Fred Richard (1876?-1944)

Fred Richard was my (Chris) great-grandfather on my mother's father's line. He was the last of our Richard line born in Quebec, the fifth generation in Canada. There is some confusion about his birth, as to whether it was in 1876, or 1878. In either case, it was in Lacolle, which is some 5 km north of the U.S. border, north of Champlain, New York. According to his death certificate, his parents were Fred Richard and Zoe Thibodeau. A copy of his baptismal record from the parish of St. Bernard de Lacolle shows that he was born on 18 November 1876, and baptized the next day.

Parish baptismal record, November 19th, 1876,
St. Bernard de Lacolle, Quebec
(see upper right entry)

The baptismal record clearly states that it was Alfred Richard, the son of Alfred and Zoe Thibodeau, and it was on the dix-neuf Novembre that he was baptised, born the day before. So why is it that his obituary lists him as 64 years old when he died (born in 1879), and 63 on his death certificate (born in 1880), and born in 1878 on his gravestone? I suppose it is possible that he was a second Alfred, born two or three years later than the one shown above, if that one had died. I have certainly seen lots of French-Canadian parents use names more than once, given the high mortality rate in the 18th and 19th centuries. But the similarity to his stated birthday on various documents (November 16th), makes me think this is probably him.

Lacolle, Quebec, ca. 1890

Lacolle was a small village, and remains so today.

Fred had at least three brothers and sisters also born in Lacolle. We can see several of them on an 1892 census of New York. This includes Amelia, Delore, George, and Jennie, all older than Fred. According to the 1920 census, Fred said he immigrated to the U.S. in 1890, just across the border, to Champlain, New York. Apparently the whole family had moved. Fred's father was a farmer. I don't know what was occurring at this time that would have prompted them to leave Quebec, after some 150 years in the province.

1892 Census of Champlain, New York
(see Richard family on the right hand page, left column, three quarters of the way down the page)

We know that Fred married Helen Monette in Champlain in 1902. But strangely, he and his family show up on the 1901 Canadian census back in Lacolle. Were the borders fairly open at that time? Did he have other relatives in New York at that time? Fred and Helen are on the 1910 census in Chazy, New York, a village in Champlain. He is listed as a farm laborer. Fred and Helen had eight children, all in Champlain. 

Richard children, ca. 1914.

The family moved to North Adams, Massachusetts in 1919, and can be seen on the census there taken in January 1920. 

1920 Census of North Adams, Massachusetts

Fred is listed in the 1920 census as a laborer in a cotton mill. According to his obituary, her worked in the Hoosac Cotton mills since he first moved to North Adams. However, he appears in the North Adams directories from 1922 to 1944 with a wider variety of jobs. He is listed until 1929 as an employee of Beaver Mills. On the 1930 census, he is listed as a construction worker, apparently employed in Williamstown. In 1935 and 1936 he worked for Arnold Print Works. He also briefly worked for Northern Berkshire Gas, Gale Shoe Manufacturing Company, and Hunter Machine Company. 

Fred passed away in November of 1944, and is buried in Southview Cemetery. 

If anyone has any other details about his life, what he was like, photographs, or momentos, I would love to hear about it. Genealogy is great fun; a way to learn about family and history, and exciting detective work. But I think the most challenging thing is to try to get at the people behind the names and dates. 

The Elusive Great-Grandfather Moore

To get started, I (Jaime) am posting a zoomed image from a census of Proton Township in Ontario, Canada, in 1871. My great-grandmother, Lizzie Pickett Moore, was well-known to my father and his siblings, but my grandfather's father (the "Moore" in "Lizzie Pickett Moore") was a mystery. The story was that he died before my grandfather (John J. Moore) was born, but no one knew if that was true or not, or even what his first name was.

Messing around on the internet, Chris and I found a death certificate for a John E. Moore, age 31, in Proton, Ontario (which we knew to be Lizzie's hometown). He died of an enlarged heart on 27 September, 1894. My grandfather was born 19 March, 1895. We then found a death register for a James Moore, age 1, from 6 September of 1894. The register listed James' parents as John E. Moore and Elizabeth Pickett. We found my great-grandfather's name, that my grandfather had a brother we had never heard of, and that my great-grandmother Lizzie lost her infant child and her spouse in a matter of weeks, probably right around when she discovered she was pregnant with my grandfather. John E. and James Moore are buried together in Proton, along with John E.'s oldest brother Maurice, who died in 1890, also at age 31, and John and Maurice's dad Morris (Maurice?), who died in 1863 at age 27. On his gravestone is written "Co. Kerry."

The image I am attaching is my favorite piece of info we found on this search. We recovered it fairly early, but didn't see the best part for a week or two. The census lists the Pickett family-- my great-grandmother Lizzie is "Elezie" (the "Elizabeth" below that is an error). Just above is the household probably visited by the census taker just before the Picketts'-- Rose Moore, widow, and her three sons Maurice, James, and John. In 1871, John was 8 and Lizzie 4-- were they neighbors? Childhood friends?