Men O' the Northof 227th Battalion head off to World War I from Chapleau while local Red Cross Society supports effort and community holds reception for soldiers when war ends

Members of Chapleau Platoon, 227th Battalion at station

Recruiting for the 227th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I was underway in Chapleau in May 1916 after its commanding officer Lieut-Col. C.H. LeP. Jones had paid a visit to the community.

At the same time the Chapleau branch of the Canadian Red Cross Society was active, and after the war ended the community held a Reception to Returned Soldiers.

Immediately after the visit the Chapleau Citizens Recruiting Committee was formed and by August, 62 volunteers had signed up to join the 120 Chapleau persons who were already in the forces. Quite an achievement for a small, isolated community of about 2,500 people although some of the volunteers came from nearby communities like Missanabie and White River.

In Snapshots Of Chapleau,'s Past on www.chapleau.com George Evans noted that on Saturday, August 12, 1916, the First Chapleau Platoon of the 227th Battalion of the Sudbury, Manitoulin, and Algoma Overseas Battalion paraded from the YMCA building on Lorne Street, down Birch Street, over the tracks, to the railway station.

George added: "As described in Vincent Crichton’s Pioneering in Northern Ontario, it was 'a red letter day.' The Town Band led the way and the whole town turned out to support the 'Men O’ the North' as they set out to do battle with 'the Hun' in fields of northeastern France. Six officers, fifty-three enlisted men, a bandsman and two buglers marched in full gear to the cheers of the patriotic people of Chapleau..."

Some would not return.

A Wikipidea entry says thats "The 227th Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and Camp Borden, the unit began recruiting in early 1916 on Manitoulin Island and in Algoma . After sailing to England in April 1917, the battalion was absorbed into the 8th Reserve Battalion on April 22, 1917. The 227th Battalion, CEF had one Officer Commanding: Lieut-Col. C. H. LeP. Jones."

Meanwhile, on the home front in Chapleau the local branch of the Canadian Red Cross Society was also very actively involved in the war effort. As I was browsing through Hugh Kuttner's immensely interesting web site, http://www.chapleau.com/
  I was sure that I recognized the handwriting on the minutes of a meeting of the branch in 1917 that had been made available and are on Hugh's site.

Reading the minutes, I realized that Edith Hunt, my grandmother, was the secretary, referred to in the minutes as "Hon. Sec." She had arrived in Chapleau from the United Kingdom just before World War I with her husband George, my grandfather, and their two daughters Elsie, and my mother Muriel.

The minutes were from an executive meeting held on October 22, 1917, in the council room in the Town Hall, which had been opened in 1914, one of the many projects in the early years of Chapleau led by its first reeve G.B. Nicholson, who had retired as head of the municipality after serving from 1901 to 1913 but was in attendance at the meeting.

Mr. Nicholson's only son Lorne, a member of the Chapleau Platoon was one who did not return home from World War I. He was killed on November 4. 1918.

From the minutes I was also surprised to learn that May (Mulligan) McMullen was the president of the Chapleau Red Cross Society at the time. I contacted Michael McMullen, my cousin and our family historian to see if he knew that his grandmother had held this position. It came as a surprise to him too. Michael's grandmother and mine, Lil (Mulligan) Morris were sisters. They were members of the Mulligan family after whom Mulligan's Bay is named.

The first vice president was Father Romeo Gascon, of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Parish and second vice president was Mrs. M.L. Copping, while Mrs. H.B. Pelton was the 'Hon. Treas.', the treasurer.

Wikipedia notes that the Canadian Red Cross was established in the fall of 1896 as an affiliate of the British Red Cross Society (then known as the National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War). Colonel Dr. George Sterling Ryerson spearheaded the organization's founding; he was earlier responsible for setting up Canada's St. John Ambulance Association in 1895. The Canadian Red Cross Society Act (1909) legally established the Red Cross as the corporate body in Canada responsible for providing volunteer aid in accordance with the Geneva Conventions

The Chapleau branch was busy during World War I assisting with the preparation of packages to be sent to the troops and others being affected by the war. Mrs. Copping was the general supervisor of the effort while Mrs. Cochrane was sewing convenor, Mrs. Ferguson packing convenor and Mrs. White surgical supplies convenor.

