Jude was born on January 4, 1853 and baptized on January 7, 1853. On January 12, 1875, he married Anne Legere, daughter of Laurent Leger and Marguerite LeBlanc. Leo, the youngest of Jude & Anne’s children, recounts what he remembers of his father:

"Papa, who was the second child of Dominique, lived on the farm with his father and grandfather and all his brothers and sisters. This demanded a lot of hard work from him to feed all these people and to see to the education of his brothers, Hypolite, Pierre, Anselme and Narcisse who were all in school. He soon realized that the land could not produce sufficiently and that the debt was starting to worry Jude and Anne who were married and already had six children.

It is probably for this reason that in 1886, papa accepted a proposal to take a wooded land in St. Paul. We called this a land "on the bishops field." We contracted to live there for five years and clear the land in order to gain possession of the deed. It was a very difficult decision if we examine the distances involved which at that time were very large. St. Paul was situated about thirty miles from Memramcook, but Papa wasn’t a man to get discouraged at the first obstacle. He was also a very hard worker. It was recounted to me that his grandfather cried when they left and that he died of boredom two or three years after they left, since the house was practically empty when they left.

The brothers, Pierre, Anselme and Dosithe took the road to the United States. Delphine and Philomeme were married and left the house to go live with their respective husbands.   We tell you here that the voyage was made in a truck wagon (box on four wheels without springs drawn by a horse) and that Ferdinand (age 10) and Hypolite (age 8) led the cow (a distance of 30 miles). When they arrived, there was a woodchopper’s hut still standing and a shed for the horse and cow.

I believe that is was springtime because the next day papa started to clear the land and pull out the tree stubs and roots in order to plant the potatoes, grain, etc. to nourish the family and the animals during the long winter months. The harvest was good in this savage land. The land was blessed with a stream where Mama went to do the washing.

I permit myself here, a small remark. I should mention here what I always admired with Papa. He would never start a job without making the sign of the cross and Mama always encouraged him.  In the summer, Mama picked blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc. with the young children. Papa, helped by Ferdinand, started to cut the logs which were transported to the mill in the autumn and winter.

At the end of the third year a fired ravaged the whole area and took their homestead. In order to avoid perishing under the flames, the whole family had to plunge into the stream with whatever they could save. Full of courage they started over again. This time they came closer to the village, they set themselves up two miles from the village in order to complete the five years so that the land would be theirs.

The family now had five other boys. As always, Papa had many things going. He had on the land a fine stand of timber and used it to make a profit during the five years.   Grandfather Dominique was now alone with grandmother in the house at "la montagne." He could see that he would lose all the land to the creditors since he could no longer make the land fruitful. He sent a note to his son Jude and told him if he wanted to return to the old homestead that it would be his.

There fore in 1892 he returned to Memramcook with his family (nine children)to reinvigorate this neglected farm (la montagne.) All was not rosy, he had to rebuild the herds, fix the buildings, keep the family and Mother and Father fed and protected. Don’t forget this was the fourth time he started over.

In 1898 Papa and his oldest son Ferdinand decided to build a new house. Ferdinand and his friends from work bent to the task and the house was built. (it is presently occupied by Treffle a Avila a Jude.) The house was constructed at very little cost since many benevolently donated their labor and the lumber was cut from the property in St. Paul.    The move took place in 1900. I was four years old. Ferdinand, having contributed so much, received the property in St. Paul as a reward.

Here we have to remember that grandfather Dominique who had moved next to the church so that he could sing the morning mass returned to live with Papa in 1901 after grandmother’s death and stayed with us to his death in 1915.  All of us keep a fine remembrance of grandfather, specially the five youngest children. We also keep an unforgettable remembrance of Papa who always had a high respect for his father.