The Family of Honoré Demers and Victoria Lamontagne

Honoré and Victoria Lamontagne Demers, circa 1885-90. Because of the chair and the tromp l'oeil background, this photo was likely taken at the H. Larocque Studio while they were on a visit to Lewiston, Maine. By this time, Honoré’s cousin and Victoria’s sister, Théodore and Philomène Lamontagne Demers, respectively, had emigrated there, while Honoré and Victoria had emigrated to Sanford, Maine.

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From The Travel Notebook of Odelie Demers

June 1898

“Upon leaving the train [at Saint-Samuel station, the conductor] came and introduced us to a Monsieur Bilodeau, the delivery man who brought mail from the station to the village. After thanking the conductor who had shown us such kindness, we set off for my uncle [Honoré Demers’] place at seven o’clock in the evening and arrived at fifteen minutes before eight o’clock. The route was four miles, but it did not seem long to us. While making the turn in the road which leads to my uncle’s, we saw the smoke stack of the sawmill. We said to each other at the same time, “That’s Uncle Honoré’s sawmill.” . . . We thought that we perhaps might not recognize our cousins, but on arriving at the house, we saw Eugénie and the boys playing in the yard. We then waved to them and Eugénie blurted out, “It’s Odelie and Éva!”, and right away the whole family was at the door to greet us. They were very surprised by our arrival because I had written in my last letter, all with the goal of surprising them, that we were going to arrive later than we had planned.”

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The family of Honoré and Victoria Lamontagne Demers, circa 1886. The photo may have been taken in Sanford, Maine, since the chair in the photo and the background are the same as those in a Télesphore and Henriette Demers family portrait taken a few years later in Sanford. First row: Arthur, Victoria, Sinaï, Narcisse (standing behind Sinaï), Honoré, and Rose Anna. Second Row: Eugénie, Alphonsine, Télesphore, Nazaire and Fortunat.

For many years after their marriage, Honoré and Victoria followed a path similar to the one taken by Télesphore and Henriette. Like them, they settled for a long period of time in the part of Saint-Julien-de-Wolfstown that later formed the parish and town of Saint-Fortunat-de-Wolfestown and then emigrated to Sanford, Maine, in their case, around 1886. Henriette and Télesphore followed them four years later.

Honoré and Victoria, however, would not stay in Sanford for long. After a few years, they returned to Canada, to Saint-Samuel-de-Gayhurst (now Lac-Drolet), where Odelie visited them on her trip in 1898 and Télesphore on his in 1908. Unlike the children of Henriette and Télesphore, all but one of whom continued to live in the United States after emigrating, only two of their children, Arthur and Sinaï, would return to live permanently in the United States, in Berlin, N.H.

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A Brief History of the 

Family of Honoré Demers and Victoria Lamontagne

The family of Honoré and Victoria Lamontagne Demers had very close ties with that of Télesphore and Henriette Lamontagne Demers. Not only were Victoria and Henriette sisters, but Honoré and Telesphore were first cousins born in or near Saint-Nicolas, the Province of Canada (now the Province of Québec); their fathers, Germain and Damase, respectively, were brothers. Victoria, like Henriette, was born in Saint-Ferdinand-d’Halifax and married in Saint-Julien-de-Wolfestown in the Eastern Townships.

As Victoria's marriage to Honoré occured in 1865, it seems likely that her father, Simon Lamontagne, had by then acquired his farm of 95 acres on rang (range) 5, lot 3, which is first recorded in the tax records of 1874 for the newly created town of Saint-Fortunat. The Lamontagne family does not appear in the 1861 census records in either the township of Halifax-South (where the parish of Saint-Ferdinand was located) or Wolfestown, so it is possible the family was in a period of transition that year. The map of land ownership in Wolfestown for 1863, see below, does not show that the property at rang 5, lot 3 was then owned by Simon Lamontagne, so perhaps the Lamontagnes moved to Saint-Julien in 1863, 1864 or 1865.

Honoré was born in 1842 in Saint-Nicolas. His father, Germain, had inherited the family farm from his father, Henri-Aristoboule Demers, so it is likely that Honoré was born and raised on the ancestral farm. I don’t have information on when Honoré moved from Saint-Nicolas (he is shown there in the Canadian census of 1861), but he most likely was living in or near Saint-Julien-de-Wolfestown for the period of time in which he courted Victoria before 1865, the year he married her in that parish.

