What do the American Civil War, a 60-year-old plaque outside Canada’s oldest department store, a new book, Jefferson Davis, John Lovell, and William Notman all have in common? Montreal.
Here’s why.
Earlier this week, there was a bit of local media attention given to a plaque on an outside wall of the Hudson’s Bay Company department store in downtown Montreal. The plaque had been erected in 1957 by the the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a women’s association from the south whose objective is to commemorate soldiers who were part of the Confederate States Army. It read in French: “To the memory of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States, who lived in 1867 in the home of John Lovell, which was once here.”
John Lovell, Montreal, Quebec, 1865. Photographer: William Notman. Source: McCord Museum, I-19133.1.
Montreal street directories
To go on a genealogical tangent for a moment, many family historians who have researched their Montreal ancestors will recognize the name, John Lovell. It was his company that printed the city directories that we greatly benefit from today.
For those who have not explored the Lovell’s Street Montreal Directory of Montreal, you will discover the directories from 1842 to 2010 have been digitized and made available on the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec’s website. Lovell, who was wealthy and powerful, also founded the Montreal Daily Transcript newspaper.
As for Davis, after the Confederates surrendered, he was arrested, charged with treason, and put in jail. Two years later in 1867, after he was released on bail, he came to Montreal to join his family, who had fled here. He then lived in Lennoxville until 1868.
As for the Jefferson Davis plaque, very few Montrealers knew it existed, which is not that surprising given where it was. It hung on the side of the store on Union, tucked under a large overhang that kept it in shadow. Most people probably walked by it every day without noticing.
The plaque’s presence, however, was criticized after the protest in Charlottesville, Virgina last Saturday. Some Montrealers took to social media and called the store to demand the plaque be removed. It was removed Tuesday.
Most people — Canadian and American — are unaware of Montreal’s role during the American Civil War. It was used as the Confederacy’s largest foreign secret service base.
According to an upcoming book, Montreal City of Secrets, by historian Barry Sheehy, Montreal banks and other Canadian financial institutions held a million dollars or more in hard currency or gold to fund clandestine activities.
From Montreal’s grand hotels, plots of all sorts were hatched, including the infamous St. Albans raid and the Lincoln kidnapping, which mutated into an assassination. Influential British-Canadian bankers joined Confederates as they launched a successful assault on the new Greenback.
When John Wilkes Booth was shot, a bank draft signed by Montreal banker and future mayor Henry Starnes was found in his coat pocket.
Mr. Sheehy told Le Devoir, “Most Canadians naively believe that Canada supported Abraham Lincoln’s war because they opposed slavery. The reality is much more complex. In fact, the issue of slavery seemed to be secondary for the Canadian colony. In summary, let us say that in the eyes of the British colonial power, the United States appeared easier to contain if they were disunited.
The 300-page book, which will be released by Bakara Books in October, reveals that Montreal’s Civil War stories are not limited to the Confederacy. The level of corruption in the Northern war effort, as suggested by the names registered at the St. Lawrence Hall — Montreal’s finest hotel — is breathtaking. Opposition to Lincoln from both parties ran deeper than is generally acknowledged.
Based on original archival research and his previous books on the Civil War, Mr. Sheehy challenges core tenets of the American Civil War narrative. His case is greatly reinforced by the many photos taken by internationally celebrated photographer William Notman. A number of these photos have never been published before.
Bakara Books will release the 300-page book in October. The French version will be published by Septentrion and released later.
Replace the plaque
If I can make one suggestion, I ask the Hudson’s Bay Company to replace the Davis plaque with one that recognizes John Lovell and his contribution to the city… and to genealogists.
A photo of the Jefferson Davis plaque can be seen in the Montreal Gazette.
Retardation from the south is creeping onto our shores. The best we can do is ignore the rhetoric that violently demands our history be erased.
The war was not about slavery but money, but people are blinded by emotions and by those who tell them what to think. It is the fancy belief that people believe a country values its citizens more than profit. We see it today; corporations always win and those who control the money control society and write the history books.
I would be livid if my family’s history was erased to appease the feelings of a bunch of snowflakes. If my ancestors served in the Confederate Army, I would be proud of them because they stood for what they believed in: freedom from oppression from the northern banks. There have been a few people over the past decade who suggested I should be ashamed of my father’s participation in the Second World War. I laugh at them.
Sadly, these social justice warriors will win by causing another civil war because–as history has proven–the peaceful majority are irrelevant. The radical big mouths force the violence upon us.
Thanks for bringing another part of our Unsavoury history to light! These are the things we need to know.
Most interesting. I was previously aware that many Canadians served on both side of the Civil War, but this book extends that information into a new area. I hope to get a copy. Thank you Gail. Cheers, Brenda Turner
My gggrandfather, Jules Tremblay, was mayor of Ste-Anne-de-bellevue and a rich land owner, from 1850´s to his death in 1885. In the late 1949, his granddaughter and wife of Dr Guénette mentions in a speech that Jules had given shelter to a Confederate high officer ( she writes Robert E. Lee but I am still looking for clues on this). During my search, I did learn that a lot of Confederate spies were plotting right here in Montreal and had ties with Canadian vip’s. Hum, looking forward reading that upcoming book!
Ginette Tremblay
Ottawa
Great story!