was successful in his idea- manufacturing ice cream- at the other search. He was employed first by the Ideal end was a bushel of hopes. He completed it Manufacturing Company, makers of plumbers' with hard work, assiduousness at the task, and supplies, and later by the Wagner Baking Com­ sound business ideals. And he has succeeded. pany. He stayed in Detroit for eight months. But William Thomas Wesgate has not con­ In the meantime there had developed in fined his activities entirely to the manufactur­ Windsor a condition that proved afterwards ing and marketing of ice cream. As a good to be the foundation of his making. There was citizen should do, he has always been interested nobody in the City at the time catering to in educational and municipal affairs. In 1917 fraternal societies for their social entertain­ and 1918 he was a member of the Ford council, ments, nor to hotels for banquets, and some of and in 1919 he was elected on the Windsor Mr. Wesgate's friends suggested to him that Public School Board, on which he served for he should return to Windsor and start out anew four consecutive years, being chairman in 1924. in that specialty. He accepted. He is at present member of the Windsor City The business was productive of good results Council. from the very start. As time went by it grew Mr. Wesgate is a prominent mason, and also so rapidly that he found himself unable to satis­ takes an active part in the work of the Rotary fy all the demands that were made upon him. Club. Having but little time for recreation he It was then that he saw an opening in the manufacture of ice cream, and to relate how is not associated with any golf or country club. William Thomas Wesgate started his present On October 21, 1919, he married Jessie Ella business is to give the story all the characteris­ Lambe, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William tics of a romance. Lambe, of Harriston, Ontario. The~ have no All he invested was $25. With this money children. Mr. and Mrs. Wesgate restde at 205 he bought a used freezer from George Hanrahan Giles Boulevard, in the City of Windsor.

Page Forty• seven LOUIS A. MERLO

R. MERLO was born August 19, 1883, in ing developed in him a dislike for the calling M Cuggiono, a suburb of the historic City of rather than a taste for it. He therefore left the Milan, almost in the shade of the famous Gothic quiet, monotonous life of the "paysan," to em­ Cathedral of the same name, on the shores of bark upon the more eventful career of a day­ the beautiful Olona River, in the middle of that labourer. He was then 12. magnificent plain which stretches between the For five years thereafter he worked here and Adda and the Ticino, within sight dtstance of there, first in a steel plant in Swttzerlan? f~r the towering Alps. His father was BattiSta twelve months and then on construction tn hts Merlo and his mother Maria Parisi. He re­ ceived his primary education in the Municipal nattve land fo; four years. A mere lad and School of Cuggiono, but circumstances at home somewhat frail in build, he dynamited hts way forced him to substitute the plow and the hoe to experience by force of courage and determtna­ for the pencil and the scribbler when he was ation. \Vhat he lacked in physical strength he on:y mne. He was the only male child of a compensated for by undauntedness and tndus­ family of four, and his help on the small parental try. He swung the pick and handled the homestead was mdispensable. shovel· he carried hods and riveted bolts: and But Louis Merlo was not destined to become while at' these varied tasks, he o bserve d, !1~·ten- a farmer by occupation. Three years of farm- ed, inquired, learned. At 18 he was seized by a new spirit, "the tions and endeavored to broaden the field of his spirit of adventure." A sort of emigration acquaintances. At last, in 1913, he boldly fever suddenly took hold of him and he turned launched upon the field of competition and his eyes toward America. He had an uncle al­ founded the partnership of Merlo, Merlo & ready established in Detroit at the time, and, Ray, the partners being Louis A. Merlo, Paul as a consequence, that city became his eventual Merlo and John Ray (Rein Italian). goal. The success of that partnership bespeaks He arrived there in 1901. The exhilarating qualities of organization and mana

Page Forty-nine CLEVELAND ]. MOUSSEAU

E IS a building contractor by trade, and at many others, the Mousseau family crossed the H his hours, a politician of considerable border and went to North Adams, in the State repute in the Town of Ford, where he has been of Massachusetts. At that time child labour in the limelight since the year 1919. was not prohibited, and Cleve Mousseau He is a son of the farm, and as his parents became a mule spinner in a woollen factory. were not possessed of riches, he learned from Wages were not high, but the aggregate earnings his youth the meaning of the divine saying: of the Mousseau family were sufficient to perm1t Thou shalt sweat for thy bread. On the farm of savings every fortnight. After two year.s of he was taught to milk cows and to dnve horses, monotonous drudgery at repetitive functions and at eleven he could do both satisfactorily. they returned to the farm. Cleve followed. He m1ght have been a farmer and would Two years of wage-earning experience .in the undoubtedly have been a good one, had not his shops had roused in Cleve's heart a spmt of parents been lured from the homestead by the independence and self-reliance, and although promises of easy money in the mills of the only a lad of 13, he manifested a desire to strike Eastern States. But in 1899 the attraction of out for himself in the broad world. A year the manufacturing centres of New York and later he was in Walkerville working at some Massachusetts was great; accordingly, like menial task in the Malleable Iron Works plant. It was hard work, even for a strapping lad like Cadillac Street. This was at the time when him, but Cleve "stuck to the job" for one Ford was passing through a period of hectic whole year. growth. Cleve Mousseau threw his hat in the But of course boys are shiftless, and whether ring and won out. He is to-day regarded as one on that account or because of the fact that the of the largest building contractors in the Motor work did not appeal to him as a means of liveli­ Town, and several apartments and dwellings, hood, Cleveland J. Mousseau left the Malleable not only of Ford, but of all the Border Cities Works to join a sugar beet crew in the Walker bear the stamp of his skill and of his artistic conception. fields. Wages were higher there but the work wa.; not steady, and that did not suit Cleve's There are few more vivid examples of how ambition. He must find something more re­ success can be achieved than Cleveland ]. munerative, more permanent. He was groping. Mousseau's. If necessity is the mother of He wanted something congenial, something that invention, it may truly be said that hard work, gave hope for the future, and that had some doggedness and application, added to mental element of permanency. aptness, are the parents of success. Where was it? Cleveland J. Mousseau had Cleveland J. Mousseau was born at Belle no training in any specific line and he had no River, October 29, 1888. His father was capital ... only the willingenss to work, the Joseph Mousseau and his mother Catherine desire to achieve something, and the ambition Rau. The only education he possesses was to rise from nothingness. Several years were to acquired in the common schools of his native pass before he would find his calling, and Cleve town. In 1910, May 9, he married Florestine continued groping. He worked for three years Gagnier, daughter of G. N. Gagnier, of Stoney as section man on the Grand Trunk Railway, Point, by whom he has six children: Josephine, one year for Ralph Mather, at St. Joachim, Blanche, Bella, who attends the Ursuline Con­ caring for and driving race horses, one year for vent at Chatham, Aurele, Edna and Joseph. Baum and Brody in Windsor, as clerk in their Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of furniture store, and finally he startd carpenter­ Columbus, the Catholic Order of Foresters and ing in the employ of John White, and later for of the Artisans Canadians-Francais. Peter Osterhout, in the latter case acting as foreman. So far he has had little time for recreation, although he has always been an enthusiastic Cleveland ]. Mousseau was then twenty-four trap-shooter. It is no doubt his liking for that years of age. He had tried almost everything particular sport that caused him to promote the and had been satisfied in nothing. But at last organiz;ation of the Shawnee Gun and Country he had struck the right path: carpentering, and Club of Tecumseh, of which he is President. he soon became a master of the trade. Politically, Mr. Mousseau is a Liberal, and In 1912, he removed to Stoney Point, his influence on behalf of the Liberal Party is Ontario, and began constructing barns in that always eagerly sought by politicians and politi­ vicinity. He remained there for two years and cal organiz;ers. He has been active in municipal many of the finest barns in Stoney Point were politics since 1919, when he first entered the erected by Cleveland Mousseau. Ford Council. In 1920 he was returned as In 1914, Mr. Mousseau, having acquired suf­ Reeve for Ford and occupied that post for five fictent experience in the building trade to meet years. In 1925 and 1926 he was elected Mayor competition in the city, established himself in of Ford by acclamation. He is now out of Ford and opened an office in his home at 102 municipal politics.

