On the Trail of Télesphore and Henriette . . . Springvale, Maine in 1890

Springvale, Maine, looking west, 1888.

George E. Norris, Burleigh Lithograph Co.

Digital Collection of the Boston Public Library.

You can easily zoom into the print by going to:

www.digitalcommonwealth.org.

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When Télesphore and Henriette and their children arrived in the village of Springvale, Maine on October 9, 1890, they saw a small mill town of several thousand people, including thirty French-Canadian immigrant families (of about 250 people) who had begun arriving in the 1880s. Even fewer, about twelve families, were in nearby Sanford village, including the family of Télesphore´s cousin and Henriette´s sister, Honoré and Victoria Lamontagne Demers.

Télesphore and Henriette with all nine surviving children.

Sanford, Maine, circa 1891-92.

Sitting: Odelie, Andreana, Phidelem, Donat, Éva, and Lydia.

Standing: Télesphore, Jr., Télesphore, Sr., Henriette, Émile, and Virginie.

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In 1890, Springvale was the larger of the two villages in the town of Sanford. Within its boundaries were the town hall, the railroad station, and the high school. Before the establishment of the streetcar system in 1893, which linked the railroad station to Sanford village, Springvale also enjoyed far easier communication with the outside world. Within a few years, however, Sanford became the larger village primarily because of the tremendous growth of the Goodall family textile companies there.

Fortunately the "bird's eye" view illustration of Springvale above dates from 1888, just two years before the arrival of the Demers family. It shows the village substantially as they saw it for the first time. The dominant topographical feature is the Mousam River which runs from right to left, or north to south. The small river powered the early textile, shoe, lumber and other mills in both villages and later generated the electricity needed by the streetcars.

In the lower left corner of the drawing, near the river, is the tiny Portland & Rochester Railroad Station where the Demers family and almost all immigrants from Québec arrived after first taking the Grand Trunk Railroad or Québec Central Railroad from Canada to Portland. The train tracks run at a diagonal toward the upper right, and just after they cross Main Street, there is a steam locomotive which appears to be pulling three passenger cars toward Rochester, New Hampshire. Presumably, the train that brought the Demers family was a similar train. In the lower right corner is an inset showing the train station in greater detail, but with a view looking east toward Portland.

A Portland & Rochester passenger train chugging past Main Street

and heading up the steep slope of Hanson’s Ridge toward Rochester, N.H.

Detail from Springvale, Maine, looking west, 1888.

George E. Norris, Burleigh Lithograph Co.

Digital Collection of the Boston Public Library.

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The Portland & Rochester Train Station, lower left.

Detail from Springvale, Maine, looking west, 1888.

George E. Norris, Burleigh Lithograph Co.

Digital Collection of the Boston Public Library.

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Because the electric streetcars were not yet in use in 1890, passengers arriving at the train station had to walk or take a horse-drawn wagon up Pleasant Street to the center of Springvale, which is shown in the center-right of the print. It seems likely that cousin Honoré or other family members or friends who had already arrived from Saint-Fortunat would have received notice by telegram of Télesphore and Henriette’s arrival and would have been waiting for them at the station with a hired wagon. The village center is only about a mile from the station along a level street, so it is easy to imagine that some of the members of the large family would have walked alongside the wagon into town after the long train ride, some excitedly, others with perhaps some trepidation.

By 1888, several mills in Springvale were already located on the south shore of the mill pond and along both sides of the river on Mill, Bridge and Pleasant Streets. In the drawing of the village, the largest mill, which would later be called the Alpaca Cotton Mill, is near the smokestack that is discharging a cloud of smoke over the millpond.

View of Mill Pond, the Cotton Mill, and French Row.

Detail from Springvale, Maine, looking west, 1888.

George E. Norris, Burleigh Lithograph Co.

Digital Collection of the Boston Public Library.

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Canadian immigrants settled in the compact residential area to the east of the mills, primarily along Mill and Cemetery Streets. We don't know where the Demers family lived in the year they stayed in Springvale prior to moving to Sanford village in 1891, but it was likely they would have occupied a rented house or a rental unit like those found on a lane called French Row, which is shown In the drawing with its four duplex houses just east of the smokestack. The first building is on Mill Street and the last near the mill pond.

