Like many other homes in this area, this one was built by E.J. Swedback. It was built in 1903 for Albert Gray, a laborer for Crookston Lumber Company, who resided here in 1904.
It then had a series of owners until the 1930s.
Julius and Jeannette Fahl (1910-11)
P.N. Peterson (1913 phone directory)
C. I. Courtnage (1920-1921)
F. J. Lefaive, G. P. Heinzelmann (1922-1923)
C. D. Triplett (1924-25)
Marion, Glendowyn, Loretta Aldrich, Marion was carpenter (1927-28)
Samuel and Jessie Ross moved from 1015 Park Ave. to this home in the 1930’s. The census says that he was a French speaking laborer, born in France. He came to this country in 1905 and married Jessie Beighley of Nymore on Oct 22, 1913. They lived here for about ten years. They had at least two sons; Leo and Lowell.
The house was owned by Palmer and Erma Moen in 1942. They moved and it became the home of the Desautel family for the next 50 years.
I remember Martha Desautel as a hard worker who helped with the First Friday morning cocoa which the ladies made in huge pots in the kitchen at St. Philip’s School. She was always active in the organizations of the Catholic church.
Martha was born May 4, 1918, to Emma Rock and George Gagner in Brooks, Minn. Her grandfather was John Rock, an elder of the Otter Tail Chippewa. She attended St. Joseph’s Catholic boarding school in Crookston for high school. She moved to Bemidji with her father and sisters, Elaine (Taggart) and Bernice (Erickson) and attended Bemidji State University. She married Narcisse Desautel Oct. 28, 1940, and they settled in Bemidji in 1941.
Narcisse was born in the same neighborhood at Terrebonne in Red Lake County. He enlisted at Fort Snelling on Dec 9, 1944. When he returned, he worked for D C Dunham Lumber Company and then went into trucking. They separated in May of 1956 and he moved to Idaho. After the separation and subsequent divorce, she returned to BSU to complete her studies in business and accounting. She worked as a bookkeeper with Johnson’s Corner until she retired in 1984. She also worked several other second and third jobs to support her family. She was a loving mother, and her children considered her a pioneer “women’s libber.”
In 1974, she assisted with a reception for the Martin and Hilma Belair in celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. She hosted the Women’s Catholic Order of Foresters at her home on Nov 19, 1975.
She loved spending time with her family and often visited New Mexico and Arizona during winters. She enjoyed playing cards, sewing, embroidery, crocheting, hosting meals, traveling and reading. She was still in her home in 1995, but I don’t know how much longer.
The house was home to five children, Emma Jean, Marie, Philip, Janice and Darla. Two daughters, Mary and Denise, died shortly after birth in 1954 and 1955.