Down on the Farm

Louis Theophile Auger & Virginie Laflamme Auger’s old farmstead no longer exists, but as it once played such an important part in their family’s life, I’ve always been intrigued by it. Actually, perhaps because it no longer exists, I’m more fascinated by it. I’ve visited the site in East Poland, but the old farmhouse is long gone (apparently having burnt in the 1950's), the land has long since been subdivided and all of the former fields are now forested.

I’m still trying to piece together the exact timeline through property deeds but it appears Louis and Virginie made their first purchase of land on what was known as the Bray Road (now known as the Torrey Road) in East Poland in 1873. This road was also referred to as “Elmwood Extension” in the 1920 Federal Census for Virginie, who was living on the farm with her two youngest sons Oscar and Leon. Louis & Virginie continued to add to the farm with subsequent purchases (as well as a few transfers of land) throughout the years.

Below is a map from 1873 – Louis & Virginie’s land was approximately where the No. 6 is, just north of the land owned by F. Disosea.

Below are a series of photos given to me by Madelyn Provancher (thanks Madelyn!). As an important aside, it was Madelyn and her husband Alfred Provancher (my Dad’s cousin) and Laurette Provancher (Alfred’s sister in-law) who have been so instrumental in my knowing what I know about the old farmstead (and so much about this family in general). They blazed this genealogical trail in the 60’s and 70’s and I assume their work was at least part of the impetus for my brother Donald’s interest, which in turn inspired me.

The photo above appears to be of the old farmhouse. If you look closely at the door, the columns appear to match those shown in the photo I posted previously of Virginie and most of her children (in which Alfred Provancher makes an appearance in as a baby):

http://michaelsgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/01/auger-family-of-east-poland-part-two.html

It also seems to be large enough to fit the description of the farmhouse in the real estate ad I posted previously – “a fine house of 11 rooms”:

http://michaelsgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/02/more-regarding-louis-theophile-auger.html

What has thrown me off a bit, is another picture of a house, which is also labelled “the old farm in East Poland”, but which is clearly (or at least to me) a different structure.

One guess I have is perhaps it is the farmhouse on Empire Road in East Poland (just “down the road” from the Bray Road site) where my grandparents raised their family, but it doesn’t look like the same structure that now exists on that site and I never heard of any fire occurring. So, was it simply another structure on the old farm? That seems unlikely to me.

Lastly, I wanted to share a photo of Virginie, which I love. I assume is the old farm owned by my great grandparents, especially because of the topography of it, but again it could be on my grandparent’s land.

What is unfortunate is that these questions probably could have been easily answered if I would have asked them perhaps 10 or so years ago, when more of the family was still around, but now I’m left being a detective piecing together bits of old clues. Hopefully this will serve as an impetus to genealogists who still have lots of family members around – ask lots of questions now and write down the answers citing the sources of the info!

Movin' to the Big City...

Above is a photo of the family in taken on April 26, 1945. The reason why everyone is all dolled-up is that this was the 25th wedding anniversary of the parents (my grandparents) Leon Henri Auger and Diane Catherine Gagne.

Left to right back row:
Lucille Florence “Flo” Auger, Leon Marcel Auger, Alfred Dominic Auger and Gerald Henry Auger

Left to right front row:
Diane Catherine Gagne Auger, Leon Henri Auger, Oscar Edmund Auger, Louis Paul Auger

The family had moved to Lewiston from the Empire Road in East Poland, Maine in the late 1930’s and settled into a second floor apartment at 18 Maple St., which is where this photo was taken. The building is long gone, now replaced by a parking lot, but it used to sit on the corner of Maple and Lisbon St., across the street from where the Public Theatre (formerly the Ritz Theatre) currently is.

The location was convenient as Leon found work literally right around the corner at the Caron & Tardif Filling Station on Lisbon St.

Leon is on the far right, closest to Lisbon St with his arm around his son Gerald Auger (thanks Sister Sue for pointing that out!). I’m uncertain who the two other men are and when exactly the photo was taken. Caron & Tardif no longer exists and on the site now sits Kaplan University. As an aside a few years ago my office was in a building immediately in back of the “Esso” sign – so without knowing it until recently, I was in my grandparent’s old neighborhood on a daily basis.

The family lived on Maple St. until 1950 when Flo bought a house on Manley St in Auburn and Leon & Diane along with youngest son Oscar moved in with her.

