Discoveries

So, I'm in Marquette, Michigan, trying to find out a few things about my family. When I first saw Marquette, this moved me very much; I imagined my family arriving, seeing this city (beautiful, on the water, a city) for the first time, and perhaps seeing it as a place for hope. The farm in Canada wasn't doing well; my great-grandfather had a heart condition, actually, and couldn't work it anymore. They went to Marquette for work.

From what I can piece together (though I'm not certain), they worked in the lumber industry. Most immigrants worked in iron ore - mining - here, but apparently, the French liked the independence of the lumbering, and the low-committment of it; that is, they could take off when lumbering season was done, and go back home.

One deflating discovery: my great-grandfather was 21 and my great-grandmother FOURTEEN when they had their first child. This makes me think of my great-grandfather as a rapist. I'm sure it's not far from the truth... Fourteen. I noticed this while looking at a 1930 census resport from Maine, which showed who was living in their Sanford house at the time. I noticed my great-grandmother was 56 at the time...and her oldest child, 42!!!! The youngest, my one remaining great-aunt, was 14. This floored me.



Likely, my great-grandfather worked in the woods during the week, and drank away the money in town on the weekends. This was suggested to me, but I'm not sure. I'd like to ask my great-aunt if her father drank much, but I'm afraid it may be too sensitive a subject.

I can't find any record anywhere of my great-aunt - Matante Rosilda (Rose) - or my great-uncle - Mononcle Alfred - who were supposedly born here. I looked in:

* City Clerk's office, for birth records - nothing.
* Baptism records at the French-Catholic Church of the time - the lady can't do the search for a few months.
* City and County Directories, like old phone books (when there were no phones), which listed every resident in town during that year, and where they lived, what their occupation was. I looked in 1899-1903.
* Census reports for those years. (1900 and 1910)
* Newspapers for birth announcements, on the few days following each's birth.

Nothing. But intersting discoveries:

*the newspapers advertized tons for women 'freeing up their time,' and 'sleeping better' by buying gas stoves, as opposed to cooking with charcoal. Never knew women cooked with charcoal back then, never thought about it. I imagine it was pretty bad for their lungs.

* In the city directories, there were listings of all the businesses in town at the time: tons. There were lumbering companies, mining companies, nurses, lawyers, midwives, etc. etc. There were many, many professions then that still exist today. For some reason, this surprised me.

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