{"id":2893,"date":"2014-07-20T23:44:07","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T03:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/?p=2893&lang=fr"},"modified":"2015-12-25T22:01:19","modified_gmt":"2015-12-26T03:01:19","slug":"4-2-la-famille-beaubien-et-leglise-du-mile-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/4-2-la-famille-beaubien-et-leglise-du-mile-end\/","title":{"rendered":"4.2: The Beaubien Family and the Mile End Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Read the first part: Pierre Beaubien, Doctor and Landlord<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Second Part: A parish in the middle of nowhere<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Institution for the Deaf became the first establishment in what was to become the parish centre and a growing village at Mile End. Created in 1848, the Institution was first located in a modest house in Faubourg Qu\u00e9bec. It moved to Mile End even before construction of its building had been completed:<\/p>\n

In October 1850, M. Lagorce [the Director of the Institution] resumed its classes in an unfinished building in Coteau-Saint-Louis, in Mile End. A future parish centre was starting there, on land donated to Bishop Bourget by Dr. Pierre Beaubien. First a three-storey stone structure measuring 80 x 45 feet was built. The two upper storeys were used for worship; the ground floor would be divided between the deaf-mutes and Village of Saint-Louis school children.<\/p>\n

It is in this house under construction, among construction debris and hammering, that M. Lagorce began both religious service for the \u201ccountry folk\u201d of Coteau-Saint-Louis, and regular education for deaf-mutes in 1850.18<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But locating the Institution there was problematic: \u201cAt the time, Mile End was so far from the city centre that communication was extremely difficult, and resources limited.\u201d19<\/a>\u00a0As Antoine Bertrand, historian of the Clercs de Saint-Viateur in Qu\u00e9bec explained, \u201cthe Institution site added new difficulties. Isolated in the middle of the northern quarries, exposed to all the winds and snow drifts of winter, our house was the despair of the econome, <\/i>who was forced to walk a mile and more to reach a place for supplies.20<\/a>\u00a0In addition, the Institution chapel\u2014which was supposed to serve the \u201ccountry folk\u201d of the Coteau\u2014was far from the village of C\u00f4te Saint-Louis, whose centre was located much further east, at the intersection of what are now Berri St. and Laurier Ave.<\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/a>

Figure 1 \u2013 Institution des sourds-muets, between 1850 and 1878. It was located at the southeast corner of what are now Laurier Avenue and Saint-Dominique Street.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Figure<\/a>

Figure 2 \u2013 The Institution, after the addition of two storeys, in 1878 (Les Clercs de Saint-Viateur au Canada…)<\/p><\/div>\n

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The decision to install not only the chapel, but also the primary school for Coteau children, in the Institution building created friction, because the majority of villagers worked in the quarries to the east and obviously wanted these facilities to be located closer to where they lived.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, the population was concentrated unevenly in two areas. The larger portion lived on the east side near the Bellair Tanneries, where the commissioners lived [administrators of the village of C\u00f4te Saint-Louis, many of whom were quarry owners]; the western area accounted for only a small group of residents, living around the hillock on which the Institution was located, on lots donated by Dr. Pierre Beaubien \u201cfor the good and the benefit of the Church\u201d. The impression was that the chapel was the property of the Commissioners and that, to make any changes, required their assent, with a majority of them still feeling a bit bitter because the church was not built near the tanneries.21<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This slight \u201cbitterness\u201d did not make Mgr. Bourget back down, on the contrary. During a voyage in Europe, Bishop Bourget convinced another French religious community, the Clercs de Saint-Viateur, to settle in Canada not only to manage the Institution, but also to construct the church building to serve the future parish. The Bishop entrusted this mandate to the person who was to become the first parish priest, Father Fran\u00e7ois-Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Lahaye. Funds were raised through a subscription drive in 1857-58. The La Minerve <\/i>article cited above gives a good idea of the strategy for this fundraising program: \u201cGiving a church\u201d to these \u201cpoor\u201d people, means \u201cpreventing them from emigrating, and preparing an honest and prosperous future.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a letter to the Bishop, Father Lahaye called for \u201cforthright instructions about temperance and racing\u201d because the unmarried youth of the Coteau \u201ccannot read, love dissipating games and are prone to getting lost on Sunday.\u201d22<\/a>\u00a0The ceremony to bless the cornerstone, on Sunday, June 15, 1857, had the appearance of a veritable pilgrimage:<\/p>\n

In the afternoon, another solemnity; another celebration. It was the blessing of the cornerstone for the new \u00c9glise St. Viateur [the name originally given to what would become the \u00c9glise de l\u2019Enfant-J\u00e9sus], in C\u00f4teau St. Louis.\u201d One could say that Montreal travelled there almost in its entirety. Although it is true that the site where the religious ceremony would be held was most picturesque. The clergy, congregations, societies of the locality and the town had come, standing in two rows, near the barrier, to wait and form a procession for the Lord Bishop of Montreal. The festival was magnificent.23<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the opening of the church, on December 25, 1858, did not end the friction between the two communities of Coteau-Saint-Louis. Clashes and brawls between the Pieds-Noirs<\/i> of the quarries on the east (their nickname refers to their feet being dirtied by their workplace) and the Nombrils-Jaunes<\/i> (named for the effect of the dyes they used in the Mile End tanneries) were subject to much discussion over many years. This feud is still one of the important myths about the Plateau\u2019s early days. The Chronicle of the Saint-Viateur Clerics discreetly alluded to this:<\/p>\n

These semi-urbanites brought from their native village the instinct of the mob and group dislike. The Pieds-Noirs<\/i>, from the quarry district did not adore with tender love their Coteau-Saint-Louis neighbours, who also bore a very graphic nickname. The meeting of the two clans, on the steps of the Mile End Church, led at times to tragi-comic scenes.24<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Saint-Viateur priests tried to serve both communities equitably but difficulties arose. As a result, after the death of Father Lahaye in 1861, Mgr. Bourget was forced to call a temporary retreat and asked the Suplicians to take over management of the religious outpost. According to Robert Rumily, this was due to the fact that even if the church served a very large area, attendance at services was low.25<\/a>\u00a0The Clercs de Saint-Viateur returned when the chapel officially became a parish, in 1867.<\/p>\n

Accepting the evidence that the elementary school located in the Institution building in 1853 was too far from where most children lived, the Clercs<\/i> tranferred it \u201cto a small house on Saint-Louis Street [today\u2019s Laurier Avenue], a short distance west of Saint-Denis Street.26<\/a>The school was called the \u00c9cole des Tanneries. The situation improved by 1879 when the number of Mile End residents increased enough to justify the opening of a second school near the Institution des sourds-muets, \u00c9cole Saint-Louis.27<\/a><\/p>\n

The need to link the village of C\u00f4te Saint-Louis with the church in Mile End also had a permanent influence on the neighbourhood: Laurier Avenue (originally called Saint-Louis Road, or rue de l\u2019\u00c9glise [Church Street], was laid out for this purpose. In 1933, Superior Court JudgeGaspard Dauth,\u00a0Le dioc\u00e8se de Montr\u00e9al \u00e0 la fin du 19e si\u00e8cle<\/i>, op. cit., p. 208. Paul-G\u00e9d\u00e9on Martineau, then 75 and claiming the title \u201cthe oldest member of the Pieds-Noirs tribe\u201d described scenes from his childhood:<\/p>\n

A stream, which had its source in the mountain, flowed from the north side of the rue de l\u2019\u00c9glise [now Laurier Avenue]. It crossed that street under a bridge near what is now Saint-Denis Street. A bit further, it flowed under another bridge at the rue des Carri\u00e8res and then got lost in a larger watercourse leading to Lafontaine Park, which was then simply Logan farm. (\u2026)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Judge Martineau recalled catching crayfish as a boy, in this stream near the first school for the Deaf established by the Clercs de Saint-Viateur. On rue de l\u2019\u00c9glise (now Laurier Avenue), there wasn\u2019t a single house east of Saint-Laurent Boulevard. The street was simply a dirt road, allowing the Pieds-Noirs<\/i> to get to the Enfant-J\u00e9sus church.28<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/a>

