Last of an eight-part series describing the real and imagined life of Hubert Prévost of Maisonneuve.
In 1902 Hubert left behind his second wife, Héloise Lapointe and their 13-year-old son Joseph. What happened to them after his death?
Héloise remarried about 18 months later to Amedée Champagne in Montreal after signing a separatist of property marriage contract that protected her assets from forming part of their communal property. Amedée moves into the home at 27 Desjardins Street with Héloise after their marriage. The parish they were married in –Très-Saint-Nom-de-Jésus – was just beginning construction on a grander church that would be completed in 1906. It was to be well-known for its rich decoration and was designed by Albert Mesnard and Charles-Aimé Reeves (Zoe Alvina’s nephew and a prominent Montreal architect).
In 1906, Sem Alexandre (Hubert and Zoe Alvina’s son) obtains a declaration of death for his mother, probably for final settlement of his mother’s estate.
Not much is seen of Héloise (at least from a documentary evidence perspective) until the census of 1911 where we see that she is once again widowed and is living in Laval (St-Martin) with her nephew Henri Martel. It’s possible that she leased out her home in Maisonneuve.
In 1912 the Montreal Women’s Suffrage Association and the Fédération nationale Saint-Jean-Baptiste were working to bring the right to vote to Quebec women. As an independent-minded wife, businesswoman and property owner, did Héloise support their cause? Although women could vote in federal elections, their right to vote and run in provincial elections wasn’t won until 1940.
In 1920, Héloise sold the home on Desjardins street to Olier Boileau, a dairyman, for $1,650. Then follow a number of financial transactions to settle debts with the Cartier estate and Hector Decary, and the issuance of a new loan from the Cartier estate.
Our story of this remarkable family closes with the death of Héloise on August 22, 1922 at her sister’s home in St-Vincent-de-Paul after a long illness. She was buried in Cote-des-Neiges cemetery in Montreal. Her son Joseph Hubert appears to have joined the business she built with Hubert. It’s quite telling that the writers of her obituary in La Press listed her under her married name with Hubert and gives no mention of her other two husbands.
Sources
- 1911 Census of Canada. Library and Archives Canada. <http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca>
- Église du Très-Saint-Nom-de-Jésus. Wikipedia. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89glise_du_Tr%C3%A8s-Saint-Nom-de-J%C3%A9sus#Historique
- Feu Mme H Prevost. La presse, 1884- (Montréal). mercredi 23 août 1922; http://collections.banq.qc.ca
- Fonds Cour Supérieure. Greffes de notaires; Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada. http://www.banc.qc.ca
- Institut Généalogique Drouin; Montreal, Quebec, Canada. http://www.institutdrouin.com
- Right of Québec women to vote and to stand for office. Elections Quebec. https://www.electionsquebec.qc.ca
Comeau family histories 