St-John River Valley around 1870, 100 years after the first settlers. Yes, the beautiful St-John River valley was settled very slowly. Although the Theriaults (33) were among the first to settle the St-John River Valley around the St-Basile area around 1785, they were members of other Great-Branches. The Joseph and Théogénie Great-Branch arrived in St-Basile from the Ste-Anne de la Pocatière area on the south banks of the St-Lawrence around 1821 when Charles Thériault and his new bride, Marie-Leocadie Gauvin(31) headed southeast to present-day St-Jacques area of the Madawaska River after their wedding in Ste-Anne. To this day, the home-base for the Joseph and Théogénie Great-Branch remains the St-John River Valley.  Incidentally, this photo captures the two principal contruction styles in the valley at that time: the Canadian style on the left and the American style on the right. By this time, the boundary had been settled between Canada and the United States in 1842 with the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, and the Americans had begun settling in the area. (Photo courtesy of the University of Moncton at Edmundston, CEDEM.)

Joseph was born during the Christmas season of 1858 on 28 December in the tiny village of Saint Jacques, New Brunswick, Canada. He was the third son, and the third of twelve children born to Delphis Théophile Thériault and Christine Sophie Soucy.⁽³⁴⁾ Delphis and Christine lived in the present-day area of St-Jacques on the Madawaska Riverafter they married on 11 September 1854. Delphis' father, Charles had settled in the present-day area of St-Jacques on the Madawaska River after moving from Ste-Anne de la Pocatière on the southern banks of the St-Lawrence River.
 
 

It is only ten kilometers from St-Basile (due east from Edmundston along the St-John River) to St-Jacques. Today, it's a five minute ride over the TransCanada. In the 1850's, traveling from St-Basile to St-Jacques was a significant project. There were no roadways as we know them, but only cleared cartways between the two villages sufficient for horse-drawn wagons. The ride by horse-drawn wagon would take at least 2 hours in good weather. Also note the location of Moulin Morneault (about 2.5 km east of St-Jacques), future home of the Joseph & Théogénie family.

Delphis was probably 30 years old when Christine came to his attention. She was 15 years younger than he. She was 17 when they married and he was 32. Delphis and Christine lived on the land that Delphis' father had developed (present-day home of Joseph E. Berubé)^[ref:18]. Born in 1858, two years before the mission parish of St-Jacques was formed, Joseph grew up in St-Jacques. Later, the remaining children were born; Genevieve, Pelagie, Adolphe and Claudia. Of these four last children, the only known birth year is Pelagie's which was 1860, although Genevieve is shown in records as being older than Pelagie. So for each of the years from 1856 to 1860, Delphis and Christine received a child.

Joseph was raised in the new parish of St-Jacques which had approximately 350 to 400 parishioners when the parish was formed in 1860. Although the parish had been founded, a church was not built until some 13 years later in 1873. In the meantime, Holy Mass was celebrated in private homes; in the beginning, in the home of Delphis and Christine, and later, in the home of Baptiste Guimond (the present-day home of Prudent Grondin). The missionary priest had an apartment at the home of Baptiste Guimond. In the summer, Mass was also celebrated outside if weather permitted. In the winter, some parishioners would either not attend Mass because of the lack of a facility or some would go to St Basile. According to the present-day elders of St-Jacques, their parents and grandparents went to Mass for many years at the homes of Baptiste Guimond and Delphis Theriault.

The first chapel and its sacristy was built in 1873.⁽²⁶⁾ where the  present-day cemetery is located. The land which was either given or sold to the parish, was next to Lot 24 which was owned by Delphis Theriault and to Louison St-Onge. The first wedding in the church of St Jacques was that of Pelagie Theriault and Charles Morneault on February 28, 1881.⁽³⁵⁾ Pelagie was the fifth child and second daughter of Delphis and Christine Theriault. Delphis and Christine's elder daughter, Genevieve had married earlier in St-Basile in 1879. It is interesting to note that no weddings were held in St-Jacques for the first eight years after the chapel was built.

Reflecting the values and priorities of the Acadians and French-Canadians, teachers were brought to St-Jacques in 1873 to teach in private homes. One of the school teachers was Thomas Chassé. Music was also taught.
 
