Lodoisca's House!

Here is a picture of Lodoisca's house that she had built after her husband, Cleophas, died in 1910. The house was built in 1916. What my Great Aunt Dorothy Proulx told me about the family and this house is really cool. I can't say it any better than my Auntie Dot who actually knew most of these people so I will share with you the e-mail she sent me. 

E-mail from Dorothy Proulx 22 JAN 2011

"She had the house built. There were carpenters in the Dallaire Family. No doubt her brothers must have helped out. Her daughter Emma's husband was a carpenter. He was the one who bought all the material, as women in our small town were not acknowledged in business. All her receipts are made out to her son-in-law.

It is a cottage with 3 rooms on the first floor, a large kitchen with a pantry for dishes and pots and pans.  From the kitchen, there was one door to enter the dining room, and one other door for the living room, which was at the front of the house. The bathroom was just a small room off the kitchen with a toilet and a tub. The house had central heat (steam with radiators). On the other wall opposite the kitchen was the entrance to the 3 upstairs bedrooms. Next to the stairs was a door to go into the cellar (Coal was used to heat the house.)

There was one bedroom for Lodoisca & Cleophas, one for the boys and one for the girls. There was a front porch running the length of the house.

At the rear of the house was a large barn for horses. Lodoisca had helped her 3 oldest sons to start a business, mostly moving furniture and even a house or two, with the help of several horses and wagons. Arthur was the son who kept the business going until he was drafted into the army during WWII. By then, he had trucks instead of horses. I remember the barn with one horse. My cousin and I would sit up in the wagons and pretend we were in the Wild West! That was way back in around 1936 to 1939.

Britt, you may not know it, but you have passed that house at least a few times passing through Warren.

My cousin's daughter lives there now with her family. She is a gr-granddaughter of Lodoisca & Cleophas."

Look at all that history! The house had central heat and coal was used to heat the house, one room for the boys and one room for the girls, starting their own business, getting drafted during WWII! I love reading about those who came before us and what they experienced. And all this information that I gained from just asking my Auntie Dot about the house can lead me to more records! I can now search for Arthur's WWII Draft Registration card. Also, my aunt has sent me lots of legal documents concerning the house. And the fact that the house is still in the family is so cool! I could potentially go visit and meet some distant relatives and see what they remember about our ancestors and see inside the house! I love the stories that I can learn from talking to my living relatives about their pasts and about our relatives that have passed on that they knew. I especially love the story my Auntie Dot wrote in the above e-mail about sitting on the wagons and pretending she was in the Wild West! I can just picture her having so much fun and laughing really hard. Love you Auntie Dot! :) 

So my Aunt sent me a whole lot of documents. I'm going to post here the "IOU" to Joseph W. Martin who lent Lodoisca money to build the house. 

It was made on 21 December 1916. As my Auntie told me on the next document, "when Martin died, the bank became the holder of Lodoisca's mortgage." I think Joseph Martin was a pretty generous guy and I think it's really cool that he Loaned money to my gr-gr-great grandmother Lodoisca so she could build the house she wanted and needed for her and her children. He may not have even realized that he'd be affecting generations!