My great-grandfather, born May 17, 1864, was baptized in St-Aimé as Azarie St-Francois, son of Azarie and Catherine Lamoureux. On August 4, 1885, in St-Aimé, he married Anna Trahan, born January 6, 1867, daughter of Narcisse and Hermine Dumaine. Fifteen children were born on land in the St-Hugues Rang du Bord de l’Eau, near the road leading to the village of St-Marcel-de-Richelieu. Anna Trahan died on April 23, 1912, in St-Hugues, at the age of 45 years.

 

Azarie was born on June 12, 1886. He married Rosalma Chauvin, daughter of Pierre and Esther Therrien, in St. Louis, February 22, 1909. In St-Hugues and St-Marcel, eleven children were born of this couple. Azarie died in St-Louis on May 28, 1952, 6 months after my father and Rosalma, on January 2, 1985, at the age of 98, 8 months after my mother.

 

Joseph was born on May 22, 1887. On May 1, 1916, in St-Hugues, he married Alexina Laramée, widow of Calixte Paulhus and daughter of Alphonse and Célina Joyal. She has eleven children, including 10 with Joseph, in St-Hugues. Joseph dies on December 9, 1928. Alexina remarries to Joseph Robidoux, widower of Jessie Baillargeon, on February 22, 1930, in St-Hyacinthe and dies on December 28, 1952, at the age of 68, in New Bedford, MA. Many descendants of this couple still live in the United States.

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Marie-Anna was born on July 10, 1888 and died on September 27, 1889.

 

Adélard was born on December 5, 1889 and died on January 21, 1891.

 

Analda was born on August 31, 1891. On February 3, 1913, she officially joined the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, in St-Hyacinthe among the Sisters of the Holy Family (sister converse). She died on July 9, 1954, in St-Hyacinthe.

 

Alida was born on July 23, 1893. She married Philias Beaucage, son of Jean-Baptiste and Elisa Laplante, on January 16, 1917, in St-Hugues, with whom she had two children. After the death of Philias, on October 4, 1918, at the age of 26, she remarried with Henri Therrien, son of Théophile and Marie-Jeanne Laplante, July 19, 1922. In Nicolet, five children born of this couple. In Drummondville, Alida died on August 18, 1954 and Henri on February 5, 1980. Henri was 90 years old.

 

Napoleon was born on February 23, 1895. He married Rosina Beaucage, daughter of Joseph and Albina Gagnon, on February 5, 1929, in St. Louis. This couple has three children. In St-Louis, Napoleon died on August 14, 1969 and Rosina on October 2, 1981. She was 79 years old.

 

Dorila was born on March 6, 1897 and died on January 26, 1919.

 

Rosario was born on June 6, 1898. At St-Hyacinthe Cathedral, on March 6, 1923, he married Georgiana known as Georgine Nault, daughter of Napoleon and Émélie Robidoux of St-Marcel-de-Richelieu. A few minutes after their wedding, they take the train to Woonsocket, RI, where 4 children are born. In 1932, they return to St-Marcel-de-Richelieu, 4 children are added. In 1939 and 1941, two other children were born in St-Hyacinthe. There, Rosario died on August 13, 1963 and Georgine on January 24, 1997, at the age of 96.

 

Anne Léona Éléonore was born on January 31, 1900 and died on July 4, 1901.

 

Exilia was born on July 13, 1901. She married Albert Nault, son of Napoleon and Émélie Robidoux, on December 28, 1921, in St-Hugues. After having a daughter in St-Marcel, this couple moved permanently to Woonsocket, RI, where 2 other children are added. Albert died on October 10, 1936, at the age of 39. Exilia remarried with a cousin, Hector Messier, widower of Josephine Lefebvre and son of Theodule and Victorine Lafrenaye, on March 21, 1959, in Bellingham, MA. This marriage is short-lived, faults having priority over the qualities presented during the dating. Hector dies on April 11, 1975 in South Grafton, MA and is buried in St. Louis. He was 85 years old. Exilia died on February 21, 1998, in Hopedale, MA.

 

Marie-Rose Délima was born on March 25, 1903. On September 18, 1923, she was the second daughter of this family to join the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary of St-Hyacinthe. She made her temporary vows on February 2, 1926 and her perpetual vows, August 15, 1931. From 1950, she spent 7 years of her life on mission in Japan. Because of illness, she has to come back. She died on January 29, 1999, at the Provincial House of St-Hyacinthe.

 

Beatrice was born on January 8, 1905. She joined her two sisters as a converse nun at the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary where she pronounced her temporary vows on August 16, 1926. She died on May 11, 1981, in Montreal.

 

Alice was born on April 20, 1906 and died on March 14, 1907.

