The New Midgets Palace (Pt.3/3) | Count and Countess Nicol of Montreal
Source: BNQ, Albums de rues E.-Z. Massicotte,1904
In former posts I introduced you to Montrealers Count and Countess Nicol of The New Midgets Palace (aka Le Nouveau Palais des Nains) and shared some information about the birth of their son Philippe Nicol. I wanted to point out that the English text on the advertising card stated that he was born at Mercy Hospital in Montreal, but this was really the Hopital de la La Misericorde which was part of the Convent that was home to the Misericorde nursing sisters and their birthing centre and creche (see image).
Count Nicol was born Philippe Adelard Nicole in Levis, Quebec in 1881. His Countess was Rose Semilida Dufresne and the two had been married in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1906.
Philippe Adelard’s parents were Alexandre Nicole and Josephine Philomene Brousseau (daughter of Andre Brousseau and Eleonore Garon). The couple were married on March 4th, 1867 in St-Bernard (Dorchester County) Quebec.
Alexandre’s parents – Olivier Nicole and Apolline Morissette were married in St-Henri (Levis, Quebec) on January 24th, 1826. Her parents were Michel Morisset and Marie-Anne Morin.
Olivier was the son of another Olivier Nicole and his wife Francoise. According to the BMS index Francoise’s surname was Henry but I have not found that marriage and I have found a possible couple – Olivier Nicol and and Marie-Francoise Fleury. The parents of that couple (whom I have not confirmed as being in this line) were Olivier Nicol & Marie-Louise Brochu and Francois Fleury & Marie-Francoise Dubeau, and they were married in St-Vallier (Bellchasse, Quebec) on July 7th, 1797. Read more »
The New Midgets Palace (Pt.2/3) | Count and Countess Nicol of Montreal
In an earlier post I shared a vintage advertising card of The New Midgets Palace and introduced you to Montreal’s most famous Little People – Count and Countess Nicol of Montreal. In this post I’m sharing the English-language information on the back of the card.
Note: Typographical errors present in the original.
THE RARE BABY
Was born in Montreal, at the Mercy Hospital corner Saint Hubert and Dorechester streets, on September 19th, 1926.
He is the son of Count Philippe Nicol and Rose Dufresne; Count and Countess Nicol are the smallest maried couple on earth, without exception.
After 20 years of married life, this child, the Rare Baby, was sent to them with a mission to perform: look after his tiny Papa and Mamma in their old days. He was weighing on his birth three and one half pounds, and he is full of life. The five physicians who attended at his birth are of the opinion that he will never be taller than his father (he is now 25 inches high); but he will have a real man’s head, his father promises, and he shall be charitable and conrageous. Read more »
The New Midgets Palace (Pt.1/3) | Count and Countess Nicol of Montreal | Sepia Saturday
I have a very faint memory that dates back to over 50 years ago when I was a little girl growing up in Ville Lasalle, and my parents brought me downtown to visit what we called “The Dollhouse”. I remember that I was enchanted with the visit but that my mother felt vaguely uncomfortable and warned me before going in that I should “be polite”. I’ve since found out that what I was visiting was “The New Midgets Palace” which was an independant business founded by Montrealers Count and Countess Nicol. It was later bought by another person of short stature – Mme Huguette Riou-Bastien – and I’m actually not yet sure who I saw when I visited! Read more »
Evelyn In Montreal: Pierre (Pedro) dit le Portugais m. Jeanne Greslon / Laviolette
Bonjour Evelyn,
I am hoping you might be able to help me. I also live in Montreal and am working on my own family history. Pierre (Pedro) Da Silva is my great grandfather (11 times). I have looked through many of the Drouin records (on ancestry.ca) for his marriage to Jeanne Greslon dite La Violette in 1677, but can’t find the specific record. I’ve looked through Château-Richer, Beauport, Québec Notre-Dame and cannot find any mention. Would you be able to direct me to the right place?
Many thanks,
Kim
Information
In my database I have the following sources:
1. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec - Dictionnaire …
Click on – Dictionnaire genealogique – Volume 1, 1608-1700, Dictionnaire, D, page 158 D’AR – DAU
2. Drouin Dictionnaire National des Canadiens Francais, page 342,
My Drouin research was done in pre-computer times from the hard copy index, and the online Drouin Index – as you’ve probably noticed – contains many mis-spellings for the Dasilva name (e.g. Decilva). My suggestion is to check your library index to see the Drouin spelling and then check back again at Ancestry.
3. The marriage information in my database is:
16 May 1677 L’Ange Guardien – Quebec.
Information from researcher D. Ritchot
Bonjour,
The marriage record of Pierre DaSylva dit Le Portuguais & Jeanne Greslon dit Laviolette can’t be found on the L’Ange Gardien parish register or any other parish registers of New France. They were married before P. Vachon, notary, May 16, 1677. The contract is available at the Archives nationales du Quebec (ANQ) on microfilm. I can check at my local genealogical library to see if a transcription is available.
