Denomme and Emard Common Ancestry (From: Family Heritage of the Emard and Boucher Families)

The Emard and Boucher families both originated from France and immigrated to Canada and the United States. This collection chronicles the families, most specifically the Emards, through photographs, letters, and genealogy. Family Heritage of the Emard and Boucher Families was a three ring binder put together by Therese Emard and Laura Munski to fulfill "a strong desire to preserve [their] family history." The contents were divided into nine folders based on individual chapters predetermined by Emard and Munski, and were kept in their original order. The contents begin with individual Emard and Boucher (pronounced Bushee) ancestry dating back to 1581, and are then connected through a separate index of marriages and resulting children. The collection follows the family to Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, and is more specifically directed towards Pierre Joseph Emard (1892 -1944), as most information and artifacts are supplied for him. The majority of this collection is from Pierre Emard’s World War I experience, ranging from draft cards, exemption denials, letters home, medals and patches. Emard was unable to avoid the draft and was eventually sent to military bases in Iowa, Georgia, and New York before being sent to France in 1919. Two binders, the first primary documents, the second transcriptions, document Emard’s journey through World War I. After the war, Emard married Ida May Boucher. Eight years later Ida May passed away. Pierre Emard had to raise his family alone and due to mustard gas in the war, received subsidiary checks from the government. The family lived off these until Emard’s death in 1944. Joseph "Eddy" Emard (September 21, 1925 – March 20, 2001), Pierre Emard’s oldest son, is documented through photographs. After the death of Pierre Emard, Eddy took over supporting the family by working for the railroad. Therese Marie (Emard) Thompson was a daughter of Pierre Emard, and sister of "Eddy" Emard, and also is documented through photographs. She kept and maintained the family’s records and passed them down to her daughter, Laura Munski. To further specify genealogical ties found in Family Heritage of the Emard and Boucher Families, two published family histories, Our French Ancestry in Huron County 1631-1976, and Our French Canadian Ancestry 1631-1982, were included in the collection. The books document a number of families including the Denomme, Durand, Ducharme (relation to Emard), Masse, LaPorte, and Geoffroi. An oversize folder was placed in the oversize file cabinets and contains a family photo of Pierre Emard (Pierre Joseph Emard’s father) with his siblings, as well as the 1976 Red Lake Falls centennial newspaper, The Gazette. The newspaper shares stories pertaining specifically to the Emard family, as well as additional history on Red Lake Falls. George Thompson, brother to Laura Munski, put together seven different genealogical charts and each covers a section of the Emard or Boucher families. They are entitled, Descendants of Pierre Emard (3 copies), Descendants of Joseph Boucher, Ole Hovet, Descendants of Ida May Boucher, Ancestors of Pierre Emard, Descendants of George Thompson, and the last chart entitled Ancestors of George Bennet Thompson Jr. combines all the ancestry into one over-arching chart. The charts are bundled into six poster tubes placed adjacent to the collection on the shelves. These materials were donated to Special Collections by Dr. Laura Munski, Grand Forks, North Dakota, in January 2007 (2007-2894) and January 2012 (2012-3150).