Family Visit to Maine - Part 2

With the help of MaryAnn Albert, many pictures were taken during my recent trip to Maine of the former homes of the Albert and Gagnon ancestors in Westbrook.

These two families both moved to Westbrook from Canada in the early 1900's to work in the mills. Their residences were in close proximity to the mills for obvious reasons of having easy walking assess to their jobs.

Why did our ancestors emigrate to Maine?  The best answer to this question would have come from our great grandparents of course, but we hardly remember what they look like let alone what they ever said about their lives. To get a sense why French Canadian families left their homeland, I studied a document from a website on Quebec history. There I found a paper called "French Canadian Emigration to the United States1840-1930" written by Claude Bélanger. He points out that many families left a traditional rural society and "entered an industrial world, alien to them by virtue of its way of life, language and religion".

What pulled people to move away from their traditional roots were the chances of more prosperity than what they currently had. Their traditional ways of life and religion were not left behind. Besides a strong work ethic, French Canadian culture of Westbrook centered around the St. Hyacinth Catholic Church and most of the children attended the Catholic school across the street until grade eight (shown above). Classes were held in French in the mornings and English in the afternoons.

According to Mr. Belanger, the population of Quebec surged in the time period from 1784 and 1844 creating a deficit of farmland. Even before the population growth, agricultural success was limited by other factors such as a short growing season and distant access to major markets. Surely working class families, like the Gagnons of St. Malo, also must have experienced the same economic downturn causing them to look to the growing industrialism in the states.

Genealogy involves research and even though it was not a priority on my trip, I did get to search for records, pictures and newspaper articles with Mary Ann at the Walker library and at the Cumberland County Courthouse land records office. Here she is locating a map in the Plats room of a Pine Point property that Auguste and Bernadette Albert transferred to Jeanne and Ray Lebel in 1959. Auguste Albert had so many properties bought and sold over the years that we grew tired from writing a list of the transactions.

Picture Party in Westbrook - an Albert Family Gathering

On May 8, 2010, more than a third of the Albert cousins gathered at the home of Paul Albert in Westbrook, Maine to celebrate family history and mingle in a comfortable setting with great refeshments provided by Janet Albert and the Bernie's girls.  The cousins were well-represented from all families. Albert elders, Roland and Jeanne, were there to represent the oldest generation and Charles Albert (great grandson of Auguste Albert) was there to represent a younger generation. The picture below shows most everyone in attendance.

Front row: Becky Albert, Nancy Albert, Janet Albert, Claudia Gallant, Jeanne Lebel, Roland Albert.
Back row: Diane Bell, Peter Albert, Paul Albert, Paul Lebel, Susan Lebel Young, Craig Siulinski, MaryAnn Albert. Jim Siulinski is taking the photo.

Besides the obvious benefit of keeping in touch with family, an event like this one underscores the point that family history is not just about telling about the ones who lived before us. Family history is also about sharing stories and spending time with any and all family members regardless of age. What better way to generate stories than to take out old family pictures. Many of the pictures shared at the party were not dated or notated with details. Even without any picture details, we can tell that this formal picture of Ferdinand Albert, August Albert's father, is surely the oldest photo shown at the party. Upon further study, I will provide information regarding dress and culture of the time period in which Ferdinand lived. He came to maturity in the mid 1880's.

Of all  the pictures collected, I am particularly fascinated in images of Auguste Albert's generation and before. Nancy Albert offered this image of another fifth generation family member: Pierre Gagnon, the father of  Bernadette Gagnon Albert, shown here with Bernadette's sister, Josephine Gagnon Rocheleau. The picture was taken at a 1960 wedding at St. Hyacinth's Church in Westbrook, Maine.

Other photos scanned at the party were of Pine Point in the 1950's and Florida folks during winter visits. The experience of having family members gather to share and scan old pictures has spurred me on to create more blog posts to highlight certain pictures collected during the trip this month. By doing so, an opportunity will be provided for any family to offer feedback on the pictures by adding a comment at the end of the post or by sending an email directly to me. I look forward to sharing these photos with you all. Finally, a fun way to close my post is to show Diane's brush with fame: