Cape Breton

On 14 July 2003, three generations of Sampsons set forth from Lunenburg to visit Isle Madame and River Bourgeois, site of many a family story. Our group consisted of Walter Sampson, his wife Pat, his eldest son Peter, Peter's wife Beverly and children Alicia and Jules, nieces Fleur Long and Caral Giammo, and Caral's husband Tom, the family genealogist. Walter's mother, Emma Bissett, was born in D'Escousse and his father, John Ernest Sampson, was born across the Lennox Channel in River Bourgeois.

We visited many family sites and distant cousins and explored River Bourgeois, D'Escousse, Arichat and Petit de Grat, all places related to our family. In D'Escousse we found the house that Alfred Bissett, Walter's grandfather built in about 1898.

We had memorable visits with our Boudreau cousins, Eva and her family, and Claude and Mavis. They were a wonderful source of more family stories and memories. As Walter noted, "The pleasures and enjoyments were deeply felt." Tom continued his genealogical activities and we all had the pleasure of meeting many members of the Isle Madame internet Mail List at a dinner at L'Auberge Acadienne.

We are grateful to St John the Baptist Church in River Bourgeois for approving a memorial to Caral's eight ancestors whose grave sites there have been lost: