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Married: 26 Feb 1885 in Charleroi, Belgium
Children:
| Jules DALLONS | b. 11 Feb 1886 | Charleroi, Belgium | d. 1928 | |
| Victor DALLONS | b. 17 Mar 1893 | Kokomo, Indiana | d. 2 June 1975 | |
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Francois DALLONS married Emilia CHAUSTEUR 26 February, 1885. His sister married Emilia's brother. Francois and Emilia had their first child, Jules, in 1886. Francois immigrated to the United States in 1890 and worked as a blacksmith in a glass factory in Orestes, Indiana, leaving his wife and son behind in Belgium. Many Belgians immigrated there in the same time period to work in the glass factory. The 1900 census shows a number of persons of Belgian origin living in Orestes, Indiana including a cousin, Lydia Dallons who had married a Victor Mesureur. Emilia and Jules joined Francois, or Frank as he was called then, several years later and Victor was was born in Kokomo, Indiana in 1893. They lived at 2801 North 1st Street along with Emilia's mother, Celinie CHAUSTEUR (ne Andrisse). Frank and the other Belgians worked in glass factories in Indiana and Ohio, wherever there was employment. In later years, his son Victor recalled the time when the gas fields that supplied fuel for the glass factory gave out overnight so in the morning when the workers arrived at the factory they found themselves suddenly unemployed. There was no such thing as unemployment insurance or welfare in those days so you just went looking for a new job or you didn't eat. |
 Emilia, Victor, Frank and Jules |
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The year of 1906 was difficult for Frank. His wife Emilia, was in poor health so their son Victor, was kept by his aunt and uncle, the Chausteurs in Maumee, Ohio. Frank left on the train for California on November 20th and arrived in Stockton on the 26th. He sent postcards to his family all along the way. The great earthquake that destroyed San Francisco on April 18th of that year created a great demand for glass. Jobs were plentiful and Frank went to work for the Pacific Window Glass Co. in Stockton. A year later in 1907 his son Victor arrived to live with him. Victor was 14 years old at that time; it is doubtful that he made the six day train trip by himself across the country. A postcard gives a clue as to who may have escorted him to Stockton. It was written to Victor's father Frank in Stockton from his cousin Sylvain Devillez in Mount Vernon, Ohio dated August 28th, 1907. The message was written in French and asks "Is it true that Emile Denuit went to California?" The rest of the postcard is a bit garbled but one can gather that Victor came to California with the Denuit family. Emilia was in and out of hospitals in Ohio and Pennsylvania
from a mental breakdown when Frank was in California. Emilia died on the 13th of May, 1943 in Stockton California. |
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