Lodoisca's House!

Here is a picture of Lodoisca's house that she had built after her husband, Cleophas, died in 1910. The house was built in 1916. What my Great Aunt Dorothy Proulx told me about the family and this house is really cool. I can't say it any better than my Auntie Dot who actually knew most of these people so I will share with you the e-mail she sent me. 

E-mail from Dorothy Proulx 22 JAN 2011

"She had the house built. There were carpenters in the Dallaire Family. No doubt her brothers must have helped out. Her daughter Emma's husband was a carpenter. He was the one who bought all the material, as women in our small town were not acknowledged in business. All her receipts are made out to her son-in-law.

It is a cottage with 3 rooms on the first floor, a large kitchen with a pantry for dishes and pots and pans.  From the kitchen, there was one door to enter the dining room, and one other door for the living room, which was at the front of the house. The bathroom was just a small room off the kitchen with a toilet and a tub. The house had central heat (steam with radiators). On the other wall opposite the kitchen was the entrance to the 3 upstairs bedrooms. Next to the stairs was a door to go into the cellar (Coal was used to heat the house.)

There was one bedroom for Lodoisca & Cleophas, one for the boys and one for the girls. There was a front porch running the length of the house.

At the rear of the house was a large barn for horses. Lodoisca had helped her 3 oldest sons to start a business, mostly moving furniture and even a house or two, with the help of several horses and wagons. Arthur was the son who kept the business going until he was drafted into the army during WWII. By then, he had trucks instead of horses. I remember the barn with one horse. My cousin and I would sit up in the wagons and pretend we were in the Wild West! That was way back in around 1936 to 1939.

Britt, you may not know it, but you have passed that house at least a few times passing through Warren.

My cousin's daughter lives there now with her family. She is a gr-granddaughter of Lodoisca & Cleophas."

Look at all that history! The house had central heat and coal was used to heat the house, one room for the boys and one room for the girls, starting their own business, getting drafted during WWII! I love reading about those who came before us and what they experienced. And all this information that I gained from just asking my Auntie Dot about the house can lead me to more records! I can now search for Arthur's WWII Draft Registration card. Also, my aunt has sent me lots of legal documents concerning the house. And the fact that the house is still in the family is so cool! I could potentially go visit and meet some distant relatives and see what they remember about our ancestors and see inside the house! I love the stories that I can learn from talking to my living relatives about their pasts and about our relatives that have passed on that they knew. I especially love the story my Auntie Dot wrote in the above e-mail about sitting on the wagons and pretending she was in the Wild West! I can just picture her having so much fun and laughing really hard. Love you Auntie Dot! :) 

So my Aunt sent me a whole lot of documents. I'm going to post here the "IOU" to Joseph W. Martin who lent Lodoisca money to build the house. 

It was made on 21 December 1916. As my Auntie told me on the next document, "when Martin died, the bank became the holder of Lodoisca's mortgage." I think Joseph Martin was a pretty generous guy and I think it's really cool that he Loaned money to my gr-gr-great grandmother Lodoisca so she could build the house she wanted and needed for her and her children. He may not have even realized that he'd be affecting generations! 

In Loving Remembrance

Let's start at the end of Lodoisca's life. Below you will see her prayer card that was handed out at her funeral or burial. From the card it seems like she was held in high-esteem by her family. My Auntie Dot told me that her name was spelt wrong on this card. Her name is spelt correctly in the title of this blog. The funeral mass was held at St. Jean Baptiste Church in Warren, Rhode Island and the burial was at St. Jean Baptiste Cemetery in Warren, Rhode Island. I love that this card has a picture of my great-great-great-grandmother Lodoisca and that there is such a heartfelt poem written on it. I feel like it helps me to get to know her a little better because from this document I can see a glimpse of what others thought of her. It looks like others thought very highly of her and I can just imagine that she influenced many lives for good. I know that she has influenced my life for good and that I owe so much to her and to all of my ancestors. Their efforts and hard work are why I am who I am today. Stay tuned for more stories and documents that tell me stories about my third great grandmother and her family members. I'm excited to use this blog to reflect on information I have collected about my ancestors and really get to know them better!

Welcome! First Post- All About Lodoisca and Family

My name is Brittany Bishaw and I am a descendent of Lodoisca Dallaire and her husband Cleophas Aubin.

Above is a picture of Cleophas and Lodoisca with their children taken between 1906 and 1908. My great aunt Dorothy sent me all of the pictures that I will be posting on this blog. The goal of this blog is to share the information that I already know about this family (most all of it given to me by my auntie Dot) and collaborate with others who may be researching this family as well. This blog will focus on Lodoisca and Cleophas, their children, and their children's spouses. I will also post information about Lodoisca's parents, Justinian Laurent Dallaire and Rosalie Blouin and Lodoisca's siblings.

Now for some information about the family. Lodoisca was born on 19 August 1864 in St. Vallier, Quebec, Canada. Cleophas was born 23 September 1859 in St. Vallier, Bellechasse, Quebec, Canada. They were marrried 23 November 1884 in Warren, Rhode Island, USA. Cleophas, Lodoisca, and their children are in the 1910 United States Census in Warren, Bristol, Rhode Island. According to this census Cleophas immigrated in 1882 and Lodoisca immigrated in 1875. The census also says that they had been married for 25 years, which matches the date that my aunt gave me for their marriage. They have 9 children listed on the census in 1910. Most are in the photo above. In the photo, the top row from left to right, it's Cleophas Jr., Mediana, Elise, and Emma (not on the census because she was already married). Cleophas and Lodoisca are sitting down in the front. To the left of Cleophas is Ovide, on Cleophas's lap is Arthur. To Lodoisca's left is Blanche and on her lap is Napoleon and to her right is Wilfred. Eva was born 2 Ocotber 1908 and is not in the photo. Two children were born before the oldest child, Emma, but they both died as infants. Their names were Marie-Jeanne and Marie Eloise Exordina. Also, Marie Adela Rosalie Aubin was born in 1906 but died a few days after birth. There is a link on the side to see the 1910 census. The census also says that Cleophas was a "teamster." I did not know what this meant so I looked it up. The Hall Genealogy Website has a list of old occupation names and their definitions. Go here to see the definition: http://rmhh.co.uk/occup/t.html . So Cleophas probably did something with driving horses or some other kind of animal to bring some type of goods somewhere. Here is picture that was posted on flicr by sunnybrook100 of a teamster in the early 1900s. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunnybrook100/3891140841/

There's a start! Let me know what you think, especially if you are researching this family too!