There are many interesting Woodbury characters but most of them are pre-1860 so we will write about them at length another time. Levi Woodbury born in 1789 in Francestown New Hampshire served as Governor of the state and then served in the federal government for many years. He was a US Senator, served in a cabinet for the president, and was on the US Supreme Court. His father Peter Woodbury would have a son named Peter and that line would lead to my relatives.
Charles Perkins Woodbury was a farmer in the Bedford, New Hampshire area for many decades. He married Laura Riddle Gardner in Bedford. Their son Maclean Woodbury only lived to 25 years old but still had two sons. Sadly he died of tuberculosis in Bedford in 1904. Her son Charles Perkins Woodbury would marry into the Stickney family as shown below.
Walter Brooks Stickney was born in Townsend of Massachusetts. He moved with his family to Hollis New Hampshire by the late 1860s. His son Walter Atvan Stickney stayed in the area for his life and was a farmer. His son Earl Hammond Stickney was a farmer and storeowner in Hollis too. Earl had a daughter Elsie Rowena Stickney who had three wives. The first of them Charles Perkins Woodbury would give her her only child Charles the younger.
The Cortes family of Moca in Puerto Rico is mostly a mystery. Obviously, the records of Puerto Rico are not being placed onto the internet so only federal census records are being used. When more is learned about this family more will be reported.
The Caban family comes from the villages of Moca and Marias within Moca County of Puerto Rico. Moca is located within the northwestern corner of the island. They were principally agricultural workers. Tomas Caban was born in 1865 and had nine children with Agueda Acevedo y Mendez. Their son Anicacio Cabán y Acevedo was born in 1885. Children in Puerto Rico receive one last name from their father and one last name from their mother. Hence Cabán y Acevedo was applied to all their children. Anicacio married Mauricia Soto y Vargas and their 10 children had the last name Cabán y Soto. Their daughter Andrea Cabán y Soto married Domingo Cortés y Acevedo and had one child. In Puerto Rico, a woman’s last name changed at marriage to a combination of her maiden name and her husband’s name. She would keep the first of her last names and take the first of her husband’s with a “de” placed in the middle. Andrea thus became Andrea Cabán de Cortes.
The Damase Brault family from Quebec is a large one. As seen in the image, there are 6 boys and 6 girls born to Damase Brault and Olympe Gendreau that lived past 10 years old. When their mother Olympe died in 1900, the younger children of Damase Brault went to live in an orphanage and the older children continued to live with Damase Brault. This was traditional in Quebec society and is no reflection on Damase at all. He died in St Johnsbury Vermont in 1906 while living with a granddaughter of the Drolet family. Damase was an orphan at age eight himself and he lived with the nuns in Saint-Jacques-de-l’Achigan, Quebec. Four Brault brothers all left Quebec to live in Alberta along with one of their sisters. They started homesteads there and seemed to have succeeded.
Any information about Alphonse Brault is both from family stories and from written documents. Some may not end up to be true. The documents such as vital records, censuses, land records, and immigration records lead to this information being close to the truth. Records have been found for all relatives near him – parents, siblings, and children – to validate where he was and what he was doing.
Rodrique – was a kindly man who lived with his sister Emma Brault in Alberta most of his life on a homestead
Olympe Exilda – died young
Dorila – had 11 children with Thomas Drolet and all lived long lives – moved from Weedon Quebec to Saint Johnsbury Vermont USA to Worcester Massachusetts to Saint Petersburg Florida. Two group family photos are known to exist both of which have been posted to the group. Her children are Louis – Blanche – Noel – Thomas – Josephine – Juliette – Clara – Deneige – Dora – Beatrice – Germaine
Alphonsine – married Guillaume Vincent and had then a daughter named Alberta. Then widowed and married Fred Currier. She was a medical nurse in Lowell Massachusetts for many years and retired to Concord New Hampshire.
Clara – was Sister Superior called Sister Brault in Sorel Quebec. Worked perhaps at an orphanage.
Alphonse – He had 12 children with Eliza Hade but only 6 lived past age 10. Lived in Bromptonville Quebec Canada from 1900 to 1909 owning a hotel that ran illegal activities. Fled Bromptonville with his daughter Dorila in 1909 for unknown reasons. Lived in New Bedford from 1910 to 1917 living off gambling. Built a house in Clyde Alberta in October 1917 near his youngest sister Emma on homestead land that he developed. Buried in Clyde Alberta cemetery after slipping on steps that were iced over at his home in.
Aimé – unknown whereabouts and relations since she might have died young
Rosa – unknown whereabouts and relations since she might have died young
Joseph – died of a horse-related accident at a young age.
Josephine – was Sister Gendreau a nun working in an orphanage in Quebec Province.
Arthur – was a blacksmith by trade and lived 25 miles from the Brault farm in Tawatinaw, Alberta, Canada. He was a kind-hearted man and who had 12 children. He also built a tennis court near our town and his children were quite well known for their skill in the sport. He and then his wife Béatrice Marie Migneault were postmasters for 20 years in the Indian village of Tawatinaw.
Edmond – was a barber and had a barber chair in the bus depot in Edmonton and was very well known. He was a barber for one year in New Bedford Massachusetts in 1910. Lived and worked in the same rooms at 41 Beetle Street as his brother Al. Coincidentally, 45 Beetle Street was the Comeau home and they might have met. Leocadia Girard was his wife and he had at least one daughter. Resided in Morinville Alberta.
Annonciade – Her sister Emma Brault had her twin daughter’s at the hospital across the street from where Annonciade lived in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1923. Annonciade married Joseph Orosillas Perry and had at least five children in New Hampshire.
Emma – was married to Sam LeBeau and had five daughters.
Eugene – lived in Morinville, Alberta near Edmonton on a homestead.
