John Henderson & Co. was a renowned hat, caps, and fur store in Montreal in the 19th century. Around 1834, William S. Henderson (1810-1857) set up a store in Quebec City called William Ashton & Co. In 1837, he bought out his partners' interests and in 1847, he renamed it William S. Henderson & Co. In 1852, he sold the store to his brother John Henderson (1819–1885), a Montreal businessman, and it became John Henderson & Co. The store sold luxury goods that complemented the merchandise sold in the department stores. In 1862, John brought George Richard Renfrew (1831-1897) into the partnership and the firm became Henderson, Renfrew and Company.

John Egan & Co. was a timber company founded by John Egan (1811-1857), an Irish businessman and politician who lived in Aylmer, Lower Canada. Egan's co-founders included the timber exporter Henry LeMesurier, William Henry Tilstone, and Havilland LeMesurier Routh. John Egan & Co.'s primary trade was in red pine and they constructed timber slides in Upper and Lower Canada on the Quyon, Petawawa, and Madawaska rivers. In the 1840s, the company expanded to the management of several sawmills and launched a steamer transportation system to compete with existing steamship lines. John Egan died in 1857 and a significant portion of his lumber operations were sold to John Rudolphus in 1867. John Egan & Co. was sold to James Bonfiled and Robert Turner in 1868.

Herman Smith-Johannsen was a pioneer in the sport of skiing in Quebec. He laid hundreds of miles of cross country ski trails in the Laurentian mountains north of Montreal and was involved in cross country skiing marathons even into his 107th year. He had some involvement in downhill skiing, encouraging his children to become involved at the Olympic level.

Herman was born in Norway on the 15th of June, 1875. He spent some time as a cadet in the Royal Norwegian Army Reserve before going on to the University of Berlin to study engineering in 1894. As a student he joined the fratetrnity, Berolina, adopting its motto "never rest and never rust" and acquiring the nickname "Jonas".

On a visit to Norway in 1987, he died of pneumonia on January 5th at the age of 111. His ashes were flown back to Canada so that he could be buried next to his wife, Alice according to his last request. The graves, in the cemetery at the church of St. Francis of the Birds in St. Sauveur, are marked by a granite boulder bearing their names and dates.