Aurelie Marchand 1822-1918

In honor of National Women’s History month, I am investigating the life of one of my female ancestors who lived during Canada’s development as an independent nation. Reviewing French Canadian Records can be problematic. The census takers were not always efficient in recording dates of birth. Additionally, most families had 10-15 children who as the family grew had many triplicate names within the same decade. This ancestor of mine was surely a woman who was committed to family. Her marriage was delayed when most girls were married by the latest at the age of 20. Aurelie Marchand was a French Canadian who stood by familial duty.

Napierville Location

When Aurelie Marchand was born on February 12, 1822, in Napierville, Quebec, Canada, her father, Pierre, was 25 and her mother, Louise, was 26. The family as most French Canadians were Catholic, her father was a farmer. Aurelie, the eldest of her siblings had two sisters ( Scholastique b.1829 and Marie Clarence b.1833) and three brothers (Pierre b.1819, Narcisse b. 1822 and Edouard b.1823).

Farming in the 1800s

 Napierville is located in southern Quebec in the triangle formed by the Richelieu, Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River. Napierville still maintains French as the primary language. It was named after General Napier Christie Burton, the owner of the Seigniories of Lacolle and De Léry in the early 1800s. The Seigniories system was basically an updated fuedal caste system with rich landowners ruling over sharecroppers. General Napier was born in America. He took the additional surname of Burton by royal license on the death of his brother-in-law, Captain Richard Burton, in 1794 and inherited his father’s estate in 1799.(1) He was a British patriot and eventual Governor of Upper Canada. A man who lived beyond his means he was forced to sell most of his own and his wife’s inheritance to pay his debts and even spent time in prison in 1812 for owing money. In spite of this he was made a full general in 1814. (2)

Quebec Flag

Canada was experiencing the independence cry in 1837-1838 when Aurelie was about 21. There were rebellions and insurrections versus the British colonial power. The Ninety-Two Resolutions of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, were introduced by a Member of Parliament. Once adopted, the resolutions were embedded in a Parliamentary address and later forwarded to England.(3) These Resolutions were initially disapproved by the British Parliament.

Montreal Harbor 1867

The second rebellion in 1838 was to have more far-reaching consequences. In 1838, Lord Durham arrived in Canada as High Commissioner. Although skirmishes with British troops were relatively minor during the second rebellion, the Crown dealt forcefully in punishing the rebels: 850 of them were arrested; 12 were eventually hanged, and 58 were sent to Australia. In 1839, a Special Council that governed the colony enacted many reforms with the aim of improving economic and administrative affairs, such as land ownership and the establishment of new schools.

• 

• 

Quebec 1864 & 1871

Aurelie surely helped on the family farm, in the kitchen and with her younger brothers and sisters. Her youngest sibling was almost 20 years her junior. Outside the home, Canadian women had few domains which they controlled. An important exception came with Roman Catholic Sisters where new orders gained popularity during the religiosity of the Counter-Reformation in the seventeenth century and became a permanent feature of Quebec society. The Ursuline order after years of struggle in the new colony doing nursing and education, eventually became important land owners in Quebec and surrounding area. (Note the picture of the Quebec convent below. This convent would have been costly to build.) Catholic women started dozens of independent religious orders, funded in part by dowries provided by the parents of young nuns. The orders specialized in charitable works, including hospitals, orphanages, schools and homes for unwed mothers.

Grey Nun Order’s Convent

The Catholic Church, in close cooperation with the baron landowners, led a highly traditional social structure in rural and small town Quebec.(4) The Catholic Church was given  large and valuable tracts of land estimated at nearly 30% of all the lands granted by the French.

In 1831, more than 50,000 people immigrated to Quebec. The next year brought 52,000 individuals and with them cholera. Within five months 4,200 deaths resulted. All this while the colony struggled with British rule. Crop failures started occurring because Canadian farmers were using outdated equipment and were not rotating their crops which caused increasing economic pressure which lasted through the end of the 1880s and into early 1900s. Many of my Canadian ancestors followed the migration to New England America where cotton mills were popping up at almost every turn of a river bank. Mill owners hired these French immigrants to staff their mills more cheaply than American and Irish-born workers, who were themselves displaced. This all created friction from Vermont to Massachusetts with families moving often to supposed greener pastures.

Aurelie married Pierre Lavoie in 1853 in her hometown at St. Cyprien parish. St Cyprien was started in 1823 in the Diocese of Saint-Jean–Longueuil which as of 2017 had 5 parishes, 1 mission, 86 priests (61 diocesan, 25 religious), 4 deacons, 345 lay religious (103 brothers, 242 sisters), 3 seminarians.

Pierre Lavoie lived not far from Napierville in L’Acadie. Pierre and Aurelie probably met at St Cyprien. and started their family there. They had ten children in 15 years. The 1871 Canadian Census for Napierville indicates that Aurelie was 49 and Pierre aged 55. The ten children listed on the census were: Henriette- B. 1851, Pierre-B. 1854, Angelique-B-1856, Narcisse-B, 1857, Joseph-B. 1859, Josephine-B. 1862, Selima, 1863, Philemin-B. 1865, Aristilde=B. 1867, and Hermine-B. 1870. This revises the original data review to 10 children over 20 years starting when she was 29!!

The 1871 Canadian Census also reveals that Pierre and Auralie were both considered merchants. It is likely they had a general store or lumber yard considering the building boom of that era. and Quebec’s industrial production was limited to logging and lumber processing, as well as leather and potash production. 

From 1840 to 1867, Quebec’s population nearly doubled despite an exodus of close to 200,000 people to factories in New England. Montréal and Québec City were the main urban centers affected by the skyrocketing population.(6) On November 11, 1871 the last of the British soldiers left Canada with the Confederation in place in 1867. Additionally, that year Parliament legalized the use of the metric system.

The assumption is that Pierre did not inherit his family’s farm as a Lavoie is listed as one of the first settlers of Quebec. Through my research, the French Canadians were very explicit on heaping the majority of land wealth on their eldest son. Dowries for girls were limited to livestock and any embroidery work the girls accomplished on their own.

In January 1888, Pierre died at the age of 70 or so. He is buried in Napierville. Many of the children began immigrating to New England and Aurelie followed after her husband’s death. Daughter Josephine passed in Quebec in 1891 at the age of 29. The youngest, Hermine died of tuberculosis in 1903 at the age of 34. in Massachusetts. Tuberculosis was very common among mill workers. (See my other blogs.) Son Pierre Jr. died in 1912. Joseph and Charles both passed in 1921, Narcisse in 1930, Angelique in 1935. All in Massachusetts.

Aurelie lived in the United States for 29 years. During WWI, she was quite interested in war news and read the paper devotedly. She died of Atherosclerosis at the home of her daughter in Salem, Massachusetts on April 9, 1918 at the age of 94, and was buried there. She outlived her husband and five children. Her obituary in the Boston Globe indicates that despite her age, she had all her mental capabilities and could read without glasses. Further she had two surviving daughters and 3 sons plus 121 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. What a legacy!

