01205 - Gus Meilleur & Laura Manary

- VIII -

Gus (Gustavus) MEILLEUR


naissance 1er mai 1878 � Meilleur's Bay ON,
d�c�s
13 f�vrier 1979 � Deep River Hospital ON, �ge : 100 ans,
s�pulture au St.Narcissus RC Cemetery, Mackey, Renfrew Co. ON.

 

P�re:  Joseph  MEILLEUR
M�re: Elmire MOORE

 

(1) Mari�(e) 1907 � Deep River ON, Laura Louise MANARY, d�c�s 18 d�cembre 1909 � Deep River ON "in childbirth". 2 enfants.

(2) Mari�(e) 16 juin 1913 � Mattawa ON, B�atrice Margaret DURAND, d�c�s 5 juillet  1955 � Renfrew Co. ON, s�pulture � St. Narcissus Roman Catholic, Mackey, Renfrew Co. ON. 7 enfants.
Gus Meilleur & Beatrice Durand Beatrice Durand & Gus Meilleur

9 enfants  :



2 enfants de Laura Manary :


1.1. Anonyme MEILLEUR-female, naissance 28 ao�t 1908 � Deep River ON, d�c�s 28 ao�t 1908 � Deep River ON, s�pulture au cimeti�re local de Rapide-des-Joachims.


1.2. Joseph Alex MEILLEUR, naissance 18 d�cembre 1909 � Deep River ON, d�c�s 18 d�cembre 1909 � Deep River ON, s�pulture "in-buried same coffin as his mother".



7 enfants de B�atrice Durand :


1.3. Percy Joseph MEILLEUR, naissance 24 novembre 1913, d�c�s 15 mai 1948, �ge : 34 ans, s�pulture au St Narcissus RC Cemetery, Mackey, Head Township ON. C�libataire.



1.4. Kenneth James MEILLEUR, naissance 23 d�cembre 1914, d�c�s 1984, �ge : 70 ans, s�pulture au St Narcissus RC Cemetery, Mackey, Head Township ON. Conjoint(e) Evelyn RICHES.



1.5. Vincent L�onard MEILLEUR, naissance 21 septembre 1919, d�c�s 17 avril 1920 � 7 mois.


1.6. Mary Louise MEILLEUR, naissance 25 novembre 1922, d�c�s 22 juillet 1969. Mari�(e) 15 f�vrier 1950 Marcellus "Tut" PICKERING PEARSON.

1.6.1. Sharon PEARSON, naissance 29 novembre 1950.


1.7. Donalda Marie MEILLEUR, naissance 29 octobre 1923, d�c�s 24 novembre 2016 � 93 ans, s�pulture au St Narcissus RC Cemetery, Mackey, Head Township ON. Handicap�e.


1.8. Ella Agn�s MEILLEUR, naissance 31 mars 1925, d�c�s 21 septembre 1925 � 6 mois.


1.9. Mary Theresa MEILLEUR, naissance 13 janvier 1927. Mari�(e) 8 mai 1958, Oliver SENNETT.

1.9.1. Melissa Anne SENNETT, naissance 23 octobre 1962.
(1) Conjoint(e) Andr� BRABANT.
(2) Mari�(e) 13 septembre 1991, Douglas Archer HUDSON.
(3) Mari�(e) 3 mars 2006 Darrel COLLEY.

1.9.1.1. Caden Douglas HUDSON, naissance 16 septembre 1992.

1.9.2. M�lanie Margaret B�atrice SENNETT, naissance 23 octobre 1962. Mari�(e) 19 mai 1990, Steve Jean Joseph LEHOUX.

1.9.2.1. Derrin Richard Joseph LEHOUX, naissance 14 octobre 1993.
1.9.2.2. Gregory Archer Joseph LEHOUX, naissance 4 avril 1996.


Gus turns 100

There's an impish lad in the Valley celebrating his 100th birthday today.

He'll kiss the girls, maybe hold a few on his knee. Eat his cake and open his gifts with boyish glee.

He'll not likely dance - "Me legs are done" - but before he goes to bed he will kneel and recite his rosary.

