In the summer of 1948 one sunny afternoon, our dad called my brother, Paul, seven years old, and me eight, to hop in our 1947 black Ford. This did not seem unusual. Often on a Sunday afternoon, he would take us for a long drive around the Eastern Townships. However, this was not a Sunday. We both gave each other a quizzical look and wondered, “What’s up?”
Dad soon explained. We were on our way to the Richmond train station, about fifteen miles from home to meet an important person. “Who could this person be?” Our curiosity was aroused. Before long Dad had us reciting a Finnish greeting: “Hei isoaiti.”
We were on our way to welcome our grandmother.
As life would have it, this was the only opportunity I had to spend time with my grand-mother, Ida Susanna Karhu. She lived in Ashtabula, Ohio, far from Asbestos, Quebec. Over the years she visited her son, Karl, my dad, only twice. The second time in 1954 she visited the family with her third husband, Gust and his son, Elmer..
Ida was born in Isokyro, Finland in 1886 and emigrated at nine. In 1903 at sixteen, she married, Johan Hjalmar Lindell, nine years her senior. During their forty-one years of marriage, they had eight healthy children and their ninth child lived only 4 days.
Johan and Ida
Grandfather Lindell was a blacksmith with four forges and shod the horses of large brewery wagons that were drawn by these very large strong horses. With the advent of trucks, automobiles, and the Temperance League, circumstances forced him to close shop.
Johan began working in a munition factory. In October of 1944, he was tragically struck by a forklift and ultimately died due to his injuries.
Johan Herman Lindell’s 1944 death certificate
Two years after Johan’s passing in 1946, Ida married Heman Haapala from Ashtabula. He had been employed as a car repair man for the railroad company. They were both in their sixties and in good health. This allowed them to travel to Florida during the winter months. Alas! this union lasted a few short years. Herman died of lung cancer in February 1951.
Ida and Herman’s Marriage Record
Herman’s Death Record
Ida found herself a widow once more. However, not long after Herman’s passing, only after a few brief months, she met a Swedish dairy farmer from Cook, Minnesot, Gust Gustafson. He had been widowed twice. How they met is a mystery. Perhaps they knew one another from their traveling days. Together they embarked on their third marriage, June 16th of 1951.
Ida and Gust (circa 1952)
The dairy farm in Minnesota
In 1954 Ida, Gust, and his son Elmer visited Mom and Dad at their recently acquired farm in Asbestos.
Ida and Gust were together for many years. Just how many is a bit of a conundrum. At this point, I can only speculate as to the outcome of their marriage. I surmise that perhaps my grandmother decided to visit California. Her children, my Uncle Milton and Aunt Helen Lindell Lev had settled there with their families. Ida always enjoyed travelling and visiting her children.
Had she moved to be closer to family or was she visiting? While in California she died on December 17, 1967, In Belleflower. She was eighty-one years old at the time of her death and had led a full and interesting life. She had been active in the Ashtabula community, Bethany Lutheran Church, and the Ladies of Kavela, while raising her family, and in later years enjoyed travelling.
She is buried in Edgewood Cemetery in Ashtabula, Ohio beside Johan Hjalmar, her first love and husband of forty-one years.
Gust Atiel Gustafson born in 1884 lived another 4 years after Ida’s passing. He died at the age of 86 in the spring of 1971 and is buried in Cook, Minnesota beside his first wife, Josefina
Below is a link to a previous story about Ida Susanna Karhu, my Finnish grandmother, written in 2017 for Genealogy Ensemble: “Sisu, Saunas and Ida Susanna”. More records about her life’s pursuits have become available since that first story was written.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, many enthusiastic young men with entrepreneurial spirits set out to make their fortunes. L.J Jodouin, my maternal; grandfather was among them. It was said that where there was a need he found a way to fulfill it. L.J.’s business ventures were a great success.
Louis Joseph Jodouin was born in 1861 in Montebello, Quebec, the third of five children of Joseph Jodouin and Leocadie Fortin. When he was a young man his family moved to Hull, Quebec where he was schooled by the Christian Brothers and attended college in nearby Ottawa.
