Marié(e) 1er octobre 1874 à Ishpeming MI,

13 enfants :

1.1. Joseph Thaddée MEILLEUR, naissance 6 avril 1875 à Mennominee MI, décès 1969 à Fort-Frances ON, âge : 94 ans, immigration à Fisher Branch MB, homestead SE 12-25-2W.
(1) Marié(e) 1898 à Red Lake Falls MN, Edwidge BRUNEAU, naissance 1878 à Red Lake Falls MN (fille de Onésime BRUNEAU et Lina (Marie) BELLEMARE), décès à Winnipeg MB. 9 enfants (5 fils, 4 filles).
(2) Marié(e) 3 octobre 1957 à l'église Immaculée-Conception, Fisher Branch MB par rév. Léo Marchand, Isabel Effa DEAVERS, naissance 15 mai 1889 à WI (fille de William DEAVERS et Mona STEWART), décès 6 février 1964 à Fisher Branch MB, 74 ans, funérailles 10 rev. Léo Marchand, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB.

1.2. Bart (Barthélémi) MEILLEUR, naissance 25 octobre 1876 à Menominee MI, décès 25 octobre 1970 à Fisher Branch MB, âge : 94 ans, funérailles 28 rev. Hilaire Gagné o.m.i., sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB, immigration à Fisher Branch MB, homestead NE 25-24-1W. Marié(e) 1901 à Grand Forks ND, Lucie FAUBERT, naissance 4 janvier 1886 à Grand Forks ND (fille de Eusèbe FAUBERT et Joséphine RAYMOND), décès 20 décembre 1918 à Fisher Branch MB, funérailles rev. François-Xavier Leroux, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB, âge : 32 ans de la grippe espagnole. 7 enfants (3 fils, 4 filles).

1.3. Théophile MEILLEUR, naissance 1879 à MI, décès 16 novembre 1955 à Fisher Branch MB, âge : 76 ans, funérailles 18 rev. Léo Marchand, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB, immigration à Fisher Branch MB, homestead NW 6-24-1W. Célibataire.

Ovila et Théophile

1.4. Ovila (Ovide) MEILLEUR, naissance 26 décembre 1882 à Red Lake Falls MN, décès 14 août 1954 à Fisher Branch MB, âge : 71 ans, de cancer, funérailles 17 l'église Immaculée-Conception de Fisher Branche MB par rev. Belicky, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB, immigration 1911 à Fisher Branch MB, homestead SW 30-24-1E. Marié(e) 24 novembre 1904 à Red Lake Falls MN, Zéphérina GAUTHIER, naissance 14 février 1887 à Emardville MN (fille de Odilon GAUTHIER et Marie HOUDE), décès 6 février 1979 à Arborg Hospital MB, âge : 91 ans, funérailles 10 à Fisher Branch MB with rev. Denis Bourbonnais o.m.i. officiating, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB. 13 enfants (8 fils, 5 filles).

1.5. Mathilde MEILLEUR, naissance 1884 à Red Lake Falls MN, décès 27 juin 1971 à Fisher Branch MB, 87 ans, funérailles 30 à Immaculate Conception Church, Fisher Branch MB, rev. Hilaire Gagné o.m.i., sépulture au Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Fisher Branch MB. Conjoint(e) Joseph I GAUTHIER, naissance 19 août 1881 à Holyoke MA (fils de Odilon GAUTHIER et Marie HOUDE), décès 10 juin 1953 à Fisher Branch MB, âge : 71 ans "of a stroke", funérailles à Immaculate Conception Church, Fisher Branch MB, rev. Léo Marchand, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB, immigration à Fisher Branch MB, homestead NW 13-24-1W. 11 fils.

1.6. Valérie MEILLEUR, naissance 1885 à Red Lake Falls MN, décès 12 décembre 1929 à Fisher Branch MB, 44 ans, suite à l'accouchement de son neuvième enfant, funérailles 14 rev. François-Xavier Leroux, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB. Conjoint(e) Julien PAYMENT, naissance 25 mai 1878 à Cohasset MN (fils de Anton PAYMENT et Olympia PILON), décès 1er septembre 1968 à Fisher Branch MB, âge : 90 ans, décès 4 décembre rev. Hilaire Gagné o.m.i., sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB. 9 enfants (5 fils, 4 filles).

