Counting

Counting
"Counting", collage on board, 2010. The first image in the "Murphys in Griffintown" series.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Gramma Guy's

I'm deeply submerged in my current collage-"Gramma Guy's".  It is centered around Kathleen Murphy's sweetest childhood memory-the corner store, which sold penny candy.  She was close friends with Lise Guy whose grandmother owned the store at the corner of Ottawa and Eleanor Streets.  It was only a half block from where the Murphys lived, so they went often.  They would say "Let's go to Gramma Guys" and that would mean the shop on the corner.  She remembers two ladies, one fifty to sixty years of age, and the other an indescribable age...REALLY old.  Both ladies were very happy to see young Lise and Kathleen and no doubt gave great quantities of candy.

Because I love researching family history, I knew I couldn't depict the interior of the shop without knowing who they were.  I needed to research the family, the place.  I knew that the Murphys moved to Griffintown in 1948 so the store existed that year.   The most recent published Canadian Census is 1911 and it does have a number of Guy families.  But I wanted to find the family in the 1940's or 50's at the store.  I was thrilled to find a 1950 insurance map of the area at the Quebec National Archives website.  It is an amazing site with a wealth of information.


The image above shows the buildings surrounded by McCord, Ottawa and Eleanor Streets.  On the bottom right, the pink square ("SP") is 1231 Ottawa Street (at Eleanor).  I noticed it has the corner of the building lobbed off which made me think it must have been a store at one time.  You can see 265 McCord Street is on the left, with a "D" on it for Dwelling.  Insurance maps are great, because by studying them you can imagine the visual.  You can see where fire hydrants were!  It also reveals what materials the buildings were made from and for what purpose they were built.  The row houses on McCord were brick but some of the sheds behind were tin.

Also on the Quebec Archive site is year after year of Lovell's Directory.  I gasped out loud when I saw what they had.  For the years 1842 thru 1999, one can search Montrealers by name or address.  I looked for 1231 Ottawa Street in the year 1950.  Guess who lived there?  Mrs. Claire Guy (widow of Arm).  I figured that was short for Armand.


I now had two first names to run with!  Was Claire Gramma?  or was she Lise's Mother?  I knew it would be easier to find Armand Guy than it had been to find my ancestor John Murphy (one of my previous researching endeavours).

I consulted my favourite...Ancestry.com.  It has the Drouin Collection of Roman Catholic births, deaths and marriages.  These are the "notebooks" of parish priests.  I knew the Guy family was Catholic, or Kathleen wouldn't have befriended her at St. Ann's school!  Within minutes I had  a record before me.  I deciphered the handwriting and the French to figure it was definitely the correct Lise Guy.  She was born in the same year as Kathleen, and in the area.  I found the names of her parents, and because her father's name was so unique Onesime Louis Armand Charles Guy, I was then able to trace his parents.  It was his mother who was named Clairina St. Onge (Claire in the directory).  She was the Gramma

In only two hours I had uncovered so much.  I felt that I knew enough about them to start "fleshing out" the collage.  I decided to put Armand, the grandfather in the setting as well.  The 1911 Census gave me an occupation for him- a "peinture" (painter) working for a "decorateur".  How fascinating!  I am used to searching for people who are listed as "labourers".  I placed the grandfather Armand in the back of the shop seated, reading the paper.  The store has many colours and a number of different wall papers.

But, who was the REALLY old little lady behind the candy counter?  (She was very small and apparently did not need to bend over to get the candy from the lower shelves.)   I found Armand Guy, born 1888 (Claire's husband) and his family in the 1901 Census.  Armand's father is Onesime Guy married to Delina.  They were both born in 1850.  Onesime died in 1931 at the age of 82.  I haven't yet found any death information on Delina.  Is it possible that in 1950, Delina was the lady behind the counter and she was one hundred years old?

I also found Onesime's father Michel(1871 Census).  He was born in 1820 and in the Lovell's Directory it is interesting that he is a carpenter.  This is for me the "bag of candy".  You see,  Michel Guy was a carpenter, father of Onesime Guy who was a joiner(cabinet maker) and father of Armand Guy who was a painter/decorator.  It is such a pattern.

I feel I can now safely extrapolate.  I also found some great photo reference from a number of sites-stores from the 1930's to 1950's.  The collage by the way is almost complete.  I have an arm, two feet and a shelf yet to go.  The image has grown before my eyes filled with a recurring checkerboard and other enigmatic devices.

Back to work! 