Note: Another post contains links to places to contact Dominique Ritchot online.
Evelyn in Montreal: Danis m. Maheu, 1843 | Quebec Genealogy | Deux Montagnes
Evelyn Landis was searching for her Danis gggrandfather and gggrandmother.
Information
Thomas Danis was the son of Antoine Danis and Louise Proulx. He married Olive Maheu on September 11th, 1843 in the parish of St-Benoit in Deux Montagnes. Her parents were Louis Maheu and Angelique Perrier.
Our Lady Of Perpetual Help Church | Chateauguay Today | Quebec
This is a January 2010 photograph of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church which serves the English-speaking Catholics of Chateauguay, Quebec. The latest generation of children on both sides of our family were baptised in OLPH parish.
Related Posts:
Chateauguay, Depanneur Couche Tard, Car Accident (23.08.09) | Chateauguay Today
The Irish And The Queen Victoria Bridge
One of the first big waves of Irish settlers into Quebec arrived in the 1840s. They were hired – along with many others from Great Britain – to work on the construction of Montreal’s Victoria Bridge. Not only was their life hard, but the cost of their passage to Quebec was taken out of their paycheques.
As is so often the case with the Irish – there’s also a sad story associated with this. The Irish bridge workers had seen the location (near the Victoria Bridge) of a mass grave of thousands of Irish immigrants who had died during Quebec’s 1847/48 typhus outbreak. They asked – and were granted – permission to raise a Black Stone (officially called the Irish Commemorative Stone) and you can see this today on the Montreal end of the Victoria Bridge.
Inscription on the rock
To preserve from desecration the remains of good immigrants who died of ship fever A.D. 1847-48. This stone is erected by the workmen of Messrs. Peto. Brassey & Betts employed in the construction of the Victorai Bridge A.D. 1859
Montreal, – Monument eleve a la Pointe Saint-Charles aux victimes du typhus,
Source Le Monde Illustre, 1895 (Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec)
Notes by reader Suzan
I believe that the Irish, Quebecois and Aboriginal (most likely Mohawk given the proximity to Kahnawake) men, women and young child workers went on strike in protest of being forced to exhume the bodies of the Irish. The stone reads “to preserve from desecration” for that reason. Some accounts had children digging up parents or husbands unearthing the remains of wives and children.
The Grand Trunk was a British company. There were no shed tears over Irish, French and Mohawk requests of sentimentality. A refusal to dig by starved labourers, all of whom were considered the lowest of the low in 19th century Montreal society, threatened profits. In the end, I think the bridge was rerouted slightly aside because of the number of bodies. I applaud your search for humanity and pride in ancestry.
Go to Canadian Illustrated News at Archives Canada and search under the title ‘Unearthing the Dead to Make a Way for the Living. A Sketch on Cemetery Street, Montreal’ It shows the unearthing process. It was an 1871 publication.
I, too, am very proud of my Irish ancestry.
Happy St Pat’s
Suzan
Related Posts: Read more »
Moulin – Dolbeau,Lac-St-Jean – Paper Mill | Forestry Fridays: Historic Views of Lumber Mills & Logging Scenes in Eastern Canada
Historic Views of Lumber Mills & Logging Scenes in Eastern Canada
MAJOR INDEXES
VINTAGE POSTCARDS
Index: Vintage Postcards – Quebec
Index: Vintage Postcards – New Brunswick
Index: Vintage Postcards – Assorted
GENEALOGY
Index: Quebec & New Brunswick Cemeteries
Chateauguay Quebec Headstones Coming Online Mar/Apr
Index: Native Americans of Quebec & Ontario
Updating Native American Marriages
Index: Early French Canadian Pioneers
Index: Theriaults | France – Acadie – NB – QC
Index: Mignier Lagaces | France – QC – NB
Index: Legers | France – Acadie - QC – NB
Index: Luces | Channel Islands – QC
Index: Evelyn in Montreal
*
Index: Recent Family History
-
YOUR COMMENTS
mmromeromaria romero on COPYRIGHT Marjorie Eyre on Early French Canadian Pioneers… heather huizenga on MAJOR INDEXES mbjssgpm on A Canadian Family Headstone: L… Peter longley on The Battle of Riviere-Oue… JH MacKeigan on Caughnawaga (Kahnawake) Surnam… Lisa Peterson on Kahnawa:ke – Home of the… Michael Litvack on Michael Litvack | Postcard-ins… Evelyn Yvonne Theria… on Pedro da Silva dit le Portugai… Chris Bernier on Pedro da Silva dit le Portugai… Fernande on Early French Canadian Pioneers… Evelyn Yvonne Theria… on Main Index: Native American Na… Debbie on Main Index: Native American Na… judy rice toffoli on Some Deerfoots (aka Dearfoot) … Evelyn Yvonne Theria… on Some Deerfoots (aka Dearfoot) …
