MARVEN, BLISS ADAM (1861-1938)

MARVEN, BLISS ADAM, doctor; b. Shemogue, Westmorland, Co., N.B., 10 Dec 1861, s/o Josiah Broad Marven and Margaret Elizabeth Avard; m. 1888, Margaret Frances Dobson, of Stony Creek, Westmorland Co., N.B.; d. Moncton, 22 Aug 1938.

Bliss A. Marven came from a family which gave society two dentists, a medical doctor, and "Marven the Biscuit King"; that is, Joseph Avard Marven, the founder of the J. A. Marven Co., of Moncton, which was one of the most successful biscuit producers in Canada in the earlier decades of the 20th century.

Marven was an 1879 graduate of the Provincial Normal School and taught briefly at Dorchester and Port Elgin. Afterwards, he pursued premedical and medical studies at St Joseph's College, the Halifax Medical College, and the University of Vermont (MD 1886). After he graduated, he practiced for a year at Albert, N.B. He then practiced and conducted a drug store at Hillsborough until 1909, when he relocated in Chatham. He had a reputation as a skilled practitioner who was "conscientious in his work and ambitious to keep abreast of the latest developments." On more than one occasion, he enrolled in upgrading courses in New York. He also took an interest in science in general and served as president of the Miramichi Natural History Association from 1914 to 1916.

Like many other persons with money to invest Marven became interested in the fox ranching business which sprang up in the pre-war period to meet a huge demand for fox pelts in the fashion industry. In 1913 he was an incorporator and president of the Miramichi Black Fox Co., which was said to own one of the best fox breeding ranches in the province at Douglastown.

After some twenty years as a medical practitioner at Chatham, in combination with a period of service as a coroner, Marven retired. Soon afterwards, he moved to Moncton, where he was survived in 1938 by his wife, Margaret F. Dobson, and two daughters, one of whom was Alice D. Marven, the wife of John A. Creaghan.