In 1891, at the age of twenty-seven, he went to Sudbury, Ontario where in nearby Copper Cliff prospectors found nickel and mines were being opened. It is there he started his first enterprise, L. J. Jodouin Bottling Works. With six employees he bottled and sold ginger ale, lemon soda, cream soda, and mineral water. Due to the influx of miners, the Sudbury area was a new and growing community, and L.J.’s business was profitable
Louis and Louisa
1893
With financial security assured the young man decided it was time to seek a bride and start a family. Although the couple had the same grandfather and different grandmothers, they received dispensation and were married in Saint Columbkille Cathedral in Pembroke, Ontario in January of 1893. The young couple settled in Sudbury where they built their home and raised nine children, three boys and six girls.
In 1903 the bottling works were sold to the Taylor and Pringle Company of Owen Sound. His next venture was an ice business. He built a huge icehouse in the rear of his home along with a stable for the horses. At the time people had wooden iceboxes where the top section was lined with metal and large blocks of ice were placed within. Foods that needed to be kept cold were placed on shelves below. Ice was delivered regularly in the same manner as milk and bread from house to house by horse-drawn wagons and later years by truck.
Over the years Louis Joseph had many enterprises. He built a boathouse on Lake Ramsey, a large lake nearby. He rented boats and canoes. He ran a water taxi service and a huge gasoline-powered barge to transport large quantities of building and personal supplies for the people building cottages along the lake. The boat house was also used for storing huge blocks of ice during the winter months.
The ice business was my grandfather’s lifelong enterprise and the most successful. A key to the success was the annual contracts with both railways. The Canadian Pacific and the Canadian National Railways. This arrangement continued until the mid-1940 when the trains acquired powered refrigeration.
My cousin Madelyn Percival described how Grandfather would spend his days.
“In the winter months, Grandfather would often go out on Lake Ramsey to oversee the ice operations wearing his long raccoon coat and fur hat and fur mitts, but for the most part, he ran the business from a rocking chair near the dining room window overlooking the backyard where the horses were kept so he could see all the action!”
He was a good employer, and an active citizen, a town councilor, a school trustee, a voluntary fireman, and a member of the Board of Health. He played in the town band, sang in the church choir, and was an avid lacrosse player until he was hit in the head and lost his hearing.
“L.J. bought one of the first motor cars in Sudbury, although he could not drive because of his deafness. His eldest daughter, Alice Percival was the first woman driver in Sudbury and for many years she was his chauffeur.”
In 1943 on the eve of his seventy-ninth birthday Grandpa Jodouin passed away. His son, Arthur, continued the ice business into the late 1950s and early 60s supplying the many cottagers in the area until electricity became available.
References:
Ancestry.com Quebec, Canada Viral and Church Records. Drouin Collection 1921-1968 database online.
Sudbury Star newspaper article., Author, Gary Peck. “The Not-so-distant Past, Jodouin Steam Soda Water Works.” October 2, 1981
Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records. Drouin Collection 1802-1967 database online.
Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Canada Registration of Marriage, 1869-1928 Series MS032:Reel 70 source ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library( Brampton, Ontario, Canada Ontario Canada Marriages Ancestry.com Operations In.,2010.
Excerpts from an interview with the author and her cousin Madelyn Percival Smith , Louis Joseph’s granddaughter, Toronto Canada, August 2010.
Below is a video: cutting ice on Lake Ramsey
This biographical sketch of my maternal grandfather was first published in our book “Beads in a Necklace” published in 2017 by our Genealogy Ensemble group. It seems appropriate to include it in our ongoing blog.
Genealogy Ensemble, ( https://www.genealogyensemble.com) our collaborative blog began almost a decade ago. To this day it is still going strong. Nine ladies and one gentleman participate regularly. We, ladies, write stories about our ancestors, while our friend, Jacques Gagne, compiler and researcher prepares informative databases for posting on our blog.
