LA ROCHELLE FRANCE

Last week while at a yard sale I asked this lady if she had any genealogy books or acadian related books. She replied "no I don't believe I have, but I have a book on Poitou France. So I glanced at the book and wow, there were lots of photos and the one on the right caught my eye. La Rochelle France,why did that catch my eye? Well my Cormier ancestors Robert Cormier, his wife Marie Peraud and their young son Thomas left La Rochelle in 1644 for a new life in a new land to be named Acadie. In the early 1600s La Rochelle was the last stronghold of Huguenots in France and there was a famous siege led by Cardinald Richelieu in 1627. It was at that time that Richelieu drew up the charter for One Hundred Associates. The cost of the siege was the loss of some 23000 casualties. In 1637 the largest influx of settlers came to Acadie many of them from the Poitou, Aunnis and Saintonge areas. Around three hundred Catholic peasants from the estate of Charles D'Aulnay at La Chaussee near Loudon set said for their new home in soon to be Acadie.La Rochelle was an important port back then as it is still one now. So many of our ancestors boarded their vessels at La Rochelle and crossed the ocean to reach their destinations. I wonder if this is where Barthelemy Bergeron dit Damboise and Jacques Leger dit La Rosette boarded to come to North America? They were both soldiers one belonging to Troupe de la Marine and the other a drummer . In the book I got at the yard sale, it says that in1568 La Rochelle became a Huguenot city . Then lots of tragedy with the siege of Richelieu that lasted 416 days. The port would become very active and important paticularly with North America (where our ancestors were heading for) Today La Rochelle remains one of first French Ports in Europe and also a cultural capital and tourist area with lots of festivals and museums. I wonder where Robert Cormier and his family had travelled from to reach La Rochelle? Will we ever know? There have been many historians and priests that have searched for the illusive Robert Cormier but who knows what will happen in the future with the new found tool called the Internet. With all the records from France coming online, one day someone may be looking for another ancestor and poof our Robert just might be there.

Thanks for the visit ,do stop by again

Have a great day

Aline

Genealogy and Yard Sales

What would genealogy have to do with yard sales? Genealogy is about our ancestors, about their lives,about their history. Yard sales are sales where everyone gets rid of their stuff they don't want correct? What is the connection? Sometimes there is NO connection at all, but once in a very very long while there is that connection, because many folks are not into genealogy, they do not know what it is all about and the importance of genealogy .So they clean out their homes and put things in the sale, things that belonged to their parents or grandparents, old photo albums, important books, or diaries. Oh yes sometimes these precious things are thrown out. A photo of someone long ago named Marie Cormier, and they don't have a clue she was their great great grandmother, that is no good so onto the table it goes.So if I am lucky enough to be at the right yard sale at the right time and I have a chance to grab those items you can be sure that I will. In all my yard saling that I have gone to and going to, I am always on the lookup for things such as books, diaries ,photos,just in case some of those things relate to my own genealogy. So please wish me luck because it is now 640am and I am all dressed and ready to go. The sales start at eight am, so the early bird sometimes get the worm, I don't want the worm I want the good stuff. grin.
So thank you for the visit and do stop by again.
Have a great day
Aline

Acadian World Gathering CMA2009

Yes I am ready and waiting to go to the Congres Mondial, maybe my hat should be a bit bigger? Maybe I will lose the tie, grin. This summer is going to be a great summer with all the reunions happening in Northern New Brunswick Canada, and in Fredericton New Brunswick for us. If you are interested, there are still tenting sites at Colibri, I phoned yesterday and there are tent sites available. We will be staying there. And they are saying that on Acadian Day August 15 in Caraquet this year is going to be the biggest amount of people they have ever seen. So get there early. We are meeting some online friends before the celebrations then its off to Acadian Day . But before our CMA reunions we have our reunion in Fredericton for descendants of Barthelemy Bergeron dit Damboise and Genevieve Serreau dit St Aubin. Did you know that Barthelemy was held prisoner in Boston and he was the first prisoner to be released by the English? And did you know he sailed with Baptiste? There sure must have been excitement in his life at times. I am hoping to take lots of photos of all our reunions so be prepared to see them.

On another note: for all you twitterers out there, I have taken the plunge and created a twibe, so I am calling on all Acadians and Cajuns to come join me , the more the merrier, you can do a search for my twibe at twibes.com and I am under hobbies, and my twibes name is acadianancestors. This is new to me, so I am a bit unsure but will learn fast. My twibe is not only for genealogy but that is a plus ,it is for any Acadian or Cajun wanting to join in with others. So come one come all.

I am still working on my website at www.acadian-roots.com , the last I did was the memory pages for my Dad and late husband, there will be more added to the memory garden.

So until next time, thanks for the visit, hope I did not scare you away with my photo grin.

have a great day

Aline

ACADIAN BOOKS

As most of you know, I have listed Acadian Books on my website at www.acadian-roots.com , Some are on Acadian History, some are fiction and some are about genealogy. I have been asked to add this book among my French books, but I know some of you who do not speak French would still be interested in the book. Here is what the author has sent me.

LES REFUGIES ACADIENS en France tells the story of Acadian refugees in France, from the deportation from Acadia and Prince Edward Island in 1755 and 1758, through to their captivity in Great Britain between 1756 and 1763, to the attempts to settle them in Saint-Malo, Belle-Ile-en-Mer and Poitou in France, to their departure from France to Louisiana in 1785 (the story also continues with the Revolution). Thanks to extensive archival research in over 40 different archives in France, Spain, Canada and the Vatican, it gives some entirely new insights into the daily lives of the refugees, including details of those involved in tobacco smuggling around the Saint-Malo region in Brittany, France. Thanks to new research in the Archives of Seville, it also gives new insights about why many of the Acadians left France in 1785.
The book comes with a website where the transcription of more than 1,500 original documents can be accessed, and any reference in the book to a manuscript can be checked against the document, online. It is also possible to search the documents online for a particular family name, which will automatically retrieve all documents where this name appears.
The online database can be accessed freely from: http://www.septentrion.qc.ca/acadiens (Canada) or http://jfmouhot.free.fr/ (France).
An interview of the author from Radio Canada can be listened to at: http://tinyurl.com/dmlh7b (in French).

The book can be bought from the publisher, Septentrion ( http://www.septentrion.qc.ca/catalogue/livre.asp?id=2510 ) or from Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/opjmka)
Note I have also added this same information on my acadian-roots Book Corner if my French Books and English Books even tho it is only in French.

Enjoy;

Thank you for the visit .

Have a great day

Aline

Cemeteries

Cemeteries can hold a lot of information. Tombstones can tell you little secrets about your relatives. Such as a deer on the tombstone, probably means that the person loved hunting.
A fish on a tombstone ,maybe he or she loved fishing. I have seen tombstones with big trucks on them, one even had a bread truck, and yes he worked for a bakery driving trucks.
Some parts of the cemetery will hold a large tombstone and all little ones around it, those were the children. Many tombstones have the couple and their date of marriage. That is very important if you are doing your family tree or genealogy. In genealogy, you cannot search parish records after a certain date, so a cemetery is a good place to check out, you sometimes do find the dates you are looking for, the birth, the death, the age, the date of marriage. I have also seen tombstones of a person saying that this person was born elsewhere. Some were born in Ireland and died in Canada, others born in Newfoundland, and died in New Brunswick.
As I walk through the cemetery and I see all the names on the stones, I wonder about these people that are buried there. They lived their lives and died but that is not all there was to those persons, in between the living and dying they had a life, they loved, they hurt and they had happiness and they had sorrow. So if you go into a cemetery, look at the wealth of information there is there, sometimes they have epitaths, if you read them, some are very interesting.
Sometimes you stumble upon some stones that will tell you about tragedies, and that is sad.
Anyway today I went to the cemetery, but this time not to browse the cemetery names, no today I went to my Dad's gravesite to let him know I have not forgotten him, he passed away five years ago today. So Dad rest in peace.
Thanks for the lovely visit, do stop by again, and when you go into a cemetery remember this blog.
Have a great day
Aline

