Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Acadian Traditions
I am reading a book called “It happened in New Brunswick” by David Goss and I would like to share a story in it that I am sure will bring back memories to many of you. You don’t have to be English or French, I am sure some of these things will be things you and your family once did. Mister Goss was interviewing a lady from Moncton named Lorraine Leger who grew up in Saint Paul New Brunswick. Here is her story:
The main thing for Acadians at Christmas she said was the midnight mass. It was the only time they would go out by horse and buggy at night. It was a few miles for most of the people. When they were arriving at the church it was really special. It was lit up and it was the only time of the year that they could enjoy an evening ceremony. Besides the lightings there were decorations the Creche (manger), with trees and more. They didn’t have any at home at the beginning of the 20th century. Everybody would go see the Manger before leaving the church. The music and the singing also, they had been practicing for a long time. After the mass there were greetings in front of the church not like today when people run to their cars. They were talking and laughing and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. They sang hymns ,some songs came from France. They had two masses a high mass where they did part of it in Latin and the low mass. Among her fondest memories were the special bells on the sleighs on these occasions. They would even decorate the horses she said. They had special bells that they never used other times because it reminded them of Christmas. Some had red ribbons and the horses were part of Christmastime then. She continued to say that after the mass a Reveillon was not always done everywhere because many folks were tired and just went home to bed. Sometimes they only got home around three in the morning after the mass was over. Today they hold their masses at nine am or seven pm. Mister Goss asked Lorraine about Santa and Christmas trees. Not before the thirties said Lorraine these were coming in from outside, sometimes young girls went to work in the city or in the USA and they would come home and tell their parents about it ,and it started like that, very simple homemade decorations made from the foil of a pound of tea. They used it to make garland and they decorated with popcorn. If they received cards they put those in the tree. As for the gifts under the tree, first it was the Christmas stocking for the children it was hung behind the stove. In the morning there was a rush to see what was inside the stocking. It was always the same thing; an orange, an apple, a few nuts ,some candies and if they were rich enough a barley toy and ribbon candy. At that time there were no other gifts. Later on in the thirties maybe there were simple gifts, a school box, a whistle, maybe a pair of mittens that the grandmother had knitted. I remember my first gift said Lorraine, we had no tree back then and my brother was working in Moncton and he brought us each a gift, it was the first gifts to enter the house. My gift was a brush and a comb for my doll. A few years later we started talking about Santa Claus, they told us you could write a letter to Santa and maybe he would bring you something. The first thing I asked for was a Teddy Bear and I got one, the following year I was a bit older and I asked for a sled and I got one. It was under the tree. Lorraine said: My father was a bus driver it was a passenger bus and we gave him our letter to Santa. He probably threw them away but the gifts came. He must have read the letters we thought he would be bringing them to Moncton. For us Santa Claus wasn`t in Saint Paul but in Moncton which to us was a big city. Some places called him Santa, some called him Pere Noel and some were told that it was baby Jesus bringing the gifts. Lorraine contined to say that when she was little skating was very rare and the sleds were handmade. Lorraine said the kitchen was the place for story telling, any night ,any time and sometimes it was an uncle telling stories ,sometimes people passing through like peddlars or shoemakers and all the children listened. Some were very good story tellers Lorraine said. When they heard certain ones were coming they would all make it a point to be there to listen. There were stories about fairies, princes,giants, some good some bad,then there were legends usually about things that happened and they could not figure out why. Some stories had the devil in them and the Acadians were terrified of the devil. She told this story about a sorcerer named Old Dollar who had come from elsewhere probably France, he was so bad the legend said they he had signed the souls of nine of his children to the devil, that was how he got all his powers . He could do anything even put a spell on a person who didn`t believe in his powers. His daughter was even a victim ,she told everyone a secret about him ``that he was carrying a frog in his cap. He could change into any animal and when the team would go by he would trip them and everyone would fall off the sled. The teams crossed the ice in the winter and in the spring they crossed the bridge which was longer and Old Dollar kept passing on the ice which was melting and they say as soon as he arrived by horse and buggy the ice would be turned to water. He was the only one that would risk that. He could also become a ball of fire or a will o the wisp. He was running around scaring people right on their doorstep. The priest tried to convert him but it was no use. The saying was that he was poisoned with a poutine rappee. It is said that he was not buried in sacred grounds but buried in a field instead. I hope you have enjoyed this blog . I liked reading the story and sharing it with you.