The ladies meet once a month during the school year to discuss our stories. Over the years as our blog has grown with our published stories, we have come to realize that there are several among us who have common ancestors. Janice Hamilton and Lucy Anglin are cousins, Barb Angus and Sandra McHugh have ancestors in Scotland and Marian Bulford writes about hers in the United Kingdom. Dorothy Nixon, Mary Sutherland, Tracey Arial, and I, along with Jacques Gagne have French Canadian ancestors. Great diversity!
Jacques and I have discussed our ancestors knowing that they came to New France within a few years of each other and settled in the Sainte Anne de Beaupre area.
Initially, being a neophyte writer, and researcher, better skills were required, and completing the branches of our family trees was needed before tackling the relationship between Jacques’ ancestors and mine.
”That time has come”.“
Yes!” We are related going back more than 372 years when Julien Fortin, my 7th great-grandfather, a butcher, who in 1651, followed in the footsteps of Louis Gagne, the baker, Jacques’ great-grandfather who sailed to the New World in 1644 and settled in New France. Both men had occupations that would be welcomed in small communities.
The following graphics and details below tell the story of our ancestors; Jacques’ and mine. I have chosen to use the graphics from my private Ancestry.ca family tree to indicate these connections.
The stories of our 7th Great Grandfathers and their families are intertwined.
Louis Gagné, his wife Marie Michel, and their daughter Anne Gagné
Julien Fortin de Bellefontaine, his wife Geneviève Gamache, and their grandson Jacques Fortin
Francois Lacroix, his wife Jeanne Huot, and their son Francois Normand Lacroix
Louis Gagné, Marie, Michel, Julien Fortin, Genevieve Gamache, Francois Lacroix, Jeanne Huot, and their son, Francois Normand were born in France.
The others were born when their families arrived in New France.
Louis Gagné married Marie Michel in France and arrived here in 1644.
In 1651 Julien Fortin arrived and in 1652, married Geneviève Gamaache “ une fille a marier’ who had arrived with her brother, Nicolas Gamache.
Louis Gagné and Julien Fortin along the way eventually found themselves and their families living around Chateau Richer and Saint Anne de Beaupre, east of Quebec City. Both families owned land along the shore of the St. Lawrence River.
GAGNE
FORTIN
Jacques Fortin is the son of Jacques Timothee Fortin and the grandson of Julien Fortin and Geneviève Gamache.
LACROIX
MARRIAGES
François Lacroix was a “domestique.” Servants working in a home, agricultural servants and personal servants.
Any person at the service of another, without specifics. François Lacroix was employed as a domestic for Pierre Gagnon.
Genevieve Lacroix was the daughter of François Lacroix and Anne Gagné.
Louis François Fortin is the son of Jacques Fortin and Geneviève Lacroix
Continuing the relationship chart to the Author
François Xavier Fortin – 3rd gg Montebello, Quebec
Moyse Hypolite Fortin – 2nd gg Rigaud, Quebec
François Evariste Fortin – 1st gg Pembroke, Ontario
Louise Seraphina Fortin’s – my grandmother, Louis Joseph Jodouin – my grandfather Sudbury, Ontario
Dedicated to our good friend, Jacques Gagné who has recently moved to British Columbia to be near family. He will continue to grace our blog with his databases. We at Genealogy Ensemble wish him well.
In the Jodouin family of 9 children, six girls, and three boys the names were:
Alice, Aline, Arthur, Eugene, Adele, Lucille, Emile, Estelle and Louise.
A number of them were named after relatives
Three of those names began with the same sounding A! Sometimes Mom would go through the entire list of her children before finding the one she wanted to address! Perhaps Granny had the same situation. In any case, my Aunt Adele became known as “Ted” even though she was very feminine and truly a fashion plate, always dressed ”to the nines”.
Aunt Ted, ?, Granpa, Luce, Mom, and Granny Jodouin
For many years I wondered how she received the nickname. It seems that she looked like a little teddy bear with her big brown eyes and thus she became affectionately known as Ted. The name stayed with her all her life. She was “Aunt Ted!”