On April 21, 1919, Chapleau held a reception for returned soldiers chaired by Reeve J.D. McAdam with T.J. Wolfe as secretary of the organizing committee. It was held in the Town Hall which, with its theatre and downstairs hall, had become a centre of community life.

According to the official program, which is also available on http://www.chapleau.com/
 music for a concert was provided by Comte's Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Alf Comte, who I remember from the many years he operated the barber shop on Birch Street. The orchestra also played for a dance following dinner. As I reflected on growing up in Chapleau, it seemed that major celebrations included a concert, dinner and a dance all held in the Town Hall.

The concert program included a quartet, violin solo, flute solo, vocal solo, a reading and the overture by Comte's Orchestra.

The dinner menu included oysters in shell, roast turkey with cranberry sauce, tomatoes a la mode and a variety of deserts.

I have always been intrigued by the formality of dance programs in years gone by and the one at the reception was no exception. Divided into two parts, it began with the grand march around the hall, followed by two step, waltz, quadrelle, fox trot, barn dance, Paul Jones, one step and fox trot. Part two varied slightly but of course ended with the Home Waltz.

For this column, after discovering information about my grandmother and great aunt's involvements in the Chapleau Red Cross at http://www.chapleau.com/
 , I decided to generally focus on parts of community life connected to World War I primarily from http://www.chapleau.com/
 I extend my most sincere thanks to Hugh and all those who have made the site possible. It is an incredibly valuable resource. My only regret is that it was not available when I was teaching history at Chapleau High School. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

D.O. Payette 'catalyst' behind first Chapleau winter carnivals in 1930s was active in business, church and community life

As I was browsing through a wonderful pile of Chapleau material recently received from David McMillan, it intrigued me to discover one clipping noting that D.O. (Ovide) Payette would sing "the Mass of Angels" all in Latin at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church.

I was aware of Mr. Payette's very significant role in the history of Chapleau, but did not know that he had been a soloist and choir director at Sacred Heart church.

Lucien Bouillon, who would become a Roman Catholic priest and the first to be ordained to the priesthood in Sacred Heart Church in 1965, made the observation about Mr. Payette's singing in Latin in an article in The Chapleau Sentinel marking the 100th anniversary of the parish in 1986. Lucien was serving as an altar boy in the fifties when Mgr. Romeo Gascon was the pastor.

From the time Mr. Payette arrived in Chapleau just after the beginning of the 20th Century he was involved in the life of the community and his church. I visited that fantastic resource for Chapleau material, www.chapleau.com, created and maintained by Hugh Kuttner, and discovered photos showing that Mr. Payette was playing hockey on a Chapleau team by 1905-06. As there is a trophy in one photo, it looks like his team had won a championship.

Turning to Chapleau Trails, edited and published by Dr. William R. Pellow, I found that his daughter, Margaret Rose (Payette) Fortin wrote that her father, born in Pembroke, who taught school in Golden Lake, Ontario, came to Chapleau to work in the men's wear at Smith and Chapple Ltd. By around 1930, Mr. Payette and Arthur J. Grout bought the store and started to expand its departments. Mr. Payette became president of the company.

Margaret Rose noted that it was probably one of the first "shopping centres" in Ontario, and it likely was, living up to its reputation of providing "Everything for Everybody." For those of us who grew up shopping and working at Smith and Chapple, it is hard to believe that it closed its doors 23 years ago on April 30, 1987.

During the thirties plans to start a Chapleau winter carnival were made in Mr. Payette's office. He was described as the "catalyst' for starting the winter carnivals, and his business partner Mr. Grout became the chairman.

Mr. Payette was also very active in the Chapleau Town Band and by 1952 took over leadership of it and served in that capacity for 10 years until he retired. I can recall times when Mr. Payette, and three of his sons, John, Billy and George, would all be playing in the band for the July 1 celebration.

He also served as a volunteer firefighter and was Chapleau's fire chief for a number of years as well as being manager of the Chapleau Memorial Community Arena at one time and chairman of the Chapleau High School Board.

