Sunday, March 10, 2019

Amelia, Gus & Fred Piquet -- Idaho Sojourns

Fred's sister, Amelia, joined the LDS Christian Church, and moved out to Idaho with her children, Augustus (Gus) and Fred. She spent two major periods of time in Idaho, moving temporarily back to Boston to care for her and Fred's father, Johann Friedrich, prior to his passing. Afterwards, she returned once more to Idaho. During her first residence in Idaho, Amelia didn't live near Fred in American Falls or Rockland, choosing instead to make it in the vicinity of Blackfoot, over in Rich, Idaho, over the southwest, on the other side of the Snake River. Some information about Amelia and her sons is available in the Blackfoot, Idaho, newspaper, The Idaho Republican.



Besides building a home and improving land for a farm (described as being below the Watson Ranch), the Piquets got involved in other matter. Amelia's son Gus was made in 1905 the constable for the Rich precinct, which he served in that capacity through 1907. He served in other county positions -- as a polling judge, and as a clerk for the Bingham County school district.






When Amelia moved exactly back to Boston is unclear. In June 1907, Gus got married and moved over to Blackfoot.


Shortly after Gus moving out, and no doubt struggling to think of how to manage the farm without him, Amelia put her farm up for lease. In August 1907, we see notices in the 16th and 23rd newspapers:



We see notes sharing Amelia was in Boston (back at her father's place on Brookside Avenue), the earliest of which started on December 25, 1908.


We see others later in November 1909 and June 1911:



Amelia kept subscribing with and corresponding with the newspaper to get updates on her Idaho friends, as well as her boys. Some of this correspondence was published and contained interesting notes. One such letter from January 18, 1910 (and published in the February 11, 1910 IR issue) stated:

"Mrs. Amelia Piquet

Mrs. Piquet, who formerly lived a short distance south of Thomas and near the old Watson ranch, writes from the suburbs of Boston as follows:

Jamaica Plains, Jan. 18, 1910.

Mr. Trego,

Dear sir: I have received your hearty greetings of the 10th and I can understand the spirit of it, we do indeed need to gain a little fun from one another once in a while to keep life sweet and while dull care away. But I have not much of an account to give of myself since I left Blackfoot. I am keeping house and taking care of my father, who is all alone and is now eighty-four years old. He has been living in the same house for the last 44 years. Our house is within three minutes walk of the Franklin park, which is very beautiful with lots of wood land. I love the wood, and I missed it so much while I lived in Blackfoot, and then we have the beautiful Charles river near us where we can go boating in the summer. Still I often tell my friends here of the wonderful Snake river in Idaho just back of where I use to live and the lively trout we use to have from that river, and some how I am always praising up Idaho. I have met a number of Mormon elders here this winter from near Blackfoot, they say they are doing well at their mission work, and have a good attendance at their meetings and like Boston, but would not like to live here always. Well Mr. Trego I don't know if you can make any use of this letter, but you have all my good wishes for the success of your paper and can be sure that I enjoy reading it. Yours truly,

Amelia Piquet

P.S. If you have any Free Masons among your readers of your paper perhaps they will be interested to know that the Morning Stare lodge No. 13 of Woonsocket, R.I., are celebrating their one hundredth anniversary this month from the 23[rd] to the 27th. My good father has been a member of this lodge over 50 years."




After her father's passing in 1912, Amelia returned the summer of 1913 to Idaho. An article on July 11, 1913 captured some of the detail:

"Mrs. Piquet Returns

Mrs. Amelia Piquet who left here seven years ago take up her home with her aged father in Boston, returned to Blackfoot the first of the week, and expects to remain a couple of months or more.

Mrs. Piquet once owned some land near the original Watson ranch at Thomas, and now she has some other property in this locality. Her son Augustus who lived in the Kennedy addition has removed his family to Bates in the southeast corner of Madison county, near Driggs, and she will visit there for a while during the hot weather.

Mrs. Piquet related an incident of what an awful shock she received three or four years ago when she received her copy of the Idaho Republican and thought her son was dead. Augustus was driving the delivery wagon for the Blackfoot Stream laundry and the paper came to her with an article head, "Laundryman Fell Dead," and went on to say that a very unexpected thing happened to the driver a few days ago. He went to the Trego house for a sack of clothes as usual and Mrs. Trego told him how well pleased she and her husband were with the way they were finishing off the linen since they installed their new machine. That so much of their work was equal to that done in Salt Lake, it was the duty of the home people to have their work done at Blackfoot and stand by the man who was developing  this home industry.

Mr. Piquet was so surprised at receiving an acknowledge in lieu of more or less complaining which are always freely given, that he figuratively fell dead. His mother nearly collapsed at the introduction, but regained her strength while she finished reading the article."


 I found the article that rightfully gave Amelia such a scare:


As well as another discussing Gus' duties:


 In 1914, an article noted how Amelia moved closer to where Fred resided in American Falls:



No comments:

Post a Comment