Page fifty·one EUGENE T. MAILLOUX

N 1890, on the Boucher Line, in the Town­ headquarters are located at537CataraquiStreet, I ship of Rochester, there could ~e seen, every in the City of Windsor. day, troddling his way to the ht~le separate Son of Thomas Mailloux and Annie Chauvin, school at the corner of Fifth Consess10n, a young Eugene Mailloux was_ bon! on a farm,. at lad of twelve, small in body and frail of health, T. Stoney Point, in 1878. Hts pnmary educatt?n but strong of will, determined in purpose, self­ finished, he manifested a desire for a reliant and ambitious. Like all the boys m the commew~l training, and his father gave him a short ter~ 1!1 school he went barefoot during the summer, and moccasins or boots in the winter time. the Windsor Business College. Re~urmng w~re home after that short business schoohng, he To-day, that same little lad of the 90's is the lived the life of a farmer's son untill904 when, head of a partnership that controls and operates with his spouse of a year, he removed to a chain of thirty-seven stores in the County of Windsor, in search of an occupation that wo~ld Essex, a chain that encircles the county from assure him a livelihood and give some promtse Amherstburg, at the mouth of Lake Erie, to for the future. Wages, twenty-three years ago, Tilbury, on the Kent border. were not on the level that they have now reached, He is Eugene T. Mailloux, senior member in but Mr. Mailloux managed to "get a job" as the partnership of Mailloux and Parent, whose delivery man for the firm of John Scott & Co.,

Page Fi[t)'•two at $9 a week. It was a mere pittance, but the M &? P are known all over for their success. employmen~ op~ne~ an avenue into a field which But the establishment of stores is not the suited his 1nchnat1on, and for five years he only part of a business. There is also the remained in the employ of John Scott & Co., question of relationship between the firm and rising gradually to higher and higher posts, the public, and between employerandemployee. learning the grocery_ business in ~ll. its whole­ sale and retail details, and acqumng a good Such a large number of stores brings the firm knowledge of trade in general. in contact with a vast number of people. The reputation of M &? Pin the various localities is Living at first in thr~e ren~ed rooms he con­ largely dependent upon the calibre of the local trived to save $50. W1th this money he made management; yet the individual often fades a bold stroke. He built a house on Dougall away before the prominence of the firm. With Avenue, now No. 573, and for four years the view, therefore, of making the contact with lived in it. In the meantime property value the public as frictionless as possible, courtesy advanced and Mr. Mailloux sold his house, in and service form the basis of the relationship. 1909 at a handsome profit. Now in possession In addition strict supervision over the condition of a Jittle bit of cash he felt that the time had of all stores is exercised. An absolute state of come to launch into business for himself. He cleanliness must be maintained at all times, and returned to his native township and purchased provisions must be made for the comfort of the the business then owned at Ruscomb by waiting customers. M &? P stores are noted for Murphy and McHugh. Three years of_pros­ all these, and the importance of strict enforce­ perity in that first v_entu~e .12rompted hlffi t_o ment of the rules is pressed every month at the widen the scope of his actiVIties, and, w1th his regular meeting between the heads of the eye focussed on a piece of property comprising partnership and the managers. 76 feet at the corner of London Street and As for the relationship between employer McEwan Avenue, in Windsor, he sold out to and employee, the _policy is one of humanity. Geo. Fraby. He now had a few thousand The M & P staff constitutes a big family. dollars in the bank, but he did not leave the Yearly picnics, personal interest in every one's money there very long. He bought the property welfare, good wages and convenience for w?rk he had in view in Windsor, and constructed a assure satisfaction in, and permanence of serv1ce. two-store and flat building upon it. By In addition, all managers are given a life in~ur­ September 15, 1913, the building was ready ance of $1000 and all female clerks one of $.)00. for occupancy, and Mr. Mailloux opened a grocery and meat business in one of the stores, Such is Eugene T. Mailloux's achie~em~nt. renting the corner one for a drug store. It was It reflects high qualities for orgamzat10n, at this time that he took in as partner Mr. executive ability, and great capacity for work. Ernest E. Parent, his brother-in-law. Mr. Mailloux was married three times. His This business was carried on for three years, first wife was Vanderelle Parent, of Tecumseh, the volume increasing moderately but const­ who died in 1905, leaving a son, Henry. His antly. During those three years, Mr. Matlloux second wife was Rose Parent, of Windsor, who made a study of the grocery trade as carried '?n died in 1909, also leaving a child, Berna~ette. generally, that is partly cash and partly credit, His present wife's maiden name was Anrue E., and having carefully compared the results of daughter of Edward E. Spong, of Sussex, the strictly cash and carry system with those England, whom he married in 1922. By her he of the double system of cash and credit, he has two children, Edward E., age 3, and Betty and his partner decided in favour of the Ann, 11 months old. former, with the result that, in 1916, five Cash Despite his many _occup~tions, Mr. ~3.illoux and Carry stores, all bearing the sign of M &P, finds time to partiCipate m many _soe1al, com­ were opened in various parts of the City of munity and club activities. He ts an acttve Windsor. M & P were one of the first to test member of the Border Chamber of Commerce, the idea of Chain Stores in Canada. member of the Knights of Columbus and the M & P is the only private partnership in LaSalle Club. Canada owning such a large chain of ~to_res. Mr. and Mrs. Mailloux reside at 801 Chain stores, as a rule, are owned by hmited Victoria Avenue, Windsor. companies. Page Fifty·three H. B. PARSONS

HERE are leaders in every community. tion of specializ;ed knowledge, and Banking is T Some are born; others are the product of that. In fact, it is more than cumulated exper­ their own efforts and labours. There are also ience and science, it is, in addition, an Art­ leaders in every line of activity; in every pro­ the art of judging human nature, of co~rectly fession. But when we talk of leaders we need gauging the pulses of the heart, of soundmg the not use terms denoting high education, univer­ recesses of the mind. sity degrees and basketfuls of bonds. Leaders Mr. H. B. Parsons, Manager of the generally come from the ranks. They are the Canadi~n Bank of Commerce at Walkerville, has been m "dark horses" who entered the race by sweep­ the Banking business all his life. He belongs to ing out offices and who played the part of the bee all their lives. that class of managers who work. He is even different to those managers who ~ark; . he Among the various mechanisms that go to works standing. As a rule managers sit behmd make up our social structure, the most smooth­ a desk, in a comfortable chair, with push working is the financial organism. Such is the buttons and emergency signals under their importance of the financial fabric in a growing fingers. Mr. Parsons has had built, un~er a industrial community that Banking has now window in his office, right on top of a radiator, become a profession, like Law, Medicine, or a convenient shelf, and it is upon that 6.x 2 Engineering. Profession means the accumula- shelf that he works. He stands right agamst Page Fafty·four his interviewer; it is better than sitting on him. money he holds in trust; responsibility to his He listens to tales and stories while glancing community whose expansion practically rests at the street. It's sometimes refreshing. If the upon his judgment; responsibility to the share­ stories threaten to become too monotonous, or holders of his institution whose funds he must doleful or mournful, he recoups by submerging loan upon adequate security. his thoughts under the pavement. It is in the light of this triple responsibility I have been authoritatively informed that in that I have tried to study Mr. H. B. Parsons at his fifteen years of management in Walkerville, work upon his famous little shelf. His achieve­ Mr. Parsons has had but two clients who were ment is told by the state of prosperity in which so delinquent as to allow their notes to go into his community rna y be found; by the continuous the "past due" niche. Such a record speaks expansion of Walkerville industries and com­ well for both manager and clients. I am in­ mercial enterprises; and by the general esteem clined to attribute it to several factors: un­ in which he is held in the Border Cities. equalled service, courtesy, decorum, Mr. Par­ Mr. Parsons saw the light of day at Goderich, sons' knowledge of human nature, the clients' Ontario, December 7, 1875. His father was knowledge of that knowledge, and of course, James Gad Parsons, son of the first mayor of the famous shelf. the Town of Goderich, Benjamin Parsons. His What secrets could that shelf disclose~ How mother's maiden name was Mary Craig. He many institutions in the industrial Town of was educated in the Goderich schools and Colle­ Walkerville owe it their present prosperity­ giate and in Upper Canada College. Imme­ some their birth? How many projects of mag­ diately upon completion of his studies, he en­ nitude and import have been discussed over it? tered the service of the Canadian Bank of How much useful advice and counsel has Commerce. His transfers during these years of emanated from it? What part of the destiny service include St. Catherines, Stratford, Park­ of Walkerville, Ford and Riverside has been ville, Montreal, where he opened the first city shaped upon it? There is a tradition wrapped branch outside the Main Office, and Walker­ about that shelf, and it is Mr. Parsons who has ville, where he has been Manager since 1912. had it built. It is not his thirty-seven years in the employ So far as historical records prove banking has of the Canadian Bank of Commerce that has made H. B. Parsons a Banker. It is his tact, his existed from the earliest times. But banks in those remote days were merely money ex­ ease of approach, his knowledge of men and finance, his judgment, his patience ...... in short, changes. Of course, there have been usurers ever since currency has been a commodity. his personality. The present draft and cheque system originated Mr. and Mrs. (Nee Margaret Alice Caven), at the beginning of the seventeenth century. live at 153 Kildare Road, Walkerville. They Since then the main purpose of banks has been have no children. to receive money from people for safe keeping Socially, Mr. Parsons is associated with the as deposits and of loaning money on interest. following clubs: Beach Grove, Essex Golf and According to that tradition a bank is the back­ Country, Windsor Club, Detroit Club, and the bone of business in any community. No farm­ Royal Hamilton Club. These associations er, nor merchant, nor artisan could carry on his business without a bank; many enterprises fairly indicate his principal recreations. He could not prosper without the temporary aid also loves Motoring, and often journeys to that a bank affords; no corporation could devel­ Goderich and other Eastern towns. But he is op itself without the service that a bank places one of those who have the faculty of establish­ in its hands. ing the difference between work and play or amusement. He does not work hard in order It thus becomes evident that a bank manager to play sooner or more; he plays hard and often has colossal responsibilities to answer for: in order to work harder, better and longer. responsibility towards his depositors whose THOMAS JOHN EANSOR

