Sentimental Sunday: 1027-Église Saint-Cuthbert, Saint-Cuthbert 1879

1027-Église Saint-Cuthbert, Saint-Cuthbert 1879
Originally uploaded by Jean20100

 Browsing though a photo set on flickr belonging to Jean20100 entitled, ÉGLISES DU QUÉBEC (Quebec Churchs) 
I find a photograph of the church of St-Cuthbert de Berthier. This is the church that some of my Maille family ancestors centered their lives around in the 18th and 19th centuries. My cousin, Kevin Maille, recently visited St-Cuthbert and this is what he had to say in an e-mail that was sent to me,

"..I had to get to St. Cuthbert. It was just a short way off the main highway heading toward Trois Riviere and QC. It was also really cool to see the old town. Lots of small homes, but neat as a pin. In the center is the old church. It was huge and still is the center of community . We spoke to a guy mowing the lawn who spoke English and he took us to the parish priest who didn't speak a word of English. We manage to get him to open his records for us. I didn't learn a lot but have some copies from the old church archives. I did learn that Jean Baptiste Maillet died there which mean that the family had been there longer than I thought. JB is Alexander's son who is Pierre's son. All farms...all flat. Beautiful area though. Also, NO Maillet grave stones at the church graveyard. I have no idea why. They said that they would not have had a cemetery at the farm because Catholics didn't do that. I have no idea where Eusebe would be! They may have been to poor for markers."

My g-g-g-grandfather Eusebe Maille was a resident of Lowell Massachusetts in 1880. He went back to St-Cuthbert before 1886 and died there on 17 July 1887 and was buried on the 19th at the cemetery of the parish of St-Cuthbert. I was surprised to find out from Kevin's e-mail that there is no marker in the cemetery for Eusebe. Also, even though Eusebe's sons were settled in Lowell at this time, (but I believe still retaining a home in St-Cuthbert) I have yet to find a death notice published in Lowell in regard to Eusebe's death.

Eusebe's wife, Angelique Chevrette, dies in 1908 in Lowell and sadly is not buried with her husband in St-Cuthbert.