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At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Alex was
working as a Blacksmith in Pawlet . He wanted to enlist
immediately, but did not want to leave eighteen year old
Caroline and their small baby alone. Therefore, he moved
his family back to Wells, where he felt they would be
safe and well cared for by Caroline's parents. He said
good bye to his young wife and baby, and went across the
state line into Troy, New York, where he enlisted for a
two year period in the 2nd Regiment of the New York
Infantry.
During the war, his experience as a blacksmith served
him well. He was assigned to detached duty as a
blacksmith in the Quartermaster Department at Fort
Monroe, Virginia. However, just one month later he was
listed as sick. After several days he was back on duty,
but must not have been completely well. In May, 1862, he
was discharged on a surgeon's certificate of physical
disability, since he was suffering from nephritic
disease. He had not experienced any active duty during
the year he was enrolled.
Back home in Wells, he was reunited with his family,
after an absence of just a year. Since his health was
poor, perhaps he moved in with his in-laws, where his
wife was already living. In January, 1864, Caroline gave
birth to a second daughter, Effie Caroline. By now
Alex’s health had improved, and he again got the itch to
return to the war. When Effie was a month old, he left
behind his twenty one year old wife and two small
children, and re-enlisted, this time in the 93rd
Regiment at Albany.
This time around, Alex saw plenty of action. He fought
in one of the major battles of the war --the Battle of
the Wilderness-- and was wounded at Brandy Station. He
was sent to Mower General Hospital in Philadelphia to
recover from gun shot wounds. He remained in the
hospital for four months, but the only wounds mentioned
in his service record were wounds to the hand. It is
hard to imagine hand wounds requiring four months to
heal. One wonders if his health was again poor.
He returned to his regiment upon discharge from the
hospital, but just five days later he was wounded again,
this time at Poplar Grove, Virginia. He was hospitalized
at Fairfax Seminary, Virginia. His certificate of
discharge describes the loss of little and middle
fingers of left hand, and crippling of the remaining
fingers. He also had “pthisis pulmonalis” (Tuberculosis
of the lungs.) He never returned to his Regiment again.
On April 11, 1865, he was permanently discharged. But
General Lee had surrendered on April 10, so the war was
over.
A little over a year after returning to Wells, Alex's
only son, Leon Sykes, was born. By this time Alex
supposedly had his own carriage factory, according to
family tradition. But no evidence of this has ever been
discovered. In the 1870 census Alex is listed as a
blacksmith, with $1,000 worth of property. His wife's
parents were living with them at this time. Alex's
health was poor, and apparently his wife and eldest
daughter were not well. Caroline died in 1876 at the age
of thirty three from cancer, and Jessie died in 1879
from Tuberculosis, only eighteen years old. They are
both buried in the Wells Cemetery.
Alex was now alone with a fifteen year old daughter and
thirteen year old son. His health had not improved, and
he finally decided to accept the advice of his good
friend and commanding officer from the army, Major
Scobey, who had tried to convince him that the climate
in the west would be much better for his health. Major
Scobey was living in north eastern Montana, and offered
to secure a position there for Alex. After much
deliberation, Alex decided to make the move. At this
time his wife's cousin, Georgiana (Jenny) Brown, had
come to Wells from Park Ridge, Illinois, to visit
relatives. Jenny's mother, Caroline Goodspeed, was the
sister of Minerva Goodspeed, Alex's mother-in-law. There
were many Goodspeed relatives in Wells to visit,
including her cousin’s widower, Alex Ayotte. He was
sixteen years older than she, but there must have been
an attraction between them. They agreed to get married
after he got settled in Montana, and Jenny accompanied
him on his trip as far as Park Ridge. Alex and his two
children continued the journey to "The West," settling
at Fort Buford, Dakota Territory. Fort Buford was a
Military Reservation, 30 miles square. Half of it lay in
Montana Territory, and the other half in Dakota
Territory. It was located on the left bank of the
Missouri River, near the mouth of the Yellowstone. It
served more as a glorified sherriff's office, riding
herd on renegade Indians. Alex worked as a blacksmith
with the Quartermaster Department, caring for the
Cavalry.
Jenny was the daughter of Asahel and Caroline
(Goodspeed) Brown. At age thirty, Jenny was the last of
the Brown girls to marry. She inherited a ready made
family, with two teen age children. Alex took his new
bride back to Buford with him, and together they
established the Fort Buford Hotel, later known as "Hotel
de Ayott". Jenny and Effie ran the hotel, while Alex
performed his duties as Deputy United States Marshall,
worked as a blacksmith, and operated the cable ferry
across the river. Life was much cruder here than it had
been in Vermont or Illinois, but this Eastern family
brought a touch of class to the west which truly
impressed the local people. One of their frequent
visitors was William W. Mabee, editor of the Glendive
Times. He came on the pretext of surveying the area to
write an article for the paper, but he was obviously
smitten with the charms of Effie, who by now was a
beautiful 18 year old socialite. It wasn’t long before
they were married at her Alex's home in Buford. That was
just the beginning of Mr. Mabee’s problems!
