NAPOLEON GALLANT’S FAMILY INFORMATION

 

Napoleon Gallant (July 15, 1838 - Feb. 20, 1926) married Catherine Clark (1842­-1933) in St. Simon and St. Jude Roman Catholic Church, Tignish, Prince Edward Island, Canada on November 10, 1863. Father D. Jerome McIssac officiated.

 

When Catherine and Napoleon were first married, they lived with Napoleon's parents, Sylvain Hache Gallant and Marie Gaudet Gallant on Lot One, Nail Pond, Tignish, P. E. I. This home was built by Sylvain and his grandfather Prospere Gallant. It was later willed to Napoleon's son, James. Both Napoleon and Catherine died there.

 

Napoleon was a farmer and a Stage Coach Clerk for the Post Office. He also worked for J. C. Pope who owned a fishing company (taken from the 1881 census). Catherine Clark was the daughter of John and Mary Shreenan Clark (each lot on P. E. I. encompassed thousands of Acres, so many families were living on the same lot or district). Napoleon and Catherine had eleven children born in Tignish, P. E. I.  Their Children are:

 

Francis (Frank) (1864-1942), married Francis (Fanny) McIver. They lived in Tignish, Newton and Kinkora, P.E.I. They had ten children.

 

Ervustus “Morris” (Elislav) (1867) married Ann McCue.  They had nine children:

Fred, Albert, Robert, Joseph, Lilly, Emily Winnifred, Alley, Gertude and Mary Theresa.

 

Thomas (1868-     ) He married (unknown). They lived in Manchester, New

          Hampshire. Their children are: Leon, Annie and Agnes.

          He remarried Cornelia Gaudet.  They had a foster child, Elcide.

          Thomas was a successful meat cutter. Thomas died in Prince Edward Island.

 

Elizabeth A. (Annie) (1866-1929) Married Vincent Arsenault (1862-1926) and lived in Portland, Maine. They had three children: Leo, Albert and Mary (May).

 

Mary Ellen (1870-1939) married Joseph O. Gaudet (1868-1932) in 1894. They lived in Tignish, P .E.I. until they moved to Lawrence, MA in 1898 or 1899. Joseph H. Gaudet was their only child born in Tignish, P. E. I. The rest of the children were born in Lawrence, MA. They had six children:

-Joseph H. (1898-1983) married Florence Risley in 1923. They had four children.

-John J. (1899­) who is still living.

-Margaret A. (1903- ), in 1923 she became a Sister of Norte Dame. She is known as Sister Mary Estelle.

-Mary Rose Catherine (1905- ), who died young.

-Mary Emily (1907- )who married Carl E. Hewlin in 1944. They had no children.

-Mary Rose Cecilia (1910-1924).

 

John Alfred (1871- ) married Jane Handrahan and lived in on Palmer Road Tignish, P.E.!. They had nine children: Annie, Leo, William, Charles, Raymond, Rositta, Margaret, Clara and Gerald.

 

James (Jim) (1880-1966) married Bridget Ahern (1890-1957) and lived in Tignish, P.E.!.  Their children are:

-Bernetta married Ed Arsenault lives in Toronto, Ont. they had no children. She died in 1981.

-Ethel married Herman Doyle (separated) and lives in Toronto. Their children are Carl, Mary Frances and Gerarda. Ethel died in 1980.

-Frances remained single and lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

-Ruth married George Dupont and lives in Calgary.

-Mary Jo married Allan MacLellan and lives in Toronto. They had no children.

-Camilla remained single and lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

-Mark married Arlean Perry (originally Poirier). They live on Lot 1 at Nail Pond, Tignish, P. E. I. They had nine children.  Their children are: Karen, Shane, Kerry, Helen, John died in 1985, Paula, Donna, Peter and Rodney.

 

George H. (1881- ) remained single and lives in Nail Pond, Tignish, P.E.I.

 

Joseph A. (1876- )

 

Clara A. (1874-1972) married Thomas (J.P.) Doucette they lived in Summerside, P.E.!. They had six children. Their children are:

       -Mary Winnifred (1906- ) who married William H. Chapman in 1927. They had four children, William, Robert, Frank and Richard who died in North Korea. She remarried George Frazer in 1935. Mary Winnifred lives in Aberdeen, MD.

       -Arthur J (1907- ) who married Rachel Randolph they had four children, Joseph Arthur (Jad), Chris, Peter and Ann. They lived in Jackson, N. H.

       -Catherine (Marie) (1910- ) married Meeker. They had two children Joyce and Donald. Married Frank Burke. They had no children. They live in Jackson N.H.

          -Mary A. (1913- ) who married Arthur Gaudet. They had nine children, Audrey, Eileen, twins Jean & Joan, David, Betty Ann, Mary, Eleanor and Kenneth. They live in Summerside, P.E.I.

