Person:Francis Dufault (2)

1880

The following was taken from: http://www.fargodiocese.org/tour/index.htm regarding the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota:

Don DeFoe of Pembina, 78, is also a lifelong member. His family came to the area in 1876 from France, by way of Canada. He was baptized in a wooden structure that served as Assumption Catholic Church that once stood on the grounds of the current church. Don’s great-grandfather, Francis, had hand hewn a beam for the church. In appreciation for his work, the pastor said the fifth pew of the church would be designated for use by their family. “We still sit in the fifth pew today,” Don said.

DeFoe married his wife, Phyllis, in Thief River Falls, Minn., in 1951. He served in the Navy during the first years of their marriage, then returned to the Pembina area to farm. Their son, Robert, was one year old before his father saw him. Today, the families of Robert and Rochelle DeFoe and Don and Phyllis DeFoe both live on the farm five miles west of Pembina where six generations of their family have resided.

Robert recalled what he has been told of how the DeFoe family arrived in Pembina. Francis’ uncle escorted a bishop to the area and then sent word to the family about the good farmland there. “Supposedly Francis and his wife and kids came up the Red (River) on steamboat,” Robert said. When the steamboat stopped by Pembina, Francis took off walking to check out the farmland. It was Spring, and he fell through thin ice in a slough, so he decided to start a fire to dry his feet. When he got back to the steamboat, he found the boat had left, but his wife and children were waiting for him. Since he had “missed the boat” he decided to stay and homestead by Pembina.

_FSFTID: 2858-P1N