1948 Horse & buggy in Montréal

As this picture testifies, horse and buggy as a means of transport was still used in Montreal as late as 1948! A scan of an old print in my dad's albums. Seems to be a friend of his from way back then.

Jean Charlebois & Anna Deslauriers #56

A Montréal couple: Jean Charlebois & Anna Deslauriers, date undetermined, probably sometime in the '30s. Under the print is samped the numer "56". JC was AD's second husband.

1948? Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin School Class

A class of the demolished École Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin school for girls. Located on the rue Du Couvent street in the St-Henri district of Montréal. Aka St. Thomas Aquina school. Demolishid about 1972 (cf. http://www.archipel.uqam.ca/1190/01/M10520.pdf). This pic was taken about 1948. The only identified person is the one circled on the left in pink: Micheline Bilodeau. Can anyone else be identified? Was this a francophone or anglophone school? Was it a girls only school (probably)? There's not much information on it on the web. Notice the black girl above left. That was very rare sight in those days. It is no longer the case today, but in those days people in Montréal were almost 100% white.

19250715 Joseph Cusson RIP

Following up on http://aildoux2009.blogspot.com/2009/02/19300802-mathilde-lefebvre-rip.html of necrology bookmarks, this one is of Joseph Cusson who died on the 15th of July 1925 in Montreal at the age of 71 years old. He was the husband of the widow Antoine Daoust, certainly not her maiden name as Antoine is a man's surname so that would be 100% her husband's name.
One good page I found is http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=charlebois47&id=I020691 and it says:

35.
Adrien Daoust (Antoine Pascal Daoust7, Jacques Daoust6, Pascal Daoust-Daut5, Augustin Daoust-Daut4, Guillaume DAOUST-DAUT3, Guillaume DAOUST-DAUT2, Nicolas DAOUST1) was born ABT 1883, and died ABT 1971. He was buried ABT 1971. He married Heloise Liliose Mercier 28 MAY 1906 in St-Cesaire, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Beauharnois, QC, Canada, daughter of Aurelien Mercier and Angelique Pare. She was born ABT 1885, and died ABT 1963. She was buried ABT 1963.
Children of Adrien Daoust and Heloise Liliose Mercier are:
52
i.
Albert Daoust was born ABT 1906. He married Denise Tardif 14 OCT 1939 in St-Jeanne, Montreal, QC, Canada, daughter of Elliot Tardif and Lea Pilotte. She was born ABT 1918.
53
ii.
Adrienne Daoust was born ABT 1907, and died ABT 1989. She married Albert Guertin 21 JUL 1928 in Montreal, QC, Canada, son of Narcisse Guertin and Jose Boudreau. He was born ABT 1906, and died ABT 1985.

So Adrienne married a man of the same name as her brother
Adrien Daoust's parents were:

Father: Antoine Pascal Daoust b: 18 JAN 1847 in Les Cedres, Soulanges, QC, Canada
Mother: Virginie St-Denis b: ABT 1850

So I presume that the "Dame Vve. Antoine Daoust" mentioned is actually Virginie St-Denis and that she married Joseph Cusson in a second marriage, but that is not mentioned on this genealogy web site. We can still presume of the correctness of my reasoning since there are lots of omissions on these web sites.

So Joseph Cusson would be Adrienne Daoust's paternal step-grandfather.

20090307 Pont Victoria Bridge

Facebook pics of a short slide show of the crossing of the Pont Victoria bridge from Montreal to Saint-Lambert can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=231403&id=739480474&l=31123

19720517 Tanger, Maroc

A pic of mom in typical 70s fashion from a trip to Spain, Portugal and Morocco in 1972. One of the prints they brought back of pics taken by tourist people there. They take the pic and you pay for them if you want them. She's carrying in her hand the Super 8 camera bag used to create home movies in those days. Still have them. And the camera too. She's accompanied by a camel (or dromadary) and a "blue" man, i.e. a man of a tribe of Berber.




