By Julie Huebel, Pierce County Historical Association
ELMWOOD, WI – When someone introduces themselves to me, I have a hard time remembering their first name but am immediately trying to place them in the giant family tree web I have created in my head. I get to work trying to identify the country of origin of their surname and who do I know that they share ancestry with. Once in a while, someone will tell me their name and I will immediately know they are not from the area and they are a bit surprised I can tell so quickly. Around Pierce County, there are pockets of people that all settled here with people that originated from the same place. Not far from Elmwood, is one such pocket of people, several families with deep French-Canadian roots settled in the Arkansaw area. A worthwhile outing if you are in the area, is the French Catholic Cemetery near Arkansaw in Pepin County. Walking around the cemetery you realize all the local names that have French origins. I will be highlighting one of these French-Canadian families, D is for DeMarce…
The DeMarce name is an Elmwood staple on Main Street. Nolan DeMarce was born in 1933 in Elmwood to Lynn DeMarce and Helen Weber. He graduated from Elmwood High School and served in the Korean War in the Air Force. When he returned, he and Janet Claflin were married. Nolan or as he was more commonly known, “Shorty” and his father started DeMarce TV & Cable that ran for over 45 years. Lynn was born in 1911 in Waterville Township in Pepin County, he and his first wife Helen are buried in Poplar Hill Cemetery.
Lynn’s parents were Lemuel and Caroline Holmstadt. Lemuel was born in 1881 in Pepin County, Caroline was born in the Plum City area in 1880. Lemuel and his second wife Lella are buried in Glendale, California. His parents were Seymour and Matilda (LaPean), they are pictured here with their four oldest children. Seymour was born in Quebec, Canada of French ancestry, his wife’s maiden name of LaPean is also French, she was born in Plattsburgh, NY but her father John LaPean was born in Quebec in 1833. Seymour and Matilda are buried in the Arkansaw Memorial Cemetery.
Seymour’s parents are Joseph DeMarce, born in Quebec in 1834 and Eliza Kelley born in Vermont in 1835 are both buried in the French Cemetery in Arkansaw. Ok, from here I’m trusting the internet, I would need to do more research to confirm, and I am probably butchering the surnames since I am not familiar with the formatting of French names…Joseph’s parents seem to be Leon Demers and Marie-Elizabeth Morais, both born and buried in Quebec. Joseph’s parents, Pierre born in 1773 in Quebec and Bridgette Guertin, again both born and buried in Quebec. Let’s keep going…Pierre’s parents are Joseph Demers (Chedville) born in 1740 in Quebec and his wife Marie Josette Lareau born in 1745, they were married in 1763. Joseph’s parents were Henri Demers (Chedville) born in 1708 and Therese Poirier born in 1713, both in Quebec Province. Henri’s parents were Robert, born in 1671 and Madeleine Jette born in 1696, both in Quebec. Robert’s parents were Andre Demers (Dumets) born around 1627 in St. Jacques, Normandie, France…we made it to France!
His wife was Marie Chedville born in 1631 in France as well and seems to have come to “New France” to an area that would soon be called Montreal in 1650 or so and was married in 1653. She may have been part of a group of women brought to Montreal to get married and populate the area, her voyage predates the “King’s Daughters” program between 1663-1673 that brought more marriageable women to Canada. I’ll try to wrap this up with listing the next three men in the DeMarce line…Andre’s father Jean Demers born 1595…his father Adrien Demers or Dumay born 1565…his father Jehan Dumoys born 1525…all of Normandy, France.
