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Grandpa Louis Smith, My maternal grandfather. Born 13 Aug 1862 Gaspe, Que, died 13 Apr 1929, Cobalt Ont.

Louis seemed to have done a lot of travelling during his time. His exact birth place is not known but it is believed to have been in the town of Gaspe in Gaspe, Que. From stories passed down to me by family members it seems that there was no work in the Gaspe area and that around 1889 he left with his brothers John and Isaac to find work north of Buckingham, Que. where jobs were available in the lumber camps. North of here in the little town of Notre Dame de la Salette he met and married Delia Lefebvre in 1891. There they had their first child, Louis Antoine Smith. His brothers John and Isaac also married here, John having married Delia's sister, Emilie Lefebvre a year earlier in 1890. Isaac married a Tremblay from the same town in 1893.

For some unknown reason Louis returned to the Gaspe area. It is not known if his brothers returned with him at that time, but it looks like they remained in Notre Dame de la Salette. Louis, with his wife Delia and their first child Louis Antoine returned to Gasp to try his life again in that area with the rest of his family. While living back in Gaspe he had three more children: Adhmar, and twin girls, Dolores & Alvina, Alvina died at childbirth. Again not finding that part of the world too productive for a growing family and trying for about six years to make a go of it he realized it was futile to remain in the Gaspe area. Even Delia is said to have suffered cold and inhospitable winters near the coast and is said to have seen snow come through cracks into their rundown shack by the sea shore.

It was during this time that Louis heard about lots of work in the Hull area, so he decided to pack things up and leave Gaspe a second time. With his wife Delia, their three children (Louis, Adhemar and Dolores) and possibly other members of his family they travelled to Hull, Que. sometime around the end of 1898 or in 1899. During that time Louis must have moved north of Hull because their fifth child, Argentina was born in 1900 in St.Pierre de Wakefield. Again it is assumed that he was working in the lumber camps and that his family was living nearby in Wakefield.

In about 1905 Louis decided to find work in Northern Ontario in the town of Cobalt where his next four children, Walter, Violet, Romeo and Aldege were all born. This year is recorded in The Northern News newspaper(issue 18 April 1929) which lists his death on 13 Apr 1929 in Cobalt.

It was because of the mining situation in that area at that time that attracted Louis to Cobalt. It was a booming town and lots of work was available.