Actually, I've posted the preceding print just to show this, a detail of the reverse side. From a collector's POV, this is the most interesting: the stamped authentication of the print. I'll just type in whaterver's written for keyword purposes:
REPORTER R'BATI TANGER Bd. PASTEUR Immeuble BESTOPOL Tel. 21505 17 MAI 1972

20090305 La Grande Commune, NDdP, section est

Third day in a row of cross-country skiing to explore this area of the Rivière Saint-François river delta in Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville. Above is a rough tracing of where I went. First from across the river in Saint-François-du-Lac to the Île Du Fort island and then a straight line to the Anse Du Fort bay's midpoint and then east to the tip of the eastern penisula of La Grande Commune and then back on and along the Chenal Tardif and the Chemin De La Coulée road with a slight detour on my way back to see if the porcupine I saw yesterday was still there. It was'nt.
My Facebook pics are at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=230573&id=739480474&l=02c11

20090304 La Grande Commune, Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville

Another few hours of cross-country skiing in Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville, this time from a point where I was yesterday to farther north, that is from the Pointe Au Moulin to the Pointe De La Grande Commune on the western side of the peninsula and coming back on it's eastern side.
Those who have Google Earth can see the location at cl-09-19-08-675586162.kmz
Facebook pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=230207&id=739480474&l=780e2

20090303 île Saint-Joseph island, Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville

Went to Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville to do some cross-country skiing. I had planned to do a one around the Île du Fort island but the conditions on the water was too icy. Finally I did some in and aroud the Île Saint-Joseph island. It was a nice sunny day. Unseasonably cold but not too much so. The Saint-Joseph island is mostly cultivated tilled land. See my Facebook pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=229863&id=739480474&l=9b14f

20080303 New Cross-country Skiing Poles

Last year I had such problems finding suitable backcountry cross-country skiing poles. They just do'nt have them at regular or even specialized retailers. What's needed is poles with large ringed baskets below like they used to have in the '70s when sross-country skiing started getting to be known instead of the tiny baskets they all have nowadays.
The first poles I had, the red and black one second from left on the pics, were the ones I got with the skis, boots, harnasses, as part of the package deal at the retailer's. I quickly saw that following snowmobiles in deep snow they dug too easly in the snow. Soon thereafter, I broke one of them because I was hitting on a branch with it like an idiot. Fiberglass poles are not indistructable. Old bamboo poles are probably more resistant. And the new poles with the very short tips do not stand up by themselves when you need to ajust something or other. You have to just let them drop to the ground. Inconvenient.
The second poles I used last year was a pair I got from a used materials shop in Sorel. They had lost of old cross-coutry skiing poles but I was limited by choice since I'm over 6 feet tall and poles that fit my hight are not that much in the shop. Anyway, I got the blue and white poles third from left on the pics. Looked like something out of the '80s. Cheap: the baskets broke off on short notice.
Next I got my uncle Jean's old poles, the bamboo poles on the right. They must be from the '70s. He was just as tall as I am, yet these poles are too short for me. Why is it that in those days retailers and specialists advised shorter poles than they do today, I have no idea. Anyway, they are too short to my liking, to modern standards, and too short for backcountry cross-country skiing. But they do have the large ringed baskets.
One evening as I was watching TV, I browsed the web to continue my quest for a pair of backcountry cross-country skiing poles. I did give many chances to the local retailers but to no avail. So on the web at one time I did a chat with one on-line retailer from the states. Nice way of doing business. He proposed a type of poles like I wanted but not of the right length. So I continued to search this model from other retailers and found at http://www.rei.com/product/743066 just what I needed. I ordered those.
More pic of the unwrapping of the box they came in at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=739480474&aid=97950
These, the black ones first on left on the pics, are still available from the same shop but for half the price, $20US instead of the $40US I got them for, and they look improved also! The Alpina ASC Backcountry 160cm Ski Poles were a charm to use and I still use them today one year later. No reservations to them. They are perfectly what I needed. Maybe I'll get another pair for this half price!

20090228 Sainte-Adèle's Church

Sainte-Adèle's church has some simple but nice stained-glass windows. See them at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=228444&id=739480474&l=9afa2

20090228 Sainte-Adèle's Skating Rink

Sainte-Adèle's Lac Rond lake has a skating ring on it. More of that at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=228444&id=739480474&l=9afa2

20090227 Loftboutiques Phase 2's Step-ladder Chairs

In the rooms of Loftboutiques' Phase two complex in Saint-Sauveur there is an interesting particular type of chair. It is a transformer chair! Notice on the left the chair has hinges. Turning them and tuning the chair upside down makes the chair tun into a step-ladder! Nice!
...actually, the concept may be a bit fragile, one of the two chairs had evidently been broken and repaired. This is just an invitation for kids to have some breakneck fun on them. I'd rather use a real step ladder.
Keyword "stepladder chair" or "step-ladder chairs" or any such variaton in Google Images to see more of such designs. It's more of a curiosity than a useful thing. It is not a recent design. I found a museum web site that shows one such chair built about the year 1900.

20090226 Curious Deer in SFdL

In the back woods of Saint-François-du-Lac, one can see many many deer at once. But usually they do not come close. Actually, when I approach on cross-country skis, they run scurry away. But this lone one was curious. It just stayed nearby. I talked to it and it did not go away. So I managed to make a decent pic. Skiing conditions were warm. The snow was sticky to the skis if I stayed put just a few seconds.

20090225 Ski de fond à Baie-du-Febvre

I had heard that there were some groomed cross-country skiing paths in Baie-du-Febvre, so today, a bright sunny day not too cold, I decided to check it out. You've got to find the Centre Communautaire and park there. It's a designated starting point.
More on this at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=227296&id=739480474&l=8d56d

20090224 Ski Sorel au Camp Ville La Joie

Went cross-country skiing from Sorel to Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel. Conditions were perfect. Nice snow, nice air. Saw many more skiers.
More of this day's pics are at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226935&id=739480474&l=bb9fc

20090223 Ski Brossard to La Prairie: Beaver Dam

Along the Ruisseau Des Bois at the limit of the municipalities of Brossard and La Praire, I saw this beaver dam! This is suburban Montreal, a large city! More of today's pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226690&id=739480474&l=bed29

20090222 7è Salon Du Vélo Expodium

Went to the Montreal bike show called the 7è Salon du Vélo Expodium. Most expensive bike was marked down from $10,000 to $8,000! Not a Wal-Mart bike!
More pics at HERE

20090221 Festi-Vent Sur Glace, Saint-Placide

Went to the kite festival on ice today in Saint-Placide today. This is a vid I posted on Youtube. Pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=225728&id=739480474&l=5ef09

19300802 Mathilde Lefebvre RIP

This is the oldest necrology bookmark (aka funerary card, signet funéraire, nécrologique) I have. Mathilde Lefebvre is an ancestor of mine. She died at the venerable age of 92 years old! That would put her birthyear as 1838! She lived a totally different lifestyle than the one we know today. Perhaps Micheline would like to post who she is, from a family tree POV.  She was my grandmother's grandmother. So that would make her my great-great-grandmother. I may correct this text if contradictory info comes to me.
There was one Mathilde Lefebvre on the Titanic, but she was 12 when the ship went down, so that cannot be her.
One woman, Diane Kapp, at http://genforum.genealogy.com/lefebvre/messages/33.html is looking for info about one of ML's children, one called Georgiana. As stated on the bookmark, ML had a second husband by the name of Joseph Legault dit Deslauriers. DK says that ML married one Damase Joseph LEGAULT Oct. 10, 1863 in Montreal (Notre-Dame). So I'd say that the same ML she's talking about.
BUT... according to http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=charlebois47&id=I046218&ti=4317 (dead link), ML married Joseph Legault-Deslauriers on the 5th of October 1863, had as parents Germain Lefebvre and Sophie Gougeon, and was born about 1842. That birthyear is probably wrong in light of the above image. Her first husband was Theophile Dubrule (Dubreuil) with who it looks like she had no children. With Joseph Legault she had 2 : Georgiana Legault-Deslauriers and in 1875 my great-grandmother Anna Legault-Deslauriers. Anna married my great-grandfather Victor Emmanuel Valiquette 13 JUL 1896 in Basilique Notre-Dame, Montreal and later Jean Baptiste Charlebois 10 APR 1917 in Ste-Helene, Montreal.

Click on the image to see it much bigger.