One month after their wedding
Wife of Jean Comeau, Marie Pitre was born March 9, 1863 in the village of Beresford, N.B. Her sister, Anne Pitre was born two years later on February 19, 1865. Unfortunately, these two sisters will become young orphans. They remained in close to each other as the son of Marie Pitre will marry the grand-daughter of her sister, Anne Pitre.
Their parents, Jean Pitre and Justine Boudreau were married in Petit Rocher on November 26, 1861. Four years later, Justine Boudreau passed away not long after the birth of Anne.
Anne Pitre & Alexandre Frenette in October 1883
One month after their wedding
The death of their mother, left the father Jean Pitre with the baby Anne and her two-year-old sister, Marie. The following year, their father Jean Pitre married Marcelline Roy in Petit Rocher on September 17, 1866. Marie and Anne Pitre had two half-brothers named Jean et Alex, born from the second marriage of their father.
Five years later, while repairing his house, Jean Pitre fell from a scaffold and died from his head injuries. He was in his early thirties and by this accident Marie, age 8 and Anne age 6 became orphans.
Not long after, the widow Marcelline Roy whose house was on the Pitre lot, married Joe Godin who settled in with the widow and her two sons, Jean and Alex Pitre. The two orphans, Marie and Anne Pitre seem to have been adopted by members of the Pitre family.
Traditional work; women doing laundry outside
New Brunswick Provincial Archives - P430/13
We find Marie Pitre on the 1881 census, she was eighteen and is mentioned as a servant and living with her uncle Alexandre Pitre. She reached the age of 28 before she married Jean Comeau on November 25, 1890. Her younger sister Anne was already married for seven years and it is near her that Marie would bring up her family.
In 1881, Anne Pitre was 16 but she is not mentioned in the census. Two years later, Anne Pitre married Alex Frenette in Petit Rocher on September 9, 1883. By 1891, we find Anne with her husband living with her in-laws. At this time, their son Joseph who will continue the family line, was already three years old.
The bond between these two orphan sisters Marie & Anne Pitre, will have a particularly significance in the history of our Comeau and Frenette families. L�andre Comeau, youngest son of Jean Comeau and Marie Pitre will marry his second cousin �veline Frenette, the eldest daughter of Joseph Frenette and grand-daughter of Alex Frenette and Anne Pitre.
Jean Comeau, husband of Marie Pitre (father of L�andre Comeau)
Joseph Frenette, son of Anne Pitre (father of �veline Frenette)
In the registers from the parish of Sainte-Famille de Bathurst, we find the mention for the christening of Jean Pitre, father of Marie and Anne on June 16, 1839 where he is said to be 2 and a half months old. Jean Pitre was the son of Hilaire Pitre and Tharsille Boudreau.
Hilaire Pitre (son of Jean-Baptiste Pitre and Marie Hach�) was born April 6, 1818 in Bathurst, where he married Tharsille Boudreau (fille de Thimoth� Boudreau et V�n�rande Doucet) on September 1, 1835. Many family links incited his move to Beresford. (aunts, uncles, maternal grandmother) Hilaire Pitre acquired the lot between the Millstream and City Hall.
As a matter of fact, the land where the church stands today in the centre of Beresford was originally owned by Hilaire Pitre. His son Victor, who inherited the property, will cede the lot to the catholic church in 1902 for 100 $. Also, Victor Pitre became the Foreman responsible for the construction of the first Church in Beresford.
First Church in Beresford
built in 1902, destroyed by fire in 1948
An older resident of Beresford remembers Hilaire Pitre as a widower walking with two canes who sold candies that he called 'sweeties'. Hilaire Pitre had the only store in Beresford. At first, it was a small store near the Millstream. Later, the store was moved to the big house. This was an unusually long house which started where the presbytery is located today. Without setting a foot outside, you would go from Hilaire's house to an enclosed porch, then a wood shed, followed by a chicken coop which was next to the grain storage and finally the stable where the animals were kept. A bay window would display the General Store's ware to be sold.
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