Marie Adele Jodouin was born in Sudbury, Ontario, during the Holiday season, on December 28, 1901. She was the fifth child of Louis and Louisa Jodouin.
The Royal Bank on Durham Street in downtown Sudbury
She worked as a Secretary to the Manager at the Royal Bank in Sudbury.
To this day, fond memories of bygone visits either to Sudbury or Asbestos still come to mind.
Back row: Uncle Leo and Aunt Dickie-Middle Row: Granny Jodouin, Mom, Aunt Ted – Front: Paul, Claire, and Denise – Dad took the photograph.
One of those visits occurred in the summer of 1946. Our family had moved from Sudbury to Asbestos, Quebec in the fall of 1945. We all missed our northern relatives, especially Mom. Granny, Aunt Ted, Aunt Dickie (Louise), Uncle Leo, and Cousin Denise arrived in the Packard driven by Aunt Ted. They were welcomed with open arms. Mom was in seventh heaven seeing her family. Their visit was the highlight of that summer.
When Grandpa Jodouin passed away in 1943 they sold the family home on Elm Street and built a small bungalow on John Street just around the corner from Aunt Dickie and Uncle Leo. In their new home, Granny had her Baby Grand piano as the centerpiece in their living room. The last memory of Granny etched in my mind was in 1948 when we were heading home to Asbestos. She sat down and played “Say Aurevoir But Not Goodbye”. She died in May of 1950.
Over the years there have been many visits back and forth to Sudbury. One of them happened in the summer of 1951 while spending several weeks with Aunt Ted in her home on John Street. During that time, she trotted me off to the dentist. He decided that the tooth growing off-kilter in my lower palette needed to be removed! That is something one does not forget. It is often a reminder of my caring aunt.
“Do you have a special aunt among your relatives?”
Years later, around 1955, Aunt Ted made another trip to our home in Asbestos. It would be the last time she visited us. Each one of her visits over the years has become more meaningful, and I realize just how much she was an influence in my life, and for that, I am truly grateful.
John, Claire, Aunt Ted, and Paul – Dad most likely took the photograph.
Aunt Ted passed away quietly at the age of fifty-five during the summer of 1958. I was deeply saddened and, for reasons unknown to me, did not attend her funeral. She is buried in LaSalle cemetery next to Granny, Grandpa Jodouin, and my parents.
Alas! Over time the ground around the tombstone had shifted and unfortunately, it became necessary to lower the impressive towering granite tombstone. It is no longer the marker it once was.
No one knows how their lives will take shape over the years. Little did my fourth great-grandfather, Joseph Antoine Gauthier dit Landreville know the path that lay before him. Joseph Antoine was one of 9 children, born in the midst of winter, February 20, 1731 to Jean Gauthier dit Landreville and Therese Moreau dite Latopine in Varennes, a village west of Ville Marie ( Montreal) on the banks of the St. Lawrence River
Baptism of Joseph Antoine Gauthier
Map of the area including Varennes and L’Assomption
“In 1647, the L’Assomption Seignory was granted to Pierre Legardeur de Repentigny, named after the river, already named such since the seventeenth century. Between 1640 and 1700, a settlement formed inside a large horseshoe-shaped meander of the L’Assomption River. Amerindians had already been visiting this site since ancient times and called it Outaragasipi meaning widening river, in reference to the river’s course. They would drag their canoes across the peninsula as a short-cut for the meander, and therefore the settlement was first called Le Portage.
In 1717, the parish was formed, known thereafter as Saint-Pierre-du-Portage-de-l’Assomption and also as Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul-du-Portage. In 1766, the village saw an influx of Acadian settlers. Between 1774 and 1888, L’Assomption was the most prosperous and important town between Montreal and Trois-Rivieres. 3.”
When Joseph Antoine was almost 25 years old on the 12th of January 1756, in L’Assomption he married a young 23-year-old widow, Agathe Laperche dit Saint Jean, along with her young daughter, Marie. The young couple had 2 sons, Joseph, and Pierre.
