Halcro/Sauve
By Don Taylor

Overview

Rella May Sauve was born on September 28, 1892, in Tilbury, Ontario, Canada, a child of Richard Sauve and Annie Brenneau. She had thirteen (nine known) siblings: Susan, Bertha, William, Joseph Dennis, Mary, Niana, Richard, Anna, and Minnie. When she was 23, she married Andrew James Halcro, son of William Francis Halcro and Harriet Park, on June 24, 1916, in Restigouche, New Brunswick, Canada (In a ceremony performed by Rev. E. P. Wallace of Campbellton). Andrew died in 1925. When she was 53, she married Harry Squires on February 11, 1946, in Pawtucket, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. She and Harry divorced on June 7, 1955. She died March 16, 1984, in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine (At age 91).

Halcro Project – Ancestor #5

List of Grandparents

• • Grandmother: Rella May Sauve (1892-1984)
  • 1^st Great-grandfather: Richard Sauve (1849-___)

Name

Rella May Sauve has one of those names that seem to be different in every record I encountered.

• Orella        1900 Census
• Mary O.     1910 Census
• Rella          1905 Rhode Island Census, 1921 Canada Census, 1930 Census,
  Marriage 1 (1916)
• Rella M.    1940 Census, Death Index (1984)
• Rella May Son Lawrence’s Draft Registration (1940), Naturalization (1961)
  [i]

Certainly, she was also known as Rella Mae. For example, her son, Robert J. Halcro, was the president of a business in Alaska named the Rella Mae Corp. Presumably named after his mother Rella Mae is also seen in several other documents.

Because I have not found an original birth record, I cannot be sure of her birth name, but I suspect it was Mary Orella Sauvé, which, over time, morphed into Rella May.

Events

Birth

The 1900 and the 1910 Censuses indicate that Rella’s mother, Annie Brennneau Sauve, had 14 children, 10 of whom were still living.  I have identified the names of 10 of her children. Rella was the youngest of the 10.  Rella was born on September 28 1892, in Tilbury, Ontario, Canada. Her ten known siblings include:

Childhood

Rella’s life in Ontario was short-lived. In 1895 the family immigrated to the United States.

The 1900 Census finds six-year-old Orella (Rella) living with her parents and seven of her siblings at 716 Weeden Street, Pawtucket (Ward 4), Rhode Island. Her father is a mill laborer and five of her siblings are laborers; four were bleachers (including 13-year-old William), and one was a dyehand. Only she and her two youngest siblings are attending school and not working.

In 1905, Rhode Island conducted a state census. Rella was enumerated living at 195 Francis Ave, Pawtucket, RI, and was attending school.

The 1910 Census finds  Mary O. (Rella) still at home with her parents and her brother Joseph. She was not attending school, nor was she reported as working.

Marriage 1

Rella Married Andrew James Halcro on 26 June 1916 in Restigouche, New Brunswick, Canada. Rev. E. P. Wallace of Campbellton performed the ceremony. She and Andrew located to Montréal, where Andrew was from.

Together they had five children, namely:

Andrew died 15 July 1925, while Rella was pregnant wiAndrew’s

After Andrew’s Death

The following year, on May 1^st, 1926, Rella immigrated to the United States a second time.

The 1930 Census finds Rella living at 203 Francis Ave. in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, with her 77-year-old mother, her five kids, and a niece, Bernice Cote. Also living in the “household” is a “boarder.”

856 Weeden Built in 1920 – as seen today – courtesy of Google Maps.

In 1935, the widow Rella Halcro was living at 856 Weeden in Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island.

The 1940 Census finds Rella living at 443 Columbus in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Columbus. All of her children are still at home.

Marriage 2

On 11 February 1946, Rella married Harry Squires in Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island. They split and sometime in 1954 the two filed for divorce in Florida. The divorce became final on 7 June 1955.  Shortly after the divorce Rella relocated to Maine.

