Aunt Minnie and the Besson Family
It is important to note that I can not tie to the Besson Family. As a youth, Minnie (Besson) Galch Eftimoff came to live with my great grandmother, Frances Louise Campbell Martin Eftimoff, 1893 - 1955. Because she was close in age to Frances's son, Bill Martin, hence, my mother always called Minnie - Aunt.
"Aunt Minnie" came to live with my ancestor, Frances Louise Campbell Martin Eftimoff as a young woman.å² paternal line is yet unproven but this is what we think: Minnie was born to Hattie Besson, probably in St. Louis, MO and was given to Charles and Lydia Galch (Galsch /Gaulch) to be raised.ï¥time during her youth, Charles died and Lydia was unable to properly take care of the young Minnie so she was moved on to the home of Minnie Groom.ï°¾
I grew up calling Minnie "Aunt Minnie" but her blood relationship to my family is unknown. Minnie referred Mr and Mrs Galsch as grandma and grandpa. They adopted Minnie but Grandpa Golsch died in 1918 and Minnie was then adopted by the Groom family where we find her in 1920 census.
My great great aunt Estelle Campbell Pufalt 1891 - 1934 and her husband came to visit Minnie every Sunday from Granite City, IL. One day they quit coming and instead, Great Grandma Frances Campbell Martin Eftimoff came. The Groom family did not treat Minnie well. Apaprently, either Mr or Mrs was abusive and struck her with a coal shovel and broke a rib. Great Grandma Frances took her in and there she stayed to live with my grandfather, his step-dad Pete Eftimoff and his mother Frances. After Frances died in the mid-1950's, Minnie and Pete married.
Minnie and Pete worked at the mills in Granite City during WW II and were friends with my paternal grandmother Emma Cook Mann and her husband Harry Mann. They lived within a couple of miles of each other on highway 159 near Edwardsville / Glen Carbon, IL and I remember visiting Minnie and Pete as a kid. They had a son. I never questioned how I had an Aunt Minnie married to a Grandpa Pete but that was what my mom called them.
I contacted Minnie while she was in her 90's and initially she did not want to discuss her past as she felt abandoned. As time moved on, I found a "cousin" Merl Besson and after all those years, she finally felt like she had a past. It seems Hattie, an unwed mother in the early 1900's had few options and resources. She left Minnie to board with a kindly elderly couple who Minnie loved.
I can find no connection between Charles and Lydia Golsch and the Besson family. Additionally, I can not figure out why Minnie was visited by my family. I have 2 guesses, either she was the biological daughter of either Estelle's and Frances's brothers (perhaps the wayward William Campbell 1886 - unknown or perhaps a child of Carl Pufalt's brothers. But the fact is that for some reason, as a child, Minnie was visited regularly by my childless great great aunt and later by my great grandmother. In the end, she lived with my great grandmother.
There are many repeating / common names in this bunch and it takes a little time to keep them all straight.�I believe that there is a connection between the Besson / Galsch / Groom / and perhaps Campbell and Cassell surnames.ﰾ
Minnie tried for many years to find her birth family, but to no avail. By the time that I began writing to her, she had formed her own ideas and just wasn't interested. But I continued to look on the Web and ended up connecting with Merl BESSON. Merl, it seems, is Minnie's cousin that she has never known.
We have sent many letters back and forth and Minnie continued to remember small details that have helped us in our research efforts. However, several mysteries remain: --How is Hattie BESSON connected to the GAULCH family? --How were Charles and Lydia GAULCH related to the GROOM family? --How is my CAMPBELL family related to the GROOMS, GAULCH, and BESSON families?
My best present came in the mail one day when I got a wonderful "thank you" letter from Minnie. While there are still many unanswered questions, she has found a cousin in Merl BESSON. RootsWeb provided the space for much of the information that I found that helped me find Hattie and Merl. This should be a good lesson to all of us, not to give up looking. Aunt Minnie is now almost 90 and just found her roots.
All this work was completed before DNA testing was available. I have been looking for Minnie's only son, Pete Eftimoff, in hopes of having him do an autosomal DNA test to see if Aunt Minnie was really a blood relative.
