Leonard St. Louis
Leonard and I first met on Michael’s Bay Road on the day of the picnic, August 26, 2023. The event was organized by the Michael’s Bay Historical Society. Leonard was standing beside his vehicle on Michael’s Bay Road. The writer stopped to find out about parking locations. He was kind and helpful, a visitor himself, when he shared this information. In the parking area, Leonard elaborated a bit more about some of his connections with the early Michael’s Bay settlement. The writer was doing an article for The Expositor at the time. Recently we met by phone to further elaborate his knowledge of this historic town and the role his ancestors played here.
“Second Great Grandfather Horace Theodore Bisson, on his paternal father’s side, was born in October of 1834 in Beauharnois, Quebec. Horace married Philomine Gohier (Moomey) of Montebello, Papineau Quebec in Hoganburg, NY in 1859. Horace and Phoebe came to Manitoulin about 1878. They had 11 children and the two youngest boys, Willie and Gus, were born at Providence Bay Manitoulin Island. He was a grist mill operator and rented the company mill March 1, 1880. “He was favourably known as an honest man and a first-class miller. The farmers in this section will be glad to learn that Mr. Bisson is to be their miller” (The Manitoulin Expositor, March 6, 1880). He moved his family to Massey in 1883. Phoebe died in 1904 and Horace died at Massey in 1920. Horace and Philomine’s (‘Phoebe’) eldest daughter was my Great Grandmother Alena (Leonie) Bisson, born in 1862 in Hull, Quebec. She lived to be 89 years old and died at Carbon, Alberta.
“Second great grandfather, also on my father’s side, was Michael Hagan, born in August 1832 in County Wiklow, Ireland. He was the first Island connection, arriving about 1870. He came to Manitoulin as a widower. He married Mary Marie Morrison of Creich, Isle of Mull, Scotland. They had four children in Albion Twp. that were sent to close family when Mary died at age 33 near Collingwood. Michael later married Mary Ann Stephens in Michael’s Bay where he worked as the Blacksmith. His shop was at Main and Kate Streets to the north of the town. His work was important because he could fashion a plethora of metal items useful for logging, milling, hunting, shoeing horses, or for any other trade, as needed. In their remote location, it could be challenging to get these items quickly, or at all.”
“From an excerpt from ‘Through the Years’ covering February of 1989, we learn about an 1874 shopping trip. An early pioneer went to Michael’s Bay with two friends, bringing his oxen Brandy and Duke, to carry the goods back home. They left at the break of day and got to Michael’s Bay about 11 am, judging their directions by the sun or the moss on the trees, which grew heavier on the south side. As they approached mid-town, they could hear the “ring of the anvil from Michael Hagan’s Blacksmith shop.” Our pioneer needed a new tapping gauge for maple syrup. “Jim McCutcheon was already at the shop, getting two beetle rings made to split cedar and a frow to make shingles. Jim had cleared a piece of land and had to cut rails for cedar fencing. While his gauge was being made, our pioneer went to the store to order his flour and sundry items on his list. He got home again after dark.”
“Michael Hagan and Mary Marie Morrison’s son, my great grandfather, was William Duncan Hagan born in Albion Township, Peel County. He was married to Alena Leonie Bisson, originally from Hull, Quebec, at the Wikwemikong Holy Cross Mission Settlement in 1879. William died within three years in a logging accident at Michael’s Bay. William had stated that ‘even God couldn’t throw him off the log jam.’ But he was wrong. There was no documentation about the recovery of his body. Alena’s second husband Caswell Reid would die at age 58 from the kick to the head by a horse in his barn at Orrville, Parry Sound District. They had seven children together. Alena’s third husband Jack Gibson moved them to Alberta where she later died at age 89.”
“William and Alena’s daughter Mary Philomine Hagan, my grandmother, was born in October of 1879 in Providence Bay and baptized at Wikwemikong Holy Cross a Jesuit Mission on Manitoulin Island. She married (Hermeus) Herman St. Louis, 10 years her senior at Massey. She died in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Sudbury in 1966. They had 10 children and ran a boarding house at Worthington near Victoria Mine. By 1921 eight boarders lived with the family and worked as miners. In 1927, when the mine caved in, Mary and Herman bought a farm near Whitefish, ON. Their youngest child, my father, Albert Joseph St. Louis was born in August of 1917 in Victoria Mines, and died in 1973 in Toronto at age 55. Victoria Mines is a ghost town now; however, the mine has reopened recently.”
