As punishment for failing to obey the Act of Uniformity, passed by the English Parliament in 1662, the Reverend Henry Erskine (1624-1696), a Scottish minister, was imprisoned. This law not only dictated the form of public prayers, administration of sacraments, and other rites of the Established Church of England, it also required Episcopal ordination for all ministers. Holding religious assemblies outside the Church of England, was also punishable by a fine and, in some cases, a jail term. After his release “by the king's indulgence” in 1685, Henry Erskine, by now in poor health and aging, was permitted to continue his ministry. He had married twice, and his two distinguished sons, Ebenezer and Ralph, were born to his second wife, Margaret Halcro.

The activities of Ebenezer Erskine (1680–1754), also a minister, led to the establishment of the Secession Church, formed by dissenters from the Church of Scotland. After studying at the University of Edinburgh he was ordained in 1703. He married Alison Turpie, the couple living in Portmoak for twenty-eight years and afterwards moving to Sterling. Some time before this, at the General Assembly of 1722, a group of men including Ebenezer had been rebuked for defending the doctrines contained in the book The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Edward Fisher. Filled with quotations from the great reformer, Martin Luther, and from the Puritans, this book emphasizes biblical and evangelical doctrines and sanctification by grace rather than by the law. Then in 1733, a sermon preached by Ebenezer Erskine on Lay Patronage, having to do with the freedom of congregations to elect their own pastor, led to new accusations being levelled against him. He was forced to appeal to the General Assembly, but it supported his accusers.

With others he was suspended and afterwards, in protest, the group formed a separate church court, under the name, Associate Presbytery. In 1739, they were summoned to appear before the General Assembly, but as they did not acknowledge its authority, they did not attend. They were deposed by the Church of Scotland the next year. In the following years a large number of people joined their communion. The Associate Presbytery remained united until 1747, when a division took place over how the church should respond to a new oath required of all burgesses. Erskine joined with the “burgher” section, becoming their professor of theology. He continued to preach to a large and influential congregation in Stirling until his death. He was a very popular preacher and a man of considerable force of character. He was noted for acting on principle with honesty and courage. In 1820 the burgher and anti-burgher sections of the Secession Church were reunited, followed, in 1847, by their union with the relief synod, as the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Ralph Erskine (1685-1752), Ebenezer Erskine's younger brother, a clergyman as well, perhaps lacked some of the intensity of his brother yet Robert Mackenzie says of him that he was “. . . gentler, more ideal, more mystical than his brother, fond of music and proficient on the violin.” Ralph, who graduated Master of Arts in 1704 from Edinburgh University was not one of the original Seceders of 1733 although he had been closely associated with his brother's stand on several controversies. However in 1740 when he was finally deposed by the General Assembly, he threw in his lot with Ebenezer and the Associate Presbytery. In 1711 he had been appointed as Minister of the Second Charge at the famous Dunfermline Abbey and in 1716 he became Minister of the First Charge of that Church. That he was a scholar and a theologian of considerable ability can be shown by the fact that his collected works in ten volumes passed through many editions.

In Montreal, the Erskine Presbyterian Church, after forming a congregation in 1832, took its name from the famous brothers. By 1934, when its members amalgamated with those of the American Presbyterian Church (formed in 1823), Erskine and American Church was established. In more recent times (2004) a further merger with St. Andrew's – Dominion Douglas marked the beginning of Mountainside United.

On April 18, 1948 Leslie Hall, in Mountainside United Church, was named for Mr. John Leslie. This signal honour was in recognition of Mr. Leslie's devoted lifetime commitment to, and participation in, the work of the congregation for sixty-three years. His vision and leadership provided the impetus for the location and building of the new church, then called Dominion Methodist, which opened for services in September 1914. In 1925 Douglas Methodist joined to form Dominion-Douglas, part of the United Church of Canada, which came into being on June 10 that same year.

Since 1901 Mr. Leslie had been a member of its Board of Trustees (serving as its Secretary since 1904) and Chairman of the Building Committee during the early years of the present church which was built in 1927.