In order to limit the ramblings of this post, I did not delve into the First Nations people in the Napierville area. Certainly Auralie had interactions with them. For those researching First Nation peoples, there is a wonderful resource: Sault-St-Louis | Iroquois, Mohawk (1881) « A Canadian Family (wordpress.com)

(1) & (2) Napier Christie Burton – Wikipedia

(3) The Ninety-Two Resolutions of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada – Independence of Québec (republiquelibre.org)

(4), (5)History of Quebec – Wikipedia

(6)Quebec (1867) – Library and Archives Canada (bac-lac.gc.ca)

• New France map: By Isle, Guillaume de l’ ; Covens & Mortier – This image is available from Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3161992
• Convent photo: By William Notman – This image is available from the McCord Museum under the access number I-26334.1This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7025022

Ambroise Lauzon

When Ambroise Lauzon was born on May 27, 1897, in St Joachim, Ontario, Canada, his father, Victor, was 36 and his mother, Emilienne, was 27.  The family moved to Walkerville, Windsor, Ontario and resided at 135 Tuscarora.

Ambroise enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (C.E.F.) in August 1918.  He was 21 with light blue eyes and light brown hair and  a machinist at the time.  He joined the West Ontario Regiment in the 1st Depot Battalion out of London, Ontario.  He was demobilized in August 1919.  He served in Ontario only, he never went overseas so he was not allowed any service discharge fee.

He married Marie Rose Alma Tremblay on September 27, 1921, in Essex, Ontario, Canada. They had one child during their marriage.

In 1927, Ambroise started work as a machinist in Detroit at the Chrysler plant on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit. The factory, built on the south side of East Jefferson Avenue at Conner, facing the River, was one of architect Albert Kahn’s earliest reinforced-concrete plants. The Chalmers Motor Co. built the plant in 1908.  The area, known then as Fairview Village, was just outside the city of Detroit.  Fairview Village had plenty of cheap land, rail access, as well as sewer, water and power access. At the south end of the corridor was the Detroit River with shipping access to the entire Great Lakes waterway.  Chalmers did well at first but it made increasingly expensive cars that didn’t sell, so it leased unused space to Maxwell Motor Car Co. By the late 1910s, the two companies were practically merged — but also practically broke. Their creditors appointed Walter P. Chrysler to take over, and by 1925, he had discontinued the two brands and reorganized the firm as the Chrysler Corp. In January 1924, Walter Chrysler launched the well-received Chrysler automobile. The 6-cylinder Chrysler, designed to provide customers with an advanced, well-engineered car, was an automobile at an affordable price. The original 1924 Chrysler included a carburetor air filter, high compression engine, full pressure lubrication, and an oil filter, features absent from most autos at the time.1  In 1928, the Chrysler Corporation began dividing its vehicle offerings by price, class, and function. The Plymouth brand was introduced at the low-priced end of the market. At the same time, the DeSoto brand was introduced in the medium-price field. Also in 1928, Chrysler bought the Dodge Brothers automobile and truck company. The Jefferson Avenue factory and showroom became Chrysler’s Jefferson Avenue plant, and from its opening in 1908 to its closure on Feb. 2, 1990, made everything from DeSotos to Dodge Omnis.

Ambrose worked hard all his life and died on November 3, 1965, at the age of 68

Joseph Adelard Brousseau

When Joseph Adelard Brusseau was born in Tibury, Canada on December 7, 1895, his farmer father, Peter, was 44 and his mother, Marie Suphranie (Sophie), was 38. He was the second youngest of 16 children. Two older brothers died in Ontario, both at the age of nine, a year apart, 1898 and 1899.

Toward the end of the 1890’s when Adelard was under 5, the family traveled to  Vermont and then Massachusetts, working in the cotton mills.  How could a poor farmer feed 14 children in harsh Ontario!  The large family had several marriages in the U.S but tragedy occurred in 1902 when brother James was struck by a train.  Shortly thereafter, the family returned to the closest port to Ontario–Detroit.  Joseph Adelard’s immigration year is noted as 1911, most probably the year he started working.

As a young man, Joseph Adelard found work as an electrician with the McLeary Harmon Co.  in Detroit per his WWI draft card.  Earnest McLeary along with Mr. Colquitt, formed the McCleary-Colquitt Electric Company in 1898. Mr. Colquitt withdrew from the company in 1905 and the McCleary-Harmon Company was founded. McLeary was a member of the first NECA Code Committee.  Joseph A was very lucky to have the work.

Joseph Adelard joined the 339th Regiment at its inception.  The Regiment was constituted 0n August 5 1917 in the U.S.  National Army as the 339th Infantry and assigned to the 85th Division7 at Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Michigan. The 339th Regiment was  composed mainly of young draftees, for the purpose of fighting on the Western Front in France. Most of the 4,487 men were from Michigan, but some 500 draftees from Wisconsin were included.  The facility trained or demobilized more than 100,000 troops during World War I.  The Regiment was commonly referred to as “Detroit’s Own”. They were sent to fight the Bolsheviks in Northern Russia. They were nicknamed the “polar bears” because of their service there.

On July 14, 1918, the U.S. Army’s 85th Division left their training camp at Camp Custer, Michigan for the Western Front in France. Three days later, President Wilson agreed to limited participation by American troops in the Allied Intervention with the stipulation that they would only be used for guarding the stockpiled war material.1 On 30 July 1918, General John J. Pershing, by order of President Wilson, chose the 339th Infantry Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the 310th Engineers, the 337th Field Hospital, and the 337th Ambulance Company, (all from the 85th Division) to form the Murmansk Expedition. These units were assembled and equipped at Cowshott Camp, Surrey, England. The expedition, 143 officers and 4,344 enlisted men, sails from Newcastle upon Tyne, England and arrives at Archangel, North Russia where it becomes part of the command of Maj Gen F. C. Poole, British Army.

THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARMY ON THE EASTERN FRONT, 1914-1918 (Q 58412) Austro-Hungarian prisoners detraining after being released from Russian captivity. Kiev, probably 1918. They are mixed with Russian troops, possibly anti-Bolshevik White soldiers. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205307625

THE RUSSIAN ARMY ON THE EASTERN FRONT, 1914-1918 (Q 86828) Russian officers posing for a German cameraman. They are either POWs or servicemen of the White Forces. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205330784

When the British commanders of the Allied Intervention arrived in Arkhangelsk on August 2, 1918, they discovered that the Allied war material had already been moved up the Dvina River by the retreating Bolshevik forces. Therefore, when the American troops arrived one month later, they were immediately used in offensive operations to aid in the rescue of the Czech Legion. The British commanders sent the First Battalion of the 339th Infantry up the Dvina River and the Third Battalion of the 339th up the Vologda Railroad where they engaged and pushed back the Bolshevik forces for the next six weeks. American Headquarters is established at Archangel with distribution of American troops along a front 450 miles long, extending from Onega in the west to Pinega Russia in the east with at some points 200 miles distant from the Archangel base.2 By the end of October 1918, they were no longer able to maintain the offensive and acknowledging their fragile situation and the rapid onset of winter, the Allies began to adopt a defensive posture.

