In a little township called Culligan, situated between Belledune and Jacquet River, Marie Laplante married Johnny Guitard. On the 19th October, 1899, She gave him a son called Arthur. Still at a young age and only going to school for a few years, Arthur had to leave home to earn a living. Arthur would usually leave home in late fall only to come back in the spring with $200.00 in his pockets. His Foreman, Sam Paquet of Balmoral , would get him to take his team of horses and transport food into the woods for the Lumberjacks and bring the timber out to the river. Arthur always found work at the wood mill in Trois Riviere owned by the three Culligan brothers, Walter, Arthur and John. He has a scar on his left calf where a chip of wood flew off the saw and pierced him there. In May 1937, at the Church in Belledune, he married his 18 year old neighbour Geneviève Roy, daughter of Emile and Laurette Roy. It was custom at the time that the eldest of the family took care of the aging parents. So with his new wife, Arthu r moved back home to take care of his aging Mother. He took care of his family by working as a handy man at the Mill for George Culligan. After awhile he decided to join the Canadian Army. He lied a little on his application to show them how young he was and finally succeeded in joining in 1941 and headed overseas. After spending 4 years in Scotland, he returned to find a lot of cha nges. First; He saw his son Jude, who was born a few months after his departure. Second; His mother died while he was away and Third; his wife sold the homestead in Culligan and moved to Petit Rocher so the kids could go to school. After returning home he went to Montreal looking for employment which didn't last long as he was missing the family. So he moved back to Petit Rocher and bought a house and started working for Canadian National until his retirement in 1961. In bet ween he worked as a carpenter, he also worked the mines in Madran and Bathurst and finally worked for Irving oil, building service stations. All who knew him will not forget this jovial man with his english accent and great sense of humour. (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi'op=GET&db=mike110&id=I1292) |