Old deeds and wills: trash or treasure?
Bouchard Street in the village of Hemmingford is named for Jean Baptiste Alain Bouchard (1882-1974). As a public notary, he left behind hundreds of documents which are presently being indexed by Yvon Paquette for the Hemmingford Archives. This work in progress will be a powerful resource for those tracking genealogical information that may not be available elsewhere. The records include letters, patents, wills, real estate sales, deeds, and descriptions of properties.
Notary Bouchard’s papers also provide a window to our social history as sampled in these two small entries. In 1882 was the gift of land from George Fiddes to his son James. “Old man Fiddes gives his estate to his son in return for being kept in sufficient style for the rest of his life.” In 1890 was a shady deal that backfired. George Peacock sued D. Fairbrother, which resulted in a sheriff’s sale of Fairbrother’s property. Peacock bought the property from the sheriff. Mary Statton, the wife of Fairbrother, considered the sheriff sale illegal and sued Peacock. “For the sake of peace” Peacock hastily gave the land back to Mary Statton for $1 on the condition that she stop her suit.
Old documents, like those in the Bouchard collection, are often tucked away and forgotten for decades in local homes. Then the family moves, or the householder passes away, and the property is sold and the contents of the house dispersed.
If you are selling or buying property, you may be faced with the task of sorting out those old papers and photographs in the attic. They may have no perceived value to you and you might be tempted to simply haul them to the local dump. Please think twice before you make that decision. You may be destroying irreplaceable information.
Donating old documents to the Archives adds to knowledge about our community. What you see as useless trash may be treasure in disguise to a family historian researching Hemmingford roots.
Contact Mary Ducharme, 450-247-3193 e-mail: mducharme117@sympatico.ca