I am looking for information regarding John Q Cass and wife Maria of Quebec who were foster parents to Kristie/Christa Dean of Sweden. She is the sister of my great grandmother and lived with them after her mother died and her father went to NY looking for work never to return. I am not sure how many years she lived with them. They lived with separate families in Quebec after their mother died and the father went to look for work never to return. This is what I know about Ellen and Christa: Ellen lived in Quebec with John (33)& Amanda(30) Statton who had a son Nelson Statton (1). She was with them from about age 6/7 to age 18 when she married. Kristie/Christa lived with John Q A Lass/Cass (53) and Maria (34), Maurice (14) all US born, Arthur (5) Everett E,(4) and unnamed (5/10) all born Quebec. On page 19 of the 1871 census for Quebec in the district of #142 - Compton; sub-districts of Newport, Ditton, Chesham. Compton & Emberton - I also found Ellen Dean age 8 living with the family of John and Amanda Statton who had a son named Nelson age 1. They are listed from England. (On the same reel page 36, I found her sister Kristie Dean age 10 living with John Q A Lass/or Cass. He is from US with an origin of Scotch. Kristie listed as born in Sweden & Origin as Swede.) Is it Krista/Christa ? In letters sent from New York to family she uses Christie/Christa Ross presumably she was married. Envelopes with her last known address as of 1956 are as follows: Ross, Apt - 19 615 W 136 Street New York 31 -NY Ellen Dean is my great grandmother and lived with the Statton family until married on October 30, 1880 to Frye Holbrook Holden of Colebrook, NH. He was working in the Quebec area when they met. Ellen and Frye are on the 1881 Quebec census but moved to Colebrook, NH in 1888. They are listed on the Colebrook, NH 1900 census. October 1940 in Ellen Dean Holden's obituary it lists Nelson Statton of Bulwer, Quebec as attending her funeral along with Robert French. The French family were neighbors on the 1871 census. I am looking for anyone who might know anything about this family and the connection to my great grandmother. Are there any living relatives of John Q Cass or Nelson Statton who might know more about the story of how and why Ellen or Christa lived with them? Or have any letters or photos they might have sent to their foster family? The family stories are that they came from Stockholm, Sweden where Ellen and Christa were born. Their last name was Sundin and changed to Dean. About 1868/9 when Ellen was 6 and Christa 8 their father & other landowners sold their land holdings and took their families to America headed for NY. But for some unknown reason they all ended up in Quebec. While aboard ship the mother had a baby that died. Then their money was stolen so they were broke and in a foreign land unable to speak the language. Once they landed in Quebec the mother took soiled clothes to the nearby brook to wash. She caught cold then got worse and died. She is suppose to be buried in the Island Brook Cemetery. Afterwards their mother died the father left the girls with separate families and told them that as soon as he got a job and settled, he'd be back to get them. The children never saw him again. Ellen never forgave him and I don't know if she ever saw him again. Stories are that he had another family in NY. As an adult her sister Christa lived in New York. Sometimes Christa would sign letters Christie. Ellen told her grandchildren that the family that took her in were so kind and understanding when she cried day and night for weeks they never got after her about it. Her oldest daughter is named Ada Amanda. Is this for her foster mother, Amanda Statton? Scraps of paper indicate the Christa had 2 daughters but no names were indicated. I am hoping there is someone who can fill in the blanks about the lives of Ellen and Christa. Rita Dickinson Weimer Maine