T \VAS back m the winter of 1877. The day taking. But it was done, and the boy who did I was cold and the snow deep. A whizzling it was Thomas John Eansor, now one of north wmd batted fro:en flakes upon the face of Windsor's enterprising and successful manu­ tra\·ellers and pedestrians. In fact it was a grey facturers, a City Father, a highly-respected day ... sort of haJf... and-half between an citizen of the Border Cities, a patriot, an all­ Arctic bli::ard and a Laurentide storm. round gentleman. The distance that the catt!e On the morning of that day a young boy of \\'ere driven "-'aS from \Vhitby to Frenchman s 13. JUSt issued from the public school, found Bay, on Lake Ontario. htmself faced with a gloomy, dismal task. T. J. Eansor has forgotten many things ~mce Gloomy because of the weather and the sno'.,.'; hts boyhood, but he remembers that expenence dismal because of the boy's scanty equipment wtth vtvtdness; he has a bright image of it in hts against the smarting elements. memory, and when he related it to me he was To dri\·e cattle in deep snow, on a cold, still shtvering. \'\'indy day is ne\·er a pleasant task; but to drive Mr. Eansor was only twelve when his father cattle in deep snow, on a cold, windy day, With dted. Born at Oakville, June 1, 1864, by the only a straw hat for head-covering, without an marriage of Frederick \Villiam Eansor and Sarah overcoat and in knee pants is a dreadful under- Bennett, he attended the public schools of Page Fafr~·su: Whitby and Oshawa, where his parents had lation, keep in line with progress, envy nobody, alternately removed. His father's death put an h~ve self-respect and dignity, are MEN at all end to his education and marked the beginning tlmes. He is older than Confederation but is of his career, which has consisted mainly of still full of youth; he may have lost som~ of his hard work on farms, over the anvil, and in sprightliness, but he is vigorous still. He walks manufacturing structural, ornamental and mis­ from his home at 519 Church Street to his office cellaneous steel and iron. In '79 he was work­ e~ery morning and considers it a bagatelle; in ing on a farm in Tilbury. Farming, however, h1s office he takes off his coat, not for comfort's did not appeal to him. Physically built for the sake but for work's sake. He is short and stocky, occupation, he started blacksmithing and horse­ as sturdy of build as he is of character. He has shoeing in 1881. His apprenticeship was long, no inordinate regard for conventions, and and it carried him to almost every city and town smokes his pipe in the Council Chamber with­ of importance in Western Ontario. Finally in out the Mayor's permission. He talks without 1886, he commenced business for himself in gloves and looks at you straight in the eye. He Windsor, where he hung up a sign which read: belongs to a generation which, unfortunately, "T. J. Eansor, Blacksmith & Horseshoer." In may be passing. those days commercial horseshoeing and general Thomas John Eansor is now serving his 7th blacksmithing were profitable occupations. year as Alderman of the City of Windsor. His Automobiles and trucks had not then supplanted first term was 1909-10 and 11. His second term horses, buggies and wagons. T. J. Eansor was a 1915-16 and 17. After a lapse of ten years he reliable and competent mechamc, and he got re-entered the aldermanic field in 1927, and was his share of the business. However, in 1896, elected among the highest. In 1912 he contested ten years later, believing opportunities to be the mayoralty against the late Mayor Hanna; more favourable in Detroit, he removed to that but was defeated. He has no apologies to offer city and continued in the same occupation on for that reverse in his civic career. Grand River Avenue until 1903, when he purchased the Wagon and Carriage business of In the Council he is a record-breaking atten­ the late P. A. Craig, at the corner of Pitt and dant at meetings. He is progressive but regard­ McDougall Streets, and went back to Windsor. ful of economy. He balks at nothing that is of He carried on this business untill912 when he benefit to the community but shies at everything branched out into manufacturing Structural that savours of anything else. As a servant of Steel and Ornamental Iron. In 1917 he formed the community, he thinks of the community a partnership with two of his sons, Alfred first, of everybody else second, of Eansor last. William and Norman D., under the name of Among the forward moves that he personally T. ]. Eansor & Sons. That partnership is still sponsored is the motorization of the Fire De­ in business at the corner of Pitt and McDougall, partment in 1915. He was also a consistent where the clangs of hammers, and the thumps advocate of Hydro Power for the Border Cities. and the blows of huge machinery fashioning and He is conscientious, and the people know it. shaping steel may be heard for blocks around, sometimes day and night. From that plant Mrs. Eansor's maiden name was Marie emerges a very large proportion of the steel Eli~abeth DuHeaume, daughter of William entering into the construction of the Border DuHeaume, of Sandwich, whom Mr. Eansor Cities' buildings, apartments, schools, churches, married November 13, 1889. There are three office buildings, etc. Quality of work and children: Alfred William, of 1535 Dougall promptness of execution have placed the name Avenue; Norman DuHeaume, of 1529 Dougall and reputation of T. J. Eansor & Sons in the Avenue, and Lloyd Carvel, of Rosedale Ave., forefront among Canadian manufacturers of Sandwich. structural steel and iron. Mr. Eansor takes but ordinary interest in Combination of brain and brawn is at the general politics, in which he ~sually supports foundation of Thomas John Eansor's success in the Conservative Party. In rehg10n he adheres to the Anglican tenets, and fraternally he is a life. He is of the self-made type- that type Mason, a Forester and an Oddfellow. He is who acknowledge no defeat, surmount any difficulty, carry on without unnecessary bustle affiliated with no club, and his only recreation is or flurry, build on service rather than on specu- WORK. Page Fifcy·seven LT. COL. GEORGE HENRY WILKINSON

T T. COL. W ILKINSON was born of army fell under the enemy's fire, seriously wounded, L stock. His forefathers came to this country and was taken to hospitals in France and with the British Army during the War of 1812, England. Having recovered from this first and his grandfather was Captain James Wilkin­ wound he went back to the front as Second in son, of Fenian Raid history. Command of the 1st Canadian Battalion, On­ When on August 4, 1914, the trumpets tario Regiment, only to meet with the same blared for men to defend the ideals of democracy fate at the capture of Mt. Sorrell, June 12, against the onslaughts of kaiserism, one of the 1916. This time he was invalided to England, first to jom the colours was George Henry W il­ where, after recovery, he devoted himself to k.inson, Shoe and Sporting Goods Merchant of recruiting and training until the end of the W mdsor. He was then an officer in the Essex \Var. He was twice mentioned in despatches. Fusiliers, which he had joined in 1900 as a pri­ Returning to his home town after the armis­ vate. He sailed overseas with the 1st Contin­ tice, Col. Wilkinson immediately became inter­ gent as Officer in Charge of Company C; ested in the re-organization of the Es~x crossed from England to France with the First Fusiliers, which had been disbanded dunng Division, and immediately went into action. the war. He was successful in this endeavor, At the battle of Guivenchy, June 15, 1915, he and on February 28, 1924, he was given the

Page Foft~·toght rank of Lieutenant Colonel and made Com­ a career in which he had no honours to seek mander of the Regiment. He retired in May, but perils to face; the second made possible his 1927~ at whic~ time he was r~warded for hi~ rise from a humble clerk to a leading and success­ services by bemg presented wtth the Officers ful business man. The one led him into feats Long Service Decoration. U~der his co~mand­ of valour and chivalry on the battlefields of ership the Regiment was agam r~-orgaruzed and France; the other into commercial and indus­ authority granted to change 1ts name from trial projects that place him among the leaders Essex Fusiliers to Essex Scottish, with kilts in Canadian Mercantile enterprises. and Highland costume. Thro':lgh his. efforts He is tall, robust of constitution, muscular, also, the Regiment became affihated wtth the vigorous, a regular athlete. He is laconic of Essex Regiment of England, one of the oldest speech, trenchant of gesture, extremely polite and proudest regiments in the. B~itish Army. in intercourse. He is as modest as his office Although retired, Lt .. Co~ .. Wtlkms_on 1s st1ll is unpretentious. He is trusty and trustful, very much interested 10 mthtary affatrs. allows not his left hand to know what his Equally inspiring is Col. George Henry Wil­ right hand does, is always happy and wishes kinson's record in the merchandising field. all to be so, speaks not when ill is to be said, Among the retail merchants he ranks as one of smiles all the time. He is not ostentatious, but the oldest, from the viewpoint of continuity. extremely sensible on matters of honour and The name Wilkinson has been listed among the decorum. He is an Officer even without his business men of the County of Essex since 1865, uniform. when Robert James Wilkinson, father of the George Henry Wilkinson was born at Essex subject of this sketch, founded the house in Centre, December 19, 1879. His father is Essex Centre. In 1889 Robert James Wilkin­ mentioned above. His mother was Maria son went to Windsor and opened a Shoe Shop Smith. He was educated in the Essex and Wind­ on Sandwich Street, in the building now occu­ sor schools. He married, October 12, 1903, pied by the Howitt Battery Storage Compal_ly, Euphemia Fletcher, daughter of John and Jane and later removed to the building now occupted Fletcher, of Windsor, by whom he has two by the Hydro Electric Railway, at the corner children: George Lawrence and Frederick of Sandwich and Ferry. In 1896, George Henry James. His home is at 1307 Dougall Avenue, Wilkinson entered his father's employ and for nine years thereafter worked in the capacity Windsor. of assistant. In 1905 he purchased a half inter­ He is Conservative in politics. Fraternally est in the business, and two years later he be­ he is a Mason. He has no Club affiliations. came its sole proprietor by purchasing the He is President of Wilkie Glove-Phit Shoe other half. He has since been continuously in Manufacturing Company, of Montreal. . J:Ie business in his own name, and his present Shoe was for four years President of Border C1t1es and Sporting Goods establishment at 35 Ouel­ Retail Merchants Association, and also Presi­ lette A venue is the largest of its kind in the dent of the Down Town Business Men's Asso­ Border Cities, and one of the largest exclusive ciation. He is Director of the Navy League of shoe stores in Canada. Canada and Member of the Executive of the The above is a coldly-presented outline of Border Cities branch. He is Honorary Presi­ Mr. Wilkinson's career as a Military Officer dent of several Soccer Associations and Cricket and a Business Man. From its reading two Clubs. inferences may be drawn, in respect of his character and mental equipment: his intense He is busy all the time, but never too busy patriotism and his mercantile intellect. The to meet you, either socially or for business pur­ first caused him to leave family and business for poses. DAVID CONKLIN

