Re: Bottineau(?) County, ND
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In reply to:
Bottineau(?) County, ND
R Unrein 2/17/11
Hello.
I believe that we may share a common ancestor in Joseoh Ouellette. He is my great-grandfather on my mother's side. I received today, as luck would have it, Joseph's death certificate from California. This does provide some useful information.
He died in 1943 (Febuary 15 to be more precise) of a massive heart attack in what was called the French Hospital in Los Angeles. His birth date is given as April 22, 1869 although in the two census taken in 1900 and in 1910 in North Dakota (data can be seen online) where he was then residing, the birth date is given as April 1972, I'm not sure what the reason is for this discrepancy but I'm hoping to find out by tracing his Canadian roots.
The death certificate also provides the name of his wife (Zirilda), which I knew beforehand, and those of his parents Alfred Ouellette and Adeline Corron of the province of Quebec where Joseph was born. He had been in California for 20 years prior to his death and he was a gardener for the L.A. City Parks. They lived at 2330 12th Avenue, L.A. Joseph is buried at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles.
Here is what I know of Joseph prior to the California part of his life. He immigrated to the U.S.A. in 1879 (so he would have been 10 or 13 at that time depending on the correct birth date. It is possible that his family moved to the Eastern States as it was quite common for many French-Canadians to work in factories there before heading out West in search of land and better opportunities. Speculation on my part at this time. At some point prior to 1900 he moved to North Dakota (near Willow City) where he farmed until around 1915. He maried Zirilda Dusseau in 1900 and they did indeed have four daughters: Adeline born in 1901 (she was mey maternal grandmother), Angeline born in 1903, Anna born in 1905/06 and Rose born in 1907/08.
The family moved to to Saskatchewan,Canada where they lived for approx. 3 years (1915-1918) Their oldest daughter, Adeline, married my grandfather, Edgar Bedard,in 1918 and when the rest of the family moved back to the States she stayed in Saskatchewan where the couple resided on a farm and in the town of Ponteix for the rest of their lives. Great-grandmother Zirilda returned to Canada to visit Edgar and Adeline on at least two occasions though I was too young to remember the first visit. As far as I know, Joseph never vistied Saskatchewan after he left so I never met him, nor do I have any pictures of him.
I do not know if the family returned to North Dakota before moving South. I do suspect that they spent some time near Hays, Kansas, as that is where the second daughter, Angeline, married Alex Linenberger. I do have some information on that family which I could share with you though I suspect that that is your family line in which case you would know much more than I do.
If I find any more information on Joseph Ouellette's family I will let you know. If you want to learn anymore about the Canadian branch of the family, I could probably fill in a few blanks.
As an aside, I believe I recognize your name from a search you were doing a few years ago on Zirilda Ouellette (nee Dusseau) If so, did you find any useful information? So far, I'm stumped.
I hope this rather long message has been at least somehwat useful.
More Replies:
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Re: Bottineau(?) County, ND
Scott Robertson 8/06/14
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Re: Bottineau(?) County, ND
R Unrein 3/02/11
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Re: Bottineau(?) County, ND
Linda Sickles 3/07/11
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Re: Bottineau(?) County, ND
Carroll Deschaines 3/08/11
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Re: Bottineau(?) County, ND
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Re: Bottineau(?) County, ND
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Re: Bottineau(?) County, ND
R Unrein 3/02/11