(died 27 Nov. 1969, aged 66), artisan. Born in Alexandria, GC. Parents: Elzéar Pigeon and his wife Clémentine Poirier. His Glengarry News obituary called him “One of the last of the woodwork artisans who learned their trade at the Munro & McIntosh carriage factories here.” It then went on to say, “A skilled cabinet worker who specialized in restoring antiques, old stage coaches and vintage cars, Mr. Pigeon was adept not only at woodworking but painting, upholstery and other skills. He had restored the old coaches and other vintage vehicles in use at Upper Canada Village, had last year supplied Sears Roebuck with reproductions of the Glengarry sleigh and had refurbished many old model cars. For the past 25 years he had been associated with François Séguin Hardware [of Alexandria] in this line of work and as Mr. Séguin put it ‘René will be impossible to replace’.” The obituary further explains, “After attending the local schools he was employed at the Carriage works until their closing. For twelve years he was associated with Lanthier’s Bakery [of Alexandria: see Georges Lanthier] before teaming up with François Séguin for a 25 year stint ending with his death.” No doubt here as elsewhere, estimations of how long someone worked in one employment need not be taken as arithmetically exact. However, allowing for that, and recognizing how early in life employment began for his generation, we can guess that he began work at the carriage factories about the age of 15, in 1918, or not much later. By then, the great age of the Alexandria carriage plant was over. Also, on the basis of the above statements, we can calculate, speculatively if not confidently, that he remained in his carriage plant employment till about 1932, when he would have been part of the last surviving work force, and that he was next at Lanthier’s till about 1944, and from then on with Séguin’s. René Pigeon was married to Flore Deschamps, of St. Bernardin, Ont. (four children) He died suddenly of a heart attack in Alexandria, He belonged to Sacré-Coeur parish. See also Hormidas Séguin, and for an artisan from the Schell industries of Alexandria, Duncan Gray.

Glengarry News 4 Dec. 1969 * MacGillivray & Ross 487, & see 485 for the stages of the carriage plant’s decline