More About the Children of
Narcisse and Edesse.

Narcisse Rocque Petelle (1854-1929).

Narcisse Petelle was born in the year 1854 on March 7th, and baptized in La-Nativité-de-la-Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie-de-LaPrairie, Québec. His godparents were his uncle Régis Pétel and aunt Hermine Mondou, both of whom were able to sign their name in the church record. His father was a shoemaker. The family left LaPrairie and moved to Montréal before the birth of his sister Hermine in May 1856. Rocque appears in the 1861 census with his family living in a two story brick house on St. Joseph street. At age 7, he was in school.

But for a brief stint near Rouses Point, New York, he grew up in Montréal. In the 1871 census as "Roch" his age was given as 14 though he was 17. He was an apprentice printer.

In the News.

Rocque's family made the move from Québec to Wisconsin later that year. In the 1875/76 Milwaukee city directory he appears as a laborer at the rolling mill, but within a year or two was again working as a printer. The timing of his career change coincides with layoffs at the mill, so it was fortunate he found a position which allowed him to put the skills he learned from his apprenticeship to practice.

About 26 when his father Narcisse died in 1880, he continued to live in the family home owned by his mother Edesse. He was a member of the local union, serving in 1882 as the assistant sergeant-at-arms for Cream City Typographical, No. 23.

Rocque left for Chicago around 1886, shortly after as his sister Matilda and her husband Henry Odenbrett made the move. Though he does still appear in Milwaukee directories, news accounts in July 1886 tell of his visits home. His term in 1887 as corresponding secretary for the Immaculate Conception Temperance Society may have required some amount of commuting. The Milwaukee Sentinel, in December 1890, tells us: "N.R. Petelle, a former Milwaukee boy and now a member of the business staff of The Chicago Daily News, is visiting his mother on Russell avenue." Another snippet related an unfortunate fishing accident in July 1892: ""N.R. Pettelle and C. A. Damon, representing a Chicago paper, were out in the recent storm fishing on Lake Winnebago, when their boat tipped over. They swam a mile to the shore, and were found in a very exhausted state."

His Marriage.

Luckily he was a good swimmer, but the near-death experience may have prompted him to pop the question to Miss Anna M. Smith. They were married a few months later in a morning ceremony at Holy Name church on October 18, 1892. He was 38 and she was 30. The couple settled in Milwaukee, appearing from time to time in the social news. One such event was a surprise masquerade party for a friend which his brothers, Eddie, Charles and Paul attended. In 1894 Narcisse and Annie were named godparents to his nephew Dolor (brother Edwin's son). He was a registered voter, and as an organizer of the Newsboys Association he helped collect money to rent rooms for the boys and establish a library for them.

The couple continued to make the social scene, attending soirees organized by the ladies of the Jolly Club of '96. The New Year was celebrated with an evening of games, music, and dancing at 126 Fifth street in rooms "elaborately decorated with palms, holly and potted plants." An "elaborate lunch" was served at 11:30 and all were wished a happy new year when the hour struck midnight.

At that time he was a wholesale distributor for various periodicals and was first located at 42 Loan & Trust Building. In 1898 he is in the city directory as manager of Petelle News Service on 204 Grand Avenue, with their home at 1720 Cedar. His ads in the classifieds for men and women for "light outdoor work" may have been for people to sell his lines. The periodicals he stocked included Argosy, Ladies' Home Journal, McClure's, International, Cosmopolitan, Education, and Four Hundred.

The Move West.

Census records in 1900 indicate the couple never had children. His occupation was described as that of "wholesale newspaper co." Sometime in the next few years he and his wife boarded a train on the Milwaukee Road, and headed west. In the 1910 census they appear in Tacoma, Washington – then as an editor for a newspaper. Though he had moved far from his family, he remained in touch. His brother Paul, the youngest of the clan, met and married his wife in Washington around 1912; and his niece Dessie McCampbell was in Washington for the birth of her son in 1913. The family was well connected by the railway and benefitted from the heyday of train travel.

His mother Edesse died in 1915. Narcisse and Annie had moved on to Portland, Oregon by 1920 where he continued at a newspaper. Annie worked as a saleslady in a department store according to the census. But he may have been counted twice: "Narcissus R. Petelle," was a lodger in Bremerton, Washington. He was Assistant Secretary for the Knights of Columbus. There were several other lodgers associated with this group at the same place. This census was taken two days after the one in Oregon, and the cities are close enough together for him to have traveled to Bremerton. Was he attending a convention?

Narcisse died at the age of 75 on October 2nd and was buried October 8, 1929 in Calvary Cemetery in Seattle. In the 1930 census Annie, a widow, was living at 535 Belmont Avenue in Seattle, but within a few years, she returned to Milwaukee to reside at St. Mary's convent. She died tragically on October 21, 1937 from complications after falling down stairs and was interred near her parents' graves in Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee two days later. She was 74 years old.