MARTIN HOUSE and CMA2009

As you all must know, the CMA2009 is getting nearer. And there will be many of you coming down to New Brunswick Canada for the first time. If you do come down be sure to mark down the Acadian Village as a place to visit. I have been there and it is as if we are back into the times of our ancestors. I really recommend the visit. The Acadian Village is in Tracadie and Tracadie is near Caraquet. Anyway I was at a yard sale a few weeks ago and I picked up a book that had information about the village. The house above once belonged to a Martin family.
Jean-Baltazar dit Barnabe Martin was born Jan 4 1736 in Port Royal son of Jean Baptiste and Marie Brun.This family had settled in Port Royal since 1671 when Jean Baltazar married first to Rosalie Thibodeau. Around this time he left Port Royal. We find them among the prisoners in Halifax in 1763. Then he went up the St Lawrence River and married in Ile d'Orleans in 1767. It was with his third wife Marie Anne Levasseur that he eventually would settle at Sainte Anne de Fredericton in 1768. Three children were born with his first wife and four with his last wife. His sons all immigrated to Madawaska. Their home above was built between 1770-1780. The house was built like a log cabin,it was heated with a stone fireplace. Two adults and five children lived in that house at the time. As you can see the house is old and you can see all these houses at the Acadian Village , the workers are all dressed in Acadian costumes. I am hoping to go there again this summer during the CMA2009. As you walk through these houses, there is usually someone telling the story about the house or about the owner or about their way of life back then.
If any of you are in Caraquet on August 15th (Acadian Day) and you are around the carrefour in Caraquet around 11 am, stop by and say hello to me, I will be wearing Yellow.
Thanks for the visit, do stop by again.
Have a great day
Aline

Cherished Memories

To me cherished memories means remembering stories from our childhood,remembering stories shared with us by our love ones, parents, grandparents,brother and sisters or even aunts and uncles.
I wanted to make a webpage to remember my dad who passed away five years ago and my husband who passed away ten years ago.
I decided to make something like a flower garden, or a garden of memories. I wanted them to be remembered.
So I have created some pages if you go to www.acadian-roots.com and if you scroll down, you will see Cherished Memories on the sidebar. I will be adding more pages as I go. I may be adding pages of some of my friends love ones also, with poems and music. I may add more on each page ,but since this is only the beginning I do hope you all like the pages.
I wanted to share this with all of you since my Dad passed away on May 19th five years ago.
Have a great day
Aline

What are Seniors?

Have you ever walked in a park and seen an old man, sitting on a park bench reading the paper? Have you ever passed a elderly lady in Walmart walking with a cane? Have you ever sat back and wondered about these elderly people?

Seniors are people just like you and I, the only difference is they have lived longer than we have.

If you go to nursing homes and look around, there are some elderly men and women who are lonely, many have lost all their friends they used to laugh and share stories with.

When I worked at a nursing home I seen them. There was this old lady who came from Ukraine , her name was Mrs Osanski or something like that, And she had no family, no friends, and no visitors. And when I used to go to her room, I felt so sorry for her , so I began talking a little and making her laugh or smile, and one day she sang me a song in Ukraine, and every time I would go into her room from that day on I would say sing me that song again? Well her eyes would light up and she would begin to sing. It was a good feeling leaving that room.

The elderly or seniors had a life, just like we have, they worked hard, brought up their families, some had large families ,others had small families. They hurt, they cried and they loved just like you and I. If you have grandparents, or even great grandparents, take time to visit and sit and talk or listen to them, ask them things, just so they feel that they are still important.

If ever you go visit some relatives at a nursing home or senior citizen home and you see an elderly gentleman or lady just sitting all alone, give them your biggest smile and say hello, how are you? You will sometimes see a nice smile or hello from them, and when you leave you will think "I made someone smile". It is a good feeling really.

The lady in the photo is my great great grandmother Marie Blanche Breau , she was married to Louis Legere in 1851. They had a big family, and she died in Notre Dame in 1922 at the time she was the oldest parishioner ,she was 94. Imagine if she were alive, the stories she could tell?

So do not think of Seniors as just Old , think of them as someone who played a very important role is this world of ours. Be kind to them, they sure deserve it.

For more stories on seniors, I have three pages on Seniors on my website at www.acadian-roots.com I have seniors over of 95 to 100, and 100, and over 100, very remarkable folks.

Thanks for the visit , do stop by again.

Have a great day

Aline.

A Walk In The Park

One doesn't know what one will stumble upon while walking through a park. Today we decided to go for a walk in an park that I had never gone to. The weather was beautiful, so we got in the car and headed for the park. The park is one with walking trails, and a place you can also walk your dogs. We parked the car and began walking up the path. It was so peaceful. We met some joggers on our walk. Then there was this little bridge, we began walking on the bridge and I looked down and I saw the falls on the photo, so I took out my camera and snapped this photo.

We continued our walk, along the path, with trees all around us. We could hear the birds chirping in the trees. As we walked I wondered if a little rabbit or small animal would cross our path, but being so late in the day it wasn't meant to be.

Imagine our ancestors, walking in the woods, they must have come across some very beautiful scenery, waterfalls, streams, rivers, flowers, and lots of wildlife. They also have to had come across lots of little black flies because in just the few minutes that we walked today, I got bit on the ear, something entered my ear, something was buzzing around my head, and little flies were even going under George's hat onto his bald head. grin. This taught us a lesson, next time we go, we need our insect repellent. smile.

Thanks for the visit, hope you will stop by again.

Have a great day

Aline

Acadians and Taverns

Have you ever wondered about some of the Acadian habits? Have you ever wondered about what they did to pass the time away?
Well for one thing they had Taverns where the men would congregate. When the Acadians were in Beaubassin, they had a tavern owned by a William Cyr. And on some articles I read, it also said that when the English and French were not fighting, they were drinking at the same taverns. Think about it? Two men from different sides at a tavern drinking and talking together and becoming friends. It must have happened, since some english soldiers did marry Acadian girls. Did they make their own beer back then? I read somewhere that the Acadians used to make beer from spruce.
Now I have recently bought a book called Les Defricheurs d'eau and inside the book, it talks about the buildings at the Village Acadian (Acadian Village ) in Tracadie.
The photo above was the tavern belonging to a Louis Poirier of Caraquet New Brunswick. He was born in 1847 married in 1871 to Ombeline Hache; they did not have any children. The official opening of the tavern would have been around 1880. At one time part of this building was used as a store. The tavern back then opened at 8 am until 6 pm and sometimes even later depending on how long the discussions would take. In Mister Poirier's tavern there was no beer sold. Beer was only introduced in the region with the arrival of the Eudistes priests who according to tradition made it themselves.
Among the most popular liquors we found Jamaican Rum,De Keyper Gin from Holland and Brandy from Iles St Pierre et Miquelon.
The bartender seemed like a jovial man, respected and honest. You could buy the liquor to drink it there while playing cards or checkers or else take it home. During the long winter months the villagers would gather at Louis Poirier's tavern or across the street at his home.
So as you can see, liquor has been around for ages and ages, even during the prohibition years liquor was sold many time illegally by bootleggers . There sure must have been lots of discussions and bragging during these visits to the Tavern or Bootleggers huh?
I would like to end this blog with a little bit of advice, back then you have to remember they had no cars only horses and wagons , so if they got feeling good probably the horses took them home . grin. BUT today it is not the same, there is too much traffic to get in your car when you have had too much to drink, do not take the chance, instead take a taxi. Better safe than sorry.
Thanks for the visit, do stop by again.
Have a great day
Aline

Mother's Day

Mom

How did you find the energy, Mom

To do all the things you did,

To be teacher, nurse and counselor

To me, when I was a kid.
How did you do it all, Mom,

Be a chauffeur, cook and friend,

Yet find time to be a playmate,I just can’t comprehend.
I see now it was love, Mom

That made you come whenever I'd call,

Your inexhaustible love, Mom

And I thank you for it all.
(By Joanna Fuchs at Poemsource.com)

I looked around for a verse, that I would like and settled for the one above, because it is true our mothers are so special and they give so much of themselves for us. so it is only appropriate for them to have a very special day.

So to all you Mothers out there, a very very Happy Mother's Day, from me to you.

And to all you sons and daughters who do not have their Mom here to celebrate this year, remember the love they gave to you, remember their little smiles, the things they taught you, and know that they are probably looking down on you with so much love in their hearts.

A very special Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, with all my love ,and to my daughter in law a very happy mother's day to you too.

Have a great day

Aline.

