Major George Henry Yale (28 September 1820 – 18 June 1897) was a Canadian military officer, industrialist and politician. He became one of the founders of Louiseville, Quebec, and was elected its first mayor. He was made Justice of the Peace under Baronet La Fontaine, and was involved in number of ventures related to the fur trade. He was twice candidate for the Parliament of Canada.
He also gave his name to Yaletown village, which he acquired from Lord Samuel Gerrard, president of the Bank of Montreal, and was the second pioneer tanner in Canada in his domain. Members of his family included fur merchant James Murray Yale, his uncle, and Isabella Yale, his cousin, who became the daughter-in-law of Gov. Sir George Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Early life
George Henry Yale was born on September 28, 1820, in Vercheres, Quebec, to Felicite Picard and tanner Miles Yale, members of the Yale family.L'écho de St-Justin, février 1939, vendredi 17 février 1939, p. 3Yale Genealogy and History of Wales, Rodney Horace Yale, Milburn & Scott Co., Beatrice, Nebraska, 1908, p. 243-247 His uncle was Chief trader James Murray Yale, commander of Fort Langley during the Fraser Gold Rush, and his granduncle was Capt. Elihu Yale, one of the first bayonet manufacturers in Connecticut. Many members of his family were involved in the North American Fur Trade.
His grandfather Theophilus Yale was a merchant and tenant of the Lord of Argenteuil, Col. James Murray, grandson of Admiral George Murray, 6th Lord Elibank, and died at sea.The World of Captain James Murray; A Scion of Heroes, Stuart McCulloch, Troubador Publishing, Leicestershire, England, 2015, p. 287 His cousin Isabella Yale was the daughter-in-law of Sir George Simpson, Governor of the HBC and a large landowner of the Golden Square Mile in Montreal. A cousin married the son of William Dalby, mayor of Victoria, and two others married to chief traders, one of which was the grandson of Etienne Lucier, one of the founders of Fort Astoria for John Jacob Astor.The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, September 13, 1914, SECTION THREE, Page 5, Image 41
The other, Capt. Henry Newsham Peers, was the son of Capt. Peers from Trinity College, Oxford, and a grandson of Count Julianus Petrus de Linnée, member of a noble family of Brittany.Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, Vol. II, Fourth Series, Bruce Bannerman, Mitchell Hughes & Clarke Co., London, 1908, p. 87-88-104-105 His New York cousin, Moses Yale Beach, became a pioneer of the penny press newspapers, and the father of innovator Alfred Ely Beach and politician Moses S. Beach, who ran the New York Sun under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.
George Henry Yale's uncle, Andrew Yale, owned a shipbuilding company in Old Montreal and Hochelaga, manufacturing steamers, sloops and barges.The River Barons: Montreal businessmen and the growth of industry and transportation 1837–53, University of Toronto Press, Canada, 1977, p. 208-214La Minerve, 27 septembre 1853, mardi 27 septembre 1853, p.1 His customers included the family of the Lords of Boucherville, through Dr. Charles Boucher de Grosbois, brewer merchant. Grosbois was the brother-in-law of Sir Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Premier of Quebec, and cousin of Louis-Tancrède Bouthillier, who gave the name of his manor "Outre-Mont" to the city of Outremont.La Noblesse Québécoise; Les