Now changing the subject, soon school will be starting and Halloween will be close behind if you are looking for school clothing or shoes and Halloween things please visit my store at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* I am adding a few products I made lately .
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Long time no see
Monday, August 1, 2011
School Time will soon be here
Yes school time is fast approaching and that means there are a lot of parents and grandparents out there hurrying to prepare the children. First of all there are the school supplies, books,binders,pencils,markers,erasers,dictionaries,etc. I remember shopping for my son ,back then it wasn't like it is today. We did not need kleenex, special shoes for gym, and all the different scribblers. Then I did some shopping later on for my grandchildren. Wow, what a difference that was. They needed everything and the prices were expensive,so I waited and watched the sales, or flyers and as soon as something they needed came on sale, off to the store I would go. I am wondering today if I saved or not, because everytime I went to the store it cost me gas money. grin.I don't know how parents with big families do it,although thanks to the grandparents who do help out with the shopping list.
Now that is not all, the kids need money, money for their dances, their proms, their activities. Then there are clothes to buy for school. I remember when I was little and on the first day of school, Mom had a new outfit for me, usually she made it but I am sure sometimes she bought me outfits. She shared with me that when she was little ,her family lived in the country and my grandmother would order from the Eaton's catalogs and Mom and her siblings always had a new outfit for the first day of school. How many of you remember our bookbags ? They were much different than the backpacks they have today. And not as fancy either. How many of your ladies remember going to school in the winter time with the snow over our knees and we had to wear skipants under our dress, and arriving at school had to remove them? Or having our parents tie a scarf around our nose and mouth to keep us warm while walking to school? Ah those were the days, we used to fall in the snow on our way to school, throw snowballs at one another and get to school all full of that white snow. Great memories. So getting back to shopping, I have created a lot of different designs for children shoes, I will share some with you, but I have many more in my shoe folder for you to look at, also I have children's tee shirts, and hoodies in my children folder at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* ,If you have students going to high school check out my hats and tee shirts too. I thank you for stopping by and hope to see you soon, enjoy my store, here are a few pairs of shoes I want to share with you.
Friday, July 22, 2011
An Indian Princess in your Family Tree.
Have you heard stories about having an Indian or Native American Princess among your ancestors? Have you ever heard your parents say you had Indian or Native American Blood? Well don’t say no right away because it just might be true. I have traced my ancestors ,and I still have not traced all of them but I did find an Indian Princess in my line and if you have Acadian Blood perhaps she is in yours too. First of all I would like to talk about the great chief Madockawando. Found the following articles :
The first documentation of Chief Madockawando was in 1669 when he was described as Chief of the Pentagoets (Penobscots). He was said to be living at Bagaduce near modern day Castine, Maine, which is on the eastern shore of the Penobscot Bay near the mouth of the Penobscot River. Madockawando married a Chief’s daughter from the Kennebec River Valley. This marriage produced many children, most wholly unknown to history except for his daughter Pidianiske. This daughter, later baptized as Marie Mathilde, married a French Nobleman, Jean Vincent d’ Abbadie, the Baron of St. Castin. The Baron was sent to Maine in 1670 and moved from Fort Pentagoet to the local Indian village. Madockawando and the Baron became friends and engaged in trade relations. This relationship, as well as the marriage, helped solidify the alliance between the French and Penobscot in the region.
During the time of King Philip’s War, Chief Madockawando sought peace between the Penobscot and the English and attended many peace meetings with Lt. Governor William Phips of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Phips drafted a treaty that called for the Penobscot to live under English rule and to cut all alliances with the French, but Madockawando and other Penobscot leaders could not agree to these terms. Chief Madockawando tried hard to stay out of King Philip's War, but after the death of his sister due to English attacks on Fort Pentagoet, he and other Penobscots joined the conflict.
On January 25, 1692 Chief Madockawando led 150 Penobscot warriors in an attack on village of York, Maine.(source; Penobscot Culture.com )
Madockawando as chief and Shaman was a soothsayer, clairvoyant, necromancer, exorcist and was in a position to act as a middleman between his people and the powers that meddle with life. He is a "wonder-worker", whose magic was derived from the spiritual and animal world. Indeed, the very ending of his name means mysterious, magical, powerful, miraculous, enabling things to be done supernaturally. He could lead them to game; he could drive out the devils of disease and circumvent the magic of enemies. Ordinary men could fight, but only the man with magic could content with the unseen powers and work out destiny. (also found this online)
Now I would like to talk about his son in law Jean Vincent D’Abbadie de Saint Castin married to Pidianiske later baptized under Marie Mathilde. She was the Indian Princess. The following was found in the Society Historique Acadienne Vol 26.
Jean Vincent D’Abbadie de Saint Castin was born around 1652 he was a descendant of the noble house of Foix-Grailly of Bearn in Gascony. Saint Castin was a descendant of warriors,mercenaries and daredevils. He was a second cousin to one of the Three Musqueteers made famous by Alexandre Dumas. He played a most important role with the Acadians and Abenaki development. He was an ensign with the Carignan-Salieres Regiment with whom he came to New France in 1665. He arrived at Pentagouet (Penobscot) July 17 1670 aboard the Saint -Sebastien with commander Hector d’Andigne de Grandfontaine who established a fort there.
Saint Castin under Governor Frontenac’s orders became a leader of men, both of the Abenaki Nation and of Acadie. He helped restore the fort in Jemsec and established relay posts between the Fort of Pentagouet and Quebec, on behalf of King of France. The Abenaki Nation which consisted of at least ten different tribes made him the “Grand Chief”. He had children by Marie Pidiwamiska also spelled Pidi8amisk8a and Pidianske, and then by her sister Melchide sometimes called Mathilde whom he later married. They were daughters of the supreme chief or grand sachem of the Pentagouets, Madockawando. Saint Castin received a seigneury on the Saint John River Oct 14 1689, adjoining the lands of Jemseg, two leagues along the river and two leagues deep. This seigneury was given with the title of Fief,Seigneury and Justice. The enormous monies Saint Castin brought over from France were used to further the cause of both the Abanaki and Acadian people. He land holdings which he inherited after his brother’s death were vast. On his mother’s side of the family, which included a branch of the House of Foix-Grailly, Saint Castin was descended from the Vicomte Bernard de Bearn. The lands of Saint Castin in France became a part of the family estate in 1581 by the marriage of Bernadine de Luger, Dame de Saint Castin to Jean Pierre d’Abbadie .One of their grandsons was Jean Jacques d’Abbadie de Saint Castin born 1620 married Isabeau de Bearn-Bonasse. She died of the plague in 1652. They were the parents of Jean Vincent d’Abbadie de Saint Castin who was born around 1652 married only once but had children with Marie Pidiwamiska and her sister who he married. Their marriage was blessed in 1684. Twelve children of Jean Vincent d’Abbadie have been identified:
1. Claire Pidwamiska married Paul Meunier son of Jean Meunier and Marguerite Housseau.
2. Therese Pidwamiska married Philippe Mius D’Entremont son of Jacques D’Entremont and Anne de St Etienne de La Tour.
3. Demoiselle (name unknown) married Philippe Meunier .
4. Demoiselle (name unknown) married a Chateauneuf. She is the daughter of Saint Castin that Colonel Benjamin Church took as prisoner to Boston during the raid of 1704 on Penboscot.
5.Anastasie D’Abbadie de Saint Castin married Alexandre Le Borgne de Belle Isle. At her marriage as stated in the Port Royal register, she was said to be the daughter of Melchilde. Alexandre apparently lived at Penobscot, while his wife and children lived in Port Royal. He along with his 2 sons, his brother in law and Father Lauverjat signed the Peace Treaty between the Abenake and the English at Casco Bay in 1727.
6. Bernard d’Abbadie entered the Seminary of Quebec he drowned while on a voyage to France in 1704.
7. Bernard-Anselme d’Abbadie married in Port Royal to Marie Charlotte D’Amour de Chauffours. He was very active in Acadian affair. He kept his family in Port Royal while he lived in Penobscot. In 1707 as Captain of the Infantry he led the Abenaki against the English attack on Port Royal forcing the latter to withdraw for a time.
8. Ursule d’Abbadie de Saint Castin, married to a D’Amour.
9. Jean Pierre d’Abbadie went to the Quebec Seminary speaking an Indian Language. He died of smallpox at the age of ten.
10. Joseph d’Abbadie lived with the Abenaki in 1720 he inherited the title of Baron de Saint Castin. He was chosen great chief and waged guerilla warfare against the New Englanders.
11. An unidentified male D’Abbadie. Documents refer to his drunkenness and argumentative behavior which was eventually the cause of his death from two knife wounds by his nephew.
12. Demoiselle name unknown d’Abbadie , she is said to have been a passenger on the cargo ship, Le Chameau in 1720 coming to Quebec from Ile d’Aix.
Keep on reading to see if you branch into any of the following couples.
Children of Anastasie d’Abbadie de Saint Castin and Alexandre LeBorgne
1. Emmanuel-Alexandre LeBorgne married Marie Leblanc
2.Jacques LeBorgne married Marie Anne Vigneau
3.Marie Josephe LeBorgne married Joseph Dupont
4. Marie Belisle married Francois Robichaud
5.Francoise Belisle married Pierre Robichaud.
As you can see there are two Robichaud lines branching into the Indian Princess line, the following is my line.
Marguerite Robichaud married Etienne Leger
Pierre dit Pitre Robichaud married Agnes Cormier
Francois Robichaud married Francoise Cecile Thibodeau
Francois Robichaud married Madeleine Theriot
Francois Robichaud married Marie Belisle
Anastasie D’Abbadie de Saint Castin married Alexandre LeBorgne de Belisle
Marie Mathilde married Jean Vincent d’Abbadie de Saint Castin.
Madockawando the great Indian Chief.
Now see if you connect to any of the above names thus you will be able to say you have an Indian Princess in your family tree. Now I would like to share some of my products which you can find at
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Klondike Gold,Genealogy and Frank Breau
First let me tell you a little about the Kondike Gold Rush. In August of 1896 a party led by Skookum Jim Mason including his cousin Dawson Charlie and niece Patsy Henderon were looking for Jim's sister and brother in law ,they headed north down the Yukon River and found them fishing salmon in the Klondike River. At that time they ran into a man from Nova Scotia named Robert Henderson who had been mining gold in the Indian River north of the big dike. On August 16 1896 the Skookum party discovered rich placer gold deposits in Rabbit Creek Yukon and they staked their claims. News of their find travelled through all the mining camps and news reached the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and as far as South Africa. Men from all walks of life left their jobs in hopes of getting rich. Some were teachers, doctors,even mayors. The prospectors coming through the Canadian route crossed the Chilkoot Pass and continued by boats to Dawson via the Yukon River. The Chilkoot Pass was the main Canadian route to the Klondike. From 20,000 to 30,000 crossed this path during the Gold Rush of 1897,1898. The North West Mounted Police set up a check point at the top of the pass collecting duties and making sure that each prospector had at least one years supply of provisions before being allowed to go through to the Yukon River.
Dawson City sprang into existence within a year it had a population of 5000, in two years the population grew to 30,000 making it one of the largest cities west of Winnepeg ,larger than Vancouver and even Victoria. Following the prospectors came the saloon keepers,dance hall girls, movie theatres and hospitals. Now what does this have to do with Frank Breau and genealogy? Well first of all Frank Breau was a career prospector who came from Grande Digue New Brunswick who wanted to go searching for gold. He was convinced that his fortune was buried somewhere in the creek beds of the Yukon River. He arrived in Yukon in 1897 and never left. He died on November 16 1912 around the age of 59, still dreaming of finding the mother lode. After a lifetime of prospecting he left his heirs the grand total of $24.15. I went to the genealogy center looking to find more information about this Frank Breau born in Grande Digue. I found his family and also came across a letter he had written home which I shall share with you. I shall translate the letter for you; Dated September 1 1897, Letter from FrankBreau to his brother Peter L Breau in Shediac NB from Dawson City.
Dear brother, I am very satified with the country. I work on the buildings in the city. I am not a first class carpenter but we are building houses piece by pieces. There is lots of work outside of the mines. The miners are not doing too much at the moment, we are getting ready for winter. I went to the mines to meet friends as old as the mines. These are folks are weathy with riches unknown this far. Many mine proprietors are making many work part time. Me I am waiting to work full wages all winter at $1.50 an hour, but if I see the miners are making better than me part time I will try to work Part time. The wages here are $10.00 to $15.00 a day.
Four boats filled with provissions arrived last week, so the prices are lower. I seen refusing $20.00 for a fresh salmon a few days ago but today we get them for $5.00. I seen some egg cartons selling for 10 dollars a carton, potatoes one dollar a pound. I was offere 75 cents a pound for my bacon but I didn't want to sell. I have enough for my winter, also sugar, beans, onions and condensed milk, but I am short of flour and butter. I have tea ,coffee and plenty of clothes. There is a lot of activity in Dawson there are a dozen saloons, 6 stores, 4 restaurants but no hotel yet. We pay $1.50 a meal. Moose meat is our only fresh meat, it sells for one dollar a pound, cut wood sells for 140 dollars a mile and the logs 40 dollars. The logs are preferred for building the houses. The climate is very warm, we have frequent thunderstorms and lightning and the mosquitos are counted as millions. There are a few doctors here and Dr Philippe Leblanc says he does much better here than in the east. He lives a few steps from my place. Our river is beautiful but it demands a lot of work to avoid the rocks and climb the rapids. My associate is at the top of the river getting some logs. I wish you happiness and luck, I remain your affectionate brother Frank Breau. PS My address is Dawson City, Yukon River, Alaska, via Juneau.
Now Franks obituary said he had 3 brothers ,some in New Bedford MA, he had Aime, Wilfred and Theophile, Pierre could have been dead because he wasn't mentioned. So I searched for these men and found they were the sons of Lazarre Breau and Celeste Bourgeois. Lazarre Breau was the son of Joseph Breau and Rosalie Bourque, Joseph Breau was the son of Joseph Breau and Anne Surette. Joseph Breau was the son of Amand Breau and Theotiste Bonnevie. Now this Joseph Breau married to Rosalie Bourque was the brother to my Luc Breau. This is why I was interested in knowing his family line or genealogy. I hope you have enjoyed today's blog. Now I would like to share a few of my products to be found at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The Wooden Pump Story.
Wooden Pumps for taking water from wells were in fairly common use throughout the Atlantic Provinces eighty or more years ago,but it is doubtful that there is even one in use today. They are gone like the wooden ships and may be seen only in museums like the Moncton Acadian Museum and and the New Ross Museum in Nova Scotia. A spirit of enterprise,skill and a great deal of hard physical labor was needed for the job of converting a spruce tree into a useful and dependable water pump.The art of making these pumps must be regarded now ans a lost art, for most of the men who made them and installed them are long gone.
Mister J.L .Curran of Charlottetown was one of the few men who could say he had seen the wooden pump make and used them. Mister Andre Hebert of Moncton and formerly of Bouctouche who had celebrated his 94 birthday in 1971 gave a very interesting description of the methods which his father and he used in the making of the pumps including the work a boring a hole straight through a log boring from each end and meeting in the middle. During the off season for farming, Mr.Hebert had said in order to obtain a little extra cash (something that was scarce is those days) the father and son would set out on a two or three weeks selling tour,taking along an express wagon ,their special pump tools and also a sufficient number of the hardwood valves,bolts etc for the making of perhaps a half dozen wooden pumps. If business on the trip turned out to be good, the blacksmiths and carriage builders in the communities could be pressed into service to make additional pump parts, once they had been furnished with models from which to work. As they travelled about New Brunswick, many miles from their home near Bouctouche, they found that many of the wells already were equipped with a bucket which was hung on a pulley and most familiar in New Brunswick was the well sweep which consisted of a bucket and a wooden rod attached to one end of a balanced pole, not to different design from the ancient shadoof of Egypt which as a means of raising water from the Nile for irrigation was in use as early as 1000 BC.
The first problem confronting the pump man was to convince the prospective customer that a wooden pump would provide an easier and faster way of drawing water from his well. If necessary in order to close a difficult sale, the pump man would guarantee that the pump which would make and install would pump a bucket of water with four good strokes. When the hour came to demonstrate the performance of the pump, Mister Hebert said, "I would make sure that those four strokes were really good strokes." So it seems the travelling pump man had to possess the soul of a salesman as well as that of a timberman and a hydraulic engineer. The contract price for the pump called for so much cash, maybe 15 or 20 dollars and board and lodging for man and beast. A visit was made to a nearby woodlot, where a suitable tall straight tree was picked and brought in ,from which to make the pump. White spruce was preferred, with fir a poor second as fir tended to contain what they called "faulty knots" which would allow the pump to leak. Any knots of this kind had to be bored out clean, and a dry pine plug was driven into the hole.
Only a good healthy live tree could be used to make a pump. The dry hard central part of the log was immediately bored out, and this permitted the outer green part of the wood to shrink inward without developing checks or splits. The art of boring lengthwise through a log to ake water pipes was not new when first it was undertaken in these Provinces. Actually the art was known in Europe as early as the year 1600 AD but it is interesting to speculate as to just who brought the art of pipe making and particularly the art of pump making to this country. Could it be the Acadians? Could it have been the Irish or Scots, or English? Today no person would would of undertaking to dig an open well by the old pick and shovel and hoist method, in which a hole around six feet square had to be dug down to the full depts, being temporary shored as the digging progressed, after which a permanent stone wall was built up from the solide rock level to the surface. My late husband once told me he remembered his father digging such a well. Among the men who made and intalled the wooden pumps in the south eastern part of New Brunswick were the Worthmans of Boundary Creek, and the Jardines and Scotts of the Petitcodiac area. Competition from other types of pumping systems eventually came in to bring an end to the day of the wooden pump. Fred Jones of Moncton produced a pump which employed an endless chain fitted with rubber discs which drew the water up through a pipe when a crank was turned. Then in swift succession came the iron factory made pumps and the windmill pumps, which are a story in themselves, but they are practically all gone now. When a well was required later, the proceedure was to get a well drilling crew to drive a casing pipe down in bed rock level, drilling on down usually with a four inch diameter hole until hopefully a source of water was found sufficent to supply an electric jet pump. The wooden pump and the dug well both belong to an era which has passed, but in looking back over this part of our history we cannot but be impressed at the energy,skill and perseverence with which those men undertook the job of winning the water from the ground. I found this article in the Societe Historique Acadienne and wanted to share it with you. I hope you have found it as interesting as I have.
Now I would like to share just a few of my products with you which you can find at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*
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