Oddly, Minnie married Frances's ex-husband, Peter Eftimoff, after Frances died. As a kid, my parents would take us to see Pete and Minnie on an occasional Sunday afternoon. They lived in a nice tidy brick home near Edwardsville, IL. Pete and Minnie must have worked at one of the various steel mills in Granite City, IL as my father's mom and step-dad knew them as well. Because Pete was married to mom's grandmother when she was growing up, she referred to him as "grandpa Pete", so I knew them as Aunt Minnie and Grandpa Pete - I was genealogy confused.
Timeline
- 17 Oct 1913 - born St Louis, MO to Hattie Besson
- About 1915 - left to board with Charles and Lydia Golsch, IL; they adopted her
- 1920 - St Clair County, IL Belleville Ward 2, St Clair, Illinois enumerated with Minnie & William Groom
- Aug. 5, 1920 - Hattie Besson Fortner died of consumption
- 1930 - Nameoki, Madison, Illinois enumerated with Frances Campbell Eftimoff and Peter Eftimoff
- 1940 - Enumerated with Pete and Frances, Minnie is listed as sister's daughter (and I wonder, should that be brother's daughter?)
- Frances Eftimoff died
- 14 March 1958 - Married Peter Eftimoff Sr. Perryville, Perry County, MO
- Son, Pete Jr. born
- 1985 - Peter died
- 1995 - Residence New Douglas, IL
- 24 July 2011 - died Gillespie, Macoupin, Illinois cremated
According to Minnie's account, she was being a mouthy kid and told the Grooms that she was not going to do something they told her to do. Mr. Groom picked up a coal shovel and struck her across the ribs. When Frances Campbell Eftimoff showed up for her weekend visit, she took Minnie to her home where she lived until adulthood.
William Groom, the 2nd family that "adopted" her, was married on 23 Nov 1912, in Clayton, MO to Minnie McLeland, age 36.
1920 Census
William Groom Age:
54
Birth Year:
abt 1866
Birthplace:
Illinois
Home in 1920:
Belleville Ward 2, St Clair, Illinois
Street:
"D"
House Number:
314
Race:
White
Gender:
Male
Relation to Head of House:
Head
Marital Status:
Married
Father's Birthplace:
England
Mother's Birthplace:
Ohio
Able to Speak English:
Yes
Occupation:
Miner
Industry:
Coal Mine
Home Owned or Rented:
Own
Home Free or Mortgaged:
Free
Able to Read:
Yes
Able to Write:
Yes
Spouse's Name:
Minnie Groom
Neighbors:
View others on page
Household Members:
William Groom 54,
Minnie Groom 48,
Minnie Groom 6
1930 Census
Name: Minnie Groom Birth Year: abt 1915 Gender: Female Race: White Birthplace: Missouri Marital Status: Single Relation to Head of House: Boarder Home in 1930: Nameoki, Madison, Illinois Map of Home: View Map Street address: Nameoki Rd Dwelling Number: 161 Attended School: No Able to Read and Write: Yes Father's Birthplace: Missouri Mother's Birthplace: Missouri Able to Speak English: Yes
Household Members:
Pete Eftimoff 37
Frances Eftimoff 37
Willam Martin 14
Minnie Groom 15
(boarder)
1940 Census
Minnie Eftemoff Age: 26 Estimated birth year: abt 1914 Gender: Female Race: White Birthplace: Missouri Marital Status: Single Relation to Head of House: Sister's Daughter Home in 1940: Nameoki, Madison, Illinois Inferred Residence in 1935: Rural, St Clair, Illinois Residence in 1935: Rural, St Clair, Illinois Resident on farm in 1935: Highest Grade Completed: Elementary school, 8th grade
Household Members:
Peter Eftemoff 47
Frances Eftemoff 46
Minnie Eftemoff 26
Aunt Minnie
Hattie Besson
Lyford Besson
Besson Census Records
Besson Internments
Besson Obits
Frances Campbell Martin Eftimoff