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PART TWO
Francis Hector
Clergue was the son of Joseph Hector Clergue and
Frances Clarissa Lombard Clergue. Joseph Hector was
born on 20 March 1830 to Jean Clergue, an Ensign in
the French Navy, and Marie Josephine Rolland
Clergue. Joseph Hector's father died when he was a
year old. Marie Josephine subsequently remarried an
event that reportedly induced Joseph Hector to
leave home. He immigrated to the United States from
Lorient, France as late as 1847. Frances, on the
other hand, came from an old and established Maine
family. Her parents, David Sawyer Lombard and Clara
M. Lombard, both had roots in the United States
that dated back to the seventeenth century.
Frances's father was a master shipbuilder of
international renown. Joseph Hector and Frances met
sometime after Joseph Hector settled in Bangor and
they subsequently married. They made their home
variously in Bangor and Brewer, communities
separated only by the Penobscot River. The
Clergue's had at least six children who reached
adulthood in addition to Francis Hector, namely:
Bertrand Joseph, Ernest Victor, Helen, Grace E.,
Josephine C. and Gertrude Alice. Vital statistics
for the City of Brewer indicate that there was
another child, Mary B. Clergue, who was born 25 May
1866. Records for the City of Bangor confirm that
Mary died at the age of one year and eight months
on 20 January 1868. Coincidentally, her maternal
grandfather, David Lombard died just one day later
on 21 January 1868.
According to an
unpublished biography of Clergue written by Alan
Sullivan entitled Before the Tide, Clergue lived
with Sullivan at Bishophurst, the residence of the
Bishop for the Anglican Diocese of Algoma, during
the fall and winter of 1894, immediately following
his arrival in Sault Ste. Marie. Clergue could have
lived elsewhere but he chose to live at Bishophurst
at this early stage of his involvement in the
community, so as to avoid socializing with local
residents.
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Despite
the fact that Clergue's outlook was both
modern and forward-looking, he chose to
restore and expand the Block House, the
last remnant of the Hudson's Bay Post,
rather than to build or purchase a modern
home when it came time to acquire his own
living quarters. His youngest brother,
Bertrand Joseph, a recent graduate of
Boston Tech (now the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology), joined Francis
Hector at Sault Ste. Marie as early as
1894.
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Ernest Victor who had been a clerk in his brother's
law firm and then managed the Howard Clock Company
in New York relocated to Sault Ste. Marie in or
about 1899. When all three brothers resided in
Sault Ste. Marie, Francis lived in the Block House,
while his brothers boarded nearby at the Tagona
Inn. Once Ernest assumed his position as supervisor
of the Helen Mine at Michipicoten, Bertrand moved
into the Block House with Francis.
Francis Hector
Clergue decided to build a new and modern home
after living in the Block House for a number of
years. According to a weekly report submitted to
A.J. Crane, Chief Engineer for the Lake Superior
Corporation, by one of the assistant engineers in
August of 1901: "I have in hand alterations to the
plans sent by Mr. B.J. Clergue for a private
residence." The site selected for the house, which
was named Montfermier after the family's ancestral
home in France , was the brow of a Moffley Hill, an
area that was outside the town limits both of Sault
Ste. Marie and Steelton but overlooked both. From
all accounts, it was a magnificent two storied
structure surrounded by 20 acres of land that had
been cleared for lawns and gardens. Excavation of
the house began in the spring of 1902 and by the
fall the red sandstone portion of the structure was
complete. The second storey, according to
contemporary reports was of "fancy wooden
construction". All of the surviving members of
Clergue's family adopted Montfermier as their
primary residence with the exception of the two
sisters who married, Grace (Mrs. William Lynde
Harrison married 12 November 1900) and Josephine
(Mrs. Bernard Pol married 12 October 1876).
Francis Hector and
Bertrand Joseph moved into the house around
Christmas of 1902. Their parents and two of their
sisters joined him in early 1903. Sadly, Ernest
Victor died before the house was
constructed.
Apparently never a
robust man, Ernest local lore indicates that he
strained his heart carrying a canoe over a long and
arduous portage near Michipicoten. He went to
Chicago for specialized medical treatment but died
of heart failure while there. Ernest died intestate
&endash; without a will. His parents, Joseph Hector
and Frances Clarissa both renounced all right and
title to administer the estate instead naming their
son, Bertrand Joseph, as administrator. Ernest was
the beneficial owner of a number of lots in the
Town of Sault Ste. Marie as well as in the
Townships of Parke and Awenge. More importantly,
however, he was the beneficial owner of mining
claims, leases and properties held in trust for the
Algoma Commercial Company Limited and the Lake
Superior Power Company.