The British military involvement of 1918-1920 in several parts of European Russia were the outcome of the Russian Revolution of Nov 1917, and were closely connected both with events in Asia (particularly in Persia and in Siberia) and with the general course of the War in the West. The continued German and Turkish threats to India by way of Persia and Afghanistan, and the crisis of 1918 in France caused by the withdrawal of Russia from the Entente, formed the background to the North Russian Expedition and the Allied intervention in South Russia.3

The Allied commanders soon realized they would be unable to raise an effective local force of anti-Bolshevik soldiers. Thus they gave up the goal of linking up with the Czech Legion and settled in to hold their gains over the coming winter. During that winter, however; the Bolshevik army went on the offensive, especially along the Vaga River portion of the Dvina River Front, where they inflicted numerous casualties and caused the Allies to retreat a considerable distance. Tired of fighting Russian soldiers in Russia with no gains, early in 1919, instances of rumored and actual mutinies in the Allied ranks became frequent. On July 15, 1919, it was reported by the Alaska Daily Empire that rumors of mutiny were “bunk” and that commander Major Nichols reported “What gave rise to the story that Company I, of the regiment, had mutinied was an Incident  to which an order was misunderstood by a soldier who could not understand English well.”  Newspaper accounts differ though where Company I refused orders, Company I consisted almost entirely of men from Detroit.  President Wilson directed the War Department on February 16, 1919, to begin planning the withdrawal of AEF in North Russia. In March 1919, four American soldiers in Company B of the 339th Infantry drew up a petition protesting their continued presence in Russia and were threatened with court-martial proceedings. The men were rounded up and put on a ship, only after leaving England, were the men told of their stateside destination. Spanish Influenza broke out on two of the three transports, and seventy-two men would eventually succumb to the disease or resultant pneumonia.  Joseph Adelard was on the Plattsburg and survived it all as a young man of 23.

Upon his return to Detroit, Joseph Adelard returned to work as an electrician, this time as a contractor.  His parents divorce in 1921, creating quite a stir in the Catholic bation of Detroit, his mother Suphranie cited cruelty and drunkenness. Trouble had been brewing for many years with all the tragedies a parent could take, year after year as parents of 16 children.

Three years after his return from service and less than 30 days after the death of his father, Joseph Adelard married Angeline Mayer on July 11, 1923, in Detroit, Michigan. They had three daughters during their marriage, Alma (1930-?), Jeanette (1925-1993) and Constance (1927-2005).  Angeline and Joseph divorced in 1936.  Was the tremendous burdens of WWI to blames as it was with many marriages of WWI veterans?

He died on June 11, 1938, in American Lake, Washington, at the age of 42, and was buried in Tacoma, Washington.  What was he doing in the state of Washington at American Lake? Was he on vacation or working?  Back in the military? Was it a drowning accident, a lumbering accident?  Angeline died at the age of 99 in 1997.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Expeditionary_Force,_North_Russia
2. http://www.militarian.com/threads/british-army-in-russia-1918-1919.7652/
3. Cited from: http://www.militarian.com/threads/british-army-in-russia-1918-1919.7652/)

Leon Matte & Louisa Brusseau

When Leon Matte was born in Tilbury, Canada on September 7, 1822; his father, Leon, was 36 and his mother, Felice Charron, was 18. He married Louisa Ousitte Brousseau on January 11, 1847, in Tilbury. When Louisa Ousitte Brousseau was born in September 1825 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, her father, Pierre, was 24, and her mother, Sophie Phaneuf was 20.  The Brousseau family established a farm also in Tilbury.   Leon and Louisa had four sons and three daughters and settled in Clinton Township, Michigan.

On July 22, 1782 David Zeisberger and his followers founded the first settlement in Clinton Township. He described the site of “New Gnadenhutten” in his diary, “founded on this side of the river a fine place to lay out a town on a height … between the river and the height, there are many springs with many separate little brooks that flow into the river and have exceedingly good water. The land on the site of the town is so sandy … the lowlands are very rich with heavy timber. We chose this place before all others for our town site … heavily laden boats can go even to the fork, a half-mile higher up … and canoes can go much further. We are glad and thankful to have found such a good and healthy a spot for a town site nothing was lacking. We found traces that long ago an Indian town must have stood on this place.”1 The Indians and French had called The Cinton River, the “Nottawasippe”. Moravian Drive is the township’s oldest road dating back to the days when the Moravian Missionaries settled to attempt to convert the local Native Americans.2  The Moravian Church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in the world, with its heritage dating back to the Bohemian Reformation in the fifteenth century.

By 1818 the Moravian Settlement was now known as the Village of Frederick with twenty families. Its main streets were Livingston, Shelby and Harrington. There was a hotel, several mills, a blacksmith, and a cooper (barrel maker) In 1843 Frederick was a busier place than even High Banks (later called Mount Clemens). The area was a private claim given to the heirs of Richard and James Conner who eventually gave their interest to Susannah and Elisha Harrington. After the peace of 1815, the Indians never made war again upon the settlers. 3  In 1913, the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument in memory of the Mission and the Indians. This monument now stands inside Clinton Grove Cemetery.

Moravians

Transportation was difficult in southern Michigan due to the wide expanse of marshland. A canal across Michigan seemed to be a logical endeavor, due to the success of the Erie Canal. On April 12, 1827 the Clinton River Navigation Company was formed and planed to build a canal from Frederick to Lake Michigan, utilizing the waters of the Clinton and Kalamazoo Rivers. Public Act #27 declared 500,000 acres of land was to be sold to provide funds to build locks on the Clinton River at the Village of Frederick. Thousands of men, mostly Irish immigrants, worked with pick and shovel to dig the canal, which was about 50 feet wide with locks to raise and lower the boats as the elevations changed.  The Canal was completed from Frederick to the Village of Rochester. By 1850 it was abandoned as a result of increased dependence on rail transportation. For many years, the canal water was used to supply power for several mills in Frederick, Utica and Rochester, including the Wolcott Mill in Shelby.  The aqueduct remains are still visible at Yates Cider Mill, and the canal’s beginning at the old town site of Frederick at Clinton River and Canal Roads has been deeded to Clinton Township and has become a park.

