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Henry was born in the river town of Deschambault, Quebec in the autumn of 1850. The town was known for it's skilled "River Pilots", and located on the St Lawrence river, between Quebec city and Montreal.
Henry moved south in 1866, as a young man, and settled for about 2 decades in western Wisconsin. He was part of a wave of French-Canadians who were making their way across the border, many to claim homestead land in the new state. Wisconsin had gained statehood in 1848, so surveying and platting had opened up vast areas of virgin pine forest and farmland waiting to be settled. Deschambault and other small Canadian towns supplied many lumberjacks, blacksmiths, teamsters, mill-workers, farmers and more, to the boom in western Wisconsin.
24 year old Henry married 16 year old Mary Anne Germain in 1874.[1] The couple would eventually produce 13 children.
The 1875 Wisconsin state census shows the Henry Belisle family living in Somerset, a small village on the Apple river.[2] The tick-marks record 3 males and 2 females, believed to represent Henry, his father Alex, his 1st son Joseph, his wife Mary-Anne & his mother Elizabeth.
The 1880 US census.[3] 30 Year old Henry was farming with the help of his younger brother Fleury. Also in the home are Henry's wife Mary-Anne, 3 young sons, and Henry's elderly parents.
Henry seems to have moved the family to Argyle, Minnesota in the 1880s, and lived there for a few years. He was commissioned as a Notary Public in 1893.[4]
In about 1898, Henry moved the family to eastern Oregon, where they farmed for about 5 years near the towns of Nyssa and Ontario.
The 1900 US census finds the Belisle family living in Oregon.[5]
In about 1904, Henry again relocated the family, this time near Vancouver, Clark county, Washington, about 50 miles SW of mount St Helens. He farmed there also, with the help of several of his sons.
The 1910 US census shows the Belisle family farming in southern Washington state.[6]
The 1920 US census recorded Henry one last time, less than a month before his death in February.[7]
He died of stomach cancer on February 16th, 1920, according to this Washington state death certificate.[8][9]
This week's featured connections are Redheads: Henry is 21 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 20 degrees from Clara Bow, 29 degrees from Julia Gillard, 16 degrees from Nancy Hart, 15 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 18 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 17 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 20 degrees from Rose Leslie, 21 degrees from Damian Lewis, 20 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 25 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 36 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
B > Belisle > Henry Joseph Honore Belisle
Categories: Mother Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Vancouver, Washington