Wordless Wednesday: Three Young Doukhobor Women

Three young Doukhobor women, dressed in traditional clothing.

Left to right: Mary and Mabel Tomelin and Mabel Demoskoff, about 1918-1920,
probably in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Follow Friday: Voyageurs Contracts Database

While doing background research for a post I’m preparing about my Métis ancestry, I came across a very interesting website. It’s the Voyageurs Contracts Database, which is part of the Centre du patrimoine [Heritage Centre] located in Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, Canada.

If you have Métis or French-Canadian ancestors who were involved in the fur trade (for example, a voyageur*), you’ll find this database really useful. The main page of the Voyageurs Contracts Database explains that its database “includes data from approximately 35,900 fur trade contracts signed in front of Montreal notaries between 1714 and 1830. […] The information collected from the contracts includes: family names, parishes of origin, hiring company, length of contract, destination(s) […]” and more.

* A “voyageur” is a French term that means ‘traveler’. “Voyageurs were the canoe transportation workers in organized, licensed long distance transportation of furs and trade goods in the interior of the continent. [They] were highly valued employees of trading companies, such as the North West Company […] and the Hudson's Bay Company […]”. (Source: Wikipedia contributors, "Voyageurs," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Voyageurs&oldid=418895640 : accessed March 16, 2011).)



Shooting the Rapids (1879)

 (Image source: Frances Anne Hopkins, Library and Archives Canada, acc. no. 1989-401-2, c002774.)

I searched for my ancestor “Toussaint Laronde” using the Database’s Quick Search page. I put “toussaint” in the keywords field and “laronde” in the names field. There were two results; both were my Toussaint. I then clicked ‘Details’ for the results and found items like date, place and length of his contracts, his functions, his wages, and his destinations. (The contracts are dated 13 April 1803 and 28 July 1821.) Next, I clicked ‘Select’, and then ‘View Selections’, where I requested copies of Toussaint’s contracts. In my email, I also asked for the total cost and how I could pay. The archivist promptly answered my questions and said I could pay with PayPal, cheque or money order.

I’m now waiting anxiously for the mail to arrive with paper copies of the microfilmed version of Toussaint’s voyageur contracts!

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Tombstone Tuesday: Clara Strukoff

Two days ago on Sunday, I posted Clara's obituary. Today, I’m following up that post with a scanned image of her gravemarker. Clara is interred in the U.S.C.C. Doukhobor Cemetery in Grand Forks, British Columbia.


Clara Strukoff gravemarker.


Clara's gravemarker reads:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

CLARA R STRUKOFF

1955 – 1981

BUDDED ON EARTH TO BLOOM IN HEAVEN

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Sunday's Obituary: Clara Strukoff

Clara, my husband’s cousin, was the youngest daughter of George and Marie (Jmieff) Demoskoff. She died of cancer on 18 November 1981 in Trail, British Columbia, 31 years ago today. Clara was only 26 years old and the mother of a little girl Tracey. She was interred in the U.S.C.C. Doukhobor Cemetery in Grand Forks, British Columbia.



Clara Strukoff obituary, 1981.


Source: “Strukoff”, obituary, undated clipping [November 1981], from unidentified newspaper; Demoskoff Family Papers, privately held by Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff, British Columbia, 2012. Yvonne acquired an assortment of family memorabilia (including Clara’s obituary) in January 2012 from her father-in-law William (Bill) Demoskoff.

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Vanasse - St Martin

David and Marie Louise Vanasse Wedding, 1929.


A lovely country wedding photo of my paternal great-uncle David Vanasse and his bride Marie Louise St-Martin. David, 26 years old, was the son of Olivier and Elisabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse. Marie Louise, who was just 18 years old, was the daughter of Charles and Emélie (Brunet) St-Martin.

The couple (seen on the far right in the photo) married on 12 June 1929 in St-Alphonse parish church in Chapeau, Pontiac County, Quebec. Their marriage record states that one bann was published and that a dispensation was granted for the other two banns. The witnesses were Leo St-Martin (Marie Louise's brother) and Agnes Vanasse (David's sister), who appear on the far left in the photo.

