Agnes Rosalia Cecilia Hartnett (My Grandmother)

  Agnes Hartnett was born in Fort Dodge Iowa on 16 June 1901. She was the first child of two born to Patrick Hartnett and Nellie Reynolds (Subjects of earlier posts:http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8545416888743417776#editor/target=post;postID=8806948059932969331 and  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8545416888743417776#editor/target=post;postID=974628204830990456)

  Agnes's parents would divorce a few years after her birth, and she and her brother would grow up being shuttled between living in foster homes and living with their uncle due to her mother having mental problems. By 1920 Agnes and her brother were living on their own  in Des Moines Iowa, where Agnes worked as a saleslady in a dry goods store.

  In the mid 1920's Agnes moved to California where she married a Walter Phillips on 25 June 1927. (see Marriage Certificate) From this marriage three children, two daughters and one son, would be born. The family resided in Long Beach California (See photo of home) for almost fifty years, while Agnes worked as an accountant for a Walkers Department Store, from which she would retire.

  Agnes's husband died in 1967, and she would sell the family home and move to North Long Beach to live near her eldest daughter. In 1980 her eldest daughter died and she would later move to Orange County to live near her youngest daughter. Agnes died on 24 October 1998 and was buried beside her husband in Westminster California. (See photo)  

  For family Genealogy see: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I36 

John and Catharine Wilkeson (My 4th g-Grandparents)

  (The following was organized by my cousin Anne Cassidy Kiser)

  John Wilkeson was born February 3, 1796 in Pennsylvania. It is unknown at this time who his parents were. He married a woman named Catharine before 1818. Not much is known about Catharine at this time but she is believed to have been born December 12, 1798.

  John and Catharine had the following known children born in Pennsylvania:
John Wilkeson born June 23, 1818
Catherine Wilkeson born April 15, 1820
George Wilkeson born March 10, 1822
Lydia Wilkeson born about 1825
Samuel Wilkeson born April 21, 1828
Jacob Wilkeson born February 28, 1832

  The family resided in Pennsylvania where they raised their children and  John worked as a farmer.Sometime after 1832 the family left Pennsylvania and in 1840 John and his family were living in Osnaburg Township, Stark County, Ohio. His daughter, Catherine and husband, Jacob McEntaffer lived a few houses away with their daughter Rebecca and  John’s son, John, also lived a few houses down with his wife, Harriet and a young son, Levi. Around 1844 the families moved to South Bend, Indiana where John continued to work as a farmer.

  Catharine died August 12, 1846 in South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana at age 47 She was buried at the Harris Prairie Cemetery in Granger, Indiana. After her death, John remained in South Bend and lived with his son, Samuel and widowed daughter, Catherine McEntaffer and her children.


  John died May 7, 1874 in South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana at age 78 and was buried at the Harris Prairie Cemetery in Granger,  Indiana.

  For Family Genealogy See: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I114

Albert George LeBlanc

    Albert George LeBlanc, my Paternal Grandfather, was born on 7 July 1895 in Aitkin Minnesota. Albert was the first of my LeBlanc line, after nine generations in North America, to be born in the United States. Albert was the second child and the first son of of thirteen children born to George LeBlanc and Helena Graton, subjects of earlier posts at: http://leblancroots.blogspot.com/2012/07/george-osias-leblanc.html and http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8545416888743417776#editor/target=post;postID=8757320980295552262

  Albert would grow up on the family farm on the outskirts of Aitkin Minnesota. He was educated in a one room school, where most of the students were his siblings and cousins. (See school momento's)

  At the age of twenty-three, on 22 July 1918, Albert was drafted into the United States Army at Grand Forks, North Dakota. He was sent to Camp Custer Michigan, where the 14th Infantry Division was being trained for overseas deployment to Europe for WWI. Albert would serve in Battery C, 40th Field Artillery, where he would attain the rank of Corporal. WWI ended before the 14th Division was deployed, and the Division was demobilized by the end of February 1919. Albert was discharged on 7 February 1919 and returned home to Aitkin Minnesota.

  In the early 1920's, Albert moved to Duluth Minnesota where he would become a Truck Driver, an occupation he would do for the rest of his life. In Duluth, Albert met his future wife, Lois Clarke (subject of an earlier posts: http://leblancroots.blogspot.com/2011/06/eloise-pauline-clarke-single-years.html and http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8545416888743417776#editor/target=post;postID=6982931587365043378 )  Albert and Lois would marry on 16 June 1925 at St Mary Church, Stone Lake Wisconsin. The couple would reside in Duluth Minnesota, where they would have two sons and adopt a daughter. The couple would also serve as foster parents for numerous children while in Duluth.

  In the early 1940's, Albert moved his family to Southern California, where he continued to work as a Truck Driver. In the 1950's, Albert and his wife bought property in Wilmington California and built and operated a small motel until they retired in the early 1960's.

  Albert would die on 9 October 1974 in Bellflower California and is buried at "All Souls Cemetery" in Long Beach California. For Family genealogy see: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I18

Nellie Aldrich Reynolds

Nellie Aldrich Reynolds, my 2nd g-Grandmother, was born in 1885 in Fort Dodge Iowa. She was the 2nd child born to Aldrich Reynolds and Margaret Wilkeson.

  At the age of thirteen, she lost her father in a gun accident (see previous blog post at:http://leblancroots.blogspot.com/2011/01/aldrich-jackson-reynolds.html ) The sudden loss of her father would evidently affect her throughout her life.

  At the age of fifteen, Nellie was three months  pregnant when she  married the father on Christmas day 1900. This marriage would only last a few years and would result in her only children, a daughter and a son.

  Nellie's mental state was such that she was in and out of mental hospitals all her life. Her children were in and out foster care or living with Nellie's brother. Nellie would marry at least five times through her life with none of the marriages lasting very long.

  Nellie died at Des Moines Iowa in July 1944 and was buried next to her parents at the Oakland Cemetery in Fort Dodge Iowa. She was buried under the name of her first husband "Hartnett" with a footstone placed on her grave by her children.(See Photo)

 For Family Genealogy see: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I75