[copyright 2017: Dennis M. Doiron]
Part 5
Saint-Fortunat
We arrived in Saint-Fortunat at eight-thirty and stayed with my uncle Hilaire Aubin who lives in the center of the village. To our great surprise, we had the pleasure of greeting our cousin Delienne, the wife of Joseph Lambert, from Berlin Falls [now, Berlin, New Hampshire]. She was visiting her parents with her young daughter Appoline who is still very refined.
Uncle Hilaire and Aunt Marie Euphrosine Demers Aubin, and
Cousins Joseph and Delienne Aubine Lambert, circa 1900.
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Appolina, the daughter of Joseph and Delienne Aubin Lambert, circa 1900.
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After greeting us, my aunt served a good supper which was much-needed because it was starting to be late. After giving them news on different topics concerning our relatives in Sanford, they told us that cousin Hilaire had left in the morning for Stanfold to pick up our cousin Alphonsine Demers [note: (1879-1950) a daughter of Evangeliste Dermers] who was coming from
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Lewiston to spend a vacation with her relatives in Canada. But seeing that the clock was striking, and that they had still not returned, we took our leave to rest a little because we were a little tired by the long wagon ride. When our travelers arrived it was two o’clock in the morning, but as the bed we were in seemed so very good, we found it preferable to not leave it.
It was well near nine o’clock Thursday morning when we woke. In seeing that the sun was shining, we all thought about doing something fun, but my aunt was sick in bed and we did not want to disturb her with our planning. As I had procured some “Little Liver Pills” in Portland for head aches, I gave her two of them which made her feel much better, but not so much
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that she had the strength to get up immediately.
Seeing that she could not do her housework, we were obliged to make breakfast and lunch, but we handled it rather well. Delienne was put in overall command and she ordered us to wash the dishes. After that we went to gather some strawberries for our lunch. Our work was planned in detail in advance, but one should not make such big preparations with the goal simply of finishing the work as quickly as possible.
On our return from the fields, we found my aunt up and about. She was feeling much better. After taking lunch, we went on our way to visit our grandfather, Simon Lamontagne, who was staying with my uncle Narcisse Girard. I left with Fortunat and Éva, while Alphonsine went with Hilaire [note: the son of Hilaire Aubin]. As they wanted to visit his sawmill, which was several miles from the village, we took a slightly longer way so that we could see his property.
On our return from the fields, we found my aunt up and about. She was feeling much better. After taking lunch, we went on our way to visit our grandfather, Simon Lamontagne, who was staying with my uncle Narcisse Girard. I left with Fortunat and Éva, while Alphonsine went with Hilaire [note: the son of Hilaire Aubin]. As they wanted to visit his sawmill, which was several miles from the village, we took a slightly longer way so that we could see his property.
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Cousin Hilaire Aubin, son of Hilaire and Marie Aubin, and his son Roland, circa 1907.
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We found he was set up well. Since we were visiting, Hilaire showed us his quarters, which had been locked. We saw that it was constructed with more care than we had ever seen. It was all of one room - living room, dining room, kitchen and bedroom. We had a good time. We found that his furnishings were not very complete, but he had been rather wise to make his apartment ready for two people. We asked him if he had any intention to take on boarders. He told us that he would like only a cook, as his apartment was otherwise well taken care off.
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After visiting all the apartments, we continued our way to our uncle’s. While passing by Monsieur Côté’s, who lived next to the sawmill, we had the pleasure of greeting Madame Côté who was one of our classmates. Since no one had informed anyone at our uncle’s household of our stay in Canada, we gave them a tremendous surprise.
Uncle Narcisse et Aunt Julie Lamontagne Girard, a sister of Odelie’s mother Henriette,
Saint-Fortunat, circa 1900 - 1905.
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They were busy cutting and gathering hay at the foot of the house and right next to the road. In seeing my aunt, I waved to her, laughing, but she did not recognize me. She said, “It’s an Irish women,” because I was wearing glasses, but as I seemed to know them, she paid closer attention. Immediately as we passed by, she said, “It is Odelie and Éva!”, but she did not know how to explain our arrival with Fortunat, as she thought we had arrived in Canada only in the morning.
