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 19th 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 and 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.