Suretteville

The historical village of Suretteville was settled in the early 1870s. It was located inland from the main road (Route 115) in Dufourville and covered an area west of today’s Melanson Road to Saulnier Road. Going the opposite direction led to Village des Pishcots which was located between Melanson Road and Falconer Road.   It was a small but industrious village with a post office, a blacksmith, and a busy quarry.

The Suretteville postmaster made daily trips, by horse or snowshoes, to the MacDougall Settlement train station, in order to get mail for residents. A stone quarry, located roughly between Melanson Road and Line Road, was operated by Henri LeBlanc, and then by his sons, Arthur and Adélard. Stones were in demand and the quarry was very busy selling flat stones which had many uses. Flat stones from Suretteville are still available for sale today.

1872 à 1900

Abt 1872
Sylvain LeBlanc was the first to settle in Suretteville. He built an access path to link Suretteville to the main road. Soon, Maximin Surette joins him in settling there as well as Thomas LeBlanc who was granted 35 acres of land on November 6, 1872. Later, blacksmith Fred Babineau set up shop there and charged $0.80 to shoe a horse and $7 to build a set of wagon wheels. Sylvain LeBlanc was granted land on June 16, 1881.

The parish of Ste-Cunégonde-de-Montréal. He was also vicar in Cocagne, Cap-Pelé and Shediac. He was born in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Kamouraska, QC on December 13, 1834 and his parents were Honoré and Marie (Bérubé) Ouellet.

1893
In July, Guilford P. Goguen paid Joachim P. Goguen $1.20 for 2 lbs of tobacco according to a worker’s diary.

1893
Work records indicate that Charles Noël, Maxime Gallant, David Chapman and Philip A. Goguen worked on the bridge over the Cocagne River at Notre-Dame.

1894
On May 30, 1894, Philip Goguen exchanged $4.25 worth of potatoes and bought two sheep from Maximin Babineau for $2.50 as noted in a record of household affairs.

1895
On June 10, 1895, Maximin Babineau bought one pair of oxen for $40 as noted in a record of household affairs.

Before 1900
The Village des Pishcots was inhabited by the first arrivals, Daniel Landry, Aimée Landry, Jean Landry, Dominique Landry, Dominique Lirette, Philias Bourgeois and Lucien LeBlanc. In 1900, the Village des Pishcots was abandoned without knowing exactly why. The town was located between Suretteville and Falconer Road.

1901 à 1932

1901
The Catholic Church was officially named Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur and the parish subsequently defined the territory of the community of Notre-Dame. The settlements (or historical villages) included were MacDougall Settlement, LeBlancville, Dufourville, Notre-Dame Centre, Guéguen, Hays, Alexandrina (Nor’ouest), North and South sides of the river, Whites Settlement, and MacDougall Settlement along with Village des Pishcots, Village des Fricots, Suretteville, Teed Road and Chemin des Thaddées.

1901
Suretteville was named after its oldest resident Maximin Surette when the village applies for a post office. Simon Babineau was first postmaster, and the post office remained open until 1926. Babineau made daily trips by horse or snowshoes to get the mail brought in by train to the MacDougall Settlement Station. Fred Babineau, who also lived in Suretteville, was a blacksmith. He charged 80Ë to shoe a horse and $7 to make a set of wagon wheels.

Among the residents of Suretteville, we found Jude Babineau, Edouard Babineau, Pierre Arsenault, Dominique LeBlanc, Henri LeBlanc, André Surette, Denis Landry, Fred Landry, Jaddus Cormier and Adolphe LeBlanc.

1913
The Suretteville Post Office was listed in the 1913 Official Postal Guide and thereby operational. The name of the route was MacDougall and Suretteville. The mail carrier was S.J. Babineau.

1926
The Suretteville Post Office closed.

1932
A few people had electricity as early as 1932 and by 1940, service was widespread but did not reach every corner of the village. This proved to be a fatal blow to several settlements and the main reason why these areas were abandoned, such as Alexandrina-Nor’ouest, chemin des Thaddées, Village des Pishcots, Village des Fricots, and Suretteville.