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Excluding old stone built house, there is probably no wooden house dating back to Nouvelle-France. However, a few of them have kept some features of that time. This applies to the one shown below which belonged to Paul Paquin, 116 chemin du Roy at Deschambault close to the Experimental farm.
The ancestral house's chimney would be the only feature of the very first house built by Nicolas III. Nicolas, son of Nicolas II of whom we told the story in Volume XII, numbers 3 and 4 of the bulletin, married Josette Arcand in 1745. They had 9 children. The chimney was a silent witness of seven generations and this old house was built at the same location as of the first one. It was smaller originally but later on an addition was constructed (left hand side).

 According to Brother Jules, our archivist, his grand-father, Samuel D. Paquin lived in this house. Since he was for a time, mayor of the municipality as well as secretary for same, this old house served as city hall. Samuel raised 7 boys and only one girl. Only the parents and the one daughter had sleeping quarters. The boys had to lay down their straw mattress to sleep in the large room every evening and store same the following day. The stove and chimney were located in the middle of the large room to keep the whole house warm.  (Notes from Brother Jules Paquin).