John Young

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-178167
• Residence: 1871, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; U. Presbyterian

Other Events:

• Business: Gore Fire Insurance, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Gore Fire Insurance Co.
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-12426
• Residence: 1834, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1853, The Reformer Newspaper, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; newspaper publisher The Reformer
• Residence: 1857, 117 Wellington St. S., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1858, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1861, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Printer
• Residence: 1861, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; United Presbterian Church
• Occupation: 1871, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Manufacturer
• Residence: 1871, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; U. Presbyterian
• Retired: 1881, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1891, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Gentleman
• Residence: 1891, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian
• Business: 1897, Victoria Wheel Works, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Victoria Wheel Works
• Recipes: 1898, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mushrooms Broiled
• Retired: 1901, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1911, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Income
• Residence: 1911, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian
• Website: 2007; wikipedia
• Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region: Bef 2012, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

YOUNG, JAMES, newspaperman, politician, and author; b. 24 May 1835 in Galt (Cambridge), Upper Canada, son of John Young and Janet Bell; m. 11 Feb. 1858 Margaret McNaught in Brantford, Upper Canada; they had no children; d. 29 Jan. 1913 in Galt.

In 1834 John and Janet Young emigrated from Scotland to Galt, where they found work with William Dickson* - James Young was born in his house - and later kept a hotel. Educated privately and at local schools, James in his youth had two main ambitions: to be an accomplished orator and a good writer. After a short time with a local newspaper, in 1853, at the age of 18, he purchased the Dumfries Reformer and Western Counties Weekly Mercantile and Agricultural Advertiser, which he would publish, under various titles, for the next ten years; about 1854 he assumed editorial control.

Young's views on public affairs, including the turmoil surrounding the union of the Canadas, were noticed by the political leaders of the day. In 1863 George Brown*, Clear Grit figurehead and editor of the Toronto Globe, asked him to organize meetings on behalf of his electoral candidacy in Oxford South. Young later recalled that "it seemed a golden opportunity to win my political spurs, and I was speedily in the midst of the contest." In June 1867 he attended the Reform Convention in Toronto and a few months later, in the new dominion's first election, he was returned for Waterloo South over the strong opposition of Tories and Reform coalitionists. Carefully balancing politics with business - for five years around 1871 he was principal partner in the Victoria wheel-works in Galt - he was re-elected by acclamation in 1872 and 1874.

An outspoken backbencher in the Liberal government of Alexander Mackenzie*, Young recommended in 1874 the introduction of a Hansard-style record of debates and chaired the house when in committee on supply and the important standing committee on public accounts, but he did not always ease Mackenzie's attempts to fashion a national party. For instance, in the intraparty clash of 1876 over tariff revisions, Young, writing of the event in 1892, identified himself as an Ontario protectionist who wanted to increase tariffs in opposition to the efforts of Maritime mps, who, he believed, "ruined the party." In 1878 he chaired the Liberal convention in Toronto and became president of the Ontario Reform Association, but in the election that year he was defeated by Samuel Merner*. The following year Young entered the Ontario legislature for Brant North, and his talents were soon put to good use by Premier Oliver Mowat*; in 1880 he chaired a select committee on railway safety. Appointed treasurer and commissioner of agriculture on 2 June 1883, he was forced by ill health to resign on 1 November. He remained in the legislature but did not run for re-election in 1886.

Throughout his careers in journalism and politics, Young had pursued literary, associational, business, and civic interests with equal energy. His essays on Canada's agricultural resources (1857) and the Reciprocity Treaty (1865) won prizes, he contributed to the Canadian Monthly and National Review (Toronto) between 1872 and 1878 and to commercial journals, and he drew on his local knowledge to produce Reminiscences of the early history of Galt and the settlement of Dumfries in the Province of Ontario (Toronto, 1880). From 1870 to 1881 he was president of the Association of Mechanics' Institutes of Ontario. In business he held the presidency for 37 years of Gore Fire Insurance (whose history he wrote up in 1895) and at various times he was a director of Confederation Life, Canada Landed Credit, Ayr American Plough, and the Toronto branch of Crédit Foncier Franco-Canadien. In Galt he was a member of town council and a deputy reeve, served on the public school board and as chairman of the collegiate institute, and aided in the erection of the South Waterloo Hospital. A member and manager of Central Presbyterian Church, he was a president of the Sabbath School Association of Ontario and its vice-president in the mid 1870s. Young enjoyed gardening, hunting, and both curling and cricket: he had captained the Galt Cricket Club in the 1850s and 1860s, and in Ottawa led the Commons Cricketers to numerous victories.

Despite his retirement from parliament in 1886, Young continued to live close to his Reform principles. When the federal Liberals in 1887-88 were considering commercial union with the United States, Young, despite his friendship with party leader Wilfrid Laurier, threw himself into the debate with letters, speeches, and pamphlets against any program, including imperial federation, that countered the "idea of an independent national future." Young and James David Edgar*, Laurier wrote to Sir Richard John Cartwright on 9 Sept. 1887, "are the only two men who have written me in absolutely uncompromising antagonism to commercial union." By 1889, in his opposition to unrestricted reciprocity as Liberal policoung was virtually alone, close to the rejected sentiments of former leader Edward Blake but far to the right of Ontario Liberalism as represented by Cartwright.

