Joseph Adolphe Chapleau a key player in making Canadian Pacific Railway a reality honoured by having Mileage 615.1 divisional point named after him

Sir John A and Sir Joseph A, 1880 cartoon

Joseph Adolphe Chapleau, born November 9, 1840, in Sainte-Thérèse, Lower Canada, became a lawyer, politician, office holder, and a major supporter of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, in bringing about the successful completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885. He was also a journalist.

Vince Crichton wrote in his book 'Pioneering in Northern Ontario' that Chapleau was named after him by Mrs. Noel de Tilley, the wife of one of the first CPR engineers when requested to do so by R. Duschene a CPR civil engineer in 1885. I have been unable to discover any further details about the naming of Chapleau, and whether or not Chapleau ever paid a visit to the community that bears his name. Chapleau was Mileage 615.1 on the main line of the transcontinental railway.

However, Mr. and Mrs. Noel de Tilley were certainly early Chapleau citizens and family members have lived in the community ever since. 

Ian Macdonald, professor emeritus and former head of the department of architecture at the University of Manitoba, who has also done extensive research into the CPR, wrote that "Chapleau was a key player in making the CPR project a reality and it was certainly appropriate to honour his contribution by having a major divisional point named after him." 

Writing in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online Andrée Désilets noted that "While still a child, Joseph-Adolphe showed himself to be intelligent, lively, and curious. He had a taste for learning. His parents found the means for him to study at an advanced level" , and by the time he was 21, was called to the bar of Lower Canada as a lawyer. 

Chapleau CPR Shops and Engine circa 1886

He started practising law in Montreal and during 15 years of practice he had 22 murder cases and won 21. "In the court-room he spoke with intelligence and sensitivity. He also made good use of dramatic effects, which were commonly employed at that time.

 “His pale, attractive face framed by the long hair he let hang loosely about his shoulders, the manner in which he draped himself in his gown, his melodious voice, and his touching, passionate appeals for pity, for mercy, had a miraculous effect on the jury", one writer said of him. 

Perhaps his most famous case was in 1874 when he was selected  as the lawyer to defend Ambroise-Dydime Lépine  and his Métis companions, who had been arrested in connection with the death of Thomas Scott in 1870 during what has been called the first Riel Rebellion in Manitoba in 1870. Chapleau had known Louis Riel when he attended college in Montreal. It was also important to Chapleau's career as a politician.

It would have undoubtedly been a most difficult trip.

Andrée Désilets wrote in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online that "No sooner had Chapleau returned from Winnipeg than he married Marie-Louise King, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles King, a distinguished soldier who had been born in England and had come in 1860 to live at Sherbrooke, where he became a wealthy land speculator. Marie-Louise was an accomplished young woman who had been educated in a convent although she was Protestant. She spoke excellent French, was a musician, and had a fine voice trained from early youth. Chapleau had met her the year before at a concert in Montreal. It was thus music that first brought them together, for Chapleau himself was a musician when he was in the mood and sang 'the old songs of France delightfully.' Through this marriage he acquired the means both to pay for his pleasures in life – always numerous – and to win 'the favour of important people.'"

Joseph Adolphe Chapleau

Chapleau became a  leading Quebec and, later, Canadian politician: "devoted, loyal, firm, proud, sometimes abrupt and irritating." as well as being a very talented orator.  which was the talk of political circles and of the legislature before he even entered it.   Andrée Désilets gives us a quote from his address in reply to the speech from the throne on December 30, 1867 as he called for unity as an example.  “We stand at the cradle of a new constitution; around a cradle passions are stilled, divisions vanish, giving place to feelings of love, to plans for glory and for the future.” He was 26 when first elected and 38 when he became premier of Quebec in 1879.

 Désilets added that he would repeat this appeal often in the course of his political career, which was played out in three acts: from 1867 to 1882 he sat in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, where he became the fifth premier of the province; from 1882 to 1892 he was in Ottawa as the member for Terrebonne and a minister of the crown; from 1892 to 1897 he served as lieutenant governor at Spencer Wood.