 

Yvonne was born on July 11, 1908. She married Georges Grandpré, son of Ernest and Délia Tellier, on July 20, 1925, in St-Hugues. After having four children in the neighboring country, Yvonne died in 1957 and George in July 1971, at the age of 68, in the United States. We know very little about this family that has had little contact since 1925.

 

Azarie St-François gets married and dies under the name of Azarie Messier. He is an authoritarian man and at the same time fears in his environment. By the same token, it has a lot of influence and arouses a lot of admiration. Often, one confides in him to obtain certain favors or to be supported in certain steps. At one point, the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary write: “Azarie Messier, it is the good farmer who has a greater esteem of the treasures of the faith than goods of the earth”.

 

One of his daughter-in-law, Rosalma Chauvin, wife of Azarie, the eldest of the family, often mentioned that she gave her father-in-law four and a half years (1909 to 1913) and that she do not recommend this kind of experience to anyone. “It’s better to start your family life in a hut, even if you only have one log to sit in, than to live with your in-laws,” she says. Moreover, according to her, it is better to nibble a slice of dry bread at home than to accept a slice of buttered bread with the family. Some of her daughters did not always appreciate the grandfather’s presence.

 

Sister Marie-Rose, her daughter, told me that one morning, Azarie gets up early, dresses on her thirty-six and says to her children: “I will not be gone long. I’m going to buy a cow and I’ll be back soon. “ It was an expression we often heard when we went to an auction to increase his flock. In the eyes of his children, what was abnormal was to be dressed in his best clothes to find a cow. You have to believe it was his way of saying things and not getting attention. Some time later, he returned with Dorilla Hébert, daughter of Grégoire and Alisée Vigneau, whom he had married on May 11, 1914, at Précieux-Sang in the diocese of Nicolet. He had been widowed for two years, his first wife having died on April 23, 1912, in St-Hugues.

 

After this marriage, family relationships seem to be tense. Marie-Rose Messier is in love with a Cartier gentleman from St-Aimé and it’s mutual. As his father Azarie does not agree with this relationship, he intercepts the letters sent by Mr. Cartier. Marie-Rose, thinking that her beautiful lover does not want her anymore, decides, in the summer of 1923, at the same time as Beatrice, to join her older sister Analda (Sister Marie-Azarie), already entered the convent on February 3 1913.

 

When Rosario, his son marries Georgiana Nault from St-Marcel, March 6, 1923, at the Cathedral of St-Hyacinthe, he has to expatriate in the United States since Azarie does not accept that Georgiana is pregnant. What dishonor! She gives birth to Rosaire on April 30, 1923 in Woonsocket, RI. Rosario returned to Quebec around 1930 with 4 children to settle in the land of Aimé Labonté in the 2nd Rang Sud of St-Marcel. In 1948, this land was bought by his nephew Philippe Messier.

 

Exilia, who married Albert Nault, left in 1923. She raised her family in the Woonsocket area and lived there until her death on February 21, 1998, at the age of 96.

 

At the age of 16, alone at home with her father and a more or less appreciated mother-in-law, Yvonne wants to get married. As her father finds her too young to start raising a family, he categorically refuses. She will not let herself be taxed for a long time because she wants to leave her family environment. A few months later, she tells her father that she is pregnant. “What a disgrace, you’re getting married and it’s hurting,” he says. She married Georges Grandpré on July 20, 1925, in St-Hugues and gave birth to her first child more than a year later. For once, the authoritarian father is foiled by his youngest, who saves the family’s honor and finds a way out of the house.

 

He helps many people in need by lending them money. These borrowers must respect their commitments, otherwise Azarie takes the legal means to recover his advanced money.

 

He also helps some of his children settle on land in the Bord de l’Eau Rank of St-Hugues.

 

Around 1930, little Napoleon took the paternal land.

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Azarie pleads the cause of Emilia, her little girl, who wants to marry Arthur Gagnon. As Azarie and Rosalma Chauvin do not agree with this marriage, it is the grandfather who convinces Emilia’s parents to accept Arthur’s request. This wedding takes place May 6, 1930 in St-Hugues. Emilia is 16 years old and Arthur is 21 years old.

 

Subsequently, Azarie and Dorilla settle in St. Louis. They are neighbors who regularly rub elbows with Joseph, Azarie’s brother, and Georgina Giguère, Auxibe, the nephew, and Clarinda Brouillard. They spend evenings playing cards and dice. . .

 

After the death of Azarie, on September 1st, 1938, in St-Louis de Richelieu, Dorilla Hébert returned to her native region. At the age of 72, she died on March 11, 1945, in St-Celestin of Nicolet without the Messier family knowing it.

 

Real Messier (85) great-grandson