The Lafrenière Teachers of Saint-Leon

 The Lafrenière Teachers of Saint-Leon 

Continued translation of Odile Marten's Pionniers de la Montagne Pembina:  Saint-Leon 1877-2000 borrowed from the Manitoba Legislative Library.

p. H-34

The first school in the village of old Saint-Leon which had opened its doors on February 10, 1879, until July 1, 1879, had 30 students divided into three levels under the direction of Miss Marie Lafrenière teacher. During the holidays, Father Bitsche decides to close it indefinitely and to open another one. But this new school is not located in the village which is dominated by Lafreniere and company. The new school will be known under the name of Theobald and will be located in the house of Jean Toutant which later became the home of Fortier and Gaudet, two miles west of the village! Elizabeth Toutant was the first teacher at this new Theobald School.

[I believe Marie Lafrenière pictured above is the daughter of Frederic Lafrenière and Rose Delima as she moved to Saint-Leon with her parents and some of her siblings in July 1877.] 

Thus, there was initially a school in Old Saint-Leon from February 1879 until July 1879 and a year later, the new Theobald school established in September 1879 at Toutant and which was where all the children of the administrative district would attend, even those in the village.

As the village was still growing, especially during the years 1881 and 1882, and there were 50 school-age children in the village and in the immediate vicinity, it became necessary to have a new school in the village. It was therefore in 1882 that the Manitoba government established the Catholic school district of Saint-Leon, which extended over 16 subdivisions of one-mile square. A third school district in 1884 was born in the east of the village to educate the children of this region.

According to the Manitoba Act of 1870 which had established a system of education of denominational schools, that is to say, catholic or protestant, the schools at the time in Saint-Leon were French Catholic schools.

There has never been a building used exclusively as a school in Old Saint-Leon. Rather, they rented rooms in different buildings that could serve as classrooms. It was not until 1888 that a house was bought north of the lake, opposite the church, to make it into a school. Three years earlier, in 1885, two acres of land had been donated by Edouard Labosssiere Jr. and located at the northwest corner of 9-5-9 for the construction of a new Theobald School.

p. H-35

First Teachers

Who were the first teachers of Saint-Leon?

Manitoba dated February 13, 1883, gives us the following information: At a meeting of the taxpayers of the Saint Leon school district held on Monday, February 5th at the Hotel Saint-Leon,  Eduoard Labossiere and Frederic Lafrenière were elected as commissioners for the current year.

At a meeting of school trustees held March 13th, Miss Louise Lafrenière was hired as a teacher for the Saint-Leon school district. Classes will begin March 19, 1883. Louise Lafrenière, daughter of Charles, taught from March 20th to the end of June. She died soon after.

[Louise died in 1886. This photo is from ancestry.ca]

Le Manitoba Newspaper October 11, 1883: 

Our teacher Miss Anna McElligot from Winnipeg is due to start classes next October 25.

Miss Maurice taught at the school in Saint-Leon East; Miss Victoire Lafrenière taught at the Ecole du Village (village school) in 1887, located opposite the church in the house belonging to Sebastien Hasenbohler which later sold for the sum of $85; at this last school also taught Mr. Plamondon in 1887; Mme Chaput in 1888; Miss Therese Genereux in 1889; M. Barette in 1891; Miss Olympe Gauthier in 1893; Mrs. Hermelinde Lafrenière (wife of Louis Lafrenière) in 1894; Miss Olympe Gauthier in 1896. Mr. Arthur Lacerte taught at Saint-Leon East school in 1894.

[The Ecole du Village was still a functioning school in 2000.]

It is interesting to note the following:

• In 1880, there were 15 baptisms, 27 homes and 300 inhabitants
• In 1881, the population exceeded 400 people 
• Catholics owned 25,000 acres of land 
• The average crop yield was 25 pounds of wheat and 40 pounds of barley and oats per acre
• In 1884, a teacher's salary was $120 and school rent was $10 per year (p. H-36)