John Leslie was born in Toronto on June 20, 1861. At age sixteen he became a junior clerk in the service of the Toronto Grey & Bruce Railway. For fifty-three years a “railroader”, he rose quickly in the business. After holding the position of Auditor and General Accountant he moved on to the Ontario and Quebec Railway as auditor. After the Canadian Pacific Railway took over Grey and Bruce Mr. Leslie was moved to Montreal in 1884, where he became Auditor of Disbursements. He quickly moved up through the management ranks becoming Comptroller in 1914 and by 1928 Vice-President, Finance and Treasurer. He retired in 1932. He established an intriguing link with the past when, in an interview with R.E. Knowles, he acknowledged that he had known some of the company's outstanding figures, Sir George Stephen (Lord Mount-Stephen), Sir William Van Horne, and Lord Shaughnessy.

During most of his career Mr. Leslie lived in Montreal and was a prominent member of the community. He belonged to the Saint James Club, Canadian Club, Montreal Club and Beaconsfield Golf Club, he was one of the founding directors of the Old Brewery Mission, and afterwards honorary president, a member of the American Railway Accounting Officers Association, a governor of the United Theological College and a trustee of Dominion-Douglas Church. He also served on the board of Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd.

The Certified General Accountants Association owes a great deal to Mr. Leslie, whose vision was behind its founding. With two fellow railway accountants, E.B. Manning and F.A. Cousins, he created a new accountancy fraternity, in Montreal, becoming its first president.

Its purpose was to “encourage improvement in skills and job performance” among those working in the profession. In 2008 CGA-Canada and its provincial and territorial affiliates jointly celebrated the national association’s remarkable first century. The small accounting club under the leadership of John Leslie in 1908 went on, in 1913, to receive a federal charter from the government of Canada. Today, CGA is the fastest-growing accounting designation in Canada with 68,000 members and students with affiliates in every Canadian province and territory as well as in Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Hong Kong, and has representation offices in China.

On November 6, 1890 John Leslie married Victoria Ada Alexander at Dominion Square Methodist Church in Montreal. He had two children, a daughter, Ada Pearl Leslie, in 1891 and a son, Eric Alexander Leslie in 1894. A pioneer in business computing his son contributed to the railway's integrated data processing operations, becoming the CPR's Vice-President and Controller from 1943 to 1955. Eric's son, Jack, also joined the CPR and remained an employee for forty-six years. When he retired in 1989 he was the railway's chief of transportation. John Leslie died at home, 74 Summit Circle, on December 7, 1949 at age 88.

In 1925 the congregations of two churches, Dominion Methodist and Douglas Methodist, amalgamated to establish Dominion-Douglas Church. Named for Dr. George Douglas, one of Canada's best known and most highly respected ministers, Douglas Methodist Church had been built in 1876 on St. Catherine Street at the corner of Chomedey. Reading about the Douglas family, one is struck immediately by their integrity, the strength of their faith, their courage, and the depth of their intellect.

The story begins in Ashkirk, in the Scotish Borders. John, the father, was a miller, but, while enduring a declining business, he was pursuaded to relocate in Montreal. Following some time later (in 1832) were his wife, Mary Hood Douglas, and their three sons; the youngest, George, was seven years old. He attended the British and Canadian School in Montreal and a private school in La Prairie before taking a job as a clerk in a Montreal bookstore. Hoping to become a marine engineer, he entered the ironworks of Sutherland and Burnett and attended design classes in the evening. Later delicate health forced him to abandon this ambition.

A convert to the Methodist Church, he became a class leader, a local preacher, and a probationer for the ministry. In 1849 he went to England to attend the Wesleyan Theological College. After his ordination, having been sent to Bermuda as a missionary, he contracted malaria. Eighteen months later feeble health compelled him to resign, whereupon he returned to Canada. One of the first orators of his church, he was stationed as a minister in Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, and Hamilton. His marriage to Maria Bolton Pearson in Toronto, on 28 November 1855, was blessed with the birth of four daughters, Mary, Mina, Alice, and one who died in childhood.

The disadvantages experienced during George Douglas' youth drove him to be a student throughout his life, his greatest interests lying in the fields of literature, philosophy, the natural sciences, and metaphysics. In 1869 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by McGill University. In 1873 he founded, and became first Principal of, the training college for Methodist ministers, Wesleyan Theologial College, McGill University. He remained in this position until his death. On 10 Feb. 1894 Dr. Douglas, ailing with encroaching paralysis and blindness, succumbed to pneumonia and, following a simple service, was buried in Mount Royal Cemetery. He had been admired for his uncomplaining endurance of physical affliction and his unwavering commitment to righteousness.

Remarkable contributions were made also by George and Maria Douglas' children and grandchildren. Alice, their youngest daughter travelled widely throughout Canada and the United States on an evangelical mission with her husband, John Arthur Vibert. Their son, George Vibert Douglas (grandson of George and Maria), born in 1892, attended McGill University, receiving a B.Sc. in 1920 and an M.Sc. the following year. He served as geologist on Sir Ernest Shackelton's “Quest” expedition (1921-1922) to Antarctica. In 1932 Professor George Vibert Douglas became the first incumbent in the newly established Carnegie Chair of Geology at Dalhousie University, a position he held until his retirement in 1957. His sister, Alice Vibert Douglas, was born the same year that their mother, father, and grandfather died, in 1894. She became a Canadian Astronomer and the first Canadian woman to become an astrophysicist.

During her extraordinary life of ninety-three years, Dr. Vibert Douglas was awarded many honours, including the Order of the British Empire and the Order of Canada.

Mina, the second daughter of George and Maria, born in Toronto in 1859, held the singular distinction of being the first woman to receive a diploma from McGill, (her Senior School Certificate in 1877). During the harsh winter of 1889-1890, Mina was encouraged by her father to address the problems of homelessness in Montreal. She recruited Mary Finley (later Adams*) and together these exceptional young Victorian women opened a soup kitchen. By occupying an abandoned brewery, their legacy became known as the Old Brewery Mission.

Sources: W. Stewart Wallace, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto,
University Associates of Canada.
Catherine Ridout, Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
Margaret Gillett We Walked Very Warily.
* Mary Finley married Frank Dawson Adams, Dean of Appied Sciences at McGill.

Miriam Tees begins a biography of her famous father, Dr. Frederick James Tees, with a touch of pride. But it is not about the leadership roles which Dr. Tees assumed, his athleticism, or even the honours with which he was showered, but rather, with an affecting personal note. Born on January 6, 1880, “he was educated at Victoria School,” she writes, “and Montreal High School, where he was never late or absent during the whole four years.” Was this an early life-lesson for his children, an illustration of his fundamental approach to excellence? If so, it was a successful one.

As an undergraduate at McGill (Hons. B.A. 1901) and President of his class, Dr. Tees had a distinguished academic and athletic record. He was keen on sports, especially in track and field. Canadian intercollegiate broad-jumping champion, he held the record for hurdling for many years. He was also President of the University Athletic Association. Climaxing a brilliant scholastic career, he received the Medical Society's Senior Prize upon graduation in Medicine in 1905.

He was an intern at the Montreal General Hospital until he went to England, France, and Germany (1907/1908) for post graduate studies in surgery. Returning home he joined the staff of the MGH as Senior Associate Surgeon and Medical Superintendent, remaining connected there all his life. After entering private practice in 1911 he was appointed lecturer in surgery at McGill. Continuing his interest in athletics, he was instrumental in founding the Amateur Athletic Association of Canada, serving as President for several years.

At the outbreak of World War I, Fred joined the 9th Field Ambulance Corp, and served in Canadian military hospitals in England and at the front. Attaining the rank of Captain, he was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in the field at Zellebeke (November 1916), where he administered aid to the wounded in battle for 60 hours without a rest. He later reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Returning to Canada he resumed his practice in Montreal as attending surgeon at the MGH and also linked up with Eaton's. He served as a school commissioner for the City of Westmount and also as a member of the Metropolitan Board of the YMCA. An enthusiastic photographer, he joined the Montreal Camera Club, becoming president, and exhibiting many of his photographs at salons around the world.