"Do what you have agreed to do, but be careful as to what you agree to do". (David Conklin, Kingsville, Ont.) DO not hesitate to proclaim this dictum or hauling square timber to the river and lake I the standard of business orthodoxy. It is shores of Essex County from the dense forest Rabelaisian in form and virtuous in conception, and receiving for his long hours of daily labour moral, decent and inspiring. a pittance of $4.00 a month. Picture him acrain As I sat with Mr. David Conklin on the from thirteen to eighteen, in the employ of an front porch of his beautiful home, on the top uncle, Simon Wigle- who had undertaken to of the Main Street hill, in Kingsville, discussing rear him after the death of his father, and who with him the various phases of his busy life, a was in the lumber business- not only hauling veritable epic passed before my eyes. timber, but gradually learning, through obser~a­ tion and practice,- for he had no schooling Picture yourself a boy left fatherless at eight whatsoever- the difficult science of measunng years of age, and obliged to leave the paternal standing timber, and accepting the responsibility fireside, a school that he had just begun t o as foreman of crews of sixty and seventy shanty­ attend, and to start to work for a living. men, of superintending the work of cuttmg, Picture him between the tender ages of eight hauling and producing timber. And, finally, and thirteen driving teams in the lumber woods, picture him at this work for twenty years, Page Sixty before he could put together enough money to o~ Division Road, three miles north of Kings­ engage in a pursuit on his own account. You vllle. It was there that the extensive Conklin will then have an idea of David Conklin's early business was born. The establishment con­ life in the wilds of the County of Essex. sisted of a Band and Circular Saw Mill a Plan­ But to-day David Conklin, the fatherless, ~ng Mill and a Sash and Door Factory: Later, penniless and schoolless lad of eight, is one of m 1900, Mr. Conklin found it advisable to the wealthy men of the County of Essex, the segregate his growing enterprise, and the owner of more than a thousand acres of beauti­ Planing Mills were removed to the Town of ful and rich farming land in the County of Kingsville, leaving the Saw Mill at its orioinal Essex; President of the well-known Conklin location. The Amherstburg Mill dates back Planing and Saw Mills, at Kingsville and to 1920. Amherstburg; President of Conklin and Jasper­ The vast amount of farm lands owned by son, Dry Goods Merchants at Kingsville, Mr. Conklin in the County of Essex is seventy years young, finding pleasure only in explained by the fact that in former years, work, vigorous, healthy, keeping his own timber, in many cases, could not be had unless books, making his own reports to the Govern­ the land upon which it stood were also ment, and persistently refusing to become a purchased. All these lands are now divided member of the "Retired Failures Association," into a number of distinct farms, all under as Jack Miner puts it. cultivation, and managed by Mr. Conklin personally. General farm produce and tobacco How explain this remarkable achievement? are raised thereon. This year, 1927, no less Read again Mr. Conklin's dictum: "Do what than 180 acres were planted in tobacco. you have agreed to do, but be careful as to what you agree to do." But there is another reason. It would be difficult to find a more striking example of personal achievement than that of He knew the lumber business; and he knew it David Conklin's. In our day, social, educa­ well when he was only 18. One can "know" tional and economic conditions make his his business at 18, if he will not allow himself success well-nigh inconceivable. Yet nothing to be distracted by frivolous ambitions, castles is impossible to him who has will power and in Spain, or other chimerical dreams. Mr. determination. If conditions have changed, it Conklin put in his business a special account is only to make the field of opportunities under the caption of "Brain." greater and wider. Compulsory educa~ion, David Conklin is of German extraction. His Social Service Societies, Mothers Allowance parents were Thomas Conklin and Susan Wigle. Legislation, et cetera, do not permit of a boy of He was born in Kingsville, November 4, 1855. eight to be washed away from home and flung On February 24, 1875, he married Wilhelmina upon life as in the case of David Conklin. But Fox, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. C. Fox, is that not another reason why the future of the Fourth Section. By her he had one son, should be faced with more hope and greater William T., who is the present Manager of the confidence? Mr. Conklin's example should be Conklin Planing Mills. Mrs. Conklin died an inspiration for all unfortunates, or for any­ March 20, 1922, after 47 years of happy body, for that matter. The world belongs to conjugal life. men of courage and action. There is always The present Conklin lumber interests include room for brain and brawn and for mental and Planing Mills and Saw Mills at Kingsville, manual capacity. Education is not all. Too where the Head Offices are located, Planing much of it is sometimes injurious; and as no Mills at Amherstburg, and yards at Cottam child is permitted to be entirely without any, and Woodslee. From the viewpoint of continu· every child should feel that he begins with at ity in business, very few concerns, in the least half a chance. David Conklin had no County of Essex, are older than the Conklin chances at all. Mills. The first Conklin mill was established in 1885, forty-two years ago. It was located I raise my hat to David Conklin.

Page Sixty-one JOHN STODGELL

E HAS a hobby: collecting antiques, relics, lesser importance perhaps, but which engage H old documents and objects that revive the attention on account of their ancient character. past and keep fresh in the memory of the present generation the characteristics of by-gone times. Collecting relics is not a passing fashion with He has on display, in his home at 36 Strabane Mr. John Stodgell; it is a passion, born of an A venue, Ford, a mass of memorials of all descrip­ innate love of history, art, science and even tions: implements of the stone age, specimens of literature. Some day his collection will find a Indian utilitarian craft, symbolic mementos, merited place in a local museum, if ever one is crystalline rocks, quartz, agate, augite-porphyr­ established. ite, flint, all showing the vast span between the John Stodgell styles himself a retired con­ primitive and the modern age. He has a vast fectioner. Confectionery in England, Mr. collection of coins from all nations and countries, Stodgell's native land, is not only a trade, it is a commemorative medals, plaques, medallions and profession, into which one graduates only after tablets, also stamps, and finally a box full of old a long apprenticeship. He was thirteen when manuscripts, some bearing the signature of his­ he began his apprenticeship, and he became a torical personages, others supplying informa­ journeyman only after three years of training. tion on events of local interest, and many of That was in 1880, and for the following five

Page Sixty•two years he practiced his profession in Somerset John Stodgell was born at Fivehead, Somerset and Devonshire, England. qounty, England. His father and mother were In 1885 he decided to follow his brother Suneon Stodgell and Emily Whitcombe. He Charles James, into that great land of promise: attended the Fivehead Public Schools until he Canada. He arrived here in July, 1885, at the had reached the age of thirteen, after which he age of 21, without that ever-necessary com­ started upon the career I have pictured above. modity, money, but with a training, with a In 1894, January 4, he married Emma 0 profession. daugh_ter of William and Augusta Bloch, ~f Detr01t. They have three children: Simeon At that time Windsor was not incorporated John, Charles W. and Edith Camilla. into a city, and Walk~rville was only a budding town, so that openmgs 10 the confectionery Having constantly been engaged in businesses business at either place were very limited. t~at demanded his undivided personal atten­ Consequently Mr. Stodgell, in imitation of ttOn, Mr .. John Stodgell never sought public many immigrants, then as now, crossed over to offi~e. Hts only public activity was displayed Detroit, and spent five years in that city and in dunng the World War, when he enlisted in the Ann Arbor, in the pursuit of his chosen voca­ Walkerville Home Guard, which was recruited tion. In 1890 he bought out the business of the to prevent reprisal.s from pro-German agents man by whom he was employed, and for seven upon local mdustnes manufacturing war am­ years thereafter he carried it on for himself, and munitions and equipment. He has contented successfully. In the year 1897, Mr. Stodgell himself with being a good citi4en, avoiding the sold out his establishment in Detroit and re­ limelight, but giving the example of modesty and unpretentiousness. moved to Amherstburg, Ontario, where he started a Wine and Spirit business, which he John Stodgell is a Mason and an Odd-fellow. maintained for three years. In 1900, he dis­ He has been for several years a member of the posed of his business in the historic Town of Border Chamber of Commerce, and takes a deep Amherstburg and joined his brother, Charles interest in the work of that useful body. ]., who was engaged in a similar trade in He has travelled extensively on both the Walkerville. This partnership lasted for ten American and the European Continents. He years, at the end of which Mr. John Stodgell has visited all the principal countries of Europe returned to his first love, confectionery, this and nearly all the large cities in those countries. time adding a full line of Chinaware. After ten He has profited by his travels to bring back additional years of successful operations in that several paintings of artistic and market value; business, he retired from active life. He had also relics and souvenirs which he cherishes come to a land of promise thirty-five years almost to the same degree as his collections of previously, and in that time he had brought to a local memorials. happy fruition all the promises which that land Mr. John Stodgell is sixty-three years of age. held out. His birthday falls on the 13th day of August.