In 1880 when he was premier of Quebec, Chapleau greatly assisted John A. Macdonald, the prime minister in ensuring that plans for the CPR, not that popular a project in Quebec, went ahead. The Illustrated News of July 24, 1880, carried a cartoon of a triumphant John A. and Chapleau as the prime minister was leaving for London to negotiate the Pacific railway contract.

Sir John A Macdonald 1878

After leaving office as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec in 1897, Chapleau, according to  Désilets "returned to Montreal, which had been at the heart of his life in politics, with a well-defined program: 'To abstain from active politics [and] to attend to my own affairs and very little to those of others.' An annual income of between $5,000 and $6,000 assured him of a comfortable living, and he could still count on his profession. But illness defeated him. He died on 13 June 1898. Three days later, after a state funeral that brought out as many former opponents as friends, he was buried in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery in Montreal."

Back to Chapleau and the CPR. In 1885 as the railway was completed, and Chapleau, the place named after him at Mileage 615.1 was becoming a divisional point, Chapleau gave a 64 page speech in the House of Commons in defence of the railway project on June 10, 1885. The CPR still had enemies, and Chapleau said in part that those who want to destroy the good work of the CPR will not succeed. "They will be like loose winds, blowing smoke and sand, and carrying dark things with them... The Pacific railway will remain solid as if those winds had not passed over it."  

Thanks to Anne (Zufelt) McGoldrick, Michael McMullen and Ian Macdonald for their research assistance and to  Andrée Désilets who wrote Chapleau's biography for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Lépine

Student, school board member and teacher at CHS grad circa 1966. Who are they?

Name the student, the school board member and the teacher from the Chapleau High School Graduation circa 1966, likely the first grad in the "new" school. And, if you can, the people seated on left and right in photo!

ANSWER: FROM LEFT, TERRY WAY-WHITE (seated, LUCY BIGNUCOLO, RICK SELIN, GEORGE EVANS, FRANK BRAUMBERGER (seated)

Jack Shoup named Chapleau Winter Carnival king and Rita Morin won queen contest in 1960 with 'spontaneous jollification' popular at midnight in 1939

Jack Shoup with Queen contestants

 J.M. 'Jack' Shoup was honoured  by being named King of the annual Chapleau Winter Carnival in 1960, two years after he retired as principal and Grade 8 teacher at Chapleau Public School after about 30 years there.

Active in community affairs, Mr. Shoup also served in Canada's armed forces in World War 1 and World War II, and as president of the Chapleau branch of the Royal Canadian Legion and in other executive positions over the years. He also has the distinction to this day of having served on the township council for 16 years -- all one year terms - which gives him the record for longest serving councillor since 1901 when the municipality was incorporated.

Well known for organizing children's races and parade for July 1 and Beach Day celebrations and skating races at the winter carnival, Mr. Shoup did not have to do double duty the year he was King of the Carnival: Foy Wright, his successor as public school principal had taken over responsibility for the skating races.

NOTE:  CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.

Mr. Shoup was also a founding member of the Chapleau Rotary Club in 1960, chairman of the Chapleau Recreation Committee for many years, and active in Trinity United Church. In the summer months he was an umpire for the highly competitive Chapleau Fastball League -- a distinction he shared at one time with Vince Crichton and Bunt Burrows.

Buddy Swanson also noted in his stories on the Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies that Mr. Shoup was among the earliest supporters to found the team in 1966-67.

Rita Morin, the Chapleau High School contestant for Winter Carnival Queen emerged the winner in 1960, while the others in the contest were Paulette Pilon, Raija Saari and Colette Gilbert.

A news report on the carnival said that it attracted one of the largest crowds in years with people coming from many parts of the district to enjoy the parades, music, games, hockey, skiing and other entertainment. 

Symbolically, the carnival parade in the early years of the winter carnival, started at the CPR station, where everyone arrived, and headed over the old horsehoe bridge to the ice palace located either across from the arena (the "old old" or the "old") on Lorne Street or across from the old pool room and liquor store in the downtown area.

