Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

It was in 1885 that Élie Hamelin (1852-1921) and his wife Élodie Filion (1859-1947) came to Mansonville, from Rutland, Vermont.  Here they had ten children.  One of these was Philias (1878-1960), who married Louisa Chappel in 1902.  They, too, had a family of ten.  Of the six sons and four daughters, three were known locally by their odd nicknames.  Only Georges, who operated a grocery store on the lower floor of the Townhall in Mansonville for 19 years, had the privilege of being known by his given name!  Bunny, Skinny and Chick Hamelin were well known faces in Mansonville.^[1]  Chick Hamelin operated a bobbin mill in Potton, from 1974 to 1985.  It produced wooden bobbins for the textile industry in the United States.  Many descendants of Élie and Élodie Hamelin are living in Potton today.