(died 28 Jan. 1967, aged 81), dentist. (Dr Hugh L. Cheney, H. L. Cheney) Born at Vankleek Hill. Parents: Mr and Mrs A. G. Cheney. A. G. Cheney, the father of the subject of the present entry, was co-owner of a sawmill and woodworking mill at Vankleek Hill, and served as mayor of Vankleek Hill. Dr Cheney began a medical practice in Alexandria in the fall of 1908, having bought the equipment of Dr Garland, a popular young dentist who had recently died. (Glengarry News 25 Sept. 1908; for Dr Garland, see the entry for John Angus McMillan) “For the next 34 years” Dr Cheney was among Alexandria’s “most active citizens playing a part in almost all fields of community life”; he was “a leading citizen of Alexandria throughout much of his lifetime.” A noted hockey player in his youth, he was later a leader in Alexandria in the milder games of curling and lawn bowling. He worked for the Alexandria Protestant church, was a Mason and a worker for the local Liberal organization, and was on the high school board. “Dr. Cheney was largely instrumental in bringing Hydro to Alexandria in 1920.” (Earlier, the town had its own electrical system) Dr Cheney left Alexandria in 1942 for war service with the Royal Canadian Dental Corps, and in the fall of 1945, while awaiting release from the dental corps, Capt. Cheney, as he now was, began a dental practice in Ottawa (Glengarry News 20 Nov. 1942, 2 Nov. 1945), thus ending his long connection with Alexandria, except for frequent later visits. Dr Cheney was married, at Thomasburg, Ontario, in June 1911, to Elizabeth Porter, of Thomasburg. (three children) He died in an Ottawa hospital, and is buried at Thomasburg. See also Clarence Ostrom.

Glengarry News 2 Feb. 1967 (QF) * marriage: Vankleek Hill Review 16 June 1911(from GN), repr. Vankleek Hill Review 28 Feb. 2001 * GN 20 Oct. 1933, article on him repr. from Ottawa Citizen * MacKinnon: index (Cheney family) * Ostrom 105, 203a *home from honeymoon, GN 23 June 1911 * honoured by Masons, Alexandria, GN 25 Nov. 1938 * pictured (group portrait., early 1900s) with the St. Finnan’s Hockey Team, of which, although a Protestant, he was the captain, GN 10 Sept. 2003