A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time. Various
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students in some of the highest branches of modern mathematical science. He was a first honour man in mathematics, and was elected a mathematical scholar in Trinity College in 1863. He also attended law lectures, and took the degrees of B.A. and LL.B. in the University of Dublin in 1864, and afterwards the degrees of M.A. and LL.D. in the same university. In June, 1870, he was appointed professor of the English language and literature and of mental and moral philosophy in the University of New Brunswick. In 1874 he was made, by the Dominion government, superintendent of the meteorological chief station at Fredericton, and in August, 1885, president of the University of New Brunswick, and professor of Mathematics by the Provincial government. Mr. Harrison is a member of the Episcopal church. He married, in 1865, Susan Lois Taylor, daughter of the late John S. Taylor, of Sheffield, N.B., and niece of Sir Leonard Tilley, K.C.M.G., lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick. The fruit of this marriage is two sons and a daughter. The eldest son, John Darley Harrison, is a member of the graduating class of 1887 in the University of New Brunswick.
Blanchet, Hon. Joseph Goderic, Collector of Customs, Quebec, is a descendant of one of the first families that came from France to Canada, and is a son of Louis Blanchet, of St. Pierre, Rivière du Sud, and Marguerite Fontaine, whose family came from Picardy, in France. Joseph G. Blanchet, the subject of our sketch, was born at St. Pierre, on the 7th June, 1829, and received his education in the arts at the Quebec Seminary and at the Ste. Anne College. He afterwards studied medicine with his uncle, Jean Baptiste Blanchet, M.D., and for many years practised his profession at Levis, during which time he stood high among his confrères of the medical fraternity. Dr. Blanchet, jr., took an active interest in the militia of his native province, and in 1863 he raised the 17th battalion of Volunteer Militia Infantry, which he commanded, holding the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He had command of the 3rd administrative battalion on the frontier during the St. Albans raid in 1865, and the active militia force on the south shore of the St. Lawrence river, in the Quebec district, during the Fenian raid of the next year, and also in 1871. Dr. Blanchet, during his residence in Levis, occupied many prominent positions. For six years he was its mayor. In 1870 he was elected president of the Cercle de Québec; in 1872 president of the Levis and Kennebec Railway; and in 1873 he was appointed a member of the Catholic section of the Council of Public Instruction for the province of Quebec. Though a busy man, Dr. Blanchet did not neglect the interests of his country. He took an active part in politics, and as early as 1857 he presented himself as a candidate for Levis in the Legislative Assembly of Canada; but, although he made a good run, in the end he was unsuccessful in securing his election. Four years later he again presented himself as a candidate in the same constituency and succeeded, and sat from 1861 until confederation in 1867, when he was returned by acclamation to the House of Commons. There he continued to sit until 1874, being meantime speaker of the House of Assembly of the province of Quebec, from the meeting of the first parliament after confederation, until the dissolution of the second parliament in 1875. The year before this latter date, in consequence of the passing of the law respecting dual representation, he resigned his seat in the House of Commons in order to continue to hold one in the provincial assembly, which he did, as representative for Levis, until the general elections in 1875, when he was defeated. In November of that year, a vacancy having occurred in the representation for Bellechasse, in consequence of the elevation of the sitting member, Mr. Fournier, who had been made a justice of the Supreme Court of the Dominion, he presented himself for election, and was secured this seat; and in September, 1878, he was once more returned for Levis. At the general election held in 1882 he was again returned by his old constituency, but only held the seat for about a year, when he resigned to accept the collectorship of the port of Quebec, and this office he still holds. When the Hon. Mr. Blanchet was speaker of the Quebec House of Assembly, he showed fine talents in that capacity, and made an admirable presiding officer, and some time before the fourth parliament had met, his name was again mentioned in connection with the speakership, he being a Conservative and his party once more in power. On the meeting of the House of Commons in February, 1879, he was unanimously elected speaker of that august body, and the choice proved a wise one, for he soon showed himself an adept in parliamentary rules and tactics, was prompt and impartial, and on his retirement from office carried with him the good will and respect of both sides of the House. In August, 1850, Hon. Mr. Blanchet was married to Emilie, daughter of G. D. Balzaretti, of Milan, Italy, and the fruit of this marriage has been six children, four of whom are dead, three having died in infancy.
