These brief family stories have been compiled from stories of my relatives and various local history publications and Historical Societies. Special thanks to Wilma of the Bottineau ND Historical Society and Helen and Gerald of the Rolette County ND Historical Society.
Do you have a biography of your grandparents listed here or a story? If you have any photos to add, especially of Marie Croteau and her sister Angeline, please contact me.
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 and Irene CroteauAnthime 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.
Joseph CroteauAfter 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 Lucina's Childrenuntil 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 Croteau 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 and Itsien CharbonneauEvelyn Croteau married Itsien Charboneau.
Marie Croteau 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 Croteau 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.
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. The only one of the Croteau children who did not marry was Anna. She moved out west to California with her sister Delia and died in 1974.
Angeline Croteau 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.
For a detailedd lineage of my family check here