Page Sixty-three HARRY JAMES MERO

ROM deck-hand on Grand Trunk Detroit scientific training. The extension of our Educa­ FRiver Ferries at sixteen to President of the tional Systems since then is one of the great Trussed Concrete Steel Company of Canada at accomplishments of the age. forty is an achievement that is not an everyday At s1xteen Harry ]. Mero had left home and record. But between sixteen and forty there is was busy at the humdrum duties, not particu­ a span of twenty-four years, and in Harry larly of learning a trade, but of earning a livmg. James Mere's life that span represents all the The necessity of earning a living earned h1m to complexes that always accompany the harrow­ many places and in many occupations. He ing experiences of the formative period of worked for a year as a hand on Grand Trunk business life. ferries plying the Detroit River. He the~ .went Harry Mero never enjoyed the sheltered to Toledo, Ohio, where he secured a posttton as security of the college atmosphere. His educa­ street car conductor with the Toledo Traction tion did not go beyond the curriculum of the Company. After six months in that capacity common schools of Tecumseh and, thirty years he returned to Windsor, and there took up ago, the mental pabulum handed out to the carpentering, which he carried on for twelve average country boy seldom supplied a founda­ months. At the end of a year he joined the firm tion for general education, let alone culture or of C. ]. Chenevert, of Defiance, Ohio, and pro-

Page S1xt y·four ceeded to Northern Wisconsin, where, for two born at Tecumseh in 1886. In 1912 he married years thereafter, he :v-rielded an axe i~ makii?-g Alphonsine Dugal, daughter of John Dugal, now ship timber. He agam returned to Wmdsor m deceased. No children were born to this union, 19(17, and obtained a "job" with the Trussed but Mr. Mero has reared his late brother's two Concrete Steel Company as shipping clerk. He children, and is now educating them. His has been identified with that manufacturing home is at 606 Pierre Avenue, in Windsor, concern to this day, rising, after one year of em­ Ontario. ployment, to t~e positi~n of superintendent, and being appomted a d1rector of the company Despite his strenuous business life, Mr. in 1922. One year after this appointment he Mero has found it possible to devote much of was made General Manager of the Trussed his time to educational work in the City of Concrete Steel Company, and in 1926, he was Windsor. He has been a member of the Separ­ elected to his present position, that of President. ate School Board since 1917, and was first vice­ chairman of the Windsor-Walkerville Technical Every human being has a personal problem School Board, a board of which he is still a to solve in life. That problem begins with the member. dreams of childhood. A boy seeing a locomo­ tive belching its black smoke will dream of be­ Socially he is affiliated with the following coming a fireman; if he attends a performance clubs: Beach Grove Golf and Country Club, at a circus he will dream of becoming a broncho Rotary Club, and the Ontario Club, of Toronto. buster; at school he may dream of developing Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of into a teacher. These ambitions are called by Columbus, and professionally he is Vice-Presi­ psychologists infantile fixations. dent of the Association of Canadian Building I do not know whether Harry J. Mero had and Constructing Industries, the head office of any of those dreams in youth. If so he forgot which is located at Ottawa. them when faced with the personal obligation His recreations consist of Golfing, Hunting of finding bread, butter and clothing. That was and Fishing. his problem; and to solve it he had no academic title, nor any specific training. But he had Harry J Mero is a public speaker of not in­ something else. He had courage, an inborn considerable ability. He is an ideal chairman at talent for assimilating useful and practical public meetings. His originality, his wit, and knowledge, the faculty of adapting himself to his happy faculty of summari2:ing and reducing new circumstances and environments, and an even the longest speech to a few concrete state­ innate love for work, work of any kind. And ments place him in a class altogether by himself. Harry Mero solved his problem. In politics he is a Liberal of moderate views. Mr. Mero receives birthday congratulations His addresses on behalf of candidates sharing of March 15. He is the son of the late James his opinions are forceful, eloquent and con­ Mero and the late Annie Campeau. He was vincing.

Page Sixty· five WILLIA M A NTOINE ST. LOUIS

HE genealogy of the St. Louis family can be He was born at Tecumseh, May 24, 1867. His T traced back 187 years on Essex soil. The father was Antoine St. Louis, and by his mother progenitor of the lineage was Louis Villier, who he is related to another celebrated family, the came here from Toul, France, in 1740. He Babys (Baubee). She was Annie Baby, daugh­ established himself in "La Colonie du Detroit" ter of Edmond Baby, a wealthy and worthy and there married Marguerite Morin, April 26, representative of the early generations of Kent 1746. He had been educated for the priesthood, County. He was educated in Public School but never donned the cassock. Instead he emi­ No.3 in the Township of Sandwich East, where grated to La Nouvelle France, and there laid he had for teacher Hon. ]. 0. Reaume, later a the foundation of one of the most highly respect­ well-known physician, and Minister of Public ed familiesonCanadiansoil. However, although Works in Sir James Whitney's government. He not a priest, his piety was so great and fervent also took a three-year course in the Detroit Busi­ that he was nicknamed Villier dit St. Louis. In ness University, where he graduated in 1884. time the nickname supplanted the original After his graduation Mr. St. Louis took ~p name, and thus the family tree was begun. the grocery business in Detroit and clerked 10 William Antoine St. Louis is the fifth gen­ stores there for three years. Then his father, eration of the lineage started by Louis Villier. who had become a widower and who was past

Page Sm y·lax 63 recalled him to the farm and placed him in Riverside and Tecumseh, and Mr. St. Louis ch~rge of it. Thus began Mr. St. Louis' long was chiefly responsible for the incorporation of and useful career on the farm and in municipal the first named. Riverside had then a popula­ affairs. As a farmer he was successful and tion of approximately 1400, but Mr. St. Louis progressive; he became an advocate of pure­ was confident that the growth of the Town bred stock and preached that doctrine to his would be rapid. He was not mistaken, and the fellow-agriculturists in Sandw~ch East. The marvelous progress of this infant corporation St. Louis Percherons and Holstems were known was accomplished mainly under his direction. throughout the whole Dominion, and he has He became the first Mayor of Riverside, and many prizes testifying .t<:> the va~ue and quality was again reelected in 1922, 1925 and 1926. of his stock. In mumc1pal affa1rs, he was re­ The population of the Town is now upwards of quested, withif1: a few years, to seek office in his 5000 and its development continues to be con­ native Townsh1p of Sandw1ch East, and he was sistent. elected councilman for two consecutive terms, 1893 and '94. He resigned at the end of 1894 Mr. St. Louis married, January 27, 1891, to accept the Treasurership of the municipality Mary W. Seidler, who was born at Kiel, in and he held that important and responsible posi­ Germany, the daughter of Frederick Seidler and tion for the record period of twenty years, 1895 Anna Wollenberg. Five children have issued to 1915. He was also Trustee of his school from this marriage: Alma, who is at home; district for 18 years, and for fifteen years filled Harry, who is on one of his father's farms; the office of Secretary of the Catholic Order of Lillian, who is now Mrs. Wilbur Flanders, of Foresters, now the Ford Lodge of that mutual Kingsville; Francis, who practices dentistry in insurance society. Detroit, and Heman who is also on a farm. There are, in the history of the county, few Mr. and Mrs. St. Louis live at 51 Riverside examples of longer and .m ~::>re faithful ser:v!ce to Drive, in Riverside. Their residence is one of the public than Mr. Wilham A. St. Lams. He the old homes of the district. It was built in has been in public life for thirty-five years, and 1880. The house sets beautifully in a grove of has always held offices of trust and confidence. fine, healthy maples and pines, trees which were There is no sounder evidence of a man's personal planted, years ago, by Mr. St. Louis himself. integrity than his length of service in a public In addition to this fine property in Riverside, capacity. Mr. St. Louis owns 40 acres of farm land in the 2nd concession of Sandwich East, and 260 acres When Mr. St. Louis began his career in the in the Township of Sandwich South. The field of municipal politics, the Township of Sandwich South farms are occupied by his sons, Sandwich East was by far larger than at present. for whom they were purchased. It comprised at the time lands that have since been annexed to Windsor and Walkervlile, and Mr. St. Louis is a Knight of Columbus and a all the territory included in the Towns of Ford, member of the Catholic Order of Foresters. He Riverside and Tecumseh. As population in­ is affiliated with the St. Clair Country Club. creased these areas were separated from the He is jovial and gay, full of enthusiasm and township and either added to existing municip­ keenly devoted to the interests of his commun­ alities or organized into distinct ones. Two of ity. He is also a leader in any movement initi­ these muncipalities were organized in 1921: ated for Patriotic or Red Cross purposes.