Almost 4 years into their marriage tragedy struck with no mention as to the cause, Agathe died leaving Joseph Antoine with three young children. Guardianship was arranged for the children.
Below is a translation of the first several lines of the above burial record for Agathe Laperche dite St Jean 4.
In the year seventeen hundred and fifty-nine, the 25th of November by the undersigned priest Vicar of this parish inhumed in this cemetery the body of Agathe Laperche dit St Jean spouse of Joseph Gautier Landreville at the age of twenty three who died yesterday…..
Three long years passed.
In February of 1762 Joseph Antoine married his second wife, 19-year-old, Louise Gregoire. Within three months tragedy struck and she, along with 9 other young women perished while crossing the Assomption River.
Marriage record of Louise Gregoire and Joseph Antoine Gauthier dit Landreville 5.
Below are the first two and half lines translated from the above Marriage record of Joseph Antoine to Louise Gregoire.
Joseph Gauthier dit Landreville widower of Agathe Laperche from this parish on one part and Louise Gregoire daughter of defunct Basil Gregoire and Marie Clemence Proulx, mother from this same parish declare no impeachment to this marriage.
Three months after their wedding tragedy struck and Louise, along with 9 other young women perished while crossing the Assomption River on the 20th of May 1762. They ranged in age from single girls 16 -17 years old and young wives who were around 19 or 20. Were they returning home to their farms across the river from the village?
The Assomption River meanders forming a peninsula around the village.6.
The above is the burial record of Louise and the other young ladies who drowned in the Assomption River. 7.
A year and half after Louise’s drowning Joseph Antoine married for the third time in October 1763. Both he and his new bride, Francoise Loiselle, were born in the same year, 1731, and were now 32 years old.
Marriage of Francoise Loiselle and Joseph Antoine 8.
On August 15, 1764, Francoise gave birth to a daughter Marie Francoise, however, the baby’s stay on earth was very brief and she died two weeks later. Another year went by and on August 31, 1765, Louis Stanislas was born. He had a long life and died at the age of eighty-three. Francoise on the other hand was not as fortunate. Her life was cut short. After less than three years of marriage to Joseph Antoine, she died in January 1767.
At this point in his life, Joseph Antoine at age thirty-six had been married three times, lost a daughter, buried three wives, and now had five children between 2 and 14 years of age in his care, no doubt a daunting task. How would he cope? Where would he find the courage and strength to continue? His life thus far adhered to the saying “Things come in 3s” or “Jamais deux sans trois”.
When were the tragedies going to end? He had experienced more upheavals in his short life than the average person. Would there be a brighter future in store for him?
Not letting the grass grow under his feet and with firm determination, within a year and a half on August 22, 1768, he married an Acadian, Marie Leblanc. He was thirty-seven and she was in her mid-twenties. She too had endured hardships in her life. Her family had been deported along with many other Acadians who made their way to Massachusetts, then eventually settled in L’Assomption, Quebec and surrounding area.
The marriage record for Joseph Antoine and Marie Leblanc 9.
Translation of the first few lines:
In the year seventeen hundred and sixty-eight on the 22 of August, after publishing the bans at Mass for three consecutive Sundays……. Joseph Gauthier dit Landreville widower of Marie Francoise Loiselle from this parish on the one hand between Marie Leblanc, daughter of Francois Leblanc and Elizabeth Dugas the father and mother from the same parish….
“In Québec, the Acadians settled in every corner of the province starting in the late 1760s. Mostly concentrated along the St. Lawrence River, they progressively settled in other areas where agriculture was predominant. The province of Québec is where the largest Acadian population was living by the end of the 18th century. Because of the similarities in religion, language, and social status with the Canadiens (French Canadians, today’s Québecois), the Acadians easily integrated into mainstream society. The Acadians who lived in the province embraced the struggle for the rights of French speakers that drove politics and social discourse in Québec throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Despite their integration, these communities maintained an awareness of their ancestry and contact with the Acadian communities of eastern Canada. In the late 19th century. 10.