Some of David's family and relatives spelled their surname "Venasse", but my grandmother Julie (Julia) always spelled her surname "Vanasse".

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Tombstone Tuesday: Fred and Julie Belair

Fred and Julie Belair gravemarker.

My paternal grandparents, Fred and Julie (Vanasse) Belair, rest in Timmins Memorial Cemetery in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. Fred was the fifth, but third surviving son of Pierre and Angélina (Meunier) Belair. Julie was the fifth child and third daughter of Olivier and Elisabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse. Fred and Julie married in October 1926 in Ottawa, Ontario. (You can read about their marriage at Sentimental Sunday: Fred and Julie Belair.) My grandmother passed away in March 1967 in Timmins. My grandfather, who survived her by nearly 24 years, died in January 1991 in Peterborough, Ontario.

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Matrilineal Monday: Eugène Desgroseilliers

My maternal grandfather Eugène Desgroseilliers' matrilineal line is relatively long: it extends 12 generations. His matrilineal ancestry reaches back to the early 1600s to his 9x great-grandmother Marie Bruyère who was born and died in France. Marie and her husband did not immigrate to New France (Canada). Their daughter Marie, probably born in Cognac, Saintonge, France, arrived in Montreal in November 1653.

Eugène Desgroseilliers's Matrilineal Ancestry:

1. Eugène Desgroseilliers (1900-1960)

m. 1925 Juliette Beauvais

2. Clémentine Léveillé (1878-1969)

m. 1899 Albert Desgroseilliers

3. Cordélia Racette (1849-1928)

m. 1870 Joseph Léveillé

4. Marcelline Gagnon (1831-1918)

m. 1847 Joseph Racette

5. Marguerite Ducasse (1804-1872)

m. 1823 Charles Gagnon

6. Marguerite Charland (1788-after 1851)

m. 1802 François Ducasse

7. Geneviève Rouillard (1756-1815)

m. (1) 1773 Jean-Baptiste Charland

8. Marie Josephe Truchon (1726-1784)

m. (2) 1750 Pierre Rouillard

9. Marie Josephe Charpentier (1698-1729)

m. 1720 Pierre Truchon dit Léveillé

10. Françoise Hunault (1667-1748)

m. (2) 1691 Gilles (Jean) Charpentier

11. Marie Lorgueil (about 1636-1700)

m. 1654 Toussaint Hunault

12. Marie Bruyère (?-?)

m. Pierre Lorgeuil

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Lapierre Golden Wedding Anniversary

Almina (Belair) Lapierre was the half-sister of my paternal grandfather Fred Belair. She was born on 8 July 1902 in Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Quebec. She was the fourth child and youngest daughter of Pierre Janvry dit Belair by his second wife Mathilde (Domitille) Cloutier. Pierre had 11 children, including my grandfather, by his first wife Angélina Meunier, and 5 children by his second wife Mathilde. 

Almina married Alexandre Lapierre on 9 November 1927 in Masham. I don’t believe that I ever met Alex, who died in 1981, but I knew Almina, because I met her at her daughter Suzanne’s home in Aylmer, Quebec in the early 1980s. I remember being thrilled and honoured to meet her: she was my grandfather’s only surviving sibling by that time when my Dad and I visited her. She was very kind to us, and didn’t mind my asking her lots of questions about my grandparents Fred and Julie. She and my Mémère Julie were great friends and I loved hearing her reminiscences of when they were young.

English translation:

Golden Wedding [Anniversary]

Mr. and Mrs. Alex Lapierre, née Almine Bélair, celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. They were wed on 9 November 1927, at Masham, where they resided until 1954, when they established themselves at North Onslow and they live presently at Quyon, where the celebration took place. They have two daughters and five sons and count fifteen [16] grandchildren. On this occasion, a mass of thanksgiving was celebrated at the parish church by abbot Gary Cain, priest. The singing was performed by Eleanor Foran and the McKenny sisters. A reception followed bringing together numerous family and friends.

