The Life and Times of Hubert Brooks M.C. C.D.
A Canadian Hero
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It wasn't until November 20th, 1883 that Louis Rousseau was registered to the homestead property SE ¼ of Section 2, Township 150 N, Range 51 W of Allendale Township of Grand Forks County (see Section A4.3).
As discussed in the previous Section, before he could apply to the US government for a homestead he had to apply for US citizenship (at least Declaration of Intention (1st papers)). Louis did this on May 6, 1878.
The other criteria to acquire a homestead, was the person had to reside on the homestead and
could "prove up" in five years.
Most of the time the person had to actually reside on the land and "prove up" by plowing, establishing a home and planting trees,
but this law varied from time to time to allow them to work somewhere else over the winter and then return to the land. (It did create a lot of
problems if someone else moved onto the claim when they were gone and claim-jumping was a common problem.)
As mentioned in the previous Section, the Louis Rousseau family arrived in Grand Forks Dakota Territory over the course of the 1 year period April 1876 (Luce) to April 1877 (Louis). It is presumed that Luce and whichever Rousseau family member(s) travelled with her in April 1876, stayed with either Luce's brother Louis or Mitchell Huard until husband Louis Rousseau finally arrived in the region April of 1877.
Between the period of Louis' arrival in April 1877 and May 6, 1878 (US Naturalization application) it is not known where (or with whom) the family lived in the Grand Forks or surrounding regions - but it is presumed to be with one of her Huard brothers either Louis or Simeon.
Louis Brooks and family does appear in the 1880 US Census residing in the Allendale Township of Grand Forks County, so it is presumed from approximately May 1878 until November of 1883 Louis and family were on their SE ¼ of Section 2, Township 150 N, Range 51 W property "proving up" the land for the required 5 year period.
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The 1880 US Census began on 1-June-1879 and was suppose to end 31-May- 1880. However the raw input from the Census of
the Allendale district of Grand Forks shows a census date a few days later than the official cut-off date of 8-June-1880.
Louis Brooks and family appeared in this Census with the last name BROOKS.
NOTE:
It seems at this point of time, HUBERT Brooks (b. October 1862) aged 17 was either going by the name of John Brooks (like a lot of the Rousseau family, there seemed to be a desire to fit into the new anglized surroundings) – OR there was a foul up in the census ennumeration with one of the Brooks brothers being left off of the Census with Jean Arthur's name (John) being used along with Hubert's age (17) (as we have found elsewhere, the Census information was not always strictly accurate).
Hubert's (or now John as he was possibly known) older brother Jean Arthur (b. June 1860) aged 20 seems to have either left the house and was off on his own or there was an error and one of the Brooks brothers was left off of the census.
My current view on the Hubert / Jean Arthur issue is that that there was a mistake made by the census ennumerator when he later transcribed his notes to the formal census document and he mistakenly merged Jean Arthur's name (John) with Hubert's birthday. No where else does the name John appear associated with Hubert; not on any formal documentation such as US Naturalization application, homestead application in Grand Forks, land application in St John, nor homestead applications in Saskatchewan or Bluesky.
Although the family had yet to formally file for the deed to the land in Allendale Township, their residence was listed as Allendale Township of Grand Forks County where they were most likely "proving up" their homestead-to-be.
Louis Brooks' profession was listed as "farmer".
It is also interesting to see who were the neighbors of the Brooks in Allendale Township of Grand forks County – also courtesy of ancestry.com.
And the official written record from which the above was constructed appears below........
Some NOTES from the above 1880 US CENSUS:
Eugene and Clara (Rousseau) Turcott – (Turcott here spelled without the 'e' in Turcotte) already with their own children – were neighbors of Louis and Luce
First son LAE (L. Albert Euphreme) Brooks and his wife Marie Virgine were also neighbors of Louis and Luce
Note also that Luce's brothers, Mitchell & Simeon (aka Frank) Huard were also living with their families in Allendale Township of Grand Forks County in 1880. Simeon (aka Frank) lived directly south of Louis Brooks at NE quarter of Section 11 of Allendale Township (150N, R51W); and brother Michael lived directly south of Simeon at SE quarter of Section 11 of Allendale Township (150N, R51W).
Also close at hand was the Prongua family, originally from France. Louis Rousseau Brooks' son Louis A. Brooks had married Hattie E. Prongua (b. Feb 1852 in Vermont) and the couple was located in Larimore Township of Grand Forks County.
Also near by was the De Mars or Demars Family - Edmund and Mary DeMars - with Mary's estimated birth year of 1851.
Recall that Marie Georgiana Rousseau born on 16 Jun 1857
in Québec, Canada married Casimire Demars about 1876 Newburyport, Essex, Massachusettes.
Casimire and Mary had several children (some born in Massachusettes) with similar names to those of Edward
and Mary Demars. Coincidence, or
was there another blood relation here or is this really Marie Georgiana Rousseau Demars' family?
Louis Brooks was a farmer in the RED RIVER VALLEY of Grand Forks North Dakota.
NOTE that on November 2, 1889, Dakota Territory was split and was admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota. So when this Census was conducted the Brooks' were still in Dakota Territory and the region had yet top enter the union.
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The Life and Times of Hubert Brooks M.C. C.D.