Calixte Perreault (1879-1942)

Name: Calixte Perreault
Birth: 14 Nov 1879 in Sainte-Sophie-de-Mégantic, Sainte-Sophie-d’Halifax, L’Érable, Quebec, Canada.
Marriage: 8 Jul 1903 in Plessisville, Québec, Canada to Marie St-Hilaire.
Death: 28 Feb 1942 of a Heart Attack – Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Homesteader, Merchant, and Patriarch of Henribourg

Calixte Perreault was born on 14 November 1879 in Sainte-Sophie-de-Mégantic (now Sainte-Sophie-d’Halifax), located in L’Érable County, Quebec.[¹] On 8 July 1903, he married Marie St-Hilaire in Plessisville, Québec, and together they would go on to raise a large family that would play a formative role in the development of Henribourg, Saskatchewan.[²]

Drawn by opportunity in the Canadian West, Calixte first arrived in the Prince Albert region in 1910, where he filed for a homestead on land that would eventually become the hamlet of Henribourg. He commissioned a two-storey log house from local builder Mr. Hébert, located on the southeastern section of his quarter.[³] In 1911, Calixte returned with his wife Marie and their four children. Upon arrival, they were met not with the dry, favorable conditions Calixte had witnessed earlier, but rather with heavy rains and thick mud. Thankfully, he had brought along a team of oxen, two horses, and a wagon, which proved essential in hauling their belongings from Prince Albert.

Before their home was completed, the family stayed with Henri Morin, who lived in the hills east of the settlement. Henribourg itself would later be named after Henri Morin, who also donated the land and lumber for the community’s first Roman Catholic Church.[⁴]

With a keen entrepreneurial spirit, Calixte had his home built larger than most in order to serve as Henribourg’s first general store. From there, he sold garden produce, dairy goods, and general supplies to local settlers. His goods found their way to customers in Prince Albert as well, reflecting his growing success as a producer and merchant. Over the following years, Calixte expanded his holdings, buying land and acquiring more property. In 1917, he purchased a store in Albertville, which he exchanged two years later for Charles Goulet’s farm. Over time, he added the Smyth, Patenaude, and Boileau homesteads to his growing estate.[⁵]

Calixte and Marie’s pioneering efforts laid the foundation for four generations of Perreault descendants in the Henribourg district. His legacy as a builder, businessman, and community member left a permanent mark on the region.

Yet Calixte’s story also includes more colorful chapters. In an interview conducted in August 2000, his eldest son, Ernest Perreault, then nearly 95 years old, recalled his father’s notoriety during the Prohibition era. Calixte, it seems, was well known to the authorities for moonshining and bootlegging. On one occasion, anticipating a raid by the RCMP, he hastily emptied his hidden liquor stash into the livestock feed. Unfortunately, the next morning, the sight of stumbling cows in the field tipped off the police.[⁶]

In another incident, suspecting that local boys were stealing his beer, Calixte reportedly urinated in a few bottles and left them out as bait. However, the police arrived before the boys did. When Calixte insisted the bottles contained no alcohol, an officer took a swig—an action that led to a one-month jail sentence. Fines mounted over time, including one of $4,000, which forced the family to sell part of the farm. From that point on, the children discreetly placed their mother’s name on property and business documents to avoid further penalties.

These stories, passed down through generations, reflect both the hardship and the resilience of prairie life. They also help explain the values that emerged in the family. As Ernest noted, Rosa Perreault, Calixte’s daughter, became deeply opposed to alcohol, having witnessed its disruptive potential firsthand. Her stance on sobriety became a defining influence in the next generation.

Calixte Perreault died of a heart attack on 28 February 1942 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, at the age of 62.[⁷] He left behind a legacy of hard work, perseverance, and community-building that remains a cornerstone of the Henribourg story.

Sources & Notes:

Death certificate, Province of Saskatchewan Vital Statistics; obituary, Prince Albert Daily Herald, March 1942.
Parish records of Sainte-Sophie-de-Mégantic, Drouin Collection, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ).
Marriage certificate, Parish of Plessisville, 8 July 1903; Québec Vital Records.
Saskatchewan Homestead File, Land Titles Archive, 1910 application.
Henribourg: History of a Hamlet, local church archives, c.1980.
Land transaction records, Prince Albert District Registry Office, 1917–1925.
Oral history interview with Ernest Perreault, August 2000; family archive notes.