Mom's stories on our trip

Yesterday, we left home to go to Fredericton to make arrangements for our Bergeron-Damboise reunion to be held July 18 and 19th.
So we asked Mom to come for the drive, she was hesitant at first ,but soon changed her mind.
So around 745 am we left. I was in the back seat with Mom, and the men in the front seat so I had a chance to chat with Mom.
The topic started when I asked Mom, if she remembers what her house looked like when she was little. "Oh yes I remember "she said. We lived in a log cabin, my Dad built, and inside it was only a one room house. Mom continued " We have bunkbeds at the far side of the room, the boys slept together and the girls slept together, and she said Mom and Dad had their separate room divided by a sheet . She said " Dad used to save the straw from the oats and fill mattresses made by Mom with the straw, and put it on the bottom of our beds, then Mom would sew pillow cases and they would used the feathers from the chicken they plucked inside" I said were they comfortable? Mom said , oh yes, and she said when it came time for the straw and feathers to be changed Mom and Dad did so. As you can see , I was really excited,I felt just like a child being read a story book. Now what?
Mom continued " And ,she said, Dad used to work in Lumbercamps and sometimes if he was to be gone for long periods, he took us with him, Mom would pack her trunk and off we went."
Now she said " In the lumbercamps, Mom (my grandmother) used to cut the lumbermen's hair, she charged 25 cents a hair cut. She did pretty good with that. And many times she would cook for them. My grandfather was a saw filer , and he used to also make saws, so he would be needed in these lumbercamps. So that was an interesting story that my Mom shared with me, since I had not heard it before.
We had a nice trip, yesterday, we went to see the Hall where our reunion is to be held, and then to the park where we are to meet for the first time, and then to the motel many of us will be staying at. We took photos and then we returned home.
I treasure the stories Mom tells me, it is as if I am there, seeing everything, but really I can only imagine being there but I do know one thing. Mom was there.
Thanks for the visit , do stop by again
Have a great day
Aline

Update on LeBlanc,Melanson,Bourque reunion2009

The following is an update on the LeBlanc,Melanson and Bourque reunions for the CMA2009
Le communiqué de presse en français suit.

LeBlancs, Melansons and Bourques get ready: you will be having a reunion at the 2009 Congrès mondial acadien 2009!

(LAFAYETTE, LA - May 4, 2009) With less than 100 days left until the 4th Congrès mondial acadien kicks off in New Brunswick’s Acadian Peninsula, over 85 Acadian family organizations are preparing their reunions.

The Congrès mondial acadien (CMA) is an international event that brings Acadians of the world together every five years in a different Acadian heartland. The two to three-week event features a diverse program of events such as community fairs, huge outdoor concerts, artistic performances, conferences, family reunions, sport and much more that attract Acadians from Eastern Canada, Louisiana, Québec, France and elsewhere. Seeing as Acadian heritage is the common thread connecting the participants, the family reunion component of the CMA is very popular. Therefore, as the Peninsula prepares, in Louisiana, Cajuns are planning their trips to Canada and their participation in these reunions. However, for the past few months, this southern Acadian community has been troubled by the absence of certain major families from the roster of official CMA Reunions. The Bourque, Melanson and most notably LeBlanc families weren’t planning on getting together for this historic gathering even though at past Congrès’ the LeBlanc reunion attracted thousands. Seeing an opportunity to remedy the situation, Louisiane-Acadie, Inc. decided to lend a hand and take on the challenge of coordinating one event for the three families.

Louisiane-Acadie, whose mandate it is to represent the Acadians of Louisiana on the international stage, took on the project knowing that it could only be successful if it was built on partnerships with organizations and individuals in “Acadie du Nord”. It didn’t take long for Acadian resourcefulness to take effect and numerous partners got involved in this pan-Acadian initiative. Incidentally, a date and evening entertainment were indentified thanks to legendary Acadian band 1755, a venue was secured thanks to the Town of Tracadie-Sheila, participants will be able to get information and register online thanks to Capacadie.com, great Cajun food will be served thanks to Louisiana Office of Tourism and the word will spread like wildfire thanks to CAFA (Confederation of Associations of Families Acadian in Louisiana) and FAFA (Fédération des associations de familles acadiennes in New Brunswick).

“It’s heartwarming to see Acadians coming together to make sure that LeBlancs, Melansons and Bourques also get to have a memorable reunion. When Cajuns need a hand, our Acadian cousins are there and now, we are able to return the favor on a much smaller scale. That being said, there’s no doubt that when there’s a party to be planned, Cajuns are the people you want at the helm!” explains Ray Trahan, President of Louisiane-Acadie, Inc.

Although the details of the day’s events and registration have yet to be finalized, Louisiane-Acadie wanted to announce the news now in order to give participants a chance to plan their trip to the Acadian Peninsula where numerous traditional and less conventional accommodation options are still available. As 1755 band member Roland Gauvin explains, one detail was quickly confirmed. “Since we are performing that night in Tracadie-Sheila, we are happy to offer a 5$ discount on our ticket price to everyone attending the reunion. These families are important branches of our Acadian family tree and we are happy that they will be joining us during our summer tour.”

Stay tuned for further details but in the meantime, mark August 21st on your calendar.
LeBlanc, Melanson and Bourque Family Reunion
August 21, 2009
Tracadie-Sheila Arena
Information: rachelle@louisiane-acadie.com, 337-291-5489, www.cma2009.ca

Louisiane-Acadie is an umbrella organization that represents Acadians and Cajuns in Louisiana and encourages networking and increased connections between Louisiana organizations in order to promote a united voice and better connect with all Acadian communities worldwide. The organization’s current projects include Louisiana’s bid to host the 2014 Congrès mondial acadien and Louisiana’s presence at the 2009 CMA, project supported by Louisiana’s Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

For more information on the 2009 Congrès mondial acadien 2009, visit their website at www.cma2009.ca.

Seeing old friends

Have you ever wondered what happened to your schoolmates, or people you worked with of long ago? If you would meet them again, what would you say to them? We need to remember that they have lived most of their lives without us .
Well last winter, I went to the bingo, one night and a sister of one of my old school friends was there, and she said to me,my sister is down from the States. I hadn't seen her for around twenty years. I said where is she? She pointed her out, and I walked over to her. I had been told that she was suffering from dementia so I was hesitant, thinking she would not know me. When I got to her table, she looked up at me and I said hello. She replies, you are Aline. Well just her knowing who I was really touched me. We chatted a little bit, and had our photo taken together.
And on saturday we went to a funeral for one of my friends in the country, and I knew that a lady who had worked with me when I was around sixteen years old, had married into the family.
I was sitting in the chapel, looking around, I think I was still looking around for a sixteen year old girl. grin. This girl that I worked with had jet black hair when she was young, so here I am looking at the dark haired ladies. grin. Anyway her sister in law arrived , and I asked her if she was here. She pointed at a lady two rows up from me, and said "there she is". And she called her over. She said do you know this woman? The lady looked at me and said, she looks familiar but I am not sure. I looked at her, and I would never have known her. I said "did you work at such and such a place?" Yes she replied, I said so did I , I said I'm Aline. Well , she called her husband over and introduced us "This is Aline, we used to work together when we were around sixteen years old. " Now that was a long long long time ago. grin. But it was so nice meeting her after all these years. It was a very nice feeling.
Now another nice little story I want to share is again about my Mom , I have more stories about Mom than of my Dad. Dad's memory wasn't as good as Mom's.
Anyway when Mom was a little girl around nine years old, her father went to work in Soldier's Cove on Cape Breton Island for a brief period. And Mom befriended a little native american girl named Mary. Mom said they always played together, and Mary had made Mom a little basket and Mom still has it. Anyway about four years ago, Mom took a trip to Soldier's Cove and asked about Mary if anyone knew her. She was told that Mary had married a mister Christmas last name. So Mom found out where she lived and went to see her. Well Mary was so glad to see Mom, she took Mom to the bingo and spent all the time that she could with Mom. They took photos together. Mom came home feeling so good, here she was in her 80s meeting an old friend of so many years ago one more time. Shortly after , Mary passed away.
Yes seeing old friends is a good thing. Because we can be here one day and gone the next.
Time for a coffee. Thanks for the visit, do stop by again
Have a great day
Aline.

LEBLANC,BOURQUE,MELANSON- CMA2009

Louisiane-Acadie is pleased to announce that they will be coordinating a reunion for the LeBlanc, Melanson and Bourque families on August 21st, 2009 in Tracadie-Sheila. This is a concerted effort of numerous groups and organizations all over Acadie and we are very happy that everyone has come together to ensure that these families can gather together at the 2009 Congrès mondial acadien. More news will come soon but mark your calendars for August 21st!
For information, please contact Rachelle at 337.291.5489 or at rachelle@louisiane-acadie.com.

