MOUNT STEPHEN 



3980 



MOUNT VERNON 



THE HOME OF GEORGE AND MARTHA WASHINGTON 



and faith in the future of Canada. Lord Mount 

 Stephen was born at Dufftown, Banffshire, Scot- 

 land, but emigrated to Canada in 1850. He en- 

 tered the employ 

 of his uncle, who 

 conducted a dry- 

 goods establish- 

 ment in Mon- 

 treal, later be- 

 came a partner, 

 and after ten 

 years purchased 

 his uncle's entire 

 interest. The 

 firm expanded and Y?*^ Njjr JM 



engaged largely 



in the manufac- LORD MOUNT SPH..:x 

 ture of woolen goods. Mount Stephen be- 

 came very wealthy and extended his influ- 

 ence into other lines of industry. He was presi- 

 dent of the Bank of Montreal from 1876 to 

 1881, and at the same time was successful in 

 starting railways in Manitoba and Minnesota. 

 From its organization until 1888 he was presi- 

 dent of the Canadian Pacific Railway, in the 

 construction of which he risked a large fortune. 

 Its successful completion and operation greatly 

 added to his wealth, of which he has since given 

 freely for philanthropic purposes. One of his 

 largest gifts was a donation of $500,000 for the 



Royal Victoria Hospital at Montreal. In rec- 

 ognition of his services in connection with the 

 construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, 

 he was created a baronet by Queen Victoria in 

 1886, and in 1891 was raised to the peerage as 

 Baron Mount Stephen. His title is taken from 

 a peak in the Rocky Mountains which was 

 named for him. In 1914 a statue of him was 

 placed in the new Windsor station of the Cana- 

 dian Pacific Railway at Montreal, to remind 

 the people of the man whose financial and or- 

 ganizing genius linked the Atlantic and the Pa- 

 cific with a band of steel. 



MOUNT VERNON, a shrine of American 

 patriotism, beloved and sacred because of its 

 associations with Washington, for it is memo- 

 rable as the residence and the burial place of 

 the "Father of His Country." The mansion 

 house is situated on a high bluff overlooking 

 the Potomac River, in Virginia, fifteen miles 

 below Washington, D. C. It was the dearest 

 place on earth to George and Martha Washing- 

 ton. Here Washington conducted his farm un- 

 til called to command the Continental army; 

 to Mount Vernon he returned after the Revo- 

 lution and again after his terms as President; 

 and here he lived happily in brief retirement 

 as a private citizen until his death. In the 

 unpretentious tomb near by this devoted couple 

 were buried, the coffins being hewn from the 



