To all residents of Montmartre and the RM of Montmartre:
Next year, 2009, we will be celebrating our Centennial. The committee has asked that I take on the responsibility of putting together a history book of the village and the RM. To date we have a core committee of Marianne Bast, Sandi Brown, Wanda Eberle, Colleen Fink and Marrianne Couckuyt. Andre Perras is our Centennial Committee Liason; Patsy Fisher in charge of financing; Rick Hahn, our computer consultant; Elanor Lepage, our photo librarian.
We have had three meetings and have begun the process of discussing what will be in the book. At our first meeting we wanted to see if it would be feasible to find the history of each quarter of land in the RM and with every piece of property in the village, from present owner to homesteader. This is quite a task, as you can imagine, but it is possible with your help. Someone will be contacting you for information about previous history of your property so if you can do some research along the following lines it would be of enormous help.
Village: 1. How long have you lived in your home or operated your business in Montmartre? 2. Who were the previous owners of your home or business and do you know how long they lived there? How far back do you know the history of your property? 3. Do you know the history of some of the vacant lots or some buildings that have been moved or torn down? 4. Have you lived in Montmartre all your life or did you come from somewhere else, if so where and why did you choose Montmartre?
RM. 1. As a land owner, can you list all your land by legal description of the quarter sections, how long you have owned them, who did you buy them from and when? 2. Do you know if any one lived on any one of your quarters at any time in the past? 3. Have you lived in the RM all your life or did you come from somewhere else, if so where and why did you choose Montmartre? 4. It is possible to do an historic search of your property, whether town or RM, at www.isc.ca. It would save us a ton of time and effort if you would do this.
The result of the next two meetings was assigning researchers and writers to a particular portion of the book. Our committee will be contacting them and they in turn will be asking for your help.
At this point in time historical research is being done. Eventually we will be asking you for your memories of living in our community so we can make it not just factual but real.
A large part of a history book is, of course, the people. We ask that you begin to write a history of your family in story form. If your parents and grandparents lived here and have passed away, please write their history. If you are having trouble knowing what to include the following suggestions may be of help:
The name of the person writing the family history.
A. If you lived in Montmartre all your life or as an adult:
1. Names of all the people in your household. Important dates: births, marriages, deaths if applicable.
2. Address – actual street and house number in town, land description on the farm. This is very important ..
3. Origin: Montmartre or where did you come from and why did you leave? Why did you choose Montmartre?
Those who lived in your household and then left - where are they now?
4. How long did you or have you lived in Montmartre or the RM of Montmartre? Give the exact dates if possible.
5. How did you earn a living?
6. What was life like for you when you lived here?
7. Your involvement in the community – church, organizations, clubs, sports, etc.
8. Special Achievements: example – provincial sports champion, lifetime honoree, invention, recognition award.
9. A favorite memory or story of living in Montmartre or on the farm.
Or what was special about living in Montmartre?
10. A family photo or a photo that has a special meaning
11. An historical document: example: a letter written to or received from a soldier in WWII, a letter or postcard written to a home country from a pioneer, anything that would give us an idea of what life was like for your family living in Montmartre.
B. If you lived in Montmartre as a child: Name your parents and we will add your comments to their history. You may wish to include where you live now, employment, marital status, children and a favorite memory of Montmartre.
These are suggestions, please write your history in your own way and in your own words in story form.
It is important to remember that all photos and documents would be best scanned and sent in that way. Please try to scan them at the least 150 dpi. If you wish to send the actual photo or document, that’s fine too, but either way be sure to include information that answers who, what, where, when. If you send the original be sure to write in pencil your name and address on the back of the photo Keep all family information together as a package..
All information should be sent to: Municipal office of Montmartre
c/o Montmartre History Book Committee, Box 146
Montmartre, Sask. S0G 3M0
Or you can email your histories and or memories to: montmartrehistory@gmail.com
If you have photos that may be of interest to the history of Montmartre you can email them to: elanorlepage@yourlink.ca
As you can see this is a major undertaking. We have already felt the excitement over the publication of this history book and we know that the people of Montmartre and district, as well as former residents will be more than willing to cooperate. We look forward to your input in order to make this a meaningful book of your history and filled with your memories.
This book will not be ready for the Centennial celebrations in 2009 for two main reasons. 1. We would like to include the celebration in our book.
2. We want to do the best job we can and for the amount of research and time involved in putting it together July 2009 is not a feasible time frame.
We will keep you informed of our progress and how you will be able to assist us as we go along. Meanwhile please contact all former residents that you know and pass on this information for us.
We are very excited about this project and know that it will be a labor of love that will honor those who came before and a legacy for those who will follow. Thank you. Marrianne Couckuyt