Francis H. Clergue
Francis Hector Clergue (August 28, 1856 - January 19, 1939) was an American entrepreneur, promoter, and lawyer from Bangor, Maine, who transformed Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario from a small town into a significant industrial city between 1894 and 1903. He is best remembered for building an industrial empire -- steel mills, pulp mills, hydroelectric power, lumber operations, and railways -- that employed thousands of people. He is also notable for the influence he appears to have exerted on J.J. Carrick, the real estate promoter and politician who adopted Clergue's methods in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario.
Background and early career
Clergue was born on August 28, 1856, in Brewer, Maine, across the Penobscot River from Bangor. He studied law at the University of Maine and was called to the Bar in Maine in 1878. Before arriving in Sault Ste. Marie, Clergue had attempted approximately fourteen entrepreneurial ventures, most of which failed financially despite being bold in vision. He was a man of vision and persuasion who could charm money from investors worldwide, but whose financial management left much to be desired.
His notable early projects included:
- Construction of an electric street railway in Bangor (1880), after consulting with Thomas Edison.
- Development of a cog railway and luxury resort at Green Mountain (now Cadillac Mountain), Mount Desert Island, Maine (1883); it was sold at a sheriff's sale in 1893.
- An attempted railway concession across Persia (1888), frustrated when Russia secured first right of refusal over all Persian railways.
- A pulp mill near Bangor; various mining speculations; and a failed power plant development on the Penobscot River.
In 1894, Clergue arrived in Sault Ste. Marie representing a group of Philadelphia investors with an option to develop a local power plant. He immediately recognized the transformational potential of the site: cheap hydroelectric power from the St. Mary's River, vast timber reserves, and proximity to iron ore deposits.
The Sault Ste. Marie empire
Clergue's promotional style was that of the classic "carnival barker" entrepreneur: creating excitement, attracting capital from distant investors, naming operations grandly, and moving on to the next scheme before the last one failed. He built or founded the Lake Superior Power Company, the Algoma Steel Corporation, the Algoma Central Railway, a pulp mill, and numerous subsidiary companies -- all within a decade.
His residence, Montfermier, was a two-storey sandstone mansion on a hilltop overlooking the city, surrounded by 20 acres of lawns and gardens.
Family
Clergue was one of seven children of Joseph Hector Clergue (born in Lorient, France; died 1909) and Frances Clarissa Lombard Clergue (died 1912). His siblings who played a role in his business career were:
- Bertrand Joseph Clergue -- youngest brother, MIT engineering graduate, chief technical lieutenant in Sault Ste. Marie.
- Ernest Victor Clergue -- managed the Helen Mine at Michipicoten; died in Chicago in January 1902.
- Grace Clergue Harrison (Mrs. William Lynde Harrison, married November 12, 1900).
- Josephine Clergue Pol (Mrs. Bernard Pol, married October 12, 1876).
- Gertrude Alice Clergue -- lived with Francis Hector in Montreal until his death.
- Helen Clergue -- died in England in May 1938.
Collapse and later career
By 1903, Clergue's control over the Sault Ste. Marie industrial empire had collapsed. Overextended, he resigned as a director and employee of the Allied Companies in April 1903 at the insistence of his principal financiers, Speyer and Company. He relocated to Montreal and never lived in Sault Ste. Marie again, though he returned briefly in 1923 and 1937.
After the collapse, Clergue reinvented himself as a lobbyist and promoter. He spent time in Russia, befriended Grand Duke Nicholas, and returned to Europe before World War I. He secured shell-manufacturing contracts for the Canadian Car and Foundry Company of Montreal, and was elected its director in January 1920, remaining on its executive committee until his death.
Connection to J.J. Carrick
J.J. Carrick arrived in Sault Ste. Marie in 1902 -- just as Clergue's empire was entering its final crisis -- and purchased property there before moving to Port Arthur in 1903. In 1911, by then an MP for Port Arthur, Carrick purchased Clergue's own hilltop property and residence. In 1913, Carrick and Bertrand Joseph Clergue traveled together from Bristol to Montreal aboard the same ship.
A 1915 newspaper profile of Carrick noted that he had "obtained a grant of real estate interests in the Sault Ste. Marie under the careful tutelage of" a mentor there, before "developing real estate interests in the same way in Port Arthur." The parallels between Clergue's methods and Carrick's subsequent career in Port Arthur are striking: both identified undervalued land, gave developments appealing names, attracted British and Eastern Canadian capital, and used personal charisma and political connections to promote buying. The Rockefeller story sometimes told about Carrick's early career has been largely discredited in favour of the Clergue connection.
Death
Francis Hector Clergue died in Montreal on January 19, 1939, at the age of 82, three days after suffering a heart attack. He was buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Bangor, Maine.
Sources
- "Francis H. Clergue -- The Personality." Sault Ste. Marie Public Library, Sault History website. [1] (c) Sault Ste. Marie Public Library 2008.
- The Sault Star, November 2, 1911, Page 1 ("Carrick Gets It -- Buys Clergue Property").
- Aurora Banner, June 5, 1915, Page 3 (J.J. Carrick profile noting Sault Ste. Marie tutelage).
- The Gazette (Montreal), June 26, 1913, Page 2 (Royal George passenger list showing Carrick and B.J. Clergue traveling together).