End of Louise Boucher's Diary
THE WEDDING: Grandfather's bride wore an ankle length dress. The skirt ws made from grey flannel and the blouse of white silk. She wore laced black high boots and a white panama straw hat trimmed with flower. Her long hair was tied in a bun.
It was then the custom for the groom to buy the gown for his bride and grandfather's sister Elise had picked it out in W. Pozer store in Duck Lake. Father Gabillon blessed the marriage and a dinner was served in grandfather's home. Then they left for their honeymoon. With horse and buggy they travelled to Moise Bremner.s home in Domremy then to Matthias Parenteau's and then to Duck Lake to visit Elise Forestier. When they returned the "newlyweds were honored at a planned party. Magloire Boyer played the fiddle and there was a square dance and some signing.
On October 14th, 1907. their first child, Honorine was born, They were to have a family of thirteen. Raisin g a family in those days meant hard work and courage. Every year grandfather worked a little more land. He had horses, cattle, pigs and chickens. The work was all done by hand. A bushel of wheat sold for 50 cents. One year he sold eleven pigs for $33.30. A bag of flour cost $2.50. a pound of tea 50cents, sewing thread costs 25 cents for six spools. Eggs were 10 cents a dozen. Butter was 10 cts a pound. Once grandpa bought seventeen pairs of shoes for $32.00. Nevertheless, it was hard to make both ends meet.
Grandmother Delia was a wonderful homemaker, working from early in the morning till late at night; knitting, spinning, sewing, making quilts. In the summer the family picked wild fruit which she dried. Canning was unknown then.
The house was hard to keep clean, the walls were whitewashed and the rough floors unpainted and had to be scrubbed clean with a hard brush.
When their daughter Antoinette was seven she had diphteria, and was very sick. Grandfather left to get the doctor. It was in the late fall and they could not cross the river. So he went to Birch Hills on horseback to telephone Doctor Moreau who then lived in Prince Albert. Unfortunately he arrived too lake to save the child. A son Rock, also died ater a brief illness in 1945. He was married to Kay Foster and had one child.
As soon as the first school was opened, the children attended. The Daughter of Providence had come from France several years before. They taught all the Settler's children. The name of Boucher settlement had long been changed to Saint Louis by then.
The family was growing and the children were leaving home one by one. Grandfather likes to tell us of the hadship of the "Hungry Thirties". By now, thevfillage of Saint Louis had grown considerably. The eschool and church had been moved to their present location. There was a railroad, an elevator and a few stores.
In 1944, grandfather built a new frame house which was more comfortable than the old log house. The last vestige of pioneer days were gradually disappearing. When his son Laurent - my dad, married Carmen Gaudet in 1949, my grandparents bought a house and moved to the village. Those were happy days for the aging couple. Grandpa kept his buggy and his horse Dan and would make numerous trips to the farm and to pick berries. New Year's Day was always a day for a family reunion. In 1956, the family and friends gathered to celebrate the Golden Wedding anniversary of my grandparents. They were presented with a television set wich they enjoyed very much.
Grandmother died in the year 1966, after three years of illness and on a bitterly cold day on January 22, she was laid to rest in the family plot in Saint Louis.
As Grandpa was getting too old to live by himself, he returned to live on the farm with his son Laurent, where he had spent the greater part of his life. He is now 89 and still enoys a lively game of Joker. He takes a vivid interest in everything that goes on and likes to talk of "old times" with his dear friend Mr. Dubreuil who is now 95 years of age. We hope that grandfather will be with us for many years yet.
Note: Mr. Joseph A. Boucher died on December 20, 1968. He is buried in St-Louis.
ref: Louise Boucher's final chapter of her Diary. - History of Saint Louis, SK
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