Dalia – died very young
Damase Brault and Olympe Gendreau family technical data (m 20 October 1863 in Valcourt)
1) Pierre Rodrique Brault – b. 5 October 1864 in Valcourt – d. 1946
2) Olympe Exilda Brault – b. 4 April 1866 in Valcourt – d. 24 August 1868 in Valcourt
3) Marie Emma Dorila Brault – b. 30 June 1868 in Valcourt – d. 3 January 1947 in Saint Petersburg, Florida
4) Marie Alice Alphonsine Brault – b. 11 August 1870 in Valcourt – d. 22 March 1951 in Manchester, New Hampshire
5) Marie Arezelia Clara Brault – b. 17 December 1873 in La Patrie – d. 1963
6) Alexandre Alphonse Brault – b. 2 June 1875 in La Patrie – d. 13 August 1933 in Westlock of Alberta Canada
7) Marie Emma Georgina Brault – b. 11 July 1877 in Weedon – d. (unknown but lived at least 5 years)
8) Marie Rosa Rosana Brault – b. 9 July 1879 in Weedon – d. (unknown but lived at least 3 years)
9) Marie Elmina Dalia Brault – b. 21 April 1881 in Weedon – d. (unknown)
10) Joseph Jean-Baptiste Brault – b. 24 November 1882 in Weedon – d. 1896
11) Marie Valerie Joséphine Brault – b. 27 June 1884 in Weedon – d. (unknown)
12) Joseph Damase Arthur Brault – b. 1 May 1886 in Weedon – d. 1973 in Tawatinaw of Alberta
13) Joseph Philippe Edmond Brault – b. 25 May 1888 in Weedon – d. October 1966
14) Marie Mathildé Annonciade Brault – b. 22 April 1890 in Weedon – d. 22 April 1956
15) Marie Emma Celanire Brault – b. 11 July 1892 in Weedon – d. 25 March 1986 in Calgary of Alberta
16) Joseph Eugene Adolphe Brault – b. 9 September 1894 in Weedon – d. February 1965 in Morinville of Alberta
17) (unknown names) Brault – unknown dates and unknown whereabouts
The Spoor detour to Farnham only lasted about 50 years. By the early 1890s, they were already coming back to the USA. Orange and his son Edwin had moved to Farnham in about the early 1840s. He had 11 children with Hedwige Adélaïde Gagnon in that city. Several of his children would moved to the New Bedford Massachusetts area in the 1890s.
Hedwige Spoor (1857 to 1922) would die in New Bedford but be brought back to Farnham for burial. Not much is known about her yet.
Marie Delima Spoor (1858 to 1864) would die in Farnham at a young age.
François Xavier Édouard Spoor (1860 to 1860) would die in Farnham less than a month old.
Marie Jeanne Spoor (1861 to 1872) would die in Farnham at a young age.
Marie Lucie Anne Spoor (1863 to ?) would marry Flavien Gamache and immigrate with him in 1892 to New Bedford. They had 3 daughters in Canada and 6 sons in Massachusetts. Most would stay in the area but still it is hard to find out much about them. Their daughters are Amanda, Anna, and Sylvia. Their sons are William, Joseph, Arthur, Archibald, Aline, and Armand. These are the first cousins of our Pepere Spoor and his siblings and thus their grandchildren are our third cousins.
Édouard Spoor (1865 to ?) would marry Scholastique Desautels and stay in Farnham.
Guillaume Spoor (1869 to 1930) would marry Marie Rosalié Gauthier and then they moved to New Bedford in February 1891. Their first daughter Marie Rose Delima Spoor (nicknamed Eva) was born in Farnham. Their next three children would all be born in Massachusetts but die within months of birth. Then Henry, Blanche, Archibald, and Florida were all born in New Bedford. Archie would lead to our many first cousins – Southworth, Antonsen, Casemiro, Grime, and Fernandes. Eva would marry Ernest Dupont and have 3 sons and 1 daughter. These would lead to our Dupont second cousins. Henry would marry Roséanne Leclair and have one son Wilfred Spoor. He in turn would marry Vivian Chenel and that would lead to our Spoor second cousins.
Leyail Spoor (1872 to ?) lived in Farnham.
Louise Spoor (1876 to ?) married Emilien Surprenant. They would reside in New Bedford by the early 1910s and have two children Rosario and Dorace.
Charles Spoor (1877 to 1949) married Alphonsine Cloutier in 1925 as a second marriage. He emigrated from Quebec in 1910 and lived with his sister for a whole in New Bedford. His two sons were Norman and Alphonse – first cousins to Archie Spoor Sr. Norman and his brother would have 12 children between them and they would all stay in the New Bedford area. They are second cousins to the Spoor sisters and Archie Spoor Jr.
Nellie Spoor (1880 to 1900) would die young in Farnham as her husband did also. But they would have a daughter Elisé L’Heureux who would go to live with her Aunt Louise Suprenant in New Bedford.
Thus it was not just William Spoor that came to New Bedford. Three of his sisters and one of his brothers would come also. His mother-in-law Rosalié Hebert would come as an elderly woman and be buried with her daughter. His wife Rosalié Gauthier would have her brother Francois move to Brattleboro Vermont. Rosalié’s nephew Oscar would visit New Bedford every summer with his family. Outings on Long Pond were frequent with the Spoor sisters and both Archies. Thus the Spoor family kept together as a unit for a long while.
Louis Touchette and Marguerite Regnier had two sons that set out to the USA. Jean Louis went to Thompson Connecticut in 1861 and Joseph went to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1855. Joseph would marry Charlotte Onésime Élise Viens and have 11 children. The extended family would live in the Fond du Lac region for a century. Their daughter Joséphine would marry Peter Sheff and their children in turn would be farmers. I have one group family photo and many portraits.
Jean Louis Touchette on his part would marry Onésime Morier in 1844 in Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. After most of their children were born they left for Thompson, Connecticut and the extended family set down firm roots in the area. Many of the Touchette clan are still in Windham County. The daughters in the family are shown in a group photo.
Children of Touchette and Morier:
Alfred (1845 to 1923) married Céline Marcoux and had many children that stayed in the region. One of my third cousins has given me pictures of this family.
Célina (1847 to ?) came to Connecticut with the family but returned permanently to Quebec later.
Joseph (1848 to 1928) married Léocadie Grenier and had 7 sons and 2 daughters.
Frédéric (1849 to 1909) married Octavie Goyette and had 5 children. The family would relocate to New Bedford and beyond.
Marie (1851 to ?) was a dressmaker.
Norbert (1853 to ?) is a mystery to me.
Delphine (1854 to 1922) married Israël Trudeau and had 12 children. I tried to trace the whereabouts of their relatives through the decades since they have a distinctive name. There are many Trudeau family members still in Windham County and many gravestones in the cemeteries there. However, Connecticut data records are not as good as those of Massachusetts. It has led to not being able to get a good grip on the family’s history.
Emma (1856 to 1928) married Honoré Comeau and they ended up going to New Bedford. This was the second marriage of a Comeau to a Touchette in Windham County. Our great grandparents were first.
Mathildé (1858 to 1934) married Joseph Treflé Comeau and as all know moved to New Bedford in 1897. Leads to Laurent, Dorothée, Juliette, and Joseph Romeo. From there clearly, it leads to our first cousins and second cousins.
Cordélia (1861 to ?) married Pierre Vandal but nothing more is known.
Rose Anne (1862 to 1910) married Jean-Baptiste Loiselle and they moved to New Bedford also.
Edmond (1865 to 1868) died young.
Eugene (1867 to 1923) married Mary Gervais and they moved to New Bedford.
If anyone can identify more of the people in the photo, please comment. At back second from right is Mathilde Touchette. Seated older woman is Onesime Morier. Perhaps at right in front is Emma.
