Home > Canada > Manitoba > North Interlake Census Division > Fisher Branch > Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Cemetery > Mathildee Vaillancourt Meilleur

Mathildee Vaillancourt Meilleur

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Birth	:	15 Jul 1854 Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Laurentides Region, Quebec, Canada
Death	:	30 Apr 1944 Fisher Branch, North Interlake Census Division, Manitoba, Canada
Burial	:	Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Cemetery, Fisher Branch, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate	:	51.0688140, -97.6045360
Description	:	Thade and Mathilde (nee Vaillancourt) came to Fisher Branch in the fall of 1910, bringing with them their unmarried children: Theophile, Louis, Alma, Hormidas, Moise, Osias, Julien and Melina. The family had left their home in Minnesota two years earlier, at the invitation of a cousin in the State of Washington, to make their home with him and work his farm and woodlands. They found themselves out of a job and home when the cousin decided to sell out. They had heard that homesteads were being offered in Manitoba where there was an abundance of tamarac, pine and white... Read More	Thade and Mathilde (nee Vaillancourt) came to Fisher Branch in the fall of 1910, bringing with them their unmarried children: Theophile, Louis, Alma, Hormidas, Moise, Osias, Julien and Melina. The family had left their home in Minnesota two years earlier, at the invitation of a cousin in the State of Washington, to make their home with him and work his farm and woodlands. They found themselves out of a job and home when the cousin decided to sell out. They had heard that homesteads were being offered in Manitoba where there was an abundance of tamarac, pine and white poplar. Thade was a born lumberjack and saw an opportunity to earn a living doing what he loved best, and acquiring property at the same time. The family came by train as far as Arborg and then by wagon to Fisher Branch where they spent the winter with a relative. In February, 1911, Thade filed for a homestead on Section 13, Township 24, 1 West, of the Principal Meridian. His sons, likewise, filed in the same township, and shortly thereafter, their married children moved from Minnesota and settled along the Meridian and around the paternal home: Joseph and Edwidge (nee Bruneau); Bartholemew (Bert) and Lucy (nee Foubert); Ovila and Zepherina (nee Gauthier); Mathilde and Joseph Gauthier and Valerie and Julien Payment. Thade's brother, Odile, followed soon after. Having paid his ten dollar filing fee, Thade's first priority was to build a house. Trees were cut and the logs used to fashion a snug cabin with an attic above and a root cellar below. Some years later, a lean-to kitchen was added with lumber milled at Bouvier's saw mill in Broad Valley. The house was built beside an old Indian trail which later became the main road linking the Meridian with the village of Fisher Branch, approximately six miles to the west. At that time, however, the swamps that lay between these two points made the trail impassable for much of the time. The families along the Meridian found it easier to make the three-day journey to Arborg to pick up their supplies. Land clearing was an on-going occupation. Isolated as they were for long periods, it was important that the settlers become self-sufficient. They raised cattle and hogs and took advantage of the available game for food; they raised sheep for wool; they seeded crops and grew large vegetable gardens. Produce was canned and pork salted down for winter use; staples like flour and sugar and kerosene were laid by in large supplies while the roads were passable, and if they ran out of coffee, roast barley was a fair substitute. In due time Louis married Angelina Hebert, Hormidas married Gracia Lavigne and Alma married Honora Bruneau. Theophile remained a bachelor all his life. In 1918 the Spanish flu took four of the children: Alma, who had two little girls; Osias, Julien and Melina, as well as Bert's wife, Lucy, who left six children motherless. Moise was now the youngest surviving son, and in the tradition of the time, took over the running of the home place from his aging father. We were married in December, 1922, and Thade died in October of the following year, just days before our oldest son was born. From the time Thade left his native Quebec until his death, he went by the name of "Mayer". Being unable to read or write, he was unaware that his surname was anglicized when he moved to the States. It was when our first child was baptized that Father Leroux, parish priest and family friend, and himself a former Quebecer, undertook to have the name legally restored to its original French. After her husband's death "Memere", as Moise and I called his mother along with our children, remained for many years an active member of our household. When she was no longer able to do strenuous work, she still rocked the babies to sleep and knitted socks and mitts for the entire family from wool that she carded and spun. She took ill in the spring of 1943 and would not hear of going to the hospital, wanting, she said, to die in the house her husband had built. Her wish came true in April, 1944, when she passed away in her own bed, at the age of ninety-one. The children of Thade and Mathilde are all deceased. At this writing (September 1981) Gracia, Hormidas' widow, and I are their only surviving in- laws. -- by Delia Meilleur The above is an account of his life and that of his family as pioneers in the Marble Ridge / Fisher Branch area of Manitoba as taken from the local history captured in the book "A Place of Our Own - A History of Fisher Branch and surrounding towns" (1982), pp 251ff Her death was registered as "Mathilda Meilleur", with an estimated age at death of 89 years (MB Death Registration #1944,024399)