In 1883 started building a ranch just south of the
reservation. When completed, he was said to have the
best lot of buildings on the road from Glendive to
Buford. He had a large and comfortable two story
residence of eight rooms in the lower story, being two
log cabins joined by a huge kitchen between them. To
complete the ranch there was a stable, a corral, two
wells, a blacksmith shop, storeroom, ice house, and a
building each for poultry, swine and cattle. Eventually
this roadhouse became known as the Half Way House, being
a convenient stopping place for travelers on the road
from Glendive to Buford. Frequent covered wagon caravans
could be seen in the barnyard, each containing a
complete family with all their earthly possessions,
including their cows and horses. It became a very
popular spot, especially because of the dance hall on
the second story. Many an early gathering was held
there. The area was named Ridgelawn by Jenny Ayotte,
because of the ridge it lay on, and the beautiful lawn
around the ranch.
Alex continued to work as Deputy US Marshall, being
known as the "Terror of all evil-doers," and operated
his ranch in the lower Yellowstone Valley. In August,
1885, Jenny gave birth to their first daughter. Having
lost her first child due to the lack of medical care in
the area, she went back home to Park Ridge to give birth
to Ellen Lida. The baby was delivered by Jenny’s
half-sister, Ellie Whitcomb. Ellen was to grow up with
her father’s grand daughter, Jessie, Effie’s child, who
was just six months younger than her. This coincidence
would make them more like sisters than niece and aunt as
they were growing up.
In November of this same year Alex filed a preemption
claim for the 160 acres on which he was living and
farming, and received a patent for it. His homestead was
finally official. His log roadhouse was now known far
and wide by hunters, cowboys and newcomers in the area.
He provided lodging, meals and whiskey to anyone who
came by. Since this was an official stage stop, there
was quite a bit of business. Alex continued as deputy
Marshall, frequently apprehending criminals and taking
them to Miles City by stage coach.
When Jennie’s mother died back in Park Ridge, she was
not aware of her death for some time. The letter of
notification sent to them was not received for many
months. All mail for the area was sent to Glendive, and
from there was brought down the valley by "way-mail".
Anyone coming down the valley would take the mail as far
as they were going, and there it would sit until someone
else picked it up and carried it farther. Jenny was
understandably upset when she learned her mother had
died months ago. They decided it was high time they had
a Post Office, so they circulated a petition to
establish a Post Office in Ridgelawn and everyone signed
it. However, this totaled only eight signatures, which
they did not figure to be enough. But one day a couple
wagon loads of men stopped at the road house for a meal,
and all thirty men signed the petition. Soon there was a
post office in Ridgelawn. Alex and Jenny were the
postmasters, and had the post office in their home.
Alex and Jenny's second child, Ethel Viva, was born in
1888. For this birth Jenny traveled to Lansing, Iowa,
where Effie Mabee was residing. Ethel was born in
Effie's home. After Jenny returned to Ridgelawn with the
new baby and two year old Ellen, Alex moved his family
to the Poplar Creek area on the edge of the Fort Peck
Indian Reservation. The winter of 1886/7 had been
devastating for the Eastern Montana cattle ranchers, and
Alex lost most of his stock. He decided to accept an
offer of the position of Indian Agent at Fort Peck from
Major Scobey. Here his family lived along with the
Indians, having an Indian squaw as nurse maid for the
children. Ellen recalled in later years seeing horse
thieves hanged on the Reservation. Leon was a real
cowboy by now, and frequently pulled his little sister,
Ellen, up on his horse with him, galloping off to the
horror of his step mother. It was an exciting life for
the little girls.
Alex worked at the Poplar Creek Indian Agency for
several years. Then his health worsened, and in August,
1891, it became necessary to go back to Park Ridge for
medical help. Jenny, also a shrewd business woman like
her mother, had bought a piece of property in the center
of Park Ridge in 1889, and the Ayotte's moved into the
house upon their return from Montana. The house, built
in the early 1840's, was the second house built in Park
Ridge, and Jenny had been interested in buying the
property for years. It stood where the Citizens State
Bank now stands. They were living in this house when
Alex died at Presbyterian Hospital on October 30, 1892.
He was buried at Park Ridge Cemetery. His obituary
states simply: "AYOTTE: At Presbyterian Hospital, Oct.
30, A.P. Ayotte. Funeral at Park Ridge Congregational
Church, Nov. 1 at 2p.m." His death certificate states
the cause of death was intestinal obstruction.
Thus ended the life of another hardy pioneer, a life
that spanned a little over a half century, and had seen
many interesting experiences. He experienced the
hardships of the itinerant farmer's life in Canada; the
tragedy of being orphaned at a young age; the excitement
of emigrating to another country and working hard as he
came of age in Vermont; the satisfaction of marrying and
raising a family and fighting for his country; and the
pain of injury and illness; the grief of loosing his
wife and daughter; the challenge of starting over at age
45 with a new wife in an unsettled part of the country.
He met his challenges well.
http://www.geneabios.com/ayotte.htm
Related Genealogy Resources:
Ayotte Surname Genealogy
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