Although Francis
Hector did not continue to live in the Sault after
the collapse of the industrial empire he founded,
his parents and sisters remained in Sault Ste.
Marie until September of 1909 when Joseph Hector
died. Responsibility for transporting Joseph
Hector's body back to Bangor for interment fell to
Bertrand Joseph since Francis Hector was in Europe
at the time of his father's death. Presumably the
entire family departed soon after Joseph Hector's
death since there is no further mention of them in
locally held records.

By 1903 Clergue's
control over industrial development in Sault Ste.
Marie had diminished significantly. He resigned as
a director and as an employee of the Allied
Companies in April of 1903 at the request of Speyer
and Company, dramatically curtailing his role in
corporate direction and management. For all intents
and purposes, Clergue ceased to be a resident of
Sault Ste. Marie at this time. He traveled
extensively as a lobbyist before associating
himself with the Canada Car and Foundry Company of
Montreal. He acquired a residence in Montreal and
made that city his new base of operations. He
remained as the director of only one company he
helped to found the Algoma Commercial Company
Limited and even here his tenure was brief. As a
director of the Algoma Commercial Company, he was a
co-incorporator of the Land Improvement Company, a
company created solely for the purpose of selling
shares in the reorganized Lake Superior
Corporation. In 1908 he failed to be reelected to
the Board of the Lake Superior Corporation and he
subsequently abandoned his interests in the
Improvement Company. His ties with Sault Ste. Marie
and local industry were severed for all time.
Clergue returned to Sault Ste. Marie only twice -
in August of 1923 for Discovery Week when he was
invited to lay the cornerstone in the Cenotaph and
again briefly in 1937 for a testimonial dinner in
his honour.
After the collapse
of his industrial empire, Clergue renewed his
career as a promoter and entrepreneur. It was in
connection with his promotional enterprises that he
spent almost a year in Russia during which time he
became friends with numerous important people, most
notably Grand Duke Nicholas. He also travelled
throughout the rest of Europe, often in the company
of his brother, Bertrand. Following his return to
Canada in 1910, Clergue renewed his association
with the Canadian Car and Foundry Company of
Montreal. It was in connection with this Company
that Clergue found himself back in Europe
specifically France and Russia in the years prior
to the First World War. He sold patents to the
governments of each of these countries for a
universal transmission device for heavy gun
turrets. In addition, Clergue secured two other
contracts from the Russian Government: one for the
sale of two million shells on behalf of the
Canadian Car and Foundry Company and the other for
the sale of three million shrapnel and
high-explosive shells on behalf of himself. Clergue
subsequently transferred his personal contract to
the Canadian Car and Foundry Company despite the
fact that the prices specified in this contract
were much higher than the prices specified in the
original contract as between the Government of
Russia and the Canadian Car and Foundry Company.
Given Clergue's penchant for failure, it is hardly
surprising that this enterprise, too, turned sour.
First of all there was a major fire in the
munitions plant where the shells were being
produced and stored. Then, before the Company could
be paid for the shells, the Government of Imperial
Russia was overthrown. Needless to say, the failure
of this particular contract could hardly be blamed
on Clergue. There has been some suggestion,
however, that despite the failure of the shell
scheme, Clergue was paid $1.5 million in
commissions (half in cash and half in Company
stock) and that he subsequently received another
$75,000 for services rendered. In January of 1920,
Clergue was elected as a director of the Canada Car
and Foundry Company and within a matter of weeks of
his election he was appointed to the executive
committee of the Company. He held both of these
positions until his death. In addition, Clergue was
the president of his own engineering company, the
Universal Engineering Corporation. It would appear
that he didn't embark on any further great schemes
after the First World War but rather devoted his
time to Canada Car and Universal
Engineering.
Francis Hector
Clergue died in Montreal on January 19,1939 at the
age of 82 years. According to an article which
appeared in the Globe and Mail, he was taken to
hospital three days after suffering a heart attack.
He rallied briefly but then died within a matter of
days. His sister, Gertrude, who was living with him
at the time of his death, continued to live in the
house they shared on Mountain Road in Montreal. His
parents predeceased Clergue. Joseph Hector, as
mentioned above, died in 1909 and Frances Clarissa
died in 1912 in New York, presumably while at the
home of her daughter, Josephine. He was also
predeceased by his brother, Ernest Victor who died
in January, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois while in the
employ of his brother's mining operations, by his
brother Bertrand Joseph who died in Waterbury,
Connecticut in March of 1930 also while engaged in
business for Francis Hector and his sister Helen
who died in England in May of 1938. Interestingly
enough, all of these family members were buried in
a lot in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Bangor, which Francis
Hector purchased in 1902.

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