Arthur Dubé Sr. and Marceline Coté
Submitted By: Céleste Plamondon-Zurbrigg, great-grandchild
Contrary to Joseph Plamondon’s organized trek to what became known as Plamondon, Arthur Dubé Sr.’s journey was more spontaneous along with a little bit of luck (sometimes bad and sometimes good) thrown in.
Living on opposite sides of the Michigan peninsula, the Dubé/Coté families and the Plamondon/Gauthier families did not know each other.
However, both men were born in Québec:
- My paternal great-grandfather, Joseph Plamondon, moved from St-Norbert (Arthabaska region), Québec with his family as a young boy (6 years old) in 1861, to Lake Leelanau (formerly called Provemont), Michigan. This is located in the northwest corner of the Michigan peninsula.
- My maternal great-grandfather, Arthur Dubé Sr. moved from Rimouski (Bas-St Laurent region), Québec with his family as a young man (~22 years old) in ~1881, to Alpena, Michigan. This is located on the east side of the Michigan peninsula.
They were part of a significant 19th century wave of emigration to the USA for mainly economic reasons. Most Québecers had moved to the New England states, but my ancestors moved to Michigan. When Canada was promoting homesteading in the west, repatriation efforts were made to bring back the French Canadians from the USA. Our ancestors were part of a small group that returned.
Arthur Sr. married Marceline Coté in 1883 in Alpena and later set up farming at Harrisville, 50 kms south. Marceline was born at L’Isle-Verte, (Bas-St Laurent region) Québec, and had emigrated to New Hampshire to work at a textile factory. Her brother had moved to Alpena and on a trip to visit him, she met Arthur Sr.
They had 8 children:
- Ernest
- John
- Alexander
- Joseph
- Anna
- Lydia (died at 17 months)
- Emilia (died at 12 years)
- Arthur Jr.
The 3rd eldest, Alexander went to Lethbridge in Alberta to work. He had come back to Harrisville, talking about the beautiful land and opportunities in Alberta. Unfortunately, Alexander passed away at the age of 22, shortly after returning to Harrisville.
Arthur Sr. came to Alberta in 1910 and applied for a homestead (NE-15-38-4-5) 45 kms west of Red Deer. He returned to Michigan and by 1911 had submitted a homestead abandonment form.
In 1913, he made a 2nd attempt to homestead in the west, but this time he was accompanied by two of his sons:
- The oldest son, Ernest, who was 29 years old, married with Mildred (Martin), had 2 children, Thelma and Lydia.
- The youngest son was Arthur Jr. (my grandfather) who was 16 years old.
It was decided that the 2 wives, the 2 young children and Anna (Arthur Sr. and Marceline’s 22-year-old daughter) would stay in Michigan until the men found some homesteads.
The two other sons, John and Joseph were married and had children. They did not want to move. It highlights the determination to emigrate even if it meant leaving family members behind. This was contrary to the 1914 Brittany and the 1916 Québec migrations to Plamondon, where they had to agree that all family members had to come.
Thus, Arthur Sr. (54 years old), Ernest and Arthur Jr. arrived with their friend, Charles Johnson, to Edmonton, Alberta by train in April 1913. The first train had arrived in Athabasca the year before in 1912, thus it is likely that the group took the train to Athabasca. It was decided that the brothers would go back to Edmonton to search for work while their father stayed in Athabasca to look for some homesteads.
The two sons found work on a farm 16 kms north of Edmonton and later, southeast of Edmonton in Chinook.
On April 21, 1913 Arthur Sr. applied for a homestead (NE-21-69-22-4) half way between Athabasca and Calling Lake. Two homestead applications were made for his two sons in two adjoining quarters:
- Arthur Jr.: SW-27-69-22-4
- Ernest: SE-28-69-22-
In the early summer, Arthur Sr. met Isidore Plamondon in the Athabasca bar and learned about the growing French-Canadian community of Plamondonville (as it was called then before the “ville” was dropped) and decided to go there.
On June 2, 1913, Arthur Sr. applied for a homestead (NE-16-68-16-4) which we came to know as the Dubé home quarter located 4 kms north of Plamondon.
Nine days later, on June 9, 1913, Arthur Jr., 16 years old at the time, applied for an adjoining homestead (SW-22-68-16-4). This quarter was kitty corner, (north east) from his father’s home quarter. The box claiming that he is 18+ is checked off! In our Dubé family book, Arthur Jr. said, “In Chinook, I finally received a letter from my father, telling me that he had claimed a homestead in Plamondonville. I in turn was to file my own in Edmonton on my way north. When I applied to register my homestead, though I was only sixteen, I claimed I was eighteen so my application would be legal!”
On the same date, Ernest applied for a homestead (NW-15-68-16-4), east of the home quarter across the road.
In all three of their Plamondon homestead application forms, they each declared their Athabasca homesteads as abandoned.
In our Dubé family book, Arthur Jr. describes what happened next,
Ernest and I proceeded to Athabasca. We did not have a clue where Plamondonville was located. We met a Métis named Johnson who was going there and he offered us a ride for $8.00. A ride! We walked behind the wagon most of the way!
We arrived in Plamondonville with just our suitcases. We met Henry Plamondon and asked him where Arthur Dube Sr. lived and he said, “Go to Labonte’s and they will direct you from there.”
When we arrived at my father’s homestead, we were welcomed with open arms. We entered a little log shack (Un t’it shack de logues) that had been built by my father. We had a wonderful time visiting and telling them of our adventures of the past months.
In August the women and children arrived.
In our Dubé family book, in the Arthur Sr. section, it says,
They very disappointed, as no home had been built and hardly any improvements had been made on the homestead. The day Arthur Sr. brought Marceline to see their homestead, they had to clear some of the trees off the road to pass. When Marceline stepped out of the wagon she was very upset about the choice of land. “Poor husband, what do you think! This is simply full of rocks!” (Pauvre vieux, qu’est que tu pense! C’est seulment que des roches!”).
Arthur Jr. later said if they would have only known the future, they should have chosen the land half mile further and would have found beautiful land with no rocks. Arthur Sr. was not disturbed by his wife’s protest and answered, “Oh! We can use all this for pasture.”
They lived in a tent for three months and later built their first log house measuring 10’x 20′. Gradually they added more rooms. With many years of hard work, the land cleared, buildings built, animals purchased, the Dubé homestead became a farm.
By 1916 and 1917 all three had applied for their patents (titles) for the 3 quarters in Plamondon.
- Arthur Sr. applied on June 13, 1916. His two references were: Joseph Plamondon and Siméon Gagnon. On the form where it asks “Are there any indications of minerals or quarries on your homestead?”, Arthur Sr. replied, “No, only agricultural land, but very stony and lumbered.”
- Arthur Jr. applied on July 25, 1917. His two references were: Louis Bourassa and Damas Dragon.
- Ernest applied on July 28, 1917. His two references were: Joseph Labonté and Charles Johnson
It took Arthur Sr. two failed attempts to find a homestead, until he found the one in Plamondonville. In the end he made the right decision.
References
- Chevigny, Emilie et all. The Descendants of Arthor Dubé and Marceline Coté. 198
- PAA (Provincial Alberta Archives) Homestead Records: Arthur Dubé Sr, Ernest Dubé, Arthur Dubé Jr.
- “Quebec Diaspora.” Wikipedia. 8 August 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_diaspora