4. Pierre VII Peter Charron or Sharrow-C-1-4
Pierre/Peter Charron/Sharrow, migrated to Wisconsin from Quebec, Canada with his brother, Jacques II, date of arrival unknown (Their parents were Jacques I & Julienne Truteau).
Correspondent, Micheline Charron advised of a distant cousin of Pierre, Toussaint Charron, m. Lea Cecile Dorris at St.Michel de Napierville (near St. Chrystome) in 1886. Toussaint was a doctor and left for the USA and settled at Rose Lake,(sometimes called Rice Lake), Barron Co., Wisconsin. There was a French-Canadian settlement there. He often went back to Canada, a short distance, for familial events.
3,Celina m. Pierre/Peter Charron 8 Aug 1873 at St-Jean Chrysostome, Valleyfield, Chatauguay Co. Quebec, Can.
Her parents: Benjamin and Louise Bariteau, m. 21 Oct 1833, at St=-Martine, Quebec, Can.
7. Melanie Aurora Bernier-Ch 1-7
Melanie m. Jean-Jos. Gauthier, 17 Nov 1873 at "Little Canada" Centerville, MN. She had several children born in Minnesota,and elsewhere, but the only
ones I have known are Marie-Louise ALBINA; LAURA Aurora; WILFRED Joseph; and
ALBERTA Marie; who were my Aunts, Uncle and Mother.Melanie is known to have come to Marin County, CA in 1917 and settled in the
vicinity of Fairfax. She later moved to Novato where she and Uncle Fred had a home on Wilson Avenue.It is rumored that she had several husbands, but the only other one I remember was named LePage. She, however, was recorded and buried in Marin County, under the name of Melanie Aurora GAUTHIER, her lst husband's name and the surname of her children, Albina, Laura (Aurora), Wilfred and Alberta Marie, my mother.
During her sojourn in Alberta (N/W Terr.) where Alberta Marie was born, she
made friends with the local Indians and learned from them to be a "healer"
with the use of hand-massage and herbal medicines and salves. She was said to have a power in her hands to take away pain and stress.After her husband, Jean-Joseph was found frozen to death in St. Albert, in Alberta (N/W Terr.), she came back to Minneapolis, MN, gave her 3 daughters to the care of the Sisters of Good Shepherd Convent, and supported herself and her son, Wilfred, by becoming a seamstress and healer.
In my earliest memories, we went from Kentfield, where I was born, to Novato, to visit them, sometimes staying overnite, sleeping on a pallet on the floor, while the grown-ups played cards and visited thru the nite. Later, we moved to a location in Novato, just a short distance on Wilson Way from Grandmere and Uncle Fred. I remember walking down to visit them after school. Grandmere, sitting in her rocker, would haul me up on where her lap should be and I kept sliding off, because she was so rotund that there was no lap! I also remember that there were always three or four pies in her cooler which we had to sample. She had a room-sized loom in an upstairs room on which she would weave 6ft. wide strips of rag rugs. We helped her to cut, sew and wind the clothing strips into balls to use to weave the rugs. Our floors were mostly carpeted with rag-rugs which were woven on her loom. She also made hand-bags and carpet-bags of silk strips which were very beautiful and useful in their own ways. I have a very beautiful and antique crazy-quilt top which she fashioned from the remnants of the time she was a dressmaker. She hand-embroidered various stitches around each of the pieces of satin, silk, taffeta and velvet on the quilt-top.
Melanie was born a thrifty French-Canadian and not a scrap of food, a piece of cloth, or a bit of plant or herb was wasted. This lesson I absorbed in my childhood and today, in my daily life, I try to remember it. bh