Cover of Violette Family Book, available for purchase at Amazon. Click the image to go there.
Another book about the Violette Family was written by Peter R. Violette (VFA #1793) and published in December 2015. It is available from Amazon using this link. This book starts with the known history of our family starting with Francois’ grandparents, Louis and Marie, and continues on to tell the story how the family came to move from France to Louisbourg. He traces the history at Louisbourg with excellent details and insights,and continues with the family history in southern New Brunswick and the later move to the Upper St John River, where Francois and his family pioneered.
But Peter’s story does not stop there. Instead he traces his own branch of the family through the generations down to his days.
His grandparents, Lawrence Joseph Violette 1899-1968 and Melanie Charette 1901-1962, moved to Patten ME. Lawrence worked in the woods as a cook in a lumber camp for many years and Peter has lots of stories and photos from those days.
The marriage of his parents, Joseph Isaac Violette 1924-2013 and Margaret Ann Melville 1930-, brought together two of Maine’s powerful industries. Where Joseph came from a lumber background, Margaret’s family were farmers from Littleton, so there was that blend. Further, Joseph and Margaret formed a blend of the French-speaking from Maine with the English-speaking.
Peter drew from stories his Dad told him and recounts them in his book. These and other features make this an excellent history for his family and succeeding generations, as he describes in his Forward: “During the winter of 2014, I undertook the task of putting down in writing what I had learned since 1982, when I first became interested in the history of our family. My curiosity into our history began with an article; titled “A family in search of its roots” written by Bill Caldwell, which appeared in the Maine Sunday Telegram on 12 September of 1982, and which my mother had sent me when I was stationed in southern California, as a US Marine. The article reported the findings of Maurice Violette of Augusta, Maine, and his research into the roots of Violette’s living in the United States. I was able to contact a Rita Violette Lippe from Methuen, Massachusetts, who was pointed out in the article as the genealogical buff who was doing research on the Violette Family, and exchanged letters and family information with Rita, who was diligently working on a book “The Descendants of Francois Violet” which was published in 1984 by Naiman Press.”
The Violette Family Book is an excellent read and should provide a great resource especially to those in his line.