This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: larrydesaire Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.kansas.counties.rooks/290/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Maxim Desaire The Ninth Generation of Deserre- Son of Frank Desaire Father of George Desaire Born -- January 11, 1885 at Rice Lake, Wisconsin, died April 5, 1957 at Damar, Kansas. Married -- Blanche Newell, born April 21, 1886 at Damar, Kansas, married February 27, 1905 in St. Joseph Catholic Church at Damar, Kansas; died July 26, 1966 at Damar, Kansas. He was baptized in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church at Dobie, Wisconsin. He is buried in the St. Joseph Cemetery at Damar, Kansas. Maxim Desaire rode a paint horse all the way to Cloud County Kansas from Rice Lake, Wisconsin when he was 16 years of age. He later settled in Damar, Kansas first working for Mack Newell in a horse and mule livery stable. He then turned to farming until he lost the family farm following the Great Depression during "dirty thirties" when a severe drought settled over the prairie for a second time. Dust storms were so severe ropes were tied from the farm house door and stretched to the windmill so water could be drawn from the well and delivered to the farm house. Cattle and hogs were turned loose and roamed the prairie looking for any bit of green vegetation to eat. Most of them starved to death during the severe drought. After Maxim lost his farm ground, he fed his large family using his carpenter skills and common labor. He retained a meager income off a small farm he was able to keep. Maxim was a severe alcoholic. While it is said that Frank Desaire never touched alcohol, Maxim gave Blanche a lifetime of heartaches because of his drinking. I recall one moment when I was about seven years of age. I found him burying a bottle of "rot gut" wine in Blanche's flower bed as she cursed him in French, "Cashaw" - meaning "the hog". He buried his bottle of rot-gut wine so Blanche would not pour his home-made wine into the hog slop bucket. Maxim's sons were heavy drinkers too. Christmas and New Years were holidays when the whole Desaire clan would gather together at Memae's (the French word for Grandma) house. Many times the children would be herded into the north bedroom by the wives of the Desaire brothers, as the Desaire brothers had fist-fights in the living room while kicking out the windows of Blanche's home in the cold of winter. All my cousins should appreciate this story. On Sunday mornings we would drive to town to MeMae's before going to church. Blanche would grab each kid by the hair of our heads and scrub our faces with her greasy, dirty dish rag before allowing us to enter the church. If her dish rag wasn't wet enough, she would spit on it and then scrub our face until it was squeaky clean! Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.