Marie Louise Pelland and Joseph Hébert
Marie Louise was born Februrary 14, 1872 at Berthier, Quebec. She married Joseph Hébert, son of Janvier Hébert and Adèle Geoffrion on January 22, 1889 à Ste. Agathe, Manitoba.. One of the daughters-Agathe married Joseph Ayotte, but she died young. Jos Ayotte married Agathe's sister Catherine later on. I remember meeting Jos Ayotte several times. One time I had read an article in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Buffalo Ayotte which covered a whole page, including pictures of Buffalo Ayotte. When I saw Jos Ayotte later on I asked him if he had ever heard of Buffalo Ayotte and he said he was his father.
Marie-Louise (Pelland) Hébert
Some of the memories of my grandmother, whom I loved very much.
by Lorraine Bonnefoy (née Ayotte) Only child of Marie-Louise’s last child: Agathe Hébert
I remember many things about this dear great lady. I had the opportunity to live in her home as a baby until I was of school age. My mother had died, I was only seven months old. So, she, my grandmother, her husband, my grandfather, Catherine, her daughter, my mother’s sister, and uncle Janvier, my mother’s brother looked after me in Silver Plains, Manitoba. This place at one time had a store, along Highway #75, owned by Aimé Hébert. The Silver Plains Station was where many a traveller came to visit my grandparents. By the station was the elevator, a general store belonging to Pierre Pelland’s wife and his daughters. The store was also the post office.
Marie-Louise belonged to Aubigny Catholic Church. The distance by road and ferry to get to the church was about four miles. This courageous woman would walk to church on nice days, without having eaten, for at the time you could not eat anything after midnight in order to receive communion. My grandmother’s bench was very close to the front. When I accompanied her, I had to look straight fonvard to the altar. She would bring a few sandwiches in a brown paper bag for us to eat on the way back home. Sometimes, after mass, she would visit with her relatives in Aubigny before heading home.
Many of us grandchildren would remember grandmother every evening after supper, it was time for the rosary, prayers to the saint of the day, the litanies, and whatever she wanted us to pray for. The floor on the second floor was not too smooth, sometimes we would get slivers for kneeling down. Grandma would rock in the rocking chair, her eyes half closed, making sure that we were kneeling, our back straight, our eyes closed.
Her husband, Joseph Ilébert, was very strick, and he was the boss. Grandma would abide by him, and we were scared to displease. The atmosphere was very pleasant in this home. Everyone was welcomed. Their greatest joy was having relatives dropping in. Grandma would hurry to get a good meal on the table, take out her tablecloth, put this on the oilcloth, and get out her best dishes. Food was always good. Her soups were very tasty, for she had the knowledge of using herbs and combining vaiious vegetables, the soup was a meal by itself. Of course, she would make her own bread.
The daily chores were routine, a day for the washing, a day for churning butter, a day for making bread, a day for ironing, a day to scrub the old wooden floors. One thing she liked was picking up the eggs in the hen house. She would feed her chickens with crushed grain, and I still picture her, feed in her big apron folded up and the chickens squawking about her.
During the summer, she would make lye soap outdoors. This stuff would stink. Of course, we were not admitted to get close to the big barrel that was cut in half, set up to have a fire underneath.
Another summer project was gardening, she used to grow so much, all kinds of herbs, melons, cucumbers of all sizes, vegetables galore, corn, potatoes, etc. Then afterwards it was canning, pickling There was aLso the season for wild berry picking, then jams and jellies were made. To this day, I remember the saskatoons and how plentiful they were every year it seems. Some of her produce would go to the parish priest as an alm giving. As for the churned butter, she would prepare it and wrapped it up in a one pound package, this butter was sold or exchanged for something she wanted or needed.
She was good at making woolen mitts and men’s woolen socks. They had their own sheep, grandpa would shear the sheep. Grandma would card the wool, spin the wool, prepare it in skins, wash it, then roll it into balls.
She had an old sewing machine, she made most of her clothes, and that of her family’s needs. One thing that I loved to see were the quilts she would make. The materials were ordered by catalogue, the patterns would come from down east (Quebec), and away she would go in her spare time. Quilting was something that she enjoyed doing. She had many daughters, and so she would make a quilt for one, than the other, etc. I remember her making crazy quilts made of silks, satins, velours, etc. the handstitching on these was an embroidery stitch, which contrasted all colors used.
Rug making was also something she would enjoy doing, either by joy or necessity. We talk about recycling now, but boy did my grandmother recycled. In her big rocking chair downstairs, closed to the big old wood burning stove, she would cut strips after strips, make balls, and then she would mix and match these strips to make big round rugs, or oval ones.
In the fall, the chickens were killed, the meat was canned, the feathers were gathered to make pillows, mattresses. Grandma once in a while would take the kitchen broom and beat these mattresses outdoors on a clothesline. I remember sinking into these mattresses, the feathers would move as you would move. As grand-kids we had to respect her properties, she did not allow any pillow fights.
When the frost would come, grandma would start her pie baking for Christmas. Pies were made from rendered pork fat. The varieties were: dried apple pies; pumpkin pies, precious moments with them. When grandpa died, it was not the same visiting the old farm. I was growing up.
