Click on the picture to see a larger version.

Above: Notre Dame Cathedral at the corner of Sussex and St. Patrick Streets. It and the adjacent Archbishop's Palace are now national historic sites. Below: St. Patrick Street in the 1920s, looking east from Sussex. Notre Dame Cathedral is just out of the picture to the left. The large building at left is the Archbishop's Palace. Dr. Rufus Parent and the Bonenfants lived less than two blocks away on the right (south) side of St. Patrick.

Source:

Top:Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica exterior, February, 2005. Photo by en:User:SimonP (Wikipedia). Bottom: St. Patrick Street [looking east] from Sussex Street, 1920's (Canada. Dept. of Interior / Library and Archives Canada / PA-034438).

Last Trip: The Death of Alfred Bonenfant / 19

St. Patrick Street

Louis Cyr thought that Alfred Bonenfant was still breathing but George Boivin was convinced that the victim was already dead. Nevertheless Boivin mounted Bonenfant’s cab and began to look for a doctor.

Boivin's first choice was Dr. George A. Beattie, a dentist who shared a practice with Kenneth M. McVey at 284 Wellington Street. It was after hours so Boivin drove to Beattie's residence at 409 Queen Street, suggesting that Beattie may have been one of Landreville's regular customers. Unfortunately the doctor was not at home.

Boivin's second choice was Dr. Rufus Parent who lived at 232 St. Patrick Street, right next door to the Bonenfant family at 230. In addition to his medical practice Dr. Parent was president of the Ottawa Funeral Co., a combination that probably sounds stranger today than it did in 1908.

Boivin set out for St. Patrick Street with Cyr following on his own cab. They likely drove east along Sparks Street, over Sapper's Bridge and then to St. Patrick by way of Sussex Street. Meanwhile Henri Fern went on his way, no doubt much relieved. William Gascon completed his trip and then returned to the American House to wait for news.

St. Patrick Street could be seen for miles. It was made conspicuous by Notre Dame Cathedral on the corner of St. Patrick and Sussex. The Bonenfants and Dr. Parent lived less than two blocks away from the Cathedral and the adjacent Archbishop's Palace, both of which were constructed in 1849.

The cathedral was the focus of Ottawa's Lowertown, a predominantly Catholic community bounded on three sides by the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers and the Rideau Canal. The people were mostly of Irish or French descent. The people of Ottawa's upper town, to the west, were principally English and Scottish.