| (//fl//. 1880s), journalist. Stilwell, having previously been the editor of the //Fort William Echo//, arrived in Alexandria in Aug. 1885 as the editor of the Alexandria newspaper, the //Glengarry Review//. Under his direction, this Liberal newspaper was changed to a Conservative newspaper from about the beginning of 1886. At this time, also, its name was changed to the //Glengarrian//. The local Conservative magnate R.R. (Big Rory) McLennan was thought to be the behind-the-scenes operator who arranged and financed this change of political allegiance. While this was happening, the //Glengarrian// was the sole newspaper in GC. The //Glengarry Times//, of Lancaster, had ceased publication in 1883 (see J.C. McNEIL), and the //Glengarry News//, founded as a Liberal organ to counteract the //Glengarrian//, did not begin publication till 1892. | (//fl//. 1880s), journalist. Stilwell, having previously been the editor of the //Fort William Echo//, arrived in Alexandria in Aug. 1885 as the editor of the Alexandria newspaper, the //Glengarry Review//. Under his direction, this Liberal newspaper was changed to a Conservative newspaper from about the beginning of 1886. At this time, also, its name was changed to the //Glengarrian//. The local Conservative magnate R.R. (Big Rory) McLennan was thought to be the behind-the-scenes operator who arranged and financed this change of political allegiance. While this was happening, the //Glengarrian// was the sole newspaper in GC. The //Glengarry Times//, of Lancaster, had ceased publication in 1883 (see [[mcneil_james_c|J.C. McNEIL]]), and the //Glengarry News//, founded as a Liberal organ to counteract the //Glengarrian//, did not begin publication till 1892. |
| <tab>Stilwell played his part with vigour in the fiercely contested GC general election campaign of 1887, with the result that he was charged with libelling the Liberal candidate Patrick Purcell. Purcell would probably have let the charge drop, but Stilwell rashly reactivated it by charging Purcell with false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. The outcome was that Stilwell was sentenced to a fine and a month in Cornwall jail. He was released, almost certainly through Purcell’s intervention, on an order from the governor general before the month was up. Back in Alexandria, his safe and other property were seized by John A. McDougald for non-payment of rent. Stilwell must by this time have been in acute financial difficulties; in any case his troubles had mounted, and at the end of 1887 he fled from Alexandria. | <tab>Stilwell played his part with vigour in the fiercely contested GC general election campaign of 1887, with the result that he was charged with libelling the Liberal candidate Patrick Purcell. Purcell would probably have let the charge drop, but Stilwell rashly reactivated it by charging Purcell with false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. The outcome was that Stilwell was sentenced to a fine and a month in Cornwall jail. He was released, almost certainly through Purcell’s intervention, on an order from the governor general before the month was up. Back in Alexandria, his safe and other property were seized by John A. McDougald for non-payment of rent. Stilwell must by this time have been in acute financial difficulties; in any case his troubles had mounted, and at the end of 1887 he fled from Alexandria. |
