Ephrem Boudreau was born in River Bourgeois in 1905. After his classical studies, he spent three years at agricultural school. Here he earned bachelors’ degrees in arts and one in agricultural science.
He wrote Riviere Bourgeois from which this history is taken and translated.
Among the oldest houses in River Bourgeois was that of Willie Boucher (Marie à Victoire Samson). This house was at least 100 years old. It was built by Willie’s father Pacien, dead at the age of 80.
There was also the home of “Old Bizette” near the church and that of Victor Digout, built piece by piece, but covered later by plank shingles.
The house of Abraham Landry (at Fond-du-Bras) was built in 1896 according to Willie Landry (1903-1979), son of Abraham. By 1986, this venerable house was 90 years old.
Most of these old houses were equivalent to our living rooms, but it was a room of little importance and not very spacious, nor well furnished. In general, among the common people, this room was never used or only to wake the deceased.
One can say that in these old homes the kitchen was the main room; it was there that the members of the family could be found most often. There were chairs, little wooden chairs, along the walls when space permitted. It was in the kitchen where visitors were received. If they sat while the mother and the older daughters continued to go about their chores, to stir the pots and watch the fire and from time to time to feed a log or two into the stove. Whether the visitors were important or not the lady of the house always prepared for them a cup of tea.
Social life
Acadians have preserved up until the last few years their ancestral virtues, brought from France over 300 years ago. They were a simple, timid people content with very little.
At their return to their ancestral homeland after the Deportation, finding themselves in a different and less prosperous country, they grouped themselves into parishes, and it is precisely because of this intense parish life that they have survived for over 200 years.
The people of River Bourgeois have always been seafaring men drawing their subsistence from it. Seldom would you see a resident of the “River” leave his parish to go live in an area distant from the sea. They always needed to be within sight of the sea. The Scots located themselves in the mountains far from villages. Their ancestors came from mountainous regions in Scotland.
To complete their essential provisions, they kept one or two cows, also raised sheep for wool, and pigs that finished their days in a barrel of salted lard.
Also it goes without saying that they kept poultry. In summer, they had their vegetable gardens providing beans, peas, beats, carrots, and other vegetables. Each family had their patch of potatoes and a number of rows of cabbages. In conclusion, it wasn’t all that bad.
What did they buy? Flour, oatmeal, sugar, molasses and much consumption of tea, sometimes cheese, fabrics, and rarely ready-made clothes.
Each family made its own bread, pancakes, and cakes. They had spinning wheels for the wool from the sheep; it was not uncommon to see in one of the rooms of the house a loom that was used make various items. This loom was, at this time, very large and it was for this reason it was installed in one of the larger rooms in the house. The art of weaving was passed down faithfully from generation to generation without the help of an instructor.