OUR JOURNEY INTO THE PAST
Following
several years of genealogical research that was began by our Aunt Rosemary in
the 1970’s, my sister Linda Tilley and I embarked on a journey into past. Our intent was to follow the path our
ancestors made on their journey to Monroe County, MI. The most logical place to begin was with the
various churches our Catholic French-Canadian ancestors attended. This part of
the journey had been in the works for several years. We started with St. Patrick Church, Carleton,
MI. It was where our parents, Allie
Joblinski and Clara Wickenheiser married in 1945, and where all their children
were baptized. We had roamed the church and grounds all our lives, and were
very familiar with the three cemeteries, although the oldest one pre-dated our
dead. We photographed the headstones.
Most were still standing and legible.
The next leg
was St. Charles Church, Newport, MI. Our
grandparents, Gus Wickenheiser and Lena Rivard were married there in 1915.
Prior to that our 1st great grandparents, Edward Rivard and Roseanne
LaDuke were married there in 1849.
Roseanne was baptized there in 1858.
Her parents, Louis B. LaDuke and Eliza Santure were married in Monroe,
MI in 1849, but Louis was very instrumental in getting the parish of St.
Charles organized. He also donated the
land for the older St. Charles Cemetery. Edward’s parents were buried there as
well in 1873. Both cemeteries are the
resting place of numerous relatives. The remaining graves were duly
photographed.
Prior to St.
Charles, our ancestors attended St. Antoine sur la Riviere-aux-Raisins. All that remains there are some possible lost
remains and a monument with some family names.
It is possible that the old St. Mary cemetery on Monroe Street was used
after St. Antoine and before St. Charles. Some marriages and baptisms were
performed at the beautiful St. Anne Church, Detroit, MI. The French-Canadian
settlers travelled from Frenchtown territory to Detroit for religious
ceremonies when no parish priest was available. The parish and a church are
still there, but the original building is not.
Flash
forward to May 12, 2018: tracing our ancestors’
journey back into Canada. On a rainy
Saturday, we crossed the Ambassador Bridge into Ontario. Our people probably passed through there, but
as far as we know, none stayed. We
passed through it also, with a stop in Kingston, ON to spend the night. In the morning we were off to our true
destination, Quebec, CA.
We reached
Montreal, despite all the road signs being in French only, found our B&B,
and parked the car for the duration of our stay. We found the streets to be very narrow, with
many of them one-way or blocked for pedestrian traffic. Many of the streets
bore the names of our ancestors, included Rivard, our most recent immigrant. After
putting in many miles on foot, we bought the transit pass which allowed
unlimited travel on the bus line or subway for 3 days. I liked the bus. I disliked the subway, even
though it was much faster. We found Rue St. Laurent, which became out go-to
place for dining, with many outdoor cafés and a plethora of national foods. Chinese, African, Portuguese, Polish, Latin,
etc. We had most of our meals
there. It was the logical starting place
to get to the Old City, and Mount Royal.
On the way
to Old Montreal, we passed through Chinatown, and enjoyed the many murals on
most of the buildings. When we reached
Place d’Armes we meandered around the plaza enjoying the monuments and the
façade of the magnificent Cathedral de Notre Dame de Montreal. The church, which was built in in the 1800’s,
is on the spot that the original church had stood in the 1600’s. Large, colorful stained-glass windows
depicted the history of the city. We learned that the original cemetery was
moved as the city expanded, and the people realized that a cemetery so close to
homes and wells was not a very good idea.
The bodies were disinterred and moved to a huge 350-acre cemetery on
Mount Royal. The bodies that were
recovered were placed in a mass grave.
We searched diligently for the plaque that was
dedicated to our 7th great grandfather, Urbain Tessier. When we
found it, we realized we had passed it many times. It was chiseled into the same gray limestone
as the building and noted that this was the spot of one of the first land
grants in Montreal. The next place we looked for was the site of
the first well dug in the city, by our 8th great grandfather Jacques
Archambault. There is a small stone well
and a well cover inscribed with the history of our water divining ancestor.
We visited
many other historical places, some shops, and the waterfront. We came across
the chapel of Notre Dame de bon Secours founded by Ste. Marguerite Bourgeoys,
who journeyed to Montreal in 1653 to start the first school. As there were not many children in the new
colony, she opened her doors to the Filles du Roi, the young women who were
sponsored by the King of France to travel to the colony to find husbands and
populate the land. Ste. Sister Bourgeoys gave haven to the women and girls,
helped educate them and teach them about the new land they had come to. It is probable that she gave assistance to
one or more of our ancestors who undertook the dangerous passage under the
patronage of the King. The chapel, and the huge figure of Christ with his arms
stretched out to the water, really touched me.
It was one of my favorite places on our trip.
