Clement Antoine Guertin

Of old and distinguished pioneer stock of French extraction Clément Antoine Guertin upholds the traditions of family prominence as one of the most able legal representatives of the Montreal and provincial bar. Although he has been in practice for not many years he enjoys a reputation second to none, as he has proven his ability in connection with important interests. Not only is Mr. Guertin well versed in the letter of the law and the principles that affect its administration, not only is he a deep thinker and logical reasoner, but he has an insight into the conduct of human beings which permits him to clearly define cause and effect in human actions, and he therefore readily penetrates to the root of such problems as demand legal help for solution. He has long been recognized as one of the able general practitioners in the city, and his services are in large demand, resulting in a gratifying measure of financial returns.

Clément Antoine Guertin was born at St. Antoine, in the county of Verchères, province of Quebec, on the 22d of November, 1870, a son of Léon Guertin, an agriculturist of St. Antoine, who was born in 1817 and passed away in 1876, and Marie Louise Euchariste (Geoffrion) Guertin, a native of Varennes. The first of the family in Canada was the famous and well known Guertin, called Louis Le Sabotier, who was born in 1635, a son of Louis and Georgette (LeDuc) Guertin, from Daumeray, near Angers, France. He married first at Montreal on January 26, 1659, Elizabeth Le Camus, and second, Catherine Roy. Among his children were Louis, Pierre, Paul and others. Paul Guertin, alias Chertin, alias Diertin, was a son of Louis, born in Montreal on the 2d of May, 1680. At Contrecoeur, on the 19th of March, 1702, he married Madeleine Plouffe and among their children were Pierre, Paul and François. The latter married Catherine Dudevoir at St. Antoine in 1745 and among their children were Pierre, Joseph, François and others. Joseph, born March 6, 1755, married Marie Louise Circé, called St. Michel, at St. Antoine in 1777 and among their children was Pierre, born October 9, 1781. He married Marguerite Duhamel, who bore her husband the following children: Pierre, Noël, Léon, Marguerite, Flavien, Alexis, Calixte, Zoé and Louis. Léon Guertin, third son of Pierre, was born March 12, 1817. His first union was with Théotis Brodeur, who bore him the following children: Octavie, Pauline, Léopold, Stanislas and Mélanie. His second wife was Marie Louise Euchariste Geoffrion and the children of this marriage were Joseph, Louis, Marie Louise and Clément Antoine. Léon Guertin, the father of our subject, is the sixth in direct descent from Louis Guertin, Le Sabotier. Pierre Guertin, the grandfather of our subject, and his sons, Pierre, Noël and Léon, took part in the battle of St. Denis, November 22, 1837. Louis Guertin, a brother of our subject, is father of the Holy Cross Congregation, a director of Memramcook University of New Brunswick, and took in Rome in philosophy and theology the degree of Doctor cum maxima laude, also taking scientific work at Harvard. A brother of the mother of our subject, Father L. Geoffrion, of the Holy Cross Congregation, was for fifteen years director of St. Laurent College, near Montreal.

Clément Antoine Guertin received a thorough and varied education. He attended the St. Antoine village school, the St. Denis Commercial College and also took courses in commercial English, French and classical studies at St. Laurent. He received the degree of B. L. in 1893 from the law faculty of Laval University, in 1896 became LL. B. and in January, 1897, was made an advocate. He has ever since followed his profession successfully in Montreal and as his experience has expanded has become one of the few successful lawyers whose reputation marks them for distinction.

On the 24th of April, 1901, at Montreal, Mr. Guertin was married to Miss Marie Anne Josephine Lamontagne, a daughter of G. A. Lamontagne, a merchant tailor of Montreal and Malvina (Beauchamp) Lamontagne. They had one daughter, Simonne, born April 16, 1902, who died July 2d of the same year. The mother passed away on June 26, 1912.

From September, 1910, to May, 1912, Mr. Guertin was a member of the Montreal council of the bar and from May, 1911, to May, 1912, a member of the provincial council. His club relations are with the St. Denis, Délorimier and the Union du Commerce of Montreal. His faith is that of the Roman Catholic church. He has secured one of the most exclusive and representative practices in Montreal, his success being the best evidence of his capability. His pleas are always characterized by terse logic and lucid presentation, and he always has a decisive conviction as to the rights of the question he represents. It is his ambition to make his native talents subserve the demands of the social and business conditions of the day, and he stands today as a splendid representative of a lawyer to whom personal prosperity is but secondary in importance and who considers many ideal elements more vital in the making up of human existence. His industry and energy have found a reward which is based on a distinguished name and accomplishments rather than incidental prosperity.