“My father Albert worked at INCO at the Creighton Mine and in 1943 he joined the Merchant Navy, a Canadian Crown Corporation of the Dominion of Canada, tasked with supplying the allies with needed resources during WWII. My father left Sudbury and trained at the Radio College of Canada in Toronto in 1943 and graduated 1944. He became a Commercial Radio Operator and sailed on several ‘Park’ ships, named after Parks in Canada, two of which were oil tankers. He was Chief Radio Officer on his last ship, the Highland Park. The Merchant Navy was later referred to as the ‘Unknown Navy’ and after the war, the ships were sold off and all the sailors and officers returned to regular life. Sadly, these sailors and officers were never officially recognized by Canada as being part of the war effort. “The Canadian Legion years later did lobby the Canadian government on their behalf to recognize these courageous war participants. Their ships had been attacked during the war to stop the supply of the armies. Official recognition and war pensions by Canada did not come for some 50 years after WWII and many years after my father had passed away.”
My mother Annabelle Cowan, the youngest of eight children, was born in 1922 to Annie Powers and James M. Cowan. James was a respected architect building many schools, churches, convents, homes and hotels in Toronto, North Bay, Port Dover, and other places in Ontario. Annabelle worked for a printer, at Eaton’s, had her own home and auto insurance business, and later worked as an administrator for Atlas Air Conditioning and Heating Ltd.”
“My parents were to be married on Dad’s birthday near the end of the war in 1945, but Dad’s ship was on the wrong side of the Panama Canal on August 29, 1945, so he didn’t make it home for his wedding. There had been a ‘stay of warfare’ at the time but leadership felt the Japanese would not honour the ceasefire so Dad stayed oversees until safe passage was granted through the Panama Canal. The best man, Albert’s brother Victor, died in a mine accident at the Noranda Mine, PQ while Albert was overseas. Albert asked Jim Kennedy a friend he had made at the radio college to take on that role for their September 10, 1945, wedding at St. Helen’s Parish in Toronto.”
Leonard was born to Albert Joseph and Annabelle (Cowan) St. Lous, on November 11, 1950, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto, as had all their children. He was born three minutes before his twin, Lorne. He would have nine siblings Donna, Bernard, twin girls Mary and Annabelle who died at birth, his twin Lorne, Yvonne, Robert, Janet and Theresa.
The Canadian Government helped the navy veterans return to work after the war. “Dad found work with Metropolitan Life, selling insurance policies, and collecting premiums. In 1959, in partnership, he purchased and became president of a small business, Aqua Soft Water Softeners Ltd., 45 Scarlett Road, Toronto. Trucks and staff were used to pick up and deliver the five-foot slender tanks so the zeolite could be regenerated with salt. When his health changed in later years, dad sold the business and started to sell central air conditioners for Atlas Air Conditioning, Mississauga. My mother Annabelle also worked there in the installation and service department.”
“My mother’s early memories would bring laughter and include me in the double stroller with my identical twin. I recall the upset caused when they all thought I was Lorne or vice versa. Apparently, I would tease him and steal his hat and things got interesting. At age three, we moved from west Toronto to the rural area of what is now Mississauga. RR #1 Islington was our mailing address which Canada Post changed several times over the coming years as populations increased and boundaries changed. This meant many elementary and high school changes in the Dixie area for our family of eight children.”
“St. Joseph’s Hospital, Toronto, is where we were all born. My mother always said the only time she was in a hospital was when she was giving birth. School began for me in the community hall of St. Patrick’s Church. In later years we attended Cubs and Scouts in that same hall. Our teacher was a lady with an unusual name, Mrs. Beer. Let me just say that it wasn’t our best year. Later, we were moved to the four-room St. Patrick’s School at the same location. This was the humble beginning of the Dufferin-Peel Separate School Board.”
