The Representative, Leduc, Alberta, March 15, 1978*<\/strong> [NOTE: French translation follows]<\/strong><\/p>\n Page 24<\/strong><\/p>\n The following is the first in a [four] part series on the history of Beaumont.<\/p>\n Resource material has been compiled from La Survivance June 17, 1942 issue, History of the Louise Goudreau contributed valuable notes from her class project on the village and Mrs. It is essential to understand the powerful and all pervasive influence of the church in the As well as spiritual leadership, the parish priest very often comprised the only village ties with Beaumont was the church and the church Beaumont for as long as people needed the security ***<\/strong><\/p>\n Perhaps it was because the rolling hills and little lakes and park-like nature of the land reminded With the coming of the railroad, families from Quebec, Minnesota and North Dakota settled in For many years, life in these small communities revolved around the church. The people relied Land for homesteading was sold for $10 in the area. Life was hard with few or no amenities for By the fall of 1893, the need for a school was felt. The French and English of the district built a That same spring, the community applied to Bishop Grandin of St. Albert to form their own In the fall of 1894, Father Poitras was sent by Father Grandin as the parish\u2019s first pastor. His Construction was completed in the spring of 1895. In gratitude, the parish chose as its patron However, soon after, difficulties arose. Some of the parishioners wished to change the site of At this time, the settlement underwent a change of name. A group of English settlers who lived a Now that the church was built, items for divine worship were installed. A bell weighing 800 In July 1885, a petition was sent to the government asking for weekly postal service from In the spring of 1886, Reverend Father Beauparlant of Montreal came to Beaumont and took Beaumont was gradually growing. By June 1897, the people were pleased to learn that their New settlers were moving in but some were also returning to their places of origin. Life was full As Father Beauparlant had been postmaster, the post office was then moved to the Edmond In September 1898, Father A. Ethier became rector of the parish. He was to be the first priest to The fall of 1899 saw the erection of a few buildings close to the church. This was the start of the Pg. 25<\/strong><\/p>\n the church. Prior to this, a small trading post had been maintained by Henry Lampon a mile or In 1899, a group of 38 farmers formed an incorporated company called Compagnie de Moulins Thus, Beaumont moved into the 20th century firmly established as a community with an active (To be continued)<\/strong><\/p>\n FRENCH<\/strong><\/p>\n Pg. 24 The Representative, Leduc, Alberta, 15 mars 1978<\/strong><\/p>\n Beaumont – une illustration historique<\/strong><\/p>\n Par Barbara Willis<\/strong><\/p>\n Ce qui suit est le premier volet d’une s\u00e9rie en [quatre] parties sur l’histoire de Beaumont.<\/p>\n Les ressources utilis\u00e9es proviennent du num\u00e9ro du 17 juin 1942 de La Survivance, de l’ouvrage History of the Catholic Church in Central Alberta<\/em> et, surtout, des souvenirs des r\u00e9sidents de longue date de Beaumont.<\/p>\n Louise Goudreau a apport\u00e9 une contribution pr\u00e9cieuse en fournissant des notes tir\u00e9es de son projet scolaire sur le village, et Mme Annette Gobeil a fourni une traduction fid\u00e8le des documents en fran\u00e7ais.<\/p>\n Il est essentiel de comprendre l’influence puissante et omnipr\u00e9sente de l’\u00c9glise dans la cr\u00e9ation et la croissance de petites communaut\u00e9s telles que Beaumont. L’\u00c9glise \u00e9tait la raison m\u00eame de l’existence du village, car sans elle, le district serait peut-\u00eatre rest\u00e9 un ensemble de fermes dispers\u00e9es, sans v\u00e9ritable noyau communautaire. L’\u00c9glise apportait r\u00e9confort, assurance, force et espoir pour rester optimiste.