ANGUS (JEAN IGNACE) DOIRON & MARY (MARIE ODILE) PINEAU
The ANGUS & MARY DOIRON DESCENDANTS gathered on Prince Edward Island this past August 9, 10, & 11, 2024 for a Family Reunion.
THE DOIRON NAME and HOMESTEAD STORY, by lou doiron
What’s in a name? It was originally spelled as "DU ROYON" as the ancestral records take us back to Antoine Du Royon (1560) and his wife Jeanne Lagoule (1560-1615) both from Puits-la-Vallée, Oise, Picardie, France. That's as far back as the records take us, a full 13 generations, up to the generation of 1942-1976.
While you can see the details of the various generations in the Jean and Marie ancestry pages on this website, more recent history, beginning in 1760, Jean Charles Doiron was born and eventually wed Scholastique Porier. They produced a son, Laurent Doiron who together with Madeleine Pineau, gave birth to Jean Doiron in 1823. That lead to the birth of their son, also named Jean Doiron in 1857 who met Edesse Pineau and on July 4, 1896, Jean Ignace Doiron (John Angus, Pepe, Pop) was born (the name “Jean” was very prominent throughout the DOIRON history). Jean Ignace met and married Marie Odile Pineau (Mary, Meme, Mom - born Mar 31,1896) and they produced 11 children over the next 19 years: Estelle (1918), John Leo (1920), Joe Emile (1921), Imelda (1923), Lena (1925), Edward (1926), Vincent (1928), Ivan (1929), Louise (1933), Marie-Yvonne (1935) and Lionel (1937).
DOIRON is a name of French extraction, so you are safe pronouncing it "Dwar-uhn", with the stress on the first syllable. It is a French habitational name, meaning for someone from a certain place, in this case, from Oiron in Deux-Sèvres, France. The village of Oiron is a small village located west of France. The town of Oiron is located in the department of Deux-Sèvres of the french region Poitou-Charentes. The town of Oiron is located in the township of Thouars 1er Canton part of the district of Bressuire. Notice the name of the village was OIRON, without the "D". This surname is very rare in France because it was used by people who were "from" this region.
It is interesting to note the commonality of names within the clan right back to 1560.
The surnames, in addition to Doiron: Pineau, Doucet, Gallant, Arsenault, Blanchard, Martin, LeBlanc, Porier, and Buote, were the common surnames of the husbands and wives that made up the clan dating back to 1560 and those names are prevalent to this day in the settlement areas around St. Ann’s and Rustico, PEI. As well the uniqueness of first names stands out throughout the clan: Scholastique, Lazard, Prosper, Xavier, Edesse, Firmin, Adelaide, Laurent, Amand, Marguerite, and Bruno to name a few.
As for the commonality of first names dating back to 1560 through to 1976, there were 25 people named Marie/Mary, 17 named Jehan/Jean/John, 9 Joseph’s, and 5 Madeline’s, Marguerite’s and Pierre’s. See the full list of first names in the adjacent column.
Definitely of French origin, there didn’t seem to be much jumping over the fence into the Scottish, Irish, English and European communities right up until the mid-1900,s when Marie Lina (Lena) Doiron married James (Jimmy) Quinn - a clear and ever present Scotsman. While we know that Estelle Doiron married Alban Peters before this, the “Peters” surname is mainly of German origin but also has French heritage, spelled as PITRE, originally in France (Alsace and Lorraine), but is also found in Sweden, Denmark, and some other European countries. As I write this story in 2023, over 105 years since the birth of the first child of Jean and Marie (Lucie Marie Estelle), there are only 2 of their children alive today to share the legacy of their parents, Jean Ignace and Marie Odile, and we are very lucky to have them with us still. Through interviews with Aunt Louise (90) and Aunt Yvonne (88), stories shared from others still with us from the same era, archives and photographs, this writer makes an attempt to bring to life, the journey of this 13 member family, so that we as descendants have a small glimpse into our history: where we came from before them, the hardships and struggles and sacrifices they made to survive in their era, but to also understand the values and love of community that was a core tenant and integral to the legacy that this family created and left for us. It is not clear when the Doiron homestead, as we know it, was built. What we do know is it was sometime between 1921 and 1929. One record exists showing payment for drawings for a mortgage in 1927 and Louise recalls that the house was built in 1921. She also recalls that all the wood for the house came from the hardwood trees on the property and they were turned into boards at Ruby Simpson’s Mill near Stanley Bridge. There are a few photos around of the prior homestead house (one shown here) that sat on the property in St. Ann’s. It was a similar house and was moved off the existing foundation and attached to the barns to make way for the construction of the new house, which still stands today on the original foundation and property in St. Ann’s (not in the family today).
It is not known how the family came to be in St. Ann’s originally, but we assume they homesteaded in this community for some time, well back into the 1800’s. Old photos of the original churches occupying the hill next door to the Doiron homestead would indicate it was a bustling area, heavily bathed in the Catholic faith with multiple schools in the area (St. Ann's, St. Mary's, St. Patrick's)
The churches of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s had an air of majesty to them. It was clear, life in this community revolved around the church and their faith. Jean Ignace and his father Jean were farmers. Stories of thrashing grain and stooking hay, gathering and selling eggs, and of milking cows by hand, separating the cream for delivery to the New Glasgow dairy factory in the 1940’s, were some of the various means to get money and feed this large family. Louise remembers how her Mom told all the girls in the family never to show interest in “barn work” because that was for the men and she didn’t want the girls working in the barns and the fields. Interesting to note, you will see on the historical records tab on this website, references to life insurance policies taken out on the "boys" in the family in the late 30's and early 40's, but none on the "girls".
