Title: Earl Belisle Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1975-1990

Creator:

• Belisle, Earl

Call Number: River Falls Mss EQ; PH 6405

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (3 archives boxes) and 26 photographs

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives and Area Research Center, Chalmer Davee Library, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, ; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-River Falls, Chalmer Davee Library / River Falls Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Genealogies of the Belisle-Dufresne family and the Parent-Mars family, and histories of the early settlers at Somerset (Wis.) and the Apple River Settlement (Polk County, Wis.), compiled by Earl Belisle. The first genealogy is that of Joseph Belisle (born 1845) and his wife Celina Dufresne of Somerset, Wisconsin, their children, and their ancestors in the province of Quebec including surnames Germain and Bouin. The Parent-Mars genealogy concerns the French-Canadian ancestors of Marie-Louise Parent (1851-1938) of Somerset, Wisconsin who, in 1872, married Joseph Maher (later Mars). Additionally, there is a history, including genealogies, of the early settlers of Somerset (Wis.), especially Louis and Joseph Parent as well as a history of the French-Canadians who settled in the Apple River Settlement, near Range (Wis.) with family genealogies. Included throughout are reproductions of photographs, maps, and family documents.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-rf00eq

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The story of Somerset, Wis. began in October of 1852, when two brothers, Louis and Joseph Parent, settled on the east bank of the Saint Croix River at the mouth of the Apple River. They were French Canadians from Quebec, as were most of the other early settlers including the names Parent, Germain, Parnell, Carufel, Veilleux, Martell, Audette, Rivard, la Liberte, Roi, Montbriand, Belisle, Bourbou, and St. Pierre. Somerset Township was organized in 1856, the name being selected by another early settler, Samuel Harriman of Maine.

Louis and Joseph Parent, first settlers of Somerset, Wis. wrote home to Quebec, Canada extolling the virtues of their new locale and ten of their siblings relocated to Somerset with their families, as did two cousins. French Canadian families began to inhabit the Apple River Settlement in Polk County in the 1870's and 1880's. Some early names include Lemire, Pearson, Gamache, Carpentier, Gonier, Gallant, Durant, Chouinard, Landry, Penard, and Lemoine.

The collection consists of three manuscripts compiled by Earl Belisle including Somerset, Wisconsin: 125 Pioneer Families and Canadian Connection, 125th Year, The Parent Family: First Settlers of Somerset, Wisconsin, and The Apple River Settlement Range, Polk County, Wisconsin.

Somerset, Wisconsin: 125 Pioneer Families and Canadian Connection, 125th Year, by Rosalie Parnell, Cora Belisle, and Earl Belisle, was published in 1984 and 1988. The manuscript reprints most of L'Histoire Raconte (Resume of History) by Rosalie Parnell (1952), a short book which recounts the early history of Somerset, St. Anne's Parish, and the surrounding “Pomme de Terre” region. The manuscript also reprints excerpts on the history of St. Croix County and both the village and the township of Somerset from History of the St. Croix Valley by A. B. Easton (1909) and History of Northern Wisconsin by Western Historical Company of Chicago, Illinois (1881). Included with the manuscript are maps of Somerset, St. Croix County, Quebec, and France, a brief history of the French Canadians, copies of newspaper articles, a commencement program for St. Ann's School (1914), and photographs. The most voluminous section of the manuscript consists of genealogical information on local families in the form of ancestor charts and family group sheets, arranged alphabetically, some of which are supplemented with photographs and brief biographical sketches.

Another manuscript is that of The Parent Family: First Settlers of Somerset, Wisconsin by Earl Belisle (1990). It contains the genealogy of the Parent families of Somerset consisting of family group sheets and ancestor charts supplemented with birth, death, and marriage certificates, probate documents, brief published biographies, articles on French-Canadian history, and maps of Quebec and France.

The third manuscript is that of The Apple River Settlement Range, Polk County, Wisconsin by Earl Belisle (1990). It begins with a brief compiled history of the settlement including photographs, and also includes in Part I histories of Polk County reprinted from History of the St. Croix Valley by A. B. Easton (1909) and History of Northern Wisconsin by Western Historical Company of Chicago, Illinois (1881). Also included are photographs of Quebec churches, land deeds, and maps of the Saint Croix valley, the Apple River Settlement and surrounding areas, Franklin and Clinton Counties of New York, Quebec, and France. Part II consists of genealogical information on the ancestors of the Apple River settlers and includes reprinted biographies from various sources, ancestor charts with notes and cross-listings, and copies of records including census records, birth, death, and marriage certificates and land records. Part III consists of family group sheets dealing with the descendants of the Apple River settlers, supplemented with photographs, land records, obituaries, birth, marriage, and death certificates, probate records, and brief biographical sketches by family members. Parts II and III both contain numerous handwritten notations and added resources not found in the published version. Volume III of the manuscript is an unpublished appendix to the published work and contains further ancestor charts and family group sheets supplemented with biographical sketches, probate records, birth certificates, baptismal records, census records, and photographs. It also contains correspondence of Earl Belisle regarding his genealogical research (1986).

Acquisition Information

Presented by Earl Belisle, Minneapolis, Minn., 1976; and Janell Norman, River Falls, Wis., 2003. Accession Number: M76-583, M2004-233

Processing Information

Processed by Marguerite Moran, October 2004.

River Falls Mss EQ Box   1 Folder   1	Belisle-Dufresne genealogy
Box   1 Folder   2	Parent-Mars genealogy
	Somerset 125
Box   2 Folder   1	A-C, Vol. I
Box   2 Folder   2	D-O, Vol. II
Box   2 Folder   3	P-Z, Vol. III
Box   2 Folder   4	The Parent Family
	The Apple River Settlement
Box   2 Folder   5	Vol. 1
Box   3 Folder   1	Vol. 2
Box   3 Folder   2	Vol. 3
Box   3 Folder   3	Vol. 4
PH 6405	Photographs