“When we were young, holidays were special events. Lorne and I were born on Remembrance Day. Mom would tell us that we had a holiday because it was our birthday, and we were special. Christmas, New Year’s and Easter were always special times too. My mother was a wonderful cook and prepared great feasts of turkey with gravy only she could make with all the special dishes and desserts and rum-soaked Christmas cake she made months in advance. My mother worked at Eaton’s and was loyal to them. With so many children at home, going shopping became easier with the Eaton`’s catalogue. She could order clothes, gifts and just about anything we needed by phone, and it would be delivered in brown paper packages or boxes. After bedtime, Christmas Eve, she would transform the living room sofa and furniture into a display of gifts from Santa. Each child had a section dedicated to the gifts especially for them. We would have new clothes, toys, and age-appropriate items we had asked Santa for. It was truly a marvel to wake up early and see what had miraculously happened around the Christmas tree while we slept.”
“We could not enter the living room until everyone was up. With little sleep, Mom and Dad would wake exhibiting great surprise along with the kids. It was not necessary that the gifts be wrapped, in fact, the display of everyone’s things was a remarkable sight in itself. I think the organization to pull this off was not truly appreciated until years later. New Year’s day was an occasion for another feast. Mom served a large goose or two smaller ones instead of turkey. Mom was always very busy raising the family and Dad would always be tasked with the grocery shopping on Friday nights on his way home from work. On Saturday mornings he would be off again with some of us in tow, to go to a favourite butcher shop to buy meat and fish for the week, a routine that went on for many years.”
“In 1956, when I was six, we were moved south to the St. Edmonds School in Applewood Acres area among apple orchards. For Grades 7 and 8 we went to St. Alfred’s School further north, literally amid an apple orchard. Leonard and Lorne also took over older brother Bernard’s paper route for The Toronto Star when Bernard got allergies and asthma. “The route stretched from Highway 27 to Dixie Road and included a trailer park development land owned by the Pallett family on the north side of Dundas Hwy. We delivered the Toronto Star newspapers strapped to a rack on the back of our bikes and every Saturday we had to collect the money and that was always a challenge. A common refrain was come back next week.”
Many summers, weekends and after school were spent working for Pleasant View Farms owned by the Pallett family. I worked for the princely sum of 30 cents per hour. They had a large orchard growing several varieties of pears, apples, cherries, and plum trees that had to be pruned, sprayed, and picked. Chickens in the barn had to be fed, watered, and straw added for bedding. Eggs had to be collected and manure removed. Often, we would wash the eggs held in large metal baskets in a special heated tub, candle the eggs for defects and package them for sale. We would load the truck up and travel the egg route on Saturdays, selling potatoes, carrots, apples, pears, plums and live chickens from the back of the truck. Unfortunately, we had to break the chicken’s necks when they were sold to the customers.”
“They also ran a farm supply business for the local fruit farmers in the area. This included wooden and cardboard pint berry boxes, bushel fruit baskets for harvesting the crops, spray chemicals, fertilizers, shovels, rakes, guns, nails, nuts and bolts, fence wire, bird and animal feed, seeds, seed potatoes, eggs, and about anything a general store would have available. They had many rental tenants living on the property.”
“Saturdays was garbage collection day, using an old tractor and trailer. We disposed of everything at the dump on the property as there were no environmental regulations then. After school, I would feed, water, and bed a few beef cattle on the property. After my 16th birthday I was tasked with driving old stake trucks with farm materials back and forth to other family-owned farms south of Lake Simcoe with stops in Mount Albert and other locations.”
Cutting roadside grass with a tractor and mower in the Mississauga, Port Credit and Lorne Park areas was a job Leonard took on in his mid-teens. “I didn’t have my driver’s licence yet, but I could drive a tractor from job to job. The following year Bernie, my older brother took me to an auction in Schomberg where my anxious bids finally won a new blue Ford 2000 tractor. Later I purchased a John Deere rotary mower attachment to do custom mowing.”
