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What happened to the Gigueres?

    In a previous post I revealed how I found Rose Peshek-Jolley's connection to the Peshek family through her nieces, Blanche and Ruby Gegay.  Let's take a look at the Gegay family, which is sometimes spelled Giguere.

      

Marriage register from the Wisconsin Historical Society
Mary Peshek married Charles F. Giguere on August 8, 1889, in Oconto, Wisconsin.  They had four children, Charles D., Blanche Ellen, Ruby Mary, and Eva Muriel.  Charles is listed as a hotel keeper in the 1910 Census.  Charles' brother David worked at the hotel as a cook.

1900 Census Wausaukee, Wisc.

 Charles Giguere ran the Wausaukee Hotel in Wausaukee, WI.  The Wausaukee Independent Newspaper from December 1, 1900 mentions an incident involving Charles and a drunken woodsmen.
"Assault with intent to kill....George Belling, a woodsman, will
have to answer to that charge. He pointed a revolver at Charles
Giguere's head in the sample room of the Wausaukee Hotel
Sunday afternoon. Belling came to Wausaukee Saturday night
from Holmes & Son's camp and took on a fair size load of
booze. The next morning, he proceeded to increase the size of
his hag, and when he called at the Wausaukee Hotel, he was
magnificently skated. Mr. Giguere, who runs the place, claims
that Belling came up to him as he was standing near the bar and
struck him.  One thing led to another, with the belligerent Mr.
Belling pointing a .38 revolver at Giguere's head.  Giguere

ducked.  Belling was apprehended by Deputy Sheriff B.S."
Wausaukee and the surrounding cities are located in Northern Wisconsin, along the border of Michigan.  The logging industry was booming and most people were employed by saw mills, or made a living providing services to the lumberjacks and their families.  I'm sure a lot of the guests at the Wausaukee Hotel were of a rough sort.  The Wausaukee Hotel was built by the Menominee River Brewing Company in 1899, so that they could showcase their beer.  I can imagine there were many such rowdy and drunken nights at the Wausaukee Hotel.  What a crazy place to raise four young children!  Mary's brother Robert J Peshek also lived at the hotel with them for a time.  He was a knot sawyer, and worked at one of the nearby mills.

1905 State Census of Wausaukee, Wisc.

        Charles dies October 4th, 1905 and Mary Peshek soon follows in December.  Charles was only 37 and Mary 36 years old.  What caused them to die so young? and die only months apart?  Where do the Gegay children end up after the sudden deaths of their parents?  I'm unable to find any more documents for their son Caharles D. The years 1905-1910 are a mystery, until we find the daughters again, in the 1910 Census.  Blanche and Ruby live with their aunt, Rose (Peshek-Jolley) Perrodin in Wisconsin Rapids. 

1910 Census of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisc.


Wood County Reporter February 10th, 1910
Wood County Reporter January 13th, 1910


 













But where is Eva Murial?  After some digging, I found an Eva Giguere listed, in the 1910 Census for Wausaukee, as a ward to John and Joanna Underwood!


1910 Census of Wausaukee, Wisc.
John Underwood owned and operated the Exchange Hotel in Wausaukee, from 1888 until it burned down in 1911.  That same year, Eva graduates from the local school, St. Augustine's.
Green Bay Press Gazette, May 26, 1911

Wood County Reporter April 6th, 1911












Meanwhile, Eva's sisters, Blanche and Ruby have become teachers.  Rose Peshek-Jolley was a graduate of the Oshkosh Normal school for teachers.  Perhaps she influenced her nieces to also become teachers.  In 1912, Blanche marries Walter Croy, a telephone operator, and eventually moves to Milwaukee.
Green Bay Press Gazette June 5th, 1912
Green Bay Press Gazette July 3rd, 1912














Ruby and Eva continue to teach in the rural schools of the Wisconsin countryside, and visit family all over Wisconsin whenever they have vacation.  Ruby marries Loren Nowell July 10, 1918 and they eventually move to Florida.  Eva continues teaching until she marries George J Altenburg, sometime between 1920-1925.  And that's the story of the Gegay sisters who, although they lost their parents, gained family all over Wisconsin and kept the Peshek, Woodruff, Perrodin branches connected.
Stevens Point Journal August 2nd, 1918




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