Our Grandma Benoit was born Edith Maude Giasson on November 2, 1914 near Aroma Park, Illinois. Her father Frank was of French-Canadien ancestry, like her future husband, and her mother, Josephine Posing, was of Luxemburger ancestry. She had three older sisters—Hazel, Millie and Irene—and two younger brothers, Franklin and George.
I have been able to research her family in birth and census records but nothing makes her history come alive like photographs. Luckily, my sister Aimee inherited Grandma’s scrapbook, which held many photos of her family and friends growing up.
Grandma and her sisters were very close and there are many photos of the group. I especially like this one with two of their Giasson cousins:
I love the dresses, shoes and hats of the era. I also love to see the family resemblance to our generation and even to Simon. This picture of grandma and her mother is one I keep near my desk. I don’t believe it is dated, but it is probably around 1929 or 1930 like many of the photographs in the book. If so, great-grandma Josephine Giasson would have been about 40 years old.
You can also see that they lived in a rural farm area. Her father Frank had been born in neighboring St. Anne, Illinois and her mother was likely born near Evanston, Illinois just north of Chicago before her family moved to the Kankakee-Bourbonnais area.
Grandma married Donald Benoit just after her 20th birthday in November 1934. Her scrapbook contains a few photos of him, as well as photos of her siblings’ families and children.
While I borrowed the scrapbook from Aimee and scanned it in 2011, I still have to upload all of the images to Flickr. That will be a project for this month. The album can be found at Edith Giasson Benoit scrapbook.
I so look forward to this project you are embarking upon. I agree that family photographs enhance the stories and bring them to life. You and Aimee are so fortunate to have known and loved your Benoit grandparents and to have these photos. Very cool.