Young's political musings of the late 1880s and 1890s kept his name before the public. As well, he began work on an account of Canada before and after confederation, a project that necessitated a wide correspondence and help from such authorities as antiquarian Henry James Morgan and Ontario legislative librarian Avern Pardoe. In 1902 his Public men and public life in Canada, being recollections of parliament and the press appeared in Toronto. Dedicated to Blake, this mildly partisan work bridges the union era, including Young's early experiences as a Reformer, and the beginning of the new century, where his treatment is marked by unqualified enthusiasm for Canada and the Laurier government. More revealing of his views on current affairs, and of his apparent reputation as a venerable but inconsequential commentator, are his speeches and his letters in newspapers from about 1902. His resistance to greater imperial integration, his anti-militaristic sentiments, and his support for an elective Senate, among other positions, gave some substance to the review of the two-volume re-edition of Public men (1912) that stretched to cast Young as "a natural Radical."

Young died at his Galt home, Thornhill, in 1913 at the age of 77. A talented man of defined principles and gracious dignity, he was considered to be not only "thoroughly Canadian" but also Galt's "most distinguished son." This one-time disciple of Brown and Blake was eulogized by the Toronto Globe: "He was all his life a perfect type of the robust, self-contained, and energetic Liberal Crusader. Unswayed by political and economic currents that sometimes carried his friends away from the old moorings, he held strongly to the anchorage deliberately and intelligently selected by himself and for himself in his early adult life."

Lynn E. Richardson

In addition to the works detailed in the text, James Young's publications include Address of James Young, esq., m.p.p., president of the Association of Mechanics' Institutes of Ontario, read at the annual meeting at Hamilton, on 22nd September, 1880 (Toronto, 1880); Our national future, being five letters by Hon. James Young, in opposition to commercial union (as proposed) and imperial federation . . . (Toronto, [1888]); History of the Gore Fire Insurance Co., from 1839 to 1895; being an address delivered by the Hon. James Young, president of the company . . . (Galt [Cambridge], Ont., [1895?]); and "The growth of Canadian commerce" and "The situation: commercial and financial," in the Canadian Monthly and National Rev. (Toronto), 1 (January-June 1872): 387-91 and 3 (January-June 1873): 123-31, respectively.
AO, F 24, MU 510, Laurier to Cartwright, 9 Sept. 1887; F 334; RG 22-214, no.5911; RG 80-27-2, 1: 3. NA, MG 29, D61: 8645-48; RG 31, C1, 1871, Galt, div.2: 42 (mfm. at AO). Daily Telegraph (Berlin [Kitchener], Ont.), 30 Jan. 1913. Dumfries Reformer (Galt), 1853-63, esp. 17 Feb. 1858, 23 Feb. 1859, 5 Aug. 1863. Globe, 30 Jan. 1913. Ernie Ronnenberg, "James Young: Canada Firster," Kitchener-Waterloo Record (Kitchener), 14 Nov. 1974 (copy in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record Library, Arch. file no.63; this file also includes a black and white portrait of Young). Canadian annual rev. (Hopkins), 1902-12. Canadian men and women of the time (Morgan; 1912). CPG, 1877. Cyclopædia of Canadian biog. (Rose and Charlesworth), vol.2. Directory, Ont., 1871. Ben Forster, A conjunction of interests: business, politics, and tariffs, 1825-1879 (Toronto, 1986). Kenneth McLaughlin, Cambridge: the making of a Canadian city (Windsor, Ont., 1987). Carlton McNaught, "Hon. James Young: Canadian patriot," Waterloo Hist. Soc., Annual report (Kitchener), 6 (1918): 37-43. Select committees of the assemblies of the provinces of Upper Canada, Canada and Ontario, 1792 to 1991: a checklist of reports, comp. Richard Sage and Aileen Weir (Toronto, 1992), no.24. O. D. Skelton, Life and letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (2v., Toronto, 1921). Theo[bald] Spetz, "Address by Rev. Theo. Spetz, c.r., Berlin: 'The importance of local history,'" Waterloo Hist. Soc., Annual report (Berlin), 1 (1913): 16-18. A. W. Taylor, Our todays and yesterdays: a history of the township of North Dumfries and the village of Ayr, Ontario, Canada ([Galt], 1970). Types of Canadian women . . . , ed. H. J. Morgan (Toronto, 1903), 354.

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online 2000 University of Toronto/Université Laval

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Hall of Fame Members

Hon. James Young
Inducted 1995
The Honourable James Young was born in Galt on 24 May 1835, the son of John Young, innkeeper and first landlord of the King's Arms, later the Queen's Arms Hotel on Queen's Square. Mr Young was educated at Galt's public schools and through what his biographers have called "private tuition".

In Mr Young's day, journalism was seen as a stepping stone to public life. It is not surprising, then, that the first job for the politically ambitious young man was with the Galt Reporter, which he joined in 1849 at the age of fourteen.

Mr Young took his next step into public life when, in 1853 at the age of 18, he purchased the rival weekly the Dumfries Reformer, a newspaper he operated for 10 years. Mr Young enjoyed his first taste of public office when he was elected to the Galt Town Council and served as a councillor from 1858 to 1861, in 1863 and again in 1884. In 1860 he also served as Deputy Reeve of the town.

