|
a.
|
Note: In 2004 I was asked to try to determine the lineage of one Arthur Marcotte, who was living in Sudbury at the time of his death in 1943. His death certificate stated he was born 4 April 1889 and was born in Quebec. His marriage certificate (to Margaret Bradely in 1932) stated he was a Teamster, 39 years old, born in Quebec and whose parents were Edward Marcotte and Adeline Provot.
His obituary (Sudbury Star, Sept. 2 1943) was as follows:
After a short illness Arthur Marcotte died Wednesday night at his home at 173 Stl Joseph St. in Sudbury. The late Mr. Marcotte was a resident of Sudbury for the past 15 years, coming here from Quebec where he was born 55 years ago and received his education. During the First Great War he enlisted with the Second Depot Battalion of the Second Quebec Regiment in 1917. For a time he was stationed in Canada and England but then transferred to the 22nd. Battalion for action in France. Surviving are his widow, the former Miss Margaret Bradley, three daughters, Alice, Margaret, and Mary, and three sons, Edward, John and Ovila, all at home. Three sisters and one brother in Quebec also survive. The remains are resting at Jackson and Barnard's Funeral Home at 83 Larch St. Funeral service will be conducted in the chapel of Friday afternoon, September 3, at 2 o'clock, with Rev.C.A. Armstrong of First Baptist Church, officiating. Interment will be in Park Lawn Cemetery.
At the time of the search, limited internet resources were available and I was unable to locate either a marriage between Adele Provost and Edward Marcotte (in all the usual references), nor the baptismal record for Edward Marcotte (assuming the parentage of Francois Marcotte and Angelique Fortier). The National Archives in Ottawa could find no record of military service in WW1 for Arthur Marcotte.
As many new indexed resources have become available, I decided to resume the search on my own as it seemed to present an interesting problem. I searched the indexed 1901 and 1911 Canadian census records for Arthur Marcotte, but could not find him. Nor, using the Drouin index on Ancestry.ca could I find a baptismal record for him. I therefore turned to New York State. The 1870 and 1880 censuses for Willsborough, NY showed Jean Marcot and Adel (Provost) living there. The 1890 US has not survived, but there was a partial census for New York State for 1892 (Ancestry,com).
Living in Willsborough was:
Edward Guillemette
Adeline Guillemette
Samuel Marcotte
Lizzie Marcotte
Jennie Marcotte
Alfred Marcotte
Mary Marcotte
Rosalie Guillemette
The family was not in the 1900 US census, but the 1901 census for Montreal shows:
Adele Guillemette, widow age 44
Alfred Marcotte, son age 26 born US
Marie Marcotte, daughter, age 18 born US
Rosalie Guillemette, daughter, age 10, born Quebec
Ovila Guillemett, son, age 8 (April 1893), born US
Finally, the parish register for St. John the Baptist Church in Keeseville, NY shows the baptism of Ovila Guillemette on 4 April 1893, son of Edward Guillemette and Adele Provost.
This we have have Ovila Guillemette having a mother with the same name and the father with the same first name as Arthur Marcotte and that he had siblings with the surname of Marcotte. Further both were born on April 4. The death certificate for Arthur Marcotte said he was born 1889, but his marriage certificate stated he was 39 in 1932, i.e. born 1893.
I then found a military file for Ovila Guillemette (none exists for Arthur Marcotte). Arthur Marcotte's obituary stated: "During the First Great War he enlisted with the Second Depot Battalion of the Second Quebec Regiment in 1917. For a time he was stationed in Canada and England but then transferred to the 22nd. Battalion for action in France."
The military record for Ovila Guillemette shows he joined the Second Depot Battalion of the Second Quebec Regiment on 11 Nov. 1917. He was sent to England on the 4 March 1918 and was transferred to the 22nd Battalion on 11 July 1918 and arrived in France on 13 July 1918.
The preponderance of evidence and lack of a paper trail for Arthur Marcotte thus shows that these 2 individuals were actually one in the same and that Arthur Marcotte was actually Ovila Guillemette. The questions remains, why would Ovila Guillemette change his identity.
Ovila's military record stated he was married when he entered the military and had a son, Henri age 7. Ovila Guillemette, son of the Deceased Eddy Guillemette and Adele Provost married Laura Gauthier on 9 May 1911 in St. Helene Church, Montreal. Further we have the baptism of Ovila Henri, born 22 Oct. 1911 son of Ovila Guillemette and Aurore Gauthier in St. Joseph Church, Montreal. Laura Gauthier died in 1972 and was described as the widow of Ovila Guillemette. No trace of Ovila Henri has been found.
The marriage probably did not last long as he left everything in his military will (15 March 1918) to his sister Marie Bessie Neil. Further and oddly, he was granted permission to marry by the military on 18 Oct. 1918. He married Elizabeth Clark in Cheriton, England on 26 March 1918 and they travelled by to Canada on Jan. 10 1918. Elizabeth Guillemette was listed as eligible for the separation allowance on the war service gratuity form dated 4 March 1918. No further record of Elizabeth could be located and no record of any children born to this couple could be found.
According to his obituary, Arthur Marcotte came to Sudbury, ON ca 1928. In his marriage certificate (to Margaret Bradley, his 3rd wife) he described himself as a bachelor. The reason for his identity charge is thus clear.
|