 

Glahn School

Wolcott Mill

Leon enlisted in Company D, Michigan 8th Cavalry Regiment on 20 Jan 1863. The rendezvous of the Eighth Cavalry was at Mt. Clemens, and recruitment was under the direction of Colonel John Stockton, who was authorized by the Secretary of War, with the sanction of the Governor, to raise the Regiment. Stockton served as postmaster, clerk, register, and justice of the peace of Macomb County, Michigan. During October 1863 the Eighth Calvary was at Athens, Sweetwater, Oak Springs and Kingston, Tenn., and in its numerous engagements suffered severely in killed, wounded and sick. Twice, the Regiment marched 48 hours without halting to feed or rest. The Regiment returned to Kentucky, when during the month of August, 1863 where they engaged in the advance into Eastern Tennessee, having in the meantime, participated in the pursuit of Scott’s Cavalry, skirmishing with them from Lexington to Stanford, having captured, killed and wounded 213 men, also taking over 100 horses. Leon died at Hickman Bridge on October 7, 1863 of acute dysentery and was buried at Camp Nelson in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Camp Nelson National Cemetery was named for Major General William “Bull” Nelson, commander of the Civil War Army of Kentucky, who was murdered by a fellow officer in 1862.

8th Calvary demographics 1862-1865
Total Enrollment (including 512 men from the 11th.)   3025
Killed in Action: 24
Died of Wounds: 7
Died of Disease: 290

Battles of the 8th Calvary

Fought on 1 Jun 1863.
Fought on 29 Jul 1863 at Covington, KY.
Fought on 29 Jul 1863.
Fought on 12 Aug 1863.
Fought on 18 Sep 1863 at Knoxville, TN.
Fought on 18 Sep 1863 at Cleveland, TN.
Fought on 26 Sep 1863 at Calhoun, TN.
Fought on 26 Sep 1863 at Cottonwood, TN.
Fought on 26 Sep 1863.
Fought on 26 Sep 1863 at Athens, TN.
Fought on 27 Sep 1863 at Sweetwater, TN.
Fought on 27 Sep 1863 at Calhoun, TN.
Fought on 27 Sep 1863 at Athens, TN.
Fought on 1 Oct 1863 at Post Oak Springs, TN.
Fought on 15 Oct 1863.
Fought on 24 Oct 1863 at Post Oak Springs, TN.
Fought on 25 Oct 1863 at Oak Springs, TN.
Fought on 26 Oct 1863 at Philadelphia, TN.
Fought on 26 Oct 1863.
Fought on 27 Oct 1863 at Knoxville, TN.
Fought on 6 Nov 1863 at Concord, TN.
Fought on 9 Nov 1863 at Post Oak Springs, TN.
Fought on 9 Nov 1863 at Oak Springs, TN.
Fought on 12 Nov 1863 at Post Oak Springs, TN.
Fought on 14 Nov 1863 at Lenoir, TN.
Fought on 15 Nov 1863.
Fought on 16 Nov 1863 at Concord, TN.
Fought on 16 Nov 1863 at Campbell’s Station, TN.
Fought on 18 Nov 1863 at Knoxville, TN.
Fought on 23 Nov 1863 at Knoxville, TN.
Fought on 23 Nov 1863.
Fought on 24 Nov 1863 at Knoxville, TN.
Fought on 26 Nov 1863.
Fought on 4 Dec 1863.
Fought on 5 Dec 1863 at Knoxville, TN.
Fought on 14 Dec 1863 at Blain’s Cross Roads, TN.
Fought on 14 Dec 1863 at Bean’s Station, TN.
Fought on 22 Dec 1863 at Knoxville, TN.
Fought on 25 Dec 1863 at New Market, TN.
Fought on 25 Dec 1863.

As true French Canadians, Leon and Louisa were supportive of the local Catholic Church.  During his pastorate, Fr. Van Renterghem realizing that a parish limps without a parochial school,  established a one-room school with one teacher.  It is fairly certain that the Matte children attended this school.   In 1870, a new school was opened with three Sisters from the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) in Monroe, MI. It is rumored that the Sisters had only one condition, that our Blessed Mother Mary be in the name of the school – hence St. Mary School. The school had two rooms, one for boys and one for girls.  In 1889, the old frame school building was sold for $250.00 and moved to the corner of Macomb and Pine streets and an imposing brick structure was built in its place. There were three rooms on the first floor and three on the second, and it was classed as one of the finest of its day. 5

Louisa received a small widow’s pension (starting in October 1863 at $6 a month stopped at her marriage in 1868, resumed at annulment and ending at Louisa’s death in July 1906 at $12 per month from Leon’s military service.  In order to receive this pension, she had to hire an attorney (Edgar Weeks who later would become a Judge and State Representative),  appear in Macomb County Circuit Court annually and provide sworn affidavits regarding her marriage and Leon’s death plus the birth and baptism of their children.  Even providing the affidavits of Colonel Stockton and several fellow soldiers.  Several judges sat at her appearances including George Crocker.  In time, each child received $2 per month until the age of 16 but there were complications in paperwork as the clerk filed names in birthdates incorrectly.  Louisa could not read or write.  There are 91 pages in the pension record indicating her consistent effort to retain the pension.

Louisa married George Pyke (Peck) on December 10, 1868 in Mt Clemens. They had a son John Matte Peck born in 1866.  George was a Sawyer, he probably operated a saw mill in Mt Clemens and perhaps furnished logs for the canal. Like Louise and Leon, George was also from Canada.   Their marriage was annulled through the Macomb County Circuit Court on September 17, 1884 because George was already married. George had married Martha Gerard in 1853. After having a son, Martha left George and lived under an assumed name. George ran away after confronted with these facts.   Louise died on July 6, 1906, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, having lived a long life of 80 years.

1. http://www.ctwphc.org/article.html?id=1
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Township,_Macomb_County,_Michigan
3. http://www.ctwphc.org/article.html?id=1
4. http://www.migenweb.org/michiganinthewar/cavalry/8thcav.htm
5. http://stpetermtclemens.weconnect.com/History-of-St–Peter-Parish

 

Dennis Campeau (1892-1958)

When Dennis Joseph Campeau was born on July 11, 1892 in Belle River, Essex, Ontario; his father, Henry, was 45 and his mother, Elizabeth Lauzon, was 38.  Two years after his birth his father emigrated his wife and 8 children to the U.S. settling first in New Hartford, Litchfield, Connecticut to work in a cotton mill. Two more children would be born in CT.  New Hartford was a rural community  but it had a cotton mill to sustain  arrivals from New France, Canada.

The family moved to Pawtucket RI prior to 1910.  Pawtucket was considerably less rural than New Hartford and most of the family, including Dennis, worked for the mills. Pawtucket was an early and important center of cotton textiles during the American Industrial Revolution. Slater Mill, built in 1793 by Samuel Slater on the Blackstone River falls in downtown Pawtucket, was the first fully mechanized cotton-spinning mill in America.

 

 

As a 26 year old, Dennis joined the Army and left for France out of Hoboken, NJ on the USS Northern Pacific with the Company A 4th Ammunition Train regiment in May 1918.   Company A commenced training at Camp de Souge, May 30-Aug 1, 1918;  then continued with 77th Division in Vesle Sector during Aug 12-17,1918  then with 26th Division and Fr 15th Colonial Division preceding and during St-Mihiel Operation, Sept 7-14,1918.