Times sure have changed. When the first carnival was held in 1937, people came from "up and down" the CPR line --- from Biscotasing in the east to Franz in the west -- to enjoy and to participate in the activities. All they had to do was hop on one of the passenger trains and come to town.

As winter hopefully is drawing to a close, I have been reading newspaper clippings and looking at photos from Chapleau's early winter carnivals sent to me by Doug Greig. So I started with Mr. Shoup as carnival king and Rita Morin as queen in 1960 and went back to 1937. Here are some of the discoveries I made about carnivals past. They sure seemed to have a great time, even during the depression.

The idea for a Chapleau winter carnival was apparently first discussed in the office of D.O. Payette, an early Chapleau citizen, with his business partner Arthur Grout taking the more public role in getting it off the ground. For those of us who remember Mr. Grout, he was indeed the person to promote the carnival.

Eric Young, Marguerite Hartley

Winona McAdam was the first winter carnival queen and Fred Depew was king in 1937. Mr Depew was manager of the Chapleau YMCA, which was also conveniently located across from the arena, and could be described as Chapleau's best "hotel" in those early years.

In 1938, it seems like the Sudbury Star must have assigned its fashion writer to cover the carnival as the news reports emphasized "dressing for beauty and warmth" and the winners of "sartorial honours" in the snow parade. Eric Young, the brother of Dr. G.E. Young and Dr. Bill Young, with Marguerite Hartley won the prize for best dressed couple in the parade.

Here is an excerpt from another piece: "What the well dressed feminine skier is wearing for northern sports was certainly on display at last week's winter carnival in Chapleau when the lovely ladies turned out by the hundreds dressed both for beauty and comfort and displaying every colour of the rainbow and many others besides."  Wow!

The crowning of the carnival queen Marie Perpete was described as a "grand spectacle" at the ice palace on Main Street. Miss Perpete, a teacher at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Separate School was also active in the Revellers Ski Club and theatrical productions. The carnival king was C.J. McGregor, the CPR superintendent from Schreiber.

Reeve George Fife, Marie Perpete, Dan Jessup

In 1939, Reeve George Fife, who ended up having a very "Royal" year, turned over the key to the city to Dan Jessup of Sudbury who was the 

 carnival king. Rita Crichton won the carnival queen contest.  Miss Crichton became a pharmacist and later a professor of English at the University of British Columbia after completing a Master's degree in English.

Small world that it is, I met a faculty colleague of Rita's when I was a member of the BC Communications Articulation Committee which approves standards for university courses offered by colleges in British Columbia and are transferable to universities as full credit courses. I represented College of the Rockies on the committee.

Later in 1939, Mr. Fife would welcome King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Chapleau when the Royal Train passed through the community at two a.m. No appearance was scheduled but when the reeve requested that he meet them, it was arranged. Robert Fife, now the Ottawa Bureau Chief of CTV News, is Mr. Fife's grandson.

News reports said that 500 visitors were in Chapleau for the carnival as it seemed the Great Depression did not prevent people from coming together and having a good time. A popular place was the toboggan slide located on the site that came to be known as Dr. Young's Hill in later years. The population of Chapleau was about 2800 in 1939.

Names not known

Another activity at the 1939 carnival that was very popular was midnight serenades and lamppost singing under the heading of "spontaneous jollification." Groups would get together and sing at various locations in the community.  That sounds like such fun, and maybe, just maybe, it might be something some of us might do at the CHS 90th anniversary reunion festival. Just a bit of blue skying an idea but who knows. We had great fun singing lustily on sleigh rides, way back when in the 1950s.

Muriel Hunt, Jim Morris my parents at carnival  before married

In 1940, Ina Robinson won the carnival queen contest as Dr. J.J. Sheahan was named carnival king. Ina married Frank Coulter and they raised their family in Chapleau. 

Yes, hockey, the carnival parade and all the major activities associated with winter carnival were prominent in the early years, but now you know they also enjoyed "spontaneous jollification" with an emphasis on high fashion. Thanks to Doug Greig and Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. My email is mj.morris@live.ca