L'HIRONDELLE, EMILIE + Octave Majeau (11 ENG + 2 fran )

   L'Hirondelle, Emilie -  daughter of Jean-Baptiste L'Hirondelle and Catherine Loyer
                                 -  b. 1844-02-28  Lesser Slave Lake, N.W.T.

                            -  d. 1932-19-12  Picardville, AB; buried in Lac La Nonne

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     In July 1987, after an important festival in Donnelly, Alberta. I overheard Gilbert who was working with a group of men to replace chairs, tables and other things when Mr. Laurier Maisonneuve came to speak to me beginning by saying, "Greetings, it's Mrs. Majeau who saved my leg."  Then he proceeded to describe the whole accident which he had at the age of six. This happened at his father's sawmill in Rich Valley, AB. I listened carefully for I did not know a Mrs. Majeau nor Lac la Nonne where he lived in 1916. DR. Ferguson from Morinville and others from General Hospital in Edmonton, all gave credit to Mrs. Majeau for the good first aide treatment against infection which she had given the young boy and saved his leg from possible amputation. Mr. Maisonneuve ended his story by adding that even today at the age of 77 he still had a good leg (NOTE: He could still dance very well!)  Then he left and I was sorry he had not given me more of this story, and I never saw him again. He died at the age of 91 with both legs intact!

    Nineteen years later, Gilbert and I moved to St.Andrew's in Edmonton. The following week I played cards with a partner whom I did not know.l This was 2006. We introduced ourselves and when she said she was Bernadette Mahood I asked her for her maiden name. She replied, "Bernadette Majeau" so I asked "Have you known a Majeau woman who healed using natural medicines?" She replied that this was her grandmother, but added that she did not know her too well because she was young when her grandmother died. However patiently I gathered enough information to write her story which her grand-daughter Bernadette and her sister Juliette, born after her grandmother's death were able to give me.

To begin with, since we are speaking of Lac La Nonne prior to 1800, few people lived there, but around the 1820's a Hudson Bay Company built a fur trading post: the fur trade had become flourishing because gradually the Indians, the Métis were moving to Lac La Nonne.

Everyone took a piece of land and claimed it as his home; this was called "squatter's rights" the way the new arrivals settled in a new region. Amongst the Métis, the majority of them were francophone, the father being French-Canadian and the mother of Indian Blood. The Delormes, the Chalifoux, the Augers, the L'Hirondelles, were popular names at Lac la Nonne. Many of these people came from Lesser Slave Lake which had become Grouard, Alberta. In these years, Grouard had a population of 2000. There was also a Joseph Gagné, a lumberjack born around 1840 in Rimouski, QC; an Octave Majeau born in Montreal in 1845 and a man named Foley, a Quebecois exiled from United States. This Foley was certainly a "Poulin" possibly from Beauce area of Québec since most Poulins who worked in the U.S. became known as "Foley".  What a butchering of a name! All these people mentioned above are part of the genealogy dictionary.

Father Jean-Baptiste Thibault founded the Lac St.Anne parish in 1843. After a few years he left the Lac St.Anne parish and Father Albert Lacombe assisted by Father René Rémas took over the parrish. The Grey Nuns arrived in Lac St.Anne in September 27th 1859 and they also guaranteed the religious services to the people of Lac St. Anne and would go to Lac La Nonne especially to visit the sick. They'd go two by two from one tent to tent to help and sooth those who were ill (We know now and knew then that the Sisters of Charity, the Grey Nuns, were nearly all nurses.)¸

One fine day, Octave Majeau while on horseback noticed a young girl walking up hill with a pail of water in each hand. He got down from his horse saying to himself, "This is the woman I will marry."  Octave met Emilie, spoke to her and helped her, then two years later on December 27th, 1868. they were married by Father Rémas at Lac St. Anne.

They then lived in St. Albert, (a town founded in 1861 by Bishop Taché),  where Octave had lots of land. They liked the area and knew nearly everyone. Of course, one must add that the Majeaus were well known for their generous hospitality. One day Octave answered the knocking at the door as he always answer "Bonjour mon ami" (Welcome my friend) It was Father Lacombe accompanied by Louis Riel! Of course Emilie offered them something to eat. Here was Father Lacombe born in St. Sulpice, l'Assomption County, QC, face to face with Octave Majeau whose grandparents came from St. Sulpîce and Louis Riel whose great-great-grandparents also came from the same place. If  one developed their complete genealogies, one would find that they were all close cousins: Albert, Louis and Emilie, three French-Canadians with Indian blood. One could also say "What a trio!" All three spoke French and Cree; they were three persons who have maked and influenced many others in their life. That was some visit!!

