was summer time, and they had a iot of work to do before winter set in. They cut some trees down to build a log cabin, and a barn for their oxen, a few chickens and some other iivestock. Times were un- believably hard. They cleared some land so they could put in a garden and some grain. The grain was cut down with a scythe and threshed by hand, by beating on the sheaves when they were very dry. The hay was also cut by hand, and coiled into stacks for winter feed for the cattle.
In the winter John cut cordwood, hauling it to to Broad Valley in exchange for groceries, or whatever he needed. They lived on the farm until their retire— ment, and then moved to Fisher Branch.
John died in 1962.
Alexandra died in 1964.
They had two daughters, Anna and Mary.
Anna married Nick Slobidnyk of Broad Valley.
Mary married Mike Blink of Kilkenny.
FATHER OSIAS CORBEIL first priest of Fisher Branch
Osias Corbeil was born in Ste. Scholastique, 1312., on January 22, 1867. His father was Edouard Corbeil, and his mother, Ovide Routhier. Mrs. Edouard Corbeil was the sister of Msgr. J. 0. Ron— thier, Vicar General of the diocese of Ottawa, and of Sir A. B. Routhier.
Osias took his secondary studies at the famed Minor Seminary of Ste. Th6rése, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He studied an for one year, then was a journalist for two years before he entered the Major Seminary of Ottawa, in 1890. Father Ade- Iand Langevin, O.M.I. , who later became the second Archbishop of St. Boniface, was at that time, the Director of Ottawa Seminary.
After four years of theology, Osias was ordained a priest on May 19, 1894. His first assignment was to work as the assistant to the parish priest of Masson. TWO years after his ordination, he was invited by Archbishop Langevin to devote himself to this vast diocese. He accepted and became a diocesan priest of the Diocese of St. Boniface. Immediately he was appointed the parish priest of St. Adolphe, Manitoba.
It was in those years that the gold rush to the Yukon (Klondike) swept all over Canada and carried many young men, eager for gold and adventure, to this remote territory. Father Corbeil was one of the missionaries who went with Father Gendreau, O.M.I., to give the prospectors and the miners the aid and comfort of religion.
His work in this wild and unknown country often proved heroic. He gave eight years to this hard and difficult missionary life, frequently unfruitful in our human judgements. In 1906, he was missionary of
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colonization in Alberta. In the fall of 1908, he be- came the secretary of Bishop Latulippe, the Vicar Apostolic of Temiscamingue, in the north—western region of the Province of Quebec. In 1910, he came back to St. Boniface and he was appointed parish priest of Venues. It was from Vannes that he came to Fisher Branch toward the end of 1911. In January, 1912, Father Corbeil was appointed the first Parish Priest of the Immaculate Conception Parish of De Laval which he had established the previous months.
In “Les Cloches de St. Boniface”, a monthly publication of the Archdiocese of St. Boniface (Feb- ruary 1913), reporting the blessing of our church on January 26, 1913 , it was written that the erection of a new parish and church in Fisher Branch proved the progress of the diocese. Only one year earlier, no one had heard of that remote district, north of Arborg. Ail that was known of that area was that it was visited mostly by hunters of moose and elk, and was known by the name of Washow or Riviere Pecan or Fisher River.
Thanks to the untiring zeal of Father Corbeil, to the constant co-operation of courageous par» ishioners, and to a generous donation from the Arch— bishop, a new parish existed having its church (80’ x 45'), where families gather every Sunday.
Father Corbeil’s stay in Fisher Branch was indeed a short one, September, 1911 to January 12, 1914; but he directed the parish long enough to firmly lay its foundations; building the church and bringing in new families. Father Corbeil was the missionary and pi— oneer type of priest who planted a church here and there, and then leaving to other’s care the growth of the tender shoot. So, early in 1914, he left this young parish to serve as assistant in Ste. Rose—du-Lac.
COTE FAMILY
Alphonse: Born 1884 in Quebec. Died 1955 — Fort Frances, Untaiio.
Melvina Lambert — Wife of Alphonse, Born 1889 —— Quebec. Died 1921 —— Fisher Branch R.C. Cemetery. Children: Clara, Lucien, Bertha, Mary Ann, Jean, Wilfred, Paul, Eva.
Clara: Born 1901. Married Leo Hudon. Lived in Fisher Branch most of their early married life, then moved to Detroit, Mich. Adopted a daughter, Alice.
Lucien Pierro: Born 1904. Married to Virginia and had four children, three boys and one giri. Lives in Detroit, Mich. U.S.A. Served in World War 11, died in 1981.
Bertha: Born 1911. Married Frank De Lise. They live in Palm Beach, California. They have one son - Charies.
Mary Ann: Born 1910. Married Lawrence Gauthier in 1932. Eight children. Hormidose —— who