The Rheaume History written by Mom.

Stories of Little Current by Toni

Written by Katherine Punch

These reminiscences belongs to Toni Rheaume, a lifelong resident of Little Current, now living with her sister Lena, in the Manitoulin Centennial Manor, just feet away from their family home on the corner of Robinson and Dupont.

The only one of seven children of Theophile and Catherine Rheaume born on the Manitoulin, Toni's memories give us an accurate account of life in the west end of Little Current in the early 1900's. Except for the time that Toni spent working in Sault Ste. Marie for the Canadian Pacific Railway, her whole life has been spent in the west end of Little Current, first on Campbell street, then Dupont, and finally on to Robinson street where she and her sister still live.

Toni attended public school, situated on what is now the Ministry of Transportation and Communications at the outskirts of Little Current on Highway 540. "We walked to school in good weather and in the winter if the weather was bad, my father would hitch up the horse and take us to school. She also recalled that the school played a big part in the student’s leisure time, concerts and plays would be held there through the winter months, especially around the holiday season.

The Rheaume families were all sports minded people, Toni's two brothers Fred and Omer both played hockey, but it was Omer who was chosen by Father Papineau to go to Montreal to play hockey one winter with Frank Conlon. The winter months would be spent skating, curling, skiing, and sleigh riding. "I remember learning to skate in Potts Field while holding on to a white kitchen chair," says Toni " and one time I remember my sisters dressing me up to enter a carnival at the arena, and I won for my category!" Toni's brother Omer was also remembered for his "barrel jumping” expertise, and ice skate-racing against his cousin Albert Sutton at the carnival, held annually at the arena.

Ms. Rheaumes sisters, Rhoda, Maude, Edith and Lena spent some time attending a sewing circle held at Mrs. Perkins on Meridith Street. Evenings were spent playing cards, crokinole, and checkers. . . after the work was done. -D Mr. Rheaume worked at the Red Mill as an edger-man, and son Omer filed the big band saws. Mrs. Rheaume and her son Fred, with the help of her four daughters, and four or five other girls, looked after the boarding house for two summers. The lumber mill operated for eight months of the year and the Rheaume family left their own home and moved into the boarding house for that time. They served four meals a day, breakfast, dinner, supper and a "substantial lunch" at mid- night, and Toni remembers that a meal “was 35 cents at the time." She also recalls her mother telling her that with all the visitors on a certain Sunday that she had served 105 people that day. The boarding house would cater to about eighty men at a time. Toni recalls that the Vanzant family and a Mrs. John Scott also had a turn at running it. Because the mill only operated eight months of the year, the men who lived at the boarding house didn’t bring their families." I remember that the owners' of the mill built huts on Low Island, called Indian Island then, for the Indian laborers that had their families with them, and there was a room over the room where the single Indian men slept. They had their own dining room too but were fed the same food as everyone else.

Picnic Island was also an active place. Toni remembered "that there was at least one street on Picnic Island, two mills, houses, a post office and I think one store." Passenger boats such as the CARIBOU, MANITOU, and MIDLAND would call at Little Current and then also stop at Picnic Island. There was a board walk on the Island and a floating walk-way to get there.

The roads in Little Current were just dirt, or when it rained......mud, there was a board walk that went from the Red Mill towards down town, "I'm not sure how far down the street they went." Toni added," but the Mill bosses lived on Robinson Street." There were lights, suspended right in the middle of the street, great big lights. They went right down to the Merchant Bank, ( where the B of M is now), they may have been on wire or chains stretched across the road, and they were at every corner." The power for them came from the Mill.

Toni remembered many families that lived in the area, Batemans, Storeys, Fergusons,MacDonalds. Most of the houses they lived in are still there, but gone are the barns, chicken coops and fences of her youth." Oh, yes," she recalled," everyone had a fence around their property. The fences came down after the dairy moved to town and we didn't have to keep a cow. I remember having to go to other people to have to borrow water from their pump when our well would go dry, and we would buy water from the men who came door to door selling it by the barrel. 15 cents, or three for a quarter. Everyone had rain barrels at the corners of their houses to catch rain. The soft water was used to water the gardens."