1.7. Louis MEILLEUR dit MAYER, naissance 28 mai 1887 à Red Lake Falls MN, décès 24 août 1971 à Winnipeg MB, âge : 84 ans, sépulture au Green Acres Memorial Gardens, Winnipeg MB, immigration à Fisher Branch MB, homestead NW 19-24-1E. Marié(e) 26 novembre 1917 à Inwood MB, Angéline HÉBERT, naissance à St. John ND, décès à Winnipeg MB, sépulture à Green Acres Memorial Gardens, Winnipeg MB. 16 enfants.

Moïse et Louis Meilleur

1.8. Moïse MEILLEUR, naissance 15 juillet 1892 à Red Lake Falls MN, décès 13 juillet 1964 à Fisher Branch MB, âge : 71 ans, funérailles 17 rev. C. Keenan s.j., sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB, emploi(s) : Vétéran Guerre 39-45, immigration à Fisher Branch MB, homestead SE 9-25-1W. Marié(e) 30 décembre 1922 à Inwood MB, Délia PÉPIN, naissance 15 septembre 1898 à Leroy ND (fille de Peter PÉPIN et Angéline LAMIE), décès 4 juin 1990 à Fisher Branch MB, 91 ans, funérailles 8 rev. Anthony Korewa, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB. 10 enfants (4 fils, 6 filles).

1.9. Alma MEILLEUR, naissance 1894, décès 11 décembre 1918 à Fisher Branch MB, 24 ans (après la naissance d'Émérentine), grippe espagnole, funérailles 12 rev. François-Xavier Leroux, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB. Marié(e) 18 novembre 1912 à Fisher Branch MB, Honora BRUNEAU, naissance 16 janvier 1888 à Red Lake Falls MN (fils de Onésime BRUNEAU et Lina (Marie) BELLEMARE), décès 25 juin 1969 à Fisher Branch MB, âge : 81 ans, funérailles 29 rev. Hilaire Gagné o.m.i., sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB, immigration à Fisher Branch MB, homestead SE 9-25-1W. 3 enfants.

Alma  à 24 ans

1.10. Julien MEILLEUR, naissance 1896, décès 6 décembre 1918 à Fisher Branch MB, 22 ans, grippe espagnole, funérailles rev. François-Xavier Leroux, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB.

Julien à 22 ans

1.11. Harry (Hormidas) MEILLEUR, naissance 1898 à Red Lake Falls MN, décès 6 mars 1928 à St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, 29 ans d'une tumeur cancéreuse au cerveau, funérailles 10 à Sacred Heart Church, Fannystelle MB, sépulture au Sacred Heart Cemetery, Fannystelle MB, emploi(s) : homestead NW 18-24-1E, Fisher Branch MB. "Served in US Army as Corporal & Lance, also as Corporal during World War I." Marié(e) cir 1921, Gracia LAVIGNE, naissance 16 octobre 1898 à Vulcan MI (fille de Eustache LAVIGNE et Amanda LEBLANC), décès 1 février 1989 à Tache Nursing Centre, Winnipeg MB, 90 ans, funérailles 4 à Precieux-Sang Roman Catholic Church, Winnipeg MB, Fr. Marcel Carriere celebrant, sépulture au Fort Garry Memorial Park, Winnipeg MB. 3 enfants (1 fils, 2 filles).

1.12. Ozias MEILLEUR, naissance 1899, décès 9 décembre 1918 à Fisher Branch MB, 19 ans, grippe espagnole, funérailles rev. François-Xavier Leroux, sépulture au Parish cemetery, Fisher Branch MB, immigration à Fisher Branch MB, Homestead NE 24-24-1W.

Osias à 19 ans

1.13. Mélina MEILLEUR, naissance 1901, décès 15 décembre 1918 à Fisher Branch MB, 17 ans, grippe espagnole, funérailles rev. François-Xavier Leroux, sépulture au Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Fisher Branch MB.

Mélina à 17 ans

-------- Chronology -------

THADDÉE MEILLEUR 2ND & MATHILDÉE VAILLANCOURT

Thaddée 2nd, eldest son of Thaddée 1st and Célina Bélec was born on Sunday, October 23, 1848 at Saint-Jérôme, Québec. (8th generation in Canada) He was baptized the next day. He had 2 brothers and 5 sisters. When his mother died around 1864, his father remarried Tharsile St-Jacques dit Cheval. With his new wife, he had 11 more children. All children of the second marriage were born in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Québec about 15 miles from Sainte-Adèle. Thaddée 1st farmed in Saint-Jérôme, Sainte-Adèle and Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.