 







8 comments:

  1. Interesting post. Thank you. I've got a picture of my ancestors on my mother's side. The old sepia print shows my grandmother in her mother's arms with her two older sisters standing next to them and with my grandmother's grandmother there also. I do not presume it was still there when you were young, but still it might be of interest to you because we presume the pic was taken about 1904 on Eleanor street at the corner of Ottawa street. See it at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=101 50577721050475&l=05c285060f .......... Now, I only presume by deduction the whereabouts of this picture. To aid me in confirming this, can you post precise links to where you got the two documents above, the map and names list. Thanks again!

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    1. Thanks for your comment! I was excited to see your photo but facebook lists it as "unavailable". I was never able to see an actual photo of Guy's corner store. My collage(soon to be photographed) is of the interior. I used photos of other stores and house interiors of the time-period and instilled a sense of "family" in the setting.
      The insurance map is circa 1950 from the National Archives of Quebec...Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec website.
      http://services.banq.qc.ca/sdx/cep/document.xsp?db=notice&app=ca.BAnQ.sdx.cep&id=0003699649&epage=3&eview=CARTES_PLANS/3699649/3699649_26.tif
      It is searchable "Insurance Plan of the City of Montreal Volume:1" Of the 53 images it is no. 26. The information is so well set up it is a joy to research.
      The list of names is from the same website, http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/lovell/index.html It is Lovell's Directory. The link should take you to 1904. It is searchable for years: 1842 - 1977 ! You are able to search by year and then either by alpha name or alpha street. By using both of these collections, you will really be able to pin point the photo and also the location of your ancestor's dwelling.
      Let me know how it all works out!
      Would you mind checking on the availability of the photo you spoke of? Can't wait to see it!
      Thanks,
      Nancy.

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    2. Thanks for the quick reply. I think you'll be able to see the jpg at http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/226619_10150577720375475_739480474_18806751_7395294_n.jpg but unfortunately without the html embeding (or try again at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150577720375475&l=ebe961c01a ). A detail of the sign on top of the house is at http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/230353_10150577722785475_3227729_n.jpg .
      About your links. Thanks a lot !!! They worked fine and the Lovell’s Directory did lead me to confirm that the house is on Eleanor street, but not on the corner of Ottawa street. It’s actually at 91 Eleanor, on the corner of Lansdowne av. Now, again, I had to use deduction to locate this on the map. After much searching, I found at http://services.banq.qc.ca/sdx/cep/document.xsp?id=0000174922&&epage=3&eview=CARTES_PLANS/174922/174922_23.tif a map that showed this now vanished Lansdowne av. Lovell’s showed that the street numbers changed in 1928 and that 91 became 421. According to the Lovell’s, the house seems to have been demolished in the mid 30s. Notice that nothing you see on this image exists today, NOTHING. Not the people, not the house, none of the sourrounding houses and the side street and nothing of the high buildings you see in the background. Nothing. All is gone. Even the house numbers on the street have changed. The Lovell’s is a treasure of information about the whereabouts and movements of our ancestors. I’m not done using it. Thanks again.
      PS : funny thing is, this Lansdowne av is still visible on a contemporary map : Bing’s maps shows it :-) but not Google’s maps :-( . Anyway, I possibly have the one and only existant photo of that av.

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  2. Thank you so much for the beautiful photo! I gasped when I saw it. So clear! So detailed! It is a historical treasure for this area you know. Imagine, at that time someone taking an almost spontaneous photo of women, children AND a complete house with sign. I am beginning to think this was a photo to be sent home or sent to relatives to show how nicely they are set up in business and family. Perhaps you should contact the McCord museum and offer a scan of it? The house is quite ship shape don't you think? (I think recently built). You can also make out the entrance for horses. I noticed on the map, the v shaped lane way all around the house. Very cool.

    There is a small reference to your section of Eleanor Street BTW in Patricia Burns' book "The Shamrock and the Shield". Just in passing someone mentions "Little Eleanor" referring to the section with the jog in it. It is a good book of oral history, many interviews with people who remember Griffintown first hand as far back as early 1900's.

    Have you already found them in the 1900 or 1910 Canadian Census ? If your ancestor's are the Valiquettes, I could send you their page from the census. You can contact me through www.gottagetnancy.com (contact us page) with an email address and then I can send it to you.

    Also, there is a 1907 map(pink and yellow-high res) that shows the house in your photo. Can't remember where I got it? Maybe www.Griffintown.org
    Nancy

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. OK,I'd write to you to info@gottagetnancy.com but I got a postmaster.... Sad, as it was such an interesting letter...

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    3. Hello Aildoux!
      I did get your email...
      very interested in what you had to say!
      Try gottagetnancy@gmail.com
      Regards,
      Nancy

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  3. I just want to thank you for sharing your information and your site or blog this is simple but nice Information I’ve ever seen i like it i learn something today. Griffintown montreal condo

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