In 1863 Mr Young began his move into federal politics. He had become an effective speaker for the Reform cause in Upper Canada and had come to the attention of George Brown, leader of the Reform Party and publisher of the Toronto Globe. Mr Brown asked Mr Young to conduct a series of public meetings in support of the Reform candidate in the South Oxford by-election being contested that year. This was the beginning of a life in federal and provincial politics "marked by a firm adherence to the Liberal Party and to Reform principles generally".

It was also a life dominated by ideas and ideals that ranged from the theoretical to the eminently practical. He believed "with a passionate fervour" that Canada's destiny was that of a fully autonomous nation bound to England by "ties of affection and common origin but without any unwieldy political machinery". Just as he favoured autonomous nationhood for Canada, he opposed both commercial union with the United States and any form of Imperial Federation that might conflict with his view of a free and fully independent Canada.

Yet, while he strongly opposed commercial union with the United States, he was a firm advocate of closer trade relations with that country. In 1866, to fully explain his position, he wrote, "The Reciprocity Treaty, Its Advantages to the United States and Canada" an essay that was such a coherent statement in support of reciprocity that it was especially printed for circulation at a large and important Trade Convention held in Detroit that year.

After 1863, when Mr Young sold the Dumfries Reformer, he was absorbed with his new business at the Victoria Wheel Works. He still found time, however, to act as a regular contributor on commercial and statistical subjects to the Montreal Trade Review and to the Toronto Globe and other publications.

His obvious concern with Canada's position in the world and his advocacy of Liberal doctrine made him at logical candidate for a seat in the first parliament of the new Canadian Confederation. Mr Young won the 1867 election over Conservative James Cowan by 366 votes, reversing a tend that had seen Mr Cowan elected to the Legislature for Upper Canada in 1861 and 1864. Mr Young was re-elected by acclamation in 1872 and 1874 before finally being defeated by a small majority in the great Liberal defeat of 1878.

As a federal member of parliament, Mr Young took an active part in the conduct of business, particularly during the administration of Liberal Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie between 1874 and 1878. Mr Young served as Chairman of both the Committee of Public Works and the Committee of the Whole House in Supply. He was instrumental in the adoption of the legislation that established the federal Government Bureau of Statistics, the predecessor of the present Statistics Canada.

Mr Young's electoral defeat in 1878 by no means marked the end of his public life. Although he had been involved in politics for 25 years and had been in the federal parliament for 12 years, he was only 43 years of age and still had much to contribute. It was at this time that Mr Young wrote his history of early Galt, titled "Reminiscences of the Early History of Galt and the Settlement of Dumfries" and published in 1880. The book remains one of the major sources of information about the early development of our community.

Mr Young's interest in elected office remained although his focus changed somewhat when he was elected to the Ontario legislature as the member for Brant North in 1879. As in the federal parliament, Mr Young earned a reputation as an effective and influential speaker and it was on his motion that the provincial government agreed to establish the Ontario Statistical Bureau. In June 1883 Mr Young joined Oliver Mowat's cabinet as provincial treasurer. Ill health cut short his cabinet career and he was forced to resign in October of the same year. He retained his seat until the next election in 1886 when he decided not to accept his party's nomination as representative for Brant North.

Mr Young's decision not to seek re-election marked a shift in emphasis in his public life. He remained closely connected with the Liberal Party serving as president of the Reform Association and as Chairman of the large Liberal conventions held in Toronto in 1887 and 1895. He also remained a friend of the great Liberals of the age including Alexander Mackenzie, Oliver Mowat, Edward Blake and Wilfrid Laurier.

While no longer a member of parliament, Mr Young retained his belief in the power of the written and spoken word to persuade and influence. In 1887 he wrote the pamphlet "Our Commercial Future" and followed it with one of his most influential addresses, "Canadian Nationality: a Glance at the Present and Future", which was delivered to the National Club in Toronto and published during the winter of 1890-91. The speech was described at the time as a "vigorous and eloquent argument setting forth the progress and success of the Canadian Confederation, strongly opposing any form of annexation and advocating Canadian nationality as the ultimate destiny of the Dominion and the best antidote to Americanizing tendencies".

While maintaining a strong interest in national and provincial politics, Mr Young increased an involvement in more local matters that had never entirely lapsed. For 11 years beginning in 1881, Mr Young served as President of the Associated Mechanics' Institutes of Ontario. He was among the first presidents of the Sabbath School Association of Ontario and remained one of its vice-presidents until his death. For several years he was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of G.C.I. and President of the Galt Hospital Fund. He was also instrumental in promoting and erecting Galt's first hospital.

Mr Young was also closely associated with the Gore Fire Insurance Company, serving as a director beginning in 1868 and then as President from 1877 until his death. In addition, he served on numerous boards including the Boards of Confederation Life Assurance Co. and Canada Landed Credit Company

As if all this wasn't enough to keep him busy, Mr Young was also the author of a history of the Gore Fire Insurance Company published on the opening of the company's new offices at Ainslie and Main Street in 1895. In addition he wrote "Public Men and Public Life in Canada", a work originally published in 1902. Mr Young was working on the 2nd edition of the book when he died on 19 Jan 1913 in his 77th year.

https://www.city.cambridge.on.ca/cs_pubaccess/hall_of_fame.php?aid=62&cpid=33&scpid=0&did=0&sid=34&ssid=0&tp=0&grid=0

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The Gore Fire Insurance Co.

