52 Ancestors Week 48: Strength

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 48 is "Strength." Strength comes in many forms. It can be physical, but it can also be emotional or spiritual. What ancestor has demonstrated strength?

This week's banner is quite incredible.

    Strength comes in many forms. When people think of "strength" they usually think about the strong muscular guy as the de-facto image of what strength could be. It's usually someone like the Hulk or your favorite body builder. While that is true, there is also inner strength aka the ability to persevere despite incredible odds. That's strength of character and it's often hidden even if the person does not look particularly imposing like a seven foot tall jade giant with breathtaking anger issues. Real strength has to come from within and that's definitely the case for several women in my family.

    That's right. I said women. I like strong women and several of my favorite fictional characters have been very strong from Marvel's She-Hulk and Black Widow to Kira Nerys from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". There's also a reason why many people in my age group preferred She-Ra over He-Man. The stories were just BETTER.  And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to seeing "She-Hulk" on Disney+ next year. That is going to be sensational!
 

 Now let's go back to a blog from a few weeks ago where I talked about stormy weather that occurred after the death of my 2nd great-grandfather, Antoine Legault. In the blog, I talked about how Lucie was widowed in 1901 and after I posted the blog I got to thinking about her quite a bit because several things crossed my mind and it made me realize Lucie was probably pretty strong. I wouldn't want to mess with her! In fact, she's probably the reason why my mother and my aunt Linda always play the "Don't mess with the mom" card. Not that I EVER got a dirty look from them....Ever.....MOVING ON!

 

Livin' it up on Lewis St.

    Now, why would she be considered strong? Well, look at the 1910 census in Haverhill. Here she is living with her teenage daughters, Henrietta and Clara. Blanche was eleven at the time and Oliver was eight. She was raising four children by herself in the nine years since Antoine passed away. In the early 1900s, single mothers were often looked down upon even if they were a widow. Yes, Lucie was in her fifties. But, can you imagine the states she must have gotten walking down the street with little Oliver? I'm not sure if it happened exactly like that. However, it's something to think about when you see a single mother in a census. Sure she had lodgers living with her. I don't really know much about them to really judge. I do hope they were at least decent guys who paid their rent on time and didn't listen to loud music while people were trying to sleep.

Austin and Henrietta

    At the very least, I'm sure Henrietta helped her mother take care of her siblings. This was probably where my grandmother got her strength from because I remember her telling me Henrietta was pretty tough and yet caring. My mother, of course, later confirmed the stories. There was just something really strong about the Legault ladies and I honestly suspect Lucie is the reason why they turned out the way they did.

    Lucie remained single until 1917 when she married Paul Lahaye. What brought that on? I have no idea. Maybe she was tired of being alone? That's probably it because most of the children were out of the house at that point. Henrietta was married to Austin Felker for four years by that point.  All I can think of is that she was probably tired of being alone and Paul came around and swept her off her feet. That's my theory anyway.  I'd need a time machine to see what really happened. Who can say? 

    I can just tell that Lucie was probably a very strong woman even how Henrietta turned out and how generations after her were pretty strong in their own right. I really want to see if she was maybe a suffragette. Women got the right to vote during her lifetime and I'd love to see if she was one of the first women who voted. It's just fun to think about.

    Strength does indeed come in many forms. In life you really don't have to be this strong guy who works out and doesn't skip leg day. You can be strong just by taking care of a bunch of unruly teenagers and an eight year old by yourself. There's no doubt in my mind that Lucie was strong enough to take on that task. Come on. She managed for a very long time before even thinking about getting married again. That's just hearsay, I know. Who knows what was really going through her mind? Does it matter? The unspoken evidence speaks for itself. Keep in mind that the 1910 census only captures that moment in time forever locked in that instant when the enumerator wrote the names on that piece of paper. It's a 

    She raised several children BY HERSELF and though she had help from her older daughters and various adult children who had lives of their own she still managed to keep them all in line and they grew up to be functioning adults themselves. My great-grandmother, my grandmother and my own mother are proof of that upbringing. They were never pushovers and though they can be tough, they can still be caring at the same time.

Natalie Felker in high school.

    I suppose you could say that Lucie's strength is the legacy Lucie passed down to her children, grandchildren and beyond.  Even now her 2nd great-granddaughters run their own businesses whether it's breeding dogs or working as a nurse. 

    It takes a lot of strength and patience to work in any of those professions. I've asked my cousins how they do it and they shrugged it off saying that it comes naturally to them. Makes sense. But, after seeing the census and learning more and more about the Legaults lives after Antoine passed away, I'm beginning to wonder if she started the trend of strong women in the family.

You never know and it's definitely fun to think about!

See ya next time!