   While the Shaftesbury Hall was the scene of most of the plays and dances at the time, Toni recalls " going to a dance at Richie's Hall with my sister Maude and her friend, and having to stretch my arms up to reach her shoulders to dance with her. The dances at Ritchie's Hall were held in a room above the store and Toni refers to them as "Balls, and quite grand affairs they were, they would be put on by various clubs and organizations and were by invitation only. These were very special occasions and mother would make new dresses for my sisters. Many of these dances would go on until four in the morning." Toni's family often found themselves in plays at the Shaftesbury Hall, one that comes to her mind is "White Mountain Boy." Dick Boyter, Elizabeth McDonald and Mrs.J.N. Sisson are remembered as being very talented people. Toni especially recalled the recitations of Marge Vanzant and Mrs. Sisson.

   Local bands, under the direction of Dick Boyter and Dave McGillvery, played at the arena frequently, as well as taking their music to Mindemoya, Gore Bay and other Island communities. Summer time brought concerts in the park, visits from Chataqua, boat excursions, and picnics. The BON AMI, the mail boat of the time, and the LOTUS, the Game Warden's boat, would often take people cut for excursions and picnics after their regular runs, if the weather and time co-operated.

   Captain Everitt Ferguson, another lifelong west end resident, remembers that the Rheaume family and the Ferguson family spent a lot of time together, and shares a lot of Toni's memories. Through Cap. Ferguson it was learned that Ms. Rheaumes father and a companion narrowly missed being on the ill-fated ASIA, the day it went down. Mr. Rheaume was on his way to the Manitoulin when a "lucky thirst" in Owen Sound caused him and a gentleman he had just met, to be late for the sailing of the ASIA. It sank on the next leg of its journey, with only two survivors.

   The "Lotus", the Game Warden's boat of the day, and its fate is quite an interesting story. It seems that Cliff Bradley and another man, who was the engineer at the time, went to Wikwemikong and dropped anchor as close to shore as they could get, in order to attend a dance. After the dance was over, the two men went back to where the boat was anchored to find it gone. The men made their way back to Little Current, believing that the boat had sunk, since there was no trace of it at all. Two days later, Charlie Low went to Lonely Island to lift his nets, and saw this boat drifting near his nets, unattended. He finished his business, and still no one came to get the boat. Mr. Low claimed the "Lotus" under the salvage laws, and informed the Ministry that he had their boat, named his price for retrieving it, and when they wouldn't pay the price he wanted.. . . ended up with the "Lotus".

  Wilfred Punch Maternal Grandmother

Omer Rheaume

Catherine and Theophile Rheaume

Maude Wilfred and Vincent Rheaume

Fred Rheaume  and Wilf Punch

Rhoda Rheaume and Mrs Bethel

Edith Rheaume

 Catherine Vinette Rheaume

Ned Vinette was her half-brother. His wife's name was Elise. She lived to be the oldest woman in Peterborough. Their son was Joe Vinette, born in Peterborough. He worked for Hydro. There were three boys in the family, Joe and brothers. They all worked for Hydro. Two were killed working on the bridge that runs from one end of the city to the other. Joe moved to Toronto as Supervisor with Hydro.  

Wilf’s grandmother and grandfather were married in Peterborough. Fred (Wilfrid), their eldest child was born in Peterborough. Omer, Maude, Lena, Ede. and Rhoda were born in Waubashene. Toni (Alexandre) was born in Little Current.

Wilf’s grandfather (Theophile Rheaume) worked in the mills in Peterborough in the summer with a man named Bill Graham. They contracted bush operations together in the winter. Graham was the teamster boss; Theophile was on the drive end. He was the man who laid out the logs on the ice and on the bank. Wilf thinks he was called the "Drive Boss".