French Row, a dead-end lane leading to the mill pond, with its four duplex apartment houses and outhouses. Springvale, Maine, 1889.

Collections of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society.

The photo shows two men on the right and a barefoot boy at left, all with shovels. The trench in the center is apparently in the process of being filled. There also appears to be a small trench near the boy leading from the house to the larger trench. Perhaps water pipes are being installed. (The first water pipes, made of hollowed-out logs, were installed in Springvale by the Springvale Aqueduct Company beginning in 1879.) In the background, in front of the trees, is Riverside Cemetery. There are some clues that the photo may have been taken on a mild day in early spring: the leafless large tree, the shoeless boy in shorts, the open window with curtains, and the woman, in shirtsleeves and apron in the open doorway, casually watching the photographer.

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Bridge and Water Streets, Springvale, Maine. April 1897.

Collections of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society, Sanford, Maine.

See also, Eastman, Harland H. Sanford and Springvale, Maine: A Backward Glance 35. (Wilson’s Printers, Sanford, Maine, 1988.)

Bridge Street, in the foreground, with the building where the N.J. Pelletier general store was first established in the 1880s. The Mousam River below the mill pond dam is shown at center left and runs parallel to Water Street on the right. The large cotton mill with its smokestack is shown at the end of Water Street, and there is a glimpse of the French Row apartment buildings to the right of the smokestack.

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We also don't know where the members of the family worked during their year in Springvale. Although the cotton mill was physically the largest mill in the village, there was only limited to no employment there in 1890 and in the following years until the Goodall Worsted Company acquired the mill 1897. Therefore, it seems likely that the older Demers daughters, Odelie, Virginie, and Lydia, would have worked in one of the shoe factories located on Mill, Bridge or Pleasant Streets. The older boys, Télesphore and Émile, may have worked in the shoe mills or in the sawmills.

With such a large family to care for, and given the traditions of the time, it is highly unlikely that Henriette would ever have worked in the mills or anywhere outside of the home. Télesphore, Sr, could have worked in the mills, but more likely found work as a carpenter, as he would later do when the family moved to Sanford village.

Bridge Street, Springvale, Maine, circa 1900.

Collections of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society, Sanford, Maine.

See also, Eastman, Harland H. Sanford and Springvale, Maine: In the Days of Fred Philpot 37. (Wilson’s Printers, Sanford, Maine, 2d rev. ed. 1993.)

Although this photo was taken in 1900, it shows two of the shoe mills that likely employed members of the Demers family in 1890. The white building on the left is the Butler and Fogg shoe mill which was built in 1870, and the taller building beyond is the W.R. Usher and Sons shoe mill. Because the latter mill was built in 1888 or 1889, it does not appear in the “bird’s eye” view print of 1888. The photographer took the photo while standing in or near the intersection of Pleasant, Bridge and Water Street. The boys are standing in front of the N.J. Pelletier Store.

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The N.J. Pelletier General Store, circa 1889.

Collections of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society, Sanford, Maine.

The Narcisse J. Pelletier family, having first arrived in 1881 or 1882, was one of the earliest French-Canadian families in Springvale. He was born in Saint-André-de-Kamouraska, near Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies, Québec, on November 16, 1857. During her 1898 trip to Québec, Odelie Demers would meet one of his daughters, Odelie Pelletier, who was on her honeymoon trip with her husband Charles Langlais. Also during the train ride on her trip, Odelie Demers met George Lizotte, a cousin of N.J Narcisse, who owned this store for a period of time around 1895. N.J. Pelletier first worked as a clerk in this store then bought it in 1884. The store was conveniently situated to serve residents in the nearby French-Canadian community and workers at the mills. The Pelletier family lived on the second floor. The store closed for a period of years in the 1890s, but when it reopened in 1900 it continued to be operated by various family members for another half-century.

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Interior of N.J. Pelletier’s Store, Springvale, circa 1890.

Collections of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society, Sanford, Maine.

See also, Eastman, Harland H. Villages on the Mousam: Sanford and Springvale, Maine at 23. (Wilson’s Printers, Sanford, Maine, 1995.)

The owner, Narcisse J. Pelletier, is standing at the left, with perhaps one of his children standing near him. Unfortunately, no one else in the photo is identified. The Demers family likely made many purchases here during the year they lived in Springvale.