Source: "Noces d'or", undated clipping, 1977, from unidentified newspaper; Belair Family Papers, privately held by Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff, British Columbia, 2012. Yvonne acquired this newspaper clipping possibly from her aunt Joan (Belair) Laneville in the 1990s.

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Workday Wednesday: The Pipeline Accident

You are born, grow to adulthood, work at a job you like, marry, have a family, and you think, “Life’s good.”

But, life has a way of taking unexpected turns.

My father experienced such a turn. Thirty-four years ago today, his life changed dramatically.

Dad was a welder, since about 1952. He didn’t start out that way, though; it just kind of happened while working for Shaw Construction of Sarnia, Ontario. (To read about how my Dad’s welding career began, see Workday Wednesday: Maurice Belair, Welder.)

In the fall of 1978, Dad worked in Bracebridge, Ontario, about two hours north of Toronto. He often left our hometown in search of work when welding jobs were scarce in Timmins. Mom, my sister, my brother and I missed Dad a lot when he was away, but we looked forward to when he’d come home for a few days.

November 7, 1978 was a typical Tuesday. After supper, Mom got ready to go out to see friends. About 7 pm, the telephone rang. A man wanted to speak to our mother. I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt uneasy about this phone call. Within a few minutes, Mom told us that Dad had been in an accident at work. She called Dad’s sisters to let them know what had happened, and then called one of Dad’s best friends. He immediately offered to drive Mom to Bracebridge. She thanked him and then quickly packed a suitcase. Jack and Mom drove the four or five hours it took to reach the hospital. Dad’s sister Darlene, who lived not too far away in Peterborough, met them there. They found Dad seriously hurt, but in stable condition.

Many years later, after my father’s death, I found something I never knew existed. Among Dad’s personal effects, I noticed a sheet of paper on which he had written a few lines. The graph paper was about 13.5 cm x 21.5 cm (approximately 5 ½ by 8”), with Canron’s company logo in blue ink on it. I was surprised and somewhat shocked when I realized that Dad had written about his 1978 accident.


Maurice Belair's summary of his pipeline accident.


With just a few words, Dad explained what happened to him on that fateful day. He was welding in a trench one afternoon when its walls suddenly caved in, burying him alive. His co-worker saved his life by pulling him out to safety. Dad was taken to South Muskoka District Memorial Hospital in Bracebridge. He spent about two weeks there recovering from his injuries. After he came home to his grateful family, Dad continued to recuperate. It was a slow recovery. In time, Dad healed physically, but he wasn’t the same person he was before his accident. By the following spring, Dad didn’t want to go back to work.

After 25 years, Dad chose to quit welding professionally. He also decided to accept his brother’s recent offer of starting a trucking business with him. And so, in the summer of 1979, our family moved to British Columbia, where Uncle Ray, who lived here since the early 1950s, welcomed us.

This time, life didn’t take an unexpected turn; Dad created his own.

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Veterans' Week 2012: Relatives Who Served In WW I and WW II

I'm participating in the remembrance challenge for Veterans' Week as seen at Veterans' Affairs Canada website. This article is the second in a series I've prepared for my blog as a way of honouring the memory of my relatives and those who served Canada in times of war and peace.

Relatives Who Served in WW I and WW II

The following list features some of my relatives who served in World War I and World War II. Other, more distant relatives also served in both Wars. As far as I know, none of my ancestors (my parents, my grandparents and great-grandparents) served in either War. The only people in this list that I personally knew were my great-uncles Jean-Marie and Jean-Paul Beauvais and my father's cousin-in-law Joseph Saucier.

World War I

Name: Ovide Desgroseilliers (1884-1959)
Relationship: Ovide was my mother Jacqueline's great-uncle. He was the youngest son of Pierre and Flavie (Lepage) Desgroseilliers. Ovide married Anna Maurice in 1913 and lived in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.
Rank / Branch: Sergeant / 163rd (Canadien-Français) Battalion.
Note: Ovide also served three years in the 97th Regiment (Algonquin Rifles) during the South African War.