Graham moved to Little Current on the Manitoulin Island, to work for Conlon Lumber on Picnic Island. An Edgerman was required so he got in touch with Theophile Rheaume who brought his family to Little Current. (1900)

(There is a family story that Theophile worked in Little Current before he took his family there. One of his trips to the Manitoulin was to be on "The Asia". While waiting for the ship to leave Theophile stopped in at the local bar to have a few drinks with acquaintances. He was late getting to the ship, and missed it. "The Asia", on that trip, was lost with all people on board.) Toni (Alexandre), the youngest child, was born in Little Current.

 After working for the Conlon Lumber Company, he moved to The Red Mill (Beck Lumber Company, later bought by the Hope Lumber Company. Hope Lumber remained in Little Current until 1928.

Theophile worked in the Mill and his wife, Catherine, and the children Fred and Maude and Ede ran the Boarding House. Fred did the butchering. He had worked for a butcher shop in Little Current to learn the skill. They ran the Boarding House for two years. (See Stories of this time in the interviews with Omer and Ede.

They bought the house which they lived in for a number of years, from Dry borough, the first year they ran the Boarding House. They had lived on Picnic Island for a year. After they got settled in the house, Mr. and Mrs. Graham came to call. Catherine did not speak very much English. In the course of the evening, Mr. Graham asked how the family was getting along. 'Well", said Theophile. "Everyone but Maude, who is having trouble with English". Mr. Graham spoke to Maude, and started to laugh. Maude wasn't learning English and having trouble with it. She was playing with Indian children and was learning Ojibwa and Ottawa.

Fred was old enough to learn English in Peterborough. The other children spoke only French when living in Waubashene. Fred, Omer, Ede and Maude spoke French.

It was in Waubashene that Rheaumes became friends with the Gouett family (Victoria Harbor).

Fred worked in the Mill before they had the boarding house as an edgerman. Omer learned saw filing. 

Fred’s career ended working at Buck Lumber Company as a carpenter. He also planned jobs, made estimates, and then supplied the lumber through Buck Lumber. He supervised the other carpenters.

Theophile Francis was known as "Touffe". The camps where he worked in the wintertime were everywhere from Beaverton around Britt (a coaling station on the CPR on Byng Inlet) to Blind River. The camp season was November to the end of the Drive-late May or early June.  

Catherine Vinette Rheaume was a child of the third family of Isadore Vinette.  He had been a voyageur (courier?) with the Hudson Bay Company, carrying the mail regularly from Montreal to Thunder Bay. He made three trips to the Pacific coast.. He was
married three times. Had 21 children. Seven by each wife.

"Ned" was a child of the second marriage.

Catherine Vinette was born on the Island of Saint Lin, outside (north of) Quebec City, on the "next farm" to Sir Wilfred Laurier's family. She was teaching somewhere near Quebec City but decided there was no future for her there. She was also a seamstress. She went to Peterborough (contact unknown, probably Ned Vinette, half-brother) to work in a Hotel. She worked on the linens. She made sheets, pillowcases, etc. on order of the Housekeeper. She had three girls working under her. She met Theophile Rheaume in Peterborough.

The notes for this information were made on April 18, 1993. They are Wilfred Punch's memories. (K. P.)

1)             Pierre Rheaume, b. 1834. Canada. d. Feb. 2, 1903. Biddeford, Maine.

2)             Philomene Garon, b.1840. Canada. d. Jan. 26, 1929. Biddeford, Maine.

Children

Louis 1863-1898

Alexandre 1870- January 13, 1927. Napoleon 1863-1939

Benjamin

Theophile Francis 1859-1940

Prist Rheaume, father of Pierre (1)

Angele Cantin, mother of Pierre (1) Born in Canada. Zepherin Garon, father ofPhilomene (2)
Maxine Binette Garon, mother ofPhilomene (2)

Both born in Canada, died in Biddeford. Maine. St. Joseph's Cemetery.

Desneight Rheaume married Philias Dupre, Biddeford Maine, November 23, 1882.

Sister (?)ofPierre Rheaume. (1)

Grandparents of Bill Dupre who was "Lena Rheaume's first cousin". Lena daughter of
Theophile Francis