Page Sixry·s

E IS a giant. He is 6 ft. 2 in., and weighs been elected President of a beer brewing com­ H 250 pounds. Yet he carries weight and pany. He never went to school; but if books torso with suppleness and pliancy. He moves and texts are strangers to him, figures, blue about alertly, tersely. His round, flushing prints and ciphers are familiar. The paradigms cheeks, his generous smile, his bursting, pouring of Greek and Latin are mysteries to him; but speech, his strong, br:isk hand-shake indicate a discounts, interest, exchange, stocks, bonds and great ambition, fearlessness in enterprise, and a debentures are intimates, his everyday com­ go-ahead-spirit that struggles, buffets, attacks panions. He deals with thousands, nay hun­ and wins. He is forty-three years old, has dreds of thousands; he woulJ easily tackle always worked like three, and is ready to work millions, and no doubt will. like six. He has an active brain that visualizes, Frank Labutte was born at T ecumseh, On­ plans and schemes; a will that executes and per, tario; has always lived there, and he is perfectly forms; and a physical power that sustains, satisfied with his lot. The date of his birth is urges, provokes, impels. April6, and the year was !884. His father was By occupation he is a tessellater ... he lays Moise Labutte, and his mother Therese Soul­ sidewalks, pavements and foundations. He iere. His parents were poor, very poor. They deals in cement and builders' supplies; he sells needed the assistance of their sturdy son to coal, wood, sand and gravel, and has recently buckle the daily budget, and they got it. Mr. Labutte worked on his father's farm and was succeeded by that of Labutte and until the age of 14. Then he hired out with Canuel, which is still in existence, Mr. Labutte neighbouring farmers, but came back at 18 being the senior member. owing to the death of his father, and for two years thereafter managed the farm. In 1906- Continued hard work, conscientious and January 9 he married Louise Tina, daughter of honest efforts have made of this partnership one Louis Tina and Arthemise Nantais, both of of the prosperous enterprises in the County of Tecumseh. He kept on farming on rented land Essex. Within a year it had branched out into for four more years, and then bought a farm on coal, wood and builders' supplies, and in 1926 Tecumseh Road, near his home town. With Mr. N. Lamar's business in the same lines, in this purchase began a twelve years' period of Walkerville, was purchased. Today Labutte hard work, very hard work. He raised grains and Canuel are competing with the oldest and hay and sold them. He also bought hay established building and contracting firms in the and straw and sold it on the Windsor and Province of Ontario. Detroit marts. He baled his own hay and his As a fitting climax to his activities of the last own straw. He worked day and night, summer few years, Mr. Labutte has lately organized a and winter. In a few years he had a good syndicate to purchase the Dominion Canners' clientele in those stable commodities, and his factory in Tecumseh, and to operate it as a beer farm was paid for. By this time the Border brewing establishment. The syndicate is in­ Cities had greatly developed, and the increased corporated under the name of the Tecumseh values on Tecumseh Road made him realize a Brewing Company, and Mr. Labutte is the net profit of $23,000 on the sale of his property. President of it. He is also President of Hebert With this money he purchased a 200-acre tract Bros., Limited, and has other varied interests in of land in Maidstone Township, which he still industries in the Border Cities and elsewhere. owns and manages. Mr. Frank Labutte has always taken a deep The advent of the automobile and the result­ interest in politics, particularly municipal. He ing propaganda in favour of good roads and was from 1919 to 1922 member of the Council of pavement caused Mr. Labutte to abandon the Sandwich East, and in 1924 was elected Reeve hay and straw business, and to turn his eyes of the Town of Tecumseh. He has been a upon something else. There existed at that member of the Tecumseh Separate School Board time, in Tecumseh, a partnership known as since 1925. Desjardins and Canuel. Mr. Labutte joined that partnership and started in the cement con­ Mr. and Mrs. Frank Labutte have one son, tracting business. In 1924 the partn~rship of Arsene, who attends St. Anthony's School, in Desjardins, Canuel and Labutte was d1ssolved, Tecumseh. He is 10 years old.

Page Sixty-nino RAYMOND BLAISE MARENTETTE

during the Pontiac War, and became the sires of large families in the territory. One of their descendants was Dominique Goday de Maren­ tette who, by his marriage to Archange Louise Navarre, infused in the succeeding generations the blood of the R oyal Family of France. The Navarres trace back their ancestry in an unbroken line to Antoine de Bourbon, duke of Vendome, who was the father of Henry IV, of France, perhaps better known in history as Henry de Navarre. The first of the Navarres to come to New France was Robert. He married Marie Loth­ man de Barrois, by whom he had several children. The third of these children was Robert (Jr.) who married, in 1762, in Detroit, Archange de Mersac. He was blessed with a large family, and among his children was Archange Louise, born in 1770. It was she who became the wife of Dominique Coday de Marentette, of Sandwich, in 1796. The sub­ jects of this sketch are the direct descendants of Goday de Marentette and Archange Louise de Navarre. Their grandfather was Henry Navarre Marentette, after the maiden name of HEY are cousins in the first degree, being Archangc Louise. So far as is known, they are T the respective sons of Henry Marentette the only family in this vicinity who can lay an and Patrick N. Marentette, and their mothers undisputed claim to having royal blood in their being respectively Edwidge Emma Gignac and veins. Eli~beth Janisse. Both were born in the Town­ ship of Sandwich West, on farms which have Raymond B. and Joseph A. M arentette have been in the hands of Marentettes since first been associated together in the real estate busi­ granted by the Crown towards the end of the ness since 1919. Prior to this association, the eighteenth century, during Simcoe's regime. senior member, Raymond Blaise, had been en­ The first was educated in Separate School No. gaged in the same pursuit since 1912, in com, 4, on Grand Marais Road, the second in Public pany with A. F. Howard, whom he bought out School No. 9 on Fourth Concession Road. The in 1916. He carried on single,handed until one left school at 12, the other at 13, and the 1919, when his cousin, Joseph Alom;o, joined two, thereafter, stayed at home to help on the him, as aforesaid. farm. The partnership of R. B. and J . A. Maren, The M arentette family is one of the oldest in tette lasted untill922, when it was found advis, this district. The progenitor of the lineage able to change the association from a common came to Detroit in about 1730. Some of his partnership to a registered corporation. Maren, children established themselves in Sandwich , tette Realties Corporation was thus formed, in

Page &vcnty JOSEPH ALONZO MARENTETTE that year, and it is still under that title that the association is known. In the same year the Pioneer Improvement Corporation was also formed to handle part of the rapidly growing business. The Marentette Real ties Corporation's offices in Windsor, are located on the second floor of the Heint~man building.

Marentette Realties speciali~e in acreage, lake frontage and wholesale real estate broker­ age. They have extended their operations to Detroit, where they own Marentette Realties Corporation, Incorporated, and Securities Land Development, two corporations registered under the laws of Michigan. On the Canadian side they have given special attention to South Windsor and City property, whilst on the American side their interests are mainly centred in the Birmingham district, between Detroit and Pontiac. Another large-scale operating company set afoot and financed by Marentette Realties is the Realty Development Corpora­ tion of Detroit. They are handling South Windsor properties and have salesmen in every important city in United States. To add to their large-scale operations, they have recently purchased Mr. A. F. Healy's interests in the Raymond B. M arentette married, M arch 24, firm of Healy, Page and Chappus. M arentette 1919, Blanche M arie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Realties are pioneers in lake and river frontage Gregoire Bergeron, of Sandwich West. There promotion. are six children; M arcella, Raymond Jr., Jer­ ome, Jeanne, Navarre and Paul, all at home on The success of Raymond B. and Joseph A. the old homestead, on Grand Marais Road. Marentette in the Real Estate Brokerage busi­ ness is due to two factors: first, the quality of Joseph A. Marentette was united in marital vision, that is the faculty of building in the bonds to Louise M. Chappus, daughter of mind, today, the towns and cities of tomorrow; Joseph Chappus and Celina Renaud, of LaSalle, secondly, faithfulness to the investing public, January 8, 1913. They are the parents of seven and true representation of facts. They express children: Lawrence, Leo, Florence, Vincent, their idea in the following terms: "Anybody, Antoinette, Agnes and Frances, all at home at in any business, must make good if he uses good 250 Campbell Avenue, Windsor. judgment in his investments or purchases, and in his relation with the public whose trust and Neither declares any partiality for any special confidence he must have." There is a motto form of recreation. Their business requires all that applies to any business, whatever its char­ their attention and precludes all amusements. acter or extent. They hold membership cards in no clubs.

Page Seventy-one OSWALD ]. JANISSE

reading, and to forever keep the integrity of their name. They have succeeded. Oswald began his career at the Walkerville Malleable Iron Works, where he worked for nine months. Then he entered the employ of Hiram Walker & Sons and was in charge of the mailing department of that firm for two years. During that time Eugene worked for Walkers and acted as errand-boy for various druggists in Walkerville and Windsor. He also worked for one year in the employ of the Canadian Bridge Company as clerk. Being endowed with a brilliant talent for instrumental and vocal music, he continued, at the same time, the studies he had begun during his father's life­ time, and he soon came to be in demand for choir and solo services. Their next step was to enter respectively the wholesale millinery and dry goods business in Detroit. They entered into these occupations in the same year, and left them within one year of each other. In 1906, Oswald went into the wholesale millinery trade for himself and carried on until 1913. The while Eugene was em­ ployed by A. Krolick and Company, wholesale dry goods merchants of Detroit, with whom he stayed untill912, when he accepted an offer as HEY are brothers, and their attitude salesman from the firm of Stormfelt~· Loveley, T towards each other is brotherly, even real estate brokers of Detroit. While with this affectionate. The story of the mythical Rom­ firm he had a practical schooling into the ulus and Remus bears no greater example of the fundamentals of real estate. mutual consideration in which brothers should hold one another. Oswald and Eugene Janisse During those years, from 1904 to 1913, have minds that run in the same channel and Windsor and the Border Cities had grown at a hearts that beat in unison. Born one year apart, rapid rate. Several industries had established they grew together and went to school to­ plants there, and new communities were rising gether. \Vhen their father died in 1898, Oswald on every side as a result of industrial and com­ ~>as 15 and Eugene 14. They started to work at mercial developments. Oswald and Eugene the same time, and, strange to say, both pur­ saw in this growth an opportunity, and they sued the same course, at least after they became boldly grasped it. In March 1913 they opened old enough to decide upon a career. Neither an office in Windsor and launched into the real had a cent. All they inherited from their estate brokerage business. Although little ex­ father, who was Customs Officer at Walker­ perienced in that line, their general training in vtlle, was a fair education, acquired in the affairs, fortified by a sound judgment and a keen separate schools of Ford and \Vindsor, and in sense of values, compensated for their lack of theWmdsor Collegtate Institute, which Oswald actual knowledge of the real estate business. attended for one year and Eugene for two, and They specia li~ed in subdivisions and centred more especially, a good name. They resolved their operations in the present Town of River­ to perfect their education by personal study and side, which was then beginning to shape itself EUGENE D. JANISSE