Name: William Vanasse (1893-1955)
Relationship: William was my father's maternal uncle. He was a younger son of Olivier and Elisabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse.
Rank / Branch: Private / Canadian Forestry Corps.
Note: I wrote about some of William's war experience here.

Name: Joseph Vanasse (1898-1973)
Relationship: Joseph was my father's maternal uncle. He was a younger son of Olivier and Elisabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse.
Rank / Branch: Private / Canadian Forestry Corps.
Note: Joseph was awarded the British War Medal.

World War II

Names: Jean-Marie Beauvais (1921-2010) and Jean-Paul Beauvais (1921-2003)
Relationship: Jean-Marie and his twin brother Jean-Paul were my mother Jacqueline's maternal uncles. They were the youngest children of Joseph and Olivine (Hotte) Beauvais.
Rank / Branch: [unknown to me]
Note: I don't believe that either Jean-Marie or Jean-Paul went overseas during World War II. Jean-Marie was posted at CFB Chilliwack, British Columbia for a time.


Jean-Marie (left) and Jean-Paul Beauvais.


Name: Ernest Belair (1919-1944)
Relationship: Ernest was a second cousin of my father Maurice Belair. He was the son of Cléoplas and Anna (Favreau) Belair, who lived in Kenora, Ontario.
Rank / Branch: Private / Lake Superior Regiment (Motor), RCIC.
Note: Ernest was killed in action on 13 October 1944 in Belgium. He is buried in the Adegem Canadian War Cemetery in Maldegem, Belgium.

Name: Marvel Milks (1925-2012)
Relationship: Marvel was my father Maurice's first cousin. She was a daughter of Frank and Cora (Vanasse) Milks, of Ottawa, Ontario.
Rank / Branch: Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS).
Note: I don't believe that Marvel served overseas during World War II.


Maurice Belair with his cousins Lucille Potvin (left) and Marvel Milks (right).

Name: Joseph Saucier (1922-1993)
Relationship: Joe was the husband of Lucille (Lou) Potvin, a first cousin of my father Maurice. Joe was the son of Victor and Rosanna (Beaupré) Saucier.
Rank / Branch: Sergeant.
Note: Joe also served in the Korean War.

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Veterans' Week 2012: Private William Vanasse, WWI Veteran




Yesterday, I wrote about what Canadians can do to remember Veterans' Week this year. Here is the first in a series of articles I'm posting on my blog as a way of remembering those who served Canada.

Private William Vanasse, WWI Veteran

My great-uncle William Vanasse was my paternal grandmother's elder brother. A younger son of Olivier and Elisabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse, he was born on 23 February 1893 in Chichester, Pontiac County, Quebec.

William Vanasse with his brother Joseph and sister Cecilia.

I know few details about my Dad's Uncle Willie: he lived on his father's farm on Allumettes Island, was a soldier in World War I, and suffered from shell-shock. Wanting to know more about him and his war experience, I decided to look for William's recruit papers last year at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) website. His attestation papers provided minimal information about him when he enlisted in June 1917. For example, he was 24 years old, was 5’8” tall, had brown eyes and black hair, was unmarried, worked as a bushman (roller and trailcutter), and had never previously served in a military force. (Although his younger brother Joseph also served in WWI, it seems that neither their brothers George nor David did.)

Now that I knew some basic details, I ordered William’s World War I complete service file from LAC and received it by email a few weeks later as a 39-page PDF document. As I examined William’s regimental paperwork, I learned that he was sent overseas in August 1917, just 43 days after he enlisted, sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the S.S. Grampian.

S.S. "Grampian" of the Allan Line.

(Photo source: William James Topley / Library and Archives Canada / PA-010252. Online MIKAN no. 3398145.)