<\/p>\n Outre son r\u00f4le de guide spirituel, le cur\u00e9 de la paroisse \u00e9tait tr\u00e8s souvent le seul lien du village avec l’alphab\u00e9tisation et l’\u00e9ducation. Beaucoup de gens ne savaient ni lire ni \u00e9crire et le cur\u00e9 jouait un r\u00f4le pr\u00e9cieux de liaison avec le monde ext\u00e9rieur.<\/p>\n Beaumont \u00e9tait l’\u00e9glise et l’\u00e9glise \u00e9tait Beaumont tant que les gens avaient besoin de la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 et de la protection offertes dans une lutte autrement f\u00e9roce et acharn\u00e9e pour se cr\u00e9er une vie \u00e0 la fronti\u00e8re de l’Ouest canadien.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n C’\u00e9tait peut-\u00eatre parce que les collines ondulantes, les petits lacs et la nature semblable \u00e0 un parc leur rappelaient leurs provinces natales, l’Ontario et le Qu\u00e9bec. Quelles qu’en soient les raisons, les premiers colons du district de Leduc ont choisi les r\u00e9gions de Beaumont et de Clearwater pour s’installer dans l’Ouest.<\/p>\n Avec l’arriv\u00e9e du chemin de fer, des familles du Qu\u00e9bec, du Minnesota et du Dakota du Nord se sont install\u00e9es dans ce qui est aujourd’hui la r\u00e9gion de Beaumont. Au tout d\u00e9but des ann\u00e9es 1890, les familles Chartier, Dumont et Brunelle s’install\u00e8rent dans le district, suivies peu apr\u00e8s par les Bolduc, Morin, Juneau, Dubord, Lachapelle, Lambert, Fouquette, Onette, Gagnon, Charest, Royer, Goudreau et B\u00e9rub\u00e9. Au printemps 1893, la nouvelle colonie comptait plus de 20 familles. Le district \u00e9tait alors connu sous le nom de Sandy Lake.<\/p>\n Pendant de nombreuses ann\u00e9es, la vie dans ces petites communaut\u00e9s tournait autour de l’\u00e9glise. Les gens comptaient dans une large mesure sur le pr\u00eatre pour son leadership et ses conseils. La paroisse de Beaumont, situ\u00e9e \u00e0 24 km au sud-est d’Edmonton et \u00e0 16 km au nord de Leduc, ne b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiait d’aucun des avantages susceptibles d’attirer les colons, tels que les chemins de fer ou les mines de charbon. La communaut\u00e9 doit plut\u00f4t son existence \u00e0 la fertilit\u00e9 de la terre et \u00e0 l’\u00e9glise construite peu apr\u00e8s l’arriv\u00e9e des premiers colons.<\/p>\n Les terres destin\u00e9es \u00e0 la colonisation \u00e9taient vendues 10 dollars dans la r\u00e9gion. La vie \u00e9tait dure pour ces premiers colons, qui disposaient de peu ou pas de commodit\u00e9s. Au d\u00e9but, la messe \u00e9tait c\u00e9l\u00e9br\u00e9e par le p\u00e8re Perreault, de la mission de Stony Plain, dans des maisons priv\u00e9es, g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement chez Louis Chartier. En 1894, la communaut\u00e9 re\u00e7ut la visite du p\u00e8re Lacombe, venu consoler et encourager les nouveaux arrivants sur ces terres.<\/p>\n \u00c0 l’automne 1893, le besoin d’une \u00e9cole se fit sentir. Les francophones et les anglophones du district construisirent une \u00e9cole primaire catholique publique qu’ils baptis\u00e8rent \u00ab Fouquette \u00bb au printemps 1894 sur le terrain de M. Johnson. La premi\u00e8re enseignante fut Mlle J. Haydon.<\/p>\n Au printemps de la m\u00eame ann\u00e9e, la communaut\u00e9 a demand\u00e9 \u00e0 Mgr Grandin, \u00e9v\u00eaque de St. Albert, de cr\u00e9er sa propre paroisse. L’\u00e9v\u00eaque a achet\u00e9 dix acres de terrain appartenant \u00e0 la Compagnie de la Baie d’Hudson pour 50 $. Le p\u00e8re Lacombe a choisi l’emplacement o\u00f9 serait construite l’\u00e9glise. M. Chartier a fait don de 20 acres suppl\u00e9mentaires pour le terrain de l’\u00e9glise. Ces 30 acres ont constitu\u00e9 la base du village de Beaumont.<\/p>\n \u00c0 l’automne 1894, le p\u00e8re Poitras fut envoy\u00e9 par le p\u00e8re Grandin comme premier cur\u00e9 de la paroisse. Sa t\u00e2che imm\u00e9diate \u00e9tait de construire l’\u00e9glise et le presbyt\u00e8re.