[copyright 2017: Dennis M. Doiron]
We left Sainte-Anne at twenty minutes to noon, and we arrived in Lévis at fifteen minutes after one. After disembarking, we bought tickets for Saint-Samuel, Beauce County [now, Lac-Drolet, Regional Municipality of Granite County]. While boarding the express, we met Madame Lebel with one of her daughters and her son, Frank, all of Saint-Agapit. After shaking hands, we exchanged only a few words. It was only two o’clock when we departed Lévis, but we were a little discouraged because our clothes trunk was still not with us. We could only hope that we might see it in the future.
We arrived at Tring-Jonction, where we changed cars for the train to Saint-Samuel. I knew that we were on the Tring rail line especially because we were moving along so peacefully. We did not fear having an accident because there was plenty of time to stop if anything happened. The train stopped every quarter of an hour at all the
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stations. It also stopped three or four times between the stations.
We started to be afraid that we would not arrive at Saint-Samuel by evening if we continued to stop at every pile of lumber that we met along the route. Fortunately, we met two young men who were heading for Megantic [now, Lac-Megantic] and who were very nice. We had a lot of fun with them, and, while talking, we told them the story of our adventure with our trunk. As the conductor was nearby, he spoke to us. After I informed him that we were going to Saint-Samuel and that we had not warned anyone of our arrival because we intended to hire a carriage driver, he offered to introduce us to the mail carrier who could drive us to Uncle Honoré Demers’ farm, which was about four miles from the station.
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After we gave him some information about our trunk, he even told us that he would look into retrieving it. I told him that it had stayed behind in Cumberland Mills and that it would likely be difficult to have it sent to us. He told us that he would telegraph the same day and that it could arrive the next evening. If so, he would have it sent immediately.
Upon leaving the train, he 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’s 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
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each other at the same time, “That’s Uncle Honoré’s sawmill.” Our carriage driver listened to us talking but without saying a word or giving us any information.
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.
The family of Honoré and Victoria Lamontagne Demers, circa 1885-90. Odelie was related to this family in two ways. Uncle Honoré was a first cousin of Odelie's father, Télesphore, and Aunt Victoria was a sister of Henriette, Odelie's mother. First row: Arthur, Victoria, Sinaï, Narcisse (standing behind Sinaï), Honoré, and Rose Anna. Second Row: Eugénie, Alphonsine, Télesphore, Nazaire and Fortunat.
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After exchanging warm greetings, we put ourselves to the task of giving them all the news from Sanford, while our aunt prepared supper for us. The meal was swallowed with relish since we were
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starting to be a little tired from the trip and it was beginning to be somewhat late.
Seeing that the evening was passing by, we started to think of going to bed, but we also began planning to have some fun the next day. We slept very peacefully all night long. At seven o’clock, the whistle from the saw mill woke us up. On opening my eyes, I was so certain of being in Sanford that I said to myself, “I have to get up to go to work.” Although I quickly realized my error, we decided to get up anyway because it was getting rather late.
After breakfast, I went to work writing to my parents as I had promised. Éva went to visit the sawmill with Eugénie and Rosanna. From there, they went to take a boat tour of Lac Drolet. They took Narcisse with them so he could row the boat for them. They gathered some maple leaves to decorate the row boat as it was June 24, the feast day of
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Saint John the Baptist. Éva found everything to her liking and had a lot of fun. In the afternoon, we went to the village accompanied by Alphonsine and Rosanna. We made a quick visit to the chapel and said a small prayer. We then went to the Post Office to mail the letter which gave the latest news of our trip to our parents in Sanford.
Alphonsine Demers, daughter of Honoré and Victoria Lamontagne Demers, circa 1895-1900.
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We went to Monsieur Pouliot’s store so that my cousin could purchase several things she needed. We talked with Madame Pouliot and told her we had come from the United States and that we lived in Sanford. She asked us for information concerning the family of Monsieur Cyrille Martineau, her brother-in-law. We gave her as much information as we could.
After that we left to return to my uncle’s which was two miles from the
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village, but the walk did not seem too long to us since it had already been several months since we had seen each other and there were many things to talk about. As soon as we reached the house, a pouring rain came down. This required us to stay indoors for the rest of the day, but we made plans in the evening for the following day, which was Saturday.
The program was made. We would go for a boat ride, eat strawberries, and play croquet. But to our great disappointment, in opening our eyes the next morning we saw a pouring rain, which continued for the whole day.
But it was necessary, no matter what, to stay happy. That evening, the demoiselles Théberge and Dalaire came looking for us to make a visit to the cheese works of Monsieur Albert Dalaire. Because he started making cheese at eight o’clock in the evening, we saw him making some. More importantly, we were happy to make the
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acquaintance of Monsieur Albert Théberge, cheesemaker, as well as Monsieur Alfred Théberge, who was courting my cousin Eugénie, and several other young people who were also at the cheeseworks. All the young people seemed to us rather well-mannered.
The next day, Sunday, we rose early to prepare for mass, but glancing outside, we observed that it was still the same story as yesterday. There was a pouring raining, which was a wonder to see despite our disappointment. It was necessary again to change our plans and keep to the house. We thought because our trunk had not arrived that God had sent the rain to prevent us from going to church! Seeing that we could not go to church, we sang the mass of the sixth tone [note: a type of plainchant or plainsong]. Eugénie accompanied us on the organ.
In the afternoon, we had a visit from Monsieur Alfred
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Théberge, but since the Reverend Monsieur Deschêne had organized a pilgrimage to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, which would take place on June 25, a party of young people from Saint-Samuel embarked at eight o’clock in the evening on the excursion train which would bring the pilgrims there. My two cousins Arthur and Sinaï were two of the pilgrims, and they observed the healing of a parishioner from Saint-Samuel, Monsieur Joseph Beaudoin. He could only walk with much difficulty, greatly bent over, and with the aid of two canes. And he had a very bad case of rheumatism, I believe. After having prayed to the relic of Saint Anne, he deposed his two canes at the foot of the statue, all while giving thanks to this good mother who had led him back to health.
Sinaï Demers, son of Honoré and Victoria.
Narcisse Demers, son of Honoré and Victoria.
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Monday morning we put ourselves to work at an early hour. Seeing that we had a sunny day, we took a boat ride with our cousins. Our uncle, the only man present,
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acted as our rower. The temperature was so beautiful, and the water so calm, we stayed there for a good part of the morning. When we returned to the house, we found dinner ready for us and ate it with a good appetite, while we talked about another excursion for the afternoon. Around one o’clock, we went to pick strawberries on Monsieur Thébarge’s property. We returned at four o’clock with excellent pickings.
After we quickly ate supper, the demoiselles Thébarge, Robert and Fortier came for another boat ride. In all, we were a company of eight young women. We had a very fun time singing several verses of songs while rowing. As nightfall was approaching, we returned to the house and spent the evening singing.
Eugénie accompanied us on the organ. We became aware that the young people
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of Saint-Samuel were very nice. We met several young women who were very friendly from the start, as though they were old, childhood friends.
Tuesday morning, June 28, we busied ourselves by talking about the feast day of Saint Pierre, which was the very next day, and we also realized that it would be the birthday of our sister Lydia, who would be celebrating her 25th year. It would not be right to allow this special feast day to go unobserved. What should we do? We were very far from Lydia. We could not present our good wishes or gifts in person, so we started to give some thought to getting something appropriate under the circumstances. We thought that a bouquet would work very well. But what name would we give it? It would not be a spiritual bouquet [Note : A spiritual bouquet in the Catholic faith is a listing of prayers for a particular purpose.], nor would it be a natural bouquet or artificial bouquet.
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Jokingly, we gave it the name of a “corporeal bouquet.” Don’t bother to ask if we were all in agreement with the whole of it!
To make sure that we would not forget to mail it so that it could arrive in Sanford in time, we went immediately to the Post Office. At the same time, I quickly wrote a letter to Lydia so that she would get the latest news from us, but I kept secret the fact that we did not have our clothes. Not wanting her to worry, I did not breathe a word about our clothes trunk.
After completing our work, we went for a boat ride, where I was one of the rowers and my cousin, Rosanna, the other. Because I was not used to it, I rowed so enthusiastically that I blistered one of my hands.