into one of the finest residential districts of the border. Their association was for a consider­ able time on the basis of a partnership, but in 1923, they incorporated themselves under the title of Janisse Realty Limited, and the firm is still known under that name. One of their large promotions was the St. Clair Country Club. They also foresaw the future of all the Jake front Northeast of Tecumseh, and were directly instrumental in its development. Since 1913 many real estate brokerage houses have come and gone, but Oswald and Eugene Janisse, like all firms that have followed the same principles, have survived all crises, and at present their solidity is impregnable. Their motto is: "Acquire a good name, establish a good will and keep both by the practice of sound and lofty business principles." Oswald and Eugene Janisse are the sons of the late Joseph D. Janisse and Marie Louise Ouellette. The former was born September 8, 1883, and the Ia tter October 6, 1884, on the old homestead opposite Belle Isle. On February 7, 1907, Oswald was married to Helen Hunt Pyle, daughter of Edward W. Pyle, of Detroit. There are three children: Joseph 0., Robert W., and Margaret Louise. Eugene married, February 7, 1917, Maureen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Primeau, of Windsor. There soloist. Possessed of a highly-developed bari­ is one child, Mary Margaret, who is at home. tone voice he has been participating in concert Mr. and Mrs. Oswald Janisse reside at 832 work for more than twenty years. He sang in Ouellette A venue, Windsor, and Mr. and Mrs. the St. Peter and St. Paul Choir, in Detroit, for Eugene Janisse have their home on Riverside five years, and has been Director of the Immac­ Drive, Riverside. ulate Conception Church Choir in Windsor for Both Messrs Oswald and Eugene Janisse are several years. He has been for more than a members of the Knights of Columbus. As to decade member of the well-known Orpheus their recreations, they are indicated by their Club, of Detroit. club affiliations, which are with St. Clair Mr. Eugene has also taken an active part in Country Club, Beach Grove Golf and Country municipal affairs and politics. He was council­ Club and Windsor Club. Both are members of man in the Town of Ford for two years, 1923 the Border Chamber of Commerce of which and 1924, and is at present the representative of Eugene was a Director in 1926, and of the the Town of Riverside on the Border Utilities Border Cities Real Estate Board, of which Commission, succeeding Hen. R. D. Morand. Eugene was President in 1926. He is also Chairman of the Town Planning and Parks Committee of the Border Utilities Com­ Mr. Oswald Janisse has never manifested mission, as well as Chairman of the same com­ any particular liking for public life and has mittee for the Town of Riverside. consequently never sought public office. On the contrary, Mr. Eugene Janisse has been in The office of Janisse Realty Limited is the limelight for a number of years. His first located at 10 Sandwich Street west, in the rise in the public eye was in his capacity as City of Windsor.

Page Sevent)·-three EUGENE BREAULT

HE mcnt of the sold1cr who reaches the fecting his interrupted education. In 1885 his T highest rank in the army is great. Likewise parents returned to St. Jean de Matha, and in the au:.cn \Yho, haYmg begun at the bottom of the same year migrated to Tecumseh, Ontario, the social ladder. rist:8, bY dint of hard work, to where they became engaged in farming. In the lugh po5-1t10ns oi honour and trust, is worthy of following winter young Eugene attended school prai~. in Tecumseh, but the pressure of work on the farm made him leave the school texts for the 1fr. Eugene Breault. of 113 l\L.ll Street, plow and the rake in the spring of 1886, thus :mdwK.h. Om:ano. has been a prominent figure ending his school days. in the .::iY1.:: hie oi the Border for more than a quancr of a cc;murY. Born at t. Jean de At the age of 17 Mr. Eugene Breault left the ~htha ..lolieae CountY, in the PrO\·ince of homestead at Tecumseh to start life on his own )ud:~.::~ 'pt\:.ID.M _,::!, 1S69. he; W'tlS only SC\1Cn account. Beginning with the firm of Curry and whc;n hi:::. p.'lrem.:::.. ~ kderic and Henriette Robinet, Brick manufacturers, he worked for Breault. nee Boucher. rt:n10Yced to Lowell, them for three consecutive summers. 1890 saw ~ fas.:::.. For thrc.:: wars thereafter young Eugene him in Chicago where he was employed by a woc~ed m .:o::::on nulls. unh::mg his leisure hours pickle and preserve firm as collector, but in the 1n :he; study of the Enghsh language, and in per following year went to LowelL fass., and hired out as clerk in a grocery and meat store. Here­ Mr. Eugene Breault's civic career in Sand­ mained at this work until 1893, when he came wich began in 1902, when he was elected Water back to Canada and opened a meat store on Commissioner. He has been in the limelight Sandwich Street, in what is now Ford City. ever since. Reeve in 1907..()8; Police Magistrate In June, 1894, he disposed of his meat business from 1908 to 1910, when he resigned to run for in Ford, but continued in the same occupation mayor. He filled the office of mayor in 1911 and at Sandwich, which then became his home 1912, and was reappointed Police Magistrate in town. In 1902, Mr. Breault purchased the 1913. He resigned in 1918 for personal reasons, Dominion House, in Sandwich, and conducted and again entered into municipal politics. the hotel until March, 1906. From 1907 to 1921 Councillor in 1920, mayor in 1921 and 1922, he owned and operated a coal, wood and councillor in 1925, 1926 and 1927, and is also, at supplies yard in Sandwich, and was very suc­ present, Justice of the Peace. It is sddom that cessful in that business. Since then his commer­ a man's personal popularity endures for such a cial activities have been limited to insurance in length of time. Mr. Breault has served the all its branches except life insurance. people of Sandwich honestly, faithfully and dis­ To this business record of thirty-seven years interestedly. He has the happy faculty of must be added the fact that Mr. Eugene Breault making friends and of keeping them. had been eminently successful in a financial way. Mr. Eugene Breault was married, March 1, Financial success should not be the only aim in 1892, to Alphonsine, daughter of Antoine and life, but it is a very legitimate ambition. When Phelonise Tousignant, of Sandwich. Mrs. we study the careers of nearly all our business Breault died January 26, 1925. No children and professional men, the stories are more were born to this marriage. interesting than fiction. We invariably find their paths strewn with handicaps and difficul­ Mr. Breault is a Fourth Degree Knight of ties which they have had to overcome, in order Columbus, and was Deputy Grand Knight, in to achieve something tangible and enduring. 1924-25, of Windsor Council No. 1453. He has But by sheer force of character, natural ability always been active in religious affairs, and was and determination, they have worked their way the first President of the Holy Name Society of upwards. Their record is an inspiration. Sandwich.