Among the many institutions of which Galt boasts, none are more conspicuous than the Gore Ins. Co.'s palatial and imposing structure situated on the corner of Main and Ainslie Streets. The style is of the Romanesque character, and is build with Connecticut brown-stone rock-faced base up to the first storey window sills; above this it is faced with brown pressed brick, tooled portage entry stone trimmings and Terra Cotta carvings. The corner of Main and Ainslie Streets is round, having over the main entrance a heavily moulded arch, supported on two Doric columns, and over the arch the Company's name carved in mediaeval letters. This round corner is continued up above the roof, forming a round tower, roofed with Spanish tiles and terminating in a columned and octagon lantern, with ogee top and flag staff. Total height from the side-walk about eighty-two feet. The Gore has about 125 active agents through Ontario.

Officers of Management:

Hon. Jas. Young, President
Adam Warnock, Esq., Vice-President
Hugh McCulloch
Hugh Cant
Robt. Scott
Chas. McGill
Jno. Watson
James Goldie
R.S. Strong, Man. Director<sup>3a

3a</sup>Jubilee Souvenir of Galt 1897

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Young, Hon. James Galt, Ontario, is of Scotch descent, being the eldest son of the late John Young and Jeanie Bell, natives of Roxboroughshire, Scotland, who came to Canada, in 1834, and at first took up their residence in the village of Dundas in the then Gore District. Almost immediately afterwards the family were induced by the Hon. Wm. Dickson to remove to Galt, and here Mr. Young engaged in business and resided until his death in 1859.

James Young, the subject of this sketch, was born in Galt, on the 24th of May, 1835, and has ever since resided there. He received his education in the public schools of his native place ; and at an early age displayed great fondness for books, which he has kept up since. In his youth he had a predilection for the study of the law, but finding he could not carry out this idea, he chose printing as a profession, which he began to learn when he had reached his sixteenth year. When only eighteen years of age, he purchased the Dumfries Reformer, which he afterwards conducted for about ten years. Under his management this paper attained a great local influence, and in addition was the means of making Mr. Young well known beyond the narrow limits of Waterloo county. During the earlier part of the proprietorship, the political articles in the paper were written by one of his friends, he himself taking the general supervision and contributing the local news. Upon the completion of his twentieth year, he took the editorial control, which he retained until 1863, when finding his health not very robust, he sold out the Reformer, and retired from the press for a while. He afterwards went into the manufacturing business, and became the principal partner in the Victoria Steam Bending Works at Galt, which he carried on successfully for about five years.

During his connection with the Reformer, Mr. Young had necessarily taken a conspicuous part in the discussion of political questions, and his paper was an important factor in determining the results of several local contests. He frequently took the platform on behalf of the Reform candidate, and was known throughout the county as a ready and graceful speaker. He took a conspicuous part in municipal affairs, and for six years sat in the town council ; he was an active member of the school board, and devoted a good deal of his time to educational matters ; and also took a special interest in commercial and trade questions, on which he came to be regarded as a high authority.

In 1857, the Hamilton Mercantile Library Association, having offered a prize of fifty dollars for the best essay on the agricultural resources of the country, Mr. Young carried off the prize. This essay was shortly afterwards published, under the title of "The Agricultural Resources of Canada, and the inducements they offer to British laborers intending to emigrate to this continent," and was most favorably received by the public, and highly praised by the press. Eight years later (in 1865), the proprietors of the Montreal Trade Review offered two prizes for essays on the Reciprocity Treaty, which was then about to expire, and Mr. Young sent in a paper which carried off the second prize. His success on this occasion led to his receiving an invitation to attend the commercial convention held next year in Detroit, Michigan, and he had the satisfaction of hearing on that occasion the great speech on commerce delivered by the late Hon. Joseph Howe.

He first entered parliament in 1867, when he was elected by the Reform party of South Waterloo, as their candidate for the House of Commons. This was the first election under Confederation, and he was opposed by James Cowan, a Reform Coalitionist, who was also a local candidate of great influence; and in addition to this Mr. Young had to encounter a fierce opposition, the late Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald, the Hon. William McDougali, and Sir William Rowland taking the field on one occasion on behalf of Mr. Cowan. These formidable opponents were courageously encountered by him single handed, or with such local assistance as could be procured, and he was returned by a majority of 366 votes. When parliament met in the following November, he made his maiden speech in the House on the Address He also took a conspicuous part in the debates of the session, and materially strengthened his position among his constituents


He was twice re-elected by acclamation, first at the general election in 1872, and again in 1874. Of the Mackenzie government he was, loyal and earnest supporter throughout. He was chairman of the committee on pubic accounts for five consecutive sessions, and after the death of Mr. Scatcherd, became chairman of the house when in committee of supply. Among his principal speeches in parliament, were those on the Intercolonial Railway, the Ballot, the admission of British Columbia, with special reference to the construction of the Pacific Railway in ten years, the Treaty of Washngton (which was unsparingly condemned), The Pacific Scandal, the Budget of 1874, the Naturalization of Germans and other aliens, and the Tariff question. Soon after entering parliament he proposed the abolition of the office of Queen's printer, and the letting; of the departmental printing by tender. This was ultimately carried, and effected a large saving in the annual expenditure.

In 1871 he submitted a bill to confirm the naturalization of all aliens who had taken the oaths of allegiance and residence prior to Confederation, which became law. In 1873 he brought in a measure to provide for votes being taking by ballot, and the government subsequently took up the question and carried it. On two occasions the House of Commons unanimously concurred in addresses to Her Majesty, prepared by him, praying that the Imperial government would take steps to confer on Germans and other naturalized citizens the same rights as subjects of British birth enjoy in all parts of the world, the law then and still being that they have no claim on British protection whenever they pass beyond British territory. In 1874 he proposed a committee and report, which resulted in the publication of the debates of the House of Commons, contending that the people have as much right to know how their representatives speak in parliament as how they vote.

At the election of 1878, chiefly through a cry for a German representative, he was for the first time defeated. In the following spring the general election for the Ontario legislature came on, and Mr. Young was requested by the Reformers of the North Riding of Brant to become their candidate in the local house. He at first declined, but on the nomination being preferred a second time, he accepted it, and was returned by a majority of 344. For many years Mr. Young's services have been in request as a writer and public speaker. He contributed occasionally to the late "Canadian Monthly," and has been a regular contributor for many years to some of our leading commercial journals, the articles being chiefly upon the trade and development of the country.

He has also appeared upon the platform as a lecturer upon literary and scientific subjects. As a political speaker, he has been heard in many different parts of the province, throughout which he now enjoys a very wide circle of acquaintance. He has held and still holds many positions of honor and trust. He is a director of the Confederation Life Association, and of the Canada Landed Credit Company; has been president and is now vice-president of the Sabbath School Association of Canada; is president of the Gore District Mutual Fire Insurance Company ; was for eleven years president of the Associated Mechanics' Institutes of Ontario ; and a member of the Council of the Agricultural and Arts Association. A few years ago Mr. Young wrote and published a little volume of 272 pages, entitled "Reminiscences of the Early History of Galt, and the Settlement of Dumfries." Apart from the fact that works of this class deserve encouragement in Canada, Mr. Young's book has special merits which are not always found in connection with Canadian local annals. It written in a pleasant and interesting style, which makes it readable even to persons who know nothing of the district whereof it treats.

On June 2nd, 1883, Mr. Young was appointed by the Mowat Government, and sworn in as treasurer of the province of Ontario, and on appealing to the electors of North Brant, his acceptance of office was approved by a majority of 551. On the 29th October of the same year he was compelled to resign his portfolio on account of his health, which, impaired by political and literary overwork, particularly during the preceding twelve months, was found unable for the time being to stand the close confinement of office work. At the next election for the Ontario Legislature in December, 1886, he wrote a letter, declining to accept renomination to the local house.

We are glad to say Mr. Young's health may now be said to be fully restored, evidence of which was furnished during 1887 by the publication of a pamphlet from his pen on the subject of the national future of Canada, and discussing the question of commercial union and imperial federation. This brochure opposes both these schemes, and takes strong ground in favour of Canadian nationality, and has been widely read throughout the Dominion, having gone to a second edition. In religion Hon. Mr. Young is a Presbyterian, and in politics a Liberal. On the 11th February, 1858, he married Margaret, second daughter of John McNaught, of Brantford. Hamilton.

Geo. MacLean Rose, A Cyclopaepdia of Canadian Biography being chiefly men of the time. Rose Publishing Co., Toronto 1888

Business:
THE GORE FIRE INSURANCE CO.

Among the many institutions of which Galt boasts, none are more conspicuous than the Gore Ins. Co's pal-atial and imposing structure situated on the corner of Main and Ainslie streets. The style is of a Romanesque char-acter, and is built with Connecticut brown-stone, rock-faced base up to the first storey window sills ; above this it is faced with brown pressed brick, tooled portage entry stone trimmings and Terra Cotta carvings. The corner of Main and Ainslie streets is round, having over the main entrance a heavily moulded arch, supported on two Doric columns, and over the arch the Company's name carved in mediaeval letters. This round corner is continued up above the roof, forming a round tower, roofed with Span-ish tiles and terminating in a columned and octagon lantern, with ogee top and flag staff. Total height from the side-walk about eighty-two feet. The Gore has about 125 active agents through Ontario.<sup>1a

1a</sup>1897 Jubilee Souvenir of Galt

Business:
The hub and spoke manufacturing business first started by Thomas Todd and John Davidson in 1861 and later operated by Young and Smith. Mr. Scott purchased the business in 1873 and operated it for many years as R. Scott and Son Ltd., later the Victoria Wheel Works. The buildings were damaged by fire in 1882 but were rebuilt and enlarged. Mr. Scott continued to manage the business until 1906 when he sold it to his son-in-law George A. Dobbie. The business was located at the foot of Main St. for many years before moving to new facilities on Middleton St. in 1913.

Recipes:
MUSHROOMS BROILED.

MRS. JAMES YOUNG.

Gather them fresh, pare and cut off the stems, dip them in melted butter, season with salt and pepper, broil them on both sides over a clear fire. Serve on toast.<sup>1a

1a</sup>Margaret Taylor and Frances McNaught, The New Galt Cook Book (Revised Edition (Toronto, Ontario: McLeod & Allen, 1898).