Comeau and Spoor – 5th Generation Data 1 – Edwin Spoor – 1830 birth might never have been recorded since Vermont did not require it – might have to obtain baptism record from United Methodist Church in Saint Albans area – might have been born in Franklin, Georgia, Saint Albans Town, or Saint Albans City – parents are Orange Spoor and Mathilde Morris
2 – Jean-Baptiste Gauthier dit Marcoux – place for 3 March 1841 Quebec birth to Charles Gauthier and Lucie Potvin – his parents were married in Saint-Césaire, Rouville, Quebec in 1835
Comeau and Spoor – Births in 6th Generation 1 – Patrick Henley – 1786 birth in Perce Quebec to James Henley and Catherine Chicoine – probably never was recorded since baptism was years later due to lack of a priest in area
2 – Louis Mignier dit Lagacé – 1800 birth in St Hilaire Quebec to Jean Minier dit Lagace and Genevieve Menard
4 – Etienne Fournier – 1816 birth in Matane Quebec to Etienne Fournier and Victoire Langlois
Comeau and Spoor – Deaths in 6th generations
1 – Adélaïde L’Écuyer – death date and place
2 – Marie Pélagie Benoit dit Livernois – death date and place
3 – Julian Brault – death date and place
4 – Domitilde Julie Piquet – death date and place – before 1890 – wife of Julian Brault who she married in 1833 in Saint-Jacques-de-l’Achigan of Quebec – she last appears on a document in 1871 in Saint-Alexandre, Iberville of Quebec
5 – Mathilde Morris – death date and place – difficult situation
6 – Jean-Baptiste Gagnon – death date and place – perhaps in 1870s
Comeau and Spoor – Marriages in 6th generation
Orange Spoor and Mathilde Morris – marriage date and place are unknown – her parents are unknown but his parents are Abraham Spoor and Rebecca Betts
Comeau and Spoor – Births in 7th generation
1 – Joseph Comeau – birth date – in 1760 in Pointe-du-Lac to Joseph Comeau and Isabelle Laurt
2 – Marie Josette Servant – birth date and place – 1757 birth to Bernard Servant and Marie Fournier
3 – Thérèse Houde dit Desrochers – birth date and place – 1783 birth to Augustin Marie Houde dit Desrochers and Marie Beaudet
4 – Marie Marguerite Josephte Pothier – birth location and date – to Joseph Marie Pothier and Marie-Anne Destin – maybe 1785 birth
5 – Jean Maurice Minier dit Lagacé – birth date and place – to Joseph Marie Minier dit Lagacé and Marie Anne Aubert
6 – François Gauthier – birth date and place – to Michel Gauthier and Marie Louise Martin – about 1785
7 – James Henley – birth date and place – 1752 in Ireland
8 – Catherine Chicoine dit Cotton – birth date and place – year is 1755 to Jean Jacques Chicoine dit Cotton and Marie Louise Boudot
9 – Marie Charlotte Alix dit Dumini – birth date and place – 1761 to Toussaint Alix dit Dumini and Marie Thérèse Lariviere
10 – Jean Louis Renaud – birth date and place – to Jean Renaud and Véronique Buretier – maybe 1780 in St Martin
11 – Marie Victoire Langlois – birth date and place – birth year is 1776 to Jean-Baptiste-Marie Langlois and Marguerite Gosselin
12 – Jean-Baptiste Hébert – birth date – 1761 in Grand Pre of Acadia to Charles Hebert and Ursule Forest
13 – Nathalie Lanoue – birth date and place – 1764 in perhaps Acadia to Pierre Lanoue and Ursule Brun
14 – Antoine Gauthier dit Larouche – birth date and place – to Germain Gauthier dit Larouche and Marie Anne Bellemare
15 – Marie Louise Dubé – birth date and place – to Jean Alexandre Dubé and Marie Vailliancourt
16 – Jean Gagnon – birth date and place – to Alexis Barthélemi Gagnon and Marie-Catherine Ouellet – perhaps in 1777 in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Kamouraska
Archibald Romeo Spoor and Marie Rose Adrienne Brault were married June 29 1933. Reverend R W Decosse performed their wedding ceremony at the Saint Joseph’s Church in New Bedford Massachusetts. They are the couple in the middle.
Best man at right is Albert Oscar Marotte and maid-of-honor at left is Medore R Béatrice Cusson. Albert and Beatrice were also a married couple having gotten married a few years later. Beatrice Cusson is the youngest sister of Aurora Cusson who was Archibald Spoor’s first wife. She died in 1932 of pneumonia.
Aurora and Beatrice have parents of Édouard Cusson and Emma Johnson. Aurora was born 27 October 1901 in New Bedford and died 16 April 1932 also in New Bedford. She married Archie in 1923 and had three children with him – Lucille, Rita, and Jeannette.
Medore Béatrice Cusson was born 12 December 1906 in New Bedford and she died 22 January 1992 in Cherry Hill New Jersey. She married Albert Oscar Marotte who was born 5 May 1903 in New Bedford and died 25 March 1985 also in New Bedford. His parents are François M Marotte and Roseanna Benjamin.
Some other information about my grandparents might be useful. Archibald Spoor was born 21 May 1903 and died 11 December 1973 both in New Bedford. Adrienne Brault was born 16 May 1912 and died 20 October 1997 both also in New Bedford. They had four children together.
I am trying to determine when Medore Beatrice Cusson and Albert Marotte got married and what city. Who were their attendants at the wedding and what church and priest were used? Lastly, did they have any children and grandchildren together?
Comeau family is seen here. There are four rows with three in the top row, four in the second row down, five in the third row down, and four in the front row. Joseph Felix Comeau and Julie Legendre Comeau are the parents here and they are in the middle.
Topmost row: Joseph Treflé Comeau – Télesphore Ernest Comeau – Édouard Zépherin Joseph Comeau
Second row down: Honoré Comeau – Joseph Ferdinand Comeau – Joseph Frédéric Comeau – Louis Phillippe Comeau
Third row down: Désiré Comeau – Joseph Félix Comeau – Marie Julie Euphémie Legendre (Comeau) – Évangéline Comeau – Adéline Comeau
Frontmost row: François Xavier Comeau – Jean Alfred Comeau – Joseph Jacques Étienne Comeau – Marie Anne Comeau
Hopefully, we can keep improving on the identification of there people. This family photograph is perhaps from September of 1883. My grandfather Trefle Comeau, in back with the checkmark on his collar, was married that month. Notice Jean Alfred in front center has a black right eye. Can anyone help me further with this photograph?
Dorila Brault and Israel Fortier had 6 children that lived to adulthood. Their mother Dorila died in 1935 at the age of 33. The children went to live with relatives and friends from that point onward. Seen below is a group photograph of the extended family. The man at the right is Israel Fortier and by his side holding the infant is his wife Dorila Brault. The image is from about February 12 1922. The couple in the middle is the parents of Israel and this is their 50th wedding anniversary.