On Wednesday, June 29, we went to high mass at seven-thirty. The weather was a little misty, but as we were not able to go to mass on Sunday, we made
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ourselves go anyway. The high mass was celebrated by the Reverend Father Deschêne, the pastor of the parish and was sung by Monsieur Tanguay.
After mass, it was a beautiful, sunny day. We returned home peacefully. Our walk did not seem long even though the roads were not in good condition. Along the way Éva suffered an accident. She was walking with Eugénie and all of a sudden she fell to her knees in the mud. She had to wash herself by a small stream before returning to the house. In the afternoon, we picked strawberries once more, but the pickings were not as as good as the first that we had gathered on Monday. Still, we were happy enough with it.
In the evening, Monsieur Pouliot and his wife, as well as his brother and sister, came from the village to spend the evening with us at my uncle’s. Monsieur Pouliot told us stories for
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a part of the evening. While saying good-bye, they invited us to spend an evening with them before we left and, at the same time, they asked us to send their greetings to Monsieur Cyrille Martineau in Sanford, Maine, the brother-in-law of Monsieur Pouliot.
Thursday, we spent part of the day at the house. We worked in the garden several hours with the goal of better remembering the several years that we had lived on the farm in Canada where we had been raised.
In the evening, the Messieurs Thébarge and Dalaire and their sisters came to spend time with us. We sang all evening just like in the good old times. When leaving, Madamoiselle Théberge invited us to visit on Friday because she would be leaving on Saturday on a pleasure trip. We did not fail to see her Friday afternoon. We went with our three cousins and had a lot of fun.
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Saturday morning, while our two cousins Alphonsine and Rose busied themselves with housework, we picked strawberries with Eugénie, but the sun was so strong we came back early. At two o’clock in the afternoon our two cousins, Télesphore and Fortunat Demers, arrived from [Saint-Hilaire-de-]Dorset for a visit. They came after they had been told of our presence with the idea of bringing us to Dorset so we could see where they were living.
Télesphore Demers, son of Honoré et Victoria.
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Fortunat Demers, son of Honoré et Victoria.
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At about four o’clock, we went for a boat ride. Fortunat was our rower. We sang several songs in chorus on the water. After circling around the island, we returned to the house. When we arrived, we found my uncle playing croquet with Télesphore and Narcisse. They invited us to play with them. My cousin Fortunat offered to be my partner which I happily agreed to, and to our great satisfaction, we had the glory of
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being named the champions.
After having supper, we went to spend the evening at Monsieur Dalaire’s who lived near my uncle. I went in the company of Fortunat and we had a wonderful evening. We were happy to see that we received the warmest welcome. But that could not bring us our clothes trunk - here we are at another Sunday and our clothes are still in Cumberland Mills!
Our clothes are beginning to be a bit dusty since our arrival in Canada. We have been wearing our same Sunday clothes every day during the week. We would have liked so much to have changed our clothes several times after having arrived here.
Nonetheless, we have to go to mass. The mass was celebrated by the Reverend Deschêne, and I noticed they had a good choir. The organ was played by Mademoiselle Lucie Potvin, the niece of Reverend Deschêne. As the church is too small to hold all the parishioners, it was necessary to
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attend the mass in the sacristy.
At noon, we returned to the house. After eating lunch, we left in two wagons to hike on Mount Saint-Samuel. We were able to take the wagons almost to the foot of the mountain and from there it was necessary to walk the rest of the way. The path was a half-mile long and went across trees, rocks, and branches, or, in other words, it was almost impassable.
After reaching a certain height, we were so tired that we stopped several times to rest. The heat was so oppressive, and the wind so strong, that we were afraid to go all the way to the summit of the mountain. After looking out on several lakes and small villages below us, we descended to return home. It was at least six o’clock when
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we left the woods.
A Demers family gathering on the shores of Lac Drolet,
with Mount Saint-Samuel in the distance.
with Mount Saint-Samuel in the distance.
August 1915.
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We saw that a powerful storm was brewing. The weather was so threatening, and the winds so strong, that we were frightened. Shortly after arriving at the house, there was thunder and lightning, which almost blinded us, and a downpour then began. Fortunately, the storm did not last long, but while the weather cleared we sang, which reminded us of all our old songs and of our evenings together in Sanford.
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