52 Ancestors: Marie Mazerolle (1856/7 - 1955)

I'm back over to the Mazerolle side of my family tree, this time to Marie Mazerolle my Great Great Aunt.

Marie was the fifth child and second daughter of Germain Mazerolle and Christine Hache. I have been unable to locate Marie's baptism certificate to confirm her date of birth, guess I will need to look page by page on the parish registry to see if I can find it (no time to do that last week!). Her age and birth year vary over the census years, they were listed as: 1856 (5yrs old in 1861), 1861 (30yrs old in 1891 & 40yrs old in 1901) to 1866 (45years old in 1911). Her birth month, May, when stated has always been consistent. Based her first showing up on the census records in 1861 and her death certificate I have concluded that she was born in May of 1856/57 in Pokemouche, Gloucester county, New Brunswick, Canada.

Marie was raised and went to school (learning to read and write) in Inkerman, Gloucester county, New Brunswick, Canada with her 9 brothers and sisters. She continued to live in Inkerman even after her marriage to George Bruno St. Pierre on Sunday Jan 6, 1878 at l'Immaculee Conception parish, Pokemouche-en-Haut. It must have been a celebration for the whole community that Sunday mass, welcoming in the new year and the beginning of a new family.

Marie and George lived with George's parents and younger siblings at the start of their marriage until at least after their second child was born. It must have been a lively household as Marie & her mother-in-law both had children born around the same time (Marie's first child and her mother-in-law's last child). With large families this must happen often as my oldest sibling and my youngest aunt on my Dad's side can attest to.

When Marie and George moved into their own household they did not move far, the lived right next door! They continued to live right next door raising their 11 children (4 boys & 7 girls) until at least 1901. Starting around this time Marie's children began to marry and start families of their own. By 1911, with the 4 oldest children married, they were down to only 7 children living at home. In 1921 they were living in the Cowan Creek area of Inkerman with only their youngest child still living at home. They were not far from their 3 youngest sons as they settled with their families right next door to each other with Marie and George living in the middle of them. Marie may have been losing her children to marriage but she was rapidly gaining grandchildren (9 living next door).

At some point between census periods or after 1921 Marie adopted a 12th child, a girl. I don't have any information on this child, other than her name and who she married. This information was obtained from Marie's funeral notice that was published in the Nov 11, 1955 edition of l'Evangeline. This is another mystery to solve!

At the time of her death Marie was still living in the Cowan Creek are of Inkerman, possibly with her youngest son. Marie's death was reported by her youngest son on October 31, 1955. She was 98/99 years old at the time of her death. This seems like an incredibly long life for anyone, let alone someone who was born in 1856/7. We seem to have some long lives on the Mazerolle side of the family tree.

 Nov 11, 1955 edition of l'Evangeline

 Nov 11, 1955 edition of l'Evangeline

52 Ancestors: Joseph Alexander Christie (1886 - 1979) Sawmill worker to Sawmill Manager

Joseph Alexander Christie is my Great Uncle on my Mom's side of my family tree. He was born on May 24, 1886 to Alexander Christie and Margaret Legace in Peter's River (West Bathurst, Gloucester, New Brunswick, Canada), he was their third child and first son. Joseph was baptized on May 30, 1886 when he was 6 days old. His baptism sponsors were Francis Christie and Elizabeth Legacey, most likely his Uncle and Aunt.

In 1891 Joseph lived in West Bathurst with his parents, 2 older sisters, a younger sister and brother and his grandmother Teresa Christie (Arseneault). He went to school and learned to read and write. Sometime after completing his schooling he went to work for the sawmill in Beresford, this must have been how he met his future wife as she was from Petit Rocher (just a little further down the road).

When Joseph was 21 he married Rose Godin in Petit Rocher, Gloucester, New Brunswick on May 21, 1907 at St. Polycarpe parish. The witnesses for their marriage were Maggie Christie (Joseph's sister) and Arthur Godin (Rose's brother?). Joseph and Rose started their family right away with the birth of their first child Catheline in April 1908 and a second daughter Delia in May 1910. Joseph worked on average 60 hours per week earning less than $10 per week. In 1910 his yearly earnings from the sawmill were $320 for 48 weeks of work. This was close to the average wage and hours of work for mill workers in 1910. In 1911 Joseph's household consisted of his wife Rose, daughters Catheline and Delia and a 4 year old girl from the U.S. that is listed as a lodger. I don't know how this girl came to live with them or what happened to her after 1911, she is a mystery to solve!

Joseph and Rose continued to expand their family with the birth of daughters Margarette in 1915, Frances in 1917 and Josephine in 1919. In 1920 after the death of his sister Brigitte and her husband, Joseph's nephew Wilfred Daigle came to live with him (finally a boy in the house!). Joseph and Rose continued their family with a 6th daughter, Georgine, in 1921. Joseph and his family were living in West Bathurst in 1921 and Joseph continued to work at the sawmill except that he was no longer a labourer, he had moved to Manager and now earned $1000 per year. Joseph continued to work at the sawmill until his retirement sometime between 1953-1957.

Joseph lived his entire life in West Bathurst. He died in 1979 at the age of 92 and is buried in the New Holy Family Roman Catholic Cemetry in Bathurst, Gloucester, New Brunswick.

52 Ancestors: Marie Theriault (1853-1950)

Marie Theriault is my Great Great Grandmother and spouse of Aime Godin. She was born November 6 1853 in Caraquet, New Brunswick, Canada to Benjamin Theriault and Celeste Young.

I don't know much about Marie's childhood, I have not been able to find any official records for her before her marriage to Aime Godin on Feb 18, 1879 in Caraquet. Was she the oldest, youngest or somewhere in between? Did she come from a small or large family? Her death record state she was born in Caraquet and her marriage record have her being married in Caraquet. I can make the assumption that she probably was raised in Caraquet. Clearly, I need to dig a little deeper into her family!

Marie was approximately 25 when she married 26 year old Aimi Godin on Feb 18, 1879 in Caraquet at the parish of St-Pierre-aux-Liens. It is from Marie's marriage record that I was able to determine who her parents were.

Marie and Aime started their family right away with their first child, Jean-Aime (my Great Grandfather), born in November 1879/80. Their 10 children were born within a year or two of each other except for a four year gap between their third and fourth child. I wonder if they had additional children within this time period (1882-1886) that died as infants? I will have to go back and scroll through the parish baptism records for this period to see if I can find any additional children baptised for Marie and Aime.

After the death of her husband, Aime, in 1909, Marie's son Aime became the head of the household (according to the 1911 census). In 1911 the only children living at home were Aime (head of the house) and Marie's daughter Amanda (born in 1891). At this time she also lived next door to her eldest child (my Great Grandfather Jean-Aime) and his growing family. I wonder if my grandmother had any memories of living next door to her grandmother, she would have been 6 years old at that time. My grandmother has passed on now, it is to bad that I never had a conversation with her about her past.

Marie lived the rest of her life with her son Aime. On the 1921 census she is living with her son Aime and his family and next door to another of her son's, Nicolas and his family. Marie experienced so many things in her lifetime; the birth of Canada as a country, World War 1 and World War 2 not to mention all of the changes in technology from transportation by horse and wagon to the use of cars and the use or telephones to communicate and the invention of television for entertainment. Aime reported the death of his mother, Marie, May 1, 1950 in Paquetville, New Brunswick of old age.