Village, Saint-Thomas d`Alfred parish

Origin

        The first settler, Pierre Lefaivre, from Saint-Benoît, arrived here with his family in 1848.  His 9 year old son, Hercule, would one day become the school commission treasurer in 1861, mayor of Alfred township in 1872, general merchant and post master in 1873.

Religion

        In the beginning, it was necessary to cross the Outaouais river to attend Catholic mass in Montebello.  Other than during dangerously thin ice conditions, this was not a deterrent to the true religious believers.  With a growing population, the church in Montebello was quickly becoming overcrowded.  In 1876 the population of Lefaivre expressed their desire to form their own parish and place of worship, no matter how small that might be.  For eighteen months, Father Lavoie of Saint-Victor of Alfred parish performed mass at the school, bi-weekly.

In September 1877, Hilaire Cholette donated eight acres of land, lot 20 of the 1st line, to construct a church and establish a cemetery a few paces from the river.  A committee was elected to oversee the construction and enthusiastic inhabitants joined together to transport stones to build the temple.  Differences of opinions ensued and construction came to a halt.  In light of this unfortunate situation, Hercule Lefaivre and Hilaire Cholette travelled to Ottawa to meet with the Archbishop and request the nomination of a resident priest, a move which would undoubtedly restore peace and order to the project.  On the 8th of December, 1879, the first resident priest of the parish, Rémi Prud`homme, gave the first mass in Saint-Thomas church.        In the middle of the night, December 26th 1922, fire broke out in the church.  The church bells rang a mournful alarm, asking for the help of the parishioners.  Despite the tremendous efforts of the people, after two hours time all that was left were 4 burnt walls.        A room of a nearby convent was transformed into a temporary chapel while the church was rebuilt.  On July 5th, 1924, the reconstruction was completed.

Industries

        As the name implies, l`épinettière, was a large and dense forest of Red Spruce trees.  Against the river one would find a large variety of hardwood trees; Blue Oak, Red Oak, Wild Cherry, Maple, Elm, Ash and other precious woods, used especially for the construction of boats and ships.  To capitalize on these resources, saw mills were needed.

        Joseph McGauvran (or McGovern) constructed the first saw mill on a small island near Montebello.  It burnt down in 1884.  Advertisements were placed in newspapers inviting businesses to come establish themselves in Lefaivre.  An American by the name of Bell answered that call and constructed a huge sawmill.  Unfortunately he did not have sufficient funds to properly equip the venture.  Principal citizens contributed to the enterprise by purchasing necessary equipments.  Two years later, a machinist by the name of Archambault bought the entire business and continued to make it grow up until it was destroyed by fire, about five years later.  Olivier Lalonde constructed another sawmill a little lower than the warf and added a mill.  These were also destroyed by fire after a number of years.

       Using personal funds, Father Pierre Bédard had a water system installed to serve the inhabitants of the village.  His successor, Father Émile Levac purchased this system upon his arrival in Lefaivre.  Without delay he went on to organise a power distribution system for lighting and motorized power.  This enterprise was became known as the Levac Light, Heat, Water and Power Trust.  Supply power came from the Gatineau Power Company who had transmission lines serving Québéc customers on the other side of the river.  A large power cable was placed across the river bottom, bringing electric power not only to the streets and houses of the village, but also to dwellings along the "rang au Bord-de-l`eau" up to the "château Booth".  After 20 years of dependable service, the Lefaivre enterprise was sold to Ontario Hydro Electricity who were expanding into the area.  With the proceeds of this sale Father Levac had a community hall constructed.

       The first ferry to travel between Montebello and Lefaivre was a barge owned by Godefroy Lambert, built by France Mafor.  It was powered with oars.  With the addition of paddle wheels on each side of the barge, Honoré Massie converted it into a horse-boat (powered by horses).  Joseph Nadon later installed a steam boiler as power source.  In later years Honoré Raymond changed this to a gas powered engine and the paddle wheels were replaced with a propeller.

About 1868, Damien Cholette owned a wharf at lot #19, just below the village.  This dock was used to load firewood for operating the line boats and heating houses in Montreal and Ottawa.  Some of the firewood was also transported to heat the parliament buildings.  Charcoal was not yet used in those days, that wasn't until around 1886.  Joseph Sheppard of Ottawa, owner of the Peerless and other smaller boats built a wharf on lot #2 to supply his own steam boats.  There was also a small dock at the mouth of the "Atocas" stream to load grain on transport barges.  Hercule Lefaivre built his dock in 1882.         By this time a considerable amount of traffic was in the area waters, transporting wood, hay, cheese, livestock and various merchandise, including the legendary molasses well known in the region.

Other

        Another event which caused quite a stir among the population of Alfred county was a visit by Prince Galles in 1860.  He was on his way to an official ceremony in Ottawa to place a corner stone at the Parliament buildings.  His small ship stopped for a few minutes at Brown's wharf, approximately six miles from Alfred, where much of the surrounding population had gathered to see the royal visitor.

Excerpts from the book " Histoire des Comtés Unis de Prescott et de Russell". Lucien Brault M.A., PH.D., and of the United Counties Council, L’Orignal Ont.  Printed by Le Droit, January 4th 1965.  Photos from the 50th and 100th Anniversary Albums.