Biographie Lalonde Alexander

Alexander was raised until he was a teenager by his mother's adoptive parents, Alexander and Eliza Taillon Pigeon. According to Rebea Lalonde Seyeau, Alex's sister, Alex was named after Alexander Pigeon. (Uncle Sandy and Aunt Liza)

Alex attended school in a one room schoolhouse along the Raisin River. When he was in his teens he went to Watertown, NY and worked for a contractor as an electrician. He was 17 when he started this apprenticeship. The contractor was a general contractor, so Alex learned all aspects of building, in addition to electrical work. He also worked for Barber Electric Company in Watertown.

In the 1917 Watertown Directory, I found a listing for Lalone, Alexander J. driver, res 249 Moulton E. Also living at that address were Benjamin J driver, and Edward D (Mary) baggageman.

In the 1920 Watertown Directory, I found Lalone, Alexander J (Edith M), electrn Barber Electric Co, h 136 Jackman.

In the 1921 Watertown Directory, I found Lalone Alexander J, electrn, res 249 Moulton E. Also at that address were Lalone Benjamin J, lab and Lalone Edward (Mary), drayage. Lalone, Edith Mrs, Waitress, res 734 Huntington. This was the same address as Harold J. Knight, care tkr Immaculate Heart Academy. It looks as though Alex and Edith had separated.

The family story is that when Alex was in his early 20's, he and his wife Edith left Watertown with their daughter Edith, and a friend and his wife. They had a Model T Ford pickup truck and a circus tent. They were headed for California. They stopped in Elyria, Ohio to earn some money to continue the trip. One morning Alex and Edith woke up to find the truck and their friends gone. They were stranded there. They later found that the friends had made it to California.

In the 1925-26 City Directory in Elyria, Alex is listed as a lineman for Ohio Public Service Co, r R D 2. Edith is not listed with him although other married people are both listed.

In the 1930 census of Elyria, Alex and Edith were living at 169 Fairlawn Avenue in a rented house. Alex was a lineman for the telegraph company. Both Isabelle and Frances were living with them. Frances was called their foster daughter.

Another part of the family story is that Alex got a job as a streetcar lineman for the Ohio Public Service in Elyria. Edith found work driving new cars from Elyria to Detroit. This was during Prohibition. The cars had huge tanks to haul alcohol. Edith began staying overnight on these trips. She may have had a boyfriend. She and Alex divorced. The divorce was completed in Elyria, Lorain, Ohio on Dec 31, 1931 between Edith and Alex Lalone (sp), Presiding Hon. W. B. Thompson, Judge, Case 31327, page 358.

Edith got custody of Isabel and Frances and child support of $30.00 per month for each child. She also got all household possessions except one camera and shares of Cities Service Company Stock owned or being purchased by Alex. She also got the Chevrolet Automobile they owned. A photocopy of the divorce decree is in the Lalonde documents notebook.

Later, Alex and Laura met at Cascade Park in Elyria. Laura was divorced from her first husband (Edward Trumble) by that time. Alex and Laura married and continued to live in Elyria.

MARRIAGE SOLEMNIZED IN ERIE, PENNSYLVANIE IS JUST ANNOUNCED: Mr. and Mrs. Charles Travis of Glencoe Road, Cleveland, announce the marriage of their daughter, Laura Travis Trumble, to Alexander J. Lalone, both of Elyria. The marriage took place June eleventh at Erie, Pennsylvania. The couple did not make their marriage known until after a trip through the east and Canada, from which they have just returned. Mr. and Mrs. Lalone are now at home to their friends at Stop 2, Oberlin Road.

I have a letter and envelope postmarked June 24, 1933 Cleveland, Ohio, written by Charles Travis to his daughter, Mrs. Laura Lalone, Oberlin Road, Elyria, Ohio. Alex was cut back to working only two days a week. Laura's family members were all out of work. Alex and Laura decided to move to Ontario, Canada.

When they arrived in Canada with Laura's son Edward Trumble, and their son Albert Lalonde, Alex and Laura moved in with Alex's mother and father until they could get a place of their own. The house was a two room log cabin in Bonville, Ontario. It had one room down and one room up, with an outhouse out back. Edward Lalonde built the cabin from logs he hewed by hand with his one arm. Edward and Mary's three youngest children, Gordon, Henry, and Rebea were also living there. Everyone slept upstairs in the one room. They used blankets for partitions. Ed Lalonde didn't believe in buying soap to wash dishes. He thought boiling hot water was good enough. His daughter-in-law Laura thought otherwise. She saved soap slivers and dissolved them in water to make dish soap. (Ed Trumble's recollections in 2002)

By 1937, Alex was working for St. Lawrence Power in St. Andrews West, Ontario. In the early 1940's he transferred to Potsdam, NY to work for Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. St. Lawrence Power was an affiliate of Niagara Mohawk. Alex and Laura lived in Potsdam on Clinton Street in a rented house. About 1950 they bought a home at 118 Leroy Street. They lived there until 1963 when they moved to a house they bought from Wayne and Vivian Tyo on the corner of Knapp Station Road and Maple St., Norfolk.

From the Chronicle Telegram, Elyria, Ohio, Sept. 9, 1932, Alex's Social Security number was 087-20-4256

The funeral was at the Norfolk Methodist Church. Buck Funeral Home handled the arrangements