After
visiting the tourist center and getting maps and tips, we again were walking
around the old town looking for the places we had wanted to visit. One of those places was the plaque
commemorating Le Grand Recru of 1653. It
was then that the King sent a regiment of soldiers to save the floundering
colony. Sister Marguerite Bourgeoys was a
passenger on that trip. Encouraged by
the influx of new soldiers and supplies from France, New France was kept from
disaster. The bronze memorial to this
event was hard to find. We finally found it half hidden by a port-a-potty. So much for revering history! Je me souviens!
The final
day in Montreal greeted us with rain. We
ventured out to the Cimiterie de Neige on Mount Royal. We walked around the extensive grounds
finding family names: Tessier,
Archambault, Bougery, Meneux, LeDuc, Hamelin and many more. As the skies cleared, we visited the Olympic
Park built in 1976, and still in use for cultural and sporting events. We then visited the wonderful St. Joseph
Oratory.
The Oratory
was built by Brother St. Andre, and from the original small chapel it has grown
to an impressive domed cathedral situated on a hilltop. The 300 steps were often ascended by pilgrims
on their knees in prayerful hope of a miracle.
The large chapel hosts a wonderful pipe organ that we had the privilege
to hear while we were there. Brother St.
Andre’s heart is in a small stained-glass container behind iron gates which are
home to many paper petitions for divine assistance. A sign stated that the
petitions were removed from the gates daily and preserved in another location. The
gardens are extensive, the views exquisite. While not relevant to our family
history, we had both read about it, and were glad we visited.
In the
morning we headed off to our next stop, Trois Rivieres, but we had all day to
get there. As planned, we stopped at as many villages and towns as we could,
all along the north side of the river.
Our first
stop was Maskinonge, and the parish of St. Joseph. Set in the calm countryside it was founded in
1700. We walked the cemetery and again found the names of our ancestors, but
none that were direct. The next stop was in Louiseville, and the Church of
St.-Antoine-de-Padua and a few blocks away, the cemetery of St Odilon de
Louiseville. There we found wooden markers! But again, the names but not the
grandparents we were seeking
Next along
the river was Yamachiche and the Paroisse Ste. Anne Yamachiche. This church was much newer, have been
destroyed by a tornado in 1907. There were some ancient graves, but none that
were remaining after a massive flood.
Finally, we
arrived at Trois Rivières. This name was
a kickback to our childhood, as our Grandmother Lena Rivard Wickenheiser talked
about this town, and St Alban. These were the places her father came from as a young
man. (Oh, how I wish we could remember
those stories!) Our first stop was the
tourist center, for maps and information. We took a walking tour, finding many
places of interest on the map, and skipping a few that didn’t call out to
us.
The Monumental
Staircase was wonderful. A sweeping
stone staircase, with each step mentioning an event in history, starting with
the Amerinds 6000 years ago, and ascending into more modern times. One step was
inscribed with the arrival of the French in 1634. There were monuments to the
wars: 1812, the first and second World War, and the Iroquois Wars. There were also many statues of Religious
figures. Many city squares and
residential yards had gazebos or monuments to Christ with massive statues.
There were some of Mary also, but Jesus predominated in these It was quite
different than the U.S.A. where we tear these icons down.
We also
visited the Musee des Ursalines, where the Sisters founded a school and a
hospital in 1697. In the museum we found a placard mentioning Emma Trottier, a
student there in 1871. Again, not a
direct ancestor, but our names were everywhere!
There was a lovely park across the street, with monuments and plaques. There
was also a cannon group set up facing the river, demonstrating the strategic
defense point the early French had along the St. Lawrence.
From there
we went to the oldest house in Trois Rivievers, built in 1668. We went past the Eglise St. James, and other
places and homes of note. I was
fascinated by the French-Canadian architecture style. The many cottages with the mansard roof and
dormer windows reminded me of the small house my Great Grandfather Edward
Rivard built. I photographed many of them
and enjoyed the sameness of them.
The church
that our ancestors attended in Trois Rivieres was the Cathedral of the
Assumption. It began as a Catholic Mission in 1634 and many of our people were
baptized, married, and buried there. The
current church was built in 1854. In
1978 they celebrated their Tricentenaries!
The interior was beautiful and peaceful.
The next day
we did some research at the Archives Library. Despite Linda’s limited French and the guide’s
limited English we were quite successful in finding maps, websites, and plat
maps with the Rivard name! We knew the facts,
it was just so exciting to get the documentation to support them. After doing what we could there, we drove to
the cemetery of St Louis, were again there were the names: Cloutier, Robert,
Gauthier, Lamy, Rivard, Trottier….
Our last day
we went to Cap de Madeleine. Founded in
1635 the mission lives on. This was the
location that spoke to Linda, the way Notre Dame de bon Secours in Montreal
spoke to me. These were our people. The Cathedral was magnificent, with grounds
with Stations of the Cross, Monuments, and Plaques detailing the history of
this place of worship. From there we found the abandoned and vandalized Sts.