Very involved in all aspects of life in Chapleau, Mr. Payette was a member of the Rotary Club, the golf and curling clubs, and at Sacred Heart Church, he was a member of the Knights of Columbus and a Grand Knight. After his retirement from Smith and Chapple, Mr. Payette also served as a Justice of the Peace.

Margaret Rose wrote that music was a large part of the "growing up years" in the Payette family home with both her parents involved in the Sacred Heart church choir, and "as each of us became old enough to contribute, we were part of the choir." In fact, she revealed that her parents met at the church when Mr. Payette was the choir director, and her mother, (Marie Cahill) arrived in Chapleau to become the church organist. She adds, "the rest, as they say, is history. They were married in 1923."

Mr. Payette's contribution, in his church, in business and the wider community, played an important role in the life and times of Chapleau.

MAIL

Commenting on Chapleau Moments about 1976, Eugene Bouillon wrote: "omg, Michael, yes memories (of 1976). I graduated from College and of course worked with Terry (Bryson) helping plan the Celebrations. Also, travelled with Doreen (Collings) to Red Rock to pick up the Pickerel for the Fish Fry and stayed up all night working on the fire for the Beef BBQ. Yes memories."

Father Romeo Gascon 'a whirlwind' coached Young Elephants baseball team in Chapleau in 1916

Romeo Gascon, who served as the pastor of Sacred Heart Church for 47 years was active in Chapleau life far beyond his duties to the Roman Catholic community.


Father Gascon, was elevated to Monsignor in a service at Sacred Heart Church on February 9, 1949 by His Excellency Most Rev. George Leo Landry, Bishop of the Diocese of Hearst. His Holiness Pope Pius XII had made him Monsignor on September 11, 1948, and this was the official induction ceremony conducted by the Bishop.

Referring to research by Gemma Gagnon, Father Albert Burns SJ, noted that the Jesuit Fathers on October 19th 1911, transferred the parish to a zealous priest, who had been two years pastor of Cochrane, Father Roméo Gascon. He died on January 25, 1958.

By 1916 he had become involved in Chapleau sports and was the coach of the Young Elephants, a baseball team that played on a ballfield located at about the present site of the golf course. My grandfather Harry Morris was a member of the team.

In his book "Waking Nanabijou: Uncovering a Secret Past", Jim Poling Sr. notes that he was a "miniature whirlwind" interested and active in everything from architecture to painting to golf as well as hunting and fishing. Mr. Poling, who was at one time the general manager of the Canadian Press came to know about the Chapleau priest as he was researching a history of his family.

He also enjoyed woodworking and had a printing press in the rectory.

Just before Christmas, on December 18, 1918, Sacred Heart Church was destroyed by fire, but Father Gascon went to work right away and within a year a new beautiful church had been built on the same location and its 90th anniversary was celebrated on December 24, 2009 at Christmas Midnight Mass. Father Gascon had sketched out the design for the new church and celebrated the first mass in it.

He was also president of the Kebsquasheshing Gold Club at one time, and enjoyed playing a round of golf with his friends from all denominations, including his good friend George Fife, the manager of the Chapleau Electric Light and Power Company who was also reeve of Chapleau from 1938 to 1942. I can recall saying good morning to both of them as they visited either on the front verandah of the Fife home on Lorne Street or the steps of the power company office on the site of the present Bargain Shop.

As an aside Mr. Fife was the grandfather of Robert Fife, now the Ottawa Bureau Chief of CTV News.

At the service elevating him to Monsignor, the Chapleau Post reported that most of the priests in the Diocese of Hearst attended with the bishop to offer their congratulations. The church was filled to capacity for the occasion, followed by a Civic Reception at the Town Hall which was also packed with wellwishers.

The Chapleau Post also noted that never before in the history of Chapleau had so many priests been present at the same time. Everyone wanted to show their appreciation of the work of Monsignor Gascon in Chapleau and of his work as advisor and counsellor to various bishops and his friendship to every priest in the diocese. Father Regent Marchand of Sacred Heart parish organized the event.