Naturalization

On 25 September 1961, Rella applied to become a US citizen. Mable B. Bouchard and Theresa A. Byram of South Portland were witnesses and swore they knew Rella since 1956.

A description of Rella said the 5’4” ear-old was 5’4”, 117 lbs., gray eyes, light brown hair with medium Complexion. She had a mole on the back of her neck and scars on the palm of each hand.

Rella May Squires took the Oath of Allegiance on 11 December 1961.

Death & Burial

Illustration Photo by “msimonds” via Find-a-Grave

Rella May Squires died on 16 March 1984 in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine. She was 91. She was buried at Scarborough Memorial Cemetery, Scarborough, Cumberland County, Maine. Her son, Horace A. Halcro, shares a marker with her.

Events by Location

Further Actions / Follow-up

• Locate Richard and Annie Sauve (including Rella) in the 1911 Canadian Census.
• Do a newspaper survey for Rella during her “Squires Years” (1946-1984)
• Do a newspaper survey for Rella during her “Halcro Years” (1916-1946)
• Do a newspaper survey for Rella during her “Sauve Years” (1892-1916)
• Search for Rella in School records during her “Sauve Years.”

————–  Disclaimer  ————–

Sources

• 1900 Census, Various, Richard Scovee [Sauve] Head. Year: 1900; Census Place: Pawtucket Ward 4, Providence, Rhode Island; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0159; FHL microfilm: 1241511, Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twel. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/69435187:7602.
• 1930 Census, Various, Annie Sauve, Head – Pawtucket, Providence “Rhode Island. “United Stat” s Census, 1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMZB-B9P : accessed 20 February 2021), Annie Sauve, Pawtucket, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 268, sheet 19B, line 66, family 470, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2174; FHL microfilm 2,341,908. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMZB-B9P.
• 1940 Census, Various, Halcro, Rella – Pawtucket, Providence, Rhode Island. Year: 1940; Census Place: Pawtucket, Providence, Rhode Island; Roll: m-t0627-03768; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 4-200.
• Acadia, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1757-1946 (Drouin Collection), Ancestry.com, Marriage – Andrew J Halcro & Rella Sauve – Page 84, #149. Ancestry.com. Acadia, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1757-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.
• Canada Census, 1921, Library & Archives of Canada, Andrew Halcro – Wife, Rala, & three children. Montreal West, Family 101, Page 10. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1921/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=8230623.
• Maine, U.S., Death Index, 1960-1997 (Augusta, Maine, State of Maine Department of Human Services), Ancestry.com, Death – Rella M Squires – 16 Mar 1984. Certificate: 8402606. https://search.ancestry.com/collections/6703/records/254937.
• Maine, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1787-1991 (Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts, National Archives), Ancestry.com, Rella May Squires – Certificate Number: 12519. National Archives at Boston; Waltham, Massachusetts; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG 21; NAI Number: 6250662; NAI Title: Petitions and Records of Naturalization for Maine, 1945-1991; 1 Jan 1945-31 Dec 1991.
• Minnesota, U.S., Death Index, 1908-2017 (St. Paul, Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Health), Ancestry.com, No Image – Mary Rella Irene Heil – 10 May 2012. Certificate Number: 2012-MN-014140.
• Rhode Island State Census, 1905, Family Search, Rilla Sauve – Paw “ucket, Providence County. “Rhod” Island State Census, 1905”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLJ VQN : 9 July 2019), Billa Sauve, 1905. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLJR-VQN?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=LYBX-SXK.
• S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry.com, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, City Directory, 1927 – Page 437 – Halcro.
• S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry.com, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, City Directory, 1935 – Page 301 – Halcro.
• S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 (NARA), Ancestry.com, Lawrence Andrew Halcro. The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Rhode Island, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 70.

Endnotes

[i] This is a key document regarding Rella’s name. In it she clearly signs her name as Rella May Squires. Both in her application and in her oath of allegiance.