My father remarried and I living in their house, but every holiday, grandpa would come and get me or meet me at the CN station in Silver Plains for these, becoming a teenager, uncle Janvier was a bachelor, so when I went there now, I had the privilege sleeping with my grandmother. She was a very strong catholic, after our evening prayers, she would fall asleep, her rosary in her hands, praying until sleep would get the best of her.
Memories of her morning routine, combing her long grey hair, turning the hair into rhubarb pies, raisins pies, custard pies. All these would be kept outside, by the old house, in what was called the pie cupboard. Christmas at her house was reunion time for her family members and their families. We, the grandchildren would enjoy watching in the stairwell the adults telling jokes, drinking wine, smoking, playing cards, playing dominoes. We did not have much to play with but to watch the adults. By the way, the stairs going upstairs had no rails, so we had to be careful not to fall down.
New Year’s Eve, grandma, would clean out the old copper boiler, that she would boil her clothes each week in it, and then put the clean boiler on the stove and have the fat melt to prepare her doughnuts. Boy these would smell so good! They were good to eat too!
The week between Christmas and a few days after the New Year was a time of visiting. Families would gather. They would forget about personal problems or dislikes.
I have always seen my grandmother listening to all their family problems, and going about as if she would sympathize with everyone of them. What a woman! one big curl and making a bun at the back of her head with long grey hairpins. She would always care about her appearance. A clean apron to start the day daily. A dark apron for working outside the kitchen chores, especially for use when she picked her produce from the garden. Everything had a place for itself, and she was a good housekeeper.
Another incident, in my youthful memory, a tornado passed through Aubigny, my grandparents house was along the Red River, the house seemed to want to go away, graineries were uplifted, and other sheds, my grandmother took holy water and made crosses in every corner of the house. She believed that the holy water did the miracle of saving the old house, which had no foundation, but only a dirt cellar. At the time of the tornadoes, grandma told me to hide under the kitchen bench, hand and head facing the floor and not to budge. It was a very terrifying event. After the storm she made grandpa, uncle Janvier, myself and herself get on our knees and thank the Lord.
Grandmother would love to talk about her relatives in Quebec, the place where she was born. She would like to sing in her rocking chair, in the evening, by the light of a kerosene lamp. Many were sung complaints with as many as 20 chorus, they were some of the sungs she had learned in her birth province, when the hardships of living was a strain for every family.
She loved going on the train to go down East as they would say. She would come back with many souvenirs of her visit. Everyone had a special place in her heart, As a child you did not understand why it was so precious to her, but now I too seem to think like her, will this be the last time I see them.
Grandmother and grandfather seemed to be a very happy couple. He was very tall and she was a short women. My aunts and uncles told me later in my life that they too had arguments, but I don’t recall any.
Grandmother’s birthday was on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. Her sons-in-law would give her the nicest chocolates for the occasion. I always thought that they wanted her on their sides. Sweeten-up the old lady, as one of my uncle’s would say.
My father would respect her very much, he had married two of her daughters.
The year before she died, she came to Saint-Boniface during the Holy Week, she wanted to attend all the ceremonies performed by the Bishop. So, I had to accompany her to everyone she wished to attend. Holy Saturday ceremony lasted about 5 hours, I sure did not like this one, but for her, it was a blessing being able to attend. I remember her face in such a glow, a peaceful mind as I see it today. She was the mother of sixteen children, hard times to raise such a family, and now before her death, she was so thankful for everything and to everyone she knew.
Grandmother, Marie-Louise Pelland) Hébert had a cancerous kidney, which was removed in her seventies. This pious women died in her bed, in her home,the priest had given her absolution for her sins, turned around to get the host for communion and she was gone. Such a sad moment, but for her it was a reward for her time on earth. She was 74 years old the day she died on February 1, 1947, thirteen days before her 75th birthday.
Children:
Born May 10, 1890
Married: Pierre Bouchard
Born Sept. 13, 1891
Married: Yvonne Durand
Born Aug. 1, 1893
Married: Cecile Grandchamp Sept. 2, 1929 in Berthier, Quebec
Born Feb. 10, 1895 Aubigny, Man.
Married: John Ouimet
Born Oct. 16, 1896 Aubigny, Man.
Married Cyrille Courcelles
Born June 9, 1898 Aubigny, Man.
Married: Henri Ouimet
Born Aug. 5, 1925 Aubigny, Man.
Married: Pierre Hebert
Born June 18, 1901
Married: Albert Gaudreault
Born Jan. 6, 1903. Died Feb. 10, 1903
Born Jan 19, 1904 Aubigny, Man.
Married: Adelard St. Hilaire
Born Oct. 15, 1905 Aubigny, Man.
Married: Joseph Ayotte
Born Dec. 8, 1907 Aubigny, Man.
Married Marie-Rose Saindon
Born Jan. 11, 1909 Ste. Agathe, Man.
Married: Clovis Joyal
Born May 31, 1911 Aubigny, Man.
Married:1. René Wery
Married 2: Walter Joseph Hebert
Born Feb. 5, 1913 Aubigny, Man.
Married: Joseph Ayotte