Back L-R: Lenore, Aldie, Merila Front standing L-R: Azelina, Archille, Josephine, Dorila (holding Josephine) Israel & Leoda Front sitting L-R: Johnny Giroux (Azelina’s son), Lenore’s daughter ? if it is Muriel and her son ?
Dorila Brault married Israel Fortier on 23 April 1919 in Clyde of Alberta Canada. They had seven children but one died young. She died at age 33 in Clyde Alberta. Do not know yet about the cause of her death. When she died the girls went to live with a sister of Fortier and the boys went to a religious orphanage. Three of her children are still alive as of summer of 2012. They are my mother’s cousins. Wish I had a full group picture of her family in Clyde.
1 – Martina Fortier (1920-1922) Died young in Clyde.
2 – Josephine Fortier (8 Feb 1922 to 19 Oct 2007) Married John Cumming in 1944. Had three children in Saskatchewan. Moved to British Columbia.
3 – Ovila Gerald Fortier (30 Apr 1924 to 07 May 1987) Married Esther Cormack. He moved to Quebec.
4 – Lucille Fortier (17 Jun 1926 to)
5 – Georges Fortier (25 Jul 1928 to 11 Feb 1999) Married Margaret Kelly and had five children.
6 – Yvonne Fortier (17 Dec 1930 to) Still alive and in Alberta.
7 – Achille Hubert Fortier (04 Mar 1933 to) Married Marie Jean Girard and has two daughters.
The Landreville family of Saint Paul, Joliette, Quebec is shown here in about 1907. My father’s uncle Albini Landreville is at back right and his parents are in front middle. They had 17 children of which some are seen here. Photo thanks to a couple of my second cousins from the Landreville clan. Albini would immigrate to New Bedford and marry my father’s aunt – Dorothy Comeau – in 1913.
Identification is as follows: Damase at left back hiding off the photo – Elida at top left near him at edge- Henri at back middle – Elmeria at right back – our Albini – Antoine at left center row – father and mother – Rose-de-Lima at left front – Marie-Ange at front right – Omar at right front
The parents are Joseph Camille Gauthier dit Landreville and Rose-de-Lima Richard. They were married in 1887 in Saint-Liguori, Montcalm, Quebec. Their eldest son was Albini but of the other 16 children we know only names and some birth dates and locations. Albini was born in Saint Paul, Joliette, Quebec, Canada on 1 May 1889. I have recently found the family on the 1911 census in Canada.
Does anyone know more about the children born to this family? How many of them came to the USA and what happened to the rest? In the picture, I do not really know which of the older girls is which. Of the two older girls one is a half sister of the rest of the siblings.
Sherlock Holmes solved cases through the use of deduction and the careful use of adduction. That is he collected all evidence in his mind and made logical conclusions and also he would then fill in the missing pieces with adduction or guessing in a reasonable manner. The life of Alphonse Brault is like a 1000-piece puzzle. There are 300 pieces down in order and 700 pieces are either missing or still awry. What the rest looks like, however, is already in place since a pattern has emerged.
Alphonse Brault is hurrying toward the train station with his daughter Dorila. He had her pack her bags the night before and they woke up early to catch the first train to Chicago. They were going on a new life for the third time together and this one he wanted to be stress-free. From Chicago he would catch the next day train for Edmonton. Five of his siblings were in the northern Alberta area and he would join up with them. They had written him sporadic letter telling him about the successes that they had on their homesteads since they settled there at the beginning of the decade. They would be surprised to see him and also would be secretly upset. He has been thinking of getting a homestead going for himself but never could push himself to do it.
This is early October of 1917 and this is New Bedford. Alphonse is in trouble again and is fleeing. He is an elusive character that knows how to exist at the edges of society. Until now. The Italian Mafia of New Bedford has always squeezed him for more “protection money’. Booming port cities always have a dirty side and an underbelly of characters that know how to exist in it. Sure there are the merchants, the bankers, and the mill owners. Sure there are the immigrant workers and the retail districts. There are also surely the criminals, the prostitutes, and the lunatics.
The Mafia had been building its threats since the summer began. He was getting late on payments to them. Business was good but he liked to gamble and he liked to buy his many girlfriends gifts. There was no waiting around this time. The final threat came the afternoon before. They had threatened the life of him and his daughter. Dorila had always been the one ray of goodness in his life and his heart. There was no way that he would ever let anything bad happen to her. He was a rotten father and a conniving person but there was always this daughter to give him some hope for a better life.
The trip was all to the west for the two days. The sun would not be in their eyes as they looked to a better future. He bought the two tickets from the $1000 he removed from the back that morning. He felt a relief as he stepped into the train. Alberta or bust would be his motto for two days.
Alphonse Brault was born in Quebec in 1873 to poor parents of Acadian extraction. His father Damase had lived in an orphanage until he was in his mid-teens even though his parents were still alive. The poverty of the family was too extreme to keep him. Damase had promised to himself that he would be a great father to his children and I am sure that he was. He married Olympe Gendreau in 1863 and they like nearly all Quebec family had many children – 17 in number. Some would become nuns, some homestead farmers in Alberta, and one a barber – postmaster. Usually there is some resemblance between the personality of the parents and each of the children. The Brault was like that with many with healthy domestic attitudes and strong work ethics. But remember the nursery rhyme
One flew east, One flew west, One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
Some of the Brault family settled east in the eastern townships of Quebec and towns of New England. Some of the Brault family settled west in Alberta. But Alphonse selected to go the way of lunacy. Psychopathy is characterized by restlessness, promiscuity, morbid lack of remorse, superficial charm, irresponsibility, and impulsivity. A person is born with it at a rate of about one-percent of the human population. One is born with it since it is a genetic problem just as a certain percentage of people will have any problem caused by DNA. Alphonse has all the characteristics of a psychopath but he was also brought up in a Quebec culture that placed a high premium on morals. Bad people are only bad some of the time in such a society and that was what he became – a sometimes bad person.
Alphonse went to school in Weedon in the eastern townships. Usually, this would be a trivial detail but he had two schoolmates – Edmond Fontaine and Eliza Hade. Both of these youngsters were from migrant farm families. They moved with the seasons from villages in the eastern townships of Quebec. Edmond was one year ahead of both Eliza and Alphonse but that did not matter much since school was flexible to the children of farmers. Students would go to class for three months and then leave for three months. Nothing was settled. Not school – not work – not home. Alphonse, Edmond, and Eliza became best friends with each other. They would only see each other for about half the year but they understood each other’s difficult life. Each would end their school career at a very young age as all Quebec farm children did but they still were migrant workers roaming between the same four towns – Scotstown, Weedon, Wolfeston, and West Bury. As their childhood blurred into the distance, each picked up a new trade along the way. Eliza loved to sew and care for her young brothers, Alphonse loved to construct houses and ride horses, and Edmond loved to hunt and fish. They would still stay in touch often and their friendships would change. Eliza as she turned into a teenager became the beauty of the county.