In May of 1769 Marie gave birth to Marie Josephe. Alas, their joys were dashed. The little girl did not survive her first winter and died the following February. One more heartache.
Their lives took a positive turn and in March of 1771 Alexis was born. Between 1771 and 1778 three more sons and a daughter rounded out the family. At long last stability had become a part of their lives. There was joy in the Gauthier household.
Alas! At the age of forty-eight and in the prime of life Joseph Antoine’s life abruptly came to an end. He had experienced more than his fair share of trials and tribulations during his short life. He had endured many heartaches and misery beyond belief. Despite all all the turbulence in his life, in the end he finally found companionship, joy, and happiness. Joseph Antoine died of unknown causes on the 8th of July 1779. He was buried in L’ Assomption the following day.
Burial Record of Joseph Antoine Gauthier dit Landreville
Translation of the burial record for Joseph Antoine Gauthier dit Landreville
In the year seventeen hundred and seventy-nine…….in the cemetery of this parish the body of Joseph Landreville…..
Marie Leblanc married a second time in the fall of 1780 and had several more children. She lived to the age of 82 and died in 1824 in the neighbouring community of St. Joseph de l’Achigan.
Note:
In the scope of this research there was no mention of Joseph Antoine’s occupation, however, given the fertile land around the Assomption River one could surmise that he was a farmer…. un “cultivateur’…
In this research I have maintained the French spelling that is used in the province of Quebec for the name of the town and river. The spelling in English is ‘Assumption’.
The database below contains links to numerous authors who over the years have written books, and articles on the subject of the poor in New France, both in English and French.
Many of these books may be purchased at local bookstores or online while articles are located on the various BAnQ websites..
For the past twenty-five years since my Dad’s passing, a green bin containing documents he meticulously saved during his lifetime of ninety-two years have been carefully preserved. All these years it has been in my possession and carefully followed me during several moves. The photograph below shows some of these items including passports, monthly and pocket calendars.
With Father’s Day rapidly approaching it seemed fitting to prepare a story about one of my father’s many travels during his working career.
On a rainy dismal May afternoon, it was time to open the bin and gather some information about one story that came to mind about a trip he made to Russia many years ago. Amidst all his treasures, would it be possible to find what was needed to write the story I had heard? Upon opening the bin before beginning the search, a question arose, why had Dad so copiously preserved all these items? Did he plan to someday write his memoirs about all the wonders of the world he had seen over the years? Had time caught up with him and he was just too busy creating more stories and never had a chance to write them? We will never know and so, it has come about that it is a task left for me to relate some of these stories about his life and travels.
After searching through the passports, I found the one about his trip to Russia in 1960 and noted that it also appeared in his July calendar.
Having gathered the information and photographs, along with several Google searches it was time to begin writing.
The map shows the area Dad and Ivan, the company lawyer visited.
Asbest, is in the Ural Mountains not too far from Moscow and relatively close to Ekatrinberg.
A portion of a map of Russia indicating the area of the open pit in Asbest, in the area of Sverdlovsk in the Ural Mountains.
A viewing platform at the quarry that supplies Uralasbest, a leading maker of asbestos. Credit…James Hill for The New York Times.
In the above photograph we can grasp the enormousness of the open pit.
In an article in the New York Times written by Andrew Higgins “In Asbest, Russia, Making Asbestos Great Again” Published in April 2019.
“Uralasbest last year increased its asbestos production to 315,000 tons, 80 percent of it sold abroad, from 279,200 tons.
The city of Asbest, after more than 130 years of intensive mining, still has enough chrysotile asbestos buried in the ground to keep Uralasbest in business for at least another century, providing its customers, mostly in Asia and Africa, do not take flight.”
“Uralskii Asbestovyi Gorno-Obogatitelnyi Kombinat” (Ural Asbestos Mining and Processing Plant), commonly known as “Uralasbest” is a Russian company headquartered in the city of Asbest in the Sverdlovsk region. The company has been incorporated in 1918. The main activity of the company is asbestos mining. The plant is the largest Russian manufacturer of non-metallic building materials, which are available fo road and rail construction. The annual capacity 12 million tons..
