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The principal promoter of winter navigation between Quebec and Levis and built the steamer Northern Light which plied between P.E.I. and the mainland, for that purpose. He was a harbour commissioner for Quebec.⁶

EDWARD HAMILTON SEWELL-The major portion of the life of Edward Hamilton Sewell, of the City of Quebec, was spent in the service of the Canadian Pacific Railway, in the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario. His life was consecrated to the advancement of the Province of Quebec through his work with the great railway system with which he was for years associated, nor did he confine himself to that but took a deep and abiding interest in all civic enterprises and gave his time and energies to promote all worthy causes affecting the people. Quebec had no better example of public spirited citizen than he, for, while he was a native of this Province, his blood was American of English ancestry. He was serving as passenger agent of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Sherbrooke, Quebec, at the time of his death, May 18, 1916.
Descended from one of the oldest of New England families, distinguished for their many achievements in business, professional and public life, the Sewells of Quebec note that the first representative of the family to locate on Canadian soil was the Hon. Chief Justice Sewell, who was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1766 and was sent to England, where he received his education at Bristol and Cambridge University. After the close of the War of the Revolution he came to Canada and located in the Province of New Brunswick in 1785, where he took up the study of law in the office of Mr. Chipman, who became the famous Judge Chipman. Completing his course of study in 1789, he came to Quebec, where he was admitted to practice, October 30, 1789, and at once began his professional career. He became solicitor general in 1793 and in 1795 advocate and attorney general and judge of the Court of Vice Admiralty. He was also a burgess in the Provincial Parliament for the Royal Borough of William Henry and continued to represent that Borough for three successive terms. In 1808 he was appointed Chief Justice of Lower Canada and president of the Executive Council. He functioned in the first named office until 1838, resigning from the second in 1829. He was appointed, July 19, 1809, Speaker of the Legislative Council and held that office until his death in the City of Quebec, November 12, 1839, at the age of seventy-three years. He was the father of three sons: Rev. E. W; Sheriff W., and Dr. James A., of further mention. Dr. James A. Sewell, who was born in Quebec, took up the study of medicine and to that end attended the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was graduated with his degree and returned to Canada. Here he practiced his profession and lived the remainder of his life. He attained a high reputation and for years was Dean of the faculty at Laval University. He was a member of the Church of England. Edward L. Sewell, son of Dr. James A. Sewell, grandson of the Hon. Chief Justice Sewell and father of Edward Hamilton Sewell, was born and grew to manhood in Quebec. He became engaged in the lumber business and eventually was one of the greatest lumber manufacturers in the Province. He married Emily Housman, and they were the parents of three children:
1. Edward Hamilton, of whom further. 2. Mrs. E. A. Bishop, of Quebec. 3. Mrs. C.C. Pangman, of St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Sewell was born in the City of Quebec, March 17, 1875, a son of Edward L. and Emily (Housman) Sewell, and was educated in the public schools. Upon his graduation from high school he entered the lumber business with his father, spending six years in that occupation and then going to Ottawa, where he became passenger agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway and held the post for five years, then being transferred to Sherbrooke, where he performed the same duties for the following twelve years, his death terminating a career of splendid promise and usefulness at a comparatively early age. He was a member of the Church of England, a Conservative in politics and belonged to the order of Free and Accepted Masons and to the Knights Templar Commandery of that organization. Edward Hamilton Sewell married in Quebec, in 1899, Mabel J. Ross, daughter of Henry and Harriet (Sait) Ross, and a sister of the late Ernest Ross. Mrs. Sewell now makes her home at the Chateau St. Louis, on Grande Allee, City of Quebec. The career of Edward Hamilton Sewell was of value to the public of the Dominion, in that he gave to that service a great ability and his whole strength. He was a man of most engaging personal qualities, with a host of staunch friends, whose esteem for him was as sincere as was their grief at his passing. 288 The Storied Province of Quebec.

DURHAM — Elsa S. Brodie, 95, a resident of Edgewood Road, Durham, N.H., left this world to be with Jesus on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011, at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover after a brief illness.

Elsa was born in Lebanon, Maine on Oct. 17, 1916, the daughter of Edward and Ruth (Lord) Sewell and attended Lebanon schools. She lived in Durham for most of her life.
She was a homemaker for many years, where she enjoyed gardening, making rugs, photography and oil painting.
Elsa was a member of the Durham Evangelist Church in Durham.
She was predeceased by her parents and three brothers and one sister.
She is survived by her son, Edward Brodie of Lebanon and a daughter, Marima Estaver of Rochester.²