Eliza Hade had been left fatherless by one year old. Her father died before the birth of her brother occurred leaving her mother Elise with much to deal with. Before Eliza turned three she had a new stepfather and then two brothers and one sister came into the family in the next four years. She had been brought with strict morals but during her teen years she had many suitors. Edmond Fontaine was always a favorite of hers and when he started coming around more often she was overjoyed. In June 1893, when she was 17 and he 19, they wed in Scotstown at the Saint Paul Church. Edmond was a hard worker and he hit the fields early in the day each and every day. He had a new family and soon he would have a new daughter Louise. They would board at a different farmhouse each season but their life was better since they were happy together. Edmond still enjoyed his hunting and would go out whenever the opportunity arose.
One such day did occur on Tuesday, August 7, 1894. Alphonse Brault with his young brother Joseph Brault had asked Edmond to go hunting. On a bright, hot August day farming in the heat was out of the question so Edmond agreed. They each got their shotguns since each was an avid hunter. Edmond was living in Scotstown and the Brault brothers in a nearby village. They agreed to go down into a meadow section beyond the farmland of the town. They broke up as they near the brook that was at the eastern edge of the town. Edmond went into a grove of trees as much to get away from the blazing sun as to hide himself from the wildlife. Joseph was distracted and forked in the other direction since he thought he saw something in the brush. Alphonse stayed down the middle and stopped behind a large tree. He had slyly watched where Edmond had gone. He also slyly had watched his brother go off to the brush away from his vision. Alphonse knew his time was now and hid by crouching behind the large tree. He pointed his gun toward Edmond who was looking the other way.
Alphonse then called to his brother telling him that he had shot a large bird. They both hurried to the area. Joseph had gone quickly and was there first. He noticed that it was Edmond and he let out a scream. Joseph was only 13 years old and this was one of the first times he ever hunted. The sight of death was new to him. Alphonse tried to keep his brother calm but to no avail. They were only one hundred yards from the nearest road behind them and they notice a farmer leading his horse drawn cart. They called to him and he came near. They told him how Edmond had been accidently shot. He agreed to bring them and the body back to the village.
Forensics were non-existent in 1894. Footprint and fingerprint analysis was in its rudimentary stage. If a criminal was not caught red-handed nor with eyewitnesses around, then the best that could happen is that a lawyer would break the criminal in the courtroom. The police questioned Alphonse but he explained that it was an accident. The hunters had lost track of where each other were. Hunting is dangerous and there is at least one hunting accident each year in New England and the same rate in southern Quebec. The police could do nothing. Psychopaths are cold-hearted and cold-blooded. Killing a man was about as vile as stepping on a bee that had just stung you.
Alphonse had harbored a secret love for Eliza since his early teen years. She came and went so quickly that he could never get her to take a fancy to him. Always an envious and vindictive person, his love for Eliza became so deep that he contemplated killing Edmond. As other girls refused him, his envy deepened beyond control. During the summer of 1894, he saw his chance and knew the best way was via a mysterious hunting accident. His young brother was a great alibi. He knew his brother was naïve and new to hunting and that he focused quickly when events happened. By the next spring, his brother Joseph was dead from a horse riding accident. Alphonse was a great lover of horses and kept three on his small farm. One day he let Joseph borrow the wildest of the lot. Joseph was found the next day a half mile from the cabin. His head had been smashed in perhaps by the hoof of the horse. Joseph was dead and so was the only possible witness to Alphonse’s crime.
The police were the one’s that told Eliza about her husband’s death but Alphonse came by a day after the funeral with his brother. He told her how sorry he was and that it was a horrible accident. They all started crying about their dear friend. Eliza believed all that she was told and forgave Alphonse. She was a very forgiving person. Alphonse however had another goal in mine. He invited her to go to the grave with him so they could lie flowers on the plot. She accepted and they went the next day. Each day he would come over to help with household tasks such as chopping wood or running errands. To such a person there is no true remorse and his only goal was to wed her. She had fallen into his trap since she was sincere and thought all others were too.
Alphonse Brault and Eliza Hade married in September 1895. Her stepfather had died by then. Her closest companion was her brother Antoine. Antoine did not trust Alphonse. His emotions did not seem sincere to him and his dark staring eyes seemed inhuman. There was nothing he could do by the end but he watched his sister from afar throughout her life. There was already a child Louise and then there would be more – Antoine Brault was born in July 1896. He was named after his Uncle Antoine who would be his godfather. Life would settle down for the new family. Alphonse would be a home contractor in Compton County and Eliza would be a housewife instead of a migrant farmer. Adrien was born next in 1898. A girl Rose was born in 1900.
Everyone has a soft spot and that is their hobby in life. Alphonse’s soft spot was his horses. He wanted to raise his children to be horse riders as he was. When Dorila was born in 1901, she became the joy of his life. As she grew, Alphonse got her into horses. She was a tomboy type and loved being outdoors with the horses either feeding them or riding them. By the time she was seven she was already taking lessons from her father.
More children would come and go though. Marie Antoinette in 1903 would die within months of birth. Her brother Antoine would die the same year. Joséphine would be born prematurely in 1904. Marie Louise Germaine in 1906 would die months later. Germaine born in 1907 would live until 2002. Then sickly Sylvia would be born in 1909.
This large family needed to be feed and thus Alphonse moved more into house building in the Brompton and Sherbrooke areas. Sherbrooke and its suburbs had a blooming industrial base and the population increased greatly. He was a good worker by day but by night a shifty person. He loved drinking with his peers, gambling on horses, and the company of woman. He gave excuse after excuse to his wife where he was going. She understood her husband needed to be away with customers to draw up plans about houses. She understood that her husband needed a hobby outside the home and thus the horse racing was accepted.
Alphonse had come to the vision of his next goal. Make money off the gambling, drinking, and prostituting of Sherbrooke by opening a tavern at the northern outskirts of the city. As visitors came from the northern cities to Sherbrooke, they would see the tavern and come back there at night. A tavern in the beginning of the 20th century was a multipurpose building that was a waypoint for travellers. It would serve food and offer rooms in the front, but sometimes offer drinks and gambling in the back. His wife agreed that the tavern would be a great moneymaker. Supplement the home construction business with a weekend business of a tavern. Alphonse built the tavern in 1903 within a few months. Soon it was one of the most popular places outside the big city of Sherbrooke. All businesses there were actually legal but frowned upon by the temperance movement of pre-prohibition Canada.