In the Map of the District of St. Francis, Canada East of 1863, the information on land ownership in Wolfestown shows that the land on rang 5, lot 4, near the land of Damase Demers, Sr (Telesphore’s father) on the sixth rang, was owned by a “J. Demers” ; perhaps J. Demers was Honoré’s brother Jean Demers or his father, Germain. (The map was likely written by an anglophone who may have thought “Germain” began with a “J”, as in the English given name “Jermaine”.) There is no information, however, that either Jean or Germain ever occupied the land. The same map also shows that Hilaire Aubin, a half-brother to Honoré, owned land on the 6th rang, lot 4, as did his cousin, Damasse Demers, Jr. Perhaps, therefore, Honoré worked the land of “J. Demers,” Hilaire, his cousin Damase, or his Uncle Damase before acquiring his own.

By 1874 at the latest Honoré owned his own property. In that year, the property tax rolls for the newly established town of Saint-Fortunat show that Honoré had 150 acres on the Chemin du 6eme rang, or Sixth Range Road; 50 acres on rang 5, lot 4 (this land corresponds to the land owned by J. Demers in 1862 and was next to Victoria´s parents property at rang 5, lot 3), and 100 acres across the road on rang 6, lot 2. Victoria and Honoré were, therefore, near neighbors to Télesphore and Henriette whose farm, according to the same tax rolls, was located on rang 6, lots 4 and 5.

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Detail of the Map of the District of St. Francis, Canada East of 1863, showing a portion of Wolfestown that includes the 4th, 5th and 6th rangs. The small Bulstrode River, which flows toward the northwest, is in the 6th rang. The 5th rang is to the northeast of the 6th rang, and 6th Range Road, or the Chemin du 6ème rang, is approximately on the line between the two.

Collections de la Bibliothèque des sciences et de génie Service des bibliothèques et archives, Université de Sherbrooke.

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A satellite image of the same area, showing the Bulstrode River between Route 263 (the Chemin de 7eme rang) and the Chemin du 6eme rang. The various Demers properties were in the 5th and 6th rangs (on both sides of the Chemin du 6eme rang) and between the large bend in the Bulstrode River and the Route de la Grand Ligne. Much of it is still open fields. 

Map Data copyright 2017 Google.

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The image above is an attempt to georeference the 1863 map to the Google map satellite image. It is not perfectly overlaid, but does give a good indication of the relationships of the rangs and lots to the river and roads.

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The 1871 Canadian census shows Honoré and Victoria living in Saint-Julien, where Honoré is listed as a farmer or cultivateur. The same information is included in the 1881 census for Saint-Fortunat. (Saint-Julien was divided in 1871 to form a parish and in 1873 to form a new municipality, both with the name of Saint-Fortunat-de-Wolfestown. The Demers properties were all located in the new parish and town of Saint-Fortunat.)

At some point in the mid-1880s, likely around 1886 (their last child was born in Saint-Fortunat in 1885), Honoré and Victoria's family moved to Sanford. When Télesphore and Henriette arrived in Maine in 1890, the family of Honoré and Victoria was one of the 12 French-Canadian families living in Sanford village (another 32 were living in the part of the town of Sanford known as Springvale village). It isn’t known how long they continued to live in Sanford. However, in 1892 Honoré was part of a delegation sent to meet with Bishop Healy in Portland to ask for the establishment of Saint-Ignatius Parish. The others in the delegation were his cousin Télesphore Demers, Mathias Laliberte and a Mr. Guillemette. (The Canadian census of April 1891 states that Honoré and Victoria were in Saint-Fortunat at that time and again described him as a cultivateur. It is possible, however, that the family still owned its property in Saint-Fortunat and was moving back and forth between the family farm in Québec and Maine during this period of time, a not uncommon practice in the French-Canadian immigrant community.) It seems likely that the family was still in Maine when sons Nazaire and Télesphore were married at the Notre Dame Church in Springvale in May 1892 and 1893, respectively.

Sometime before 1898, Honoré and Victoria returned permanently to Québec, but to Saint-Samuel-de-Gayhurst (now Lac-Drolet), not to Saint-Fortunat. When Odelie Demers visited with them in June 1898, the family seemed well-settled, and Honoré was no longer a cultivateur but in the business of operating a sawmill.  It seems likely, therefore, that the Demers family had been living in Saint-Samuel for at least a year or two before 1898. In the 1901 Canadian census, Honoré and Victoria are listed as living in Saint-Samuel and Honoré is now described as being a “mechanicien,” reflecting his new occupation at the sawmill. (As he appears to have been working only as a farmer before moving Sanford, it is possible that Honoré learned to operate a sawmill while there.)