In 1870, Thaddée 2nd (21 years old) and his brother Odile (14 years old), emigrated to Ishpeming in Northern Michigan, near Lake Superior, to work as lumberjacks or in the sawmills of the area. Odile was only 14 at the time, but wanted to get away so he wouldn't have to help raise his half brothers and sisters, and away from the stepmother. In Ishpeming, they stayed at a boarding house run by the Vaillancourt family (probably where Thaddée met Mathildée), Mathildée had had some schooling. She read in French fluently, but Thaddée and Odile were not as fortunate, as they were illiterate.

On Thursday, October 1st, 1874, Thaddée married Mathildée Vaillancourt (born in 1853 in Saint-Jérôme, Québec) in Ishpeming, Michigan. The family later moved to Escanaba, Michigan and then to Menominee, Michigan, again following the sawmills and forests of the area. Around 1880, they decided to move to Terrebonne, Minnesota where one of Mathildée's sisters and her husband, Philomène Vaillancourt and Louis I Théroux had gone to live. It is not known if the family traveled by train, wagon, or both, over 600 miles in those days was a long journey.

There must have been a lot of open country across Wisconsin because Mathildée told of traveling for days across a long, long meadow. It must have been an arduous journey with young children. They settled on the banks of the Clearwater River by Terrebonne (about 45 miles from Red Lake Falls) where Thaddée and Odile once again worked in the lumber industry.

His son, Ovila, used to tell of the log drives on the Clearwater River each spring, and how it was a miracle that he and his brothers did not drown. When there were log jams on the river, Ovila and his brothers would run barefoot across the logs to the other side of the river and back again! When they were seen by the men working to dislodge the jam, they were threatened and given severe tongue lashings. The men worked from what Ovila called a woniwagon, a combination raft, cookhouse and sleeping quarters, probably a forerunner of the present day houseboat. When the timber and sawmills disappeared from the area, Thaddée turned to farming.

Around 1909, Thaddée and Mathildée, with their 5 youngest children, traveled to the Yakima Valley in Washington to work on a ranch owned by Armand Meilleur, a bachelor cousin of Thaddée's (son of Jules) who said he had work for everyone. This cousin had been born clubfooted and wore special shoes, and couldn't stand on his feet for long hours, consequently he had been well educated and appeared to be affluent.

The family had gone to Yakima in late fall so they were there for the long rainy season. Armand was smitten with Thaddée's daughter Alma, (his second cousin) and when she spurned his attentions, he became moody. The atmosphere became strained and the family longed to see the sun after months of rain. Thaddée told his cousin it would be best if the family left.

Thaddée had a friend who had gone to the wilderness interlake area of Manitoba, where the Canadian Government offered 160 acre homesteads for $ 10,00. The family decided to follow suit in early 1910. They traveled to British Columbia and took a train across Canada to Winnipeg. They hired a man with a team of horses and a wagon to take them 100 miles north through the wilderness, passing by St. Laurent, as there were no roads in the middle of the Interlake. It was April, so it was rough going through the brush and slush of daytime thawing weather. It took longer than expected and they ran out of food. They suffered both from hunger and cold.

They were about to despair when they came across an abandoned trapper's cabin which provided shelter and a stove for heat. They found a frozen elk's head on the top of the cabin, left by the trapper's kill which they skinned, boiled in melted snow and drank the broth for warmth and sustenance. They managed to reach the small community which was then called "Washow". It was later renamed "Fisher Branch" because the Washow River flowed through the community and emptied itself into the Fisher River and finally into Fisher Bay in Lake Winnipeg.

Thaddée took a homestead 6 miles east of the village. Its location was the North East quarter of Section 13-Township 24- Range I W. 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 (née Bruneau); Barthélémi and Lucie (née Faubert); Ovila and Zéphérina (née Gauthier); Mathilde and Joseph Gauthier and Valérie and Julien Payment. Thaddée's brother, Odile, followed soon after. The area of their homesteads became known as the "Meridian" because their farms bordered east and west of the 100 Meridian line.

