and was forced to take refuge in the United States, along with one of
his sons, the late L. P. R. Blanchard, C.E. and P.L.S. Mr. Belanger
studied at St. Hyacinthe College from 1853 until 1860, when he removed
to Sherbrooke, and spent two years as professor in the old Commercial
French College of those days, and in this town he has resided ever
since. He began the study of law in 1862, with the late William-Locker
Felton, Q.C., who sat in parliament for Richmond and Wolfe, during the
years 1854-’58, and took an active part in the separate school bill then
before the house,—his wife being a Roman Catholic and one of the most
accomplished women of her time—and was admitted to the bar of Quebec
province, in October, 1866. On the 13th October, 1866, he entered into
partnership with H. C. Cabana, now joint prothonotary of the Superior
Court for the district of St. Francis, as advocates, etc., and with him
established the _Pionnier de Sherbrooke_ newspaper, being the first
French newspaper published in the Eastern Townships. In July, 1874, the
partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Belanger practised law alone for a
while. In the autumn of that year, he and his brother, L. A. Belanger,
purchased the _Sherbrooke News_ and started the _Progrès_, both of which
they published until May, 1878, when they sold their establishment to a
company by which the _Pionnier_ has been published ever since. In 1882,
he started the _Progrès de l’Est_, which he handed to his brother now
with him, and to which he is an active contributor. He was a member of
the 53rd battalion from 1882 until 1885, as active captain of No. 4
company, composed chiefly of French Canadians. From 1881 until 1883, he
occupied a seat in the council, and was president of the St. Jean
Baptiste Society in 1874, at the time of the National Convention at
Montreal, and also in 1884, when the great celebration took place in the
same city. Was one of the organizers of the St. Joseph Society, a
Workingmen’s Mutual Benefit Society, in 1874. He has also been a school
commissioner ever since 1865. In August, 1874, he was made honorary
member of the St. Patrick’s Society, of Sherbrooke and vicinity. In
1876, he contested Richmond and Wolfe with Lieutenant-Colonel Hanning
for the House of Commons, secured a majority of 114 in Wolfe, but was
defeated by a larger majority against him in Richmond. Again, in
February 1887, he contested the seat in Sherbrooke with R. N. Hall, the
sitting member. There had been no contested election in that
constituency for the Commons up till this time, since 1867, but after a
most gallant fight, he was defeated. He had conducted the Crown business
(French cases), ever since 1878, and he is now the sole Crown Prosecutor
for the district of St. Francis, since February, 1887. In religion, he
is a Roman Catholic, but well-known for his liberal views in religious
and educational matters. In politics, he is an independent Conservative,
but separated from the present government on account of the North-West
troubles. On October 23rd, 1865, whilst studying law, he married
Margaret Henrietta Bradshaw Unsworth, daughter of the late James
Unsworth, who came from England to this country about the year 1852, and
was engaged on the editorial staff of the Montreal _Gazette_ for a
while, after which he removed to St. Hyacinthe, where he held the office
of agent for the Grand Trunk Railway Company, and died of cholera in