The Trades.


Cordonnier.

tools

Narcisse was a cordonnier or shoe maker. He served as an apprentice, for little or no pay, for about three years to learn the trade. The shoes made from animal hides were formed around a wooden last which did not differentiate between the right or left foot. The tools he worked with, an awl, a scraper, and a hammer, were very much the same as those used by shoe makers for hundreds of years. Though the job required more skill than a cobbler who repaired shoes, it did not fare well in folk-lore which portrayed those in the trade as carousers. (Perhaps it was inherited, his grandson Walter had a persistent twinkle in his eye that led his daughter-in-law Dorothy to tease that he always looked like he was up to something.) In balance however, the cordonnier was believed to be a philosophical sort.

Their first two children were baptized in the church in LaPrairie: Marie-Marguerite Edesse, who was born in 1852 lived a short life and was buried in the church cemetery after her death two years later. A son, Narcisse (often called Rocque), was born on March 7, 1854. Edesse's sisters Mathilda and Hermine were the marraine or godmothers to these children. Narcisse's brother Régis stood as parraine or godfather to their son Narcisse.

A Butcher, a Baker…

Narcisse's father Joseph had died three years before Narcisse's marriage to Edesse. His oldest sibling, also named Joseph was a carpenter. He died in 1855. It was shortly after his death that Narcisse moved into Montréal. He lived in close proximity to his younger brothers, each working in different trades: a butcher (Régis), a baker (Paul) and a blacksmith (Pierre). Régis occupied stall 23 in the Saint-Lawrence market. Edesse's older brother (named Paul Mondou after their father) was the general agent for the Vermont Central Railroad and Lake Champlain steamers with offices located at 65 Commissioners street, Montréal. His home was at 14 Chenneville.

urbain
Notre-Dame, From Saint-Urbain Street

Family Changes.

The family was living at 69 Saint-Urbaine with the Pierre Petelle's when Hermine was baptized in Notre-Dame de Montréal on 4 May 1856. Her aunt Martine Petelle was her marraine.

Two more boys were born and died: Paul Alexis on 9 October 1858 died just nine days later. Charles Joseph Samuel was born 11 November 1859 and died at the age of two. They resided on St-Charles Barromée, before moving to 355 Saint-Joseph street where Narcisse continued making boots and shoes.

On 13 February 1860 Narcisse stood as witness to the marriage of his brother Régis to Elmire Grant in Notre-Dame de Montréal. A few months later on 21 June Narcisse and Edesse were godparents to Mathilda Edesse Malvina Charbonneau at Notre-Dame de Montréal; the child's mother (who was Edesse's sister Mathilda) died a few weeks later on 1 August.