Marie and Madeleine, where I found some pieces of stained glass from the
windows. The accompanying cemetery was a few miles away. Again, our names, but all too modern. In a unique twist, there were many notices
attached to headstones, requesting contact if the reader was researching the
same person. A new way to find relations. Like the other cemeteries, there was a large
block of stones for the Priests and other Religious who served that parish, all
placed next to each other. Quite a show
of dedication.
The next
village of our people was Ste. Genevieve de Batasan. The 300th anniversary of the
church was commemorated on a bronze plaque dedicated in 1978. Our people were baptized married and buried
there in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s.
The only
building in our search still original was in Grondines. Brothers Louis and Francoise Hamelin built a
mill in the 1600’s, Le Viex Moulin a Grondines.
Although we couldn’t get inside, we could touch the outer walls and
commune with our history. The Hamelin
brothers married sisters Madeleine and Antoinette Aubert. These four were our 7th
great grandparents. Later, a grandchild from each marriage joined the family
again by marrying each other. We found many such anomalies in the small French-Canadian
community that we came from.
The church
in Grondines was St. Charles de Borromeo.
The cemetery was full of cousins, notably LeDuc. Our more recent
ancestors remembered where they came from when they built the church in
Newport, MI.
Our Great
Grandfather Edward Rivard lived in the small village of St Alban prior to
coming to the Village of Newport. His
parents later followed their youngest of 17 children to his new home. This church was the last place he worshiped
in Canada! We found many tombstones with family names, and again felt the
connection.
We arrived
in Quebec City quite late, found our B&B, and climbed the three stories to
the attic. Very quaint and cute. We walked to a street lined with dining
places, had a meal and made an early night of it. In the morning, after a lovely breakfast, we
set off for the old city. It is very
distinct from the new Quebec, as you must enter through the old gates. The
gates we entered were also the place where the 1815 esplanade powder magazine
was located. It was all in very good
shape and as we walked through the large stone arch, we went back into another
time and place.
There were
so many things we wanted to do and see, but of course we couldn’t do them
all. We visited some very old
structures, dating back to the time our people were there, took in the oddity
of seeing horse drawn carriages alongside tour busses, visited a museum, and
went to the lower city. Quebec is
situated on a high cliff, a very strategic military location, and below the
cliff is the wharf. That is were there
were excavations to see, a wonderful mural of early Quebec, and many cottages
and shops. We took the ferry to the South side of the river, and visited Levis,
but the church was up about 600 steps, so we didn’t go up there. From the south
side of the St. Lawrence we had a fine view of the battlements and the
Frontenac Hotel. The hotel is a landmark and a famous stopping place for the
rich and famous. We went inside when we
returned to the north side of the river, but the lunch menu was extravagantly
expensive, so we ate elsewhere. We
thought we would sit with a cup of tea, but that wasn’t to be. After a bit, we went back down to the lower
lever to scout out some places of interest, including a monument to the Filles
du Roi (Daughters of the King). This was important since we have several (14
documented) Daughters in our ancestry.
We rode back up on the Funicular (outside elevator car) and meandered
about a while before calling it a day.
The
following day we left the city for more adventures. Montmorency Falls was our first stop, just
for fun. It is taller than Niagara
Falls, but not as wide. There is a
footbridge where you can walk over the falls, and a cable car as well. There is a huge hotel and lovely gardens
there as well. After that we visited
Ste. Anne de Beaupre where many of our people were baptized married and buried.
There is also a history of miracles and a room full of crutches and wheelchairs
left behind by those who were cured. There is an older church and cemetery on
the site as well. There is not much left
of the cemetery. We also stopped at Ste Anne de Parade. Again, a newer church
and no graves we could find.
The focus of
the day was to hike the Charlevoix Crater, a 34-mile diameter meteor
crater. We drove up the mountains to
where there was supposed to be a trail, and after many fruitless stops and
useless directions, we just drove through the Laurentian Mountains to Baie Ste.
Paul, an art colony village. There we
took our chances with an all French menu.
The roads were good, but the drive was long. We elected for a different way back to
Quebec, it was much faster. The crater,
it seems, was a prime example of “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” Although we drove through it, we had no
indications that we were there at the time.
It was a long weary day, especially for Linda, who did all the driving.
We headed for
home the next morning. There were a few
stops, just for things we wanted to do, nothing to do with our quest. We opted to travel though New York instead of
going back to Windsor. We arrived home
exhausted, exhilarated, and ready to go again.
Maybe hit the towns and villages on the south side of the river…. We
also missed a lot that we would like to see.
Our journey into
the past took us to 33 churches where we had documentation of 187 baptisms,
marriages, and burials. More have been
documented since then. We walked the
churchyards where they worshipped and gazed on vistas they would have seen in a
more pristine fashion. There are
villages yet to see, ancestors yet to find. Our quest goes on.
Rana
Joblinski Willit
August 2018
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