Introduction
About a year ago, I received a very pleasant surprise when I learned about an article published in La Memoire, a publication of the Société d'histoire et généalogie des Pays-d'en-Haut, which is based in Saint-Sauveur, Québec. I first learned about it from Suzanne Demers, who has helped me with several blog posts and is a member of the society. When she read the article in her copy of the quarterly, she was as surprised as I would later be.
After hearing from Suzanne, I received emails telling me about its publication from Francine Chassé, the vice-president of the Society and chair of its Historic Committee, and from Doris Poirier, the author of the article. They then kindly mailed me a copy of the edition of La Memoire that contained the article and have given me permission to publish it in the blog in French and in my English translation. Thank you both!
In reading the article, you'll see why I received such a nice surprise when I saw what Doris had written.
Dennis Doiron, Gardiner, Maine, March 2022
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Small suitcase, big discoveries
When a story makes history
by Doris Poirier in
La revue LA MÉMOIRE, November 2020, No 155, p.16-19.
Société d’histoire et de généalogie des Pays-d’en-Haut (S.H.G.P.H.)
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Foreword
When you have a diary as part of your family's history, you are truly fortunate. Many of the families that emigrated to the United States at the end of the 19th century kept strong connections with their relatives that remained “là-bas” in Québec. They would visit them there from time to time, no matter where they were in the province. This diary falls within the fields of ethnology and social history. It is an undeniable family legacy, one that offers a bit of history to many of us.
Upon discovering and reading the account of her travels, Odélie Demers (and her father) become close to us. We imagine her experiencing everything at her own pace, including the joys of again seeing members of her family. We warmly thank Madame Doris Poirier for having shown us the travel diary, and with it, a facet of our history which connects us a little bit to the four corners of Québec.
Francine Chassé, Vice-President, S.H.G.P.H.
Saint-Saveur, Québec
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Let me tell you about an event that allowed me to discover some unexpected family connections with an American family. It involves the family of my husband, Poirier on his father's side and Demers on his mother's side. His two grandfathers were pioneers who participated actively in the development of the village of La Doré in the region of Lac Saint-Jean. His paternal grandfather, Henri Poirier arrived there in 1889 with a group of settlers with the goal of establishing a new settlement north of Lac St-Jean.
The Settlers’ Sawmill
His maternal grandfather, Télesphore Demers, arrived in La Doré in 1904 having come from St-Hilaire-de-Dorset in the Chaudière-Appalaches region. He had just bought a sawmill powered by a small dam on the Rivière aux Saumons in La Doré. He constructed a house and arranged for his family to join him. His family was comprised of his wife, Démerise Létourneau, and three young children, including the youngest, Marie-Laure, the mother of my husband, who was only four months old.