 

Winter of 1882. Joseph, 24 and Théogénie, 18 in their wedding pose on the 5th of February. Joseph reached back to the homeland of his grandfather Charles, to pick his bride. Joseph was raised in the young rag-tag pioneer village of St-Jacque along the Iroquois River while Théogénie was born into  the very large French-Canadian Ouellet family of Rimouski on the St-Lawrence River. It is noteworthy that her mother was also a Thériault which reinforced the 'Theriault' strain. But Joseph and Théogénie were actually 3rd cousins which is sufficiently distant in relationship but still nevertheless, Thériault.

Sometime before 1882, Joseph met Théogénie Ouellet, a young girl from Rimouski, Quebec after Théogénie arrived in St-Jacques with her mother, Elisabeth who had just remarried to Pierre Plourde after her first husband, Benoit Ouellet died. Pierre was a widower. His first wife was Apolline Thériault, sister of Delphis.

On the 5th of February 1882, at the age of 24, young Joseph married 18 year old Théogénie. As attested in their marriage certificate, the wedding was witnessed by Joseph's father, Delphis and by Théogénie's step-father, Pierre Plourde.

According to his grand-daughters Jeannine, Georgette and Marie-Ange, Joseph operated and perhaps also owned a saw mill in the Moulin Morneault settlement of St-Jacques. Since there was a very close relationship between the Theriault and Morneault families, it is possible that Joseph may have been in partnership with one of the Morneault's in the operation of the mill. We do not know whether there were more than one mill in Moulin Morneault.

Joseph and Théogénie raised and educated some of their daughters as teachers and were blessed with one religious vocation; their youngest daughter Marie Anne Almida who studied under the 'Religeuses Hospitaliere de St-Joseph' and later took her vows as a nun working at the Hotel-Dieu hospital in St-Basil. The three sons of course helped Joseph with the operation of the mill.
 
 

The young, bachelor gentleman of St-Jacque/Le jeune monsieur de St-Jacque. The year was 1905 and Joachim was 19. At this time, he was probably working at his father's mill in Baker-Brook. Sometime after 1903 and around the time of this photo, Joseph and Théogénie acquired land to build a saw/flour mill in Baker-Brook and moved their family from St-Jacque to St-Hilaire. This photo is a cropped version of a much larger full-size portrait taken of Joachim and his good friend and cousin, Alfred "Freddie" Morneault in a staged setting as gamblers playing cards. Freddie was the son of Joachim's aunt Pelagie. Note the two lapel pins: a cross and a fleur-de-lis, tribute to his faith and no doubt the fleur-de-lis, the symbol of an Acadian or French-Canadian Catholic men's organization. It should be noted again that this was a staged setting. It is very doubtful that this very proud gentleman would wear his hat pushed back as it is in the photo. The portrait was probably taken at a summer bazaar in Baker-Brook or St-Hilaire perhaps. The bazaar often included a professional portrait photographer who took portrait photos for a fee.

Although the records are not clear on this, we know that Joseph and Théogénie moved to St-Hilaire some time after 1903 (Delia was born in St-Jacques in 1903) but before Almida was born in St-Hilaire in 1908. (No children were born between those years.) By this time, Joseph had acquired some land on the Baker-Brook and St-Hilaire line and had built a saw and flour mill on a brook feeding into the St-John River. Although the family lived on the Baker-Brook/St-Hilaire line, they were members of the St-Hilaire parish since the church of Baker-Brook did not exist at the time.

As was the custom at the time, the sons of course helped their father with the operation of the mill. By 1909, Joseph had three sons to help operate the mill. At that time, sons would begin 'earning their keep' at the age of 7 or 8 years by doing simple chores which helped in the operation of the mill. So, there is no doubt that Régis, Joachim and even young Antoine were working with their father in the family mill.