A love that never died

I would like to share with you, a story of true love. There once was a young girl who lived in the country, when she was around twelve years old, she met a man eight years older than her who lived next door. She did not go out with him, she probably was attracted to him because he was a very handsome young man, so I was told. Now this little girl would walk up to her aunt's place up the road, to get some milk for her mother and when she got there, there was always some people listening to her aunt tell stories. Her aunt was a great storyteller and this young lady would see the handsome man there.
When the young girl was around thirteen and a half, they decided to marry, they would meet on a little wooden bridge and make their plans. But her father had he known would not have approved of his daughter getting married at such a young age.
So they decided they would elope. One night they met and took the train into the city, and got married by a minister, and they were both catholics. After their marriage they returned to the country. But their being together did not last very long. "knock ,knock on the door. So this young woman goes to the door, it was the catholic priest, "oh oh!". Young lady, said the priest you go on home right now, and to the young man he said and you too". So they were separated, but did this stop them? No it didn't , back to the priest they went and they told him they wanted to get married. So the priest wrote to the Bishop for permission, and the bishop agreed that they could get married. The young lady was thirteen and a half, the man 21 and they were married in the catholic faith.
They endured hard times, but they weathered the storm, they had a big family ,but when their family was all grown up, lo and behold they divorced.
Dit that end their relation? No , the man remarried, did that end their relation? NO. Because the young lady was always there for her first love, even when he married another, she took them for their errands, doctors appointments.
She never married again, and when her one true love was on his deathbed, where was she? She was at his bedside. How do I know?
Because she is my Mom, and the young man was my Dad.
Have a great day
Aline

Why Children are important

I decided to write about the children today,because I have been reading the newspapers and the last few weeks I have been reading about missing children, about a baby being found dead and abandoned on a dirt road, another little baby not even walking left in the woods in only a diaper and shirt overnight, about two children left in a restaurant eating pizza while the parents drove away. That is so sad. There are so many people out there wanting a baby so badly, while others abuse and abandon them.
Why are children so important? I believe they should have a right to grow and have a life, a family and children of their own. They should be given a chance to do so.
If we had no children then there would be no future generations. Then what would happen? No more descendants, nobody to carry down our ancestor's legacys.
Sometimes it is hard to raise children, they need our love and our guidance, to put them on the right paths of life. But do not abandon them, they depend on you. And they love you.
If you feel you cannot cope with the children for whatever reason you have, talk to someone, see a counsilor, your priest, minister, rabbi, doctor, a close friend, sometimes just a few words from them can be a big help to you.
My heart went out to the little boy abandoned by his Dad for whatever reason, (which I don't agree with personally) and the rescuer was running out of the woods with this little bundle of joy in his arms, all wrapped in a blanket to get warm. He would not have survived on a much colder night. There is no need for acts such as these. If they do not want the children, someone else will want them, and give them a good home with a nice future and with lots and lots of love.
Love your children with all your heart, they are our legacy.
Have a great day
Aline

Ancestors on the Move

If you have been into genealogy for a long time, you probably have found that some ancestors moved around a lot. Most of them moved in search of work or of a better life.
Take our first ancestors for instance, some were in Europe and others in the British Island and they left their homeland for a better life. The French from France, English from England, Irish from Ireland,Scots from Scotland, Germans from Germany, Italians from Italy and so on.
Then the next generations moved a bit further from their hometowns, maybe because they met their spouse who came from another area? Maybe because the work was more plentiful elsewhere. If some of your ancestors worked in lumbercamps, they too moved from camp to camp looking for better jobs. Some from Canada went to the USA to work in lumber camps.
Next the Mills from the USA seemed inviting to the Canadians, good pay and a good future so they immigrated to the USA, some returned and some stayed. In the early 1900 a lot of Acadians left the Maritime Provinces for the USA .
Now the Gold mines,Silver mines, and Coal mines also lured people ,the pay was very good so our ancestors relocated.
My greatgrandfather went to Nova Scotia, he went to Danforth Maine,Old Town Maine and Kent County New Brunswick. I found him through different censuses. My grandfather was in St Perpetue Quebec, Danforth Maine, Soldier's Cove Cape Breton, Fredericton,Moncton,Kent County . So as you can see they travelled around a lot. Barthelemy Bergeron dit Damboise was in Quebec, in Nova Scotia, in Campobello Island , and Fredericton New Brunswick.
So if you have elusive ancestors, they could very well have relocated somewhere else. I have an aunt that just passed away and she moved to Manitoba when she was sixteen years old and only came home once for her father's funeral and she died in Manitoba. Making notes of your family or ancestor's locations is important too. Others will not have to research for hours and hours to find this out.
Also jotting down what kind of work they did is important too especially if you do not only want born married and died in your records.
Well thanks for stopping by , do come again.
Have a great day
Aline

DEATH ON LAND AND AT SEA

From the book The Catholic Irish in New Brunswick by Leo J Hynes.
Famine and disease had gripped all of Ireland after Father Sweeney had been in Chatham New Brunswick for two years. It was then that the great exodus from Ireland began in earnest. Thousands fled and Chatham was to be the receiving port for some of the more tragic arrivals reaching Canada during the saddest years of migration. The vessel Looshtauk out of Dublin, was one of a continuing flotilla of emigrant ships. It had 467 passengers and was two days out of Cork when two boys became ill with the ship's fever. This quickly spread and in seven weeks at sea, 117 passengers died and were buried at sea. this had forced Captain Maine to change his original course for Quebec and seek the nearest available port, which was Chatham on the Miramichi.
On a Thursday afternoon ,June 3 1847, the ship's pilot boat came in at Henderson's wharf where Captain Maine asked to speak with the public authorities, requesting medical assistance and food supplies. On Friday evening the famous shipping pioneer Joseph Cunard, sent his steamer to tow the Looshtauk up from the harbour's mouth to Middle Island where a temporary shed had been hastily erected and, by Monday morning, June 7 the sick were removed from the ship and placed under the care of Dr. Vondy of Chatham.
The brig Richard White had arrived from Cork the day after the Looshtauk tied up and she carried eight passengers and two crewmen who also were sick. they ,too, were quarantined on the island. In the next week the bark Olivar and the brig John Hawkes also sailed into the Mirimichi. The Olivar had attempted to dock on Chatham wharf but, before it could do so, a Dr Key boarded her and found seven of her crew ill with typhus. The ship's passengers had been landed previously in Newfoundland. This boat was also sent immediately to the quarantine station. However, the John Hawkes, out of Limerick, had arrived on Tuesday June 9, with all 120 passengers healthy and they were allowed to disembark at Chatham.
Two weeks after the first sick were quarantined, that is on June 22, Dr. Vondy reported that 37 had died. Three days later he himself became ill and died ten days later on Friday June 2 at 8am. He was only 26 years old. His remains were placed in a double coffin made air tight and conveyed from Middle Island to Coulson's wharf from where it was taken to St Paul's churchyard for burial followed by an immense concourse of grieving people. A newspaper reported " We have seldom witnessed an occurence that cast such a deep gloom over the community. As soon as his death was announced, all the shops closed and business partially suspended throughout the day.
Two other schooners ,diverted from Quebec, the Victoria and the Independence, also came into the Miramichi. The Victoria landed 20 passengers, three with typhus, the Independence 13 with typhus. Of the 457 passengers who had sailed from Liverpool on the Looshtauk, 224 survived with 167 staying in the Chatham area and the remainder going to Quebec. The quarantine station was on Middle Island was closed near the end of the year 1847, a year that had witnessed so much suffering and tragedy endured by the immigrants as well as by those quarantined on Partridge Island near Saint John, at Hospital Island near St Andrews, and on Grosse Isle at the approach to Quebec City.
The people of Chatham erected a monument to commemorate the heroism of Dr Vondy in the St Paul's anglican churchyard in Bushville. In their cemetery the parishioners of St Michael's Catholic parish placed a monument in memory of the victims from the Looshtauk.
So many Irish people left Ireland to look for a new place to settle and ended becoming sick and dying. It must have been a very sad time, losing love ones in a strange new place.
I tought I would do a different blog today, so I chose this book on the Irish people.
I do hope you have enjoyed reading it, I hope I did not make any spelling errors.
Thank you for the visit, do stop by again.
Have a great day
Aline

This is my life

I was born a long long time ago. I was not the first born, nor was I the last born in my family. I was the in between girl.

What a nice day that was, the birds were singing, I could smell the beautiful flowers, well probably they were only tulips and crocus, but it was a nice feeling to feel the wind on my face, to see the light shining down on me. I am sure there were many people happy to see me.I can imagine my Mom looking down at me with so much love and my Dad feeling very proud of his new baby daughter.My brothers and sister running in to have a look at their latest baby sister.

And soon I began to crawl and ga ga and goo goo a lot, and then came the day I decided enough is enough it is time to walk just like everyone else and I did. Now to talk was a little bit harder but I got the hang of it. I didn't like the idea of sitting on that potty tho, I wanted to sit on the real seat so in order to do that I had to hurry and learn how to do it. Yessss finally I was trained so I felt like a big girl by now.

