Raymond Joseph Gilsoul (1908 - 1968)

Born 20 Aug 1908 in Esplee, Minnesota

Ancestors

Died 8 Dec 1968 at age 60 in Wolf Creek, Lewis and Clark, Montana, United States

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Biography

Raymond was born on August 20th 1908 in Esplee, Minnesota, to parents Anthony Gilsoul and Ida (Bousquet). Ray was the oldest of 5 children.

The 1910 US census lists Raymond incorrectly as Robert, but we find him as a one year old, living with his parents in Lee township, Beltrami county, Minnesota.^[1] Anthony Gilsoul had just received a Federal land Grant of a 160 acre plot in 1910, located in Northwestern MN.^[2]

Ray's mother Ida died in 1918, during childbirth for what would have been her 6th child.^[3]

The 1920 US census shows 11 year old Raymond, and 3 siblings living in the St James Orphanage in Duluth, Minnesota.^[4][5] (note the orphanage spans several census pages) The Gilsoul children, especially Ray, were known to have escaped the institution several times, and ran away trying to get back home to their father, over 100 miles away. The children were eventually reunited with their father Anthony in International Falls, but the details are not known.

The 1930 US census shows 21 year old Ray working as a servant in the resort hotel run by Frank Maltby in Piedmont, Washington state.^[6] It also lists others in this location as cook, waitress, servant and roomer, so it's probably an Inn or lakeside resort. Piedmont is located on the north shore of Lake Crescent, on the edge of the National forest in Washington's Olympic peninsula. In the surrounding census pages there are many dozens of men showing up as roomers in numerous boarding houses, with most reporting as working in the logging industry.

Sometime in the 1930s, Ray relocates from Washington state to Alaska.

The 1940 US census finds 32 year old Ray and 30 year old wife Margaret living in Anchorage, Alaska.^[7]

In 1941, Raymond filled out a draft card for WWII while working for the Alaska Railroad. He was living in Anchorage with his 1st wife Margaret.^[8][9]

Ray began active duty in WWII in August 1943.^[10] He was involved in the India & Burma campaigns. He received the Good Conduct Medal & the China Memorial Ribbon while serving over 2 years. He received an honorable discharge on November 23th, 1945.

By wars end, Raymond's first marriage had apparently failed, and he moved back to the lower 48. (details not known, but we know he showed up in Minnesota)

On January 14th, 1946, Raymond Gilsoul married Ida (Ness) Gilsoul, his brother Denny's widow.^[11] Ida already had 2 daughters by Denny, and the new union of Ida & Ray would add 2 sons. That means the 2 younger boys were half siblings & first cousins to the girls.

In 1950, the US census found 41 year old Ray in Great Falls, Montana, working as a brakeman on the railroad.^[12] On the next page, we see that wife Ida was working 60 hours a week at the small family grocery that they operated. Four children rounded out the home, 16 year old Betty Jo, Lanae-13, Joseph-3, & Richard-1 year old.

He and his wife Ida (Ness) died in a plane crash in 1968, near Wolf Creek, Montana.^{[13][14][15][16][17]} They are buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, USA.^[18]

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2L6-SQX : accessed 13 December 2019), Tony Gilsoul, Lee, Beltrami, Minnesota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 29, sheet 8A, family 148, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 690; FHL microfilm 1,374,703.
2. ↑ 1910 US Federal Land Grant, Anthony Gilsoul https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=153643&docClass=SER&sid=a5eac21o.1mn#patentDetailsTabIndex=1
3. ↑ "Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4HC-C2T : 4 December 2014), Ida Gilsoul, 30 May 1918; from "Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002,"
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MW18-BLR : accessed 12 December 2019), Raymond J Gilsoul, Duluth, St Louis, Minnesota, United States; citing ED 98, sheet 11A, line 20, family , NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 858; FHL microfilm 1,820,858.
5. ↑ St James Orphanage https://zenithcity.com/archive/historic-architecture/st-james-orphanage/
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCS2-6B9 : accessed 13 December 2019), Ray J Gilsoul in household of Frank E Maltby, Piedmont, Clallam, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 22, sheet 1B, line 87, family 33, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2486; FHL microfilm 2,342,220.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYWN-CCZ : 7 December 2019), Raymond J Gilsoul, Anchorage City, Anchorage Recording District - No. 31, Third Judicial Division, Alaska Territory, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 3-22, sheet 22A, line 24, family 324, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4580.
8. ↑ "Alaska, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1945," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WR-LWPQ : 14 August 2019), Raymond Joseph Gilsoul, 22 Jan 1941; records extracted by FamilySearch, images digitized by Ancestry; citing Draft Registration, Anchorage, , Alaska, United States, NAID 2839217. RG 147, National Archives at St. Louis, Missouri, n.d., FHL microfilm .
9. ↑ "Alaska, WWII Statement of Service Records, 1948-1949", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZSL-WMQB : 9 March 2021), Raymond J Gilsoul, 1945.
10. ↑ "Alaska, WWII Statement of Service Records, 1948-1949", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZSL-WMQB : Mon Mar 11 00:50:11 UTC 2024), Entry for Raymond J Gilsoul, 13 Nov 1945.
11. ↑ Certificate # K 450 Minnesota Official Marriage System https://moms.mn.gov/
12. ↑ 1950 US census https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FQS-38XF
13. ↑ Plane crash news https://books.google.com/books?id=cLVWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA19&dq=Gilsoul&
14. ↑ Newspaper article of plane crash https://books.google.com/books?id=cbVWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3&dq=Gilsoul&
15. ↑ "Montana, County Births and Deaths, 1840-2004," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKNR-K6YQ : 4 August 2017), Raymond J Gilsoul, 08 Dec 1968; citing Death, Sieben Ranch, Lewis And Clark, Montana, United States, various county recorder offices; FHL microfilm 2,314,179.
16. ↑ "Montana, County Births and Deaths, 1840-2004," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKNR-K6YS : 4 August 2017), Ida M Gilsoul, 08 Dec 1968; citing Death, Sieben Ranch, Lewis And Clark, Montana, United States, various county recorder offices; FHL microfilm 2,314,179.
17. ↑ "Montana, Cascade County Records, 1880-2009," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKM7-SQN7 : 16 August 2019), Raymond Joseph Gilsoul, 08 Dec 1968; citing Death, Wolf Creek, Montana, United States, Great Falls Genealogy Society; FHL microfilm 004893976.
18. ↑ Find-A-Grave memorial https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91679155/raymond-joseph-gilsoul

See Also

• FamilySearch profile for reference, may contain errors. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LYPQ-7CV
• Billion Graves memorial https://billiongraves.com/grave/Raymond-J-Gilsoul/3930256