          -Agnes E. (1916- ) who married Donald Peterson. They had no children. They live in Brunswick, Maine.

          -Thomas Hugh (1916-1979) who married Margaret Villard. They had no children. Agnes and Thomas were twins.

 

William (Willie) who died in his teens.

 

 

CATHERINE CLARK’S FAMILY INFORMATION

 

 

Catherine Clark Gallant (1842-1933) was a great homemaker. From a letter written by her granddaughter, Mrs. Mary Winnifred (Winnie Doucette) Frazer, I quote:

 

"Grandmother Catherine's home was well organized and clean, much like the Mennonites or Shakers' homes. Church-going and self-­discipline were extremely important as well as promptness and dedication to work. Sunday was a special day; children were never ignored."

 

"Catherine still had reddish hair as a grandmother. She always dressed in dark clothes and was so clean and neat that she looked as if she were going to Church. Napoleon was the same. His goatee added a note of distinction to his appearance. Catherine sat at the head of the table while Napoleon sat to her left. They began the meals with a blessing a prayer / and ended them with grace. The rosary was said each day after early supper before the milking of the cows. When all the milking and barn chores were finished, another meal was served. After the dishes were washed, put away and the floor swept, all went to bed."

 

"When all the bedrooms in this large house were occupied, the children could sleep in the large bedroom over the kitchen. There were small iron beds and sometimes we grandchildren slept there."

 

"My mother (Clara Gallant) and grandmother Catherine were always busy. They did a lot of cooking together. They made all their clothes. They knit the men's underwear, wove blankets, carded and spun the wool after it had been washed. They hooked rugs and also braided rugs."

 

"They taught Arthur, my brother and me our prayers and Catechism. They read children's' rhymes and fairy tales to us."

"Grandpa Napoleon took Arthur and me out to check the lobster traps. He also told us stories of the Micmac Indians."

 

"In later years, after we got our own house, our grandparents visited us. They brought us conversation candy and were always interested in our school work. "

 

"Everything was done on the farm even the making of furniture. My Uncle George Gallant used to make lovely doll furniture. In later years when I visited Prince Edward Island, I wondered what had ever happened to those beautiful pieces, but I don't remember ever seeing even a broken toy around. Grandmother Catherine taught me to sew by hand and make doll clothes. She even taught me quilting patterns. We were also taught to draw and do scissor-cutting."

 

"In 1912, my brother Arthur and I looked forward to visiting our grandparents in the summer. There was an old building at Nail Pond shore which had once been a store. Here they spent the summers working."

 

"Grandfather Napoleon used the first floor as a machine shop. We watched him make small oil cans and grind corn. He also repaired furniture. There were cobwebs in the corners of the room loaded with large spiders. These were not to be touched as they were fly-catchers. The walls were pasted with newspapers as well as holy cards. I would have loved to spend time there when I was older to read what was on the walls. I could learn much of the past. Sad to say, when I did return the walls were covered with white-wash.”

 

"My mother, Clara A Doucette, joined grandmother Catherine upstairs over the workshop. What an interesting place! Both my grandmother and mother would be using the large and small spinning wheels. The wool carders were also there ready for use. My brother Arthur and I were allowed to explore all the contents of chests and boxes. There were blanket chests in which Grandmother Gallant put orange rinds for fragrance. The oranges came by boat once a year. She paid five cents apiece for them at the Tignish Picnic. This was a fund raiser for the Catholic Church, St. Simon and St. Jude."

 

Catherine Clark married Napoleon Gallant, November 10, 1863 in St. Simon and St. Jude Church in Tignish, P.E.I. Catherine was twenty-one years old. Her sister Mary Clark and Bernard Perry were the witnesses. Father D. Jerome McIssac officiated. Catherine was the oldest child of John Clark and Mary Shreenan Clark. Catherine's parents were both born in Ireland. They emigrated from County Monahan, Ireland in 1840 to Prince Edward Island. (Her grandfather had also been named John Clark.)

 

In the Census of 1891, John Clark is listed as a miller living with his wife Mary and family on Lot 1, Nail Pond, Tignish, P.E.I.  Catherine parents had nine children all born on Prince Edward Island. Their Children are:

 

Catherine (1842-1933) married Napoleon Gallant. They had eleven children.

 

John (1844-1927) who married Margaret Clohossey. They lived on

Palmer Road, Tignish. They had one adopted child, George.

 

Michael, who married Mary Ann                       .

 

Susan

 

Ellen (1852-1943) who married Jeremiah Perry. They lived on Palmer

Road, Tignish. They had three children.  Ernest, Joseph and Mary Susan (Minnie).