The 4th Infantry Division was organized at Camp Greene, North Carolina on December 10, 1917 under the command of Maj. Gen. George H. Cameron. It was here they adopted their distinctive insignia, the four Ivy Leaves. The Ivy leaf came from the Roman numerals for Four (IV) and signified their motto “Steadfast and Loyal”. The division was organized as part of the United States buildup following the Declaration of War on April 6, 1917 and the entry of the United State into the war on the side of the British and French. The 4th Division remained on the Western Front throughout the war; it took part in most of the major actions.

 

After the Great War, the 4th Division was stationed at Camp Dodge, Iowa, until January 1920.

In September 1924, Dennis went to Chinwangtao (Qinhuangdao), China by way of Manila on the USS Chateau Thierry and returned via San Francisco CA on the USS Thomas in November 1927. The USS Thomas was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy.  From arrival in 1912 until 1917 the China Expedition was billeted in various substandard buildings in Tientsin. Following the expulsion of the Germans from their concession in 1917, the U.S. took over the lease of the barracks in the former German Concession.  The Japanese assisted the U.S. during this period.  The Army maintained a 1,000 person garrison at Tientsin (now Tianjin) with company sized detachments  maintained at Chinwangtao (Qinhuangdao) from January 1912 until March 1938.

The Boxer Rebellion was a brutal time in China.  Civilians were caught in the middle and suffered as the warring factions stole from farmers and city dwellers.  The Rebellion saw the final expulsion of the last emperor of the Qing from the Forbidden City in 1924.  There were many foreign nationals in China as well who held leased settlements of land. By the beginning of the Twentieth Century, 19 nations had treaties with China that established extraterritorial consular court jurisdiction over Chinese nationals: Austria-Hungary (1865-1917), Belgium (1865-1945), Brazil (1882-1943), Canada (1942-1945), Congo Free State (1898-1908), Denmark (1863-1946), France (1844-1943/46), Germany (1861-1917), Italy (1866-1943), Japan (1871-1945), Mexico (1899-1928), Netherlands (1863-1945), Norway (1847-1944), Peru (1874-1927), Portugal (1862-1947), Russia (1860-1920/24), Spain (1864-1943), Sweden (1847-1946), Switzerland (1918-1946), United Kingdom (1843-1943), and United States (1845-1943).*

Qinhuangdao is a port city on the coast of China in northeastern Hebei province; it can be quite cold but also has a beautiful beach. It is a time-honored city named after the first emperor in Chinese History Qin Shi Huang who once made his east inspection tour to this place and sent people to the sea to looking for the immortals. If comparing the Great Wall to a dragon then Qinhuangdao is located at the head facing the sea as the Great wall begins here.

Why was a small Army company in Qinhuangdao which was just a minor fishing village until the end of the 19th century.  Qinhuangdao was opened to trade as a treaty port in 1901 and developed a secondary role as a winter port for trade with Tianjin and with Yingkou (now in Liaoning province), when those ports were closed by ice. The city’s growth resulted from the development of the Kailuan coal mines, some 75 miles to the southwest at Tangshan, in the early 1880s. By 1894 the rail link from Tianjin to Shanhaiguan had been completed, and plans had been drawn up to build a modern port at Qinhuangdao, linking it with a short railway to Tianjin on the main line.  The Chinese mine administration was replaced by a British-based company, which completed the harbor and its rail link in 1901. Within two years almost all Kailuan coal was exported through the port rather than through Tianjin. Currently, China is the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world and is the largest user of coal-derived electricity.  The export trade expanded not only to coastal ports in China but also to the major ports of eastern Asia.  It was a major port of entry for Japanese goods into North China, both for legitimate trade and for smuggling.

Former US president Herbert Hoover worked as the general manager of the Kaiping Mine / Kailuan Coal Mine, located in Hebei province; his office is shown above.**

There were many banks in China from all nations  from the turn of the century through the 1920s each issuing their own Chinese money. The American Bank Note Company in New York printed for all the American banks.

Dennis was still in the service and still single in 1930 at Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont. Fort Ethan Allen was authorized by Congress in 1892, which had decided that some measure of permanent defense should be established in the vicinity of the US-Canada Border. It was built on former farmland donated to the federal government, and its buildings were constructed using locally sourced materials. The Fort was decommissioned in 1944.

A 1954 Directory shows Dennis single and living at the Old Soldier’s Home in Washington, D.C. , the first Army national old soldiers’ home in the U.S. established in in 1851.   It is located on a beautiful 250-acre wooded campus overlooking the U.S. Capitol in the heart of D.C. and continues to serve as a retirement home for U.S. enlisted men and women.

Dennis died on August 28, 1958 at the Old Soldier’s Home in Washington, District of Columbia, at the age of 66 and was buried at the United States Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery.

• http://worldstatesmen.org/China_Foreign_colonies.html
• http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2014-02/21/content_17296315_5.htm

Arthur Beaugrand 1886-1979`

 

Arthur Joseph Beaugrand lived in Jackson Michigan from 1911-1922 working for the Central Michigan RailroadThe Jackson, Michigan station was built in 1872-73 by the Michigan Central Railroad, one of three rail lines created by the state Legislature to improve travel and transportation in Michigan’s early days. It was also Jackson’s first railroad, arriving in town in 1841 when the city was just 12 years old.  Arthur Beaugrand worked there as an airbrake inspector.

The air brakes are checked on the Big Boy steam locomotive near Glen Helen before it starts it way towards the Cajon Summit on Monday, April 28, 2014. Hundreds of rail fans turned out Monday when the Big Boy steam locomotive began its journey to Cheyenne, Wyo., where it will be restored to operating condition. The engine will be towed by a train on an 11-day journey geared for spectators.

For the air brake’s simplest form, called the straight air system, compressed air pushes on a piston in a cylinder. The piston is connected through mechanical linkage to brake shoes that can rub on the train wheels, using the resulting friction to slow the train. The mechanical linkage can become quite elaborate, as it evenly distributes force from one pressurized air cylinder to 8 or 12 wheels. The pressurized air comes from an air compressor in the locomotive and is sent from car to car by a train line made up of pipes beneath each car and hoses between cars. The principal problem with the straight air braking system is that any separation between hoses and pipes causes loss of air pressure and hence the loss of the force applying the brakes. This could easily cause a runaway train. Straight air brakes are still used on locomotives, although as a dual circuit system, usually with each bogie (truck) having its own circuit.

Arthur lived at 1812 Chapin, near the station.  The Jackson Train Station in 1920s, the mainline out of Jackson,  was triple tracked and eight railroads came to the heart of downtown. Today, only two railroads remain and only one track is regularly used by Amtrak.

The Michigan Central Shops and the rail yard off of Elm Street were used to build and repair locomotives from 1872-1960. In the top set of pictures, the one on the right above was the Michigan Central Railroad’s main repair facility, where locomotives were readied for their journey to Chicago or Buffalo. Since Jackson was the central point on the railroad, it made for the perfect location for such a facility. This building was built in 1872 and for 32 years, locomotives were actually built here. From 1872-1904, nearly 500 were employed under the Michigan Central subsidiary, the Jackson Locomotive Works, which built nearly 2,000 steam locomotives in that time period.

From 1904-1976, the shops were used strictly for repairing locomotives and major servicing. In the 1940s, over thirty passenger trains departed from the Jackson depot – with even more freight trains leaving the yard. By the mid-50s, all steam on the New York Central would be replaced by diesel locomotives, most of which were built by the General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division.

The Chicago Mercury” above at Wayne Junction, MI in 1941. The all-streamlined train once ran through and stopped at Jackson Station everyday. This luxury streamliner was ended in 1958, when it was combined to run with the existing Wolverine. The locomotive in this photos is a Dreyfus Hudson locomotive. Unfortunately, none of these locomotives exist today.

An Air Brake Inspector was an important job, because the airbrake should operate with the least possible amount of friction: consequently, it is important that the machine should be properly lubricated, not deluged with grease for ten minutes, and then run on the interest of the excess for two hours, but sparingly furnished with clean oil which will keep the moving parts moist all the time. To accomplish this, the feeding-cup must be kept in proper working-order, so that it will pass the oil regularly.

Mikado

Mohawk

 

Find out more Jackson railroad history here: http://youtu.be/AqkpW-Diz9Y

 

Joseph Girouard dit Malouin 1731-1792

A story was found on Ancestry with more details  and photos added.

During the seventeenth century, about sixty French families were established in a Canadian  colony named Acadia. They developed friendly relations with the Wabanaki Confederacy (particularly the Mi’kmaq), learning their hunting and fishing techniques. The Acadians lived mainly in the coastal regions of the Bay of Fundy; farming land reclaimed from the sea through diking.  The Mi’kmaq, a tribe within the Wabanaki Federation, assisted the Acadians in resisting the British during the Expulsion of the Acadians.  Joseph Girouard dit Malouin was born in Port Royal, Arcadia in 1731.

 

 

The King of France  awarded a monopoly for the trading of furs to Pierre Dugua de Mons in 1603. Duqua and his colonists, including Samuel de Champlain, arrived off the coast of present day New Brunswick Maritime area and decided to establish their settlement on an Island which they named St Croix Island. The first winter was a disaster with little game to hunt, scurvy affecting most colonists and very unsheltered conditions. In the spring, they searched for another area to re-establish their colony and Champlain found the location of present day Port Royale. They disassembled their buildings and brought them across the Bay of Fundy to the east side and rebuilt them. They set up the new colony and Port Royale started to thrive. In 1607, the fur trade monopoly was suddenly revoked and most of the colonists returned to France. The progress of the colony was sporadic with attacks by the English, politics back in France and challenges in the new world all causing difficulties.

In 1755, the Acadian Deportation was undertaken by the British of the French and indigenous people residing in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Isle. The Acadians were a separate colony from New France and had developed a slightly different language. These French settlers had come from regions of Île-de-France, Normandy, Brittany, Poitou and Aquitaine.

Suspecting this colony of French and Indian sympathies, the British deportation from the Maritime coast resulted in more than half of the 16,000 Acadians to have lost their homes, died of famine or sickness, pursued ruthlessly, made prisoners, some murdered, with too many sent to the bottom of the sea.  Many others were dispersed to the Atlantic coast region, to Louisiana-where they developed what became known as Cajun culture, to England, to France and as far away as to the Falkland Islands, appropriately named Iles Malouines. Many were forced into servitude or marginal lifestyles. Before the US Revolutionary War, the Crown settled New England Planters in former Acadian communities and farmland as well as Loyalists after the war. British policy was to assimilate Acadians with the local populations where they resettled.

Joseph Girouard joined hundreds who fled the British deportation to Québec City.  The Acadians faced a miserable trek from Port Royal, escaping through dense forests or by frigid water,  most of the time without food or shelter.  Joseph Girouard dit Malouin and his brother Pierre, with wives and children, landed in Québec City. After more than a year fleeing the tenacious enemy, they had finally reached safety only to find the Quebec City overflowing with deportees stricken, like so many of the city dwellers, by a smallpox epidemic. The brothers buried wives and children before going their separate ways.

 

Seigneurie de St-Augustin

In the city of Québec, during November 1757, Joseph buried his first wife, Françoise Blanchard, and in early December, their young son Joseph, aged 4 years old. Six months later he took as his second wife, Marie Josephte Arsenault, also an Acadian deportee. The approaching conflict between French and English forced the couple to flee their temporary safe haven to the nearby Seigneurie de St-Augustin, the “Seigneurie des pauvres” of the poor.   A Seigneurie was an encampment on land granted from the King of France. The Seigneurie des pauvres  was granted to the merciful nuns Hospitalières de Québec, a religious order founded in La Fleche, France by the Venerable Jerome le Royer de la Dauversiere and Venerable Marie de la Ferre in 1636.  Jerome le Royer was a French nobleman who spent his life in serving the needs of the poor. A founder of the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal, he also helped to establish the French colony of Montreal. He has been declared Venerable by the Catholic Church. Jerome le Royer de la Dauversiere, a collector of taxes at La Fleche, in Anjou, and a young priest of Paris, Jean Jacques Olier, formed the idea of establishing at Montreal three religious communities: one of priests of convert the Indians, one of nuns to nurse the sick, and one of nuns to teach the children of the Indians and of the colonists. The Baron de Fanchamp, a devout Christian and a wealthy man,  would substantially invest in the effort. Shortly afterward three other men agreed to support and the six together raised seventy-five thousand livres and formed the Societe de Notre Dame de Montreal.  At Seigneurie de St-Augustin, in July 1759, a first son is born to Joseph and Marie, named Joseph; only to die a month later.

 

Deschaillons

 

As Québec falls to English hands, in September 1759, the couple, dreading the old enemy, sought refuge as far as possible from the north shore of the river. Crossing to the south shore of the St. Lawrence, they traveled from seigneurie to seigneurie, begging subsistence from established farmers and sympathetic parish priests, commiserating with families or neighbors from Acadia. Under such miserable conditions, a second child, Marie Josephte, will be born May 19, 1761 in Deschaillons.

The couple’s destination is an unexploited fertile region in what is now called Lanaudière where Joseph’s brother Pierre Girouard/Malouin, remarried to Madeleine Doucet  and was already established as the farmer to Monsieur de Baïeul.   The region of Lanaudière in central Quebec, located between the Saint Lawrence River and the Laurentian Mountains.  Pierre Girouard dit Malouin is recognized as one of the first pioneers of St-Jacques-de-la-Nouvelle-Acadie, later known as St-Jacques-de-Montcalm, St-Jacques-de-L’Achigan or St-Jacques.

From 1759 to 1782, Joseph and Marie will have twelve (12) children of which four (4) will die in infancy. Joseph and Marie died on October 22, 1792, in St-Jacques, Quebec, Canada.

