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Last
change date is at the bottom of each page. |
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I left Jacksonville on Thursday, August, 30th on a Delta flight bound
for Portland, Maine - via Cincinatti. The Portand Airport (pictured at
right, courtesty of the Civl Air Patrol) is located three miles from downtown
Portland and about an hours drive from Lewiston.
As an aside, I once believed that landing at Washington's National (now
Regan) Airport was a lot of twisting and turning....until I landed here.
I'm not sure what we were following while landing but I wil say we made
more turns than a the roadrunner chasing the coyote...meeep meeep.
I arrived, "on-time" at 12:52 PM, rented a car and drove to
Lewiston.
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Upon my arrival in Lewiston, I
stopped by one of the local convenience stores and purchased a cold Moxie.
A delicious treat for warm summer afternoon. Moxie was our nations first
mass marketed soft drink dating back to 1884. It was developed by Dr. Augustin
Thompson as a patent medicine to treat "loss of manhood, paralysis
and softening of the brain." Today it can mostly be found .... only
in New England, including Lewiston of course. Lisbon, Maine is famous for
its annual Moxie festival. Visit the web site by clicking on the label to
the left. |
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On Friday I began my day with a visit to Lewiston City Hall, pictured on
an old postcard to the left. I wanted to find copies of records for my immediate
family. In particular I desired to find the birth certificate for my dad.
I wanted to see if it had a capital "C" or a lower case "c"
in the name. In fact, I confirmed the name is registered with a lower case
"c". How it became a capital "C" I am not certain. In
any event, I managed to obtain a number of certificates helping me further
my search. I must add my compliments to all of those at the Clerks office
at City Hall....everyone was very kind and most helpful. |
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Part
of Friday I also spent walking around a bit. I managed to locate a few places
I had questioned before, such as "Hines Alley" a street where
my ancestors can be found in the 1880 Census.. I walked around the area
once known as "Little Canada". By the year 1880, "Little
Canada" was a French Canadian section of Lewiston that was growing
enormously. Many of our ancestors came to escape the agricultural failings
of the homeland in Québec, to work to support our families. Many
planned to stay for just a little while and then leave. Then many began
to stay soon becoming the largest part of the work force in the mills. As
the mills grew, so did the population of French Canadians. And, as the mills
became more complex we learned the skills needed to operate them. This,
in the days of sometimes working gas street lamps, horse drawn carriages,
and unpaved streets. Many businesses were established and can be found in
the same sections of town as they are today. |
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Our Franco-American
Heritage
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| By 1870, the population of Lewiston
had nearly doubled over the previous 10 years to 13,600. Of this number,
only a few hundred were French Canadians. In 1871, there were two
thousand and by 1875, three thousand. By 1908, a census of the french
population showed nearly 100,000 French speaking citizens were in
Maine. 14,821 of them were in Androscoggin County and almost every
one of them in Lewiston (11,000) and Auburn (3,000). The total Lewiston
population in 1908 was 26,000.Franco Americans were sizeable in the
population, so much so that by 1914, the new mayor was a French speaking
resident, Charles Lemaire. The impact and the role played by our ancestors
from the north would become enormous. At the bridge entering Lewiston,
nearby the picturesque falls as well as the area of the mills and
Little Canada, has been erected a monument dedicated to our ancestors
from Québec. A photo of the monument appears below. |
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Monument Erected
to Commemorate Our Heritage
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| The railroad was important to our ancestors ... and, in it's
early beginnings as the Canadian National Railway and the Grand Trunk Railroad,
a line from Montreal to Portland was built. Many of our ancestors used this
route to find their way to Lewiston. A five mile spur connected the Lincoln
Street Station to the main line. It started to function in 1874 and the
last train arrived in 1956. As of this trip, not much remains of the station
but one can make out the words "Grand Trunk Railroad" where the
sign once was. Below are three pictures of the same station taken during
my trip, from three different angles. Below this is a wide angle shot of
the railraod trestle, now a pedestrian walkway, taken from the bridge crossing
from Auburn into Lewiston. |
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The Railroad Bridge in Lewiston |
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The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada was proposed in 1851 as the main trunk
line through the United Province of Canada. It was formally incorporated
in 1852 to build a railway from Toronto to Montreal. The Grand Trunk Railway
(G.T.R.) was officially opened between Sarnia, Ontario, and Portland,
Maine, on November 21, 1859.
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| At the time, the Grand Trunk Railway desired access to Portland,
Maine, a seaport that could be used all year long ( the port of Montreal
closed each winter). In 1853, the company amalgamated with the St. Lawrence
& Atlantic Railroad, acquiring its line between Montreal and the Canada-United
States border. It also leased the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad line
from the border to Portland. |
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The route connected Montreal to Portland through towns like Richmond
(Canada), Island Pond (Vermont), Berlin (New Hampshire), and South Paris
(Maine). The Grand Trunk was built when large-scale industry began to
be developed in southern Maine. Demand for shoes and clothes during the
Civil War, at a time when Maine's population was lowered by war enlistements
and out-migration, led to a demand for more workers. Many came from Canada.
For example, the Grand Trunk Railway brought workers along a spur line
to Lewiston, where they readily found work in the area's textile mills
and developed one of the largest centers of French-Canadian culture in
Maine. |
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Saturday was to begin
with a vist with Gil Beaule, my cousin on the Desjardins side, and
it did. We had a wonderful time. I also managed to find a credit union that
would exchange my US dollars for Canadian dollars as I was leaving for Québec
in the morning and didn't want to be stuck with US money while I was there.
Of course I had to stop at a local supermarket to buy a case of Moxie as
well. By the time I returned to Florida I had finished the case. I just
love that stuff. Today was my day to go to Orphan Annie's as well. Below
is the display window designed by Larry Duprey and the logo from
the bag (of course I bought souvenirs)...I managed to find two (1920's era)
photos that may be of relatives. One of them is Fernand Simard who
appears to be about 10 and another of a Emile Deschaine who is perhaps
in his late teens. I haven't found them in the line yet, but I will. |
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remainder of Saturday went very fast...mass at St. Peter's, dinner
at Marois, a drive to visit Anita in Brunswick and back to
prepare for my departure in the morning. I can say that I had a great time
in Lewiston. One never has enough time to do all they want to do, or visit
longer with those they see, but it was good nonetheless. |
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