North Star and Versailles, Ohio

Andrew Alexandre's North Star sawmill

Railroad work, a family sawmill and two labelled group photographs preserve a French-American family's Ohio story.

The 1963 family history recalls Andrew Alexandre arriving from France in 1851 and working under a labor contract for the New York Central Railroad before settling near Versailles. It describes his brother, known as Fifi, as a local wagon and carriage maker.

Andrew and Mary Margaret Couchot married at St. Valbert's. After farming near Frenchtown, the family moved toward North Star around 1870, where Andrew owned a sawmill. The book connects the business with the region's railroad and canal transport.

These are family recollections and should be distinguished from independently verified passenger or business records. The everyday memories are valuable in their own right: apple butter, soap making, card games, bilingual households and the greeting Christmas Gift.

The book's 1907 and 1941 photographs identify many family members by name. Both complete group photographs remain attached to the relevant family cards, preserving the captions rather than guessing at unlabeled faces.

Sources and further reading

• Catalog: History of the Andrew Alexandre Family (1963)