<\/p>\n La construction fut achev\u00e9e au printemps 1895. En signe de gratitude, la paroisse choisit comme saint patron Saint-Vital, en l’honneur du v\u00e9n\u00e9rable \u00e9v\u00eaque de Saint-Albert, Monseigneur Vital Grandin.<\/p>\n Cependant, peu apr\u00e8s, des difficult\u00e9s sont apparues. Certains paroissiens souhaitaient changer l’emplacement de l’\u00e9glise, tandis que d’autres voulaient qu’elle reste telle qu’elle avait \u00e9t\u00e9 construite. L’\u00c9glise a d\u00e9cr\u00e9t\u00e9 qu’elle devait rester \u00e0 son emplacement d’origine. La premi\u00e8re grand-messe a \u00e9t\u00e9 c\u00e9l\u00e9br\u00e9e dans la nouvelle \u00e9glise le 30 juin 1895.<\/p>\n \u00c0 cette \u00e9poque, la colonie changea de nom. Un groupe de colons anglais qui vivaient \u00e0 proximit\u00e9 de l’\u00e9glise souhaitaient conserver le nom de Sandy Lake, et leur demande fut accept\u00e9e. Mais pour comm\u00e9morer l’emplacement magnifique de la paroisse catholique sur la cr\u00eate d’une colline, le village fut baptis\u00e9 Beaumont (qui signifie \u00ab belle colline \u00bb). Le nom de Beaumont aurait \u00e9t\u00e9 sugg\u00e9r\u00e9 par John Royer, l’un des colons.<\/p>\n Une fois l’\u00e9glise construite, les objets n\u00e9cessaires au culte divin ont \u00e9t\u00e9 install\u00e9s. Une cloche pesant 800 livres a \u00e9t\u00e9 apport\u00e9e de Montr\u00e9al pour 100 $. Le calice, les burettes, l’encensoir et le linge d’autel ont \u00e9t\u00e9 fournis par Mgr Grandin. Il a organis\u00e9 une collecte pour acheter les v\u00eatements sacr\u00e9s, les stations du chemin de croix, etc. Enfin, de nombreux paroissiens ont fait don d’objets pour aider \u00e0 la d\u00e9coration du sanctuaire de l’\u00e9glise.<\/p>\n En juillet 1885, une p\u00e9tition a \u00e9t\u00e9 envoy\u00e9e au gouvernement pour demander un service postal hebdomadaire entre Edmonton et le district de Sandy Lake. Deux mois plus tard, M. Ludger Gagnon a \u00e9t\u00e9 nomm\u00e9 ma\u00eetre de poste. Le courrier \u00e9tait achemin\u00e9 \u00e0 Ellerslie tous les vendredis, puis livr\u00e9 \u00e0 Beaumont.<\/p>\n Au printemps 1886, le r\u00e9v\u00e9rend p\u00e8re Beauparlant, de Montr\u00e9al, est venu \u00e0 Beaumont et a pris la direction de la paroisse. Il a v\u00e9cu dans la r\u00e9sidence Chartier pendant la construction du presbyt\u00e8re, qui a pris presque tout l’\u00e9t\u00e9. Le petit presbyt\u00e8re \u00e9tait construit en rondins taill\u00e9s et ne mesurait que 20 pieds carr\u00e9s.<\/p>\n Beaumont grandissait progressivement. En juin 1897, les habitants furent ravis d’apprendre que leur service postal serait \u00e9tabli deux fois par semaine.<\/p>\n De nouveaux colons s’installaient, mais certains retournaient \u00e9galement dans leur lieu d’origine. La vie \u00e9tait pleine de difficult\u00e9s. Il fallait d\u00e9fricher la terre, les r\u00e9coltes \u00e9taient parfois maigres et les march\u00e9s pour les produits agricoles commen\u00e7aient tout juste \u00e0 s’ouvrir, de sorte que l’argent \u00e9tait tr\u00e8s rare. Le p\u00e8re Beauparlant fut l’un de ceux qui succomb\u00e8rent \u00e0 la duret\u00e9 de la vie. Il quitta Beaumont en d\u00e9cembre 1897.<\/p>\n Comme le p\u00e8re Beauparlant \u00e9tait ma\u00eetre de poste, le bureau de poste fut alors transf\u00e9r\u00e9 \u00e0 la r\u00e9sidence d’Edmond Bonin et Mme Bonin devint ma\u00eetresse de poste.<\/p>\n En septembre 1898, le p\u00e8re A. Ethier devint recteur de la paroisse. Il fut le premier pr\u00eatre \u00e0 exercer une r\u00e9elle influence sur la communaut\u00e9. L’ann\u00e9e 1898 fut une bonne ann\u00e9e pour les colons, tant sur le plan climatique et agricole que sur le plan spirituel, avec l’arriv\u00e9e du p\u00e8re Ethier, et sur le plan mat\u00e9riel, avec l’augmentation de la population et des services. Les deux districts, Sandy Lake et Beaumont, comptaient d\u00e9sormais quelque 45 familles francophones et 30 familles anglophones. Les familles francophones poss\u00e9daient au total environ 70 quarts de section de terres agricoles.