Not only were well-earned honours bestowed continually on Dr. Tees, he was willing always to take on many extra responsiblities. He was elected president of the Canadian Association of Clinical Surgeons at their 1936 annual meeting in Winnipeg. From the time he returned to Montreal from the war, he had served without honorarium as surgeon to McGill athletic teams, attending many football and hockey games and track meets. Also, as honorary adviser for the Victoria Hockey Club, he handled difficult surgical cases for Canadian athletes including members of Les Canadiens. On March 31, 1938, the prominent Montreal surgeon was the guest of honour at the third annual banquet of the McGill Graduates' Athletic Club. At the Dinner Dr. Tees was presented with a replica of The Sprinter sculpted by world-famous Canadian-born Sculptor, Dr. R. Tait McKenzie, R.C.A. Fred Tees was the model for the arms of The Sprinter, and Percy Molson, who was killed in the war, modelled the legs.

On June 24, 1942 with Dr. Tees as guest of honour, sportsmen from all branches of sport, athletes, and businessmen gathered at the Country Club at St. Lambert for the annual golf tournament of the Sportsmen's Association, the largest turnout in its ten year history. Each season the executive nominated an outstanding personality of this city to receive tribute from other sportsmen. For more than forty years Dr. Tees, distinguished lecturer and surgeon, had been associated with many phases of athletics in Montreal, particularly at McGill, where he was known as “Daddy Tees” to graduates and undergraduates alike. On this occasion he was presented with the British Consul Shield.

As mentioned, Dr. Tees had a long association with the Montreal General Hospital. At the time of his return from Europe in 1908, Dr. George Armstrong became his mentor there. Before long Fred was betrothed to Dr. Armstrong's second daughter, Beatrice. Miriam reports that her Father was able to afford to get married “in part because of the generosity of Mr. William Goodwin, then President of Goodwin's store and an active member of Dominion Square Methodist Church. Mr. Goodwin engaged Fred as attending physician to the store,” which was purchased by Eaton's in 1925. As strongly committed members of the same church, Beatrice and Fred were married there on September 5, 1911. They had two children, Miriam, still a devoted parishioner of Mountainside United Church, and Fred, a retired United Church minister who lives with his wife, Eunice, at Lac des Iles in the Laurentians.

Dr. and Mrs. Tees were very involved with the founding of Dominion-Douglas Church. Miriam tells us that, “they would often have Sunday tea with Mr. Leslie, who was in charge of the building of the new church, and the Tees and the Leslies would pour over plans.” Dr. Tees was Clerk of Session for over twenty-five years, and he and his wife served in many capacities including teaching Sunday School. They were regular attendants throughout their lives.

Dr. Tees died on October 30th, 1946. Dr. A. Lloyd Smith conducted the funeral service, one of the largest ever held at Dominion-Douglas. There was standing room only in the sanctuary and the gallery was crowded. He was a man beloved by all who knew him. His wife, Beatrice Mary Armstrong Tees, died on July 2, 1983 in her one hundredth year. She had attended worship service every Sunday until her health declined at the age of ninety-nine. She was active in all of the groups of the church and in particular the Women’s Missionary Society.

After his death, the DR. FRED TEES MEMORIAL TROPHY was established and is given annually by Athletics Canada to the outstanding male athlete of the year, enrolled at a Canadian university. TEES HALL at Dominion-Douglas Church (now Mountainside United Church) was named in honour of Dr. Tees, in grateful remembrance of the many years of service which he had contributed throughout his life.

The MIRIAM H. TEES SCHOLARSHIP was established in 1989 by friends, family, alumni, and colleagues to honour their daughter, Miriam H. Tees, B.L.S. 1951, M.L.S. 1975, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, McGill University.

Their son, Frederick Armstrong Tees, graduated from Selwyn House School (Class of '44). After his tour of duty with the Royal Canadian Navy, he studied for a B. Comm. and his High School Teaching Diploma (HSTD) (McGill). He became a teacher and athletic director at Selwyn House School for sixteen years. Returning to his studies he received his M. Div (Divinity) in 1974 from the United Theological College, and, after his ordination, served in several churches in Ontario and Québec.