In 1906, Edith, their elder daughter married a young American gentleman by the name of Charles Roussel. Three years later in 1909, Joachim, the second son, found a bride on the American side of the St-John River in the old Acadian village of Ste-Luce (in present-day Upper Frenchville, Maine). Her name was Annie Madore, daughter of Alcime Madore and Edith Saucier who lived across the St-John River from Thériault mill in Baker-Brook which was actually located on the eastern edge of the town of Fort Kent, Maine. They were married in the parish of Ste-Luce in late summer of 1909.⁽²⁷⁾ Although Joachim arrived on time from across the St-John River for his wedding, his bride was very late because she had been up the night before nursing her baby brother who was gravely ill.  As was the custom, the reception was probably held at the Madore homestead in Ste-Luce.
 
 

"Deer Stalking in the Adirondacks in the Winter", "When the snow is so deep as to hinder the deer, the sportsmen put on snow-shoes, which... are... helpful in keeping the hunter out of the snow and enabling him to traverse the wilderness on its surface with a rapidity and noiselessness which are fatal to the deer. The readers of 'Every Saturday' who feel the Nimrod instinct strong within them will appreciate the salient features of Mr. Homer's picture, and almost hear the baying of the deep-mouthed hounds as they overtake the game." This wood engraving titled "Deer Stalking in the Adirondacks in the Winter" by Winslow Homer and the accompanying narrative, taken from the 'Every Saturday' January 21, 1871 magazine is a scene that was familiar to Joseph and his sons. Hunting was a skill that was regarded as almost mandatory of most men and boys in the 19th century and in centuries before. Hunting was a sport that was certainly enjoyed by Joseph's second son, Joachim who was known to hunt with his friend, Fred Rommel. Joachim's favorite rifle was a Winchester, Model 1892, Gauge 44/40 W.C.F.(center fire) manufactured in 1913 and which was given to him by his friend, Fred Rommel around that time. (Left click on picture to zoom.) Print and excerpt courtesy of WINSLOW HOMER, Illustrating America, Brooklyn Museum of Art.

We believe that Joachim and Annie settled in Baker-Brook after they married and it was around that time that Joachim secured a job working at a mill that was owned by Frazer Mills in Baker Brook. His boss (and friend) was a German-Canadian by the name of Fred Rommel.⁽³²⁾

One year later in the spring of 1910, Joseph's elder son, Regis married a local girl in St-Hilaire by the name of Egline Lizotte. Regis and his new bride chose to emigrate to New Hampshire where his uncle Adolphe had also emigrated and was now practicing law. Regis went to work in Nashua, New Hampshire initially in the dairy business and later became a municipal inspector overseeing the dairy businesses of southern New Hampshire. Regretably, Regis and Egline did not have any children. Later, his younger brother Antoine followed him to Nashua to ultimately become very successful in owning a dairy processing and distribution business.

In 1913, Joseph was now 55 years of age and was the owner of a saw and flour mill in Baker Brook, New Brunswick. It is not clear whether his health began to fail or whether he suffered some injury but it was at that time that he asked Joachim, who was then 27 years of age, to assume ownership of his mill. As part of the arrangement, Joseph charged Joachim with the responsibility for supporting his sisters through school until they completed their education. Joachim accepted this responsiblity. At that time, Almida was 5, Delia was 10, Christine was 11, Antoine was 13, Flavie was 15 and Delphine was 23. Delphine was no doubt finished with school.

Joseph died two years later, at the relatively young age of 57 on 19 July 1915, as the sounds of World War I were beginning to rumble in Europe. He was buried in Saint Hilaire, New Brunswick, Canada where he lies today.

Joachim continued the operation of the family mill as his own family grew. By then, Joachim and Annie had three children, one daughter, Léanne and two sons; Dénis and Thaddée and the fourth son, Theodule would be born later that year in December 1915. Joachim went on to operate the mill until 1940 when he turned it over to his sons. In the meantime, he continued to service the villages of St-Hilaire, Baker-Brook and the surrounding area with milling services both woodsawing and flour milling. One of his most notable contributions to the area was providing all of the wood shingles for the church in Baker-Brook. The church (and its wood shingles) still stand today of course.)
 

