A la douce memoire
The prayer card handed out at Rose Anna Gilbert Plante’s funeral was in French.
Even though she lived all but 14 years of her long life in Lewiston, Maine, Rose Anna still listed French as her spoken language on the census form every ten years.
“A la douce memoire de …” means “To the sweet memory of …”
Rose Anna lived to be 87. She outlived her “epouse,” Jean Vincent Plante by 29 years. (Jean was a brother to my dad’s maternal grandfather, Achille Plante.)
Although I never met Rose Anna or any of her children, who could resist researching this douce lady once I happened upon this magnificent photograph:
This photo – from 1920 – is all one family!
That’s right, count again to be sure: they had 15 children.
Here’s who’s who: In the front row (left to right), Rosaire, Mary Jeanne, Marguerite, and Robert. Middle row, Emile, Rose Anna, Armand, Jean, Germaine. Back row, Adrienne, Ernest, Rose Alma, Antony, Albert, Mary Louise, Alice, and Rose Anne.
Rose Anna was born in Sainte-Maire de Beauce, a French-speaking town in Quebec, Canada. Her family immigrated to Lewiston, Maine, when she was just 14. Her husband-to-be arrived a few years later. They married in Lewiston on October 31, 1892.
Their marriage paperwork listed them both as weavers. Years later, Jean (who sometimes went by the Americanized “John”) told census takers he worked as a janitor. His obituary revealed he’d worked for the local newspaper for 25 years and had also served as an alderman.
Three years after the wedding, Jean and his impressive moustache took part in a Gilbert “adult children” family portrait:
Front row: Regina and Amanda (twins). Middle row: Ozalina, Rose Anna Gilbert Plante, Florienne (Maurice’s wife). Back row: Leonce Gilbert, Jean Plante (Rose Anna’s husband), and Maurice Gilbert.
By 1895, Rose Anna was probably into her third pregnancy. Her children’s birth years stretched from 1893 to 1918. Sadly, there was also a stillborn baby girl in April of 1914.
Census reports state Rose Anna had a sixth-grade education. She and Jean became naturalized American citizens in 1905.
I love that Rose Anna had a good hold of her purse (or “pocketbook,” as we used to call them) in the above photo. Too bad there wasn’t a tiara handy, as this elegant and douce matriarch looks quite regal.
A huge party was held in honor of Rose Anna’s 80th birthday in 1953. The local newspaper announced she had 130 descendants at the time, including 68 great-grandchildren. Relatives presented a bouquet of 15 roses, along with many other flower arrangements. Plus, family members gifted her with “a purse of money,” musical performances, and praise-filled speeches.
Rose Anna Plante lived to be 87 years old.
Following a month-long illness, she passed away in her longtime home on Lisbon Street in Lewiston. Rose Anna’s funeral mass was at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church. She is buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery.
I must admit to crossing my fingers in the hopes that a distant relative will see this and get in touch with more information about this wonderous family. (Even to correct me – that’s fine, I’ll just blame the census takers!)
Mom always loved the saying “Bloom where you’re planted.” Little did we know “planted” should have been spelled with a capital P.
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This is my mother’s family!! This is unbelievable!
Does that make us distant cousins? Jean and my great-grandfather Achille were brothers.
We have to be!! My grandfather was Jean Plante!
My mother was Marie Jeanne Plante!
She married Dominique Poulin.
That’s incredible! Nice to hear from you…did you post this?
Yes – this blog is my retirement project. It’s been fun piecing together these stories.
That would make you a second cousin to my dad, Hal Vayo. So I’m your second cousin once removed. 😊
Hi my name is Leonard (Len). I am Helen and Christine’s brother. We are the Poulins. My older brother is Daniel followed by me, Christine Swift, Linda Myles, and Helen Fontaine. We are Marie Jeanne and Dominique’s children. I spent many weekends at my Grandmother Rose Anna’s and have many fond memories of my Aunt Rose Alma and my Buddy “Aunt Mimi” Marguerite. It’s so nice to see all of this and to hear from a distant cousin. I believed I had the original photo and made copies for all of my siblings.
It’s such an amazing photo!
Hello, My name is Regina Giguere Marquis. My grandmother is Regina Gilbert, twin sister to Amanda Gilbert. My grandmother was the 2nd wife to Achille Giguere. My father was Paul Emile Giguere, their 6th child together. She died when he was one month old from a seizure (epilepsy). It’s very sad because my grandfather could not care for this child and had to give him away to another family, the Langevins. They were good people, but I know he missed his mother’s family and the Giguere family as well. He was able to visit with them from time to time. It’s different from being raised with all of you. Times were not easy or simple then. I was named after my grandmother. I printed out the family picture from 1895. I recognized the picture of my grandmother from the picture my father kept at his bedside of his mother. Rose Anna is quite beautiful. How very luck you all were to have her with you for all those years. God bless. Regina
Thank you, Regina. You’re right – we should never take being with family for granted. Bless you for sharing your story. ❤️