7-° PAST AND PRESENT OF Academy at Charlottetown . On leaving school he entered the mercantile business with James Peake , of Charlottetown , with whom he remained for many years. He then engaged in the building and selling of ships, which he followed continuously un¬ til 1892, since which time he has been prac¬ tically retired from active pursuits. He has been deeply interested in the prosperity of Prince Edward Island and has held close and serviceable connection with a number of important enterprises. He was for sev¬ eral years a director of the Merchants' Bank, also of the Charlottetown Steam Naviga¬ tion Company, and the Marine Insurance Company; and from i 860 until 1866 he was post master general of Prince Edward Is ¬ land. In June, 1873, he entered the Coun¬ cil and in September of the following year he was appointed president. He occupied a seat in the Legislature from 1866 to 1872, when he was defeated, but he was re-elected at the last general election prior to 1874, from which time he was in Parliament until the dissolution. In July, 1861, he married Miss Lois Welsh , daughter of Charles Welsh , Esq., of Mt. Edgecomb, in Char¬ lottetown , and to them were borri three children: William Edgar Wallace , of St. Paul, Minnesota ; Lemuel C. Jr ., who married Miss Katie Frazier and is manager of the Bank of Ottawa, in Toronto ; and Marion Adelle , who is deceased. In poli¬ tics Mr. Owen has been a staunch supporter of the Conservative party and in religion he is an adherent of the Church of England. He has Jived a long and honourable life in this community and is today enjoying the absolute confidence and warm regard of all who know him, here and elsewhere, in con¬ sequence of his sterling worth. Edilbert Poirier , who in 1903 pur¬ chased and is now engaged in operating the farm formerly owned by the late Senator Arsenault , at Abrams Village , Lot 15, Prince county, was born in Lot 16 , and is a son of Laurent and Mary (Arsenault) Poirier, former being a first cousin of Sen¬ ator Arsenault and the latter a daughter of Fidele Arsenault . Laurent Poirier 's father, Thaddie Poirier, is still living at the age of ninety-six years. He was born at Malpeque , Lot 16 , and recently gave the writer the fol¬ lowing facts concerning his ancestry. His father was Prospere Poirier , who married, in Prince Edward Island , Miss Rose Arsen ¬ ault. Prospere Poirier 's father was Joseph Poirier , who came from St. Malo, , to Halifax, thence to Cumberland , Nova Scotia . He married Miss Marie Benault . Prospere Poirier was the first of his family to locate in Prince Edward Island , settling first at Malpeque . The subject's maternal grandmother, Isabella (DesRoches) Poir¬ ier, who is now living at the age of ninety- three years, is a daughter of Laurent and Madeline (Neil) DesRoches, who came from Minoudie, Nova Scotia . Laurent Des ¬ Roches' father, Basil DesRoches , first set¬ tled at Miscouche , Prince Edward Island . Edilbert Poirier was given the advan¬ tage • of a good education in the public schools" of the neighbourhood in which he was reared and was inducted in the se¬ crets of husbandry under the wise instruc¬ tions of his father. He has always given an intelligent and thoughtful attention to agricultural matters and is acknowledged to be one of the leading farmers in this section of the province. In 1903 he purchased the farm and homestead formerly the property of the late Senator Arsenault , comprising