M. 17 Jun 1918 in St. Paul, Minnesota2
Husband: James John Bolheres
D. 20 Jul 1950 in Los Angeles, California3
Minnie Louise LaBrie faced many hardships in her life. As a child, her father was mean to her, both physically and emotionally. Later she went through difficulties in her marriage with a husband who was sometimes unfaithful, and a tragedy involving one of her children. Minnie did have a support system though in her five sisters, Florence, Lil, Hazel, Julia and Elsie. The LaBrie girls stuck together, helping each other out, and maintaining the core of a traditional extended family.
Minnie Louise LaBrie was born on September 3, 1893 to Louis LaBrie and Julia McGuire in Minneapolis,1 the second of their nine children. Three of her siblings were boys, but of them, only older brother Frank lived past infancy. Until the age of 7, Minnie’s family lived in Minneapolis;4 then in about 1901, they moved to St. Paul.5 Minnie’s father made a living as a waiter, and records show that he moved from job to job, with periods of unemployment in between.4,5,6 He was said to be a heavy drinker, and couldn’t get along with others. His personality played out in a teasing way with his daughters. Minnie once found a lump of coal in her Christmas stocking, no doubt placed there by her father.7 Another story said that he once told the girls he had just attended a public execution, and he showed them a rope that he claimed was used to hang the man.8
Minnie is centered in the back row of this 1905 family portrait.
Because of the family’s poverty, the kids were expected to help bring money into the household. So when Minnie was 16, she dropped out of school and took a job as a packer in a seed store.5 The following year, she worked in a factory canning Log Cabin syrup.7 She later spoke of being so poor during that stint, that she had to eat "ketchup sandwiches" for lunch.7 One day a drill press she was operating cut off the index finger on her left hand down to the first knuckle. When she showed the injury to her boss, he yelled at her to go back to work and not waste his time.7
Minnie loved her daughters more than anything, but in 1930, she received the devastating news that 10-year-old Helen had Hodgkin’s disease.7 At the time, there was no cure, and in desperation, Minnie offered up the girl for medical research at the University of Minnesota.7 In spite of everything she did, young Helen passed away in June 1932.12 This hit Minnie hard, and emotionally, she was never the same. On each New Year's Eve after that, she would sit down and cry uncontrollably, because it meant another year that Helen didn’t live to see.7
At some point around this time, Minnie discovered that Jim was having an affair with a waitress who worked for him.16 This led to some heated clashes between the two. One day, she showed up while he was working, and became so enraged that she started flinging forks across the room.16 On another occasion, the girls were witness to an argument where Jim had Minnie in a stranglehold. Still another time, he shoved her down the stairs that led to the restaurant’s basement. Minnie suffered a few bruises from this incident; afterwards, she got on a bus and escaped to her sister Florence’s house, not returning home until late that night.16 In spite of the level of violence between the two of them, Minnie and Jim stayed together, reportedly for the sake of their daughters.
During the late 1930s, as the Depression took a toll on Jim's income, the family moved into an apartment above a pool hall.4,7 He continued to work long hours in his restaurants, never able to climb the economic ladder. Then in July 1941, he went into the hospital for routine surgery. Minnie visited him for week or so as he recovered, but one day as she was at his bedside, a nurse administered an injection that seem to give him a bad reaction. After she returned home, the hospital called to say that Jim had just died. Minnie always thought it was malpractice, though she could never prove it.7
As a widow, Minnie’s sisters became more important to her than ever (Frank had died in a car accident a few years earlier). She re-entered the workforce by taking factory jobs,4 and this brought in enough to pay the rent, but she wanted to consider other options for her future. By now, youngest sisters Julia and Elsie lived in Los Angeles with their husbands and kids. When daughter Margaret ventured out to California in the spring of 1943, Minnie packed up and moved there a few months later.7 Julia and Elsie played a big part in helping her get settled; by the end of the decade, sister Florence joined them, too.
The mid- to late-1940s were perhaps the happiest time of Minnie’s life. There was all the activity with her sisters: visits at each other’s houses, trips to thrift shops and rummage sales, and big family picnics at parks around the city. And in February 1946, Minnie bought a small house17 — something that her husband had never done. She was supported by Margaret and Lillian, who worked in various factories around L.A. One job had them on an assembly line making television sets, and in 1948, they were able to give Minnie a TV at a time when very few people had them. Her favorite thing to watch was anything featuring Gorgeous George.7
It was a lucky thing that they took the trip that day. The following Friday, July 19th, Minnie was having dinner in her home with Margaret and Tom when she began to slur her words. It was the first sign that she was having a stroke, and after this became evident, Margaret called for an ambulance.7 Unfortunately, the doctors could do nothing to save her. Minnie passed away at the hospital early the next morning at the age of 56.3
The death of their mother devastated Margaret and Lillian, but it was the LaBrie sisters who still acted as the support system. One afternoon, everyone gathered at Minnie’s house to sort through the photos and mementos that she had owned. The girls were too grief stricken to save anything — Margaret later said it was painful to see reminders of her mother. So Julia, Florence and Elsie claimed much of Minnie’s possessions.7 Years later, they returned many of the items to the girls. One thing was a delicate tea set with service for six. Remarkably, none of the pieces were missing or broken,20 which says a lot about the care the sisters gave to something once owned by Minnie.
The legacy of Minnie and the LaBrie sisters is that their closeness continued into the generations that followed. Family picnics were a tradition into the 1960s and 1970s. In visits between LaBrie relatives, second cousins were often playmates, and first cousins became best friends. On June 24, 2007, fifty-eight descendants of the LaBrie sisters, along with spouses, gathered for a reunion at a park in California, many traveling long distances to attend. All of this is traceable to the hardship of their childhood — and how they overcame it with the strong bond of sisterhood.
Children:
1. Helen Hazel Bolheres — B. 7 Jul 1920, Minneapolis, Minnesota;12 D. 24 Jun 1932, Minneapolis, Minnesota12
2. Margaret Elizabeth Bolheres — B. 12 Apr 1922, Minneapolis, Minnesota;13 D. 4 Aug 2016, West Hills, California;20,21 M. Thomas Milton Mitchell (1922-2007), 2 Jul 1949, Pasadena, California18
3. Lillian Bolheres — B. 13 Oct 1925, Jacksonville, Florida;15 D. 14 Feb 2006, Inglewood, California;20,21 M. Hubert Rudolph Hueler (1916-2009), 20 May 1950, Los Angeles County, California19
Sources:
1 Birth record of Minnie Louise LaBrie, Minnesota Births and Christenings, 1840-1980, FamilySearch.org
2 Marriage record of James Bolheres and Minnie LaBrie, 17 Jun 1918, St. Paul, Minnesota
3 Death record of Minnie Louise (LaBrie) Bolheres, California County Birth and Death Records, Familysearch.org
4 Minneapolis, Minnesota city directories, 1893-1942
5 St. Paul, Minnesota city directories, 1901-1916
6 1910 U.S. Census, St.Paul, Minnesota
7 Interviews of Margaret Mitchell, Los Angeles, California, 1996-1999
8 Story told in phone conversation with Marie Morrison, 2007
9 “Ends Life in Cell at Rondo Station,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 5, 1911
10 “Prisoner Takes His Life,” Minneapolis Tribune, March 5, 1911
11 Discharge from the U.S. Army of James John Bolheres, Camp Dodge, Iowa, December 31, 1918
12 Death Certificate of Helen Hazel Bolheres, 24 Jun 1932, Minneapolis, Minnesota
13 Birth Certificate of Margaret Elizabeth Bolheres, 12 Apr 1922, Minneapolis, Minnesota
14 1926 Jacksonville, Florida city directory
15 United States Social Security Identification Files, 1936-2007, FamilySearch.org
16 Interviews of Lillian Hueler, Los Angeles, California, 1996-1999
17 Fire insurance and grant deed for property on 60th Street, Los Angeles, California, 8 May 1946
18 Marriage record of Thomas Mitchell and Margaret Bolheres, California County Marriages, 1850-1953, FamilySearch.org
19 Marriage record of Hubert Hueler and Lillian Bolheres, California County Marriages, 1850-1953, FamilySearch.org
20 Firsthand knowledge of Laura Mitchell
21 Social Security Death Index
Going home from work every day, Minnie faced another authoritarian figure in her father. Although no one in the family gave specifics of what he did to his daughters, he was known to be at least physically violent to them.9 Frank was a victim, too, as well as Minnie’s mother, and her father was “a frequent prisoner in St. Paul police court on charges of abusing his family.”9 One night in March 1911, he went into such an uncontrollable rage at the family that he destroyed some of the furniture in the house.10 The following afternoon, he was arrested. Hours later, the family received the stunning news that he committed suicide in his jail cell.9
Minnie was probably relieved when Jim was discharged at the end of the war, and they were able to establish a home in Minneapolis.4 He opened a restaurant, where Minnie sometimes worked as a cashier.4 Soon she was pregnant, and in July 1920, she gave birth to a daughter, Helen;12 this was followed by another born in April 1922 named Margaret.13 In 1925, the family moved to Jacksonville, Florida.7,14 The journey to get there was challenging, sleeping in a tent each night with two young children, and made harder by the fact that she was pregnant.7 After a long summer in a steamy apartment, she had her third daughter, Lillian, that October.15
The following year, the family moved back to Minneapolis.4 Minnie must have been happy to return to the company of her siblings. Her mother had died a couple of years earlier, so her extended family was now just her sisters and brother Frank. During this phase of their lives, each of them got married, and their contact often centered around activities with the children. Frank was childless, but sisters Florence and Hazel provided offspring who were sometimes playmates to Minnie’s girls. Since Jim worked long hours operating a restaurant, Minnie spent a lot of time visiting with her sisters.7
One thing that the LaBrie sisters loved doing was bargain-hunting. An afternoon might have two or more of them jumping in the car to visit a second-hand store or rummage sale across town.7,16 Since Minnie didn’t drive, she relied on Florence or Hazel for transport. They all took pleasure in finding discounted items, such things as clothes for the children, something for the kitchen, or just knick-knacks to decorate their homes.7 It was the idea that they found things of more value than what they paid that gave them a great thrill. This was a trait they got from their mother, and would be handed down to later generations.
Needless to say, this was a horrible event in Minnie’s life. While her mean father was gone, there were other issues his sudden death caused. The incident was reported on the front page of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and the article mentioned Minnie by name.9 It’s easy to imagine that this exposure was humiliating. There was also the loss of her father’s income, and that meant she and Frank were the main support for the family. They were later joined by the younger girls as each was old enough to get a job. It was during these rough times that a strong relationship formed between Minnie and her sisters. The common experience of their hardship created a bond that got them through the difficult years and beyond.
Minnie as a young woman.
Minnie continued working in factories until 1916, when she found work as a maid.5 Then in 1918, she became a waitress at a little Greek-owned restaurant in St. Paul.7 Before long, she started dating the cook, Jim Bolheres, the nephew and brother of the co-owners, and after a brief courtship, they were married on June 17th.2 This was during the time the U.S. had entered World War I, and within a week, Jim enlisted in the army. He wasn't sent to Europe, though, instead he spent his entire service stationed in Illinois and Iowa.11
Minnie and Jim with Minnie's sister Elsie, 1918
Minnie was probably relieved when Jim was discharged at the end of the war, and they were able to establish a home in Minneapolis.4 He opened a restaurant, where Minnie sometimes worked as a cashier.4 Soon she was pregnant, and in July 1920, she gave birth to a daughter, Helen;12 this was followed by another born in April 1922 named Margaret.13 In 1925, the family moved to Jacksonville, Florida.7,14 The journey to get there was challenging, sleeping in a tent each night with two young children, and made harder by the fact that she was pregnant.7 After a long summer in a steamy apartment, she had her third daughter, Lillian, that October.15
The following year, the family moved back to Minneapolis.4 Minnie must have been happy to return to the company of her siblings. Her mother had died a couple of years earlier, so her extended family was now just her sisters and brother Frank. During this phase of their lives, each of them got married, and their contact often centered around activities with the children. Frank was childless, but sisters Florence and Hazel provided offspring who were sometimes playmates to Minnie’s girls. Since Jim worked long hours operating a restaurant, Minnie spent a lot of time visiting with her sisters.7
One thing that the LaBrie sisters loved doing was bargain-hunting. An afternoon might have two or more of them jumping in the car to visit a second-hand store or rummage sale across town.7,16 Since Minnie didn’t drive, she relied on Florence or Hazel for transport. They all took pleasure in finding discounted items, such things as clothes for the children, something for the kitchen, or just knick-knacks to decorate their homes.7 It was the idea that they found things of more value than what they paid that gave them a great thrill. This was a trait they got from their mother, and would be handed down to later generations.