A Ladies' Reunion/Une Réunion des Dames: The time frame is about 1945 at the home of Flavie Theriault Daigle. Théogénie's daughters gather around the matriarch. The daughters (l-r) are Christine, Delphine, Almida (Sister Ste-Jeanne D'Arc), Delia and Flavie, the hostess, with Théogénie in center front. Edith is absent in this photo. After Flavie married in 1920, Théogénie lived with Flavie until Flavie died in February 1952. (As shown in our Archive, Claude died in 1927 after which Flavie married Albert Daigle in 1930.) After Flavie's death in 1952, Théogénie lived for a very short period with Delphine until Théogénie died in July 1952 at the age of 88.  Photo courtesy of Georgette Theriault Cyr (Joachim, Joseph).

With the help of Joachim and the other elder children, Théogénie finished raising her children and went on to lead a long life. At this time in 1915, it had been five years since the last wedding and there would be a long wait until the next wedding. But in July 1920, Théogénie was blessed with a double wedding in her family: on Wednesday at 8 o'clock in the morning at the church of St-Hilaire, Delphine was married to Monsieur Liquori Bouchard from Ste-Luce (present-day Upper Frenchville, Maine) just across the St-John River, and Flavie was married to Monsieur Claude Daigle. The wedding announcements set the reception for the following Sunday, the 1st of August. Some time later, Flavie ask her mother to come live with she and her husband. Théogénie accepted.

The next wedding was Christine's who married a gentleman by the name of Lorenzo Leclerc. The date of their wedding is 10 January 1922. Christine and Lorenzo made their home in Berlin, New Hampshire.

The last round of weddings was in 1926 and 1929, when  Delia  and then Antoine married. On 26 October 1926, Delia married Monsieur Frank J. Martin and raised their family of four children in Edmundston. Three years later on 24 June 1929, Antoine married a very attractive young lady named Evangeline 'Eva' Levesque (perhaps from Baker-Brook). They headed for Nashua, New Hampshire to raise their family.
 

Théogénie quietly and graciously watched her family grow and prosper until the age of 88 when she died on 2 July 1952. Her funeral was held at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Edmundston, New Brunswick. It is interesting to note that  she was buried in Saint Basil, New Brunswick although her husband, Joseph had been buried in Saint Hilaire, 37 years earlier.

In a personal note, I was 12 years old at the time of 'la vielle' Grand Mère's funeral. My father had enough of a sense of history to bring me along to the funeral. It was just he and I, my mother did not come. In those days, funeral wakes were held in private homes, in this case, the home of Ma Tante Delphine (I believe). This was my first lesson in 'death and dying'... seeing Grand Mère Théogénie lying in her casket was an experience I did not soon forget. The funeral was very well attended at the Catedral and the awesome music of the cathedral's massive pipe organ especially with the recessional was a life experience in itself. I shall never forget that event. This funeral concluded the ninth generation of our Great-Branch.

Here is a family timeline which presents the  sequence of births (green), marriages (red), deaths (black) and other key events (blue) according to the Canadian Cenuses of 1891, 1901 and the parochial registers of St-Jacques, St-Hilaire, St-Basile and of Edmundston: (Click HERE if you wish to download the "Joseph & Théogénie Family Time-Line"  below. It is in a Rich Text Format (RTF) compatible with your word processor.)
 

As the families of the Joseph and Théogénie Great-Branch developed, two known Theriault branches were produced: the first by Joachim, and the second by his youngest brother, Antoine. The Joachim branch eventually produced 13 children (6 sons and 7 daughters) while the Antoine branch includes 3 (2 sons and 1 daughter) children. Of the 6 living daughters in the Joseph and Théogénie Great-Branch, four married into other families including the Roussel, Bouchard, Daigle, Leclerc and Martin families. While Joseph and Théogénie's children each pursued good professions and trades, the family was especially honored in that their last child was chosen to dedicate her life to God and humanity as a Catholic Nursing Sister. Soeur Ste-Jeanne D'Arc spent her life in the northern New Brunswick area caring for her own people.

The children ⁽³⁰⁾ are listed by order of birth (the gender of the person and the numbers of children, if any, are also indicated). The sons, who went on to establish their own branches to continue the family progeny are shown in gold background. The daughters who married into other families are shown in white background. Thus, of the family of 12 children, two sons produced two branches of the Joseph/Théogénie GREAT-BRANCH:  Joachim, the second oldest son, and Antoine, the youngest son.