The Auger Family of East Poland - Part Two

Before following the Augers to Lewiston, I wanted to post a few additional photos of the family on the Empire Road in East Poland, but before doing so wanted to give a little context to the family first.

Leon Henri Auger was born on June 17, 1890 in Poland, Maine, the son of Louis Theophile Auger and Marie Virginie Laflamme. Leon had five older siblings who lived to adulthood: Artheline, who was the oldest child and went by the nickname of “Lena” ; Louis Mathias; Theodora “Dora”; Alfred Dominque; and Oscar.

Leon grew up on a 140-acre homestead farm in agrarian East Poland as his father Louis was a well-known local farmer and milkman. The farm was located on what is currently known as the Torrey Road, historically known as the Bray Hill Road. The house burned a number of years ago, the property was subdivided and newer dwellings now exist on the property.

Below is a photo taken at the old homestead on Torrey Road in 1916.

Left to right back row:
Theodora “Dora” Auger Provancher; Alfred Provancher (baby ); Arthelene “Lena” Auger Martin; Leon Henri Auger

Left to right front row:
George Provancher (Dora’s husband); Oscar Auger; Alfred Dominique Auger; and Virgine Laflamme Auger. The photo was taken by Alfred Auger's wife Sarah Hill.

Sadly, Leon lost his father at the young age of sixteen when Louis succumbed to stomach cancer in 1906. As the youngest child Leon continued to live with his mother Virginie until in 1920 he married Marie Diane Catherine Gagne on April 26th at Saint Peter’s & Paul’s Church in Lewiston.

Diane, as she was commonly known as, was born on December 4, 1893 in Lewiston, the daughter of Jean Evangeliste Gagne and Marie Celanire Voyer. Diane’s father Jean (known as John) was a prominent Franco-American businessman and served as tax collector for the City of Lewiston. In 1919, Diane suffered a fate similar to her soon to be husband, in that she was a young woman of only 25 when her father passed away.

Leon and Diane had their first child Gerald Henry Auger in 1921. Lucille Florence, who commonly went by her middle name, was born next, followed by Leon Marcel, Louis Paul and Alfred Dominic. Their sixth child Oscar Edmund came eight years after Alfred in 1937. As in many families it is interesting to see similar family names repeated from generation to generation and the Augers were no exception.

In 1926 Leon & Diane bought their own home on Empire Road in East Poland, just down the road from where Leon grew up on his parent’s farm and started to raise their young family there. The property had ample land for an extensive garden for Leon while Diane kept house for a busy household of eight including herself and Leon. Unfortunately, the Great Depression began soon after buying their home and beginning in 1930 Leon and Diane began having difficulty paying taxes on the property, which continued for several years. Eventually the family moved to Lewiston in the late 1930’s. The family retained the house on Empire Road until 1942 when it was sold to Edith Trafford.

As promised, here are additional photos of the family on the Empire Road in East Poland taken in 1931.

Leon & Diane on the farm:

Flo and Louis (Dad):

The Auger Family of East Poland

This is one of my all-time favorite family photos. Taken on the Empire Road in East Poland, Maine in 1930’s, during the Great Depression this is of my Dad and four of his five siblings just before the family moved to Lewiston, Maine.

Left to Right: My Dad Louis Auger, Alfred “Fred” Auger, Florence Auger, Leon M. Auger and the baby of the family Oscar E. Auger. Taken by Alfred Provancher (cousin to the Augers and the family historian of their generation)

One of the things that brings me such joy every time I look at this is my Dad’s smile. The family was obviously suffering through the tough economic times, but you never would have known that to look at my Dad’s face. Throughout his long life, Dad kept that smile and spoke so highly of his formative childhood days in East Poland. Years later as a ritual I would take him for a drive along the roads of his old neighborhood and he was instantly transported back to his youth. He’d recite the names of neighbors: Gale and Glen Torrey, Forest “Fort” Strout, Lester Bunker to name a few, which was always followed by a wonderful story and of course that marvelous laugh of his.

Wordless (Not Really) Wednesday - Louis Theophile Auger

This photograph is of my great grandfather Louis Theophile Auger who lived from 1848-1906. Stay tuned, you'll hear lots more about Louis in the future as he intrigues me to no end. I received the photo from a very helpful fellow researcher and relative (thanks Madelyn!). On the back of the photo was written by cousin Alfred Provancher: "Mom's father Louis Auger from Poland, Maine".