Page 2

INTRODUCTION
In addition to the 125 French-Canadian Pioneer Families that
settled in or near Somerset, Wisconsin, we have listed a few others
that married into these families. We have not listed all    the
families of other nationalities in the area because we do not have
any information on them and could not trace their ancestors.
We have traced most of these French-Canadian Families ancestors
back into Canada for 5 generations or about 100 years, and this can
be found on the "Ancestor  Charts". These families can now be traced
back for another 100 years, back to France, with books from Canada.
Included is most of Rosalie Parnell's book published in 1952 to
show the history of Somerset. We have also included parts of    two
other books: History of the St Croix Valley by A.B.Easton, published
in 1909 and History of Northern Wisconsin by Western Historical
Company of Chicago, Illinois, published in 1881.
The Catholic church at Somerset was first called "St Vincent de
Paul" and the name was changed to "St Anne". For simplicity reasons
and also because the records are at St Anne, we only use St Anne as
the place of birth, marriage and burials.
Part I also contains miscellaneous information about the life and
people in Canada. Some of our Canadian ancestors were soldiers and
some were "King's Daughters". Some information about them has been
included.
Part II list the families of the 1st and 2nd generation of the
Somerset Settlers. When the family was small and there was room on
the page, their children and grandchildren were listed. For lack of
space, many people living today are not included. It is the records
of the older people that we want to preserve.   The records of the
early settlers are sometimes hard to find.   Included with  these
families and the most important part of this book are the "Ancestor
Charts" showing the Canadian connection, their ancestors in Canada
and where they came from. Only the 1st chart is included because of
lack of space.
On some family pages it will say "for children, see family page".
Some of these are not in this book but in their Family Book.
Codes Used: n born
b baptised, sometimes born
m  married
d  died
s buried
cn notary's contract
ca about
S Somerset, Wisconsin
*Rosalie Parnell,deceased~page 667
Cora Belisle
Bayport, MN
Earl Belisle
Minneapolis, MN
1981
Revised April 1984
Revised September 1985
*Granddaughter of Thomas Parnell,     "    November  1990
one of the first settlers at
Somerset                         2