The Brousseau’s 1925 Tragedy

 

Richard Sr, Rose (mom),  Clifford, Harvey, and little Rose

 

Richard, from Ontario, met and married Rosealina Messier on August 25, 1908, in Gardner, Massachusetts.  See my blog on the Early days of Richard & Rose Brousseau. After spending about 6 years in Massachusetts, When Rose Irene Brousseau was born on February 15, 1913, in Gardner, Massachusetts, her father, Richard, was 28, and her mother, Rose, was 23. Little Rose had two older brothers, Clifford and Harvey, while the family resided in Massachusetts.

Town Hall Square Gardner, MA

Richard and his family moved to the Corktown area in Detroit. They were living on Labrosse in 1918. The family moved to Detroit between Little Rose’s birth in 1913 and 1918.  Detroit had become a central stomping crowd for Richard’s ever mobile family.  Rose Irene died at age 5 just 18 days after Richard was born on October 27, 1918, in Detroit, from influenza complicated by pneumonia. Little Rose is buried in Mt Olivet cemetery as is Harvey, Richard, and her mother Rose. Her grandparents, Pierre and Suphronie are also buried there in a different plot.

Richard was a driver for the West Side Coal Company in 1918 according to a City Directory; his brother Edgar was the manager.  Other family in the area were Richard’s brothers Edgar and Joseph Adelard, his mother, Suphronie, and sister Rose all living in the same flat on High Street.  Richard’s brothers Louis and Joseph also lived in the Detroit area.

 

Corktown row houses

Corktown

Corktown high rise

The 1920 census shows Richard estranged from his family.  Rose was living with her boys at 267 17th Street in Detroit.  Five years later, on a Friday morning with Clifford at work, younger brothers Richard (7) and Harvey (14) were shot dead and their mother Rose (45) blasted in the chest by Richard (48) during an argument with his wife on November 20, 1925.  This terrible tragedy culminated after 17 years of domestic strife, Rose was able to relate the events as she lingered in the hospital for just 8 hours.  She noted their marriage was marked by frequent arguments.

When Clifford (16) arrived home from work, Richard met him in the garage and asked Clifford to drive him to his brother Louis’ house in Bright Moor. Brightmoor is a roughly 4-square-mile neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, near the northwest border of the city. Brightmoor is defined as being bordered by Puritan Road to the north, the CSX railway to the south, Evergreen Road to the east, and Outer Drive West, Dacosta Street, and Telegraph Road to the west. Architect Burt Eddy Taylor created Brightmoor as a planned community of inexpensive housing for migrants.

Louis joined the pair in a drive around Detroit.  At Telegraph and Five Mile Road, Richard confessed what he had done and jumped out of the car.  Richard said he was broken because his wife wanted nothing to do with him. Richard urged them to return to the home to see what he had done.   Louis and Clifford stunned, drove to the police station and notified authorities of the tragedy.  Then went to the home to confirm what occurred.

Richard committed suicide.  On November 21, his body was found at the side of the road 20 miles from Detroit; a pistol with 3 bullets lay nearby. His surviving and oldest son, Clifford, was adopted by his Uncle Louis. Clifford married and lived in Detroit; he named a son after his brother, Richard.  Clifford was quoted in the papers as saying; “Mother was different ever since she had her hair bobbed.”  The story was reported globally.  I had wondered why the Brousseau family did not support my grandmother and mother when they really needed it after my mother’s birth in 1924–they had their hands full.  I do believe this incident and another which occurred in 1898, spurred the acronym BSI on future immigration papers of the Brousseaus.  I noticed this occurring on my grandmother’s papers amid the consistent notation of “return to Canada” as she tried to visit her American born daughter in the care initially of friends and then at the Salvation Army home.  The BSI acronym stands for Bureau of Special Investigations.

Charles Brusseau (1891-1955) & the USS Tacoma

Charles Brusseau was on furlough in February of 1914 after spending 2 years in the Navy on board the USS Tacoma according to an article published in the Fitchburg, MA paper.  In July 1912, Tacoma came out of reserve on her way back to the troubled waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Late that month, a revolution broke out in Nicaragua and lasted until November. The cruiser patrolled almost incessantly off the Nicaraguan coast at Bluefields and at Great Corn Island from 3 August to 25 October. In November of 1912, she headed — via Tampico, Mexico, and Galveston, Texas — for the Navy Yard at Boston where she remained through mid-February 1913. By the 22nd, she was back patrolling and observing, this time along the coasts of Honduras and Guatemala. The ship returned to New York in July; then operated off the Mexican coast. She cruised off Tampico and Vera Cruz until January 1914 when she returned to the east coast of the U.S. for repairs. In the Fitchburg article, Charles talks about observing fighting from the ship’s mast off the coast of Tampico.

Tampico Church

Tampico Lighthouse

Tampico Market

Tampico Plaza

Tampico Street

The Tacoma resumed operations in Mexican waters early in May in the wake of the Tampico Incident and the resultant seizure of the customs house at Vera Cruz. The warship cruised the Mexican coast through September 1914 during the latter stages of the Huerta-Carranza struggle and while the new Carranza government consolidated its power against former allies, notably Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.

Late in September 1914, Tacoma departed the Mexican coast; steamed, via Jamaica and Cuba, to Haiti, and patrolled off Cape Haitien until early December. After a visit to the Canal Zone, the cruiser returned to Haiti in February; then moved to Santo Domingo in March. On March 21 1915, she entered the Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard for repairs.[4]
While at Portsmouth, Tacoma was placed in reserve. On 19 May 1916, she shifted to Boston, Massachusetts, where she served as receiving ship. On 1 December, she again was placed in full commission. She made another voyage to Mexican waters for patrol duty from January to April 1917.

Also known as “Peace Cruisers,” these slow, lightly-armed and armored ships were never meant for fleet actions. They were used as gunboats  in the waters off Central America and South America, as well as in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Because they were needed to patrol distant waters with little support, the Denver class ships were furnished with sails to extend their cruising range while economizing on coal, but they also had large coal bunkers, which increased their range and endurance. Their steel hulls were sheathed with pine and coppered for long service in tropical waters and they possessed roomy, well-ventilated quarters for their crews to ease the discomfort of sailing in hot climates. Each Denver class warship had a two-and-one-half-inch-thick armored deck and was armed with ten 5-inch rapid-fire guns. USS Tacoma was built by the Union Iron Works at Mare Island, California, and was commissioned 30 January 1904. She was approximately 308 feet long and 44 feet wide, had a top speed of 16 knots, and had a crew of 309 officers and men.