The temperance movement was the precursor to the Prohibition Era in both Canada and in the USA. Women would hold protest meetings right outside taverns and bars. Holding signs to disgrace tavern owners and smashing glass inside bars. The laws were not behind them, but still the movement was effective in that the neighborhood did not want the bars there in the first place. This did not bother Alphonse – nothing much flustered him. But an event did happen in the summer of 1909. Something caused him to get very upset or bothered. Not his family but something happened at either the tavern or in his social life that caused him to flee. No one has stepped forward to report what it was and no document or article exists to guide me. But in August of 1909 he fled Quebec with his favorite daughter Dorila for Massachusetts in the USA. They gave aliases as they passed through Newport Vermont’s entry point. But by the end of August 1909 they were in New Bedford. What could he have told his wife? What goals did he have in mind in the new country? Maybe the police were after him or maybe his gambling debts were large. Leaving his wife, eight months pregnant was tough so he must have left a lot of money.
Eliza Hade was a patient and kind person. What ever she was told she accepted since she loved her husband. Anyone of her brother-in-laws could have helped her. The farm and tavern needed to be sold. Her half-sister Eveline Dion was a great help in taking care of Eliza children. Alphonse told Eliza some convenient lie and told her that he needed to leave for Massachusetts the next morning. He told her that he would write back to her when he was settled there. He also told her that he wanted to bring Dorila with him. These all surprised Eliza but there was no way she could protest. She knew very little about what was going on but she trusted him.
Alphonse and Dorila arrived in New Bedford in late August of 1909. They settled into a rooming house for a while. She needed to attend school so he signed her up for 3rd grade at the public school. He needed a job quick and so he obtained one at a local pool hall. That was a profession he knew well and it was good for him to learn English quickly since there was a lot of socializing. His brother Edmond would join him in January of 1910. They would get a three-bedroom apartment at 41 Beetle Street later that month and also get a business front on the ground floor of the same building. Alphonse would open up his own billiard establishment and Edmond would have a barber’s chair in the same space. A daughter was born to Al and Eliza in September of 1909 right before he left. He wrote to Eliza to remain in Sherbrooke for at least a year since the child Sylvia was a bit sickly. He was quite busy in his new home city and enjoyed the freedom to establish himself. He had thoughts about other businesses that would bring in more money. Every Sunday he would bring Dorila to the New Bedford Trotting Track to watch the horses. He would bet on them and she would just enjoy the sights.
Edmond was not happy being in New Bedford. His barbering business was not good since there was so much competition. Three of his brothers had headed for Alberta that summer of 1910 and he wanted to join them. Besides living with Alphonse was tough for him since Al was so restless at night. Like being with a tiger – Edmond thought. He told Alphonse about his plan to go to Edmonton. Alphonse did not care – his work was improving to the point that he could expand his business ventures. Thus Edmond left in the late fall of 1910 and Alphonse moved his residence but kept his business going at the same place.
Prostitution was legal in Massachusetts since the colonial days. Hard to imagine now but it was not until 1918 that it became illegal. Alphonse knew that letting a room out to a prostitute and her customer for a while could build up money fast. So the apartment he just moved out of he kept for business – the prostitute business. That was a booming trade in the growing port of New Bedford and the area he was in was good for it. Sailors visited the saloons and restaurants around the area frequently. So in November of 1910, Alphonse had two businesses going. His wife Eliza back in Sherbrooke was writing him every week and now she was pressuring him to let her go there. He had dutifully been sending back money to her and writing about how his work was going well. Problem was that two of the daughters were born sickly – Josephine now 6 was still very small since she had been born premature and Sylvia now 1 could not walk well due to arthritis. He told them to wait until the spring when school was done for all the children and then come.
The plan worked. He told a few prostitutes in the area that he had a temporary room for rent by the hour. Word got around and his future plans were for even more. By early in 1911, he had enough money saved up to rent out a building on 25 South Second Street in New Bedford. He used the front of the ground floor as a restaurant and the ten boarding rooms inside he used as habitation for his family when they came in June and for temporary rentals to customers. He moved his pool hall across the street to 10 South Second Street. His wife arrived in June along with four of his daughters. It was easy to run the businesses since they were all nearby. He had hired three managers for the two businesses – with he running the restaurant at night. It was also easy to keep the goings on from his wife since their rooms had windows only to the back and she was quite busy with housework and their daughters. This plan was only temporary he knew since the family needed a better place to live.
Eliza on her part decided to take some sewing work in to supplement the income. She had been a seamstress part time in Quebec and she was good at it. She was a hard working person and loving all the work she had – housework and sewing. She did worry that Alphonse would come home late into the night but he told her that both businesses took a lot of his time. She worried but believed him but she had a new concern – she was pregnant again. Adrienne Brault was born April 16 of 1912. The growing family needed more space and besides Alphonse wanted to keep the seedy side of his businesses fully away from his wife. By October, he was looking in Fairhaven, the town to the east of New Bedford, for a house. He had found a comfortable looking one at 58 Hawthorne Street. He decided to rent one of the floors there and had moved his family by November. The dual plan worked well since the 8-member family fit well into the new rooms and he was able to concentrate on his work more. He had told his wife while in New Bedford to never bother his restaurant work and she complied. Alphonse also had an excuse now to stay out later.
Gambling was legal in Massachusetts until 1916. The temperance movement across the USA had no only alcohol use on its agenda but also the gambling and prostitution. This trio was acknowledged to damage the lives of many. Alphonse was into all three by now since he had turned his pool hall into also a gambling den. Prostitutes would frequent both places. His monthly income grew and he needed it since in 1913 there would be three more members to the Brault family. Ovila Brault was born to Alphonse and Eliza on the 15th of June 1913. With so many young children in Fairhaven, Eliza wrote to her half-sister Eveline Dion in Sherbrooke Quebec. They had formulated a plan years before that Eveline, who was caring for Eliza’s daughter Josephine in Quebec, would join them in the USA. Now was a great time since school was out and Josephine was growing larger leaving her sickly nature behind. The family now had 11 members with 3 of them being pre-school age. Eliza and Eveline loved each other and thus the household was quite harmonious. They both worked hard at housework and at sewing.
Eliza’s oldest daughter Louise was a great help in the past years but now she had a boyfriend and would soon marry. Louise Fontaine was always suspicious of stepfather Alphonse Brault. She could see his behaviour better now that she was in her late teens. She never wanted to discuss him with her mother and with Dorila since there was so much love there, but with her 13 year old sister Rose and her aunt Eveline, she had quite discussions. Louise had left school at age 15 and had been working for four years outside the home at a factory job. Sometimes she walked by the restaurant and noticed the seedy characters that went in there and often wondered to herself. Eveline also worried for the family since Alphonse came home a couple of times a week quite drunk. Louise Fontaine married Alfred Morin on the 10th of February 1914 in Fairhaven. The ceremony after the church wedding was held in a small hall. Louise knew that she would no longer be able to look after her young sisters since she would live elsewhere in Fairhaven. During the ceremony, she took Eveline aside and told her to watch over her sisters well – all of them. Eveline knew what she meant.
