Walking in the Steps of my Ancestors - Part One
I barely know where to begin. Last week, my wife and I had the opportunity to spend a weekend in Beauport, Quebec. We arrived Friday evening and had time to settle into our hotel room for the evening. We purposely chose a hotel near the historic area of Beauport. It was not a great hotel but the location was perfect for our purposes. Our goal was to visit all of the sites related to the Parent family and visit the graveyard that was most closely associated with the Parent family.
On Saturday morning we had a quick breakfast of coffee from McDonalds and pastries purchased from Premiere Moisson in Montreal before we drove to Beauport the day before. Fortunately, Saturday was a perfect day for a historical/genealogical walking tour of Beauport; it was sunny and warm.
There were many sites and buildings that we visited last Saturday, June 1st. I will write about only one or two of them in each post to keep the post reasonably short. We also visited the two oldest cemeteries in Beauport and documented all the gravestones that are related to the Parent family and the Bedard family. We found only one gravestone related to the Voyer family. My wife found the gravestones and I took the pictures.
The first house that we found on our walking tour was the house known as the Marguerite Marie Parent house. As you walk up Royal chemin you see the house situated at Royal chemin and avenue de la Pagode. The address is 2155 avenue de la Pagode. Today, the house is home to the Association Bouddhique Bo - De de Quebec. Bo - De is a Vietnamese transcription of the Bodhi tree, the tree where the Buddha sat when he reached enlightenment. Chua Bo - De is a Vietnamese Buddhist organization with its North American headquarters in New Orleans.
Here are the pictures that I took of the Marguerite Marie Parent House.
Marguerite Marie Parent married Jules Bolduc on January 29, 1901. Marguerite Marie was nineteen years old and Jules was twenty two years old. It must have been a big wedding based on the number of people who signed the wedding record. Typically, there are only a few people who sign the wedding record. For the wedding of Marguerite Marie Parent and Jules Bolduc there were thirty - six people who signed the wedding record including the bride, the bridegroom and the priest. The wedding record stated that Marguerite Marie's father, Francois Parent was the mayor of Beauport and an entrepreneur. That being the case, the wedding had to be in keeping with his position in the community.
I did some checking to establish were Francois Parent was situated in the Parent family tree. I traced him all the way back to our original Ancestor Pierre Parent (1628 - 1688) and I found that he was descended from Jacques Parent (1657 - 1744), son of Pierre Parent. That would mean that we are in the same line of the Parent family, interesting!
Marguerite Marie and Jules started their family as soon as they were married. Juliette Bolduc was born on October 8, 1902 and Paul Bolduc was born on October 8, 1903, almost a year to the day later. Receiving this magnificent house as a gift from her father in 1903 was perfect timing considering that Marguerite Marie and Jules had a newborn and a one year old child to take care of in 1903. Having a nice house to live in would have been a great help for them.
Francois Parent built a stone house that would have been worthy of any upper class family at the time. It was built in the Neo-Queen Anne style that was originated in Great Britain by the architect Richard Norman Shaw. This style was popular with the Anglophone community in Quebec between 1880 and 1915.
Here are a few words about the house itself. It was by far the most impressive Parent building that we saw last Saturday. The exterior of the house is made of bossed stone (which probably came from the Parent stone quarry) which gives the house a decorative look but it has the appearance of natural stone. The architectural bandeau, corbel, lintels, and consoles are all cut finely and with precision. The corner tower adds a degree of elegance and echoes the castles of Europe giving the house an air of elegance and nobility. This is truly an impressive and elegant home. We tried to go inside for a look but the door was locked although it said that "All Were Welcome".
Now, on to the next Parent building.
On Saturday morning we had a quick breakfast of coffee from McDonalds and pastries purchased from Premiere Moisson in Montreal before we drove to Beauport the day before. Fortunately, Saturday was a perfect day for a historical/genealogical walking tour of Beauport; it was sunny and warm.
There were many sites and buildings that we visited last Saturday, June 1st. I will write about only one or two of them in each post to keep the post reasonably short. We also visited the two oldest cemeteries in Beauport and documented all the gravestones that are related to the Parent family and the Bedard family. We found only one gravestone related to the Voyer family. My wife found the gravestones and I took the pictures.
The first house that we found on our walking tour was the house known as the Marguerite Marie Parent house. As you walk up Royal chemin you see the house situated at Royal chemin and avenue de la Pagode. The address is 2155 avenue de la Pagode. Today, the house is home to the Association Bouddhique Bo - De de Quebec. Bo - De is a Vietnamese transcription of the Bodhi tree, the tree where the Buddha sat when he reached enlightenment. Chua Bo - De is a Vietnamese Buddhist organization with its North American headquarters in New Orleans.
Here are the pictures that I took of the Marguerite Marie Parent House.
Marguerite Marie Parent married Jules Bolduc on January 29, 1901. Marguerite Marie was nineteen years old and Jules was twenty two years old. It must have been a big wedding based on the number of people who signed the wedding record. Typically, there are only a few people who sign the wedding record. For the wedding of Marguerite Marie Parent and Jules Bolduc there were thirty - six people who signed the wedding record including the bride, the bridegroom and the priest. The wedding record stated that Marguerite Marie's father, Francois Parent was the mayor of Beauport and an entrepreneur. That being the case, the wedding had to be in keeping with his position in the community.
I did some checking to establish were Francois Parent was situated in the Parent family tree. I traced him all the way back to our original Ancestor Pierre Parent (1628 - 1688) and I found that he was descended from Jacques Parent (1657 - 1744), son of Pierre Parent. That would mean that we are in the same line of the Parent family, interesting!
Marguerite Marie and Jules started their family as soon as they were married. Juliette Bolduc was born on October 8, 1902 and Paul Bolduc was born on October 8, 1903, almost a year to the day later. Receiving this magnificent house as a gift from her father in 1903 was perfect timing considering that Marguerite Marie and Jules had a newborn and a one year old child to take care of in 1903. Having a nice house to live in would have been a great help for them.
Francois Parent built a stone house that would have been worthy of any upper class family at the time. It was built in the Neo-Queen Anne style that was originated in Great Britain by the architect Richard Norman Shaw. This style was popular with the Anglophone community in Quebec between 1880 and 1915.
Here are a few words about the house itself. It was by far the most impressive Parent building that we saw last Saturday. The exterior of the house is made of bossed stone (which probably came from the Parent stone quarry) which gives the house a decorative look but it has the appearance of natural stone. The architectural bandeau, corbel, lintels, and consoles are all cut finely and with precision. The corner tower adds a degree of elegance and echoes the castles of Europe giving the house an air of elegance and nobility. This is truly an impressive and elegant home. We tried to go inside for a look but the door was locked although it said that "All Were Welcome".
Now, on to the next Parent building.
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