The Bellemare

Geographical localization or the lots of the 3 Gelineau brothers

Firstly, Jean-baptiste decides by mutual agreement with the 2 others certainly, to be established at the exact place where they accosted with their boats.

Therefore, the 2 other brothers must find a lot, while remaining close one of the other, for their safety at the beginning. We must know here that great peace signed with the aboriginal of the time dated only for one year. And that in the context of this time there, nothing was yet certain.

And also, as they were first to be established here, to remain close one of the other facilitated the things as for to help in all.

 Therefore, here is Etienne and Pierre who start to explore the neighbourhoods in order to find a place where to be established, each one on his own lot. Etienne finds a place on other side of the river very close to Jean-baptiste. With regard to Pierre, it is a little more nebulous. One always told me that it had been established in a point between the Gabriel Brook and the Small River, just opposite the 2 others. In the case of this last however, I must mention that he lived there only during 7 years, and then, he moove to be established at the Grande Rivière, on the lot of the lords Charles and Julien LeSieur, owners of the division of Grosbois east acquired by them in 1702. The exact place where Pierre was really established is always nebulous today.

To give you an idea of their respective site at the Petite Rivière, I placed a map here which shows us rather well how much they were placed close one of the other. And here is another one picked from the book of Mr. Raphaël Bellemare which shows us the site and the surface of the lots of our 3 clearers.

There is a little ambiguity between what my father told me about the place where Jean-baptiste would have been established, on the northern bank of the Petite Rivière and the map that Mr. Raphaël Bellemare shows which presents them to us on the southern bank of the river. Several information was transmitted to us from father to son. It is absolutely possible too that I badly seized his explanations.

Here the site of the lot of Etienne Gélinas such as it arises today. This house lodges today the family of Robert Gélinas, descendant direct of Etienne.

Here is the site of the first lot of Pierre such as it is presented today, lot which is still cultivated nowadays.

And finally, the site where Jean-baptiste set up his the first 2 dwellings. The site is occupied today by the house of the family of Gaston Gélinas. I must specify here that, on this site, there would have been 4 dwellings before the last where I currently live.

Here the current house, built by my grandfather Honore with the help of his sons and certainly of its brothers and the neighbors, house such as it was presented in 1951.Note that the street passed very close to the house in this time.

And here is the family house such as we can see it today, renovated with the passing of years by my father Joseph Bellemare.