Sepia Saturdy 683. Fourth in a new series about letters written by my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau while in the US Army during WWII.
After spending his early childhood in Dolgeville, Utica and Whitesboro, N.Y., my paternal uncle Frederic Mason Charboneau moved north with his parents and four brothers to Otter Lake, N.Y. — a vacation spot in the state’s Adirondack foothills.
That’s where Uncle Fred spent his tweens, teens and young adult years — until he enlisted in the U.S. Army on Jan. 13, 1942. His childhood also paralleled that of my dad, Norman James Charboneau, since Fred was just six years older.
So, I was curious about their arrival in Otter Lake: When did the family move there? And how old were Uncle Fred and Dad at the time?
Uncle Fred, 12, was already living in Otter Lake when the 1930 US census11930 US Census: FamilySearch requires free login to view records. was taken, so his parents (my grandparents) William Ray and Mary (Owen) Charboneau must have moved the family before then. But when?
Happily, newspaper research provided some valuable clues to help narrow down the time frame of their Otter Lake arrival.
Uncle Fred joins birthday clubs
In the 1920s, the Utica Observer-Dispatch ran a weekly children’s page in its Sunday issue. On it was a coupon for children to sign up for the Sunshine Club operated by Peter Pan!
Club members could send letters or questions, which Peter Pan would answer and print in the paper. They could also enter contests, and their names appeared on the children’s page on their birthdays.
Uncle Fred, apparently a joiner from an early age, was listed as “Frederic Charboneau, Whitesboro” in the New Members column of the children’s page on March 28, 1926 (above). He was 8 years old – and still living in Whitesboro, near Utica, N.Y.
Fast forward three years to March 13, 1929, and Uncle Fred was back on the Utica Observer-Dispatch children’s page being recognized on his birthday (below).
Only now he was part of Uncle Ray’s Birthday Club — the Sunshine Club’s apparent successor. He is listed as “Frederic Charboneau, 11, of Whitesboro,” indicating that he and the family had not yet relocated to Otter Lake.
A decisive Otter Lake hotel ad
However, two months later, on May 28, 1929, an ad appeared in the Utica Daily Press (below) that seems to place the Charboneau family’s Otter Lake move in the spring of 1929 — when Fred was 11 and my dad was 5.
Headlined “Under New Management,” the ad lists my grandfather “W. Roy Charboneau, Proprietor” and says the hotel — located “43 miles from Utica” — will open on June 15, 1929.
Okay, they got my grandfather’s name wrong (it’s Ray, not Roy). But this ad is the clearest indication that Uncle Fred, my dad and their family likely moved to Otter Lake in 1929. And that’s the bucolic Adirondack setting where the census taker found them in April 1930.
More on Uncle Fred’s civilian life, including his school years, in the next post. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit this week’s other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday.
© 2023 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.
I love how you’re following the newspaper trails! Newspapers are great, the social media back in the day! A birthday club, how fun! Kids signed up for all sorts of cool clubs like that, like Annie’s Mystery Radio Club (Little Orphan Annie); it brought tons of anticipation, excitement, and a feeling of belonging. 🙂
Thanks, Diane. I have to laugh when folks say “what did we do before social media,” because there were ways to communicate going way back — it’s just the medium that has changed.
Aren’t newspapers the greatest? I love the stories they can tell about where our ancestors lived or worked.
They sure are! Otherwise, how would we know such interesting/obscure details?
I love that the newspapers did this; what a cool idea! I am an avid historical newspaper reader in our local area due to my personal research, and I wish this area would have had something similar. What a fun discovery!
We are indeed fortunate in New York State that there were many local newspapers back in the day — and some have been digitized. Finding mentions of ancestors and relatives adds to their story.
I love how you’ve built this story around articles and ads from newspapers. They are a great source. You’ve demonstrated why it’s a good idea to also research siblings of our ancestors. The story of your Uncle Fred’s young life will also give an insight into your Dads younger years.
Thanks, Jennifer! My dad was in the Navy in WWII, but I don’t have letters from him — so Uncle Fred ‘s letters and life are serving as a valuable proxy for details about their hometown and family during their childhood and young adult years. It’s giving me a new appreciation for sibling research 🙂
It’s fascinating how many useful clues can be found in old newspapers when searching for answers to genealogy riddles. I’ve often encountered long lists of names that newspapers used to provide for every kind of social event from children’s parties to church socials. What intrigues me is how an editor/reporter must have attended these events in order to accurately record names. Over time an editor of a small town paper must have literally met every person in their community and learned all the intricate family relationships! That tradition has tragically disappeared from modern newspapers. I can’t recall when I last saw similar lists of names.
So true, Mike! I was amazed by how many children joined the Sunshine Club and Uncle Ray’s Birthday Club — there was a huge long list each week of new members and/or birthdays celebrated. I’ll bet the page editor had fun receiving letters and coupons from the kids, much as you describe the community ties of local reporters who covered various social events and gatherings. A shame these paper are no longer around.
Living in a resort area is rather fun. My husband, being in the Forest Service, placed us living in the woods & mountains in resort areas or close to them – always by or near a river or lake. Fun times full of interesting times and people.
Excellent sleuthing I like to say, when you find enough documentation to narrow down a move of a family! I have done something similar for my New England family who moved to Galveston TX just before the Civil War. Yankees in the deep south! Great photos in your post too!
Thanks, Barb! I’m sure Uncle Fred never imagined that his birthday club membership would become a valuable family history clue more than 100 years later. Thank goodness for digitized newspaper archives 🙂
You are so right! My dad often reminisced about Otter Lake when I was growing up — and he made sure my sibs and I had outdoor experiences, too, at our family’s lakeside camp south of Binghamton, N.Y., where we went on weekends during our childhood.