Bezotte Family

Dave Bezotte was born and raised in Chassell, Michigan, and is a descendent of a long line of French Canadian families who immigrated to the Keweenaw Peninsula in the late 19 th century. The Sturgeon River Lumber Co. mill relocated from Hancock to Chassell in the 1880s and provided opportunities for employment. All of his great-grandparents came from Quebec in the 1880s and ultimately settled in Chassell to work at the mill, the lumber camps, and to farm.

Both of his grandfathers were born in Quebec. Archie Bezotte was born in Gentilly, Quebec and came with his parents Ernest and Adele to Chassell. He worked in the lumber camps, as did his father and sons. He was known as a storyteller and people would come to his home to hear stories that would last several evenings. Archie’s wife, Clina Houde Bezotte, came from Negaunee to Chassell at the age of five. Her family was originally from the Nicolet/Becancour area of Quebec. She lived with her aunt & uncle, who ran a boarding house on the main street of Chassell (now US 41), across the street from St. Anne’s Church.

Dave’s maternal grandfather, Irenée Dostaler, came from St. Cuthbert, Quebec. Irenée, his sisters, and his wife were fiddlers and callers at square dances held above Gagnon’s feed store or Ruelle’s Livery Stable (affectionately known as “Ammonia Hall”). Their musical talent was passed onto their children and all of them sang and played musical instruments.

(Above) Courchaine family 1920s.

Unlike many French Canadian families in Chassell, or the U.P. for that matter, Dave’s family kept in touch with their families in St. Cuthbert. In 1905, his grandmother’s oldest sister, Hattie Courchaine, visited St. Cuthbert (where her parents had come from), and there she met her husband, Wilfred Carpentier. She stayed there and raised a large family, but still missed her family in Chassell. She always kept a packed suitcase under the bed in case one of the relatives there would offer to make a trip to Michigan by car. Because of their close connection, the families in Michigan and Quebec visited fairly often in spite of the long distance. The photos show a visit of Chassell relatives in St. Cuthbert, Quebec. Music, dancing and singing were favorite pastimes.

Ernest & Adele Bezotte Family.

Birthplace:
Gentilly, Quebec

Photos from the three families.

Dave has visited Quebec several times to visit St. Cuthbert and Gentilly but also to learn more about the culture, language, and music in Quebec. He has become one of the leading advocates for French Canadian culture in the Upper Peninsula, and was the driving force behind the Joie De Vivre Festival in Chassell in 2009. He also has a music group, the Maple Sugar Folk, who perform French Canadian songs in the region, including at the Upper Peninsula Folklife Festival. He has been a reference librarian at Michigan Tech University for over 30 years.

Visit to St. Cuthbert.
Dave Bezotte

Images courtesy of Dave Bezotte.