Like his great-great-great grandfather Francois , Moise Noel decided to seek his fortune in another country-America. Unlike Francois, however, Moise did not come by himself. He was already married, with a family that numbered eight children. It is not known exactly when this family immigrated to America. His ninth child, Eugenie or Jennie, would be born on American soil in 1866. The family is enumerated in the Berkshire County census in 1870, but not 1860.
Moise made his living as a stone mason, like his father Charles. Moise lived the rest of his life in Berkshires, dying in 1889.
Moise Noel's son Moses also raised his family in the Berkshire County area. His occupation was also stone mason. Moses and his wife Exilda were the parents of 13 children, although only 9 of them survived to adulthood.
The Building of a Church - St. Raphael's in Williamstown
Since about 1895, there has been an entity known as St. Raphael's Church in Williamstown. Where this church was originally housed is not known; but according to vaious articles in the North Adams Transcript, there had been weddings and funeral services in St. Raphael's.
However, 12 men of the parish decided to join forces to contribute to and raise money for the building of a new church. Throughout the years of 1895-1899, the North Adams Transcript has been filled with references to various fund raising efforts "for the benefit of St. Raphael's church". These benefits were often performances given by members of the families of the 12 men.
An exact date for the building of this church is not know; a real estate record (see below) indicated that it was built in 1899.Of the abovementioned 12 men, 5 are members of this family by blood or marriage. They are as follows:
Felix Archambeault- Husband of Adeline Noel, Moise Noel's daughter.
The names of the other 6 men are: Henry Ethier Akey, Sr.; Henry Ethier Akey, Jr; David Bastien; Theophil Bourdeau; David Hebert; Peter Martin; and Joseph Moise Roussey.The church that these men helped to found was built by Porter and Hanum of North Adams. The church was one of their major projects. There were reported to be many French-Canadian skilled workers employed on this project. Did that include some of the Noel family stone masons? I would like to think so.
Today, the church still stands in Williamstown, a handsome-looking structure with a large rectory built next to it. The church, however, does not hold services anymore; according to a commerical real estate listing from February of 2009, the church and the rectory building are for sale. Both seem to be in very good shape. Go here to take a look at the church that our family helped to build 100 years ago.
The only son of Moses Noel/Exilda Beauchamp to carry on the family tradition of stone masonry was Joseph. Joseph was the last of the stone masons in this Noel line; although son Felix did give his father a hand on the Duncan House at Williams College.Moses and Exilda's son Charles opted to work in the shoe factory. The shoe industry was gaining steam since the invention of a sewing machine by Singer in 1851 that could stitch leather. With the advent of the McKay sole sewing machine, which was invented around 1858 or so, the shoe industry began to thrive. Maybe Charles wanted to be a part of this cutting edge technology; much as our sons and daughters today desire careers in the exciting world of computers. Charles may have met his wife, Mary Baker, in the shoe factory as well. On their marriage record in 1884, she lists her occupation as shoe worker.
As for Moses' other sons, they seemed to find work in other places. Felix was employed for a time at Williamstown Manufacturing, and Fred ended up relocating to Connecticut.
Wilfred, Moses and Exilda's youngest living son, ended up opening his own electric and battery shop in the Adams/North Adams area.
Charles and Mary's oldest child, son Edgar, also became a shoe worker. It is unknown why Edgar and his mother Mary left the beauty of the Berkshires and headed east after Mary obtained a divorce from husband Charles in 1900. The logical assumption is that they were heading to where the work was, as the shoe industry in North Adams seemed to have been grinding to a halt by this time. The eventual demise of this industry in the Berkshires may have been precipitated by the actions of shoe factory owner C.T. Sampson when, in June of 1870, he imported Chinese labor from California to replace shoe workers who were on strike.Edgar married his wife Josephine Brunell, on 2 October 1905 in Brockton; their first child, Viola, was born in Randolph in 1907. Randolph is located about 15 miles south of Boston and about 6 miles north of Brockton. The Randolph/Brockton area seemed to have a thriving boot and shoe industry; and it's possible that, given its proximity to Boston, that it was paying better wages than North Adams.
According to the 1910 census for Randolph, Mary was living in a residence with her own mother, Julia Rand. Mary was still working in the shoe factories as well.
Edgar and Josephine would give birth to another child, Joseph Russell, in Randolph, before relocating to Brockton, MA. Brockton was a much larger city and also had a thriving shoe industry--possibly one of the largest in the state at the time, and it would stand to reason that better wages would again be the driving force behind the move. Again, an exact date for this move is unknown due to conflicting data. The couple's third child, Marion Hazel, was born in Brockton in 1913 according to her birth certificate. However, Josephine's obituary in 1920 stated that the family had only lived in the Brockton area a couple of weeks.
Edgar would live out the rest of his life in Brockton, appearing from census records to live in close proximity to his mother and his oldest daughter after her marriage.
Edgar's son Joseph (or Russell as he was known) seemed to aspire to a far loftier goal than his father--he entered into an appreticeship and became a very talented machinist, eventually becoming employed by the Ward Machine Company. His marriage to Isabelle Gibbons would eventually end in divorce sometime before his death in 1949.Beyond Brockton
Joseph Russell and Isabelle's son Joseph is my father. He married my mother, Frances Puliafico from Braintree, in 1957. I was born a year later in Brockton City Hospital. My brother was born in 1961 in Norwood, MA.
In 1964, our family relocated to Florida, where they still are today--all except me. True to our family's history, I have settled in an entirely different area (West Virginia) than the one I was raised in; and experienced acclimating myself to a different climate, different culture, different accents and patterns of speech, etc. I believe that we all had the same goal in mind--a better life for our families. Will my children find new horizons to explore as they grow older and spread their wings? It all remains to be seen as this fascinating thing we call life continues to unfold.Sources:
"Our Founding Fathers of St. Raphael's Church" (100 year commemerative booklet)
North Adams Transcript
This page was updated April 2009. .
Noel Family of Brockton, MA by Jolynn Noel Winland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States LicenseWhat does this mean? .
Email: littleangeljw@yahoo.com
