Samuel Hamilton Ewing

With intense activity intelligently directed and with ability to plan and perform that amounts almost to genius, Samuel Hamilton Ewing has become one of the prominent manufacturers and capitalists of Montreal. He today has financial investments in many of the most important corporate interests of the province, and his opinion concerning complex business matters is eagerly sought and constitutes a valuable element in the attainment of a wise conclusion.

From his boyhood Samuel Hamilton Ewing has been a resident of Canada. He was born May 10, 1834, at Lisdillon House, Londonderry, Ireland, and is a representative of an old family of Irish origin, his parents being Samuel and Margaret (Hamilton) Ewing, who with their family crossed the Atlantic to Canada during the boyhood of their son Samuel H. Entering the public schools of Montreal, he pursued his education and afterward joined his brother, Andrew S. Ewing, in the ownership and management of the extensive coffee and spice mills formerly owned by his father. The business, established in 1860, was conducted under the firm style of Samuel Ewing & Sons, Samuel Hamilton Ewing remaining an active factor in the management and direction of the business until his retirement from the firm in 1892. In the meantime the efforts of the partners had resulted in the establishment of an enterprise of extensive proportions. Gradually he extended his efforts to other fields, becoming financially and ofttimes actively interested in corporations which are now recognized as among the foremost in the commercial and industrial circles of the province. He is president of the Montreal Cotton Company, president of the Canada Accident Assurance Company, president of the Levis County Railway and the Cornwall Street Railway, and is vice president of the Molson’s Bank and the Sun Life Assurance Company, while he is a director of the Atlantic Sugar Refinery, the Standard Clay Products, Limited, the Crown Trust Company, and the Illinois Traction Company. One of the local papers said of him: “It is doubtful if there is a more active man of his age in the city of Montreal.” What he undertakes he accomplishes, and he utilizes opportunities that many others have passed heedlessly by. Moreover, he has the ability to unify seemingly dissimilar elements, coordinating them into a harmonious whole.

Mr. Ewing has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Caroline Wilson Cheese, of London, England, who died in 1872, and later he wedded Margaret Anna Knight, who passed away in March, 1908. She was a daughter of George Knight, of Glasgow, Scotland. Mr. Ewing’s attractive home, Seaforth, is situated at No. 100 Cote des Neiges road. He is well known in club circles, holding membership in the Mount Royal, Canada, St. James and Canadian Clubs. He is a life governor of the Art Association of Montreal. His political belief is that of the conservative party but the honors and emoluments of office have little attraction for him. He has preferred always to devote his leisure to such activities as seek the public welfare along charitable or humanitarian lines. He is a governor of the Montreal General Hospital and served for several years prior to 1906 as its treasurer. He is likewise a governor of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, and in 1906 was the delegate to the Sixth Congress Chambers of Commerce of the Empire. Forceful and resourceful, his is a record of a strenuous life, stable in purpose, quick in perception, swift in decision, energetic and persistent in action.