Gus tries his luck
                      at euchre

William Henry Augustus Meilleur, known to all as Gus, was born at Meilleur's Bay, some 55 kilometers west of Pembroke on Highway 17, and has spent almost his entire lifetime in the Upper Ottawa Valley - in farming, log-driving, shanty-work, railroading and storekeeping.

While he has vivid memories of the past, he is much in tune with today. His avid interest in people, politics and parties accounts in part for his longevity. He reasons: "God must like me. He won't let me die."

Gus makes his home with his daughter, Mary, who runs the local general store, another daughter, Donalda, and two grand-daughters. A son, Kenneth, a CP Rail forman soon to retire, lives nearby.

Gus went to school at Meilleur's Bay. "I was in Reades, third book, when I left school. But I kept books for 25 men on the drive and I kept stock for my own store, didn't I?"

As a boy growing up, he relates the family had a "dawn good farm". Grain was cut with a cradie, tied by hand and treshed with a one-horse tramper. Homemade wooden benches provided seats in the home.

On one of his jaunts back home, Gus met his first wife Laura Menary. This marriage was short- lived as one year later he burried his wife and newborn babe. "Pretty damn tough."

On a holiday to Mattawa he met his second wife, Beatrice Durand. "I got in with her at a dance. Oh, she was a great dancer."

About 30 years ago Gus gave up his farm and bought the general store in Mackey. He has remained there ever since and up until a few years ago was active in its opreration. His old red truck, which he quit driving at age 95, as a familiar sight delivering groceries.

Gus still enjoys life. He laughs a lot. Scarcely a day goes by that he doesn't sit down to a family game of euchre. He no longer goes out to church because of difficulty in climbing the steep steps, but he prays many times during the day.

Gus says he has voted Liberal for 82 years.

The townships of head, Clara and Maria will honnor this most senior citizen Friday. No one will refuse when they hear that familiar deep chuckle and "Give us a little drink, dammit to hell."

The Meilleur homestead was a stopping place for the farmers who travelled with supplies of oats and hay from Cobden, Sheenboro and Pembroke to the Hawkesbury and Eddy lumber camps. It made for busy and exciting times. "And damn good money".

The passenger boats that plied the Ottawa River at that time made stopovers at Des Joachims. Gus recalls that the trip from Des Joachims to Pembroke took about four or five hours. "Ah, that Captain Murphy was a great lad."

Gus left the farming life and decided to try his hand at log-driving, but he alwas returned to his homestead between his log-driving stints. With his brother, George, he undertook the log-drive on the treacherous Petawawa.

________________________
Mary Ellen Boudreau
Citizen special correspondent


 
A birthday of birthdays


by Mary Ellen Boudreau
September 27, 1978

The birthday was two days before, but last Friday night they all come out to the Stonecliffe Township Hall to celebrate and honour the keen-minded, twinkle-eyed gentleman, centenarian Gus Meilleur of Mackey.

There was champagne and cake, flowers and fiddle music and it was an evening in the township to remember.

Gus celebrated his 100th Birthday on Wednesday, September 20, at his home with his immediate family and friends, including a couple of lively lasses, Mrs Hector Meilleur, 98 and Mrs Roy Stewart, 87. Mass was celebrated in the living room by Reverend John Levesque, glasses clinked in toasts to Gus and then all sat down to a fine family dinner. Gus went to bed early on his birthday, but got up next morning ready to play cards before breakfast. He is almost completely recovered from a flu bug he had a week ago.

Friday evening's festivities in the Township Hall were for everyone. Gus loved every minute of it : the kinfolk and friends from far and near, the fine fiddling of Jimmie Hickey, aided by Ty Kinlock on the piano and Bob Adam with his guitar, the step-dancing skills of the swift-footed Meilleur family and neighbours, the birthday cake, the cards and gifts. After three hours of celebrating, Gus went home.

A local band, Driftwood Mac, then provided more dancing music for the many guests who stayed around to visit and party.
 
Reeve Grant Horricks, who emceed the evening's events, presented a plaque to Gus on behalf of the Townships. Two other congratulatory plaques were presented : one by Len Hopkins, MP, from Prime Minister Trudeau and one by Sean Conway, MPP from Premier Bill Davis.

Gus's favourite colour is blue. He was delighted to receive a blue and white homemade quilt, with a large 100 in the centre, from Sue Elliot chairman of the Municipal Recreation Committee on behalf on the Townships of Head, Clara & Maria.

