This is the picture that is hanging on the wall of my office.
Édouard Métayer
It is the picture of Édouard Métayer. He was a fireman and made captain in 1911.
Édouard is the father of my paternal grandmother Juliette Métayer.
Édouard died on April 2, 1928, on the eve of his 34th anniversary as a Montreal fireman.
The only memory I had as a child was a framed picture of this fireman in an old apartment on Mentana Street in Montreal back in the 1950′s.
My grandparents were living there. My grandsparents were poor and I knew little about them.
My grandmother Juliette had told me that her father, Édouard Métayer, had died when he tried to stop the horses while responding to a fire alarm. The horses were scared by a train that was coming.
Édouard died a month later.
That is all I knew. At that time, I was around seven or eight years old.
Fifty years later, after a lot of research, I know a bit more… well quite a lot more…
1928
And everyday now Édouard Métayer is smiling at me in my office.
This man is the reason I started looking for my ancestors.
Next time, I will show you another picture.
