1913
Native Cultural Arts Museum
Lillian Carrier was born on October 31, 1902 in Berlin, New Hampshire. When she was a year old her mother died (November 9, 1903). Lillian’s first cousin, Clara Guay, raised Lillian after her mother’s death. In 1912, during the time when Alberta was promoting homesteading, Alphonse Jolin, Clara’s husband, came to the province. In May of 1913, Lillian and Clara came on a train from NH to Alberta. They had stops in Montreal and Edmonton and ended in Athabasca. From Athabasca, they travelled by river boat to Grouard and then walked to town. Lillian’s parents ran a hotel in Grouard (Hotel Royal) in the Winter of 1913/1914. At the time, it was one of two hotels in Grouard. Clara and Alphonse put Lillian in the Mission school for that season. In the spring of 1914 Clara received word that her mother was dying. They went back to NH by train. Despite her mother’s recovery, Clara decided not to return to AB. Alphonse did return, briefly, to sell the homestead.