Grace Patriquin Bigelow by Lois Bigelow Mattson

 A Short History of Grace Patriquin 

 

Grace was the youngest daughter of Matilda and James Graham Patriquin. She was born September 16^th, 1876 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She attended school there and also Acadia Women's College. 

Her creative aspirations for the art of storytelling led her to the Boston School of Expression in Boston, Massachusetts. (Boston School of Expression)  She studied the art of Elocution while there. She played the role of Evangeline in the play of the story of Evangeline about the expulsion of the French Canadians in Nova Scotia. This was professionally photographed and later shown as a special "magic lantern slide show" to audiences down the east coast of Canada and the United States.  She also performed her art of elocution at many special events and gave lessons in elocution as well.

In 1903 she became the beautiful bride of Emerson Bigelow. Emerson and his brother Joseph moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where they engaged in the Building Construction Business. Grace joined her husband in Saskatoon as soon as Emerson was able to find living accommodations. He soon had built a beautiful brick home to live in. Emerson joined the home Reserve Soldiers. They lived in Saskatoon until after the First World War

After the war there was a slump in the building business so Emerson decided to move to Alberta to farm with his younger brother Mitchener Bigelow.

Grace and Emerson had three children: Irene Evangeline, born August 6^th, 1905 in Canning,

Nova Scotia; Lois Grace born February 6^th, 1912 and Sydney Emerson born March 22^nd, 1914 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Irene was a school teacher in Alberta, an apartment owner in Vancouver, British Columbia, and a secretary for an Insurance Firm in Toronto, Ontario. Lois also was a teacher in Alberta, a homemaker, farmer and gardener as well as having a major hobby of genealogy. Sid was a truck driver in Alberta, joined the Army and after farmed in Alberta. He moved to Idaho after a heart attack and there he was a motel owner, then a plastic pipe factory manager in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Emerson and Grace’s farm was located 14 miles west of Trochu, Alberta. Grace loved the farm life and enjoyed the animals and bird life there. She loved the beautiful Prairie Sunsets. Grace was an amateur photographer. She took pictures, developed her own film and printed her pictures. In the spring of the year she came to our country school and took pictures of the children in our classes. She printed these pictures for the school. At Christmas concerts she helped the children learn to do their parts well as a result of her Elocution knowledge. She was also a member of the Wimborne Women’s Institute. Grace supported her local Baptist Church, particularly the missionaries.

In the early 1930’s a lump developed after she fell and struck her chest against a sharp corner.  The lump became cancerous.  She began seeing a Chinese doctor in Calgary and experienced positive results from the acupuncture treatments.  Yet due to the laws at hat time the doctor was not allowed to give her the Chinese herbs which she believed would have helped.  Grace passed away on the 12^th of March 1937, after a year of illness, at the age of 61.

Written by Lois Grace Mattson née Bigelow, August 11^th, 2000.