Website:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Young_%28Canadian_politician%29

James married Margaret "Maggie" McNaught 11 Feb 1858, Brantford, Brant Co., Ontario, Canada. Margaret (daughter of John McNaught and Sarah Kirkpatrick) was born 18 Dec 1837, Penpont, , Dumfries, Scotland; died 29 Nov 1927, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Maggie McNaught
• Name: Margaret "Maggie" Young
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-63860
• Immigration: 1841, , Canada
• Immigration: 1841, , Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1858, Brantford, Brant Co., Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1861, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; United Presbyterian Church
• Residence: 1871, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; U. Presbyterian
• Residence: 1891, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian
• Recipes: 1898, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1911, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Presbyterian

Notes:

Mrs. James Young has many recipes in The New Galt Cook Book and was a prominent member of the community. Her husband was an MP and wrote a history of Galt that is still useful to historians. She started out as Margaret "Maggie" McNaught in Scotland and came to Canada when she was about 4. Maggie and James married in Paris Ontario in 1858 and had two children.

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"A few years ago another lady and myself went to Berlin to see about transferring an old and much respected Galt woman from the Poor House the the Galt Old Ladies Home. When we entered her room we were deeply saddened to find the condition she was in. She was quite ill with a painful complaint, so much so that her voice was almost inaudible. The smell in the room was almost unbearable. And she lay on an old mattress, she had no nightdress on; there were no sheets or pillow cases, in fact nothing on the bed whatever but an old ragged quilt. I cannot enter enter into particulars but must contend myself with saying that the poor sufferer's peronsal condition accorded with the surroundings. See that she was suffering from want of proper nourishment we went out and purchased some wine and sponge cake. During our absence things in the sick room had been somewhat improved and on partaking of the refreshment of which she ate eagerly, she was able to speak. She complained that she had been living during during her illness mostly on bread and water, as she could not eat the food furnished to the other inmates and could get no other; that and those who assisted her could not speak English and she could not speak German."

The remainder of Mrs. Young's letter deals with her and her friend's efforts to have a nurse appointed to care for the old woman but this could not be granted, of the old woman's death, and an appeal that the sick poor should receive proper nursing foot and light under such trying circumstances.

Galt Reporter July 7, 1893.

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The Mrs. Frame of the Berlin House of Refuge, that Mr. (Hon.) James Young and Mrs. Dietrich of Galt, found in so pitable a condition, was once a well-to-do resident of Puslinch, who was reduced in circumstances through no fault of her own. Her old neighbors and friends feel naturally indignant at her treatment - Guelph Herald

Galt Reformer 18 Aug 1893

Recipes:
ASPARAGUS SOUP

A piece of beef or mutton; a quantity of fresh asparagus; a few slices of toast. Make in the usual way a nice rich soup of beef or mutton seasoned with salt and pepper After it has been well boiled and skimmed and he meat is all to pieces, strain the soup into another pot (or wash out the same one) and return the liquid. Have ready a quantity of fresh asparagus with the stalks cut off close to the green tops; it should have been lying in cold water all the time the meat was boiling. Put into the soup half the asparagus tops and boil them in it till entirely dissolved, then add the remaining asparagus to the soup (having previously boiled them in a pan by themselves until they are tender but not broken). Give the whole a boil together. Make some nice slices of toast with the crust cut off dip them a minute in hot water. Butter them and lay at the bottom of the tureen and pour the soup upon them. This is nice soup for company.

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BROILED CALF'S LIVER AND BACON

A calf's liver (or lamb's) cut in thin slices, well blanched and daintily broiled, is a delicious breakfast dish, garnished with a few crisp slices of bacon. Choose a fine large liver, have it cut in slices not more than half an inch in thickness. Lay these pieces in cold water to blanch, for at least fifteen minutes. At the end of this time drain each piece of liver, dry it with a dish-towel, dip it in melted butter after seasoning it with salt and pepper, and dust it with flour. Broil it en minutes over a clear fire, being careful not to allow it to become charred on the surface. Turn the liver on a hot platter as soon as it is done, and in a hot iron frying pan or spider lay as many pieces of bacon as there are slices of liver. The bacon must be firm and ice-cold and cut in slices as thin as possible, so that it will crisp into little rolls as soon as it is tossed for a moment into the heated spider. Do not allow it to become hard, but take it up as soon as it is done. Lay a slice of bacon on each slice of liver, or put the bacon in a border around the platter containing the broiled liver. It can be fired as well as broiled. The bacon cooked first, and the liver in the bacon gravy.

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COLD SALMON PICKLED.

Take the fish left from dinner, remove the bones and lay in a dish. Boil a breakfast cup of the liquor in which the fish was boiled with same quantity of vinegar. Half an ounce of whole pepper, half an ounce of allspice, one teaspoonful salt and a bay leaf. Let stand till cold and pour over the fish. Allow to remain ten hours before using. A very nice breakfast dish.

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FINNAN HADDIE.

Take a haddock, put in a baking pan with the skin down, and pour in enough warm water just to cover the skin and not the rest of the fish. Let the fish remain in the oven fifteen minutes. By this time the skin should be loosened. Take the fish out of the oven, pull off the skin, and pour the water out of the baking pan. Lay the fish back in the pan with milk enough over it to cover it, and strew bits of butter over it. When it is brown serve it for breakfast, or if you have sweet cream, instead of using butter take a coffee cup of cream and then thicken with a little flour, about a spoonful. (Mix your flour with a little cold cream first.) Boil it up and have it ready to pour over your fish when it is cooked.

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FRESH SALMON FRIED.

Cut the slices three-fourths of an inch thick, dredge with flour, or dip them in eggs and crumbs, fry a light brown. This mode will do for all fish cut into steaks. Season with salt and pepper.

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JELLIED CHICKEN.