During their trip to Canada in 1908, Télesphore and Henriette Demers posed on the porch of Nazaire Demers’ home in Saint-Évariste-de-Forsythe with several members of Honoré and Victoria Demers’ family. Standing: Rose Anna Demers, Alphonsine Demers, Nazaire Demers, Lea Beaudoin, Sinai Demers, Albina Beauregard and Arthur Demers. Sitting: Honoré and Victoria Demers, Télesphore and Henriette Demers. August 25, 1908.

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Honoré and Victoria lived the rest of their lives in Saint-Samuel, with Victoria dying in 1917 and Honoré in 1920. They are buried under a substantial monument in the cemetery behind Saint-Samuel Church. Of their eleven children, two died in infancy or childhood (Joseph Honoré and Simon Jude), three never married (Alphonsine, Fortunat, and Rose Anna), and six married and had children (Nazaire, Télésphore, Arthur, Sinaï, Eugénie and Narcisse).

Fortunat died of tuberculosis in 1900 at age 30 in Saint-Samuel. None of the other children remained in Saint-Samuel for long. Nazaire, Télesphore, and Eugénie, moved to the Lac-Saint-Jean region north of Québec City (Nazaire in Jonquière, now a part of the city of Saguenay, and Télesphore and Eugénie in La Doré, where their Uncle Telesphore and Aunt Henriette visited them on their 1908 trip to Québec. Arthur and Sinaï emigrated to Berlin, N.H., Alphonsine perhaps lived in Québec City (but was buried in La Guadeloupe), Rose Anna lived in La Guadeloupe, and Narcisse in Saint-Évariste-de-Forsythe and Lambton, Québec.

Tombstone of Honoré and Victoria Lamontagne Demers

in the cemetery behind Saint-Samuel Church, Lac Drolet, Québec,

Photo: Dennis M. Doiron, November 2017.

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Genealogical Information

Honoré Demers

Born: 14 Aug 1842 in Saint-Nicolas, Province of Canada (now the Province of Québec), son of Germain and Marguerite Lambert Demers. Baptized: 15 Aug 1842 in Saint-Nicolas. Godparents: Jean Baptiste Demers, uncle, and Esther Aubin Demers, aunt and daughter of Hilaire and Margaret Lambert Aubin.

Married: 21 February 1865 in Saint-Julien-de-Wolfestown, Province of Canada (now the Province of Québec), to Victoria Lamontagne, daughter of Simon and Marie Legendre Lamontagne.

Died: 18 July 1920 in Saint-Samuel-de-Gayhurst (now, Lac Drolet), Province of Québec. Buried: 21 July 1920 in Saint-Samuel.

Victoria Lamontagne Demers

Born: 05 March 1846 in St-Ferdinand-de-Halifax, Province of Canada (now the Province of Québec). Father: Simon Jude Lamontagne. Mother: Marie Madeleine Legendre.

Baptized: 08 March 1846 in Saint-Gilles, Province of Canada (now the Province of Québec). Godparents: Janvier Houde (unknown relationship) and Dorothee Legendre (perhaps an aunt).

Married: 21 February 1865 in Saint-Julien-de-Wolfestown to Honoré Demers.

Died: 14 October 1917 in Saint-Samuel-de-Gayhurst, Province of Québec. Buried : 18 October 1917 in Saint-Samuel.

Their Children

Joseph Honoré Demers

Born: 29 December 1865, in Saint-Julien (now Saint-Fortunat). Baptized: 31 December 1865, in Saint-Julien. Godparents: Hilaire Aubin, uncle, and Marie Legendre (likely his maternel grand-mother).

Died: 21 April 1866 in Saint-Julien. Buried: 23 April 1866 in Saint-Julien.

Nazaire Demers

Born: 16 April 1867, in Saint-Julien (now Saint-Fortunat). Baptized: 16 April 1867 in Saint-Julien. Godparents: Simon Lamontagne, grandfather, and Marie Demers (probably his great-aunt Marie Euphrosine Demers.

Married: 29 May 1892, Notre Dame Church, Springvale, Maine, to Lea Beaudoin.   
          Their children: 1. Marie Lea. (1896-1896). 2. Elosia Louise Alphonsine (1898 - unknown). 3. Marie Lucie (1899-1902). 4. Leon (1901-unknown). 5. Alfred (1903-unknown). 6. Unnamed (1907-1907). 7. Fernand Jean (1912-unknown).