“My Dad co-signed my loan with the St. Patrick’s Credit Union and I was in my first business venture. The noxious weeds on the side of the road and vacant lots had to be cut as designated by municipal regulation in Peel County. In the winter, I added a front-end loader for snowplowing for neighbours and for a nearby, small industrial park.”
High school for Leonard was the new St. Applewood Heights Secondary School for Grades 9 and 10. Grade 11 was at Gordon Graydon Secondary School. “After that I left school for a while and started to work at the local Shell garage. I had enough of school at that time. I began my Auto Mechanic Apprenticeship, pumping gas, driving the tow truck and weekends at another local Shell gas station in Summerville. Meanwhile my twin brother Lorne had finished high school and he urged me to go back to school. I acquiesced and started in a general business program at Sheridan College with the first introduction of community colleges in Brampton and later Oakville. I started late in the school year and Lorne tutored me with an arrangement he made on my behalf with the registrar. I was able to do this only with his encouragement and help. I graduated from the program with an Honours Diploma in 1972. I am forever in his debt.”
“After graduation, I joined Lorne when I was accepted and registered in a General Arts program at St. Jerome’s College at the University of Waterloo. I continued to learn more about auto mechanics concurrently returning to auto mechanics work and attending Centennial College in Scarborough for basic, intermediate and advanced automotive programs. The best part at Waterloo was living in residence with my brother who was already attending one year before me.”
“I got to meet our lifelong friends and my future wife, Dianne MacTaggart while I was there two for years and one summer. My twin brother went on to the University of Western Ontario to earn an MBA. I graduated from Waterloo with a Bachelor of Arts. I found work, returning to auto mechanics at a Ford Dealership and soon applied for a job teaching auto mechanics and small engine repair at the Orangeville District Secondary School. I was hired on a special Ministry Letter of Permission prior to attending teachers’ college.”
In 1975, Leonard and Dianne were married in Sarnia. Dianne was a truly remarkable teacher of Junior Kindergarten, Kindergarten and Grade 1 for 39 years in Dufferin County. They would have one daughter, Audrey, who is a very capable nurse consultant in private healthcare in Toronto. That year, January 1975, the Orangeville District High School also took Leonard on after he was accepted at Queen’s University for their new Technological Education Internship Program.
He would be in a ‘probationary’ period in the many shops at their high school teaching Grades 9-12. “It was a conundrum at first as I needed a job to get into the Internship program at Queen’s University and also needed acceptance from the Internship program to get a job. Following an interview in Toronto I was accepted at Queens’s to the first internship program under the technological education umbrella which included many other trade programs too. I would attend classes in the summer from June to late August and during March break and work teaching in the school system the rest of the year. I also worked on cars when I had some spare time.” After two years of teaching, Leonard wrote a 12-hour exam which included six hours of a practical, hands-on component. He came away with a Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University.
He passed Automotive Technician Trade exam with distinction in Toronto which gave him a Class ‘A’ Automotive Technician Inter-Provincial Standing Certificate with a Red Seal in this field. Leonard went on to get his M.Ed. (Master’s in Education) at Brock University in St. Catharines. After that, he earned an Honours Technological Specialist Certification and Principal’s Course Qualification. Lastly, he earned Supervisory Officers Program Certificate, a Ministry of Education program.
Orangeville High School took Leonard on for part-time administrative duties, in training, essentially working as a Vice-Principal. He changed schools a few times coming to Applewood Heights where he had attended Grades 9 and 10, and then moved to Brampton North Park Secondary School and finally, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, part of the Dufferin–Peel Separate School Board system.
“This proved to be the most challenging leadership role as Technological Education Director. A new school was being opened, with a large technological program. It started with 42 portables in the yard and transformed, in time, to a new three-story school. It was my responsibility to put together the technological program for the students Grade 9-12, developing facilities, purchasing equipment, and hiring staff for many shops including automotive, woodworking, electronics, computer drafting graphics design and printing, photography, commercial foods kitchen, and cosmetology and hair design. This program was the largest of all the technological programs in the school board and represented a major change in the system and opportunities for the students.”
