GELOT, THEODORE (34 ENG -- 15 FRAN)

  (no.  34  anglais)

 Théodore Gelot - son of Jean + Thenais Genoso
                          - b. 1862-02-23  Davix
                          - m. 1907-06-10  St-Joachim, Edmonton +  Henriette Michaud (Auguste)
                         - d. 1959-10-27  Legal, AB

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 Theodore like many young people in his area did not attend school. At the age of 9 years he had a job, being the driver (horse and buggy)  for the local  doctor, a job he kept until the doctor left his job on account of illness.

 Theodore searched for another job; he and his brother, Jules, decided to go to Sacramento, CA and work as vine-growers, but one year later, Jules decided to return to France.  Theodore on the contrary, decided to stay and he met Eugène Ménard, also from France, and the two got along very well. In 1893 Eugène became a victim of hay fever and his doctor recommended that he needed a colder climate like that of Canada. A little while later, the two friends found a small commercial newspaper published by Father Jean-Baptiste Morin, a missionary-colonizer for Alberta.

The two friends were ready to try their luck and to come to Canada.  To begin with, they travelled by boat from San Francisco to Vancouver, then by rain to Calgary. There they met Father Morin.

Once in Edmonton, AB on October 23, 1884, Father Morin wrote in his journal,  "I spent the day in Edmonton and with me were 7 Germans and 2 Frenchmen: Gelot, Ménard." (the Legal AB book).

The two pioneers headed towards Morinville and chose land north of the town. They were aware of the federal laws for all those taking  a homestead..  Once they had decided, they registered their homesteads so that they were side-by-side.  Then a new idea  that they had was that they dug a cellar the first half under Théodore's land, the other half  under Eugène's.  It was a  rather large cellar  because they lived in it for six or seven years.  Théodore and Eugène were the first settlers of the new community of Legal, AB. all the while satisfying the governmental conditions which said that "a new settler had to reside on his homestead".

In 1901, Eugène Ménard built himself a nice-sized house and married Angélique Ouellet.  Four years later, in 1905, Théodore decided to do the same thing. By this time, he had lived in his cellar for ten years. With the help of his neighbor, Mathieu Webber, they built a house good enough for a woman. In the spring of 1907, Theodore went to see Father Normandeau, the parish priest. Father Normandeau was a good friend of all settlers, and was always ready to help them.  The local citizens had named him the "Curé of Partoutville" (the Pastor of Everywhere-ville." and Théodore told him that now that he had a good house, he lacked a wife.  He said, "Do you know of a young woman who would accept an old settler like me?"

Father Normandeau did some research, and he went to the St. Joachim parish in Edmonton.  Father J.H. Emard also started looking about. He knew that among the Faithful Companions of Jesus (a religious order) there was a girl of about 30 who  as a young girl had been raised by the nuns when during child-birth, her mother had died. This was in Léon, Rone, France.  The father already had four children when Henriette Michaud  was born on April 27, 1873.  She had always stayed with the nuns and when they went to England for two years she went with them. Then the nuns came to Canada, but to come here she wore the religious  habit because she was thus able to come at a lower price.

Father Emard told Father Normandeau of this situation and that perhaps Henriette would be available to meet him.  When Father Normandeau told Théodore of this, he was elated. Furthermore, Father Emard offered to drive Theodore  to the Convent of the Faithful Companions and to introduce him to Henriette.  Three meetings only were necessary. I imagine that in the first encounter, all they did was walk about the convent and talk; and then they made a date to meet a week later.  The next week, Théodore made his wishes known and she had the same sentiments, so Théodore offered her money to purchase what-ever she needed.  In the last encounter, they talked about what they needed to get ready.  They were both ready to get married; neither of them had been spoilt in their life!

They were married on June 10, 1907 the marriage celebrated by Father Emard at St. Joachim's Church. Two friends served as witnesses.  Then the nuns served a well-prepared wedding feast which was then followed by a buggy ride to St. Emile de Legal,  Theodore had had the tactfulness to  pay for a pleasant dinner and evening organized by many of his friends so Henriette would be able to meet people and even make friends. Arriving in Legal, about 50 kms from Edmonton, Henriette was delighted to meet many people from her new parish.

The new couple enjoyed working together on the farm and also making a garden.  Henriette found that Théodore worked too hard and offered to milk the cows. The following year, on May 5, 1908 she presented Theodore with a nice baby boy named Narcisse, the name of his godfather who was Narcisse Bessette and the next year, on July 22, 1909, Henriette gave birth to a baby girl, Marie-Rose.

The family lived happily on the farm and the years passed.  In 1927 Eugène Ménard passed away.  At this point he was a widower and even his children had passed away.  Ménésippe Massie and Théodore took care of the estate..  Théodore decided  to present  Eugène's descendants with the goods of the estate, but they did not live in Canada. Théodore had also well remunerated the two tutors of the will. Henriette and Théodore decided to go to France and to meet many people: Théodore's family, Henriette's and Eugène Ménard's also.

After a few years, Théodore chose to give  his farm to his son, Narcisse, and he and Henriette moved  to town in a new house. There they enjoyed their large garden which became a real pastime. Then after a few years, Narcisse and his family moved to Val d'Or, QC

Henriette and Théodore had a long and happy life, even though Narcisse was 45 and Henriette, 34, when they married. They were able to celebrate their golden wedding, but only four days after the anniversary, Henriette became a well-liked  patient and died at the Westlock hospital.

All members of the family were present for the anniversary and golden wedding as well as for her funeral.  Théodore lived another two years and died at the age of 97 and 8 months.

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