The Duhamel Family originally came to Canada from the area of Bolbec, Normandy, France in the 1660's. Bolbec is east of Le Havre and west of Rouen.

My great-grandfather Louis (Lewis) Duhamel was born in the province of Quebec, Canada in October, 1853. The 1870 census shows his family had settled in Maywood, Minnesota. The 1880 census shows the Donovan family living down the road.

Louis married Ellen Donovan on October 8,1888 in St. Paul, Minnesota at St. Patrick Catholic Church. They then began to farm in Custer, South Dakota. My grandmother Anna was born there on January 2, 1894. Louis and Ellen had four boys and three girls.

On September 27, 1905 the family settled on a homestead nine miles east of Fort McLeod, Alberta, Canada. A two-story house was built. The lower floor had eighteen inch stone walls and the upper floor had wood walls.

My grandmother moved to St. Paul, Minnesota around 1915 to work as a clerk in her Aunt Mary Donovan Smith store. Here she met my grandfather, who she married in June, 1920. My grandparents then moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

© 2000 - 2007 Comments to Michael J. O'Donnell