“I hired many people to do the work and spent much time ensuring that all the details were looked after so the students would have a seamless experience.” He completed his teaching career as an education officer with the Ministry of Education Curriculum Assessment Policy Branch at 900 Bay Street in Toronto.
“On the home front in 1979, Dianne and I bought a 100-acre farm in Mono Twp. We built a new home and outbuildings and took down the original century home. A neighbour still uses our land to grow hay, soybeans, red wheat and canola. We manage to keep things clean, tidy and trees trimmed. I still do automotive repairs in a small shop at our farm. The shop is in a small building that was part of a display at a plowing match. We took it down and rebuilt it on the farm. It houses our tools and the farm tractor.”
Leonard has been active in politics mostly at the provincial and federal levels of government for many years. “My first campaign for the Liberal nomination was in 1984 in the riding of Wellington-Grey-Dufferin-Simcoe, a huge rural geographic area, Prime Minister John Turner was leader of the Liberal party and seeking to win his first national election as prime minister. I think he would have made a great prime minister.” In 1985 Leonard sought the Liberal nomination for Dufferin-Caledon provincial electoral district. “At that time David Peterson was Liberal Premier of Ontario seeking to be reelected. There were seven candidates in the running to win the Liberal nomination in Dufferin-Caledon electoral district. It was a long and a difficult race especially while I was teaching full time.”
Following Dalton McGuinty’s time as Premier of Ontario Leonard worked and supported Kathleen Wynne and attended her leadership win at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. “All of these races were exciting times to be involved while taking a civic responsibility to ensure that our province and country is led by capable, caring, and competent people. I have tried to do my part. In 2015, I participated in the campaign when Justin Trudeau was elected as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister of Canada. I travelled to Rideau Hall for Justin’s swearing-in ceremony and the presentation of his first cabinet, a first to appoint equally 50 percent women and 50 percent men. It was an honour to meet and speak with Justin and Sophie Trudeau on that beautiful day, November 4, 2015.”
Were you named after anyone? “Yes, Herman St. Louis, my grandfather. Herman is my middle name. He raised a family of 10 children, my father Albert was the youngest, with my grandmother Mary Philommine Hagan in Massey, Victoria Mines, Whitefish and Sudbury.”
Favourite family holiday? “We often did family travelling and camping, all 10 of us in the 1963 Ford Country Squire Station wagon, at Naughton, Sudbury and many provincial Parks such as Killbear, Kilarney, Gogama, Grand Bend. In 1967 we attended Expo ‘67 in Montreal.”
Favourite television show? “I am a news junkie both locally and internationally. I enjoy the history channel and some comedies and dramas.”
Favourite sport? “I played broomball at university, snow skiing in Utah, Banff and Whistler, water skiing on Lake Muskoka and golf in many places.”
What are your strengths? “Teaching auto mechanics, renovations, research, carpentry, electrical work, plumbing and genealogy are my main strengths. In 1983 and 1984 I built our home on the farm. Later I helped Lorne build a cottage in Muskoka, and many other home additions and renovation projects for family members. The family research began in 1998.”
Travels you are enjoying now? “We spent a month in Florida at ‘Legends,’ a gated golf community twice now. In March we will be there for the third time. I have travelled to Austria as a teenager to ski. We met Royals William and Catherine, now Prince and Princess of Wales, in Yukon Territory and made an adventurous trip past the Arctic Circle to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT at the Arctic Ocean. We made several trips to Vancouver, PEI and Nova Scotia. Dianne has done more international travelling to Portugal, Belgium, The Netherlands and England with our daughter Audrey and her sister-in-law, a doctor.”
What did you enjoy most as a parent? “Family is especially important to us both, it has been a joy to see Audrey grow and succeed.” Audrey a graduate of UOIT in Bachelor of Nursing and Science is a very experienced RN. She is creative, dedicated, thoughtful and independent. She demonstrates great leadership and makes good decisions and we are truly blessed to have her. She is very helpful and connected to her cousins and loves to travel.”