<\/p>\n \u00c0 l’automne 1899, quelques b\u00e2timents ont \u00e9t\u00e9 construits pr\u00e8s de l’\u00e9glise. Ce fut le d\u00e9but du village tel qu’on le conna\u00eet aujourd’hui. M. J.E. Lavigne, qui avait ouvert un magasin dans sa maison en ao\u00fbt 1898, a construit un magasin au nord-est de l’\u00e9glise.<\/p>\n Pg. 25<\/p>\n Auparavant, Henry Lampon tenait un petit comptoir commercial \u00e0 environ un kilom\u00e8tre et demi de l’emplacement final du village. L’une des filles de M. Lavigne a ouvert une boutique pr\u00e8s du magasin. M. Fred Long a ouvert une forge \u00e0 proximit\u00e9. M. Fran\u00e7ois Vall\u00e9e, \u00e0 sa retraite, s’est fait construire une maison dans le village. Ces b\u00e2timents, ainsi que l’\u00e9glise, le presbyt\u00e8re, le bureau de poste, le magasin et les maisons des Gagnon, Lavigne et Chartier, constituaient le village de Beaumont.<\/p>\n En 1899, un groupe de 38 agriculteurs a form\u00e9 une soci\u00e9t\u00e9 constitu\u00e9e en personne morale appel\u00e9e Compagnie de Moulins de Beaumont, Limit\u00e9e (Harvest Company of Beaumont Limited). \u00c0 la fin du mois de septembre 1899, les nouvelles machines tournaient \u00e0 plein r\u00e9gime et, apr\u00e8s cinq semaines de travail, la coop\u00e9rative affichait un b\u00e9n\u00e9fice de 600 $.<\/p>\n C’est ainsi que Beaumont est entr\u00e9 dans le XXe si\u00e8cle, solidement \u00e9tabli en tant que communaut\u00e9 dot\u00e9e d’une base commerciale active et d’une vie sociale et spirituelle centr\u00e9e sur l’\u00e9glise.<\/p>\n
\nBeaumont – An Historical Illustration<\/strong>
\nBy Barbara Willis<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nCatholic Church in Central Alberta and most importantly from the memories of the longtime
\nresidents of Beaumont.<\/p>\n
\nAnnette Gobeil provided a sensitive translation of French material.<\/p>\n
\nestablishment and growth of small communities such as Beaumont. The church was the very
\nreason for the village\u2019s existence, for without the church first, the district would perhaps have
\nremained scattered farms with little or no community core. The church provided comfort,
\nreassurance, strength, and hope to remain optimistic.<\/p>\n
\nliteracy and education. Many people could not read or write and the priest performed a valuable
\ncommunication link with the outside world.<\/p>\n
\nand protection offered in an otherwise fierce and hard-fought struggle to create a life in the
\nfrontier of western Canada.<\/p>\n
\nthem of their native provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Whatever the reasons, the first settlers to
\nthe Leduc district chose the Beaumont and Clearwater areas first for their new homes in the
\nwest.<\/p>\n
\nwhat is now the Beaumont area. In the very early 1890\u2019s, the Chartier, Dumont and Brunelle
\nfamilies came to the district followed shortly thereafter by the Bolducs, Morins, Juneaus,
\nDubords, Lachapelles, Lamberts, Fouquettes, Onettes, Gagnons, Charests, Royers, Goudreaus
\nand B\u00e9rub\u00e9s. By the spring of 1893, the new settlement had built up to over 20 families. The
\ndistrict was then known as Sandy Lake.<\/p>\n
\nto a great extent on the priest for his leadership and guidance. The parish of Beaumont, situated
\n15 miles south east of south Edmonton and ten miles north of Leduc, had none of the
\nadvantages of special conditions which attract settlers, such as railroads or coal mines. But
\nrather, the community owes its existence to the fertility of the land and to the church built shortly
\nafter the arrival of the first settlers.<\/p>\n
\nthose early settlers. At first, mass was celebrated by Father Perreault from the Mission of Stony
\nPlain, in private homes, usually in the Louis Chartier residence. In 1894, the community was
\nvisited by Father Lacombe who came to console and encourage the newcomers to this land.<\/p>\n
\npublic Catholic Elementary school which they named \u201cFouquette\u201d in the spring of 1894 on Mr.
