Sepia Saturday 741. First in a series about 1943 letters from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau while he was in the US Army during WWII.
One challenge that family historians grapple with is teasing out the inter-relationships that existed among the family members and friends of our ancestors and collateral relatives.
How to discover kinship and friendship connections so many generations later?
That’s where diaries and letters prove invaluable — such as the WWII letters home from my paternal uncle Frederic Mason Charboneau.
Uncle Fred’s letters were written to his mother, Mary (Owen) Charboneau. Since he was barred from mentioning military details he often turned to writing about family and friends — especially at holiday time when he cataloged the gifts and cards he had received.
Nearly a year in this man’s army
“Somewhere in North Africa, January 1, 1943, Dear Mom, Well here it is another year and almost a year since I have been in this man’s army,” Fred wrote. “To begin with, I received the two boxes of candy from Loft’s and also the box of spreads and jellies from New York. By the way, did you buy that from Franklin Simon?“
“The reason I ask is this,” he continued. “The package itself came from a firm called Canteen Goodies, and the same day that I got it, the mailman found a card in the bag with my name on it, with the card signed Mom and Dad, and Franklin Simon’s name on the envelope. There wasn’t a sign of any other package, and the package that I did get was broken open on one end, but there wasn’t anything missing. Let me know when you write about this.“
Family and friends network
Uncle Fred followed this with a list of who else he had also heard from and what they had sent him, including this short, but interesting, passage:
“I received a flashlight from Hubert and Doris, and also a couple of books from Nora and Mr. and Mrs. Desjardins,” he wrote. “Also, Christmas cards from Mae, Genevieve, and Dewey and Beulah.”
Hubert and Doris were Fred’s middle brother and his wife. Mr. and Mrs Desjardins were the in-laws of Fred’s oldest brother Owen (married to their daughter Aline) — as well as long-time neighbors. Nora was likely Aline’s sister, Nora (Desjardins) Dibbins, also a neighbor, who was a high school teacher of French and English, according to the 1950 US Census.1FamilySearch requires free login to view records.
Mae was likely Mae (Charbonneau) Van Ry — a cousin of Fred’s father Wm. Ray Charboneau. She grew up in Camden, N.Y., and I recognized her name from family history research. Dewey Charboneau was Wm. Ray’s brother (and Fred’s uncle), who lived in Dolgeville, N.Y., with his wife Beulah and her daughter Genevieve Kany. They all worked at the Daniel Green shoe factory, according to the 1950 US Census.2FamilySearch requires free login to view records.
Hube, Doris, Owen and Aline — and even Aline’s, mother, who we called Ma Mère — I had known as a child. But the others, whose names I had only seen on documents, came alive as part of Uncle Fred’s family and friends network. So did Fred’s future wife, Jean Bastow, who I don’t remember meeting.
A billfold from Saks Fifth Avenue
“Did I tell you that Jean Bastow got me a nice billfold?” Fred asked. “She bought it at Saks so I imagine it is a pretty good one. It was the only one that I had for Christmas.”
In his next letter, dated Jan. 9, 1943, Fred wrote, “I also received a letter from Jean Bastow today. It was kind of an odd situation. She started off by thanking me for the present, and I didn’t even know what it was that I sent her. [Fred had asked his mother to arrange the gift]. But she went on to say that it was her favorite candy and when I opened your letter, I found out what it was.”
In the same letter he mentioned a few more gifts. “Today I received the Jack knife from Viv [Vivian Norton from Otter Lake] and the scarf and picture from Franny and Marion [Fred’s second oldest brother and wife]. I imagine the rest of my packages will be along in a little while as the APO is just jammed with mail.”
Of course I knew Uncle Franny and Aunt Marion, but not family friend Viv Norton — a great pal of my grandfather Wm. Ray — who my dad used to talk about.
These two letters from Uncle Fred were invaluable in establishing some long-ago family/friend connections — and also underscoring how important gifts, cards and letters were to the troops stationed far from home during WWII.
Up next: More of Uncle Fred’s 1943 letters. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit the other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday
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