The Molsons

by Molson, Karen

• ISBN13: 9781552094181
• ISBN10: 1552094189
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-12-01
• Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd

Summary

This is the true story of a remarkable family as told by a direct descendant of John Molson. Through generations, we follow their saga. We see the Molsons cope with change and opportunity in business, and we watch them deal with personal triumphs, private tragedies, and the everyday aspects of life.The first Molson arrived in Montreal in 1782 from England, with little money but a single-minded ambition. Working hard, with a belief in the future of his adopted land, John Molson established a small brewery in Montreal and put his heart and soul into the business.Over the next 200 years the Molsons expanded the brewery again and again. The founder's drive and ability was passed on to his sons, grandsons, and future generations. The family established a bank and a steamship line, recognizing that as the young country grew, opportunities would grow with it. They became a major force in politics, sports (the Montreal Canadiens hockey team), and philanthropy. And they witnessed history, both through privileged eyes and as everyday participants. They were involved in the young nation's achievements, and in its rebellions, wars, and epidemics.Much more than a business history, The Molsons: Their Lives and Times is rich in details. It chronicles the many changes over two turbulent centuries of Canadian history, bringing familiar and unfamiliar events to life with warmth, drama, and emotion. Featuring dozens of never-before published photos and drawing on diaries, letters, and contemporary materials, the author illuminates this powerful, extraordinary family from a unique perspective and tells its story with surprising candor.

Author Biography

Karen Molson is a seventh-generation Molson in Canada. She is a former independent bookseller and a published short story and consumer affairs writer. She lives and works on her farm in Ontario's Lanark Highlands.

Table of Contents

Family Tree	11	(5)
Preface	16	(2)
Introduction	18	(3)
Aweighing Anchor	21	(12)
The Log Brewery	33	(12)
Forty Bushels of Barley	45	(6)
Sarah's Story	51	(8)
An Honest Brew	59	(10)
Family Business	69	(10)
Dancing Shoes for Johnny	79	(8)
Steamships	87	(12)
Prosperity and Power	99	(12)
Duel in Montreal	111	(10)
Molson's ``Madness''	121	(10)
Ten Years in Kingston	131	(12)
Rumours in the Boardroom	143	(8)
``A Toast, Your Excellency''	151	(12)
The Patriarch Passes On	163	(14)
Rebellion	177	(12)
Thomas Builds a Church	189	(12)
Saltwater Summers	201	(12)
Silk Hats, Satin Garters	213	(12)
From Beerage to Peerage	225	(12)
Confederation	237	(12)
Childbed Fever	249	(12)
Yachting Days	261	(8)
McGill Welcomes Women	269	(14)
Quintessential Gentlemen	283	(10)
Secrets and Sorrow	293	(10)
Mr. Fred	303	(10)
For King and Country	313	(12)
A Knockout Blow	325	(10)
Temperance Brews	335	(12)
Tradition and Innovation	347	(12)
The Great Depression	359	(14)
Flying Lessons	373	(12)
Hockey Night in Canada	385	(8)
Heirs to an Empire	393	(12)
Bibliography	405	(4)
Index	409

Excerpts

Excerpted: Preface and Introduction Preface All that is good and great about the family should not be underground. John HR Molson, 1897 The idea to write this book first inspired me thirty years ago, when as a little girl I listened to my grandfather tell me about his grandparents and realized what remarkable people our ancestors were. As a teenager I asked many questions of relatives, took notes and recorded my grandfather's memories on audiotape. In the years that followed I was delighted to find that hundreds of years of family history had been saved and preserved in numerous archives, both public and private.A biographer's purpose, whether reaching into an archival box for a file or squinting into the darkness of an ancient cellar, is to discover the truth. And while passing judgment is not necessary, the responsibility of drawing conclusions is a serious one. It is not until one has assembled all the flotsam and jetsam (those things which, considered singly, seem meaningless) that the subjects' lives begin to assume shape, form and direction.As a writer and a family member, I felt I was in a unique position to write a literary history. I could explore the family's collective consciousness from within, as well as plumb for facts from without. I was certain I did't want to write a business history or a panegyric. But what, exactly? The men and women who'd lived and died had left marks and mysteries behind. How they fascinated me! To do them justice, I would try to cast their true characters into a narrative of real events; to create a colourful and noisy pilgrimage through a panorama of time, a Canadian crusade from the past to the present.Archival material spanning the Molson family's seven generations in Canada is abundant, even overwhelming. Tens of thousands of items such as letters, diaries, deeds, artifacts and photos harbour veritable treasures and yield secrets from the past. Libraries and public archives harbour vast resources, including books, newspapers, periodicals, business records, census records, copies of land transactions, and maps. From the beginning I aimed to cast a huge net of curious inquiry, to be assured that nothing would be left uninspected. I was much gratified to be able to work with some tireless, enthusiastic researchers.I travelled to as many sites as possible in which the events in this book took place. While moving through the spaces my ancestors used to inhabit, I was ever-conscious of the existence of the past around me. I gazed at the enduring landscapes, and contemplated the St. Lawrence, a river of water enclosing a river of time. After a while it seemed an utterly natural process to present glimpses of my ancestors' lives in the present tense. I found that through the tangible, I could effortlessly reach the intangible.More than two hundred great-grandchildren can trace their ancestry back to the Lincolnshire orphan who emigrated to Montreal in 1782. John Molson Senior was eighteen when he came to Canada, fair-haired and easy-mannered. He considered every decision carefully. His attention to detail was remarkable; his vision, shrewd and keen. He kept his coins in an old grain chest. He recorded every penny earned, lent, given away or spent. He saved copies of every letter he wrote, to keep with each one he received. He did not have to exhort his sons to do the same; they -- and their children, in turn -- either learned or inherited his fastidious habits.I am grateful they did. Introduction When the sun begins to set behind Mount Royal at the end of the day, the past and the present converge in the old city. The shadows, longer and wider now, drift from the street once known as St. Mary's to the river edge. They connect the intangible with the tangible, the things that stay the same with those that change. I plumb the past in order to find John Molson, my great-grandfather's great-g