Dad, along with the Canadian Johns-Manville Company lawyer, Ivan Sabourin, and his Russian counterparts visited the open pit in Asbest which was most definitively the largest open pit Dad said that he had ever seen.
They also had the opportunity to visit Moscow and take in some of the country’s cultural heritage. This was at a time after WWII and Stalin’s passing, during Nikita Khrushchev’s leadership, when Russia was in the process of change, before Gorbachev, and long before Putin.
Dad pointed out while relating this story of his experience in Russia that we were always under the impression that Asbestos, Quebec maintained the status of the largest open pit in the world.
When Dad returned home, he noted that all the billboards, tourist, and marketing information would need to be re-evaluated. Asbestos, Quebec could no longer claim the title of the largest open pit in the world. New indicators were prepared and posted:
“The open pit in Asbestos, Quebec, Jeffrey Mine is the largest in the free world”.
Canadian Johns-Manville Company ceased operations in 2012 due to a national ban on the sale of asbestos.
Dad often brought home souvenirs, and, on this occasion, it was the wooden stacking dolls, known as matryoshkas. They were a big hit among his grandchildren who over the years spent many an hour playing with them.
Matryoshka –wooden stacking dolls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll Matryoshka is often seen as a symbol of the feminine side of Russian culture.[14] Furthermore, matryoshka dolls are used to illustrate the unity of body, soul, mind, heart, and spirit. ***********************************************************
As Father’s Day approaches it is a good time to reflect on the many blessings we have received from our fathers. Although he spent hours, days, and weeks away from home on extensive trips, it never ceases to amaze me how he found time for his family. Many an occasion, one would have thought he was too busy with work, nevertheless, he found time and made it his business to be present at the special events in our lives. With six children, no doubt that took much juggling of his calendar to be present at these events.
A simple act followed by a direct command can be life changing.
Such was the case for my Dad. At the outset of his working life, my father’s new challenges of a career in the gold mines of Colorado were dashed through no fault of his. In some ways it turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened. It launched his career in the mining industry and he travelled to mines around the world. Would he have been so fortunate in Colorado?
Kaarlo Victor Lindell was born in the early winter of 1905 in Ashtabula, Ohio, a port on Lake Erie, not far from Cleveland. He was the second child of Ida Susanna Karhu and Johan Hjalmar Lindell, a blacksmith. They had immigrated to the United States from Finland in the mid-1890s.
As a young man, my father worked as a cook on the iron-ore boats on the Great Lakes and, although he loved sailing the lakes, he wanted something more fulfilling. He enrolled at the Michigan College of Mines in Houghton, graduating with a degree in Mining Engineering in 1928. Many years later, in 1972, he gave the Commencement Address to the graduating students at the Michigan Technological University, as the College is now a university. At that event he received a Doctor of Engineering and the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
After graduation In 1928 he received a job opportunity at Royal Tiger Gold Mines in Breckenridge, Colorado. He packed his Model T Ford and set out for the west with hopes and dreams, doing something he truly enjoyed. He was a young man ” going west”.
Not long after arriving at the mines, he discovered that the owner-manager was tampering with the assays (a scale used to measure gold). When the owner realized that his new employee was aware of his actions, he ordered him “out of town by sundown.” Kaarlo didn’t back down and said that he would leave, “as soon as I can get my Model T on a railroad car to carry it over the mountains”.
Aspirations of working in the gold mines were crushed. Being a young go-getter, he immediately contacted the College to see if they knew of any openings for newly graduated mining engineers. They responded that there were openings in Canada in the nickel mines in Copper Cliff – Sudbury area in Ontario. It was time to head north.
