Laberge, Langley, LaPierre, LaPointe, & LaRochelle
Photo Friday
Ethel Wight Collection
By Don Taylor
This week, for Photo Friday, I identify the people in five more envelopes from the Ethel Wight Studio Collection[i]. The envelopes contain the names who paid for the photos, not necessarily of the individual portrayed in the image. As such, it is vital to analyze the pictures and information to identify the individual therein.[ii] My goal is to reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the image.
Annette Marie Laberge, Nurse, circa 1934
The envelope this negative was in says, “Miss Annette Laberge, Children’s Hospital #321.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
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Annette Marie Laberge, Nurse, circa 1934
The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Annette Laberge as a student nurse at 231 Woodford (St. Barnabas Hospital) residing at 20 Norwood.
- The 1938 Portland City Directory lists Annette M Laberge as a nurse working and residing at 15 Parris.
- There is an Annette M. LaBerge, a registered nurse born in Maine in July 1907, who married Wilfred Laurendeau. Her parents were Emilio and Maria LaBerge.
- A review of Ancestry public trees suggests this is Annette Marie Laurendeau (NĂ©e Laberge), born 15 July 1907 to Emilio Amos and Maria (Polsson) Laberge.
I believe this to be a photo of Annette Marie Laberge, circa 1934 when she was about 27 years old.
Ancestry has ten public trees that refer to Annette Laberge; Family Search does not appear to have a profile for her. So, I have added her photo to Dead Fred.Â
Jeanette M Lapierre, Nurse, circa 1935
This negative envelope says, “Miss Jeanette La Pierre, ME Eye & Ear Infirmary #488.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
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Jeanette M Lapierre, Nurse, circa 1935
The 1935 and 1936 Portland City Directories list Jeanette LaPierre as a student nurse at 79 Bramhall (Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary) residing at 804 Congress.
- The 1933 Deering High School (Portland, ME) shows a photo of Jeanette M LaPierre, which is clearly the same young woman—estimated birth about 1917.
Sometimes, I’m just so close to finding exactly who a photo is of. In this case, I know the image is of Jeanette M. LaPierre, a student at Deering High School (Portland, ME), suggesting she was born about 1917. She attended nursing school at the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary in Portland from 1935 to 1937. My further attempts to determine her parents, place of birth, or marriage were unsuccessful.
Jeanette-M-LaPierre – From The Amethust 1933 Yearbook Page 28.
A Jeanette M Lapierre was born on 17 March 1915 in Attleboro, Bristol, Massachusetts. Her parents were Alfred and Marceline Lapierre. She married Ovida Louis Mercier in about 1933. In 1933 she would have been about 18, possibly the right age to have been a student at Deering High School; however, she is unlikely to have been studying nursing from 1935 to 1937 with her maiden name.
Ancestry has 15 public trees that refer to Jeanette M Lapierre, daughter of Alfred and Marceline (Daviau) LaPierre. However, I am not 100% certain this is the correct person. Anyway, I uploaded this photo of her to Dead Fred. One of her relatives will hopefully be able to identify the young nurse in this photo. If you can, please comment below.Â
Leota M Langley, Nurse, circa 1935
This negative envelope says, “Miss Langley, Me General Hospital #962.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
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Leota M Langley, Nurse, circa 1935
1936, 37, and 38 Portland City Directories list Leota Langley as a student nurse at 22 Arsenal (Maine General Hospital).
- The 1940 US Census lists Leota M Langley, daughter of Alice M Downing, a nurse living in Kennebunk. She was born about 1914 in Massachusetts, and her mother was born in Canada. Leota was living in Portland in 1935.
- Leota Mary Langley’s 1994 obituary indicates she served as a nurse in World War II and the Korean War and retired as an Army major in the Nurse Corps.
Ancestry has two trees that refer to Leota Langley; Family Search appears to have profile G9N1-8J9 for Leota M Langley, who was in the Kennebunk household of Jere R Downing during the 1930 Census. Â So, I Â have uploaded two photos of her to her Family Search Memories.
Elizabeth Patrice La Pointe, circa 1935
This negative envelope says, “Miss Patrice LaPointe, 8 North St. Portland #1050.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
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Elizabeth Patrice La Pointe, circa 1935
The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Patrice M LaPointe living at 8 North. Also at 8 North is John A and his wife Mary D LaPointe.
- The 1930 US Census lists 15-year-old Patrica LaPoint living at 8 North Street with her parents, John A and Mary D LaPointe.
- Maine Birth Records identify Patrice as born on 18 Jan 1915 in Rangeley, Maine. Elizabeth Patrice LaPointe married John B Collins on 26 November 1936 in Portland, ME.
This is a photo of Elizabeth Patrice La Pointe about 1935 when she was 20 years old.
Ancestry has ten public trees that refer to Elizabeth Patrice LaPointe. Family Search has profile LRYD-73Z for Patrice. I uploaded two photos of her to her Family Search Memories.Â
Patricia, Constance, Nancy, and Suzanne La Rochelle circa 1935.
This negative envelope says, “Mrs. L B Larochelle, 68 St Lawrence St #1032 – DSCN3908LP.”
Why I believe this to be the individual.
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Patricia, Constance, Nancy, and Suzanne La Rochelle, circa 1935.
The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Lorne G and Priscilla LaRochelle living at 68 Lawrence.
- The 1940 US Census lists Lorne G and A Priscilla Larochelle living at 60 Vincent Street in South Portland. Their four daughters are Patricia, Age 1; Constance, Age 9; Nancy, Age 7; and Suzanne, Age 6.
- Ancestry Trees suggest the following:
- Patricia Maude LaRochelle was born on 14 January 1929 in Portland, ME.
- Constance Meriel LaRochelle, born on 22 September 1930 in Maine.
- Nancy Doris LaRochelle was born on 14 June 1932 in Maine.
- Suzanne Hooker LaRochelle was born on 25 February 1934 in Portland, ME.
This is a photo of the four girls in about 1936.
Patricia is found in six Ancestry public trees, Constance is found in eight Ancestry public trees, Nancy is found in 11 Ancestry public trees, and Suzanne is found in eight Ancestry public trees. On Family Search, Patricia is ID G8CV-87P, Constance is ID G83M-MV7, Nancy is ID L1S2-LNJ, and Suzanne is ID G31K-6SY. I uploaded two photos of the girls to FamilySearch and linked the images to each of their Family Search Memories.
Conclusion
- I fully identified seven of eight individuals. Six of them have Family Search profiles, so I uploaded their images to their Family Search Memories
- One individual did not have a Family Search profile but did appear in Ancestry trees, so I posted her image to Dead Fred.
- Finally, one individual I did not fully identify but made a partial identification of her. I uploaded her photo to Dead Fred.
If any of these photos are of your family member, I would love to hear your reaction. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before.
Due to software limitations, the images uploaded to Family Search and Dead Fred have a higher image quality than the images linked here.
For all postings of the Ethel Wight Collection, please see here.
Endnotes
[i] The Wight Studio was in Portland, Maine. Many thanks to Ethel Wight’s family for access to and permission to use the collection of their great aunt.
[ii] These images were converted to positives using a lightbox, a Nikon camera and computer software.
