Don BEAUCHAMP the son of Lorenzo BEAUCHAMP and Marie Jeanne LATOUR emailed me a brief history of the family’s migration from Wakefield, Quebec to Ontario in 2005. I added the photos and maps.
My four grandparents [Ernest BEAUCHAMP and Virginie COTE & Louis LETOUR and Juliana LAVERGNE] met on a scow, a giant raft big enough to have a team of horses on it so the horses could glide the scow through the rapids etc.
[This photo is a ferry scow showing elevated rope and pulley system.]
Heading from the Ottawa area to Cobalt at the Timiskaming shores in time for the big Cobalt strike of 1906. They glided from the Ottawa River to the Montreal River.
[The family left Wakefield, Gatineau Valley, district of Ottawa, Quebec to arrive in Cobalt]
[What was the reason for packing up and leaving in the dead of the winter? The compiler’s notes give historical and family records to summarize the families’ histories.]
1911 Photo of Lang Street in Cobalt
The 1911 Census shows Ernest Beauchamp with his wife Virginie, daughter Florence and his brother Arthur living at 163 Lang St, Cobalt, Ontario.
Grandpa LATOUR was a plastering contractor. He got a contract to plaster the inside and outside of all the houses of the Spruce Falls town site in Kapuskasing, Ontario.6 In the centre of the photo below, we can see Kapuskasing Inn, built in 1927-1928. It contained rooms for employees of the Spruce Falls Power & Paper Co., a restaurant, a barbershop, meeting rooms and a banquet hall. The Inn was located near the Community Club and Sensenbrenner Hospital, all three built by the Spruce Falls Company for its employees.
The two families knew each other, Grandpa LATOUR hired our dad [Lorenzo BEAUCHAMP] he was 16 as a labourer. This was 1927. By 1929 they had finished the project. Only to have fire set in the town site. It was a total loss. They started the project all over again, and had it terminated by 1930.
Grandpa LATOUR had already some contracts in Timmins. St-Mary’s Hospital and the Post Office. He already had contracts with Masiolli construction for their Empire buildings. The Empire Theatre, the Empire Hotel, and the Goldfield Theatre. He dealt with suppliers like Hill Clark and Francis, Machesney, Feldman etc. Grandpa LETOUR moved to Timmins from Kapuskasing in 1930.
Mom and Dad were married on January 7th, 1937 after a seven year courtship.
Originally they lived on Popular St., in a little house on what they called “La Cote de la Fawcett” Near St., Alphonse School.
Dad [Lorenzo BEAUCHAMP] worked at the Hollinger mine at that time. This was still the depression. The porcupine area was still the safest place to be. In the big cities and bush camps they were $30.00 a month. The north always had jobs.
[Photo: The Hollinger Mine Offices, as seen in the 1930s. Construction on the building started in 1915. Photo courtesy of Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre]
Mom [Jeanne LETOUR] worked at Beaver furs with the owner Mr. SAX and a champ by the name of Sam POSUM (he later owned economy dry goods). She was a sales lady and did renovations on furs and clothes for the upper crust population in Timmins.
All stores closed Wednesday afternoon then. At that time she would wash store windows and floors as part of her duties and responsibilities.
Compiler’s Notes
Following Don’s introduction of the migration of the BEAUCHAMP family, I would like to share my research on the BEAUCHAMP’s family nucleus with several vignettes of their lives.Our forefather Jean BEAUCHAMP who was born 1579 and lived in France is as far back as I have been able to document.
I am beginning this family history with the Marriage of our ancestor Pierre BEAUCHAMP II and his wife Salome VINCENT.
[1881] Source Document 2 1881 Canadian Census for Pierre BEAUCHAMP and family
Pierre BEAUCHAMP II was a farmer. On the1881 Census Pierre BEAUCHAMP II
(Lorenzo’s 1st great grand-father) was 45 years old. Pierre BEAUCHAMP II (Lorenzo’s grand-father) was 17 years old. They lived on a farm in Wakefield,district of Ottawa, Quebec. There were 10 children listed in the household.
Pierre BEAUCHAMP III married Olivine Nadon 1 Dec 1883 at Ste-Elizabeth
Parish in Cantley, Hull, Quebec, Canada
[1885] Source Document 4 1885 Death Record Pierre Beauchamp II
Pierre BEAUCHAMP II died on the 26 April 1885 at 49 years old recorded at
Ste-Elizabeth Parish in Cantley, Hull, Quebec, Canada
[1886] Source Document 5
Lina married Philipe Hart 11 May 1886 at Notre-Dame-de-Salette,
Les Collines-de-l’Outaouais, Quebec, Canada
[1886] Source Document 6
Salomie married Joseph Schlaver 26 Oct 1888 at Basilique Notre Dame
Carleton, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
[1891] Source Document 7
Salome is the head of the household with 5 children in the 1891 Census
Jolicoeur Genealogy 
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