Figure 3 \u2013 The first Enfant-J\u00e9sus Church (Archives des Clercs de Saint-Viateur)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Figure<\/a>

Figure 4 \u2013 The first priest of Saint-Enfant-J\u00e9sus, Father Lahaye (P\u00e8re Fran\u00e7ois-Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Lahaye\u2026)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Red against Blue<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

In the same interview, Martineau \u2013 who was also a Liberal politician and alderman for Saint-Denis ward, which replaced the town of C\u00f4te Saint-Louis after its annexation by Montreal in 1893 \u2013 went on to explain that the tensions between the two communities had political foundations:<\/p>\n

Saint-Louis du Mile-End and Coteau-Saint-Louis had previously been one municipal territory, but disputes, not to say never-ending conflicts between Blue and Red made separation inevitable.<\/p>\n

Coteau-Saint-Louis, and its village des Pieds-Noirs, was strongly red. Its residents swore by the name of Dorion (Sir Antoine-Aim\u00e9), who was one of the Liberal Party\u2019s most important leaders. On the other hand, Saint-Louis du Mile-End was of royal blue tint and subject to the influence of the Beaubien family, whose leader, Louis Beaubien was an excellent Minister of agriculture in Quebec City.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Louis Beaubien was not only an \u201cexcellent Minister of agriculture\u201d (Conservative), but like his father, a benefactor for the Institution des sourds-muets: the Clercs de Saint-Viateur expressed their appreciation to him for the annual provincial subsidy, which increased from $600 in 1853 to $9861 in 1884.29<\/a>\u00a0Charity begins at home, of course: support for the Institution and the Church consolidated the institutional node of the parish, making it the centre of a large area that was about to urbanize. Canonical erection of the parish in 1867 and its municipal recognition in 1875 were the next steps. \u201cThe territory assigned to the new parish was immense; it stretched from the C\u00f4te-des-Neiges to Papineau Road, even extending to a point north of Maisonneuve to encompass C\u00f4te Visitation, and included the entire Saint-Jean Baptiste village [today a district].\u201d30<\/a><\/p>\n

The institutional grouping was complemented by creation of Lahaie Park\u2014on lots located in front of the Church, also donated by the Beaubien family, in 1875\u2014and the arrival of two other institutions. In 1874, the convent and asylum of the S\u0153urs de la Providence were built just south of the Church. It was joined by Saint-Louis School in 1879, located a bit further north, on Fairmount Avenue, on the northeastern corner of Saint-Dominique.31<\/a><\/p>\n

The Institution des sourds-muets continued to expand. In 1878 the Clercs de Saint-Viateur added two storeys to the initial building. In 1881 the printing, binding and shoemaking facilities were moved to the other side of what is now Laurier Avenue, on the site of today\u2019s Saint-Michel Park; a passageway connected the two buildings.32<\/a>
\n<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

The St.-Louis du Mile End institutional hub, anchored with the creation of the \u201ctown square\u201d dominated by Lahaie Park and the Church, was extending northward, along the current Saint-Dominique Street, then called Beaubien Avenue.33<\/a>Houses along this street built on land subdivided by the family were of higher quality than the modest nearby workers\u2019 duplexes. This built morphology is still clearly visible today. At the end of Saint-Dominique Street, the Beaubien family prepared to create the other linchpin of its strategy to develop its properties: a railway station.<\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/a>

Figure 4 – Lahaie Park, named in honour of Father Lahaye, 1898. The original fa\u00e7ade of the church is visible in the background. (City of Montr\u00e9al Archives)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Figure<\/a>

Figure 5 – \u00c9cole Saint-Louis, Clercs de Saint-Viateur, circa 1885. It was located on the north side of Fairmount Avenue, between Saint-Laurent and Saint-Dominique. (Les Clercs de Saint-Viateur au Canada\u2026)<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read the first part: Pierre Beaubien, Doctor and Landlord Second Part: A parish in the middle of nowhere The Institution for the Deaf became the first establishment in what was to become the parish centre and a growing village at Mile End. Created in 1848, the Institution was first located in a modest house in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[30],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2893"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2893"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2933,"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2893\/revisions\/2933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memoire.mile-end.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}