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Mathildee Vaillancourt Meilleur's memorial?
Mathildee Vaillancourt Meilleur's memorial is located at: Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Cemetery, Fisher Branch, North Interlake Census Division, Canada.
When did Mathildee Vaillancourt Meilleur death?
Mathildee Vaillancourt Meilleur death on 30 Apr 1944 in Fisher Branch, North Interlake Census Division, Manitoba, Canada
Where are the coordinates of the Mathildee Vaillancourt Meilleur's memorial?
Latitude: 51.0688140
Longitude: -97.6045360

Family Members:

Spouse

Thaddee “Teddy” Meilleur

(1848 - 1923)

Children

Barthelemy “Albert Bert” Meilleur

(1876 - 1970)

Mathilde “Matilda” Meilleur Gauthier

(1884 - 1971)

Alma Meilleur Bruneau

(1889 - 1918)

Oaias Meilleur

(1895 - 1918)

Julien Meilleur

(1896 - 1918)

Melina Meilleur

(1900 - 1918)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Cemetery
Fisher Branch, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 51.0688140, -97.6045360

2. Fisher Branch Cemetery
Fisher Branch, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 51.0836300, -97.6602200

3. Morweena Community Cemetery
Morweena, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.9949000, -97.4105000

4. Hodgson Cemetery
Hodgson, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 51.2151170, -97.5870000

5. Poplarfield Community Cemetery
Poplarfield, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.8904190, -97.6250370

6. Saint Nicholas Parish Cemetery
Poplarfield, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.8870830, -97.6188150

7. High Plains Cemetery
Poplarfield, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.8894450, -97.6732760

8. Chatfield Community Cemetery
Chatfield, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.8202390, -97.5578490

9. Okno General Christian United Cemetery
Okno, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 51.0524800, -97.2040100

10. Saint Matthews Anglican Cemetery
Peguis, North East Manitoba Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 51.3200900, -97.5463200

11. God's Acre St. Philip Neri Roman Catholic Cemetery
Bifrost, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.9103100, -97.2518800

12. Arborg Community Cemetery
Arborg, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.9111200, -97.2477100

13. St Mary's-St Paraskevia Ukrianian Orothodox Cemete
Ledwyn, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 51.0081760, -97.1319650

14. Haga Cemetery
Arborg, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.9096000, -97.1576000

15. Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery
Silver, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.8342770, -97.2511130

16. Progress All Saints Ukrainian Cemetery
Bifrost, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 51.0744400, -97.0856000

17. Lillesve Cemetery
Lillesve, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.7418090, -97.7403090

18. Geysir Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
Geyser, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.9150900, -97.0876200

19. Mulvihill Cemetery
Mulvihill, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.9641300, -98.1632300

20. Eriksdale Municipal Cemetery
Eriksdale, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.8603500, -98.0888500

21. Willowview Cemetery
Narcisse, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.6974172, -97.5776743

22. Abbeville Roman Catholic Cemetery
Deerhorn, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 50.7716620, -97.9912810

23. Washow Bay Cemetery
Washow Bay, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 51.1796610, -97.0126170

24. Mennville Evangelical Mennonite Church Cemetery
Riverton, North Interlake Census Division, Canada
Coordinate: 51.1271710, -96.9913970