Neighbouring Reeve Guy du Manoir, who noted that Gus got off to a good start by being born in Rolph Township, briefly outlined the life of the man known to so many as "Uncle Guy". "For" he said, � you know, if all the descendants of the Meilleur family were here tonight, Stonecliffe wold be like another Chicago �.

Guy wound up his entertaining remarks by stating that he was only a 35 year "newcomer" t o the community, but he had had the pleasure of knowing for many years not only Gus but his two brothers and three sisters as well.

� And they were all lovely people. Honest people. Kind people. I think the reason that they all lived to such very ripe old ages is because they enjoyed the contentment of doing right by their fellow people. I believe this has got to be a tribute to the Meilleur family �.

With many a misty eye, the packed hall rose and sang Happy Birthday Gus. And the fiddlin' and step-dancin' began.



 Gus Meilleur � 100 years in the Ottawa Valley

by Judy McAlpine

William Henry Augustus Meilleur, known to everyone as Gus, will celebrate a century of life on September 20. Except for a few brief years near Lake Timiskiming, he has spent all of those 100 years in the Upper Ottawa Valley, first at Meilleur's Bay, then settling in Mackey.

Gus now lives a quiet life with his two daughters, Mary and Donalda, next to the family-owned grocery store which he helped to run until his "retirement" 10 years ago. He prides himself on his good health which he attributes to a life of "hard work, loving and drinking". It has been half a century since he's smoked a cigarette, but he still enjoys a daily shot of whiskey, � Never done a man no harm �, says Gus with a twinkle in his eye

Longevity may be a trait in Gus's family � his mother lived to be almost 100 years. He drove his own truck until he was 94 and still plays a good game of cards. � I can still beat my granddaughter at euchre � Gus claims with pride as his teenage granddaughter Melanie nods in agreement.

Gus has had the good fortune of living through the terms of office of all 15 of Canada's prime ministers. He vividly remembers MacKenzie King and WC Bennett as � good men who boosted up wages when times were damn bad �.

Born at Meilleur's Bay, one of 12 children of Joseph and Almira Moore Meilleur, Gus has seen m any changes in the area during a life time of logging, railroad work, farming, camp cooking and store keeping.

He can still remember helping out at the stopover place his parents ran almost a century ago. Teamsters from Pembroke en route with supplies for nearby lumber camps patronized the stopover. The 25� fee per team of horses was good money in those days and with room for 40 or more teams it brought in a living for the busy Meilleur family.

Those travelling teamsters also provided the family with a valuable link to the outside world. Their stories of local people and events help the Meilleurs informed of happenings outside of their isolated homestead.

There were also no local churches in those days ; priests came up once a year to "da Swisha" to baptize the newest crop of babies and to marry anxiously waiting couples.

Gus started logging on the Hawkesbury River at age 15. Later on, he and his brother George logged on the Ottawa and Petawawa Rivers. Log driving was tough work, and risky too � log drivers' graves dotted the rivers for miles up and down shore. Drives could last for three or four months but at a dollar a day it was a living. Gus recalls the Petawawa River as � the roughest river I ever drove. The river couldn't drown me � I could stand on any log �.

As a new century was dawning, Gus married his first wife Laura Menary. � She was a beauty �, Gus remembers. The marriage was short lived, however. Laura died in childbirth a year later and was buried in her bridal dress with the still born baby alongside her.

Gus "rambled around". He went up to Lake Timiskiming and worked as a boat foreman towing logs to the sawmill. It wasn't long, however, before Gus came back home. At a local dance. Gus met Beatrice Durand. � Oh, she was a great dancer. She could dance betterin' anyone �, Gus fondly recalls.

Gus's godchild, Netti Dufresne, remembers the night Gus first saw Beatrice. � He turned to me and said "see that pretty girl over t her ; I'm going to make her my wife" �.

Beatrice didn't like the "north" so Gus quit his foreman's job and became a cook in his father-in-law's lumber camp. Shanty work was hard and unhealthy � smoke from the central fireplace filled the room and drifted out through a hole in the roof. Gus used a cross-cut saw to cut firewood.