LaBrie sisters in 1920. Top row: Hazel, Julia, Lil. Bottom row: Minnie, Elsie, Florence.
Minnie with her three girls in 1929
Minnie loved her daughters more than anything, but in 1930, she received the devastating news that 10-year-old Helen had Hodgkin’s disease.7 At the time, there was no cure, and in desperation, Minnie offered up the girl for medical research at the University of Minnesota.7 In spite of everything she did, young Helen passed away in June 1932.12 This hit Minnie hard, and emotionally, she was never the same. On each New Year's Eve after that, she would sit down and cry uncontrollably, because it meant another year that Helen didn’t live to see.7
At some point around this time, Minnie discovered that Jim was having an affair with a waitress who worked for him.16 This led to some heated clashes between the two. One day, she showed up while he was working, and became so enraged that she started flinging forks across the room.16 On another occasion, the girls were witness to an argument where Jim had Minnie in a stranglehold. Still another time, he shoved her down the stairs that led to the restaurant’s basement. Minnie suffered a few bruises from this incident; afterwards, she got on a bus and escaped to her sister Florence’s house, not returning home until late that night.16 In spite of the level of violence between the two of them, Minnie and Jim stayed together, reportedly for the sake of their daughters.
During the late 1930s, as the Depression took a toll on Jim's income, the family moved into an apartment above a pool hall.4,7 He continued to work long hours in his restaurants, never able to climb the economic ladder. Then in July 1941, he went into the hospital for routine surgery. Minnie visited him for week or so as he recovered, but one day as she was at his bedside, a nurse administered an injection that seem to give him a bad reaction. After she returned home, the hospital called to say that Jim had just died. Minnie always thought it was malpractice, though she could never prove it.7
As a widow, Minnie’s sisters became more important to her than ever (Frank had died in a car accident a few years earlier). She re-entered the workforce by taking factory jobs,4 and this brought in enough to pay the rent, but she wanted to consider other options for her future. By now, youngest sisters Julia and Elsie lived in Los Angeles with their husbands and kids. When daughter Margaret ventured out to California in the spring of 1943, Minnie packed up and moved there a few months later.7 Julia and Elsie played a big part in helping her get settled; by the end of the decade, sister Florence joined them, too.
The mid- to late-1940s were perhaps the happiest time of Minnie’s life. There was all the activity with her sisters: visits at each other’s houses, trips to thrift shops and rummage sales, and big family picnics at parks around the city. And in February 1946, Minnie bought a small house17 — something that her husband had never done. She was supported by Margaret and Lillian, who worked in various factories around L.A. One job had them on an assembly line making television sets, and in 1948, they were able to give Minnie a TV at a time when very few people had them. Her favorite thing to watch was anything featuring Gorgeous George.7
Minnie holding her niece Irene at a LaBrie family picnic.
By now Minnie’s two daughters were in their mid-20s, and Margaret left the nest when she got married in July 1949.18 The following May, Lillian also moved out when she got married.19 The girls were afraid to have their mother living by herself, so Margaret and her husband Tom moved into her small house. During this time, Minnie repeatedly told her daughters she wanted to visit Catalina Island, a popular day trip in Los Angeles. After they brushed aside many of her requests, they finally gave in, and on a Saturday in July 1950, they all rode the boat to Catalina.7 Photos from that day show Minnie broadly smiling in the company of her daughters and their husbands.
Minnie at Catalina Island with Margaret in July 1950.
It was a lucky thing that they took the trip that day. The following Friday, July 19th, Minnie was having dinner in her home with Margaret and Tom when she began to slur her words. It was the first sign that she was having a stroke, and after this became evident, Margaret called for an ambulance.7 Unfortunately, the doctors could do nothing to save her. Minnie passed away at the hospital early the next morning at the age of 56.3
The death of their mother devastated Margaret and Lillian, but it was the LaBrie sisters who still acted as the support system. One afternoon, everyone gathered at Minnie’s house to sort through the photos and mementos that she had owned. The girls were too grief stricken to save anything — Margaret later said it was painful to see reminders of her mother. So Julia, Florence and Elsie claimed much of Minnie’s possessions.7 Years later, they returned many of the items to the girls. One thing was a delicate tea set with service for six. Remarkably, none of the pieces were missing or broken,20 which says a lot about the care the sisters gave to something once owned by Minnie.
Minnie's tea set which was saved by her sister Julia.
The legacy of Minnie and the LaBrie sisters is that their closeness continued into the generations that followed. Family picnics were a tradition into the 1960s and 1970s. In visits between LaBrie relatives, second cousins were often playmates, and first cousins became best friends. On June 24, 2007, fifty-eight descendants of the LaBrie sisters, along with spouses, gathered for a reunion at a park in California, many traveling long distances to attend. All of this is traceable to the hardship of their childhood — and how they overcame it with the strong bond of sisterhood.
The LaBrie family reunion in 2007.
Children:
1. Helen Hazel Bolheres — B. 7 Jul 1920, Minneapolis, Minnesota;12 D. 24 Jun 1932, Minneapolis, Minnesota12
2. Margaret Elizabeth Bolheres — B. 12 Apr 1922, Minneapolis, Minnesota;13 D. 4 Aug 2016, West Hills, California;20,21 M. Thomas Milton Mitchell (1922-2007), 2 Jul 1949, Pasadena, California18
3. Lillian Bolheres — B. 13 Oct 1925, Jacksonville, Florida;15 D. 14 Feb 2006, Inglewood, California;20,21 M. Hubert Rudolph Hueler (1916-2009), 20 May 1950, Los Angeles County, California19
Sources:
1 Birth record of Minnie Louise LaBrie, Minnesota Births and Christenings, 1840-1980, FamilySearch.org
2 Marriage record of James Bolheres and Minnie LaBrie, 17 Jun 1918, St. Paul, Minnesota
3 Death record of Minnie Louise (LaBrie) Bolheres, California County Birth and Death Records, Familysearch.org
4 Minneapolis, Minnesota city directories, 1893-1942
5 St. Paul, Minnesota city directories, 1901-1916
6 1910 U.S. Census, St.Paul, Minnesota
7 Interviews of Margaret Mitchell, Los Angeles, California, 1996-1999
8 Story told in phone conversation with Marie Morrison, 2007
9 “Ends Life in Cell at Rondo Station,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 5, 1911
10 “Prisoner Takes His Life,” Minneapolis Tribune, March 5, 1911
11 Discharge from the U.S. Army of James John Bolheres, Camp Dodge, Iowa, December 31, 1918
12 Death Certificate of Helen Hazel Bolheres, 24 Jun 1932, Minneapolis, Minnesota
13 Birth Certificate of Margaret Elizabeth Bolheres, 12 Apr 1922, Minneapolis, Minnesota
14 1926 Jacksonville, Florida city directory
15 United States Social Security Identification Files, 1936-2007, FamilySearch.org
16 Interviews of Lillian Hueler, Los Angeles, California, 1996-1999
17 Fire insurance and grant deed for property on 60th Street, Los Angeles, California, 8 May 1946
18 Marriage record of Thomas Mitchell and Margaret Bolheres, California County Marriages, 1850-1953, FamilySearch.org
19 Marriage record of Hubert Hueler and Lillian Bolheres, California County Marriages, 1850-1953, FamilySearch.org
20 Firsthand knowledge of Laura Mitchell
21 Social Security Death Index