Within a few weeks, Eliza Hade would be pregnant for the 13th time in her life. This number is not unusual for an immigrant family in that era. That only 7 of her children would live past 10 years old was also not unusual. On November 8 of 1914, Antonio Brault was born to this large Fairhaven family. He was a healthy baby and his chances of living were high since he was away from the squalid French ghetto of New Bedford. Eveline and Eliza kept working hard as usual but Alphonse was near his breaking point. His life at the restaurant was carefree and he was able to socialize with customers and waitresses. At home, it was crying young children and nagging women. He would always stay late at work to avoid this but it was getting harder to do so.
On a Thursday night in late February of 1915, he came home drunk as usual. His infant son Antonio was crying and he screamed at his wife to keep it quiet. In the chaos, Alphonse picked up the baby and shook it violently for twenty seconds. He placed it back in its crib and went to his room. Both Eliza and Eveline, who also had wakened and rushed to the room, went to the baby in great concern. They tried to caress the infant but got no response. Antonio’s skin grew paler and moist. Eliza was horrified and screamed at Alphonse through the bedroom door “You killed the baby!”. He came out of his room and walked to the child. He glanced at it and then went back to his room again and locked it. Eveline and Eliza were both sobbing. They did not know what to do. It was now 3 in the morning. Both whispered to each other for the next couple of hours through their sobs. Alphonse needed to go to protect the other children. They did not however want to report this to the police.
By dawn, Alphonse was milling about his bedroom. Eliza knocked lightly on the door. Alphonse grumbled a bit before coming out. Eliza with Eveline by his side told Alphonse that she did not want him there anymore – that he needed to leave immediately. She had packed his clothes and packed him some food. She also told him that he needed to bring the dead child to the medical examiner in New Bedford. Shaken baby syndrome was not well known of 100 years ago. The symptoms were obscure. Death was prevalent among children in this city. There were 20 deaths a day for the examiner to look into with 10 of those being of children. Alphonse walked the mile to the medical examiner’s office. Daniel O’Brien associate examiner was on duty at this early hour. Eliza had wrapped the child in a blanket and now Alphonse handed the dead child to the doctor and he went into his office. No symptoms were apparent to his eye. No rashes, no cuts, no bruises, no wounds, nothing. This was a city where death haunted the children and this doctor had seen tens of thousands of child deaths. This one seemed peculiar but he had no technology to aid him. After ten minutes in his office, he came out and handed Alphonse a death certificate.
Alphonse had gotten out of that ordeal as he had gotten out of so much before. He hurried to his restaurant in the cold February morning. He knew that he could stay a few weeks there in one of the spare rooms. It would not be pleasant since the street was a busy one and hence lots of noise. Most of the customers he liked but some talked poorly about him and some he thought poorly of. Most of all he knew that he was going to miss Dorila the most. She was always his favorite daughter and always would be. They rode horses down at the stables a lot on Sundays and he would miss her then the most. He would not miss his other children nor his wife. So much crying and illness at that home. And there would come more problems from that direction. In January, a regular customer at the restaurant and a regular user of the rooms for prostitutes had called Alphonse aside one day. This man knew that his daughter Rose was now 14 years old and had yet to have a boyfriend. He knew Alphonse well enough to talk about anything with him. He offered Alphonse $30 and $30 more to Rose, if she would provide services to him for an hour in a backroom. Alphonse agreed at once to this proposal. To was an incredible sum of money – more that a mill workers monthly wage.
Later that month Alphonse told Rose that he would need extra help one evening. She had been working for the restaurant one day a week any way since the previous summer. Hence, she quickly obliged. He had arranged a time with the customer too and when he came he told him to quickly go to an upper room. Five minutes later Alphonse motioned to Rose when the restaurant was not too busy. He told her to go to the upper room of the building to fetch some spare plates. An hour later the man had left out a back door. Alphonse went quickly to the room. Rose was sobbing quietly. Alphonse told her to hush and handed her $30. He told her to go home and tell no one about it ever.
Dorila was in 8th grade and her last year of school. She was a good student but knew that mill work and being a mother was her future. Eliza had told her children that June would be their last month in Fairhaven and hence their last at the Fairhaven schools. They needed to move to New Bedford that summer to get a lower rent. She had saved money and was able to pay the rent but it would run out soon now that Alphonse was out of the home for good. Eliza did not trust Alphonse at all and to that end she had sent her two youngest remaining children – Adrienne and Ovila – to an orphanage in Fall River. Orphanages were run by the Catholic nuns and accepted all children wether they were true orphans or not. She wanted it to be in Fall River 5 miles to the west since Alphonse would never be able to find the children there in order to take them away or to hurt them. That would leave only a 7-member household for the next few years, five daughters – Rose, Dorila, Germaine, Josephine, and Sylvia – and then Eliza and Eveline. Only the last three daughters would be in school in September of 1915. Rose would find steady work at a maid in a home and Dorila would find work as a loom worker in a cotton mill.
Eliza had told her daughters to stay away from Alphonse and his restaurant. For Rose that was easy and her work was in Fairhaven anyway. Dorila was still in school in the spring of 1915. In mid-April, Rose had asked Dorila about menstruation and pregnancy. Dorila wondered why but answered as best she could. They were the only two teenager girls in the neighborhood but had asked their mother a few questions in the past. A week later after the first discussion, Rose confided in Dorila that was not having periods any more and that she thought she was pregnant. Dorila was aghast and asked how that had happened since she knew that her sister had never had a boyfriend. When questioned, Rose lied and stated that a boy two streets away from their home in Fairhaven had gotten her pregnant. The conversation stopped there but Dorila brooded over a solution for a few days. Their mother would be furious since there was already money problems in the home and many children. Dorila thought that perhaps if she told her father, then he would be able to come up with a good solution. Maybe he could give Rose a little bit of money each week or could pay for an apartment for her.
Dorila went to see her father the next week after school. She had to hurry since her mother did not want her out so long after to school. She went briskly to her father in the restaurant and whispered to him away from any of the tables. Alphonse turned pale. He was a quick thinker and came up with a plan immediately. He told Dorila to go home and tell Rose to come by after work tomorrow. Yes he would get her a room to live in. Away she went thinking that she had done the right thing and that her sister would be happy with the plans that would be in store for her.
Rose was happy to hear what Dorila had done for her. The next day she left work an hour early in order to go see her father. She did not like the restaurant but she knew that this was a great plane. Alphonse told her to follow him. He by nature of his job knew many of the underworld people of New Bedford. From grave robbers to card sharks, he knew all the shady characters. He had arranged the night before to meet with a local doctor. This doctor did illegal abortions for a hefty fee. Alphonse took Rose in the back way in order not to have her see the office in front. He told her that she would see a room to let back here. Once there the doctor quickly sedated her and performed the abortion. With proper lights in this room and without a nurse and being in a great state of anxiety and rush, the doctor did the work as needed but botched it. Rosa started bleeding so he applied a towel to the area. Out they came from the office and Alphonse quickly grabbed Rose and went down the alley. He could see that she was still groggy and bending at the waist a bit so he thought that it would be best if she slept for a bit at the restaurant. He brought her through a back door and rushed her into an upper room. He could see that she was hurting and so he brought her some ice and a new towel.
Alphonse did not expect it to be this bad so he had her sleep the night back there. He worked and later spent the night in a room near her. He would wake during the night to hear her moaning and to think about a story to have her tell her mother. About noon the next day, he had one of his waitresses help his daughter Rose to Fairhaven. The plan was to tell Eliza that Rose’s family she was a maid for had her stay late for a party at the home. Eliza would have none of it since she could see how pale and weak Rose was. Dorila stayed in her room since she was scared to get involved. Gradually, Rose opened up about the situation and told the story little by little to her mother. Eliza was horrified. She could not let Alphonse get away with this behaviour. She calmed Rose down enough to have her get to sleep. Then Eliza left for New Bedford. She had never been this outraged in her life. When she got there she stormed in and charged up to Alphonse. “What have you done to my daughter?” she yelled. She told him that she would tell the police this time. She would not stand for his evil doings any more. She left. As she walked back home, she felt relieved that finally she had done what was needed for a long time. Alphonse was visibly shaken by the ordeal. He truly believed her when she claimed that she would call the police.
Alphonse was for one of the few times ever unnerved. He rushed to his room and packed quickly. He always was good at devising plans. This time it was drastic. He told his manager that he was closing up shop on both sides of the street. The owner of the building lived only two blocks away and Alphonse stopped there and told him the business was not going well and that all was closing. He had many connections in the horse racing trade and so he went to the New Bedford Trotting Park to sleep that night. It was away from the police and his family. Eliza ended up not telling the police but Alphonse did not know that for sure. He stayed at the trotting park for the summer and fall working as a helper and sleeping there for the night security shift. Since his wife did not seem to follow up on her threat, he started to device his next plan. Eliza did end up moving the family back to New Bedford to 61 Bullard Street. She also needed for the first time in her life to go to a job outside the home. She still had her sister with her and she took care of the children in the afternoon when they came home.
Alphonse was on the prowl again through the streets of New Bedford. At night he would wander the streets looking for the best location to set up shop again to make some more money. His last restaurant was near the New Bedford Police Station near Spring Street. This one he wanted in that area since it was close to the ports and thus the prostitutes. The police station was undergoing major renovations that year. So much so that the area had a lot of traffic. He decided to place his new restaurant near the old but two streets more away from the ports on School Street behind a movie theatre. He set up shop once more in December of 1915 and as always his business grew rapidly. The place was small so it was more like a tavern than a restaurant. This time he had no reason to obtain an apartment so he simply lived in a room above and to the back of the tavern. He kept things simple this time. He only hired a couple of waitresses and tried to hold the prostitutes down to a lower level.
He did still go down to the trotting park every Sunday afternoon to race the horses and throw bets down on races he was not in. Business was good enough at night that some times he could go to weekday races. He dreamed of some day owning horses again. The passion of riding them was strong. He still got to see Dorila about once a month too. She would come over to the tavern whenever she got out early from the mills. She would turn 15 in a few months. They would converse about horses and their former life back on the farms in Quebec. They would both agree that someday they would make their life better. Dorila would also discuss her home life but that would not interest Alphonse. He was into his business, horses, and girlfriends. Only problem now in his life was the pesky mafia was gaining more power as the temperance movement headed toward the prohibition movement.
Alphonse could never keep the mob happy. He was a disagreeable guy and they were greedy. When Dorila turned 16 in the spring of 1917, he talked to her about moving to Alberta with him. They could get a stake on a homestead land. He had been saving money and also corresponding with his brothers Rodrique, Arthur, Edmond, and Eugene and especially with his sister Emma all in Alberta. That summer was rough in the cities of New Bedford. Gambling had been outlawed in the fall of 1916 and the mafia tried harder and harder to get more money from taverns and bar owners. By the September of 1917, Alphonse had had enough.
Clyde was a growing homestead town in 1917. The land was tough to farm and the winters were harsh. Slightly more than half of all homesteaders failed. It took a great deal of hard work to harvest a crop in the short season and to keep the domestic animals corralled. Alphonse got help from his brothers in the beginning. Seed was expensive and it took many to build a house and barn. He knew how to focus on tasks and he had plenty of experience in the house-building trade. Little by little, he developed the plot into a viable farm and each spring he would put as much money back into the development of it as possible. By the spring of 1921, he was able to file for permanent ownership of the homestead land. On the application, he dutifully placed the amount of crop he harvested each year and the number of each animal species he had. The work must have been hard but he was good at it.
His daughter Dorila lived with her aunt in a home across the lake from him. She was wedded to Israel Fortier after being in Clyde only 17 months. She too would take out a homestead with her husband. They would succeed at the farm but she would need to also work at the Clyde Railroad Station running the restaurant. She would give birth to 7 children. Her life had changed just as much as her father’s had. Alphonse would visit her often and was proud of her and her growing family. He himself was succeeding enough by the mid-1920s to buy a couple of horses.
He always did love his horses and having Dorila ride them with him reminded him of the old days. In fact, his break from his tormented past was complete. His behavior was vastly better then in the past. This was the Prohibition Era in Canada as it was in the USA. It is not know if he was involved in illegal sales of alcohol. All that is known is that he was vastly more responsible to himself and his family. It is a bit sad to learn that he would have such a traumatic ending to his life.
On a cold January morning in 1933, Alphonse was emptying some waste from his home into the lake by his home. There were a few concrete steps from his land down to the lake. It was icy on the steps but he had descended them before many times. This time he slipped the slammed his head in the corner edge of one of the steps. He lie there unconscious for a couple of hours before a neighbor spotted him. He was rushed by ambulance to nearby Westlock Hospital. This was a new facility and had modern equipment.
During the weeks that ensued, it was obvious that his head trauma had hurt his ability to walk a straight line and had caused some disorientation. Within a few months he was able to be admitted to a rehab and by the early summer was released to his home. He was developing his ability to walk and to focus again and there was hope in the family. On August 11 of that year, however, there was a major setback. He had seizures at his home and was again rushed to Westlock Hospital. Two days later he died.
His funeral mass was well attended since he had many brothers in the area. Four priests helped with the mass including the old Clyde priest that he had known for many years. He was later that week buried at the Clyde Cemetery. His dear daughter Dorila would be buried there 2 short years later. It is not known if either of them have a gravestone. Alphonse had lived 58 years – the first 20 and the last 16 were relatively tranquil. The middle 22 years, however, caused dismay to his family and still cause concern amidst his offspring to this day.