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In addition to family and work, the Catholic Church was central to the life of the French-Canadian community in Springvale, as it had been in Québec. Just one year before the arrival of the Demers family, the first church in either of the two villages in the Town of Sanford was built on the east side of Pleasant Street between Weeman and Webster Street, roughly midway between the railroad station and the village center. Because it was built in 1889, it does not appear on the 1888 drawing of the town.

Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Church, looking north toward the center of the village.

Pleasant Street, Springvale, circa 1890.

Collections of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society.

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Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Church, looking south toward the railroad station. Pleasant Street, Springvale, circa 1900. Note the decorative fence in the front of the church, the streetcar tracks, electric poles and wires, and the large apartment house, all of which are absent in the earlier photo.

Collections of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society.

See also, Eastman, Harland H. Sanford and Springvale, Maine: A Backward Glance 50. (Wilson’s Printers, Sanford, Maine, 1988.)

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Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes celebrated its first mass on October 13, 1889. Prior to its construction, masses were held in private homes in both Sanford and Springvale, and the Catholic community in both villages were first served by a visiting priest from Rochester, N.H., and then, beginning in 1884, by a priest from Westbrook, Maine. In 1887, the parish of Notre Dame was formed, but its first pastor, Father Moise Denoncourt, did not arrive until January 1888. Despite its small appearance, the church could seat 500 worshipers. Apparently the parish had been expected to grow, because in 1889 the parish had only 52 families and 287 individual members from the two villages in Sanford and from neighboring towns.

Unlike Saint Ignatius Parish, whose early pastors and associate pastors were almost entirely Irish-Americans despite its predominantly French-Canadian congregation, almost all the priests at Notre Dame Parish from the very beginning were French-Canadians, with names like Dugré, Desjardins, Bouvin, Orieux, and Huot, in addition to Denoncourt.

As this was the only Catholic Church in Springvale and Sanford, it would serve the Demers family during the year they lived in Springvale. After they moved from Springvale in 1891, several members of the extended Demers family were married in the church, including their older son, Télesphore in 1892, Delienne Lamontagne, the youngest sister of Henriette Lamontagne Demers, also in 1892, and Honoré and Victoria Demers' son, Télesphore, in 1893.

Delienne Lamontagne, a sister of Henriette Demers and the daughter of Simon and Marie Legendre, and Hubert Rousseau, were married on May 24, 1892 at Notre Dame Church, Springvale, Maine. It is not known when the two arrived or left Sanford, but they moved back to Québec and had a home in Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly where Télesphore and Henriette Demers stayed with them for several days in 1908. Because she was unmarried when she arrived in Springvale, Delienne would likely have lived with one of hers sisters, Henriette or Victoria, before her marriage.

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Télesphore Demers, the son of Honoré and Victoria Demers, and Delina Belanger, on their marriage day in January 16, 1893 at Notre Dame Church in Springvale, Maine. Télesphore moved to Sanford from Saint-Fortunat with his parents around 1886. It is not known when Delina arrived in Sanford. Unfortunately, she soon died while giving birth to her first child, who also died. On Odelie’s trip to Canada in 1898, she visited Télesphore and his new wife, Démerise Letourneau, in Sainte-Hilaire-de-Forsythe, where Télesphore was operating a sawmill. By 1908, Télesphore and Démerise had moved to La Doré, Québec, where his Uncle Télesphore and Aunt Henriette visited them on their long promenade to Québec that year.

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The simple design of Notre Dame church is similar to the small churches that were built in the villages of the Eastern Townships and the Bois-Francs region in Québec in the early years of settlement there. Shown below is the first church built in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, a town near Saint-Fortunat. It is strikingly similar to the church in Springvale.

Saint-Louis Church, built in 1835. Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Québec.

Illustration in: Maillot, Charles-Edouard. Les Bois-Francs 179 (Arthabaska, QC: La Cie d’Imprimerie d’Arthabaskaville. 1914.)