Associations you were involved with? “I sat on the Dufferin County Housing Authority Board for several years and had several consecutive political appointments. I ran for the Liberal Party a couple of times and supported both John Turner and Justin Trudeau with their campaigns. I supported many other local candidates in their campaign pursuits for elected office. Recently I worked for Bonnie Crombie for the Ontario Liberal leadership campaign. Bonnie won!”
What are you most afraid of? “Mostly snakes and heights are challenging. In 1988, I fell from a bank barn roof in Angus. I was there cutting weeds with the tractor and at the end of the day decided to check the barn steel roof as it needed replacing. I climbed the ladder and scrambled far up the roof before I realized just how steep the slope was. I slipped, slid off, landing on my heels. I had L2 and L3 burst fractures and nerve damage. It took me a year to heal.”
If you could go back in time is there anything you would do differently? “I would try to relax more, but I seem to need to stay busy too.”
Recipe for happiness? “Be fair, work hard, help others and take time for yourself with time to reflect.”
Anyone who inspired you? “Both my parents provided great strength enduring today. Albert, my dad, was hard working, clever, resourceful, determined, caring, with strong values and was civic minded, a leader in our neigbourhood and community. He loved learning languages, travel, music and politics. He was voting delegate in Ottawa in 1968 when Pierre Trudeau was elected to the Liberal Leadership. He instilled my interest in politics with a goal to making things better in the community. He practiced and played the violin at home and at parties. Everyone loved my mother, Annabelle. She made friends easily because she was gentle, kind, caring, fun, classy and organized and gave of herself endlessly. Annabelle’s cursive writing, memory and recall was truly amazing. Even with a family of eight children she made time for everyone, welcomed boarders and guests into her home. She loved people, parties, and dancing.”
“My mother-in-law Mary Jeanne MacTaggart was a caring, comforting, hardworking, genuine individual, welcoming, funny, a terrific listener with an infectious laugh. Mary Jeanne held firm values with unwavering faith. I have worked with about a dozen different principals in my education career and only three stood out for me, Gary Murray, a classy competent guy with his finger on the pulse. He was sincere, and a terrific orator and great leader. Another was Bridget Harrison, a stellar individual and leader, a straight shooter, very experienced, proactive and responsive at Applewood Heights SS. Lastly, Lorne Howcroft, a respectful person who was all in, one hundred percent for the kids. He was fearless and able to take principled stands on issues with amazing credibility.”
“I recall coming to Manitoulin and Sudbury as a child. One trip in the mid 1960s on the Norisle was particularly rough. We were travelling with our camper trailer to visit my Dad’s family. Only Dad kept his WWII sea legs. The rest of us were very sick. Dad arranged a berth on the ferry, but I found myself on the deck, lying in the chilly rain. We wound up driving to Sudbury in the dark,” Leonard continues.
“I came back to Manitoulin to do genealogy research in 2018. Dianne and I stayed in a big house, with a large verandah, for a few days. It was a great bed and breakfast in Central Manitoulin. We did our research in the Central Manitoulin town office. We also went to Gore Bay to the lands titles office. We drove around and saw the Purvis whitefish tubs being loaded from the fishing boat onto trucks to be taken to the processing plant. A side trip was made to Massey where part of our family, the Bissons, and the Hagans had lived and worked. We came back in 2019 to do more genealogy research on the Island.”
“Manitoulin has always been a focal point because of the ancestors who lived here. This year I came back for the Michael’s Bay picnic that celebrated our early pioneers, those who came here to start a new life. Manitoulin is serene and quiet, a diamond in the rough. I love the scenery and the Providence Bay Beach. We had an enjoyable dinner in the Providence Bay School House in 2019. At the Gore Bay Museum, we heard that a script had been written and an attempt was being made to make it into a movie to tell the story about the Dodge heir and his tragic death while on his honeymoon.”
“In summer of 2023 on the Island, it was like going back in time when I walked into Ward’s Store in Tehkummah. I enjoyed the rustic atmosphere and a good conversation with Ross Ward. He was an elementary teacher in Wiikwemikoong for many years. I also saw three beautiful deer crossing the 2nd Concession Road on the recent trip. We look forward to returning again to visit a neighbour who has a place on Manitoulin and to attend the second annual Michael’s Bay Picnic.”
