I’m speechless! Where did you get all this info! Achille Meroni is my great grand father on my mothers side. He had two children with Bernadette Gagné (Réal Meroni dit Guay and Mariette Meroni dit Guay). Achille was adopted from his mothers family because he was an orphan - his parents died when he was very young. That is why they gave him last name Guay.

Then when my grand father was born they put Meroni on his birth certificate and Bernadette Gagné was apparently furious. She did not like the Meroni family even though she is married to one. We don’t know why. My grand-father and his sister are still living. they just know for some fact that Bernadette did not like to hear that name. Might be some scandal in the past, we don’t know.

My mother does not have Meroni name, technically she should but she has Guay for her last name.

I really wish I could find out more about the Meroni familly, they originated in Italy. I believe they immigrated to Quebec in mid 1800. I checked the 1881 Census done in Canada and the grand-father of Achille is in it. Charles Meroni would have been the first one to come to Canada. He had a son Alexandre Meroni (the father of Achille).

Charles and Alexandre died within 2 weeks from each other. Charles in December 1896 and Alexandre January 1897. Might have been disease. We just know that apparently Alexandre was, I don’t know, but considered has a rebel, he did a dare to jump in St-Lawrence river during winter and he would have died a week later. Or maybe (this my theory) the jump was maybe suicide and that is why Bernadette does not like Meroni because suicide is a sin.

I’ve found some hints when I looked up web site of Cote-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal. Charles and Alexandre are buried there. My grand-father did not even know that! By coincidence Achille is also there but not in the same section.

Well that is all I know.

Would like to hear from you. Maybe you have info you could give me.

Thanks in advance!

Emilie Lamarre