Boucher de Boucherville, Yves Drolet, Société Généalogique Canadienne-Française, Montreal, 2008, p. 24-28 Other clients were the trading firm of Henderson, Hooker & Co., dealing with the future Minister of Finance Luther Hamilton Holton, master brewer and horse boat owner, Victor Chenier, brother of patriot Jean-Olivier Chénier, and merchant Henri Monjeau of Longueuil.Histoire populaire de Longueuil de 1657 à nos jours, Michel Pratt, Societe Historique et Culturelle du Marigot, Autumn, 2021, p. 59Luther H. Holton: A Founding Canadian Entrepreneur, Henry Cornelius Klassen, University of Calgary Press, Canada, 2001, p. 19-27-28
Career
George Henry Yale followed his family as a child to St-Antoine de la Rivière-du-Loup. He later established his family at Rivière-du-Loup around 1850, opening a 3 stories tannery with a few family members and employees.« Une tannerie dans un village et un village dans un village » ou la petite histoire de la grande tannerie de Saint-Didace, Christian Porès, Comité 150, City of Saint-Didace, February 2, 2014, p. 1-3Petits Pays et Grands Ensembles, Jocelyn Morneau, University of Quebec a Trois-Riviere, June 1998, p. 367-368-369-388-389-390 In 1856, Yale bought land on the Maskinongé River from Samuel Gerrard, Lord of Carufel and Lanaudière, and gave it the name of Yaletown.Le nouvelliste, 19 novembre 1949, samedi 19 novembre 1949, p. 11L'écho de St-Justin, décembre 1928, samedi 15 décembre 1928, p. 1L'écho de St-Justin, janvier 1924, mercredi 2 janvier 1924, p. 16L'écho de St-Justin, novembre 1928, jeudi 15 novembre 1928, p. 1 He built on the land a tannery, two commercial buildings, a mill, a saw mill and a flour mill. The village formed around its waterfall, which allowed Yale to use its current as a source of energy for his businesses. He then paved the roads, build houses for his employees, linked the village to Louiseville and built a bridge.
In 1860, Yale's shop and buildings burned down uninsured, bringing a loss of about $6,000.Le pays, 14 juin 1860, jeudi 14 juin 1860, p. 2 The tannery is then under the management of his brother Sylvestre Yale and their nephew William Laurent, under the name of Yale, Laurent & Company.The Mercantile Agency reference book and key, Robert Graham Dun, R.G. Dun & Co, Montreal, 1864, p. 377 In 1864, Yale acquired 1,350 acres in the lordship of Maskinonge from Canadian politician George Moffatt, who was a peer of Colin Robertson and his uncle James Murray Yale in the fur trade.INDUSTRIES RURALES, AGRICULTURE ET MONDE VILLAGEOIS, Jocelyn Morneau, University of Quebec, November 1988, p. 106 In 1868, Yale paid back $70,000 of debts to Americans Brown & Childs, who were one of the largest shoe manufacturers of Montreal. By 1871, Yale's shop is the largest factory in the region of Lake Saint Pierre, with steam engines and 30 employees, producing 10,000 black and red leather products, 5,000 skins, and sales of about $50,000, or 20 million dollars in 2024 money in relation to wages.Histoire de la Mauricie, Rene Hardy, Normand Seguin, Institut Quebecois de Recherche sur la Culture, Les Presses de l'Universite Laval, 2006, p. 218Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1790 to Present, MeasuringWorth.com, Accessed February 5, 2024 Yale acquired it back from his family in 1872, with Maj. Lambert as a partner, and added the company to his portfolio of businesses, now including the village of Yaletown with its fourteen houses.