Octave had already many acres of good land (more than 1200 acres) in St.Albert. All went well until the day when Octave, after a few glasses of beer and a game of poker, bet Emilie's horse and lost. When Emilie heard this, she went towards Octave and said to him. "I've two things to tell you:  To begin with, I want my horse, and secondly we will move to Lac La Nonne where there is no hotel and no bar.

Great changes took place at the beginning of the 1890's. One cannot but like Octave who left his business in St-Albert, who accepted to go to Lac La Nonne. Their large farm and horses was sold to a Joseph Bourgeois.

 

Emilie said they'd build a large house where they'd have room for the whole family and even for strangers sometimes. A large living room, 24 by 24 would be very useful and could be used for Sunday masses, and parties for the young and even for christenings. etc. Emilie always had a large table full of food and invited everyone to have a good meal before leaving. When everyone was happy and had eaten well, she was happy!

Emilie always made a large garden, picked a large quantity of wild fruits, collected many local herbs for her natural medicines, even hunted and did all this over and above the fact that she had twelve children to raise. The medical recipes made from local herbs were handed down to her grandmother, Josette Pilon, daughter of Pierre, an employee of the North West Fur of Montréal and an Indian woman whose name I do not know. The grandmother had told Emilie all she knew for Emilie to nurse those who were ill and had an accident as the one Mr. Maisonneuve had, even for childbirth and midwifery. As an organized woman, Emilie had her warming-oven always ready in case of an emergency. One day Emilie went to help a neighbor woman in labor who gave birth to twins. When Emilie returned home, she made a large potion of tonic from her herbs and brought this to the woman on the same day. She returned again and again, but on the third day she found the woman up and ready to care for her children. Don't forget that during these years a woman would stay in bed ten days!

Another example of the welcoming by the Majeaux was when one day three men on horseback stopped at the Majeau home. They asked for lunch and as they were on the Pembina Trail en route to Dawson City, Yukon. After noon lunch, Octave who owned about twenty horses offered to these men an extra horse in case they'd be stuck one day in a bad situation. They accepted it and said they'd be back in three years.

Three years later, these three Klondikers were back having made a very successful trip in all senses of the word. They were bringing many gifts made with Yukon gold. They even gave Samuel Majeau. a gold ring which he'd give his bride at their wedding. They were married and had nine children: Antoinette, Bernadette, Jeannette, Juliette, Yvette and other children. These three men with their gifts of gold were like the Three Wise Men. however they were not riding camels!

 The students of  Rich Valley have recently celebrated an important anniversary for their school. For this occasion, two sisters came in motor home with their husbands from the US. The sisters  told that their grandmother had given birth to their mother and to their aunt assisted by a Mrs. Emilie Majeau. They grandmother had only good words and praise for Mrs. Majeau. Very few people at the anniversary had heard of this woman. Personally I think that these two visiting women and Mr. Laurier Maisonneuve wanted to make sure that Emilie Majeau would never be forgotten.

    In 1993, the Majeau family organized a family reunion to celebrate their grandparents. One hundred and twenty-five years have passed since Octave and Emilie were married and 150 uears since Octave was born. There were 752 people and all were of the third, fourth, and fifth generations (with the spouses) Due to lack of space, they were not able to invite friends and neighbors.

     Note: For those who do not know Lac St. Anne, it is not a farming area; it is better known as a recreation area where one finds many chalets. It is also a pilgrimage area where the Métis who have a devotion to St.Anne assemble in July each year. They come from near and far, including Saskatchewan, the North-West Territories and the pilgrimage lasts for nine days. Usually there are 25,000-30,000 people present.

Majeau family in Lac La Nonne

Thanks to Roma Plante Newcomb, Bernadette and Juliette Majeau

for the Majeau family history

For the l'Hirondelle genealogy, see L'Hirondelle, Jean-Baptiste + Catherine Loyer

For the Majeau; see Octave and Emilie L'Hirondelle

For photos see the sections on photos same identification as for genealogy.

Thanks to Mrs. Emilie Mageau, Mr. Laurier Maisonneuve could still dance at age of 80