Jonathan Saxton Campbell Würtele was a Quebec seigneur, lawyer, judge and political figure.
Background
He was born at Quebec City in 1828, the son of merchant Jonathan Würtele. After the death of his father in 1853, he inherited the seigneuries of Deguire (also known as Rivière-David), Bourg-Marie-Est, Saint-François and Louisiana Lussaudière.
Education
He attended Quebec High School, studied law privately with Jean Chabot, and was called to the bar in 1850.
Career
He represented Yamaska in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1875 to 1886. He practiced law at Montreal with Henry Hague Judah. He settled at Saint-David-d"Yamaska, where he served as justice of the peace, chairman of the school board and mayor.
He helped found the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste there and also served as its president
He founded the Yamaska Navigation Company in 1858 which transported goods along the Yamaska and Saint-François Rivers. Würtele was chief clerk of the Seigneurial Commission, charged with settling the claims for compensation following the abolition of seigneurial tenure in 1854.
He also taught commercial law at McGill College. He received the degree of B. C. L. from McGill in 1870, and of Doctorate. C. L. in 1882.
In 1873, he was named Queen"s Counsel.
He was made an officer of public instruction in 1880 and an officer of the Legion of Honor in France in 1882. Würtele negotiated a loan in France for the province of Quebec in 1880, and organized at the same time the Cr foncier Franco Canadien, of which he was a director He has been counsel of the German Society of Montreal, and has held the offices of chief clerk of the seignioral commission, mayor of Saint David, and president of the school commissioners of that place.
Würtele was elected to the legislature of Quebec, reelected in 1878 and in 1881, and again in 1882 on his being appointed provincial treasurer.
He served as provincial treasurer from 1882 to 1884 and speaker for the legislative assembly from 1884 to 1886. In 1886, he was named judge in the Quebec Superior Court, first for Ottawa district and, in 1888, for Montreal district.
In 1891, he was named associate judge in the Court of Queen"s Bench and, in 1892, puisne judge in the same court. He wrote Manual of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (Quebec, 1885).
He died at Montreal in 1904 and was buried in the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.