He disembarked in Liverpool, England after a 13 day voyage and reported to his base at Sunningdale, near Windsor. William spent the next ten months occupied with railway construction and forestry duties with the Canadian Forestry Corps. (The CFC was created in 1916, because the British government needed wood in the early years of the War. It was easier to recruit skilled Canadian lumberjacks to work in the forests of England, Scotland, and France than to import lumber from Canada.) The following year, in June 1918, William was transferred to France where he spent the next 6½ months, before returning to England in January 1919. He was demobilised a few weeks later, arriving back in Canada that March.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find any mention of battle fatigue or shell shock in William’s medical file, although influenza and “flat feet” are reported. Despite the lack of documentary evidence for shell shock, personal family knowledge attests that William was a casualty of this serious disorder.

William never married. He died, aged 62, at the Veterans’ hospital in London, Ontario on 13 May 1955 after a prolonged illness. His obituary stated that “he served overseas with both the infantry and construction battalions” in World War I. William’s funeral was held in Ottawa and he is buried there in Notre-Dame Cemetery.

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Family History Through the Alphabet – Z is for ...

Z is for Zacharie Cloutier.

Last week, I wrote about Xainte Dupont in X is for ... For the last letter of the alphabet, I'm turning my attention to Xainte's husband Zacharie Cloutier, my maternal ancestor (ahnentfal no. 3374). To see how other bloggers have responded throughout this fantastic challenge, take a look at Family History Through the Alphabet.

Early Years

In about 1590, Zacharie was born in Mortagne, Perche, France. The date is approximate, based on his reported ages of 76 and 77 on the 1666 and 1667 censuses of New France. The eldest of nine children, Zacharie was the son of Denis Cloutier and his first wife Renée Brière. According to Behind the Name: the etymology and history of first names, Zacharie is the French form of the Biblical name Zechariah, meaning "Yahweh remembers". As for his family name, often spelled Cloustier in those days, it is an occupational name describing a nail maker. (Clou = nail; cloutier = nail maker.)

When he was about 18 years old, Zacharie's mother died a few months after giving birth to a child that did not survive. Renée was buried on 1 May 1608 in Mortagne. Denis remarried later that year with Jeanne Rahir (Gaultier), the banns being read in early November at St-Jean parish church in Mortagne. This union produced four children, providing Zacharie with three half-brothers and a half-sister.

Marriage

On 18 July 1616, Zacharie married a widow, Xainte Dupont, at St-Jean church. The couple welcomed its first child, a son named like his father, who was baptised there in August 1617. In time, young Zacharie was joined by two brothers and three sisters. All, except for Xainte who died young in September 1632, survived childhood and immigrated to Canada.

Recruitment

In the early 1630s, entrepreneur Robert Giffard recruited skilled workers in his native Perche to help build and populate the fledgling colony of New France. Men like Zacharie, a master carpenter who specialized in large-scale construction work, were in high demand. Accordingly, Zacharie became an engagé when he entered into a notarized contractual agreement with Giffard in March 1634 in which he promised his skills in New France for five years. For his part, Giffard conceded a generous portion of land from his own seigneurie to Zacharie on which to settle. Zacharie named his new property La Cloutièrerie; it consisted of 1000 arpents (about 400 hectares) in Beauport near Quebec.

Departure

After he settled his affairs in Mortagne, Zacharie made his way to the port city of Dieppe in May 1634. At about 44 years old, he left his homeland forever and sailed towards a new life on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Other Perche recruits, including my ancestor Jean Guion (Guyon), travelled with Zacharie that spring.

New France

After a voyage of six weeks, the immigrant ship arrived in Quebec on 4 June 1634. Soon, Zacharie set to work. He must have been a strong, robust and courageous individual. He laboured not only as a carpenter to fulfill the terms of his contract, but also toiled as a colonist to clear the land on his property and build a home and a life for his family. Although Zacharie could not write, he signed documents by making his mark in the shape of an axe.

Death

In 1670, Zacharie sold his property. He and his wife spent their remaining years with one of their sons at Château-Richer. After a long and productive life (he was about 87 years old), Zacharie died on 17 September 1677. He was buried the next day at Château-Richer. Xainte survived him until 1680.

Zacharie, the founder of the Cloutier family in Canada, is sometimes known as the ancêtre de tous les canadiens français (the ancestor of all the French Canadians). Are you perhaps one of his descendants?

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.