Died: 22 October 1937, in Jonquière, Québec. Buried: 25 october 1937, in Jonquière.

Télesphore Demers

Born: 6 March 1868, in Saint-Julien (now Saint-Fortunat).

Baptized: 6 March 1868, in Saint-Julien. Godparents: Barthelemi Aubin, uncle, and Philomene Lamontagne, aunt.

Married:
          1st marriage - 16 January 1893 in Notre Dame Church, Springvale, Maine, to Delina Belanger. They did not have children.

          2nd marriage - 14 January 1896 in Saint-Évariste-de-Forsythe, Province of Québec, to Demerise Letourneau.
                    Their children: 
                    1. Marie Louise (1897 - 1897); 2. Arthur (1898 - 1902); 3. Ernest (1900 - 1982); 4. Unnamed (1900 - 1900); 5. Ludger (1902 - 1987); 6. Marie Laure Elmire (1904 - 1984); 7. Marie Anna (1902 - 1992); 8. Lucienne Albertine (1907 - 1922); 9. Leopold Francis (1909 - 1989); and 10. Germaine Eugénie (1911 - 1992).

          3rd marriage - 04 July 1915 in Notre-Dame-de-la-Doré, Province of Québec, to Anna Paré. They did not have children.

Died: 3 December 1927, in La-Doré. Buried: 7 December 1927, in La-Doré.

Alphonsine Demers

Born: 15 January 1870, in Saint-Julien (now Saint-Fortunat). Baptized: 16 January 1870, in Saint-Julien. Godparents: Théodore Demers, uncle, and Eliza Dufresne, unknown relationship.

Never Married

Died: unknown date, 1956, perhaps in Québec City. Buried: unknown date, 1956, in La Guadeloupe, Québec.

Fortunat Demers

Born: 28 January 1872, in Saint-Julien (now Saint-Fortunat). Baptized: 28 January 1872, in Saint-Julien. Godparents: Évangeliste Demers, uncle, and Henriette Lamontagne Demers, aunt.

Never Married

Died: 22 July 1902, in Saint-Samuel. Buried: 25 July 1902, in Saint-Samuel.

Simon Jude Demers

Born: 29 October 1873, in Saint-Fortunat. Baptized: 29 October 1873, in Saint-Fortunat. Godparents: Télesphore Demers, uncle, and Adelaide Boucher, unknown relationship.

Died: 11 November 1876, in Saint-Fortunat. Buried: 12 November 1876, in Saint-Julien.

Rose Anna Demers

Born: 21 July 1876, in Saint-Fortunat. Baptized: 23 July 1876, in Saint-Julien. Godparents: Janvier and Marguerite Pelletier Lamontagne, uncle and aunt.

Never Married

Died: unknown date, 1948, in La Guadeloupe, Province of Québec. Buried: unknown date, 1948, in La Guadeloupe.

Eugénie Clodia Demers

Born: 13 November 1878, in Saint-Fortunat. Baptized: 13 November 1878, in Saint-Fortunat. Godparents: Théode Gosselin and Virginia Lamontagne, unknown relationships.

Married: 2 September 1901 in Saint-Samuel to Alfred Pierre Théberge.
          Their children: 1.Marie Anne Victoria (1904 - unknow date); 2. Marie Blanche Albina (1906 - unknow date); 3. Orpha Andre (1909 - 1975); 4. Marie Lucia Gilberte (1911 - 1911); 5. Rolland Antoine (1913 - 2000); 6. Rose Annie Germaine (1914 - unknown date); and 7. Rachelle Anita (1917 - 1986).

Died: 5 April 1939 in La Doré, Province of Québec.

Buried: 8 April 1939 in La Doré.

Arthur Demers

Born: 13 November 1880 in Saint-Fortunat. Baptized: 14 November 1880 in Saint-Fortunat. Godparents: Télesphore Lamontagne, uncle, and Georgianna Labrie, aunt.
   
