The Lansdowne Letters: Unlikely Friends

When my father went north in 1960,
he made some wonderful friends.
One of his closest might seem unusual
for someone with strong Baptist roots
nurtured in a Green Gables world.

A Prince Edward Island Boy
My Father, circa 1930
(most likely his grandfather's home in St. Peter's Bay)

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved 

 St. Peter's Bay

Prince Edward Island, Canada
flickr ~ Steve Elgersma  license 

The teacherage for Dad's school had burned down, 
leaving him with only two options for a place to live
in tiny Lansdowne House.

He could live alone on the mainland
in an empty forestry building,
or he could share a two-room cabin
at the Roman Catholic Mission
on a small island nearby.

Living at the mission cabin 
had advantages over the forestry building:
electricity, cold-running water,
and meals at the rectory;
but, it required commuting
back and forth to the mainland
in a canoe or on snowshoes. 

My father chose the cabin
because he couldn't bear 
the thought of living alone.

The Father's Island with Roman Catholic Mission

Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, Canada

Dad's cabin is below the wind charger between the church and the rectory (right).

Photo by Father Maurice Ouimet,  Probably 1960

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

So this Prince Edward Island Baptist 
suddenly found himself sharing daily meals 
with a French Canadian Oblate priest,
a French Canadian Oblate brother,
and his Finnish-Ojibway roommate Uno.

Roman Catholic Mission, Rectory

Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, Canada

Father Ouimet (center), A Sleepy Uno and Brother Bernier (upper left and right)

Chicago Bill (pilot) and Mr. Baker (prospector) 

Photo by Donald MacBeath,  Fall 1960

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Father Ouimet and Brother Bernier belonged 
to a Roman Catholic religious community called 
the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
and they welcomed Dad into their home and lives.

The Oblates have been serving in Canada since 1841,
dedicating themselves to working among the poor.
Many, like Father Ouimet and Brother Bernier,
lived in the north among the Aboriginal people.
source

The Steamboat St. Emile, 

an Oblate Order Mission Ship on the Lesser Slave Lake

Date Unknown

wikimedia

Dad quickly became good friends 
with Uno and Brother Bernier, 
but the friendship he struck up 
with Father Ouimet was especially close, 
and Father Ouimet remained friends 
with him and our family over the decades.

Father Ouimet was known and respected
throughout Northern Ontario and beyond.
Pilots, prospectors, scientists,
surveyors, stranded travelers, and others 
visited or stayed at his rectory
during his decades in Lansdowne House.

In my research I have tracked down information
about Father Ouimet's hospitality and work,
but it's had to find much about him as a person.

Occasionally my father shared little stories
that showed the human side of this dedicated priest:  
his humor, his interests, and his personal challenges.

Here are two, with a third I shared earlier:

On October 7, 1960 
My father wrote:
I have my Bible up here; 
in fact, I have two with me, 
a King James Version and a Catholic Bible.
  
The Father was over to our house the other day 
and spotted it right away.  
He was quite surprised to see 
a Protestant with a Catholic Bible.  

I told him that I was thinking once 
of being a Baptist minister and thought at the time 
that I should know something about the opposition.  
He got quite a laugh out of this term.
  
He also was quite amused when I told him 
how I cornered the Bishop at Rotary 
and asked him where I could get one.



On October 17, 1960 
My father wrote:
We had a rather unusual Thanksgiving dinner 
at the Father’s.  We had fish and chips, 
but they were well done and were very tasty.  
The fish was deep fried in batter. 

flickr ~ Heather Paul  license

The other day we had goose.  
The Father was out hunting 
and shot a huge wild goose.  
It was delicious.
  





The Father made some rice dressing 
for it from an old French Canadian recipe.  
He has a cook, but the Indians don’t know 
and won’t learn how to make dressing.

He has an awful time with this cook and her tea.  
The cook insists on boiling the tea 
and won’t listen to the Father.

Whenever the Father tries to tell her 
how to make tea correctly, 
she gets real huffy 
and tells him that she is older 
and has been making tea longer than him 
and therefore knows more about how to make it.
  
Things have now reached the stage 
that there are two pots of tea made for each meal, 
one for her and one for us.

I'm repeating this little story
because it illustrates the sacrifices
that the Oblate priests and brothers made
when they chose to serve in the north:

On September 29, 1960
my father wrote:
Father Ouimet was laughing at my worrying 
about the mail being one or two days late.

He was telling me that 
when he went to the bush 
the first time in 1940, 
he was at a mission on Hudson’s Bay 
and received his mail twice a year; 
once in February by dog team 
and once in the summer, 
about August, by steamer.  

The first year his mail missed the dog team run, 
and he had to wait till August for his Christmas mail, 
including a Christmas cake that his mother sent him.  

The cake was in fine shape though, 
because she had used lots of fruit and wine 
when she was making the cake.


Long after my family left the the North,
Father Ouimet and I exchanged occasional letters.
It has always amazed me that this 
French Canadian, Roman Catholic priest
took time from his heavy duties to write to me.

People have asked me
(in meetings with mixer activities) 
if I could go back in time 
and talk with anyone in history, who would it be.
I've answered Darwin, Tolkien, or Queen Elizabeth I.

But truly, if I could,
it would be Father Maurice Ouimet.
He is one of the most fascinating 
and inspiring people I have ever known,
and I have so many questions.

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue