Centerline Road (Rte.151) Alma

     The Centerline Road in Alma goes east and west from the Western Raod (Rte. 2) taking the district of Alma to the east to Montrose and to the west to Lauretta and St. Lawrence.  Wilbert Jeffery recalls  in the summer of 1956 the government improved the Centerline Road from the Western Road down to the Klondike Rd. (today the McLellan Rd).  Wilbert Jeffery was asked by road-overseer Stanford Greene (he took over from Roy Burns) if he'd like a job working on the road.  The equipment was fairly basic, shovels and a bulldozer.  Wilbert recalls the dozer operator was Alfred Cormier (d. Sept.2011) of Waterford.  Wilbert's job was to move away the stray rocks and brush that came put on the road from ditching so cars passing wouldn't be damaged by the debris.
     The following year, 1957, the power poles and lines were brought into Alma and Lauretta - from the Western Road in to the Klondike Road.  About half of the residents on the road connected.  Wilbert recalls a neighbour saying, "I couldn't afford to buy the kerosene last year, so I don't think I'll be able to wire the house and connect to the electricity."  At the time Wilbert also recalls Premier Matheson saying, "we're paying 90% of the cost to put the electricity through the countryside."   Wilbert & Verna Jeffery got power to the Stephen/David Jeffery Homestead in 1964.     

 

     The Centerline Line Road was the road cut through the middle of Lot-3 from St. Lawrence to Montrose - it was the "center line of Lot-3".  In the 1863 Lake Map above you can see that it was first known as the "proposed road".  Click on map to enlarge.

Johnny Wallace Homestead, Alma

     The George Wallace Homestead is/was the first farm in the community of Alma on the Western Road - it was on the corner of Barnett (or O'Brien) Road.  George was married to Catherine O'Connor - they had 10 children.  Their son John "Johnny" Wallace took over the homestead following his father's death.
     The driveway must have been half a kilometer long from the Western Road - there was also a driveway over to the Barnett Road.
     I took this photo of the Wallace homestead in the late 1990s - none of the buildings remain today.

    The Meechams 1880 Atlas shows this property as being owned by Alex Matthews with 77 acres.
     The 1928 Cumins Atlas shows George Wallace's son John "Johnny" Wallace, and his wife Eva Gaudette of Waterford, living here with their three children.  They had the following children:
1.  Jean who married Alton O'Brien of Alberton, they lived next to the Maplewood Manor.  Jean was a school teacher.  They had 8 children.
2.  George, a bachelor, farmed the homestead all his life.
3.  Earl, he moved to Ontario and following the death of his wife in a car accident, he moved back to Alma and farmed the homestead with his brother George.
4.  Brendon, married Roberta Adams of Elmsdale.  They had one son Reggie and farmed in Elmsdale on the Western Road, not far from his birthplace.
5.  Catherine, married William "Bill" Profitt of Summerside.  Bill was a potato inspector and Catherine a school teacher when she was younger.

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The following is from the 1901 PEI Census - http://automatedgenealogy.com/census/View.jsp?id=58559&desc=1901+Census+of+Canada+Lot+%28township%2Fcanton%29++3+PRINCE+%28West%2FOuest%29+PRINCE+EDWARD+ISLAND

No. Household        Name                  Sex   Place in House    Date of birth      Age

36		88	Wallace George	M		Head	M	Apr 19	1850	51
37		88	Wallace Catherine	F		Wife	M	Dec 24	1856	44
38		88	Wallace Mary B	F		Daughter	S	Dec 27	1878	22
39		88	Wallace Maurice J	M		Son	S	Jan 20	1881	20
40		88	Wallace Annie F	F		Daughter	S	Oct 11	1883	17
41		88	Wallace Clara E	F		Daughter	S	Jul 21	1888	12
42		88	Wallace John T	M		Son	S	Mar 17	1891	10
43		88	Wallace George L	M		Son	S	Feb 14	1893	8
44		88	Wallace Albert E	M		Son	S	Sep 1	1895	5
45		88	Wallace William B	M		Son	S	Nov 2	1898	2

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The following is from the O'Connor Genealogy - http://www.islandregister.com/keefe1.html

34F    ii. Catherine O'Connor was born on 21 Dec 1856. She was christened on 8 Feb
           1857 in St. Anthony Church. She died in 1930 in Sacred Heart Church.

Catherine married George W. Wallace in 1878 in PEI, Canada.

Information taken from a letter to Henry Keefe written by Mrs. Alton (Jean) O'Brien dated 2.26/1997 in Alberton, PEI. In it she states, "My maiden name was Wallace. I am the daughter of the late John and Eva Wallace of Alma, PEI. My grandmother Wallace was the former Catherine O'Connor and her mother was Mary Keefe sister to Joe Keefe, father of Florence. So Florence and my grandmother were first cousins."
m. George W. Wallace and had son John Wallace. John m. Eva Gaudet and had daughter Jean Wallace (291)
Rev P. McIntyre, sponsored by John Keefe and Mary Rowe.
Wandering Back:
Catherine (1856-1930) married George Wallace (1850-1948) in 1878. They lived in the Alma homestead of Catherine's mother. Their children: Mary Bernice, Maurice Joseph, Anne F., Mary Ester, Clara Effie, John Patrick, George Leo, Albert Edward, William Brendon and Mary.