Results for "growing up gregoire"

Growing Up Gregoire, Part 2: Brother’s Shenanigans

SMOKING IN THE BARN BY VIRGIL GREGOIRE I think I was about 7-8 when there were men at our farm tiling the fields to drain the flooding low land into the dredge ditch. It’s the ditch north of the farm. Some of the men smoked and Marvin and I watched them, fascinated. We decided to try smoking, too. The tilers slept in the barn and laid their cigarette papers and other belongings on a crate or box thing. We snuck...

Growing Up Gregoire, Part 1: Minnesota Farm Life

Cover Photo: Four Generations, Virgil (Marvin aka Bumpa’s brother) and Father Robert in back with Grandpa Joseph Gregoire and Virgil’s oldest son Dennis. the runaway cart Story by Virgil Gregoire and Rita (Gregoire) Mockel (Siblings of Marvin Gregoire) We had a Shetland pony named Spot.  She didn’t like to be hooked up to a cart and got skittish and tickly if we did.  We also had a dog named Chummie.  Marvin, Rita, and Virgil were always the three getting into...

Honoring Our Family Veterans Part 2: Marvin Leo Gregoire

Marvin Gregoire in his Army Air Force uniform. early years Marvin “Marv” Leo Gregoire was born in Marshall, Minnesota to Robert and Lillian (Grandpre) Gregoire, both of French Canadian descent. For more stories about this French Canadian family click here. Growing up on the Gregoire farm taught Marvin hard work and at the age of 17, he left school for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). This New Deal program established by President Roosevelt offered employment to young men who struggled...

Agnes (Conlin) Gregoire: The Storyteller

Photo of Agnes Gregoire “Nana” with me as a child “Did I ever tell you the story about…” At some point in every conversation with my grandmother, Agnes Gregoire, she would pose this rhetorical question. I have many happy memories of sitting on a barstool in “Nana’s” kitchen and listening to tales about her childhood in Montana. Her stories never bored me, but one day out of curiosity I answered her question by saying that I had indeed heard the...

Finding Jacob Ove: Researching Norwegian Ancestors

Jacob Ove (left) with an unidentified person (right) My memories of visiting Great-grandma and Grandpa Conlin while growing up are primarily connected to sweets — namely butterscotch candies and fig newtons. Grandma needed those candies to keep Grandpa sweet…or so she said. When I grew older and began genealogy research there were plenty of stories and information passed down about Grandpa Conlin’s Irish Family and Grandma Conlin’s mother’s Norwegian family, but when it came to her father, I only knew two things:...

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  • October 14, 2017
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about this blog From childhood, I have always loved stories about the people who came before us. My Nana loved to tell tales about her younger days and I would sit in rapt attention, even when it was the tenth telling of the story. When my grandparents passed away, I inherited many wonderful photos and old family books. In the interest of sharing these resources with extended family, I started an Ancestry tree in 2009.  Weaving the tree details together...

Siste Lavoy: Les Rébel

In the late hours of October 12th, 1837, Siste Lavoy lay hiding in the woods near the western shore of Lake Champlain, New York, in fear for his life. Just hours before he had taken up arms as a Patriote in the Canadian Rebellion and was now wanted by English soldiers. How had this simple farmer with a wife and three children come to this? Siste’s path to becoming one of Les Rébels of the Patriote movement began years earlier...

About

  • October 14, 2017
  • /

about this blog From childhood, I have always loved stories about the people who came before us. My Nana loved to tell tales about her younger days and I would sit in rapt attention, even when it was the tenth telling of the story. When my grandparents passed away, I inherited many wonderful photos and old family books. In the interest of sharing these resources with extended family, I started an Ancestry tree in 2009.  Weaving the tree details together...