Having paid his ten dollar filing fee, Thaddée's first priority was to build a house. Trees were cut and 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 Eusèbe Bouvier's sawmill, which was situated 3 miles south and 1 mile east of Fisher Branch. The house was built beside an old Indian trail which later became the main road linking the Meridian with the village of Fisher Branch. At that time, however, the swamps that lay between these two points made the trail impassable for much of the time.

All supplies to Fisher Branch had to be hauled from Arborg (a neighboring town some 30 miles away) by sleigh or wagon. There was a crude road cut out of the wilderness which ran past Thaddée's farm, so their farm became an overnight stop where their horses were stabled and fed, and Mathildée would feed the traveler supper and breakfast, and gave them a bed to sleep. She was a good cook. The quality of her bread and pies were hard to beat. The fee for the overnight stop was reasonable, which gave them some much needed cash.

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 vegetable gardens. Produce was canned and pork salted 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, roasted barley was a fair substitute.

They had 9 sons and 5 daughters. The four youngest all died within 3 days of each other with the Spanish Flu after World War 1 in 1918. Alma was married to Honora Bruneau, she left two little girls orphaned, which Zéphérina, Ovila's wife, took in and cared for them for two years. Their sister-in-law Lucie, Barthélémi's wife, was buried 5 days later on December 20, 1918, leaving 7 children. It was an extremely sad Christmas, Thaddée said, "They might as well have dug a hole and buried us too", and Mathildée added, "If only the Good Lord had spared our baby." They were all buried in the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Fisher Branch, Manitoba.

Moïse 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. From the time Thaddée left his native Québec until his death, he went by the name "Mayer". Being unable to read or write, he was unaware that his family name was anglicized when he moved to the States. It was Father François-Xavier Leroux, Parish Priest and family friend, and himself a Quebecker, undertook to have the name legally restored to its original French.

Mathildée loved to play cards and at home parties, she had her own special song which she acted out as she sang and was very comical. Her meat pies - "tourtières" - were hard to beat. She smoked the pipe! She always wore an apron with a pocket to hold her tobacco pouch and her pipe. A woman who smoked in those days was really rare. In the early years on the farm, she had a lot of toothaches and Thaddée had her smoke and hold the hot pipe stem next to the aching tooth. It was the only way she got relief. Later, when they were able to buy oil of cloves, she used that, but she had got an addiction to pipe smoking. For quite a few months, she would wait for Thaddée to go to bed (he always left his pipe and tobacco on the kitchen shelf) and she would smoke on the sly. He caught on and told her she didn't have to hide to smoke. He was a mild-mannered man with twinkling blue eyes and a gray beard.

One incident, vividly recalled by Lea Raymond, Ovila's daughter, "Because we all thought it being very funny, was 'Pepère' losing his cool and calling his mule every vile name he could think of, short of swearing. As he and 'Memère' were leaving after visiting us with the mule hitched to the buggy, the mule moved a few paces then decided to balk and sat on its haunches. It took a lot of coaxing, prodding and a few whiplashes to finally get that mule up and moving again. That was an example of what 'stubborn as a mule' means. Anyway, the comical aspect and Grandpa's frustration made me remember him very well."

Until we had a Red Cross nurse in town, childbirth was attended by midwives. There were only two of them, one near town, and the other was Mathildée. She delivered all the babies for miles around, in fact she delivered six of her son, Ovila's children, at home. She never lost a mother or a baby, but she prayed a lot for Divine help. She had great faith. How could they have survived the great flu tragedy without their faith and fortitude. She was the one who taught Moïse and Délia's children their prayers and religion as they were old enough.

Thaddée passed away on October 23, 1923, at the age of seventy-five. After her husband's death "Memère" as she was called, remained with Moïse and Délia for many years an active member of the 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 on April 30, 1944, when she passed away in her own bed, at the age of ninety-one. They were both buried in the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Fisher Branch, Manitoba.

N.B. In the Immaculate Conception Church Census records of 1914-1915 it is noted that Mathildée had a brother, wife and family who were living in Fisher Branch. His name was Hormidas Vaillancourt, was 35 years old and had a homestead on the S.W. Section I- Township 25- Range 2W. He was married to Victorine Juneau, age 34. The children were as follows :

Délia	12 years old
Agnès	10
Marie	8
Armand	6
Georges	5
Marie Rosanna	4 mo.

______________________
by Simonne Bernier Meilleur
Dated December 11, 1997