|
These brief family
stories have been
compiled from
stories of my
relatives and
various local
history publications
and Historical
Societies.
Special thanks
to:
Wilma
at the
Bottineau
ND Historical
Society
Helen
and
Gerald
at the Rolette
County
Historical Society
and a
REALLY
BIG
THANK
YOU
to all my family
in Canada
and the US!
If you have any
photos to add,
especially of
Marie Croteau
and her sister
Angeline,
please
contact me
|
 The Croteau children were well
known in the small community of St. John. Octavie Croteau was probably
the most famous of the family. She was the first telephone operator in
the area, working in Mr. Martineau’s General Store in St. John for many
years. She married Elie Jalbert in St. John, ND in 1910 and moved north
to Saskatchewan, Canada. She gave birth to 4 children and also raised a
son of Elie's brother, Oscar. The couple left Saskatchewan and moved to
Astoria, Oregon. Elie passed away in 1943 and Octavie moved to Novato,
California where she died in 1978.
 Anthime Croteau married Irene
Mousette of Tarsus, North Dakota
  Emile Croteau followed in his father’s footsteps
and took an interest in his community. He often helped out at school
and even rented out some of his land and a building for school use.
Emile was voter No. 26 in the decision to incorporate the Village of
St. John in 1903. He married Georgine Senecal and homesteaded in Baxter
Township near St. John, ND. They moved to the Maryville Township near
Thorne, ND to farm land he rented from the Sisters of Mercy. In 1913
the family moved north to Debden, Saskatchewan. Emile made his living
farming and also custom sawing lumber. Emile died in 1938 at the age of
62 in Pesane, Saskatchewan and his widow Georgine died in Prince
Albert, Saskatchewan in 1982.
  After the closing of the District No. 3 school,
the "Croteau School", Joseph Croteau was hired by the school board to
transport children during winter to the school in the Village of St.
John. He married Aristide Benoit in 1904 in Rolla, ND and worked for
the Great Northern Railroad in Montana as a bridge foreman. He later
farmed in Overly, ND and in 1909 moved to Warner, Alberta. Joseph was
the only blacksmith in the area so he kept busy with his family of 7
children and his farming. He passed away in 1957 and Aristide died 3
years later. Many of their children and grandchildren are still farming
and raising cattle in southern Alberta.
 Lucina Croteau taught school in
the St. John Township School from October 1897  until the spring of
1898. She later married Xenopha Casavant, a wheat and cattle farmer of
the Dunsieth, ND area, and they raised a large family of 11 children!
Around 1956 Lucina and her husband moved out west to Seattle, WA to
retire in the company of one of their daughters. Lucina passed away in
the fall of 1958 and shortly thereafter Xenopha also died.
 Delia married Omer LeBrun, a well
known businessman of Rolla, ND. Omer was born in Maskinonge, Quebec and
moved to St. John around the early 1900's. The couple had no children
of their own but they adopted 2 boys of Josephine Croteau's after her
death and a another from Omer's brother Arthur of Coderre,
Saskatchewan. In 1947 the couple moved west to California. They
returned to Rolla, ND where Omer died in 1960. After her loss Delia
moved back to California to be with her sons and on her death in 1971
they brought her back to Rolla to lie beside her husband in the
Catholic Cemetery of Rolla.
 Leonie
Croteau married Frank Fitzharris in 1924 and the couple had one
daughter, Lorraine. Leonie went into business for herself opening up a
dress shop in the town of Rolla in the old State Bank building. Frank
was well known, he was Sheriff of Rolette County from 1930 to 1934 and
also served as a Member of the Rolette County House in 1941.
 Evelyn Croteau married
Itsien Charboneau.
 Marie was issued Teaching Certificate #5962 of
Rolette County, ND and began teaching December 13, 1923. She taught in
the Central School of Russle Township near Thorne where her father
retired. She later went to Rock Srpings, Wyoming to teach and there she
met Jacob (Jake) Hinkle, an auditor. They married in Wyoming in 1926
and moved to Inspiration, Arizona to work for Inspiration Consolidated
Copper Co. ( a mining subsidiary of Anaconda Copper Co.) shortly
thereafter. Jake was the accountant for the company's general store and
later became the store manager. Marie was a substitute teacher in the
local school district for many years. When Jake retired in 1966 and
they retired to Camarillo, CA. Jake passed away in 1975 and Marie 1978.
 Josephine married
Hypolite (Paul) Jalbert and they raised a large family of 9 children.
They lived first in St. John then moving to Bisbee so Paul could work
for the railroad company near Estevan, Saskatchewan and Perth, ND. They
then moved to La Fleche, Saskatchewan and then Josephine died in 1916
from Bright's Disease. Her her sister Delia adopted 2 boys into her
family.
 The only one of the Croteau
children who did not marry was Anna. Anna was a talented seamstress
who's talents were called upon many times by local groups such as the
Benidictine Sister's of Belcourt. She remodeled their habits when the
order made changes to their appearance. Anna also made the wedding
dress of her sister Octavie, shown at the top of this page. She moved
out west to California with her sister Delia and died in 1974.
Angeline became the sole primary teacher at the
Robert School in the Hillside township of Rolette County near the
community of Thorne. She was trained in Perth and wrote her teacher's
exams there. She married Francis St. Louis but died childless, a victim
of the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918.
  Henry Croteau stayed in Rolette County after his
marriage to Ernestine LeBrun July 25, 1925. Henry was employed by Mr.
Hogue and Mr. Masse at the "Big Store" - the local name for Belcourt
Mercantile, whose history went back almost as far as 1888 when it was
started by Adolph LeBrun, his father-in-law. Henry later worked at St.
Ann's in Belcourt.
 Albert Croteau
married Alice Jalbert and they moved north to Coderre, Saskatchewan.
After a trying attempt to farm the harsh land near Coderre, Albert and
his family moved north to Debden where his brothers Anthime and Emile
were living.
|