The family grew most everything they needed to feed their large family. They raised pigs and chickens, which became a staple of their diet. They’d collect the eggs every day from the hens and deliver them to Jack Connor’s store near the church where they would barter for flour, sugar, pepper and salt and other condiments for baking and cooking. Yvonne lamented that when they were young they would eat so many eggs she was sick of them - when her brother's would wonder "What's for supper?", she'd answer, "probably eggs!" They seemed to be a key ingredient in their diet. Pork and poultry were also key proteins and the fish-man would come around once a week - but they weren’t really big fish eaters. There was always a bundle of dried salt cod hanging in the attic - I think there was still a bundle of it there when the house sold in 2011 (just kidding). Louise and Yvonne recall that they didn’t want for much. Their days growing up consisted of waking up (cold), getting organized and coming downstairs and “Pop” (father) always had a pot of porridge going on the wood stove. Pop was the “pet” name for Jean Ignace. Marie Odile was called Mom.
The winter times were expressly harsh, with lots of snow and waking up to a freezing house - it was always cold according to Yvonne. There were chores to do, getting ready for school and then they would head off to school. All the children went to the St. Mary’s one-room school just over the hill on the road to New Glasgow, about a mile from the farm and next door to Florence Doiron’s house. The school still stands today as a private residence.
After getting the porridge ready, pop would head across the field to St. Ann’s church where mass was said every morning. He was an alter boy and got paid 25 cents a week. He would sing the hymns and psalms during the mass - typically in French and Latin. That role passed on to Lionel along the way.
The family always spoke French at home. The sisters can’t recall exactly when they transitioned to speaking English more - but they recall their Aunt Julia (Meme's sister) - if she ever heard you speaking English you would “catch hell”.
There are a multitude of old pictures of the family dating back to the 1915-20 era. There are only a few, to our knowledge, of the generation before Jean and Marie. It was noted in a conversation with Louise and Yvonne that all the pictures of the family from the early days had an air of seriousness to them - everyone looked cranky or grumpy (haha). So, what did the family do for fun - to make them smile? The lack of vehicles and, of course, heavy winter snows, kept the family close to home but they recall usual Saturday nights with a house full of people where there was lots of food. Fiddles and guitars were played by the likes of Leo Josh and Frank “Julia”, and everyone would sing and they had a lot of fun. Seems that tradition carried on as Lionel and Shirley took over the farm in the 1960’s where Saturday night kitchen parties often occurred, and card parties usually took place after church on Sunday. Transportation was limited in those early days but there were dances every Friday night at the Gordon Lodge in St. Patrick's and they would all pile into the back of Albert Gallant's (from the Toronto Road) truck to go to the dance. Lexis Murphy also had a truck and he would also take them to the stores in the area once in a while. The Murphy’s had the farm to the South of the Doiron homestead and they had built a house of very similar style and size to the Doiron’s around the same time (a race between the Frenchmen and the Irishmen maybe) haha. Every once in a while they would all get taken to Charlottetown to the “Exhibition” but that wasn’t often - they didn’t have the money for that. Going to the local stores in New Glasgow (there was 4 of them in those days) was the usual trip off the farm. They made their own fun around the farm playing hide and seek, kicking a ball over the barn (called Leepo) and whatever else they could do to get into trouble. Eventually the siblings started to marry and move off the farm to start lives and families of their own. All the children had married and were having grandchildren for Pepe and Meme before their passing in 1964 and 1966.
By the time of their passing, there were 70 grandchildren running around somewhere in the world with another 14 to arrive after their passing for a total of 84 grandchildren. When I tell friends today that I had/have 102 first cousins, when I add up the names on my father and mothers side, all are flabbergasted. Pepe passed the deed for the property to Lionel and Shirley soon after their wedding. Pepe and Meme continued to live in the house with Lionel and Shirley, died in the house and were “waked” in the house before being laid to rest in the St. Ann’s Church cemetery. With the passing of the deed to the homestead, there was a stipulation that “the place” was always to be a home away from home for people coming from afar - in those days Charlottetown was “afar” but Lionel and Shirley always made room through the years for folks who returned from off-Island whether coming back to PEI for summer vacations or trips to visit family.
Over the years that homestead, and the farm, produced a lot animals and food for the large DOIRON clan and for the community. While Lionel was the caretaker of the farm right up until his passing he had many an opportunity to sell the farm, but he refused. He just loved sitting in the picture window and looking out onto the beautiful valley to the south. Many of the traditions started in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, were carried on by Jean Ignace and Lionel Doiron right up unit the passing of Lionel on December 31, 2010. After his death the farm was offered first to anyone in the family who might want to buy it and take it over (a similar wish deteailed in his great grandfather's will - copy on this website). As the family was preparing the property for sale and a community auction of all the personal treasures and furnishings from the house, Lionel and Shirley’s children shared many a tear and an abundance of laughter going through 100 years of treasure that had been stored in the old attic of the house. They knew the era of this homestead was coming to an end.
Eventually the farm was sold in June of 2011 to a beautiful young family of 4 from Ontario who moved to PEI to raise their family - and the cycle of children playing around the barns and in the fields started all over again.
THE LISTING OF FIRST NAMES ON THE PATRIARCH's LINEAGE BETWEEN 1560 and 1976
St. Ann or ST. Ann's
What is the proper name?
The name, St. Ann (without an 'e') was adopted 12 December 1939 for the "Settlement". It became a "Locality" in 1960. The confusion likely comes as the local catholic church is called St. Ann's (also without an 'e'). Either one works.
Information courtesy of the Gov't of PEI and Geomatics Canada .