Now I am already five and ready to go to school, yes I did go at five ,in a one room school in a place called Highland View. The teacher was very nice.

Then I began grading every year and soon I was into high school, with lots of girls and good looking boys, but my heart was already taken. I was in love with my Gerry even tho he did not know it. Oh but one day he noticed me and from that day on, I was in heaven. Got married , had a beautiful son of my own who I love so very much, just like Mom did when she had me her beautiful daughter. Next came the grandchildren, another special part of my life, they are loved so very much too. So now i am old and gray, and I remember my life, all the good things that has happened, the sad things too and even tho I am not a baby anymore, I feel so very happy to have been born and had been given a chance to live my life. Today I am one year older, and all I can say is I wouldn't have changed a thing. I am happy to be here . I feel I have been put on earth for a purpose as we all have . Thank you everyone for all the wishes you have sent me.

Have a great day

Aline

Planning a Family Reunion

There is much more to planning a reunion that meets the eye. As you know, we are planning a Bergeron-Damboise Reunion in July in Fredericton New Brunswick. It has been in the planning stages for quite some times. First was deciding the best place to hold the reunion. We decided to hold ours in conjunction with the celebrations to commemorate the anniversary of the Attack on Fredericton (Sainte Anne de Pays ) in 1759 being organized by the Societe Historique de Riviere St Jean. Next came the invitations, so we did advertise on message boards, forums, websites,blogs,word of mouth, and so on. We are pleased with so many who have accepted our invitation. Next we need to decide exactly where to hold the reunion, a park? A hall?
We have decided on both , the park and the hall. Next we needed a plan on what to do and when and where. So those plans have been done. Next ,who will the master of ceremonies be,who will be our guest speakers? That is all arranged. Next the lunch, and yes we have that planned,and what we are doing for our reunion is asking for sponsors or donors willing to donate some food for our lunch with the rest going to a Fredericton Food Bank. Foods such as Coffee, tea, sugar, milk, pop,sweets, pickles, cheeses ,fruit trays, vegetable tray, all these can be given to some needy families by the food bank. Just in case there are some of you nearby willing to donate, let me know . We have a few donors who have offered some food. Now don't get me wrong we have a caterer, making our lunch already, but if we have sponsors or donors, the food goes for a good cause.
Now a band or musicians would be a plus for our reunion to play in the park or at the hall for a couple of hours we shall see.
Next are name tags, yes it is a good idea, remember sometimes at reunion there are people we have never met before and name tags are great for that. We have covered that topic also.
And planning some little secret things, or activities is a great addition to any reunion and we will have some of those too. So if you are planning a family reunion, do not give all your secrets away, that way the people attending will be in for some nice surprises. I know there will be some at our Bergeron-Damboise reunion. If you need to contact me, you can do so by going to my website www.acadian-roots.com click on Chat n Brag it takes you to me.
And if you are a descendant of Barthelemy Bergeron -Damboise and Genevieve Serreau dit St Aubin, you don't have to carry the surname Bergeron just as long as you branch into the line and if you want to join our reunion. contact me for more information.
A few more notes for a reunion, have a nice reunion, do not become rowdy, make it a fun time and enjoy meeting new cousins.
Thanks for stopping by
Have a great day
Aline

Name Places in Acadie

Trying different Fonts on my blog. This one doesn't seem much different that the one I usually use. Anyway getting on with my blog. How many of you who are doing genealogy have come across names of places that you haven't a clue as to where they are ? I know I have when I first began doing my family tree back in 1976 that was a long while ago. I came across names such as Pisiquit,Cobequit,Pree Ronde and so on. Well I decided to give you an idea on some of these places where they are now or what name they have changed to.
First of Beaubassin, was a village located on the Nova Scotia ,New Brunswick border near Amherst. If you go to the Amherst Tourist Bureau you can see Beaubassin from there.
Ile Saint Jean which I have heard many time, is known today as Prince Edward Island. Port Lajoie is now Charlottetown PEI.
Sainte Anne de Pays bas is now known as Fredericton in New Brunswick.
Ile Royal is now Cape Breton Island, Pisiquit is now Windsor Nova Scotia.
Cobequit is now Truro Nova Scotia. Chezzacook is now Halifax Nova Scotia.
St Charles des Mines is Grand Pre. Pree Ronde is Round Hill Nova Scotia.
Chipoudy is Hopewell Hill Albert County, Nipisiquit is today Bathurst. Pree des Bourgs is now Sackville. Kouchibougouac was the former name of Saint Louis de Kent in New Brunswick. Moncton New Brunswick was known by three names, Le Coude, Terre Rouge and La Chapelle,Babineau Village today is Salisbury. Grosse Ile today is Parsboro NS,Fourche au Crapaud is Turtle Creek Albert County NB. Saint Paul Kent County in New Brunswick was once known as Terre de l'eveque (Bishop's Land). Sainte Marie Kent Co,NB was known as Mont Carmel, there is also a Mont Carmel on PEI.
These are only a few of many Acadian name Places. I noticed Yvon Cyr of Acadian.org and Roy and Boucher have name places on their websites too.
We have two Mont Carmels, (or had) one in New Brunswick and one in PEI,two Sackvilles one in New Brunswick and one in Nova Scotia, two Tracadies, one in New Brunswick and one in Nova Scotia. This is nice to know because if you are told your father was born in Tracadie, in which Tracadie would you look?
I do hope I did not confuse you with all these places but I feel it is good to know.
Now I must go, I am trying to figure out some HTML codes for a page on my website for a future project . I may still be trying to figure it out a year from now. grin.
Anyway I hope you liked my blog and will stop by again because you never know what I will add because I myself don't know smile.
have a great day
Aline

Identifying photos

Today I received a large brown envelope from a VIP and inside the envelope were some photos that I had asked for. I am doing something for our Bergeron-Damboise Reunion and I needed photos. Anyway, inside the envelope was a group photo with the parents and one son identifed.
So I went looking for the family. I checked the 1891 Census for Quebec and lo and behold there they were, and in the photo were ten children or ten persons plus the head of the family, and I did find ten children in the census. So I jotted their names and dates listed in the census. But that was not good enough for me, so I went to the records and found them all one by one. They had three daughters and on the photo they are all standing in the back row. I could tell who the youngest was and who the oldest was so I believe they are identified. Next came the sons ,seven sons, one was already identified, I noticed one is much younger than the rest so I believe he is the one I found born in 1881. Then there is a man who looks the oldest so it is possible he might be according to the photo. But this has not been verified.If I can correct there is still four more sons to be identified. If you have any children or Exilia Bergeron and Hermine Vigneault in your line contact me, maybe someone can identify the rest or correct me if I am wrong.
It is sad when we come across some old photos without names , or photos with some of our relatives and others on the photo are unknown. I have begun writing who are on my photos, so that my family won't have to guess and will keep the photos.
So now I have done what I set out to do today, and a nice coffee (Tim Hortons) would be a nice reward don't you think?
Thanks for the visit , do stop by again.
Have a great day
Aline

The Little Green Frogs

I want to share the following story with you. First of all, as I have mentioned before, my mother has shared so many stories of when she was young with me. When she was little, she was usually always with her older brother and her younger brother. And the younger brother who I named Deedee in the book that I made for my grandaughter was always getting into mischief . He was cripple and because of it, he always got away with a lot. I gave my grandaughter a book with all kinds of stories passed down by Mom and my grandaughter loves her book. Here is one page of the book.
" Little Frogs: One day Flossie ,Teetee and Deedee were outside playing . And on their land there was a spring that their father had dug deeper in order for their mother to put her milk and butter so that they would not go bad. Their father had warned them not to go near the spring.
Flossie,Teetee and Deedee were running and playing, and were getting closer and closer to the spring.
Deedee said "Oh I see a little frog in the water. Oh! there's another one, and another one." Flossie and Teetee were a little ways away from the spring so they went closer to see. Deedee wanted to get even closer so he walked towards the spring. Little did he know that the ground around the spring was really soft and as he knelt down to see the little frogs, into the spring he fell. Well Flossie and Teetee ran to his rescue, pulling him up by his shirt sleeve, took him home all soaking wet. The moral of this story is "Be careful where you look for frogs".
This is based on a true story told to me by my Mom.
Remember I told you about a poor family and my grandmother helping them? Mom also told me that the oldest of the boys used to go to her place and she would show him how to milk a cow. grin.
Thanks for stopping by ,
Have a great day
Aline

Why did I join Twitter?