A fowl, four pig's feet or a shank of veal, salt and pepper. Take a fowl, an old one is best; put on with water enough to cover, add salt and pepper; cook until tender, take out the bones and lay the pieces in a mould, take your pig's feet, which have been cleaned and soaked, boil them to a jelly, strain off and put with the liquor from the chicken, boil it down, skimming well until only enough remains to cover your chicken well. Salt and pepper to taste.

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SCOTCH BROTH.

A shank of beef, a half cup barley, two slices onion, half a cabbage, three carrots, one head of celery, a little parsley, pepper and salt. Cover the beef with cold water, add barley, onions, and skim well when coming to the boil. Two hours before serving, add the vegetables all chopped fine. Skim the fat from the broth before serving; add pepper and salt to taste. This soup requires four hours to boil properly.

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OYSTER SOUP.

To one quart of oysters add half pint water, put the oysters on the fire in the liquor, the moment it begins to simmer (not boil, for that would shrivel the oysters), pour it through a colander into a hot dish, leaving the oysters in the colander. Now put into the sauce piece butter size of an egg, when it bubbles sprinkle in a table-spoonful of sifted flour, let it cook a few minutes stirring it well, then add to it gradually the oyster juice and one-half pint of good cream (which has been brought to a boil in another vessel), season carefully with cayenne.

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SALT MACKEREL.

Soak your fish over night in milk if you have it; if not, in water; put the mackerel in a frying pan with cold water enough to cover. When it boils for five minutes put it into a warm dish, putting bits of butter over it. Set in the oven for a few minutes before serving.

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SCOTCH POTATO SOUP.

One pound of pork or mutton, one ham bone, one onion, four potatoes, two grated carrots, one head celery. Pepper and salt to taste. Cover the meat with four quarts of cold water, skim well, add onion, carrots and celery cut fine, to which add potatoes that have been sliced and parboiled. Boil three hours. The potatoes are more digestible if they are boiled for a few minutes in hot water before putting them in the soup.

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STEWED CELERY.

Clean the heads thoroughly. Take off the coarse green outer leaves. Cut in small pieces and stew in a little broth. When tender add some rich cream, a little flour and butter, enough to thicken the cream. Season with pepper and salt.

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WHITE SAUCE.

Salmon and white fish, one cup of cream or rich milk, two ounces of butter, two teaspoonfuls of flour, pepper to taste. If liked, a little lemon juice is an improvement, or a little parsley cut fine.

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TO FRY SMELTS.


Wash and dry in a cloth, then lightly flour and shake off. Dip in egg, then in bread crumbs, and fry in boiling lard or dripping. Take care not to take off the bread crumbs. These fish may be cooked on the gridiron.

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TURKEY SOUP.

Bones of fowl or turkey, carrot, onion, celery, rice, salt and pepper. This is an excellent way to use the rem-nants of fowls or turkey on which considerable meat remains. Put in the soup kettle the carcass, and any bits of stuffing or gravy that remains. Pour over it one quart of cold water. Let the bones simmer for two hours(break the bones before putting them into the water). At the end of two hours strain your stock, wash the pot and put back your stock and add to it more stock if you have it, and if not, add boiling water enough to make a good quart, also a slice of carrot grated, a small onion cut fine, a piece of celery (the coarse pieces may be used for soup), and two tablespoonfuls of rice. At the end of an hour strain again, and serve, salt and pepper to taste.


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OX-TAIL SOUP.

Begin to make it the day before you require it. Take two tails, wash clean and put in a kettle with nearly a gallon of cold water, when the meat is well cooked add a small handful of salt, then take out the bones, let it stand covered until the next day. About two hours be-fore dinner, skim the fat off, add an onion, grated carrot (or any vegetable you like) chopping them fine, and a little summer savory.

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BEETS USED AS A VEGETABLE


Beets, butter, pepper and salt. Take young beets, wash and boil the whole for two hours, or until they are soft, then slice and season with pepper, salt and a little butter.
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OMELET WITH BACON

For four eggs take two ounces of breakfast bacon, cut it into small dice, cook it until light brown, and mix with your eggs before baking.

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PUMPKIN PIE

The first essential is a good, sweet, field pumpkin. Peel it and cut it in pieces and cook it very slowly for four or five hours with only water enough to keep it from burning. This slow cooking makes the pumpkin rich and sweet. When it is done, mash it and strain it through a colander, and to two cupfuls of strained pumpkin add slowly two and a half cupfuls of boiling milk, half a teaspoonful of salt, one dessertspoonful of ginger , one of cinnamon, one of mace and one of nutmeg. Beat well five eggs, stir them in a cupful of cream and add one cup sugar to sweeten the whole. Line tin pie plates with plain pastry, brush it over with the white of an egg, crimp an ornamental border of puff paste around the pie and fill it with the pumpkin custard. bake the pies in a moderately hot oven till they are firm in the centre and brown. This makes three pies.

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MUSHROOMS BROILED

Gather them fresh, pare and cut off the stems, dip them in melted butter, season with salt and pepper, broil them on both sides over a clear fire. Serve on toast.

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CHEESE OMELET

One cup bread crumbs dry and fine, two scant cups fresh milk, one-half pound dry old cheese grated, three eggs, one small tablespoonful butter, pepper and salt, pinch soda, eggs whipped very light, butter melted, a pinch of soda dissolved in hot water and stirred into the milk, soak the crumbs in the milk, beat into these the eggs, butter, seasoning, and lastly the cheese, butter a baking dish and pour into it, strew dry bread crumbs on the top and bake in a rather quick oven until delicately brown. Serve at once.

