(4 May c. 1911-6 Oct. 1980), barn builder. (Henry Dubeau, J. Henry Dubeau) When he built Kenny Nixon’s barn (one mile east of Laggan) in 1948 he was quoted as saying that this was the biggest barn he built, the fastest barn to frame, and the quickest the boards went on. He is also remembered to have said at this time that for a barn raising bee such as this one he needed 30 men to talk, 30 men to tell stories, and 30 men to work. (In fact, about 100 men attended the bee which was held on 19 July 1948.) Born in the St. Bernardin area, in the 5th Concession of Caledonia Township, Dubeau was a St. Bernardin resident also at the end of his life. Formal education: to Grade 8. An ingenious and resourceful carpenter, who had mastered the demanding traditional skills required for building frame barns, but who also knew how to build the new metal barns, he built barns in the St. Bernardin area, and at Laggan, McCrimmon and Skye. At Vankleek Hill, where he built houses, he built a grandstand also for the fairgrounds (early 1950s). At Maxville, where the growing success of the Highland Games required improved facilities for their staging place, the fairgrounds, he built a new grandstand (1957) and what later became known as the Angus Gray Centre (early 1960s). He did not build churches, but he did the woodworking for the Anglican church in Maxville. Never a farmer, Henry Dubeau worked at barn building until he was in his 50s, and died in hospital at Hawkesbury. The burial was at Vankleek Hill. He was married to Emma Laflamme. (seven children)
Private information * “Barn Raising” by Mrs Audrey MacLeod (neé Audrey Nixon, daughter of Kenny Nixon), copy in present author’s files * KAS 41-45 with good group portrait (repr. also Glengarry News 27 Oct. 1999) showing Dubeau and others at construction of the Angus Gray Centre * St. Michael and All Angels Anglican Church: Maxville (1984?) [9]