May 4, 2001 Reverend Joseph Gravelle: A remakable Priest

On our trip east on the old CNR Algonquin Route, the names of several personalities have been mentioned. Today I want to profile one person whose name appears in several of the communities along the way, but primarily at Fossmill. Father Joseph Gravelle (1892-1973) was the Roman Catholic Priest from 1920-1951 at the St. Louis de France Church in Chiswick, a small community in the heart of Chisholm Township. This period coincides with the existence of Fossmill, and he had a major influence there.

Reverend Gravelle is remembered now, fifty years later, by many local residents as a gentle but energetic man who was a friend and counselor, not only to his flock, but to many non-Catholics in the community. He established separate schools in Chiswick and in Fossmill, where he also established a church and a special phone line for his Fossmill parishioners. The Chisholm Community Centre was called the Gravelle Centre, and a road nearby is called Gravelle Road in his honour. 

What is generally not known about Reverend Gravelle is that he was one of Canada's outstanding early genealogists. An article in the French edition of the Reader's Digest points out that he collected 3.5 million family histories, which are now housed in the National Archives in Ottawa. He also published a study of early settlement from Ottawa to North Bay, which appeared in part in Montreal's La Droit newspaper. 
 

The Reverend Joseph Gravelle with the four teachers, all Sisters of the Assumption, who taught at the Chiswick Separate School briefly in the mid-1930s.Fossmill's Aunt Maggie Donahue is behind Rev. Gravelle.

Reverend Gravelle's father was a former mayor of Renfrew and editor of the Renfrew journal, so Reverend Gravelle's writing and research skills came naturally. He is referenced several times in Murray Leatherdale's book, From Brule to Booth. He also wrote a definitive early history of Chisholm Township for the first history book published by the Chisholm Women's Institute. Audrey Plaunt, formerly of Chisholm Township, recently drew my attention to a newspaper story Father Gravelle wrote in 1964.

It is a remarkable story of a six-year old girl, Theresa Desrosiers, who lived on a family farm near Chiswick in 1923. She was picking flowers to take to her first communion when her father André accidentally hit her while mowing hay, and almost completely severed her left foot. Her father held the foot in place while Theresa screamed in pain. The nearest phone was in Alderdale, 6 km away, and Dr. Harcourt, the local doctor, was 16 km away in Powassan.

When Dr. Harcourt arrived three hours later, he immediately set about to remove the foot. Theresa pleaded for the doctor to "wrap it up" and let it heal. "Good Saint Anne will help me, and I can have my first communion," she said. The doctor told her that too much time had already passed, there was no circulation to the foot and infection was going to set in, perhaps causing the loss of more of the leg. 

Theresa's parents joined in the request to save the foot, so, against his better judgment, the doctor proceeded to set the bones and stitch the foot. 

When Dr. Harcourt and his partner Dr. Dillane returned four days later, they expected to amputate the leg below the knee. They were shocked to find that the circulation had been restored, and that there was only a slight swelling. Father Gravelle postponed the first communion for two weeks. Theresa was served communion at her seat, and the miracle was complete.

Twenty-eight years later, in 1951, Theresa-now Mrs. Roger O'Connor-returned to Chisholm for a visit. When asked about her accident, she said that she hardly ever thought about it anymore. But when she was shown an old newspaper article about the event, she burst into tears as memories of the experience flooded back. 

People who know the story can only explain this 1923 operation-twenty-five miles from a hospital, and performed on a kitchen table-as an act of faith. It also says a lot about Father Joseph Gravelle, who saw the family through that terrible time.