Harris, Michael Spurr.—The late Michael Spurr Harris, of Moncton, New Brunswick, who was born at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, September 22nd, 1804, and married, May 11th, 1826, Sarah Ann Troop, of Granville, Annapolis county, N.S., was descended from a long line of ancestors. One of these, Arthur Harris, came from England, and was among the earliest settlers in Duxbury, Plymouth county, Massachusetts. In 1640 he moved to Bridgewater, Mass., and a few years afterwards, about 1656, he took up his residence in Boston, where he died on the 10th June, 1674, leaving a widow and five children. Samuel Harris, a direct descendant of Arthur Harris, married, in 1757, Sarah Cook, in Boston, from whence, about 1763, they emigrated to Nova Scotia, and settled in Annapolis county at a place called Mount Pleasant, near Bridgewater, and here Samuel Harris died in 1801, leaving several children, among others the father of the subject of our sketch, Christopher Prince Harris, who died in Annapolis county, near Digby, 30th January, 1853, and his widow at the same place in 1862. Sarah Cook, wife of Samuel Harris, was a grandchild of Francis Cook, who came with the first Pilgrims from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, America, in 1620. Six years afterwards her grandfather, on her mother’s side, came out to the Plymouth settlement, and he it was who, in 1676, captured the celebrated Indian chief “Annawan.” Michael Spurr Harris received his early education in the parish schools of Nova Scotia, and passed his boyhood at his father’s home in Digby county, N.S. When quite young he went to St. John, N.B., and entered the employ of Mr. Peterson, a carriage-builder, where, after serving his apprenticeship, he began business; and in 1826 married Sarah Ann Troop, and settled in St. John, continuing his trade of carriage-making. A few years later moving to Norton, Kings county, N.B., he extended his business, and remained there until the fall of 1836, when he moved with his family to Moncton, N.B., then called the Bend of Petitcodiac. Here he became largely interested in the lumber trade and shipping, building and owning vessels and sawmills. He was one of the earliest prominent business men, and foremost in promoting the social, commercial, and industrial welfare of Moncton. Comparatively self-educated, his manner of life did not throw him in conflict with others in political questions; but he held liberal and advanced views on the leading questions of his day, and supported the policy of provincial responsible government, the union of the provinces, and the encouragement of manufactures. He was a magistrate, and held a justice’s court for many years. From about 1840 to 1862 he was very actively engaged in shipbuilding and the shipment of lumber to England, which at that time were the leading industries of the province. His business called him frequently to Great Britain, and he was known among shipping men in Liverpool as a man of strict business integrity. The town of Moncton elected him its mayor in 1859, a position which he filled with much ability. Possessed of strong natural powers, a fine physique, a kindly and courteous manner, and a strong belief in the orthodox Christian faith, he lived a useful and exemplary life, and died at his home in Moncton, January 26th, 1866, of paralysis, a malady which had for some years previous deprived him of the active use of his limbs. His remains are in the family lot at Moncton cemetery.
Bell, Andrew Wilson, Carleton Place, Ontario, was born in the town of Perth, county of Lanark, Ontario, on the 14th February, 1835. His grandfather, the Rev. William Bell, who came from Scotland in 1817, and was the first Presbyterian minister in Perth, died in 1857. His father, John Bell, carried on business in the same town as a merchant from 1828 until 1849, when he died. A. W. Bell received his education in the old district grammar school in Perth, and after leaving school began a busy and useful career. In March, 1885, he commenced business at Douglas, Renfrew county, with Charles Coulter, under the name of Bell, Coulter & Co., general merchants, and next year having admitted into the partnership Thomas Coulter, of Clayton, Lanark, they traded in the villages of Douglas and Eganville under the name of Bell & Coulter, and in Clayton as Coulter & Bell. The partnership was dissolved in the spring of 1858, each partner taking the branch he then had in charge. Mr. Bell was then a resident of Eganville, and in the spring of 1859 he sold out his stock to the Coulters, and removed to Carleton Place for a few months. In the fall of