By this time, Yale also had another tannery, a saw mill, a grinding mill and a shop in Saint-Didace, Quebec. In 1869, he is made a Major in the militia of Maskinonge, having been previously a captain, and George Caron is made Lieutenant Colonel.Le Journal des Trois-Rivières, 23 février 1869, mardi 23 février 1869, p. 2 On September 2, 1868, Yale is recorded a customer of the luxurious British American Hotel in Old Montreal, built by John Molson, and had been previously a guest of the Cosmopolitan Hotel in 1859.Montreal herald and daily commercial gazette, 14 octobre 1859, vendredi 14 octobre 1859, p. 1Le Constitutionnel, 4 septembre 1868, vendredi 4 septembre 1868, p. 2Le March Bonsecours au fil de l'Evolution de Montreal, MarcheBonsecours.qc.ca, Vieux-Montreal, Accessed February 6, 2024 In 1871, his leather manufacturing business represented about 62% of the total economic output of Rivière-du-Loup. Yale became the general agent of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company around 1872, seated at 99 Saint-François-Xavier Street, in Old Montreal.Collection d'annuaires Lovell de Montréal et sa région, 1842-2010, Archives Quebec, 1872, p. 528
In 1873, Yale sold his properties to F. Shaw & Bros, tanners of Montreal, which were sold back to Donoan & Moran, leather manufacturers of Montreal. In 1876, the fur factories burned down once again, and Yale bought them back and rebuilt the tanneries. In 1879, Major George Henry Yale was made mayor of Rivière-du-Loup, and on January 17, 1880, he became the first mayor of the newly incorporated town of Louiseville, Quebec.L'Écho de Louiseville, 29 janvier 1959, jeudi 29 janvier 1959, p. 16L'Écho de Louiseville, 14 avril 1960, jeudi 14 avril 1960, p. 5L'écho de St-Justin, septembre 1925, mardi 1 septembre 1925, p. 1-16 His son-in-law, Maj. Lambert became one of the aldermen of the city, and Yale was reelected mayor in 1882, and alderman in 1883.L'Écho de Louiseville, 8 avril 1949, vendredi 8 avril 1949, p. 17Le monde, 29 janvier 1881, samedi 29 janvier 1881, p. 3
Yale's son-in-law, Major Francois-Xavier Lambert, served under Col. Charles-Eugène Panet, later Senator, and was among the general staff of Sir Adolphe-Philippe Caron, Minister of Militia and Defence, and Maj. Gen. Sir Frederick D. Middleton.Collection d'annuaires Lovell de Montréal et sa région, Dominion of Canada, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québe, 1842-2010, Montreal, p. 870Gazette de Sorel, 15 janvier 1881, samedi 15 janvier 1881, p. 3 Lambert then served at the adjutant general office under Commanding Gen. Sir Edward S. Smyth, and was made Senior Major under Lt. Col. de Lotbinière Harwood, grandson of the Marquess of Lotbinière.Collection d'annuaires Lovell de Montréal et sa région, 1842-201, Archives Quebec, Dominion of Canada, Montreal, p. 41Department of Militia and Defence of the Dominion of Canada, Annual Report, 31st December, 1887, p. 14Gazette de Sorel, 20 juillet 1870, mercredi 20 juillet 1870, p. 2Le Journal des Trois-Rivières, 18 juillet 1870, lundi 18 juillet 1870, p. 2
Later career
In 1882, Yale founded a shoe factory named La manufacture de chaussures de la ville de Louiseville, with MP Édouard Caron, and 3 other merchants. They were in the business of manufacturing and selling shoes, with a capital stock of $25,000, and Yale was elected on its board of directors.Gazette officielle du Québec, Québec official gazette., 28 octobre 1882, samedi 28 (no 43), p. 1923 In the same year, he was one of the three candidates to the House of Commons of Canada, trying to obtain a seat in Canada's Parliament, but was defeated by 319 votes to Frédéric Houde, a newspaper owner.L'écho de St-Justin, novembre 1925, lundi 2 novembre 1925, p. 10Le courrier de Berthierville, 19 décembre 1935, jeudi 19 décembre 1935, p. 9
Yale later cofounded with 45 shareholders the Société de Navigation des Trois-Rivières à Montréal, a steam boat shipping company, and became its president.Le destin mouvementé de deux entreprises industrielles du pays rural du lac Saint-Pierre, History of Quebec, Volume 20, No 2., p. 39 The new company included merchants, seamen and farmers from Rivière-du-Loup, Trois-Rivières, Saint-Léon, and Yamachiche. His uncle Andrew Yale and cousin William Yale also became agents and tanners for his enterprises, and were partners in his ventures. In 1880, Yale assisted and made a speech at the wedding of Rev. Boucher, along with Col. de Lotbinière Harwood, MP Frédéric Houde, MP François-Sévère L. Désaulniers, MP Alexis L. Desaulniers and MP Édouard Caron.Le Sorelois, 20 juillet 1880, mardi 20 juillet 1880, p. 2