On May 20, 2022 I wrote about the healing of little Alice, my grandaunt on the Peltier side.  This post is a continuation of her story.

Alice Mabel, born on September 25, 1885 in White Bear Township¹, was the eldest of 13 children born to Albert and Celestine Peltier.  Albert was 25 years old and Celestine was 16 years old.

Alice was baptized at St. John’s Church, Little Canada on September 27, 1885.²  Her godparents were her grandparents, Charles and Mathilda (Garceau) Peltier.

The 1905 Minnesota census is the last one where Alice is enumerated with her birth family on Kohler Road in White Bear Township.  She is 19 years old and her regular occupation is given as “housework.”  I don’t know if she did the housework on the family farm or if she was working for someone else.  The youngest sibling shown is Frances and she is 2 years old.³  There would be 4 more siblings added to the family between 1906 and 1912.  Alice would marry and move out before the last 3 were born.

Alice’s future husband Benjamin LaBore was born on September 23, 1883 in the village of White Bear.  He was the 4^th child born to Henry and Monique Marie (Bazille Lampson) LaBore.  At his birth, his father was 27 years old and his mother was 24 years old.

Benjamin was baptized by Father P. Nougaret on September 30, 1883 at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in White Bear Lake, Ramsey County, Minnesota.⁴  His godparents were David Pierre and Anna Laborre [LaBore], possibly his uncle and aunt.

Benjamin is last enumerated with his birth family on the 1905 Minnesota census.⁵  He is 21 years old living on the St. Paul and Bald Eagle Road in White Bear Township.  Three of his younger siblings are also enumerated with the family.

Benjamin (Ben) and Alice married on November 27, 1906 at New Canada, Ramsey County, Minnesota.  Ben was 23 years old and Alice was 21 years old.  Lambert N. Nicholas was the priest who performed the marriage.⁶

Alice gave birth to their first of 5 daughters, Marie Rose “Mildred,” November 30, 1907, exactly 1 year and 3 days after they were married.⁷  A little over a month later, Alice’s mother Celestine gave birth to Alice’s brother Roy Henry on January 12, 1908.

The 1910 U. S. census enumerates Ben and Alice as renting a home in the Village of White Bear with Ben working as a section hand for the railroad (a section hand is a person who is responsible for maintaining a section of track).  Their daughter Mildred is 2 years old.⁸

Over the next 12 years Alice would give birth to 4 more daughters: Mary Adele born on October 26, 1911, Lorraine Ann born on November 8, 1914, Melvene Alice born on October 2, 1916 and Norma Eugenia born on October 10, 1922.^{9, 10, 11,12}  All of their daughters were born in October or November.  Alice’s mother Celestine gave birth around the same time to Alice’s last 2 siblings, Avis in 1910 and Clement in 1912.  This meant that Ben’s and Alice’s 5 daughters had 2 uncles and an aunt that were almost the same age.

Benjamin registered for the World War I draft on September 12, 1918; he did not serve.¹³  What I found of interest on his registration card shown below was who was listed as his employer, Mrs. George T. Slade.  Mrs. Slade, also known as Charlotte Hill was the daughter of railroad magnate James J. Hill.  Her husband, George Theron Slade, was the general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad before joining the war effort as the director of the U. S. Army Transportation Corps in Western Europe from 1918-1919.  During his absence Mrs. Slade was left to manage their 700 plus acre farm located north and west of Pine Tree Lake in what is now Dellwood.  Since Benjamin lists his address in care of the Slade Farm, his family must have lived somewhere on the vast expanse of land.  Notice that he and the Slades were both on RFD #2 (Rural Free Delivery Route #2) which puts them on the same mail delivery path, but not necessarily at the same location.

By the 1920 U. S. census, 4 of Ben’s and Alice’s 5 daughters have been born.  They live on the Stillwater White Bear Road (Highway 96), Ben is manager of a general farm, probably still the Slade farm.  Their household includes a 68 year old boarder by the name of Antoine LaLande who was born in France and works on the farm.¹⁵

The 1930 U. S. census is the first and only time that the entire LaBore family is enumerated together.  At 46 years old Ben is still a general farm manager, the family are renters, which I assume means that they are still on the Slade farm. Alice is now 44 years old, and their eldest daughter Mildred is a cook for a private family.¹⁶

Alice died on August 23, 1933 at 47 years 10 months and 28 days old.¹⁷  The primary cause of death was uremic poisoning, the end manifestation of renal or kidney failure.  It appears that she had been in kidney failure for 8 months with contributory causes being nephritis (kidney inflammation) for 3 years and hardening of the arteries for 4 years.  It would not be until 10 years after Alice’s death that the first kidney dialysis would occur and it was not until 1954 that the first successful kidney transplant happened.

On her death certificate her occupation is listed as “housekeeper” and that the last time she worked was in August 1932, a year before her death.

Alice was buried on August 26, 1933 at St. Mary of the Lake Cemetery in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.¹⁸

Ben lived another 37 years after Alice’s death.  He passed away on December 12, 1970 at 87 years old.¹⁹  He was interred next to his wife at St. Mary of the Lake Cemetery.²⁰

Thanks for visiting, come back soon,
Cynthia

© 2023 Copyright by Cynthia Vadnais, All Rights Reserved

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Footnotes for Alice Mabel Peltier and Benjamin LaBore Post