Marie-Blanche Celanire Fernande Bessette (1911 - 1959)

Born 7 Sep 1911 in Mariapolis, Lorne, Manitoba, Canada

Ancestors

Died 6 Apr 1959 at age 47 in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw, Michigan, United States

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Biography

Blanche was the daughter of Israel Bessette and Laura Fortier dit Jeannotte. When Blanche Bessette was born on September 7, 1911, in St Alphonse, Manitoba, Canada, her father, Israel-Lafayette Bessette, was 30, and her mother, Laura Fortier dit Jeannotte, was 26. She had four brothers and four sisters.

According to her younger sister Sylvia, Blanche was injured in childhood during surgery, which resulted in one leg being shorter than the other. Sylvia also mentioned that Blanche had "brain fever" (Encephalitis) as a child, which occurred concurrently with the 1918-19 flu epidemic in Manitoba, Canada. About 1,200 died in Winnipeg and at least 50,000 in Canada. Many who survived never returned to their pre-illness state.

In 1921, Blanche lived in Morris, Provencher, Manitoba. She migrated to Detroit, Wayne, Michigan at the age of 12 with her family in December 1923. She lived on Hendrie in Detroit in 1930; at 5562 Sheridan in Detroit in 1935; and York Township, Washtenaw, Michigan in 1940 until her death. She never married.

Blanche died on April 6, 1959, in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw, Michigan, at the age of 47, and was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.

Sources

• Web: Manitoba, Canada, Birth Index, 1870-1917. Manitoba Consumer and Corporate Affairs; Manitoba, Canada. Name: Marie Blanche Celanise Bessette; female; birth date: 8 Sep 1911; birth place: R.M. of Lorne, Manitoba, Canada; mother: Laura Fortier.

• "Canada, Prairie Provinces Census, 1916", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMGV-W4B : 10 August 2022), Blanch Bessett in entry for Israel Bessett, 1916.

• 1921 Census of Canada, Reference Number: RG 31; Folder Number: 26; Census Place: Provencher, Manitoba; Page Number: 2.

• U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960. Name: Blanche Bassette; female; race: French; arrival age: 12; birth date: abt 1911; birth place: Canada; residence place: Canada; arrival date: Dec 1923; port of arrival: Detroit, Michigan.

• "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7S7-DDN : Thu Oct 05 19:27:42 UTC 2023), Entry for Israel Bessette and Laura Bessette, 1930.

• "United States Census, 1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K41B-DHV : Tue Oct 03 00:36:45 UTC 2023), Entry for Blanche Bessett, 1940.

• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVGB-MHLM : 10 May 2023), Blanche Celanise Bessette, ; Burial, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States of America, Mount Olivet Cemetery; citing record ID 133288561, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LRF3-71R

• https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/101924773/person/250012411137/facts