Married: 7 July 1903, in Saint-Évariste-de-Forsythe to Albina Beauregard.
          Their Children: 

          1. Joseph Arthur Gervais Roland (1904 - 1910); 2. Alida Victoria (1906 - 1926); 3. Joseph Alfred Leon (1907 - 1907); 4. Gilberte Alice (1908 - unknown year); 5. Marie Cesarie Germaine (1909 - 1910); 6. Marie Lucia Lea (1911 - unknown year); 7. Laurent Paul (1912 - 1913); 8. Joseph Edmond Emilien Lorenzo (1914 - 1914); 9. Marie Claire Elizabeth (1915 - unknown year); 10. Joseph Honoré Gerard (1917 - unknown year); 11. Marie Lorette Fernande (1919 - unknown year); 12. Roger Émile (1923 - unknown year); 13. Marie Berthe Jeanine Pauline (1927 - unknown year); and 14. Anita (unknown year - unknown year).

Died: unknown date. Buried: unknown date.

Sinaï Joseph Demers

Born: 3 February 1883, in Saint-Fortunat. Baptized: 7 February 1883, in Saint-Fortunat. Godparents: Sinaï Girard, unknown relationship, and Delienne Lamontagne, aunt.

Married :
          First Marriage. 14 October 1912, at Saint Anne´s Church, Berlin, New Hampshire, to Alice Samson. They had one child: Alice Marguerite 1916-1991.

          Second Marriage: 04 Nov 1918 Saint Anne’s Church, Berlin, New Hampshire to Aline Aureline Samson. They had no children.

Died: 21 December 1957, probably in Berlin, N.H. Buried: unknown date, in Saint Anne’s Cemetery, Berlin, N.H.

Narcisse Thomas Donat Demers

Born: 18 December 1885, in Saint-Fortunat. Baptized: 20 December 1885, in Saint-Fortunat. Godparents: Narcisse Girard, uncle, and Almina Rousseau, unknown relationship.

Married:
     First marriage: 26 August 1913, in Saint-Samuel, to Emelia Bernard.
          Their children: 1. Julien Victorien (1914-1973). 2. Phillippe Louis (1916-1992). 3. Marguerite Julienne (1917-unknown). 4. Helene Albina (1919-unknown). 5. Agathe Ange (1921-unknown). 6. Bernard Napoleon (1922-unknown). 7. Laurent Leopold (1924-unknown). 8. Jean Paul (1926-2006). 9. Gabriel Marie (1927-unknown).

     Second marriage: 24 June 1942 in Sainte-Évariste-de-Forsyth to Marie Ange Fontaine. They had no children.

Died: 6 July 1952, in Lambton, Québec. Buried: unknown date, in Le Guadeloupe Cemetery, Le Guadaloupe, Québec.

Dennis M. Doiron
Gardiner, Maine
January 2018

(copyright Dennis M. Doiron 2017)
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Notes

As with much of the genealogical information in this blog, I have received much assistance from my cousins, Cécile Leblanc, Jeanne d’Arc Leblanc, and Anita Demers Olko, and from Juliette Aubin, the former genealogist at the Saint-Nicolas et Bernieres Historical Society. In addition, Cécile, Jeanne d´Arc and Juliette, reviewed and offered suggestions to improve the French-text, as did Anita with the English-language text.

I thank them for all their help and advice. Any errors in the text are all mine.

I was able to find the Map of the District of St. Francis, Canada East of 1863, and the detail showing the information on Wolfestown through the help of Vickie Martineau, an archivist at the Eastern Townships Resource Center, which is located on the campus of Bishop´s University in Lennoxville, Québec. She arranged for me to meet with Sophie Boissoneault who is a Document Technician at the Bibliothèque du Frère-Théode of the Bibliothèque des sciences et de génie et cartothèque, Service des bibliothèques et archives on the campus of Sherbrooke University in the Province of Québec. Ms. Boissoneault located the map and the enlarged detail showing the information on Wolfestown. I thank them both for their help.

Property tax records, les rôles d'évaluations, beginning with the year 1874 from the municipality of Saint-Fortunat in addition to the 1863 map led to locating the various Demers-related farmland. The tax records are located in the Saint-Fortunat town office where the town administrator, Lise Henri, kindly provided access to and a place to review them. One afternoon in early November 2017, my cousins Cécile and Jeanne d'Arc Leblanc and I compiled information from those records which was used in this post.

On the early early years of the parish and municipality of Saint-Fortunat, see Eric Vaillancourt, Histoire de Saint-Fortunat (2013), at 51-81.

The information on Sanford and Springvale 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.

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.)

The website of the parish of Saint Therese de Lisieux, at which encompasses the fromer three parishes in Sanford and Springvale, includes a thorough history of the parishes, including their early years.