Gus turns 100 years

World War I was looming large and Gus started working on the railroad. �  I worked 10 year on the track for the CPR � laying tracks, driving spikes, taking out ti4es. It was backbreaking work � 10 hours a day at 50� an hour �. Those were the heydays of the railroads ; Gus remembers 15 or 20 trains going by in a single day. The site of his labours, the old Mackey railroad, went under water in 1945 when the Hydro Dam was built.

Gus bought a farm in Mackey and he and Beatrice settled down to raise their family � 10 children were born but only five survived infancy. � Life on the farm was good  �, Gus states. � There was always good food to eat � fresh eggs and vegetables and homemade butter. I got up every day at 5 am and made my own breakfast. I could make the best homemade beans you've ever eat �. 

Gus bought a store in 1948 which serves visiting campers, hunters, and fishermen as well as local residents. Gus still loves parties although he admits he can't dance any more. In just a few weeks Gus will celebrate his 100th birthday at a large party given by the townships of Head, Clara and Maria. Along with his daughters Mary and Donalda, and son Kenneth, the party will be attended by a couple of hundred of his relatives and friends from as far away as Sudbury and New York.

On the wall in his living room hangs a plaque from the Prime Minister which reads : On the occasion of your 99th birthday. It is our hope that you will enjoy the year to come in good health and much happiness.

The same hope still remains on the occasion of his 100th birthday.

Friends "danced for Uncle Gus" on his 100th birthday

by Pat Smith, Monday, September 25, 1978
Journal Correspondent

DEEP RIVER - A fiddle played the opening bars of Happy Birthday, and the crowd gathered in the hall and sang with gusto.

This wasn't just any birthday celebration, this was a party honouring William Henry Augustus (Gus) Meilleur, of Mackey, Ontario, on his 100th birthday.

There were a lot of friends and relations here on Friday in the Township Hall to raise their glasses in a toast to Gus.

But what pleased Gus most was the step-dancing and the fiddle music. In impromptu, joyful bursts, the Meilleurs and their friends got up and "danced for Uncle Gus", and he loved it.

Gus Meilleur Gus Meilleur, at 100 years old, says he � feels good", and he looks good - laughing over old times and quaffing his glass of rye. When asked why he's lived so long , Gus says modestly, � God must 'a likes me �.

Raised on his father's farm at Meilleur's Bay, Rolph Township, Ontario, Gus was one of 12 children born to Joseph and Elvira Moore Meilleur. His father ran a depot for teams coming up from the farming communities of Pembroke, Cobden and Sheenboro, carrying food for the lumber camps.

Christmas was a "big time" for the Meilleurs, who are all keen step dancers, and Gus too could step a lively jig. � I could swing the girls good �, he says with a twinkle in his eye.

Around the turn of the century, Laura Menary, � the prettiest girl he'd ever seen �, caught Gus's eye, and they were married. Tragically, Laura died in childbirth a year later. Gus left the area, and went north where he got a job logging on Lake Timiskaming.

On a trip home from New Liskeard, he met Beatrice Durand at a dance in Mattawa. They were married in 1913, and went back to Temiscaming. It was a lonely life for the wife of a logger far from here family, so eventually they moved down to Pembroke. � She wanted a home �, says Gus.

In 1924, Gus and Beatrice bought a 600-acre farm at Mackey, where they raised five of the 10 children born to them.

When he was 70, Gus gave up farming and bought the general store at Mackey. He was active in the business, which supplies campers and fishermen, until a few years ago, although his daughters made him quit driving his truck when he was 94. His daughter Mary Sennet, now runs the store and Gus lives quietly with her, his grand-daughters and his daughter Donelda Meilleur.

On Friday night, the crowd stood and roared out, For He's a jolly Good Fellow, and Gus Meilleur laughed and clapped in time to the music. For he is a jolly good fellow and has been for 100 years.



Recherches, textes et photos par Michael & Cynthia Carey, de Peterborough ON

Updated and picture February 27, 2006 by John Levesque, of North Bay ON
Mise � jour le 28 avril 2010 par Paul Meilleur, de Ste-Ad�le QC

Mise � jour le 13 avril 2017 par Michael Carey, de Peterborough ON

Retour � la G�n�alogie des MEILLEUR

paul.meilleur@yahoo.com