I haven't got a clue, and I went there and signed up. Once I signed up, I said to myself "What do I do next?" Do I want to add twitter to my blog? hmmm. Ok, But I did not realize that what I say shows up here grin. So please forgive me I was just experimenting with my one liners.
If any of you readers are on twitters, follow me and let me know who you are so I can follow you, I don't know where we are going tho haha. How do we connect all over, what do they mean by mainstream? sob sob. LOL.
I did not want to miss out on anything so when they said twitters was the way to go, I went, haha.
It is all in fun so I will try it for awhile, and add my one liners. I do hope someone on there will follow me I don't like talking to myself haha.
So I am going to twitter along and try to find out how to reply to someone. I do hope I can communicate somehow with someone somewhere haha.
See you on twitter ,I could not even use my name I had to be alliecor hahaha.
Thanks for the visit ,
Have a great day
Aline

GRANDPARENTS

Few can bring the warmth
We can find in their embrace,
And little more is needed to bring love
Than the smile on their face.
They've a supply of precious stories,
Yet they've time to wipe a tear,
Or give us reasons to make us laugh,
They grow more precious through the years.
I believe that God sent us Grandparents
As our legacy from above
To share the moments of our life
As extra measures of His love.~
Author Unknown ~
Today I went over to visit my Mom. With my cup of tea in hand, (not coffee sob sob), I sat down with Mom and today's topic at first was sewing. She told us that she began sewing at age of nine, she was watching my grandmother sew and my grandmother said do you want to learn? She said here is some material so practice. Mom said my grandmother would get some clothes given to her by her sister in law Emilie from the USA and she would take the clothes apart and make new ones for the children. She would take a used coat for example, turn it inside out and make a new coat for Mom or the other children. Mom has been sewing ever since. She has made our clothes, our children's clothes and even her great grandchildren some clothes. Mom continued talking about when she was little she remembered this very poor family that lived down the road from them, and they were so poor that they did not have any good clothes to go to church, so my grandmother would lend them some of her children's clothes because they were all around the same age and after church the clothes would be returned. That was a very nice thing that my grandmother did. It shows me that she was a very kind hearted lady.Then we began talking about my grandfather. I never knew him, he died before I was born but Mom who has a great memory is sharing them with me. She said her father was a very smart man and he did a lot of fancy woodwork and Mom said to me, I wish I had one of his knives he made. She said he made the handle sort of crooked for an easier grasp and he would use the knife to make some shaving for Grandmother to light her stove with. Mom said he made his saw handles, he also carved a carrying pole for my grandmother to carry her water from the spring. He also believed very strongly in a good education for his family , so he would tutor them at home and read to them. I said to Mom do you remember some books he read from? Mom replied, yes one is paticular was poems by Robert Burns.
Yes grandparents are special. Seeing Mom and all that she does and has done for her grandchildren and great grandchildren makes me realize this. Mom said my grandmother was a happy person and she really loved and enjoyed us while we were growing up.
I could listen to Mom's stories everyday, they are always so interesting. So if you have parents or grandparents, sit down and listen to their stories, you will be amazed at things that they remember. Another thing Mom told me was that my grandmother loved to dance, now I never knew this, and she said they had houseparties and my Dad knew my grandmother loved to dance so he would dance with her, usually square dancing. I would love to have seen that.
I cannot stress enough how important listening to your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles is. Their stories are a part of genealogy, a part of history and a part of you.
Have a great day thanks for the visit.
Aline

THE DEPORTATION ORDERS

Although Grand Pre has become the symbol of the expulsion of the Acadians, the deportation actually began on Aug.11 1755 at Fort Beausejour . The people in the area were rounded up and imprisoned in the fort prior to being shipped to the British Colonies. One month later the deportation of the Acadians began at Grand Pre the most populated settlement. The male inhabitants were ordered by Colonel John Winslow, to assemble in the church Saint Charles des Mines on Sept. 5 at 3pm. The men of Pisiquit were ordered by Captain Alexander Murray to present themselves at Fort Edward. In both places the assembled Acadians were told that their lands, homes and livestocks would be taken from them and that they and their family would be transported out of the province. Here are the orders read to them by Colonel John Winslow in Grand Pre.
" Gentlemen, I have received from his excellency Governor Lawrence, the King's Commisssion which I have in my hand and by whose orders your are convened together to Manifest to you his Majesty's final resolution to the French inhabitants of this his Province of Nova Scotia who for almost half a century have had more indulgence granted them than any of his subjects in any part of his Dominions. What use you have made of them you yourself best know.
The part of duty I am not upon is what though necessary is very disagreeable to my natural make and temper as I know it must be grevious to you who are of the same specia.
But it is not my business to annimedvert, but to obey such orders as I receive and therefore without hesitation shall deliver you his Majesty's orders and instructions viz.
That your lands and tenements, cattle of all kinds and livestock of all sorts are forfitted to the Crown with all other you effects saving your money and household goods and you yourself be removed from this province.
Thus it is preeptorily his Majesty's orders that the whole French inhabitants of these districts ,be removed, and I am through his Majesty's goodness directed to allow you liberty to carry of your money and household goods as many as you can without discommoding the vessels you go in. I shall do everything i my power that all those goods be secured to you and that you are not molested in carrying them and also that whole families shall go in the same vessel and make this remove which I am sensible must give you a great deal of trouble as easy as his Majesty's service will admit and hope that in what every part of the world you may fall you may be faithful subjects, a peaceable and happy people.
I must also inform you that it is his Majesty's pleasure that you remain in security under the inspection and Direction of the troops that I have the Honour to command. (source History of Nova Scotia).
More people were deported from Grand Pre than from any other location because not only was it the most populated area ,it was also the most important Acadian agricultural and commercial center. A total of about 2200 Acadians were thus removed from the greater Grand Pre area between October and December 1755. Within a short time, all their homes and barns were burned.Following orders to burn and lay waste the British troops travelled from village to village burning every building in sight. It is estimated that there were about 6000 Acadians deported from Nova Scotia in 1755. And can you imagine? They were deported in the winter months, October it starts to get cold, November and December it is cold, and on the water it must have been so cold and the oceans so rough for our ancestors who were sent away .
I was reading the Acadians of Nova Scotia by Sally Ross and Alphonse Deveau, it is an interesting book if you have the chance to read it ,do so. Maybe your library may have it or maybe you can order it through your library.
Now to you readers if you come from Britain, this has nothing to do with any of you, I mean what the British did. It was long long ago and it was a terrible thing to do to the Acadians. But it has happened and it is in the past, I am sure that if our ancestors were able to talk to us, they would say, let it go, and show your children that you are a proud people and that they should be proud of who they are, we cannot change the past, we can only make the future a better place.
Thanks for the visit and do stop by again.
Have a great day.
Aline

New Brunswick Canada Phone Book 1943

About a month ago, we went to a flea market , and I always look for old things, and I came across this phone book of 1943. I wanted to buy it but could not buy it at the time. But around a week ago, my brother went to the same flea market, and he came home with the book. I was very surprised to see he had bought it.

I was only a year old at the time this book was published. Inside the book I found the following article that I want to share with you.

"Save telephone service: We're being asked-being told-to save steel,rubber and other essentials of war. Telephone service, no less. For when a man-or a nation- hurries, it's always by telephone. That's what's happening now. Army, Navy,Industry,Civilian Defence,all hurrying by telephone.

So it's up to the rest of us to lay off. Within reason of course. Don't pester any of these agencies with trivial calls. Don't , at any time, clog the lines with long talks about nothing in paticular. If you have a two or four family line, brevity is particularly needed. In an air raid, don't telephone at all. Leave telephone lines clear for airplane spotters, wardens, firemen,police and other agencies acting at personal risk for your safety and that of your community. Familiarize yourself with local instructions." So this phone book was out during World War two.

Inside the book there are phone numbers for Moncton, Bouctouche,Richiboucto,Hillboro,Campbellton, Chatham,Newcastle,Bathurst,Shediac,Sackville,Dorchester,Port Elgin,Escuminac,Paquetville,Tracadie Sheila,Jacket River,Petitcodiac,Dalhousie.

If you want to look in the phone book to see if some of your relatives are listed,I have added the book on my website at http://www.acadian-roots.com/ Look for the little red phone on the side bar. Click on the writing. Be aware the page take a while to load, there were 100 pages added. I did not add the classifieds but I do hope you find the phone book interesting. Enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by and do drop by again.

Have a great day.

Aline

Uncle Larry the Bachelor

Today I would like to share with you what I remember about Uncle Larry and what he accomplished in his life. He was born in Nova Scotia in 1893. His father worked in Digby for a while and then they went to Old Town Maine and then back to New Brunswick.
Larry never married but yesterday Mom gave me some of his old letters, and in one of the letters he talks about a girl he once loved. I believe her name was Theresa Mills, she was the love of his life and he did not win her and he never ever got married. Here is what Larry wrote at the age of 92, yes ninety two." There was a maid called Theresa Mills that one I first loved, in Saint Paul on a hill, she was an orphan I was told, but her eyes so blue and her hair shown like gold. This is why I loved her like I do. She got married after I met her but the words she said to me that day caused a pain in my heart I must say. That is all he wrote about her.
Larry lived in his parents home for a long time, he used to breed animals and birds, if you went to visit him, you did not expect a fancy house, he had chickens and roosters running through his house. He had the most beautiful exotic birds, peacocks , pheasants, with feathers of many different and beautiful colors, he had deer he had sent away for. He had white deer and one time one got away, and he never saw her again but later on he saw some white deer or brown and white deer so he figured she mated with the wild deer. He loved horses,and had various calves.
He was well educated and self taught himself on many subjects.
I first contacted him, when I got into genealogy, I had gone to his house when I was a little girl, but anyway when I first contacted me, he was hesitant on giving me information about his family,but he later confided in me. He told me of great aunts and great uncles, where they lived , the names of their children where they were and so on. I am grateful to him for sharing with me.
Anyway among his letters I want to share this one, it was written on July 24 1986 he was 93 years old, and he wrote to Prime Minister Brian Mulrooney in Ottawa. Here is what he wrote:
Dear Sir, I cannot see any harm in praising you in the Daily Times and Transcript of Moncton NB. As I have read some of your statements in that paper stating your great ambition in making efforts to bring this country to a reciprocal alliance with the rest of the world to talk PEACE instead of making efforts to blow up the universe and I hope your efforts will keep you as the man of Chaice for the safety of mankind for ever. Yours truly Larry. He had a note in the margin for whoever was mailing the letter to make a copy for him and one to Brian Mulrooney in Ottawa.
Now he wrote this at the age of 93, he died three years later at the age of 96. I do hope you enjoyed reading today's blog, I wanted to share this with someone,especially my cousin Eve, the memoirs of my great uncle Larry.
Thanks for the visit, and do stop by again.
Have a great day
Aline

Acadians and Metis

Before the Acadians came, there were various tribes of Native Americans, there were the Migmaws, Maliseets,Abenakis. So when the first Europeen men came to Acadie they had no women with them. Many of these men lived with Native American women, some married them others had children with them. These children were called Metis. The following is from A great and Noble Scheme book.
There were as yet no French women in L'Acadie and sexual relations with Mikmaw women greatly faciliatated the assimilation of the Engages(workers or hired men) to native culture. Lescarbot saw no evidence of prostitution among the Mikmaq when he first arrived, but he noted a custom of sexual freedom among young unmarried women that was eagerly exploited by fishermen and traders. The Mikmaq did not consider an illegitimate child a stigma but rather a measure of a young woman's fertility, and bearing a child out of wedlock tended to enhance rather than compromise her chances for marriage. While the girls were free to accept or reject lovers, however the Micmaq had no patience with forced sexual relations. It is dangerous to dally with them wrote Lescarbot. After one French colonist meddled with a Micmaq woman, the men of her family came to Biencourt in a rage, warning him that anyone who attempted to do that again would not stand much of a chance that they would kill him on the spot. Marriage too was a serious business. If a young man with marriage on his mind found his attention encouraged by the girl, he was expected to ask her father for permission to take up residence in the family lodge. the father agreeing , the suitor entered the service of the brides household, hunting and trapping exclusively for them. This could last for a year without the bride and groom to be having relations. They were only allowed to marry once the groom showed he could support a wife.
Despite these strict rules, within a few years most of Biencourt's engages,(workers) were living in Micmaw communities with a native wife and metis children.
Philippe Mius d'Azy son of Philippe and Madeleine Helie married two native americans.He had fourteen children total. Joseph married Marie Amireau , Marie married Francois Viger, Mathieu married Marie Madeleine, Francoise married Jacques Bonnevie dit Beaumont, Pierre married Marguerite La Pierre, Anne Marie dit Nanette married Paul Guedry dit Gravois.

Jean Roy dit La Liberte married Marie Christine Aubois (Dubois) a native american. Not sure what tribe. They had nine children: Anne married Jean Clemenceau, Marie married Joseph Comeau dit Grandjean, and she married Girouard, Jean married Jeanne LeJeune and Francoise Corporon, Francois married Marie Bergeron, Philippe married Cecile Mazerole, Marie Madeleine married Louis Fontaine dit Beaulieu, Marie Francoise married Etienne Trahan, Rene married Marie Josephe Daigle.

Jean Vincent D'Abbadie son of Jean Jacques and Isabeau de Bearn de Bonasse married two daughter (of Madockawando a Abenaki chief )named Matilde and Marie Pediwammiskwa.
With Mathilde he had: Claire married Paul Meunier, daughter who married Philippe Meunier, Anastasie married Alexandre LeBorgne de Belisle, Urseline married Louis D'Amour de Chauffours,with Marie Pediwammiskwa he had a daughter Therese who married Philippe Mius D'Entremont.
These are just a few who married Native Americans, I found that I have Marie Christine Aubois and Mathilde, in my lines so far. So if you have any of the above in your lines you have a bit of Native American blood running through your veins. I am intrigue by the D'Abbadie de St Castin line, and Madockawando, if you do have him in your line, google Madockawando see all the stories out there.
I wonder if that is the reason that I enjoyed cowboy and indian movies long ago. grin.
I do hope you all had a nice Easter ,we had snow, yes we had snow, the ground is all covered in a blanket of the white stuff. But it soon will be gone again.
I do hope you enjoyed todays blog, the reason I wrote this article, was because I went into my software and noticed I had Jean Roy in my maternal line.
Have a great day
Aline

Dominique Martin 's treasure

In 1938 there was a very bad storm near the home of Dominique Martin of Saint Louis Cape in New Brunswick. Can you imagine the waves washing on the shore and on the rocks? Well anyway, Dominique Martin was walking along the shore and he spotted something on the sand.
As he got closer he noticed a skelton all wrapped in fur and surrounded by bark of a tree. On the skelton was a leather caldron measuring 28 inches in diameter and 12 inches deep. Inside the caldron Dominique found many articles. There was another caldron a bit smaller measuring 7 inches in diameter ,thirteen ancient axes, a sword, a knife, a stileto,pot hooks, glass beads, and a few other articles not identified because of the rust. This discovery caused quite a stir among the villagers and attracted many visitors and local newspapers. They never identified the skelton.
I read this in the History of Saint Louis. I am certain there must be many stories like this one that has not been told, but can you imagine walking along the beach and something belonging to our lost ancestors wash up? Remember, there were many many tragedies at sea. The Duke William with all the Acadians on board, the Violet also among others. Somewhere under the oceans there may be some old time piece or old bowls or jewelry.
I always imagined going into the woods somewhere, where homesteads used to be, and finding an old abandoned home, and finding old photographs, or old dishes. It would be nice if we knew the exact spots where our ancestors lived and have permission to do a dig . I do know one of my ancestors Thomas Cormier lived in Beaubassin, and they have a dig going on there, if they find some carpentry ,could it have been his?
When I go to flea markets and I see an old photograph, I usually look to see if there is a name, just in case it would be an ancestor of mine. These are the treasures that are important to me, not the gold , nor silver, oh but mind you if I did find some I would not throw it away. grin.
But to me, keeping our ancestors memories alive anyway I can is what is most important.
When our ancestors were exiled, could they have buried some of their precious possessions?
Maybe one day someone will discover something else belonging to our ancestors.
But they won't find anything tonight and tomorrow because we are going to have some SNOW, grin. They are calling for 10 cm. of the white stuff. Out comes the boots and mittens and shovels, oh noooo! grin.
Thanks for the visit, do stop by again.
Have a great day
Aline

Acadians and Foods

If you think this pot is something used by cannibals you are not correct , grin. This pot was used to make maple syrup. It was bought by Jean a Nicolas Babineau in 1770 in Turtle Creek New Brunswick. I want to thank Omer Babineau for allowing me to use his photo.

Acadians began tapping trees very early in history.According to Diereville he says that as early as 1708 Acadians were making maple syrup using similar methods as those today. For many years maple syrup was used instead of sugar.

Sugar back then had to be imported along with molasses from the West Indies.

