Workday Wednesday: Maurice Belair, Bushworker

Rural Preliminary List of Electors, 1945 (Ancestry)

I knew that my late father, Maurice Belair, worked in bush camps as a young man, but I didn’t know the details. I recently called my Aunt Joan (Dad’s younger sister) to see if she could fill in the blanks for me. We had a nice, long chat that lasted about an hour. Aunt Joan remembered how, during the summer school holidays, Dad used to follow his father Fred into the camps to work. When Dad left school (I think it was grade 7 or 8) about 1940-1941, he started to work full-time in the bush. Before he left home, his mother Julie prepared him a ‘goodie’ bag (sort of like what a hobo carries on a stick) to take with him. Dad was only 13 years old.

In the spring of 1945, Dad appeared on a voters’ list as “M. Belair”. He was a bushworker in Camp 49 in the township of Cumming near Kapuskasing, in northern Ontario, Canada. [1] He’s no. 3 on the list of mostly French-Canadian men. (Dad was only 17½ years old at the time, so I’m not sure if he should have been on that voting list.) I had a vague idea of what ‘bushworker’ meant, but Aunt Joan told me that Dad did a young man’s work: he drove horses and cut wood.

Maurice Belair (1945)

Dad must have been a thrifty fellow when he worked in the bush camps. In the above photo, taken in the winter of 1945, he’s dressed in good winter clothes that he bought with his wages.

For the next few years, Dad worked in logging camps, in mills and in mines in places like Matheson, Kirkland Lake and Haileybury in northeastern Ontario. He eventually became a welder after he moved to Blue Water, near Sarnia in southwestern Ontario in the early 1950s. (I’ve written about that occupation in Workday Wednesday: Maurice Belair, Welder.)

Source:

1. “Voters Lists, 1935-1980”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 3 March 2016), entry for M. Belair (written as M. Belair, indexed as M Bushworkcr Belair), bushworker, 1945 Rural Preliminary List of Electors, Electoral District of Cochrane, Rural Polling Division No. 210, Camp 35 [and] 49, Township of Cumming, stamped p. 1228; citing Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935–1980, R1003-6-3-E (RG113-B), Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Workday Wednesday: Eugene Desgroseilliers, Chief of Police

My maternal grandfather Eugène Desgroseilliers (1900-1960) was Chief of Police in Hearst, a small northern Ontario community. I’ve always wondered how he got this position. He was a farmer when he married in August 1925 [1], but soon changed occupations and moved to law enforcement. I asked my mother if she knew how this happened (what qualifications did he have, what training did he receive), but she could only speculate that he was hired because he was so tall – Eugène was 6’ 7”.

Eugène Desgroseilliers, centre, with unidentified men (ca 1927)

Based on photographic evidence, Eugène probably became chief of police around the time his daughter Mariette was born in December 1927.

Eugène Desgroseilliers and his daughter Mariette (1928)

Eugène served as chief of police in Hearst from about 1927 to about 1936. He appears on a voters list for that community in 1935; his occupation is “town police”. [2]

Eugène Desgroseilliers (entry no. 102) on the 1935 list of electors for Hearst, Ontario (Ancestry.ca)

In 1936, Eugène and his family moved to Rouyn, in northwestern Quebec. He continued with his police duties there and later in the nearby villages of Duparquet and Cadillac. In about 1940, Eugène became ill with double pneumonia and lost his job as police chief.

I’ve tried to find more details about my grandfather’s time as police chief in Hearst, but I’ve not been successful. For example, I corresponded with the Town of Hearst, who transferred my request to the local police force. In turn, the Hearst police department forwarded my request to the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police). Unfortunately, my grandfather was not in their “various OPP alpha-listings which go back to the 1920s”. [3]

I also hoped to find what happened to the medal Eugène was awarded for being “the youngest chief of police”, according to his daughters. They remember this medal, but they can’t recall what it looked like, when their father received it, or what became of it.

For now, the only sources I have about my grandfather Eugène’s years as chief of police are the above photos, an entry in a 1935 “list of electors”, and the memories of my Mom and her sisters. I’m not giving up hope, though, that one day I’ll find documentary evidence of his work and of his having received a medal for it.

Sources:

1. “Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1930”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 16 March 2010), entry for Eugene Desgroseilliers – Juliette Beauvais (written as Eugene Desgroseilliers – Juliette Beauvais, indexed as Eugene Desg Desgroseillien – Juliette Beauvais), 18 August 1925; citing Archives of Ontario, Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Toronto, Ontario Canada: Archives of Ontario; microfilm series MS932, reel 740.

2. “Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 30 March 2016), entry for Eugene Desgroseillier (written as Eugene Desgroseillier, indexed as Kugene Desgroseillier), page 817 (stamped), entry no. 102; citing Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935–1980; R1003-6-3-E (RG113-B); Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

3. Claudine Locqueville, Adjointe Administrative Assistant, Ville de/Town of Hearst to Yvonne Demoskoff, email, 24 March 2010, “FW: Police force of Hearst”; privately held by Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff, Hope, British Columbia, 2016. Claudine forwarded the exchange of emails between the James Bay Detachments of the OPP and the OPP Museum in Orillia, Ontario to Yvonne regarding the possibility that her grandfather Eugene served with that police force.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Workday Wednesday: The Bridge Accident

My grandfather Fred Belair was a steel worker for the Dominion Bridge Company in the 1920s and early 1930s. While working on the new bridge in Montreal, Quebec in the afternoon of 5 August 1929, he was “struck by [an iron] beam which fell on him”. He sustained a “fractured right thigh and open fracture of the leg”. [1]

His accident was reported in at least two Montreal newspapers: in English in The Gazette and in French in La Presse [2]. Both articles misspelled his surname (Blair instead of Belair).

The Gazette (6 August 1929)

La Presse (6 August 1929)

This new bridge must have been Montreal Harbour Bridge (renamed Jacques Cartier Bridge in 1934) that Dominion Bridge constructed between 1925 and 1930. [3]

S.S. "Duchess of Richmond" passing under Montreal Harbour Bridge, Montreal, P.Q. (1936)*

* Photo credit: Canada. Dept. of Interior / Library and Archives Canada / PA-044424.

The accident was serious enough to keep my Pépère Fred in Notre-Dame hospital for a few weeks. I wonder how my grandmother Julie coped during his hospitalization? Not only did she have their two year old son Maurice (my father) to care for, she  was also eight months pregnant.

Fred was still in Notre-Dame when Julie gave birth there to a baby girl (my Aunt Joan) on September 1st. How was life for their little family once Fred and Julie were back at home? Did my grandfather return to work or did he lose his job because of his enforced absence from the Dominion Bridge Company? How did they manage to pay their hospital bills? Did neighbors help my grandmother care for her newborn and toddler? (As far as I know, they didn't have relatives living with them in Montreal.)

I don’t know if or what kind of operation my grandfather might have needed during his hospital stay. Come to think of it, I also don’t know who cared for my Dad while both his parents were in hospital. Somehow those details were never brought up in any of the conversations I had about this subject with my grandfather, my Dad or my Aunt.

One thing I do know, though, is that my grandfather Fred was left with a slightly shorter leg and walked with a bit of a limp.

Sources:

1. “Bridge Worker Hurt”, The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec), 6 August 1929, p. 5, col. 5; digital images, Google News Archive (http://news.google.ca : accessed 4 May 2011).

2. “Accident au nouveau pont de Montréal”, undated clipping, ca August 1929, La Presse, Montreal, Quebec; privately held by Joan (Belair) Laneville, 2014. Joan, who was Fred’s elder daughter, allowed her niece Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff to scan the image while visiting her home in May 2014.

3. Wikipedia contributors, "Jacques Cartier Bridge", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jacques_Cartier_Bridge&oldid=613822624 : accessed 4 August 2014).

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Workday Wednesday: Fred Belair, Michigan Bound

As an unmarried young man in his 20s, my grandfather Fred Belair worked in the USA. I found three records at Ancestry.ca that place him in Michigan during the second decade of the 20th century.

Many years ago, my grandfather told me that he worked in the shipyards of Wisconsin and Minnesota in the 1910s or 1920s, or even possibly during World War I (I’ve forgotten that detail). So far, I haven’t found any border crossing manifests or other documents that confirm his recollections.

Record No. 1


Fred Belair's record of arrival in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, USA, 1910


On 27 October 1910, Fred arrived in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. He was 19 years old (he was actually 20, and about to turn 21 within two months) and a laborer. His last residence was “Cash Bay [Cache Bay], Ontario”, he had never previously been in the USA, and he planned to “Seek work” in the Soo [Sault Sainte Marie], Michigan. He paid his own passage. Personal characteristics include height (5’6”), complexion (fair), hair (red) and eyes (grey).¹

I remember my Pépère Fred telling me that he had worked in the US, but I don’t recall him ever telling me that he worked in Michigan. I also didn’t know that he had been in Cache Bay, near North Bay, Ontario. If he was a laborer here, he might have worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway, or perhaps in the lumber and pulp and paper industries.

Record No. 2


Fred Belair's record of arrival in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, USA, 1912


On 17 June 1912, Fred arrived in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. He declared he was 22 years old, a laborer, and that his last residence was Ruel, Ontario. He was previously in the USA from 1911 to February 1912 in “Soo [Sault Ste Marie], Michigan”. His destination was the American Hotel in Sault Sainte Marie, and he was there “To visit; may remain & look for work”. Again, he paid his own passage. Personal characteristics include height (5’6”), complexion (fair), hair (brown) and eyes (blue).²

Curious about this “American Hotel”, I turned to the 1911-1912 Sault Sainte Marie city directory at Ancestry.ca.³ I found that the hotel is located at 306 Magazine Street and the proprietor was a certain Achille Corriveau. At this point, I wondered if my grandfather chose this particular hotel because he knew it was run by someone with a French name, and/or if someone back home (maybe a work buddy) told him that the American was a good place for French-speaking workers from Canada to get a room.