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The sight of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Church by the members of the Demers family as they walked or rode down Pleasant Street on the day of their arrival must have been reassuring as they started their new life in the United States. Given their deep religious beliefs and practices, it is almost certain that they would have entered the church and knelt en famille in prayer to give thanks for their safe arrival and to ask for God’s blessings. After reciting the Hail Mary and the Our Father or perhaps an entire rosary, Telesphore or Henriette may have concluded by saying aloud the following prayer:

Seigneur, nous vous abandonnons le soin de tout ce qui nous touche. Nous voudrions ne point nous préoccuper de l’avenir, être indifférent à tout, et nous nous abandonnons dès maintenant, sans réserve. Ainsi-soit-il.

Lord, we give over to you the care of everything that touches us. We will not worry about the future, but will resign ourselves to everything that may happen, and we surrender ourselves to you without reservation from this time forward. Amen.

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Notes on the Text

The photographs of early Springvale come from the collections of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society, which contain hundreds of photographs of turn of the century Springvale and Sanford, most of which were taken by Fred Philpot, an early professional photographer in Sanford and surrounding towns. Most of the photographs have captions containing much information. The Society's collections also include a large number of books, maps, old newspapers, and other printed material. The Society is staffed by knowledgeable and helpful volunteers. More information on its collections, exhibits and hours can be found at: http://www.sanfordhistory.org/.

Harland H. Eastman, the President of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society, is the author of several books featuring the photographs of Fred Philpot, the early photographer in Springvale and Sanford. The photographs with Harland Eastman’s explanatory material provide an exceptional look and examination of turn of the century Springvale and Sanford. Although his books are out of print, they can be found in many public libraries, including the Maine State Library in Augusta, and can be seen at the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society. His books related to Sanford and Springvale are:

     Eastman, Harland H. Sanford and Springvale, Maine: A Backward Glance 35. (Wilson’s Printers, Sanford, Maine, 1988.)

     Eastman, Harland H. A Cluster of Maine Villages: Sanford and Springvale and Alfred. (Wilson’s Printers, Sanford, Maine, 1991.)

     Eastman, Harland H. Sanford and Springvale, Maine, in the days of Fred Philpot. (Wilson’s Printers, Sanford, Maine, 1993.)

     Eastman, Harland H. Villages on the Mousam: Sanford and Springvale, Maine. (Wilson’s Printers, Sanford, Maine, 1995.)

Additional information on Springvale and Sanford at the turn of the century, including that of the early Catholic Churches, comes from the following sources:

     Prosser, Albert L., ed., Sanford, Maine: A Bicentennial History. (The Sanford Historical Committee. Anthoessen Press, Portland, Maine. 1968). Springvale Franco-American population in 1889, at 174; early history of Notre Dame and Saint Ignatius Parishes, at 173 - 177; Springvale water service, at 298 - 300; railroad and streetcar systems, at 268 - 273.

     Emery, Edwin. History of Sanford, Maine 1661 - 1900. Facsimile of the 1901 Edition. (Eastman, Harland H. Anthoensen Press, Portland, Maine. 1987.) History of the early years of Notre Dame and Saint Ignatius parishes, with much of the information provided by the first pastor of Saint Ignatius Church, Rev. John J. McGinnis, at 140 - 142.

     Sanford Tribune and Advocate, article: “Local Resident Recalls Twelve French Families Here in 1890: Telesphore Demers, Eighty-Nine Years Old Last August, Came To Springvale In 1890 And to Sanford One Year Later - Was Influential In Securing Catholic Institutions in Town - Has Six Children Living, 37 Grandchildren and 26 Great Grandchildren.” February 25, 1937. (33 French-speaking families in Springvale, and 12 in Sanford, including Honoré Demers, when Télesphore Demers arrived in 1890.)

     Harland Eastman, email correspondence January 10, 2018, re: employment at the various Springvale mills in the 1890s and the location of the first Notre Dame Catholic Church and rectory on Pleasant Street.

The prayer at the end of the post was selected by my cousins Cécile Leblanc and Jeanne d'Arc Leblanc, two sisters from Victoriaville, Québec, from a book of prayers owned by their grandmother, Delvina Demers Bourassa, the youngest sister of Télesphore Demers. The book, Le Livre d’Or Des Ames Pieuses (ou cinq livres en un seul), ed. A. Roger et F. Chernoviz (1888), was given to her by her husband as a wedding present in 1888. The prayer can be found at page 193; the English translation of the prayer is mine.