Tacoma was sent back to Mexico in May 1914 because of the explosive “Tampico Incident,” which allowed the US Navy to seize the customs house at Vera Cruz, Mexico. President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1934) addressed a joint session of Congress as shown above where he sought authorization to use military force against Mexico after the Tampico Incident of early 1914 during the Mexican Revolution.* The Tampico Incident, which was actually a minor confrontation between US sailors and Mexican troops under the command of the dictator General Victoriano Huerta, basically gave the Woodrow Wilson Administration a pretext for invading Mexico. Wilson did this in hopes of overthrowing Huerta, whom he despised, but the subsequent invasion of Vera Cruz was a costly endeavor and, in the end, did not achieve its goal. However, the US Navy remained in and near Vera Cruz for a number of months and Tacoma supported military operations there until September. Later that month, Tacoma left Mexico and sailed to Haiti and remained there until December. After a brief visit to Panama, Tacoma returned to Haiti in February 1915 and then steamed on to Santo Domingo in March. She arrived at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, New Hampshire, on 21 March for an overhaul.

Portsmouth NH Naval Yard

Peace Building, Portsmouth

View from New Castle NH

While at Portsmouth, Tacoma was again placed in reserve. On 19 May 1916, she went to Boston and became the receiving ship there. Tacoma was fully re-commissioned on 1 December and was again sent to Mexico. She remained there from January to April 1917. After America entered World War I, Tacoma returned to America’s east coast and was assigned to convoy escort duty. Tacoma completed five round-trip voyages to and from Europe, escorting troop ships and merchant ships. While returning to the United States after her third trip to Europe, Tacoma steamed to Halifax, Nova Scotia, right after a disastrous ammunition-ship explosion occurred in Halifax harbor, destroying most of the city. Tacoma assisted relief operations and for three days the ship’s officers and men worked to help the survivors of that shattered city.1   The cruiser was struck from the navy list on 7 February 1924 and what was left of her was sold for scrapping on 5 September of that same year.

Charles was a wireless operator on the Tacoma.  Wireless created new spaces for communications at sea and in the air as well as the ability to coordinate mobile units during battle. By 1918, advances in wireless technology had laid the groundwork for communications strategies during World War II. Wireless telegraphy emerged in the 1890s and transmitted Morse code through electromagnetic waves. Not until the 1920s did the transmission of speech through radiotelephony begin to replace wireless telegraphy. Navies were generally the first to see potential in wireless, as the technology allowed them to coordinate their ships’ maneuvers. Wireless telegraphy was a key technology that changed conflict militarily. 2  In 1914, the sea-going equipment was still simple, but the system was practical, reliable, trusted and would soon be battle tested. Most of the equipment was still based around spark transmitters and crystal sets using the Low frequency and Medium frequency bands. Before 1914, many ships were given high masts because raising antennas made for greater radio range. It also made ships visible at greater distances and long wire antennas were particularity vulnerable to gunfire.

 

1. http://navalwarfare.blogspot.com/2010/04/uss-tacoma-c-18pg-32cl-20.html
2. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/wireless_telegraphy
3. http://www.jproc.ca/rrp/nro_his.html
4. *(Source: Flickr Commons project, 2011)

 

Emma Lauzon, Claude McMann & Leo Brousseau

Emma Lauzon was the sponsored daughter of  Abraham Lauzon and Charlotte Elizabeth (Eliza) Lacharite, my 2 times great grandparents.  Born in 1882 in Rochester, Ontario; Emma had an illegitimate son in 1905, Joseph Laurant.  Abraham and Eliza were the godparents at his baptism.

In 1908, Emma married Claude McMann.  Claude was born in April 1888 in Richmond, MI and worked as a steel worker for Jenks & Dresser Co.   Claude lived on Military Street when they were married and indicated he would live in Port Huron after the marriage.  Emma indicated she would remain in St Joachim.  My assumption is there were some barriers to Emma and her son immigrating to America.  The records show that Joseph Laurant stayed with Fred Lauzon and his wife Eva Poirtier for a period of time.

The Jenks Co. was originally based in Port Huron and Dresser in Sarnia. Founded in 1907 by three Port Huron men, the company was initially known as the Jenks-Dresser Company, named for two of its founders. Jenks-Dresser changed its name in 1910 to the Sarnia Bridge Company and was located on Imperial Oil land adjacent to the Mueller Manufacturing Works.* Sarnia Bridge was a structural steel fabricating company that built bridges, steel scaffolding, and “Massillon steel joists,” once popular in steel structures.  It was involved in the construction of the Cull Drain Bridge in 1910, the Blue Water Bridge (1938) and supplied clients on both sides of the international border. By the time of the company was taken over in 1958 by Anthes-Imperial Limited, Sarnia Bridge had become a publicly-traded industrial giant with subsidiary offices in Toronto and Montreal and 43 warehouses and sales agencies coast-to-coast in Canada.  See the Sarnia video in the reference section below.  Also see the St Clair River Grand Trunk Railroad Tunnel video.

Claude did not remain a steel worker nor did he remain in America.  Claude and Emma were long time residents of Lambton County, Ontario.  In 1916, Sarnia City Council passed a bylaw that allowed for the creation of the Sarnia Hydro-Electric Commission, a utilities company that would grow over the course of a century to become the Bluewater Power of today.  Claude made manager in 1922 after one of the original directors was removed for financial mismanagement**

 

Claude was an Officer in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, starting in 1922 as LSVG, Left Supporter of the Vice Grand. The LSVG’s role is to assist the Right Supporter (RSVG) and officiate for him in his absence.* The RSVG’s role is to observe that brothers give the signs correctly; report to the Noble Grand brothers that do not conduct themselves according to the regulations of the Order; and occupy the Vice Grand chair when vacated during lodge hours.  If Claude was an officer, one can assume that Emma joined the women’s IOOF, the Rebekahs.  See the Independent Order of OddFellows video in the references.

 

Leo Brousseau was born in Tilbury 1912 to Joseph and Annie, my great grandparents.  Annie and Joseph divorced in 1917.  From 1917 -1919 Leo was in the care of  Gordon Drew of RR5 Fletcher Ontario while his father, Joseph James served in the Army. His mother, Annie must have been in dire straits to send her youngest son off and kept her oldest, Joseph Phillipe at home. In 1921,  My grandmother Beatrice, never spoke of her father but she did visit him in Rochester, NY in 1919.  She spoke of Leo and visited him in the 1960s.  She nicknamed him Bruce and mentioned to me that he worked for the Sarnia Power Company when I asked what he did.  Leo started as a lineman and the assumption is that Claude assisted in obtaining his position.  Claude, Emma and Leo were numbered in sequence in the Lampton County, Ontario voter roll which means they went to register together.  Additionally, one can assume that Leo also joined the IOOF.

 

• http://www.sarniahistoricalsociety.com/story/sarnia-bridge-was-an-industrial-powerhouse/
• https://bluewaterpower.com/about/
• Independent Order of OddFellows video: https://youtu.be/m01QTwEYfaA
• http://www.stichtingargus.nl/vrijmetselarij/t/ioof_rini89.html
• https://youtu.be/rmnH7Xof91s
• https://youtu.be/pFS5oCLJ41g