Old Order Changeth for the New And

 Picturesque Langlois Home is Razed

   An old landmark, familiar to all old-timers of the Border Cities,  will pass into memory shortly when the work of demolishing the old Langlois homestead house, 1057 Sandwich street east is accomplished. 

   The ancient brick home, built 87 years ago by Gregoire Langlois, is being torn down and its place will be taken by an up-to-date apartment house.  Blackened with age and savoring of the past, the building is still strong and could weather the storms of many years to come if left standing.  The old order must make way for the new, however, and fate has decreed that the homestead shall go.

   Eighty-seven years ago one Gregoire Langlois built the picturesque home on the banks of the Detroit river.  He built strong, as an examination of the building will show.  Cement was unknown in those days and he laid the bricks right on the clay with no footing.  Although lacking a foundation the walls have remained intact --a fact which seems almost unbelievable.  The actual bricks are even better than many made and sold and built into present day construction.  They will be used in building the new apartment block.

   Some years after building the house Gregoire Langlois sold it to the late Pierre Langlois, whose farm it adjoined.  The name of Pierre Langlois will long remain in the minds of Border folk, for it has been preserved in two Windsor avenues, Pierre and Langlois, Pierre's farm, handed down by his father Antoine --vetern of the war of 1812 and one of the first settlers in the district -- occupied 144 acres on the river bank.  As late as the "eighties" it was one of the two remaining farms between Windsor and Walkerville, the other one being that of John Davis.

   Six children were born to Pierre and his wife in the old home, and three are still living.  They are: Mrs. Eli Gignac, 1101 Sandwich street; Mrs. D. Barron, Amherstburg; and Sister Euphrasia, London.  The three who have died were Miss Christine Langlois, Dr. O. X. Langlois and Mrs. D. Ouellette.

   Grandchildren of Pierre Langlois, still resident in this part of Ontario and in the United States, are: Louis Gignac, Detroit, Ernest Gignac, Sandwich; Abbie, Ida and Yvonne Gignac, Windsor; Joseph Barron, Detroit; Mrs. C Smith, Amherstburg; Alma Barron, Niagara Falls; Hector 

 and Victor Barron, Detroit; Father Wilfred Langlois, Riverside; Sister Rosalie, St. Mary's Academy, Windsor; Mrs. F.D. Reaume, Windsor, Eva Ouellete, Pontiac; and Ernest  and Oscar Ouellette, Detroit.

   Some of these were born at the old homestead, and practically all were married there.  To this large group of residents in the vicinity of the Border Cities the passing of the old Langlois homestead will mean the final touch in the obliteration of the old home.  They have watched the once beautiful farm with its orchards--famed for miles around--pass out of sight and have seen it replaced by modern residences; and not without some regret.

   About 30 years ago the Langlois family moved out of the old place and made their homes elsewhere in the district.  Since that time and until a few weeks ago, it has been rented to various tenants.  In 1911 it was purchased by T. L. Howe, a Windsor businessman, and it is he who erecting a seven-family apartment house on the property.  Workmen commenced tearing down the homestead Wednesday and it is just a matter of hours until their task will be completed.

   In a few short days the careful work of men long dead, which has stood for nearly a century, will vanish.  A newer building more in keeping with the times, will be erected.  It is a tribute, nevertheless, to the artisan of 87 years ago that the materials with which he worked will be incorporated in the newer structure--combining the sturdiness and solidity of the old with the modern features of the new.