52 Ancestors: Margaret B Christie (1886-1949) The reason my siblings and I were born?

This week I am writing about my Great Aunt Margaret B. Christie.

Margaret was the second child of Alexander Christie and Margaret Ann Legace. She was born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada on April 16, 1885. She was probably baptisted at Ste. Famille parish like the siblings that are younger than her but I am unable to confirm this as the records for Ste. Famille start on page 9, June 21, 1885. Such is the way with genealogy, not all of the records survive.

Margaret lived with her parents until at least 1901, after that I am unable to find her again until she is married to Frank Leonard Best on May 1, 1916 in Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada. Frank was a WW1 Soldier stationed in Sussex in 1916. Margaret must have met Frank in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada where his parents were living. Margaret's death certificate states she lived in Saint John since approximately 1914. Where was she in 1911 that she is not listed on a census record? How and why did she move to Saint John, almost 400km away from Bathurst? In the early 1900's that seems like such a great distance for a single unmarried women to be away from her family. I did not know that I had relatives living in Saint John prior to my parents. I wonder if knowing a relative in the city was a factor in my mom's decision to move to Saint John and work. If so, then Margaret was the reason my parents met and my siblings and I were born!

Margaret and Frank only had a short time together before Frank was shipped overseas in June of 1916. His pending deployment overseas probably hastened their marriage. Margaret lived in various areas of Saint John while Frank was overseas, sometimes on her own other times with Frank's parents. When Frank was first deployed overseas Margaret lived on Paradise Row, for several months in 1917 she lived with Frank's parents and then in 1918 she moved to Prince Street where she and Frank are listed as living at the time of his discharge in January 1919.

According to the 1921 census Margaret and Frank lived in a rented single family 6 room wood house on Moore Street with a one year old daughter. Did they have any other children? I think they had one other daughter, I'm still trying to confirm with more reliable sources. They did move at least one other time to Main Street where Margaret is listed as residing at the time of her death.

Margaret died on March 2, 1949 in Saint Joseph's Hospital of a cerebral hemorrhage due to Hypertension (stroke?). I wonder if my older siblings have any recollection of Margaret and Frank Best and their family.

52 Ancestors: Theodore Godin (1911 - 1916)

I am back over to the Mazerolle-Godin side of my family tree with a very short post as there is not much to find when it is a child you are researching.

Theodore Godin is my Great Uncle. He was born in Paquetville, New Brunswick, Canada in April of 1911 (according to the 1911 census). He was the youngest child of Jean-Aimie Godin and Beatrice Hebert. Theodore had two older sisters and two older brothers. I wonder if he had any memories of his mother as he was only 2 years and 9 months when she died. After the death of his mother his family moved to St. Isidore, New Brunswick, Canada.

Theodore died July 28, 1916 at St. Isidore, New Brunswick, Canada when he was only 5 years and 3 months old. He would not have been in school yet. I wonder if he was looking forward to going to school with the rest of his siblings. How he died or the length of illness is not listed on his death certificate. Why was the reason for his death not listed? You would think that it would be unusual for a child of this age to die without any cause of death noted. Someday I will have to see if I can find where he might be buried in St. Isidore.

52 Ancestors - Joseph Napolean Pitre (1904-1917) Unlucky 13 Hero Remembered

I'm back after a two week vacation and will try and get caught up between this Saturday and next Saturday with 3 posts instead of 1!

Joseph Napolean Pitre was my Great Uncle on my Mom's side of the family tree. His life seemed to be connected to the number 13, none of it bad until the end.

Napolean was the 13th child of Victor Pitre and was born on the 13th of June 1904. He was born and raised in Petit Rocher, New Brunswick, Canada. At the time of his death he was living with his parents and 12 siblings (5 older and 7 younger), making it 13 children at home.

Not long after his 13th birthday, on July 27, 1917, Napolean died from accidental drowning (confirmed by death records) while trying to save another person (family oral history). Could it have been a sibling? They were all very close in age (just about everyone had a sibling 1 year older and 1 year younger than them). Was it a neighbour or friend playing in the river on a hot summers day? Did they survive or was the community in mourning for the loss of two lives? More digging required into archived newspapers to see if I can find a story.

Napolean, I don't know much about you, you were just starting to become a man when you died. I think you would have grown to be a wonderful person if your selfless act of dying while trying to save another person was any indication of the person you were becoming. Your family family thought you were very brave and told the story of your death so that future generations would know you were a good person.

NB Provincial Returns of Deaths, PITRE, NAPOLEON, 1917-07-27, County:GLOUCESTER

52 Ancestors: Sophie Mazerolle (1868 - ????) Inkerman to Chateauguay

This week I researched Sophie Mazerolle my Great Great Aunt from my Dad's side of the family.

Sophie was the ninth child (of 10 children) of Germain Mazerolle and Christine Hache. She was born in Inkerman, Gloucester county, New Brunswick, Canada in April 1868 or Mar 1869. I have not been able to find a baptism or birth record for her, these dates were listed on two different census records.

She lived with her family and contributed to the running of the family farm in Inkerman until she was married.  Sophie married Theotime Dugas on Labour Day, Monday, September 5, 1892 in Caraquet, Gloucester county, New Brunswick, Canada. Her sister Christine was one of the witnesses for her marriage. I wonder if they had a large celebration as it was labour day and many people may have been used to picinics and celebrating during this time.  Or was it just a small celebration as this was farming country and they may have been busy harvesting this time of year.

Sophie and Theotime lived in Caraquet until at least 1921 and had 12 children together (9 girls and 3 boys). Sometime between 1921 and 1955 Sophie and Theotime moved from Caraquet to Chateauguay, Quebec. I wonder why they moved so late in their lives? Was it because of the depression and they were unable to make a living? I would have thought it would be easier in a farming community instead of a city as they would be able to grow their own food and raise some animals. Did one of their children move there ahead of them and tell them to come to the city with them?

Clearly I have some additional research to do! I do not know when Sophie or Theotime died or which of their children moved with them to Chateauguay. I have never researched in the province of Quebec, yet. This will be a research learning experience for me when I get back to this family to dig a little deeper.