Kaarlo crossed into Canada on the 31st of January 1929 at Bridgeburg, Ontario with hopes and dreams of a rewarding career and a new challenge. He found a room in a boarding house and began working for the International Nickel Company (INCO) in Copper Cliff and Frood Mine. He spoke Finnish and soon made friends with his coworkers, among them many Finns.
Before long he met a pretty, vivacious young lady named Estelle (Esty) Jodouin and wasted no time seeking her hand. They were married on September 6tth, 1930, in Sudbury. While Grandpa Jodouin was happy to have Dad as a son-in-law, he was concerned that he practised the Lutheran faith. In the meantime, Kaarlo legally changed his name to Karl and had started studying the Catholic faith.
His employer took advantage of his knowledge of Finnish and in 1934 Karl was seconded to Mond Nickel of England and sent to Petsamo, Lapland, in northern Finland, near the Russian border, close to the Barents Sea. Dad’s task was to open a new nickel mine in the area.
In 1939 Petsamo, now Pechanga, was seized by Russia and consequently closed off Finland’smain access to northern waters.
Finnish Inn 1934
With WW11 on the horizon, Karl wanted to serve his new country. He became a naturalized citizen on the 8th of August 1939, however, with four children and a fifth on the way, his services were needed in the nickel industry. He remained at work for INCO. Nickel production was crucial for ammunition during the war years.
After working for seventeen years with INCO, it was time for a change. The Canadian Johns-Manville Company (CJM) had sought his expertise and hired him to design and oversee the construction of a headframe and shaft for underground mining in Asbestos, Quebec.
In November 1945, the family moved to the rolling hills of the Eastern Townships of Quebec where a new chapter would enfold.
Finland is a country of lakes and saunas.
It is presently rated (2023) as the happiest country in the world.
Canada’s 1870 purchase of Rupert’s Land ended a large portion of the HBC story and brought in a new era for the company.2
The transfer of Rupert’s Land from the British Crown to the newly created Dominion of Canada occurred in 1868 (Confederation occurred in 1867 uniting Upper and Lower Canada).
The Deed of Surrender outlined the details of the compensation to HBC from the Canadian Government. The deed was signed in November of 1869 with the transfer to Canada July 15th,1870.3.
Deed of Surrender
Conflicts arose among the colony of farmers and hunters, many of them Métis living and working in the area of Rupert’s Land and they feared their religion, culture and land rights would be controlled by Canada..
Until the time of the purchase, HBC had considerable authority where it operated The Métis under the leadership of Louis Riel mounted the Red River Rebellion. They resisted and declared a provisional government to negotiate on behalf of the Metis. These negotiations ultimately led to the creation of the province of Manitoba.4
Hudson Bay Company continued to operate and is still in operation today.5
HBC Development, Acquisitions and Timeline:6, 7 & 9
1670 The Hudson’s Bay Company, a fur-trading enterprise head-quartered in London, opened trading posts on Hudson Bay.
1870 Canadian Government’s purchase of Rupert’s land brought in a new era for the Hudson Bay Company which led to the Metis resistance.
1869-1870 Red River Rebellion.
1881 The first catalogue was introduced and ceased publishing 1913.
1913-1960’s HBC operated retail stores solely in the west.
1960 HBC expanded their operations and acquired the Henry Morgan’s department store in Montreal.
1965 HBC unveiled a historic coat of arms bearing its traditional motto, pro pelle cutem(“a pelt for a skin”).7.
1970 300th anniversary of HBC Queen Elizabeth II, granted a new charter which removed previous provisions of the original charter and the company chose Winnipeg, Manitoba as the new Headquarters.8.
I1974 HBC opened its first Toronto store and several years later acquired Simpson’s Department stores.
1974 HBC records were held in London office headquarters until that year.
1994 27th, January of that year the company’s archives were formally donated to the Archives of Manitoba.
1998 K-Mart Canada’s stores were acquired and brought into the Zellers fold.
2000 Online shopping was initiated.
2006 Gerry Zucker, an American acquired HBC for over C$1.1 billion.
2008 the New York-based private equity firm and parent company of Lord & Taylor were acquired.
Genealogy Ensemble 