Stranica 341 [341]
In 1849, he married Frances, daughter ot the late
Benjamin Chaffey, Esq.; she died in April, 1853.—
In 1854, he married Ellen Chaffey.
WILLIAM H. COMSTOCK.
The Comstocks were among the first settlers of
the State of Connecticut. In 1795, Samuel Com¬
stock severed his relations with his native State,
and removed to Gilbertsville, Otsego County, New
York, where he located upon the extreme western
limit of the settlement, at that time considered
the "far west.”
Samuel’s brother, John L. Comstock, of Hartford,
Connecticut, was the author of “ Comstock’s Chem¬
istry and Natural Philosophy,” for many years one
of the standard text books in the United States.
Samuel raised the following family :— Edwin
Perkins, Albert Lee, Lucius Samuel, John Carlton,
and George Mills.
William H. Comstock, the subject of this sketch,
is the son of Edwin P. Comstock. He was born at
Batavia, Genesee County, New York, on the 1st of
August, 1830, his father having removed to Batavia
in 1828. Mrs. Edwin Comstock died in 1831, and
her husband immediately proceeded to New York
City, where he established an extensive drug and
medicine business, the connections spreading over
the entire Union. William H., having acquired a
of Comstock Brothers, continuing the establishment
in New York, and also opening a branch at Brock¬
ville. In 1864, the head office was removed from
New York City to Morristown, New York, thus
securing the personal supervision of the proprietor,
who manufactures extensively for the Republic, as
well as for the British Provinces. Having married
Josephine, daughter of the late Billa Flint, Mr. Com¬
becoming a British subject.
An active and far seeing business man, he has
devoted his energies and means to the improvement
of the town, and has been instrumental in causing
the erection of many of the finest and most substan¬
tial buildings. Asa member of the Town Council,
he urged forward all necessary improvements with
untiring zeal, his aim being to make Brockville the
most beautiful town in Ontario.
HON. LUTHER HAMILTON HOLTON.
Mr. Holton was born in the Township of Lans¬
downe, County of Leeds, in October, 1817. In 1826,
he removed to Montreal, where he entered upon
mercantile life, and was for many years member of
the forwarding firm of Hooker & Holton.
Entering public life as a Liberal, he has always
|
distinguishéd champions in the Lower Province —
He entered the Canadian Assembly as the member
for Montreal, retaining the seat from 1854 until
1857, when he was defeated. He became a member
of the Legislative Council for the Victoria Division
in 1862, but resigned in May, 1863, upon being
appointed Minister of Finance, and was returned
for the present seat, which he represented until the
formation of the Union. He was returned to the
Commons in 1867, 1872, 1874, and 1878. He repre¬
sented Montreal Centre in the Local Legislature of
Quebec previous to the passage of the Act abolishing
dual representation, leading the English opposition.
He was a member of the Executive Council of
Canada from the end to the 6th of August, in the
short-lived Brown-Dorion Administration, holding
the office of Commissioner of Public Works for
Canada, and in the Sandfield McDonald-Dorion
Administration, that of Minister of Finance.
Mr. Holton is a member of the Royal Institution
for the Advancement of Learning, a Governor of
McGill University, and also holds many leading
positions in financial and other institutions. He
has repeatedly occupied the responsible post of
President of the Board of Trade for the City of
Montreal.
The example set by this distinguished son of old
Leeds County is worthy of emulation, and should
stimulate our young men to renewed exertion in the
great battle of life. Mr. Holton won his success by
honesty, integrity, and untiring industry. Let his
example be a guiding star to all who reside in or
depart from the county which has furnished such a
calaxy of able judges and statesmen for this Canada
of ours.
JOHN H. MORDEN, M. D.
John H. Morden, M. D., is the third son of the
late Joseph Wilkinson Morden, Esq. His ancestors
were a county family in England, their crest bearing
the motto, “ Ze Ripone Pie.”
At the outbreak of the American Revolution, the
ancestors of the Canadian branch of the family were
settled in the British Colonies of Pensylvania and
NewJersey. They wereall United Empire Loyalists,
several of the name serving in the King’s army.—
One, who was.a non-combatant, was taken prisoner
by the rebels, tried by a court-martial, condemned,
and executed for giving aid and comfort to the
King’s forces. At the close of the war, their pro¬
perty was confiscated, and they, including the great¬
| four sons—James, Richard, John, and Joseph —
from thence removed in batteaux to Upper Canada,