McLennan Family Roots
JS McLennan was of
Scottish ancestry. His great-grandfather, Murdoch McLennan, headed a group of one thousand
people who left Scotland bound for North America. They landed in Quebec in 1802 and soon
the McLennans settled in Lancaster, Ontario where John Stewart's grandfather, John, became
a schoolmaster. John McLennan was the father of several children. His son, Hugh McLennan, would be JS's
father. Hugh McLennan was born in Lancaster in 1825. He was
described in the family history, compiled later by JS, as a quiet but determined child. As
a boy, Hugh began working on the estate owned by family friends, the Stewarts of Van Kleek
Hill, Ontario. It was here, at the precocious age of fourteen, that Hugh fell in love with
his future wife, Isabella
Stewart.
Leaving the familiarities of the farm and comforts of home, at the
age of seventeen Hugh headed for Montreal where his older brother, John Jr., was already
situated. He began working at the office of Scott and Shaw, a firm of hardware merchants,
but he left that business after two years when he was given a salary reduction. He drifted
home to Lancaster. However, he got a second start when he was given his own farm by his
maternal grandfather. On August 25, 1846, with fifty dollars, Hugh set out for his new
home at Loch Garry, near Kingston, Ontario. Despite the security of farming, Hugh was
drawn to working in town as a merchant shipper. He befriended a man named Captain Lawless,
owner of a shipping vessel. At one point, Lawless became ill and trusted Hugh to run his
business for him. Lawless's boat, Canada, made successive profits under Hugh's
direction, despite his youth and inexperience in the shipping trade.
By 1847, Hugh was working in Prescott, Ontario as an agent for a
stage coach company. He began seeking new opportunities and drifted between Kingston, New
York, and Toronto. Returning to Kingston, Hugh resumed working under Captain Lawless, but
was denied the right to purchase the Canada from Lawless as the captain feared
McLennan was too young. Despite this perception, working in this business expanded Hugh's
horizons. He blossomed from a shy youth into a confident, charming young man with many
acquaintances and friends.
In Kingston, Hugh rented the mail wharf that dealt with the Great
Lakes mail boats. Though he made a good profit from this endeavour, he decided to leave
Kingston. He felt Kingston was too small and his profits were too dependent on the whims
of others. He invested in the boat the SS St. Lawrence and moved to Montreal in
1851. Here he became the custom house agent for the American Line to Ogdensburg, NY, as
well as the agent for the St. Lawrence. His profits allowed him to rent an office
and hire two clerks. Settled in Montreal, he finally married his sweetheart, Isabella.
Their first child was born in 1852 but unfortunately died soon after. A son, John Stewart,
was born November 3, 1853. In all, thirteen children were born to Hugh and Isabella, nine
surviving infancy.
|
 |
 |
|
JS McLennan as a young boy dressed in traditional
Scottish attire. |
|
| Hugh continued to handle his shipping and
mailing interests, but he also dabbled in other areas, including a cement business. In
1856, the family moved to Chicago where Hugh began a pork and bacon business. A bank crash
in 1857 meant money became tight and people began buying less. Hugh managed to hold on to
his interests and escape debt by working more hours himself. This was a great lesson to
his children about hard work and determination. Using loans and his good business sense,
Hugh turned around the situation and came out of the money crisis with a huge profit. He
also escaped relatively unscathed through the next economic upheaval, the American Civil
War (1861-1865). JS, later in life, would recall the outbreak of the war and how he told
his father he believed the underdog, the South, should win. The young boy was immediately
corrected by Hugh, who said that the North should win because it had the "right
cause". In 1867, the year of Canada's Confederation,
Hugh moved his family back to Montreal where he continued his interests in trade and
shipping various products such as grain. It was as a grain exporter that Hugh made his
real wealth. He also became involved with the Montreal City Passenger Railway Company. The
McLennans certainly made their mark on the Montreal business community. Between Hugh and
his brother John, the two were presidents of the Board of Trade of Montreal for a total of
twenty-five years.
By now, Hugh's son John Stewart was preparing for university
entrance. JS attended Montreal High School and went on to McGill University in the fall of 1870. Hugh wished to see JS prepared
for a career in business. However, at McGill, JS was drawn toward matters literary and
philosophical, graduating with a first-rank honors degree in Mental and Moral Philosophy,
in 1874. JS was also awarded the Dufferin Medal from McGill. Continuing his university
studies at Cambridge University, England,
JS concentrated in the Moral Sciences Tripos, consisting of lectures in moral, political,
and mental philosophy, logic, and political economy.1 In 1879, JS graduated with honours with
a second bachelor degree. With his formal education completed, JS returned to Montreal and
began his next course of study, the grain business, under the tutelage of his father.
|
|
 |
|
JS McLennan was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces
prior to his stay at Petersfield. This is one of the few pictures in the McLennan
Collection that shows JS in uniform, as his military career was short. |
|