Now throughout Acadie berries were plentiful, there were wild strawberries, blackberries, blueberries,gooseberries,and cranberries, and berries are full of vitamins which was good for our ancestors. They gathered wild herbs such as Dandelion blossoms used to make wines. Summer savory was a herb that was used a lot as well as wild caraway,hops were picked to make yeast. They ate wild game such as porcupine,beaver, rabbits,even squirrels and all kinds of wild birds, blackbirds, pidgeons,meadowlarks, wild ducks, partridges and so on. They had chickens and pigs,and they would only kill the cows when they had no more use for them. Today many of us would not eat some of the things that our ancestors did, but they had to survive the best way they could. And who knows ? Maybe it was delicious, for instance we love lobster but in countries where there are no lobsters, people would shun at the thought of eating them. Now our Poutine Rappees, they look gooey but they are scrumptious and many folks would not want to even try them. I dread at the thought of being in the woods and having to survive and having to eat whatever I could find.

Now I will share a recipe with you. If you ever come to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and someone says do you want a Pet de Soeur? Say yes!

Pet de Soeur

Dough

2 cups flour

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup milk

Mix all together. Until a soft dough is former, if it is too wet add flour on the board. Roll the dough until it is fairly thin maybe a little thicker than a pie crust.

Grease with butter, add brown sugar and sprinkle cinnamon on the top. Roll the dough like a jelly roll and slice into circles around one half thick.

Pour water in a casserole dish. Put the sliced dough in the casserole dish and bake 375 F for about 25 minutes or until the pet de soeurs are golden brown. I sometimes do not even put them in casserole dish with water. I just cook them in muffin tins. mmmmm very tasty.

Thank you for stopping by, do come again.

Have a great day

Aline

HURRY LET'S RUN IN THE FOREST

Who was running in the forest? Why? Well if you studied or read about the Dispersion of the Acadians in 1755 you would know that our ancestors had to run away or be made prisoners of war . Some Acadians escaped from the prisons even to also run and hide in the forest to avoid capture by the English.

What hardships they must have endured. Men,women and children,young and old all running through thick woods, depending what time it was, they had to endure insect bites, falls and scrapes, hunger, hot and cold weather.

Some became ill, was it from maybe eating wrong plants? Or wrong berries? Can you imagine them at night time, probably with a fire burning, no lights, pitch black. Hearing the unfamiliar sounds of the night. Coyotes, wolves, owls, bear, moose, wondering what the sounds were and if they were safe. Children crying because they were afraid or they were hungry. The men had to hunt for food and catch whatever they could such as rabbits, raccoons, beavers, deer, small birds. They did not have good tools to work with either, an ax or hatchet, a knife maybe. The brush would be thick at times. They had to go on. Some Acadians walked through the forest for days and days some died along the way.

One group of Acadians led by Michel Bergeron son of Michel Bergeron dit Nantes made their way up to St Gregoire Quebec first stopping in Cacauna with the native americans, and during the winter making their canoes to continue on their way.

What hardships these ancestors must have gone through. When you go for a walk in the woods, think about them, look around now the woods are cleared and you can walk through them but imagine the trees not being cleared, no paths to walk on. Imagine how your feet would hurt, our ancestors must have felt a lot of pain. And winter time,oh my I cannot imagine what they went through on their journeys. Food would be scarce because the snow would be deep, and it would be awful hard to walk . No berries, just a few wild animals if they could catch them. What about water? What did they do? Probably they found some streams or springs, but during the winter, possibly they would maybe melt the snow? But how did they survive the cold nights? How awful it had to have been for them. All because they were fleeing for their lives, to get away and wanting to live.

Well I went to the genealogy center yesterday and I was looking for something and came across the photo above, and said to myself, now that would be nice to put in my blog with a story to go with it. It sort of makes us think about our ancestors and what some of them went through.

I do hope you enjoyed my blog and will stop by again. Thank you for the visit.

Have a great day

Aline

Saint Louis Kent County New Brunswick

Saint Louis de Kent is an acadian village in Kent County New Brunswick in Canada. I had the good fortune of spending quite a few summers there.
The people are so very friendly. They have a wharf or marina. My brother in law had a sport boat and we used to go out into the ocean to the Dune to dig Bar Clams, we also went to an island that is a bird santuary and went and did some jigging for Cod out in the Ocean. This village has been there for a long long time. Many of the villagers live to a ripe old age. In 1786 Jean Babineau and his son Joseph left Memramcook in search of a new homestead. Jean had some daughters married in Bouctouche,in Richiboucto and at Aldouane. But he continued further north. Arriving at the northern part of the Kouchibougouac River he found three english families living there. They decided to settle in the area attracted mostly by the meadows. But in the month of December Jean Babineau drowned while trying to cross the Petitcodiac River. The following month of May Joseph and his family came at settled at Kouchibougouac what it was known as at the time.And he was the first Acadian Family to settle in Saint Louis. Later other families arrived, the Barriaults, Henri,Poirier,Maillets,Richard,Thebeau,LeClerc,Vautour etc.
Now Lorraine Coulombe my friend has a site on Facebook on Saint Louis and she has posted all these photos of people of Saint Louis and she has given me permission to add some on my photo gallery at http://www.acadian-roots.com/ I would really suggest you look at them, notice their clothing, their age,their large families, I will be adding a few more soon. And if you are on facebook, check out her Saint Louis Group and my Old Photos of New Brunswick group. I am sure you will be impressed. I want to thank Lorraine for sharing her photos with me and with all of you. Some of the photos in my gallery include Auguste dit Audjuste Richard and his wife Pelagie Maillet, their children, Louis Maillet and his second wife Lucille Doucette and the children of Louis.
Thanks for the visit and do stop by again and if you happen to go to the CMA2009 stop in at Saint Louis de Kent for a brief visit.
Have a great day
Aline

Witches and Witchcraft

I am reading a book by Donald Lines Jacobus and wanted to share some parts with you.
One of the chief delights of genealogy researchers is the insight it gives us into the motives, the customs,the daily manner of life, of people who lived in a different era. They lived in a different world than us. Think about it, we have washers, and dryers, they had rivers and tree branches to hang the clothes, we have stoves, they had fireplaces,we have lights they had lamps ,we have cars they had horse and wagons and the list goes on.
Those who view cemeteries as a gloomy place to be avoided can never experience the mingling of reverence and exultation felt by the genealogy researcher,when at last he stands in front of the long sought gravestone of an ancestor. And nor can they know the furtive delight of collecting curious epitath. ( I noticed on some graves, photos of hunting cabins, or even a truck that they drove, something that connects to the deceased.)
Now about witches and witchcraft.
Those who take a satisfaction in writing of our witch-burning ancestors would do well to persue their historical studies a little further,for witches were not burned in the American Colonies. The usual method of execution was to turn them off ladders and leaving them hanging. In Europe witches were much more cruelly dealth with than in America.
The explanation of witchcraft craze is simple. Witchcraft existed two or three centuries ago solely because people believed it existed. An angry woman might give a neighbor a hateful glance or utter a half veiled threat. It would be remembered, and misfortunes subsequently occuring would often be connected with it in the mind of a neighbor. Significance would be extracted out of mere coincidences, and entirely natural events would be attributed to the malignant agency of the suspected woman. These suspicions would be bandied about, in whispers or even openly. Oftentimes, imaginative children or neurotic adolescents, overhearing the talk, would discuss the matter between themselves. There was a thrill in it, and they would shudder deliciously when the suspected witch passed by them or spoke to them.
Sometimes the children became obsessed with the idea that the witch was persecuting them. They imagined they seen apparitions of the witch,their parents would then see their previous suspicions confirmed. Formal complaints would be lodged against the witch. Then the witch was brought to trial and so on. The Salem craze reached the dimentions of mob hysteria and many innocent victims suffered. Can you imagine? If you did something a little bit out of the ordinary it was believed that you were a witch??? Very scary situation, I am very happy that I wasn't there during those sad and terrible times.
Well we had two days of snow, yesterday I had to clean my car, and I hadn't cleaned the top of it, while we were driving down a busy street, we stopped for a red light and Poof a pile of snow came tumbling down on the windshield, You should have seen how fast I moved out of the car and cleared the window. grin.
Our Bergeron-Damboise reunion plans are going very well. I have had some folks contact me from various places who would like to attend. That is good. We are getting closer to the date in July. And the CMA2009 also is getting nearer, if you are looking for accomodations I have a friend in Bouctouche who has an old house converted into rooms that she will rent, Bouctouche is not real close to Caraquet but now everywhere you look the motels , hotels ,B&B are all booked solid.
I hope you enjoyed todays blog and will return.
Have a great day
Aline