\nJohnson\u2019s land. The first teacher was Mlle. J. Haydon.<\/p>\n
\nparish. The bishop purchased ten acres of land on a section belonging to the Hudson\u2019s Bay
\nCompany for $50. Father Lacombe chose the site on which to build the church. Mr. Chartier
\nmade a gift of 20 acres more land for the church grounds. These 30 acres were the foundation
\nof the village of Beaumont.<\/p>\n
\nimmediate task was to build the church and rectory.<\/p>\n
\nsaint, St. Vital after the venerable bishop St. Albert, Monseigneur Vital Grandin.<\/p>\n
\nthe church while others wanted it to remain as built. The Church decreed that it should remain in
\nits original location. The first High Mass was celebrated in the new church on June 30, 1895.<\/p>\n
\nshort distance from the church wanted to retain the name of Sandy Lake and this request was
\ngranted. But to commemorate the beautiful location of the Catholic parish on the ridge of a hill,
\nthe village was named Beaumont (meaning beautiful hill). The name of Beaumont was
\nsuggested it is said, by John Royer, one of the settlers.<\/p>\n
\npounds was brought from Montreal for $100. The chalice, cruets, censer and alter linen were
\nfurnished by Bishop Grandin. He took up a collection to buy the sacred vestments, stations of
\nthe cross, etc. Lastly, many parishioners contributed articles to aid in the decoration of the
\nchurch sanctuary.<\/p>\n
\nEdmonton to the Sandy Lake district. Two months later, Mr. Ludger Gagnon was named
\npostmaster. The mail was brought into Ellerslie every Friday and delivered from there to
\nBeaumont.<\/p>\n
\ncharge of the parish. He lived in the Chartier residence during the construction of a rectory
\nwhich took most of the summer to complete. The small presbytery was constructed of hewn logs
\nand only 20 feet square.<\/p>\n
\npostal service would be established on a bi-weekly basis.<\/p>\n
\nof hardships. Land has to be broken, crops were sometimes poor and markets for produce were
\njust opening, so money was very scarce. Father Beauparlant was one to succumb to the hard
\nlife. He left Beaumont in December 1897.<\/p>\n
\nBonin residence and Mrs. Bonin became postmistress.<\/p>\n
\nreally make his influence felt in the community. The year 1898 was a good year for the settler
\nboth in terms of weather and crops, and in terms of the growth of the community spiritually, with
\nthe arrival of Father Ethier, and materially, with increases in population and services. The two
\ndistricts, Sandy Lake and Beaumont, now supported some 45 French families and 30 English
\nspeaking families. The French families owned in total about 70 quarter sections of farm land.<\/p>\n
\nvillage as such. Mr. J.E. Lavigne, who in August 1898 opened a store in his house, built a store
\non the north east side of<\/p>\n
\nso from where the village was finally located. One of Mr. Lavigne\u2019s daughters opened a
\nboutique near the store. Mr. Fred Long opened a blacksmith\u2019s shop close by. Mr. Francois
\nVallee, upon retirement, had a house built in the village. These buildings, along with the church,
\nrectory, post office and the store and the Gagnon, Lavigne and Chartier homes, made up the
\nvillage of Beaumont.<\/p>\n
\nde Beaumont, Limitee (Harvest Company of Beaumont Limited). At the end of September 1899,
\nnew machinery was in full use and the co-operative results after five weeks of work was $600
\nprofit.<\/p>\n
\ncommercial base and social and spiritual life revolving around the church.<\/p>\n