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PRESERVED PEARS WITH GINGER


To preserve pears with ginger, weigh out three-quarters of a pound of sugar to every pound of pears. Boil four ounces of whole ginger, then add four pounds of sugar and the juice of one lemon, and its yellow peel cut into thin slices, do not use any of the bitter white peel next tot he fruit. Let the syrup cook ten minutes more; then set the syrup at the back of the fire. Peel the fruit , cut each pear in half, removing the flower and core and drop it at once into the hot syrup. This will prevent their turning dark, as they certainly will if exposed to the air after they are peeled.

When you have a kettleful of the pears, cook them until tender. Fill the jars with them, place the cover over lightly, and prepare another kettleful of pears to cook in the syrup. Divide up the slices of lemon peel and pieces of ginger equally among the jars. This is a most delicious and rich preserve, and is especially nice when served like preserved ginger with ice-cream.

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91179427
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-33150
• Residence: 1834, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1840, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; inn keeper
• Occupation: 1840, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; inn keeper of King's Arms Inn
• Occupation: 1854, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; innkeeper
• Residence: 1855, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1857, 117 Wellington St. S., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1859, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; inn keeper Union Hotel

Notes:

A-2-21 John Young The Last Will and Testament of John Young, late of the Town of Galt, Innkeeper, who died on or about the 21^st day of February 1859 at the Town of Galt and who at the time of his death had a fixed place of abode at the Town of Galt, was proved and registered - Administration was granted to James Young, of the Town of Galt, Printer and Thomas Field of the Town of Galt, Saddler, the Executors named in said will…

I, John Young of the Town of Galt, Inn Keeper, being weak in body but of sound mind…do make and publish this my Last Will and Testament…

First. I will and direct that all my just debts, funeral, and testamentary expenses, be paid by my Executors hereinafter named and appointed, as soon after my decease as possible.

Second. I will and bequeath unto my dear daughter Jane the sum of twenty-five pounds.

Third. And as to all such worldly estate as it hath pleased God to bless me With both real and personal of whatever nature or kind so ever and wherever situate. I will, give, devise, and bequeath the same and every part and parcel thereof, upon trust to my son James Young of the said Town of Galt, Printer, and my friend Thomas Fields of the same place, Saddler, and the survivor of these whom I hereby name and appoint as Executors and trustees of this my Last will and Testament to have and to hold the same and every part and parcel thereof, to them the said James Young and Thomas Fields or the survivor of them upon the following trusts and conditions that is to say:

First to sell and dispose of all my estate both real and personal either by private sale or public auction for the best price or sum that can be obtained for the same as my Executors and trustee shall think best and after the payment of my just debts, funeral and testamentary expenses and the sum of Twenty five pounds given and bequeathed by me to my daughter Jane, to invest the balance in some safe and profitable manner and to apply the interest arising from such investment if sufficient and if not sufficient then in addition to the interest as much of the principal as will be required for the proper and suitable support and maintenance of my dear wife Margaret during the term of her natural life and for the support education and maintenance of my children being minors until they respectively attain their majority or shall be able to provide for themselves the support and maintenance of my wife Margaret to be given to her in lieu of all right or title to dower in to or out of my estate and it is my wish and will that my wife Margaret with the approval of my executors and trustees take the care and management of my small children until they can take care of themselves or be provided with suitable situations or be placed to some suitable situations or be place to some suitable business or trade.

Second, after the death of my wife, and my children shall be enabled to provide for themselves or attain their majority that then my Executors and trustees shall divide and pay the residue of my estate that shall be remaining to and among all my children share and share alike.

Third: and to enable my Executors and trustees to sell and dispose of my estate and to collect my debts and convert the same into money. I hereby give them or the survivor of them, full power and authority either by private sale or public auction to sell and dispose and also sign seal execute and deliver good and valid deed or deeds for the same in which my wife Margaret shall join to bar her dower to the purchaser or purchasers thereof in as full and ample a manner as the same is required to be done to legally sell and convey the same….

Witnessed by James Wilson and Geo. S. Philip Will dated 16^th February 1859 Proved 14^th March 1859 Died 21^st February 1859.

Surrogate Court Records Copybook Register A 1853-1871 transcript to 1863. Frances Hoffman transcriber.

John married Janet "Jeanie" "Jane Bell 19 May 1834, Hobkirk, , Roxburgh, Scotland. Janet (daughter of Bell) was born 1811, , Roxburghshire, Scotland; died 16 Jul 1842, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Pioneer Pergola Cemetery, St. Andrew's Park, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91180749
• Name: Janet "Jeanie" "Jane Young
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-102443
• Residence: 1834, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-63861
• Residence: Bef 1866, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1866, Deerbank, , Ontario

Notes:

At Deerbank Farm, Township of Grey, on Monday, 8th inst., John McNaught, Esq., formerly of Brantford, father of Mrs. James Young, Galt, aged 63 years.

Galt Reporter Dec 12 1873 pg 3

John married Sarah Kirkpatrick 14 Mar 1834, Tynron, , Dumfries, Scotland. Sarah was born 21 Aug 1809, Kirkmahoe, , Dumfries, Scotland; died , Tuckersmith Twp., Huron Co., Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Sarah McNaught
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-105159