8. Maxime Arsenault

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Maxime Arsenault was born around 1804 at Riviere-Platte in Lot 17. He moved to Lot 15 around 1812 with his parents Abraham Arsenault and Marguerite Arsenault. He married twice. His first wife was Isabelle Poirier, daughter of Joseph Poirier and Francoise Arsenault, whom he married around 1826. She died sometime after giving birth to her third child in 1834. Maxime remarried on 19 September 1836 to Modeste Barriault, daughter of Jean-Charles Barriault and Marguerite Robichaud. Born in Saint-Louis-de-Kent, N.B., on 15 March 1818, she was the sister of Natalie, wife of Vital Arsenault (See Chapter 5)

Following his marriage, Maxime went to settle on the far side of the Haldimand River on high ground close to the cape. Like most settlers of Lot 15, he received the deed for his 100 acre farm in 1828. He was the first to settle in that part of the parish with a certain Hypolite Arsenault. The village was named Maximeville in 1904 when the district obtained a small post office. Beforehand it was simply called "le Cap" (the Cape) or "Petit-Cap" (Little Cape), two names which are still used locally.

Maxime Arsenault seems to have been an ambitious man, for when he died he owned 260 acres of land. This made him one of the largest landowners in the area. In his last will and testament (written on 13 December 1866 and probated and filed on 14 September 1868), he divided his land between his wife and his seven living children. He left 50 acres to his widow, Modeste, 60 acres to his son Abraham and 50 acres to his other son, Gonzague. He divided his 100 acre "river land" amongst his five daughters; Marguerite inherited 30 acres while Isabelle, Julie, Luce and Madeleine each received 17% acres.

Maxime also bequeathed to his son Gonzague his moveable property (house, farm buildings and instruments, animals, etc.) and enjoined him "to lay the sum of seven pounds out of my moveable property and to have it expended in Masses and other good work for the repose of my soul".

The precise date of Maxime Arsenault's death is not known. He probably died in 1868, the year that his last will and testament was probated and registered. His wife Modeste outlived him by more than 30 years. She passed away on 3 December 1902 when she was 84 years old.

She spent her last years with her daughter Julie who was married to Félix Pitre. In 1898, Modeste sold a small piece of land (% acre) to the Maximeville school district for $4.00 on which a new school was to be built. The old log house, in which it is thought she and her husband Maxime raised their family, was hauled behind Léon and Marie Arsenault's home and was transformed into a piggery. It was called "la maison 4a Modeste" (Modeste's house).

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