Cemetery Genealogy Hedgecoe-McKenna

Correspondence from Montreal

Topic: The busiest trip EVER…
Family Name Associations: McKenna, LaLonde, Lecuyer
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Mood: Exhausted!
Music: Crazy elevator music on speaker phone.

Mum is on hold so we’ve got some lovely elevator music playing. WOW… My mind is spinning. Okay, so…
We left Ottawa about 8am, I didn’t write yesterday because it was a whole lot of driving. Exciting, but driving…. We had dinner last night, and we went to the memorial of the Unknown Soldier… That was pretty major. There was a stunning festival of lights thing happening at the Parliament building. I have photos 🙂

This morning we checked out St. Peter’s Lutheran Church but it was closed as we’d expected.

We took some location shots though, I’m looking forward to going back on Sunday to get shots of the window.

We drove to Quebec, and just sort of saw the sign for Vaudreuil on the way in, Mum remembered going there when she was younger to visit family. So we stopped there because I had a map (Thanks Mark and Jake!) saying St. Michel’s in Vaudreuil was a major spot… And wow was it ever. A huge amount of photos… Probably 85% of the cemetery. At least one Emry LaLonde there… Lots and lots to do when we get home. LaLonde and Lecuyers both, Chabot, Chavriel…

We continued to Montreal, had lunch in Old Montreal… And went on to Notre Dame Cote des Neiges.
I have to admit, this afternoon was emotional, confusing and somewhat frustrating. First off, I’m so glad I was there with my parents. Because it was supportive and good that way for us to be there together. But really, when Patrick said there was nothing there… I honestly thought he meant nothing for Leonard. I did not think I’d be going to see a big patch of grass.
I have a photograph you see, of a small iron fence, and the stones that are supposed to be there. I’ll post it, just to prove I’m not daft.
And I checked with cousins all around to confirm it wasn’t anyone else in the family. And Mum even called Aunt Shirley and confirmed, sure enough, that’s what is supposed to be there.
And nothing. No record of anything being there at all. It’s absolutely nutso.
William John McKenna and Mary Ann Stafford have a lovely monument… Over in another section, but even then, I’m so confused. Two of the children in the McKenna plot were theirs. Why are there no stones?
And if James McKenna is indeed in Notre Dame verses being in Chicago like we thought, um, hello??? The man won the Stanley Cup, two times. It wasn’t a financial thing, we have their income statements from the census… I mean, really? Really? What is going on here? And there were stones, but who’s and what they said is apparently beyond me… All of us even. Bah. I’m just not sure where to go from here. Obviously talks about putting up a monument are in the works… But paying for that is huge, it’s not a small space, you’re talking a lot of effort. And what should it say?
Wow. Just wow. So much to think about. Thomas bought the plot in 1861 but isn’t buried in it. It just gets more and more crazy the more I think about it.
I’m going to dinner now, maybe for a carriage ride… Something fun and happy 🙂
I’ll see you all soon!

Jenn
Always one for making things pretty, Jenn is our resident artist. Métis, British Home Child Descendant, family historian and genealogist, she is always looking into some new branch of research and encourages historical preservation and education.

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