THE GAMELIN FAMILY – STORIES!!

Gamelain De La Fontaine, Michel

Surgeon, colonizer, business man; born in 1640 at Blois, France. And son of Michel Gamelin, a wine merchant, and Francoise Bellanger. The first mention made of him goes back to 1661, the year of his marriage to Marguerite Crevier. Gamelin lived at Trois Rivieres, Canada and later at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, where he received a grant of land in 1662. He must have practised his profession there, since we find him involved in a court case with Louis Pinard, another surgeon who feared competition from Gamelin. Thus, when Pinard, complained of the slenderness of his earnings as surgeon to the garrison at Trois Rivieres, the Conseil Souverain replied to him that, if he was not satisfied, he would be replaced by Gamelin. Then later Gamelin preferred to devote himself to the fur trade. In order to do so, he made use of his pharmaceutical knowledge, manufactured beer from wheat,and exchanged it for furs. He had two lodges, where frequently the setting for most disgraceful scenes in which Indians & Squaws indulged too freely in beer, while Gamelin wheedled their furs out of them, all the more easily because he spoke the language of the natives of the region fluently. Although he was found guilty by the Conseil Souverain on June 20, 1667 of being a "trafficker in liquor," he nevertheless carried on this trade until the end of his days. Gamelin's daughter Mary (Francoise) married Claude Pinard, son of the surgeon. Gamelin died in 1676; his wife remarried, becoming the wife of Francois Renou dit La Chapelle.

Gamelin, Camille

Camille 32, & Anastasia 27, moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin area in late 1861 with three or four of the eight children. Soon after they arrived, Louis Moses was born in Pensaukee. Then they had eventually settled in Marinette, Wisconsin. Camille lived 25 years in Wisconsin, Anastasia 29. Camille died three days before the marriage of his oldest son, Albert in September 1886. Leaving two children, Eva & Joseph, still at home with their mother. In 1890 Anastasia died at Northern Hospital in Winnebago. Both Camille & Anastasia are buried in a family plot in the southern section (originally a Catholic burial ground) of Wood lawn Cemetery in Marinette. There is also a possibility that additional children where born - one source adds an Aldrich.

Gamelin, Louis Moses

Louis Moses Gamelin married Anna Sophia Wink (daughter of Theodor Henry Wink & Anna Mary Kaiser) in 1885 Marinette, Wisconsin. After marriage, Louis & Anna lived with her parents while he worked as a stevedore (Marinette City Directory, 1887). Their first child, Anna Rose, probably was born in the Wink home & remembered Grandma Wink warmly. Then trouble dogged the family, an eighth child died in infancy, Anna Sophia's health failed, Louis' behavior deteriorated, perhaps because of the lessening job opportunities (Lucille remembers hiding under a porch across the street to see what mood he came home in) his wife ejected him until he signed promises of reform, and then, in July 1908, the family was broken up by Anna Sophia's death. At this crucial time, the oldest daughter, Anna, was almost earning her way teaching in Michigan. The oldest son, 19-year old Louis Godfrey, may have had a job or he may have been ailing, since he died the following year. Fred, 17, and Francis 15, had left school at the end of eighth grade to help support the family. Now their greatest concern must have been for Margaret, 13, and the two little ones, Joseph, 7, and Lucille, 5. Apparently the older children were alienated by their father's abusive behavior. Upon Anna Sophia's death, therefore, Anna Rose took immediate charge of Lucille & started her in school. Eventually she reared Lucille through high school. Joseph apparently stayed with his father & other relatives, but he was abused. Lucille remembered seeing him kicked across the room and bloodied. Eventually, Anna was able to take responsibility for him too, with financial help from Francis and possibly, Fred, who left home to make his way in the Washington lumber industry. When Anna taught in Iron River, Wisconsin, she placed Joseph nearby in an Ashland orphanage, the Sacred Heart Convent, with a promise to take him into her home after marriage. On May 13, 1911, he wrote a postcard to her saying, " I am back at the Convent and feeling fine. When are you coming to get me? With love from Joseph." Promptly after her June 08, marriage to Mervin Liebman, Anna brought Joseph into her new home. At some point, Louis took a Fortune-teller & herbalist to be his second wife, but the children detested her. Margaret refers to her coldly as "Mrs. Gamelin" in a 1915 letter to Anna. Lucille remembers her as ugly, with a misshapen eye, a deformity, which led relatives & others in Marinette to call her "one-eyed Molly." Lucille remembers staying their only once with her father after his remarriage. Anna had instructed her to climb "a long stairs" to a certain lawyer's office if she was mistreated. She was - or felt she was - & fled to the attorney's office, where Anna & Mervin retrieved her.