52 Ancestors Week 41: Context

From Amy Johnson Crow:

Week 41: Context:

Our ancestors are more than names and dates on a chart. This week, share something that you've learned that brought more context to an ancestor's life. Have you learned why she moved from one area to another or why he held a certain occupation? Tell the story this week.

It's not just for Skype. Or kings.

Putting things into context can help you better understand the lives your ancestors led. It's too easy to forget that they are more than just names and dates you put into the genealogy software of your choice. Nope. They were living, breathing people who in many cases had to deal with drama much like we do in today's world. They had their faults, dreams, desires and attitudes much like we do. They were people. Not just names. That's why it's probably a good idea to read up on what was going on in the world during the time your ancestor lived. You may find some interesting stories.

A lot of people for one house!

Case in point. I've always wondered why my 2x great-grandparents, Antoine Legault, his wife Lucy, and a few of their children lived with her parents, Pierre and Eulalie and several of her brothers and sisters in a TINY apartment in Haverhill, Massachusetts. According to the 1880 census, that's exactly what happened. Check it out in the picture. They packed two families under one roof! Why? What was the reasoning behind it?

Well, I found that there were plenty of reasons why two French-Canadian immigrant families could be cramped temporarily into a small living space.

 Look at Antoine's profession. He was a shoemaker. Haverhill at the time of the 1880 census was undergoing a dramatic transformation. Thanks to the Industrial Revolution taking place in America at the time and thanks to Haverhill's proximity to the Merrimack River, factories and mills were built up and down the river in places like Lowell, Lawrence, Methuen, Haverhill and finally at the river's mouth in Newburyport.

The factories in those cities helped the surrounding communities to grow and they employed immigrants from all walks of life and from various countries well into the twentieth century. Canadian immigrants, like Antoine and Pierre, came to America with their families and ended up working in those factories. Pierre was also a shoemaker and Lucy's father.

So, why did they live together? Why did Antoine open his doors to his father-in-law and his family? Money might have been a serious issue and one of the reasons why this happened. The housing market may not have been that great at the time. Space was limited. So, Antoine may have said to his father-in-law "Come to America with your children and my family and I will put you up in our place." Think of it as chain migration in the 1870s.

Austin Felker and Henrietta Legault, my great-grandparents

The two families pooled their talents together and managed to eek out a decent living while living quite modestly. They had to have done pretty well for themselves because by the 1900 census, both families were in their own houses. Antoine was still living on Water Street and had a few more children including my great-grandmother, Henrietta. However, Pierre and his family had moved to Spence Street. The street, it seems, no longer exists or was renamed. I can't find it on Google Earth.

I thought of another reason why the living arrangement was arranged in that way. While factories employed skilled workers who were in fact immigrants, you can bet that they had to deal with some of the harsh realities that came with being a foreigner in a strange land. The same situation, sadly, occurs today because history has a way of repeating itself.

Immigrants from Italy, Canada and other places around the globe faced a great deal of prejudice and discrimination in America simply because they didn't speak the language and other factors. It seems foolish even though it still happens to this day! As a result of the treatment they received, immigrants tended to group together because of their shared languages, customs and familial ties. That's why places like Little Italy in New York City and the North End in Boston became well known for their Italian populations. Not to mention the Chinatowns in places like San Francisco. Newburyport also became known for its French-Canadian neighborhoods, too!

So, because Antoine and Pierre likely faced incredible odds living in America, they likely lived together because they were from the same general area of Quebec and spoke French. Another reason could be because they were family and family tended to help each other out in difficult times. However, that may be too neat a package. Both of the scenarios are likely and we should probably consider these stories when dealing with the immigrants of today's world.

That is a lot of information to glean from just one document recorded in 1880 and yet it speaks volumes. The context of why two French-Canadian families lived together in Haverhill is simple when you look at it from a historical perspective. Immigrant families tended to live together as they shared similar backgrounds, beliefs and customs. They needed to pool their resources together to provide for their growing families while dealing with prejudice. That's probably why the Legault and Cadran families lived together. That's definitely something one has to think about today as all immigrants faced or still face this similar challenge. If you learn from the past immigrant struggles in your own family or elsewhere, we can better appreciate what struggles immigrants today face and avoid repeating history.

Just something to think about. See you next time!

Oh! And I looked up the Legaults' apartment building in Haverhill on Google Maps. It's now a fire station. Interesting.....