I knew that my grandfather worked on the railroad in Ontario (possibly in Ramore, east of Timmins) in the 1920s, but it’s looking like he worked for the railroad even earlier than that, from details found in the records no. 1 and 2. For example, Fred declared that his last place of residence was “Ruel, Ont.” Even though I’m originally from Ontario, I’ve never heard of Ruel. After a bit of checking around on the Internet, I found that Ruel is located more or less in the forest east of Highway 144 about half way between Sudbury and Timmins. Ruel has been around since at least 1911 when it was a subdivision and a siding with the Canadian Northern Ontario Railway.⁴ I suppose that since Fred was in Ruel, he presumably worked for the CNOR.

Record No. 3

The third record is a manifest for the Port of Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. It’s dated 24 June 1912, but states the same information found in the previous record.⁵

What have I learned from these records?

I knew some things about my grandfather, like his name, his age, his place of birth, his personal characteristics (he was always red-haired, never brown), and his father’s name.

I also learned new facts, like:

- Prior to 27 October 1910, he resided in Cache Bay, Ontario.
- Prior to this date, he had never been in the U.S.
- On this date, he was able to pay his own passage, and had $20.00 to his name.
- On this date, he was a laborer, heading to Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan to “seek work”.

- Prior to 17 June 1912, he resided in Ruel, Ontario.
- Prior to this date, he had previously been in the U.S. from 1911 to February 1912.
- On this date, he was able to pay his own passage, and had $22.00 to his name.
- On this date, he was a laborer, heading once again to Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan to “visit; may remain & look for work”. While there, he planned on staying at the American Hotel.

Sources:

1. “Michigan Passenger and Crew Lists, 1903-1965”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 5 March 2012), entry for Menosipe Bellair [sic], age 19, arrived Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, 1910; citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, D.C.: Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Algonac, Marine City, Roberts Landing, Saint Clair, and Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, 1903-1955; Record Group: 85, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; Microfilm Serial: A3429; Microfilm Roll: 2.

2. “Michigan Passenger and Crew Lists, 1903-1965”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 February 2012), entry for Menesippe Belair, age 22, arrived Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, 1912; citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, D.C.: Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Algonac, Marine City, Roberts Landing, Saint Clair, and Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, 1903-1955; Record Group: 85, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; Microfilm Serial: A3429; Microfilm Roll: 2.

3. “U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 14 June 2013), R.L. Polk, compiler, 1911-1912 Sault Ste. Marie City Directory (Detroit, Michigan: R.L. Polk & Co., Publishers and Compilers, 1911), X: 49.

4. “C.N.Rys. Ontario Subdivisions”, database, CNR in Ontario (http://cnr-in-ontario.com/Subdivisions/index.html : accessed 14 June 2013), entry for “Ruel”.

5. “Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956”; digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 February 2012), entry for Menesippe Belair, age 22, arrived Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, 1912; citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, D.C.: Manifests of Passengers Arriving at St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954; Record Group: 85, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; Microfilm Serial: M1464; Microfilm Roll: 184; Line: 12.

Copyright © 2013, 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.

Workday Wednesday: Maurice Belair, Welder

Maurice Belair (left), ca 1952

My Dad, Maurice Belair (on the left), is seen here as a young man of about 25 years old. He and his co-worker, whom I haven’t been able to identify, were photographed in about 1952 as they worked for Shaw Construction of Sarnia, Ontario. I don’t know where the picture was taken, but it was probably near Sarnia, because Dad had met and was going out with Mom by this time (and she lived in nearby Blue Water). 

It was only after Dad passed away in 1996 that I asked Mom if she could tell me what she knew about this picture. She told me that Dad hadn’t started out as a welder when they first met. He was unemployed at this time, but he knew he wanted to work for Shaw. It didn’t matter that there wasn’t anything for him there, he’d show up every day and sit by the shop door on the site, hoping to be hired. It seems that the boss got tired of seeing Dad hang around like that, and eventually found something for him to do. At first, he was just a labourer or a gopher and helped where needed. In the photo, Dad looks like he was the helper to the welder. In due time, it just sort of happened and Dad started to weld. 

A couple of years ago, I was looking at some of my Dad’s possessions that I had placed in storage. I came across one of his old wallets and found a batch of his welder ID cards. The earliest card was dated June 11, 1956. I also found some of his union due books, including one for 1965-1967. In it, I read that Dad was a journeyman pipefitter, that he was initiated in that trade in July 1952, that he was reinstated in August 1965, and that he belonged to Local 800 of Sudbury, Ontario. 

Maurice Belair Due Book 1965-1967 (inside cover)

I’m so glad Dad saved his ID cards and due books, because they are an important source of information about the years he spent working as a welder. For example, the cards and books tell me for which companies he worked, the type of welding he did, the specific welding processes at which he was proficient, and the dates he was qualified to work. In his early years, Dad worked as a welder where ever he could find work, in Ontario and in Quebec, and later, in Timmins, Ontario where he and Mom settled.

Dad last worked professionally as a welder in 1978. The following year, we moved to British Columbia and Dad joined his brother Ray to form a trucking company.

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff