The following family history tidbits are courtesy of the White Bear Lake Area Historical Society.
This may not be an exciting picture to look at, but the news in it is exciting. It, in part, announces the organization of the Town of White Bear on May 11, 1858 after 27 votes were cast. One of the officers elected was John (Jean Baptiste) Vadnais, my 3rd great-granduncle (highlighted at the bottom). He was appointed overseer road district no. 1.
In the lineup of young men is my 17 year old future granduncle, Howard Bloom (back row on the left). In 1911 Howard would marry my grandaunt, Vina Peltier.
In the early 1900s football was loosely organized. Advertising in the newspaper was one way to find other football teams to compete against. The average weight of the team would be used when soliciting for teams to play. Howard contributed 110 pounds toward the team average.
The last tidbit of information appeared in the November 14, 1881 Lake Breeze (the newspaper in White Bear at that point in time).
Thanks for visiting, come back soon,
Cynthia
© 2026 Copyright by Cynthia Vadnais, All Rights Reserved
Interesting, as always. Thanks so much oxoxo
So great; I just love it.