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After having told them our story, we spoke of Sanford. We didn’t have any time to lose because there was so much news to tell them. My aunt was so surprised at our arrival in Canada that she still could not believe we were there. She found me very much changed because of my glasses and because it had been five years since she had seen me, during which I had changed a bit.
Cousins Noella Lamontagne and Mari Anna Girard, daughter of Narcisse and Julie.
Presumbably Saint-Fortunat, circa 1915.
Presumbably Saint-Fortunat, circa 1915.
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We found them all in good spirits, including our old grandfather, who seemed to have aged a lot, although he still seemed rather capable. His sight and hearing were as good as we young people, and his speech was not troubled at all. My aunt prepared supper for us, and without an invitation, we took our places around the table, including Fortunat and Hilaire. But as Fortunat was in Saint-Fortunat only for several days, he hurried so that he could visit some people in the evening.
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Grand-father Simon Lamontagne,
who was born in Saint-Nicolas, Québec.
who was born in Saint-Nicolas, Québec.
Circa 1880.
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We visited our cousin, Assène Lamontagne. We gave them a big surprise also, and, as we had never met his wife, we were also happy to make her acquaintance and found her very friendly. We passed a pleasant evening with them. We were entertained by several young people who dropped by together. We danced all evening like the good old days. At eleven-thirty, we all left altogether each to our homes. As we had settled in the village center when we had arrived in Saint-Fortunat, we returned there after the evening get-together.
The next day we went to Uncle Joseph Bourassa’s house, still in the company of Fortunat and Hilaire, who filled the role of driver. Delienne, her small daughter, Appoline, and Alphonsine also went there with us. After lunch, we had some
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exercise, all while eating strawberries, which were not abundant. We were also bothered with some rain which came pouring down in the afternoon.
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At the Bourassa Family farm several miles south of the village on the 7th rang, Saint-Fortunat, circa 1895. Georges, Aunt Delvina Demers Bourassa (the youngest sister of Odelie´s father Télesphore), Wilfred, Angelina with the doll, and Uncle Joseph Bourassa.
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We took advantage of the first break in the rain to go to the village and to Uncle Hilaire Aubin’s house, which was our refuge each evening. But we had hardly gotten underway when a violent storm struck us. Arriving at the house, it was necessary to wash our overcoats, which were covered in mud. As my aunt was wondering what she could prepare us for supper, we all said at the same time, "milk porridge." As soon as it was said, it was done. My aunt prepared us a good potful, which was swallowed in a wink of the eye.
After supper, Hilaire and Fortunat went to prepare a swing and invited us to try it. We
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found that it worked very well, but as dusk was approaching quickly, it was necessary for us to return to the house.
I spent the evening with Fortunat. As it was the last evening that we could spend together, it seemed that we should put the time to good use. We had several topics to discuss, and because I had received a letter from my sister Lydia that same evening, I revealed to him what it contained. The hours flew by quickly. We really wanted to prolong our conversation, but as it was getting late, it was necessary to think about retiring.
The next day, we went to Uncle Narcisse Girard’s house to make a second visit, as we had promised to spend Saturday with them. Fortunat drove us there before he left for Dorset. After saying goodbye to us, he left for Saint-Hilaire-de-Dorset despite the
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unfavorable weather. He had promised his brothers to return on Saturday and did not want to disappoint them because they had a lot of work to do at the sawmill.
After he left, we washed our clothes so that we could go to mass the next day. Our clothes trunk had still not arrived. We were very discouraged and, even more, disappointed, seeing that we had done so much to try to get it to us. Éva put herself to work doing the washing, and I did the ironing. Because I had not expected to have so few clothes, I not not taken any ironing lessons from the Chinese. Therefore, the white collars left a bit to be desired.
We talked again about several topics during the day. We told my aunt that we had been informed that we could sell our tickets that morning, and that Uncle Hilaire Aubin had
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encouraged us to sell them and to stay another month with them, after which we could buy excursion tickets which would be good until August 5. But despite all our desires to lengthen our stay, we found ourselves, in light of the fact we didn’t have our clothes, forced to turn down all the good advice given to us.
In the evening, Hilaire came to bring us to the village so that we would be near the church the next day. Upon arriving at my uncle's, we found several young people from the village who had come to visit us. We were happy to be able to again see several former friends and classmates and to recall events from years ago. We had a lot of fun. Among the young people were Monsieur Garneau, Monsieur Gosselin and his sister, Monsieur
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Vermette and his sisters, as well as Monsieur Goulet.
The next day, Sunday, we were up early to prepare to go to mass, seeing that it was a sunny day. We dressed up as best we could. Our beautiful calico waist shirts had been washed and ironed on Saturday, and the sun had rendered them almost white. Our skirts were well-brushed and decorated with touches of clay. And to our dress hats, we had to attach the feathers with pins so that we would not lose them, and the trimming, faded by the sun, was darkened with boot polish. Voilà! - the description, in short, of our beautiful outfit for Sunday morning. We heard some young people remark that some persons were “chic,” following their manner of speaking, but this compliment was not made to us!
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Parishioners gather on the front steps of Saint-Fortunat Church
as it would have looked from 1884 to 1901.
Photo from the archives of the municipality of Saint-Fortunat, Québec.
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All of us made it to the church and, on arriving, we shook hands with Monsieur Stanislas Laitres, who was living at our old farm. We found that he had changed a lot, he looks much older. We attended the mass which was celebrated by the Reverend E.O. Plante and we noticed that Monsieur Guillaume Gosselin was still the organist and almost all the same singers were behind the organ.
After mass, we met Amanda Laitres, today Madame Cookson, one of my former students. She has changed so much that I would not have recognized her if she had not been introduced to me. We went to visit the Reverend Monsieur Plante who thought that I was very thin. We found him as alert as usual considering that his health was not very good. As time was running short, we hurried to bring him up to date on all that concerned our relatives in Sanford, and we returned to my uncle’s where they had lunch waiting for us.
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After dinner, we made a visit to the cemetery where several relatives and friends were buried. The epitaph placed above the coffin of our dear aunt Alphonsine showed us it was very well there that her mortal remains resided. We saw the place where our grandmother Demers and two of our small sisters had just been transported to the new cemetery.
The relocation of the old cemetery had taken place on Wednesday[, June 22]. An anniversary service was sung at eight o’clock after which all the parishioners put themselves to work. All the coffins were opened and several people were still recognizable. In the two coffins of our small sisters, only the bones remained, but our old grandmother Demers was as natural as the moment when we had buried her under this plot of land on March 9, 1880 [note: grandmother Euphrosine/Euphrasie Lamontagne Demers died in 1890]. All her clothes were the same as when they put them on her, with the exception of her shroud.
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On opening the coffin of Cyrille Noël, they noticed that he was turned on his side, which gave rise to the thought that he was buried alive. The most natural looking person found in moving the cemetery was the body of Madame Napoleon Paquette, and her clothes were also well preserved, but she had a morsel of flesh taken out of one cheek as if it had been cut with a knife. The wound was an inch square.
The work lasted for part of the day. Each claimed the remains of their relatives and friends, and those who were not claimed were buried in the same coffin. Several old coffins were still at their gravesites and the others had been burned. There is nothing so moving as a pile of coffins, like these, all in flames.
Returning from the cemetery, we went to Monsieur Luc Gosselin’s house. We found them all well and in a good humor, but as it was already an hour rather late in the afternoon, our visit was not very long.
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In the evening, we had an invitation to Monsieur Louis Frechette’s house, where several young people would be gathering. We wanted to go, but seeing that our clothes were a bit to be desired, we were wondering whether we should refuse. But seeing that the young men who had offered their company seemed to truly want us to meet them in the evening, we surrendered to their demand.
There were twenty-five young people there of whom most were unknown to us. We only met a few old friends, but acquaintances were made quickly, and everyone received us as old friends. I passed the evening with a young man whom I was happy to see again after eight years absence. We had so much fun. It bothered us so
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much to realize we would have to leave Saint-Fortunat to return to Sanford, especially after having received an invitation to go to weddings on Monday and Wednesday. It was necessary, however, to refuse, all while giving them our appreciative thanks for the warm invitation that we had just received.
After the evening ended, we went back to Uncle Hilaire Aubin’s in the village. It was one o’clock in the morning. As it was our last evening, we had made the most of it. We were very happy with the evening, or, rather more accurately, of our whole trip, but well regretted having to end it. It was impossible to defer our departure any longer since our tickets were invalid after July 12.
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