[copyright 2017: Dennis M. Doiron]
June 1 and 2.
Throughout the day, we were busy packing our bags for our big trip to Canada. During the day, we received our train tickets from Portland to Québec for a sum of fourteen dollars and twenty cents each. The departure was supposed to be at four-twenty in the afternoon. We were ready to leave, but the date and time on the tickets were for June 2 at eleven-twenty in the morning. The day was very overcast and cold. According to the thermometer it was 55 degrees.
The Demers family, circa 1910.
Sitting: Télesphore, père, Henriette Lamontagne, Odelie, Virginia, Éva and Andreana. Standing: Télesphore, fils, Donat, Odias, Emile and Philedem. At this time, Télesphore, Jr., was living in La Doré, Province of Québec, and Odelie was living in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
[1]
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In the evening all our children who live in Sanford, as well as several friends, came to spend some time with us and to wish us a good trip. But to our great disappointment, the next day, June 2, my wife woke up sick at four o’clock in the morning. Her face was so swollen that her eyes were completely closed. At eight-thirty in the morning, we called the doctor to come to the house. He said the swelling was caused by the cold or, perhaps again, by an erysipelas, but at four o’clock in the afternoon she was much better.
June 3.
In the morning, her health continued to improve. At five in the afternoon, the swelling had almost disappeared. We hope very much to leave tomorrow, the fourth, if nothing more troublesome shows itself.
[2]
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June 4.
After saying goodbye to our children living in Sanford and receiving their good wishes, we left at eleven o’clock in the morning for Springvale. We left the train station in Springvale for Portland at eleven-forty-five in the morning and arrived in Portland at one-thirty-three in the afternoon.
Postcard 1911.
The newly built train station that greeted Télesphore and Henriette in 1908.
Digital Collection of the Maine Historical Society.
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There, the conductor took my tickets, punched them, and put them in his pocket. “Hey, my friend, those are my return tickets!” I said. After he separated them in two, I said to him, “Is it too much for you to keep track of them?” “Oh, it was a mistake,” he told me, “you should pin the tickets to yourself.” “Put them there yourself!” I told him.
And the new Grand Trunk Railroad Station that greeted them in Portland.
Postcard, circa 1910.
Postcard, circa 1910.
Digital Collection of the Maine Historical Socity.
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All the while the train was moving down the tracks and brought us to Berlin Falls[, New Hamshire] where we arrived at five-thirty in the afternoon. We found Joseph Lambert’s family in good health,
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and, as there was a play in French at eight-fifteen in the evening for the benefit of the church, we wanted to go to it. The evening was a lot fun. The play, Thérèse, The Fratricide, was applauded by everyone, and each actor played his part marvelously.
June 5. Five o’clock in the morning. It is a beautiful, sunny day.
Hilaire Aubin and Marie Euphrosine Demers Aubin. Circa 1890.
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My sister Marie, the widow of Hilaire Aubin, is leaving with us for a trip to Canada at eleven-forty in the morning. All her trunks are packed and ready to go. Joseph Lambert [note: the husband of Délienne Aubin Lambert, Marie´s daughter] drove the women and the baggage to the station in his wagon. I made it there on foot accompanied by Edouard Lambert, but having arrived a little late, I did not have the time to check my bags. I left my baggage checks with Joseph Lambert who expedited the bags for me
[4]
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to Richmond, Québec, on the four o’clock train. We took the first train for Québec City. It was eight-ten in the evening when we left. We arrived in Lévis at eleven-thirty at the Intercolonial Station. From there we went to the Kennebec Hotel and arrived at midnight. As the hour was rather late, we took to bed as soon as possible.
Intercolonial Railway Station, Lévis.
Post Card, 1902.
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June 6.
In the morning, we crossed the river from Lévis to Québec after having paid our bills at the hotel. We took the ferry at eight-thirty. All our baggage was in very good order. From there we were driven to the station which serves Lac Saint-Jean. After that, we left for a quick visit of the city. We saw the monuments to Bishop Laval, Champlain, Montcalm and Wolfe, as well as the monument to the African soldiers. We also saw the cathedral and the terrace. We saw it all in a caleche and were guided by a first-rate driver.
[5]
View of Québec from Lévis, 1901.
Digital Collection of the Library of Congress.
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Returning to the Québec and Charlevois Train Station, we took the first train for Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré at twelve-thirty in the afternoon. From there, we went to the Hotel Sainte-Anne to settle ourselves there for the several days our stay. At one o’clock, we made our first visit to the church. The weather was very beautiful.
At six o’clock, we went to take a walk on the street to better breath in the good Canadian air. Six-thirty was the hour for confession and for receiving the Holy Sacrament. After returning to the hotel, I smoked my pipe on the porch while waiting for the time to go to sleep. At nine o’clock, we took to our rooms. Here, the dogs are good helpers. We saw five wagons of workmen pulled by dogs.
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Awaiting Permission to Publish the Photograph.
Click the link below to view the image.
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A Working Dog Cart. Post Card.
Collection numérique de Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) :
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June 7.
We were on our feet at an early hour, four-thirty. We had to be at the church at five o’clock to attend the first mass, which was our communion mass. At five-thirty a big pilgrimage organized by nuns and coming from Montreal by boat arrived at Sainte-Anne. The hotel workers were fighting among themselves for lodgers.
At six-thirty, a second pilgrimage from Beauport arrived. There was a fanfare, a procession of the Union Saint-Joseph, an honor guard in military uniforms and swords, and thirty processions to the park. We passed by the church at ten-fifteen and the parade was still going on in the street.
[7]
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At one-thirty in the afternoon a procession with the statue of Sainte Anne was followed by priests, a fanfare, honor guards, and representatives of the Catholic and Banner Societies. At three o’clock in the afternoon, there was the reception of the Blessed Sacrament and the departure of a pilgrimage. At three-thirty in the afternoon, there was an assembly of the Society of the Holy Family.
At seven o’clock in the evening, we made our last visit to the church of Chartres, which was built in the seventeenth century. After returning to the hotel, I paid our bill and we went to bed early so that we could leave early in the morning for Québec City.
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