Page &venty·Jive W. H. ISAACS The change of ownership of Hiram Walker & Sons only meant his transfer from one office to another, in the same building. His friends said at the time that the Walkers without W . H. Isaacs would be a psychological irreg­ ularity. They were right. He is still with them. He is still the busy functionary, the cautious counselor, the tactful adviser. W . H. Isaacs saw the light of day at Ruthven, on the 21st day of October, 1877. His father was Frederick Isaacs, an Englishman by birth, and his mother, nee Louise Bray, was born in United States, but of English parents. He frequented the local public school, but stopped there. He left school for the shop at thirteen, and for offices at fourteen. His present cultural attain­ ments he has gained by study, personal ap­ plication, and through his travels. He has vis­ ited all the important European countries and some of the African countries, and has many times covered the North American Continent. Anglican, he married a Roman Catholic, Miss Elizabeth Gillespie, of Toronto. The marriage took place at Toronto, October 25, 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Isaacs live at No. 129 Devonshire Road, Walkerville, Ont. There are no children. ADIAi'J'T as youth, his grey temples He is a member of the Beach Grove Country R betray his fifty years. Of these, thirty-six Club, the Essex Golf and Country Club, the have been spent in the service of Hiram Walker Windsor Club, and the Detroit Athletic Club. & Sons. His recreations are: Golfing, Fishing, horse At fourteen he had one year of self-support Racing and horseback Riding. He is a good to his credit. He \k'as then office junior with sport and loves sports. He is Honorary the founder of the Walker institutions, the late President of the Walkerville Football Team, Hiram Walker. Apt of mind, observing, courte­ and of the Walkerville Hockey Club. ous, quick to grasp and quicker to execute, he grew in experience and rose in rank. From He is Director of the following companies : gatherer of orders and distributor of messages Walkerville Land & Building Co., Ltd.; Walker be passed to the shipping department in '93. Sons, Ltd.; Walkerside, Ltd.; Walkerville Water 1895 sa"IX" him in the bookkeeping department, Co., Ltd.; and Walkerville Construction Co., where, tv;o years later, be was promoted to the Ltd. position of Head Bookkeeper. In 1906 he was Of medium build, clean shaved, high temples, appointed Chief Accountant and Inspector of eyes grey; he is active, even nervous; he cannot outside branches. Six years later he was stay on the spot. He sometimes smokes elevated to the position of Assistant-Treasurer. cigarettes, often cigars, but never the pipe. He Two years afterwards he became a Director of likes decorum, and is an example of it. He Hiram \Valker & Sons, and Assistant Managing enjoys a "bon mot" and has a mine of them. He Director. He was holding that important post dislikes ostentatiousness, but is an ideal host. "t~.•he.n control of Hiram Walker & Sons passed He is "Bill" to his intimates, W. H. to his into the bands of Hiram Walker's, Limited, in friends, and Mr. Isaacs to everybody else, and January, 1927. that includes me. EDWARD P. TELLIER E IS a former member of the Legislative H Assembly of Ontario, where he ably repre­ sented North Essex from 1923 to 1926, and where he might have continued to represent that constituency had not ill-health compelled him to retire from politics. Edward P. Tellier is the son of Hercule Tellier and the late Clara Mousseau, of Belle River. He was born in Huron County, August 14, 1881, but came to Essex County when still young. His parents established themselves in Rochester Township, where he acquired his education, passing his entrance examinations in 1893. Later in life Mr. Tellier completed his education by taking a commercial course with the International Correspondence School, of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He gradu­ ated from that school in 1906, and in 1907 also successfully passed examinations for Steam Engineer, an occupation which, however, he pursued only temporarily. From his early age, Mr. Tellier's chief interest has been farming. He is the owner, at St. Joachim, of one of the most modern farms in the County of Essex, a farm which, on account of the nature of its soil, has enabled him to carry on experiments that have been of material benefit to all who are concerned with the progress and development of the farming industry. He is a Few men have done more than Edward P. consistent exponent of scientific agriculture and Tellier for their county. It is without doubt his success in that direction makes him an his keen interest in scientific farming and the authority on that subject. worries generally accompanying experimental work that undermined his health. Of a nervous Mr. Tellier, in addition to his occupation as temperament, keen of feeling and possessed of a farmer, is interested in marketing grains and seed high sense of responsibility, the strain prac­ grains. He is Sales Manager for the Belle River tically broke a health that was, in appearance, Seed and Grain Company, and is a Director of robust enough to resist any assault. The un­ the Regal Milling Company, of Port Dover. certainties and general annoyance of political He has been interested in the elevator and grain life added to the strain, and his health finally business since 1906. forced his retirement from a field for which he Mr. Tellier's expert knowledge of agricul­ was eminently fitted by training, mental cap­ tural problems soon brought him into promin­ acity, and breadth of mind. In politics, Mr. ence among the farming community ofRo chester T ellier is a Liberal, but declared himself Inde­ Township, and he was elected councillor for pendent in the Provincial elections of 1926, that township in 1917. In the following year he owing to his opinion on the Liquor Question. was elected Reeve, and for five consecutive years thereafter he was returned as Reeve by Edward P. Tellier married, October 7, 1903, acclamation. In 1920 he had the honour of Miss Bernadette Strong, daughter of the late being chosen Warden of the County of Essex. Nicholas and Susan Strong, of Belle River. He retired from municipal politics after having They have seven children: Adrian, Merine, entered the wider field of Provincial politics in Eddie, Charles, Bernard, James and Gerald, all 1923. at home, in St. Joachim.

Page Seventy·seven JOHN FREDERICK REID Fuller, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Fuller, of Windsor), his three boys Bill, Jack and Jim- were born and reared there, he lives there, 1115 Victoria Avenue, and considers the city a place well worth living in. If you do not tower six feet, you cannot lever up to]. F. Reid. He is all of six feet, and per­ haps a little more. He has a soldierly appear­ ance and a military gait. Scotch by blood, he wears his hat--either a panama or a felt- like the Highlander wears the tam o'shanter with a slight tilt. By his bearing and carriage he honours the kilts. I never saw him with a pipe, rarely without a cigar, and never without a smile. If occasions to smile do not present themselves, he creates them. He gave out his healthiest smile when, as a Fergusonian Liquor-control candidate, he found himself elected by the people of West Windsor, December 20, 1926, by a majority of 6,300 over Dr. James Brien. In 1917, he went overseas with the 241st Scotch Battalion smiling, and he smiled when he came back. With him, smiling is not an acquired habit, it is a natural gift. Fred Reid is 44 years of age. He began his career in the Freight offices of the old Grand Trunk Railway, at Windsor; from there he E has three busines3 addresses: 1 Bank passed to the Freight Department of the D. & H of Montreal Building, in Windsor, C. Steamship Line, and later was employed by where the offices of CONSIDINE-REID, Lim­ Thomas Chick as Business Agent. A few years ited, are located; 2- Nash Motor Sales, on ago he associated himself with E. F. Considine, Sandwich Street West, Windsor, where the and to CONSIDINE-REID, Limited, the Bor­ partnership of REID-LANGLOIS has its large, der Cities owe many works of magnitude. He commodious sales and service rooms; and 3- has been interested in the distribution of motor The Legislative Assembly, at Toronto, where cars for a number of years, and in 1924 ex­ he represents the new Provincial constituency tended his activities in that line by organiz;ing of Windsor West. He may have others, but Nash Motor Sales. these three are his acknowledged ones. He owes his success in these various enter­ John Frederick Reid, contractor, auto dealer, prises to his happy faculty of allying his natur~l sportsman and M. L. A. was born near Strath­ bonhomie with a strong business sense. _H1s roy, in the little village of Springbank, Septem­ air of abandon is only a surface manifestatiOn. ber 26, 1883. His father is William Reid, There is, within, an ardent driving force, Inspector on the Windsor Police force, and his vehement emotions, and unusually fine quali­ mother's maiden name was Agnes Campbell. ties of orderliness and thoroughness. He works Fred was taken to Windsor by his parents at ease and with ease. He exerts himself almost when he was only a tot, so that he is, to all without apparent effort. He takes good care intents and purposes, a Windsor boy. He was of his health; is regular in his daily walks, and raised there, received his education in the is often seen on the links at the Essex Golf and Public Schools and Collegiate of that city, is in Country Club. He is, at play, what he is at business there, was married there, April 28, work: good-natured, gay, jovial, and, of course, 1909 (his wife was formerly Miss Jennie always smiling. ERNEST E. PARENT

R. ERNEST E. PARENT, of the M widely known partnership of Mailloux and Parent, was born in Windsor, August 2, 1888, the son of the late Joseph ]. Parent and Annie Lassaline. He was educated in the com·· mon schools of his native city, and graduated from the commercial department of the Windsor Collegiate Institute in 19::J4. He has been engaged in clerical work since 1905. An expert accountant, he supervises the accounting department of the partnership of Mailloux and Parent, and is the financial adviser of that successful partnership, as well as. in charge of all advertising. Prior to his forming a partnership with Mr. Eugene T. Mailloux, in 1913, he had gained valuable commercial experi­ ence in Marentette's Book Store, in Windsor, the Dime Bank, in Detroit, Lee and Cady, whole­ sale grocers of Detroit, and in the grocery and meat business in company with A. Reaume, on Third A venue, in Detroit. He brought to the partnership of Mailloux and Parent, not only a large capacity for work, but also a fund of practical knowledge and a Mr. Ernest E. Parent was married May 11, power of vision that have been important fac­ 1915, to Miss Clara Predhomme, of Windsor. tors in the success of that partnership. Begin­ Two children have issued from this union: ning in a modest way at the corner of London Clarence, age 11, and Mary, age 2. Mr. and Street and McEwan Avenue, M. &? P. now Mrs. Parent live at 32 Park Place, Sandwich, control and operate a chain of 37 grocery and Ont. meat stores in the County of Essex. Such a Although Mr. Parent makes of Motoring, tremendous expansion in the short period of Fishing and Camping part of his recreations, his fourteen years, denotes business acumen, a greatest pleasure, when not hard at work in his thorough gauge of trade conditions, and a pro­ office, is to be with his family at home. He is, gressive spirit. Mr. Parent's office is at 537 above all, a home lover, and takes but little Cataraqui Street, Windsor, Ont. interest in club life.

Page Seventy·nine INDEX

PAC! NAMil Benoit, Vital 42 Breault, Eugene 74 Canuel, George 17 Chick, Thomas 32 Conklin, David 60 Daniels, R. L. , ' 25 Eansor, T. J. , ' 56 Fleming, 0. E. 12 Gott, Eccles J. 26 Guppy, H. E. - 30 Isaacs, W. H . , 76 Janisse, Eugene 72 Janisse, Oswald 72 King, C. S. 11 LaButte, Frank 68 Mailloux, Eugene T. 52 Marentette, J. A. , 70 Marentette, R. B. , 70 Merlo, L.A. 48 Mero, H. J. , 64 Miner, Jack , 8 M orand, Han. R. D. 20 Mousseau, C. J. ' 50 Mullen, J. G . , 38 Neal, H.]. 40 Odette, Edmond G. 22 Parent, Ernest E. 79 Parsons, H. B. 54 Piggott, W. T. 44 Poisson, Paul ' 28 Porter, C. S. , 36 Reid, J . Fred , 78 Robinson, C. S. 18 St. Louis,. W. A. - 66 Stodgell, Chas. ]. 14 Stodgell, John, 62 Tellier, Ed. P. 77 Thomson, Daniel 34 Walker, Hiram 6 Wesgate, W. T. 46 Wilkinson, Col. Geo. H. 58

OESIGN£0 AND PRINTED 8Y CURTIS COMPANY, LIMITED, WINDSOR, ONT. Page Eighty