California Nostalgia

History Summaries

"OLD H99" refers to the old Highway 99, which is now Whitson St. On the top right of the photo, W. Front Street can just be seen along the railroad tracks.

Bill's son was named Gary Aubuchon (b.1934?). He took my grandpa and I fishing for catfish, and got stuck in the thumb pretty badly - I have been unreasonably respectful of catfish stickers ever since.

Google Satellite Photo and Map
"A" is the old Wilshire Service Station, run by my Grandpa Fred's brother, William Aubuchon. (empty, all glass broken out)
"B" denotes the auto garage for repairs. (frequented by the homeless)
"C" was Uncle Bill's house. (boarded up)
"D" was an orchard with every kind of fruit tree there is, it seemed. (not a single tree remains)

At night, Uncle Bill would take us into the auto garage, and dazzle us with his special rock collection. The rocks looked like regular rocks, until you turned out the light and turned on the ultraviolet light. The tungsten and other ores fluoresced in beautiful pink and green colors. A dazzling show for a young rock collector such as myself.

Aunt Elizabeth Stone, with her hoarse voice and infectious laugh. lived in a house right across Thompson Ave. where it says "Elizabeth" on the vacant field. Her husband Bill Stone was tall and quiet - smoked a pipe, and was a pipe collector. Liz, however, was quite verbal. Bill was a custodian at Fowler High School. They had a big fig tree in their back yard, with great figs. Their son Leroy Stone met an early demise (1930-1965). Bill, Elizabeth and Leroy Stone are all buried in the West Selma Cemetery on South Thompson Ave., right next to Fred and Eliza Aubuchon.


Buried in the Floral Ave. Cemetery (north cemetery) in Selma are -
William Aubuchon (86) (1910-1996) and
Mayme Aubuchon (84) (1915-1999)

"E" was great-grandma Mary Eliza Aubuchon's house (now just a junk pile). All around the house and along the driveway "F" were grape vines of every type - Muscat, Thompson Seedless, Tokay (all gone) - plus oranges, nectarines, peaches, plums, pomegranates, apricots (all gone). In August, eat what you want, it's the CENTRAL VALLEY, everything's ripe - great fun as a kid. "S" denotes the storage yard.

Ah, the memories. The HEAT, the trains, the agricultural smells, the crickets at night, fresh fruit everywhere. Nesbitt's Orange and Nehi Grape in the drink cooler, just below the "A" in the top photo. Ten cents for 8 ounces - the price was low, but the bottles were small. RC Cola was the best deal, because you got more.

And there was adding ice, and taking turns on the ice cream crank, on the cushiony, spongy Bermuda grass, with the sprinkler running nearby. And the crickets just starting up. And the train whistle getting closer.

Back in 1952, 1953 and 1954, when I was 8, 9, and 10 respectively, my grandfather, Frederic L. Aubuchon (II) used to take cousin Tony and me fishing with him to Big Creek, Shaver Lake, Huntington Lake, Dinkey Creek, etc.

On the way, we would visit his mother, Mary Eliza Lajeunesse Aubuchon. She lived in Selma, CA, in the old house marked "E" in the photograph at the top. I remember her as very old, quite short, and very sweet. She was in her 80's. Her father and mother were Basil Lajeunesse and Mary Scott. I was told that Mary Scott's parents were burned out (killed) by Indians in Wyoming. I wonder if this earlier generation Basil Lajeunesse from Wyoming was related? He too was killed by Indians, but in Oregon.

Who were Fred Aubuchon's (I) parents? Where were they from?

Fred Aubuchon, Vaughn Aubuchon, Liza Aubuchon - 1952
Grapes on the left, fruit trees in back, house on the right
Many thanks to Sammi Lamar (Eloise Pethel - "Ladybug")




John Pethel (Tony) and Vaughn Aubuchon - 1955
This trout photo was taken several feet away from the photo above.
Many thanks to Sammi Lamar (Eloise Pethel - "Ladybug")

Buried in the "West Side" Selma Cemetery located on S. Thompson Ave, are
Mary Eliza Lajeunesse and Fred Aubuchon I. They had 8 children, listed below by date of birth, along with spouse and grandchildren information.

Name

** S.S. # - Interment

Fred and Eliza's Children
Listed below on left 1 through 8.

Fred Aubuchon

75

No SS#-
West Side Selma

Selma

*Eliza LaJeunesse

90

Frederic L. Aubuchon
m. to Emma Louise Packer
E. Louise Aubuchon

NEW! Packer Family page

560-14-4501 - St. Helens
540-78-1953 - St. Helens

Fred Sr. worked for the Southern California Edison Co. most of his life.

Los Angeles
Oregon

Son Fredric P. Aubuchon (1920-    ) (Oregon)
---- son Vaughn, CA,
---- ad. daughter Nina, OR and
---- ad. daughter Marcella, ID
Daughter Jeanne Pethel (1924-1978) (Clovis)
--- son John Pethel, CA
--- daughter Sammi Lamar, FL

Elizabeth B Aubuchon
m. to Roy Lee Shelley** (1929)
Elizabeth B. Shelly
** (Shelley in S.S. records
      Shelly in Cal. records)

552-18-7136 - Selma
512-03-0048

Selma

Son LeRoy (Shelly) Stone (1930-1965) 549-38-1033,
m. to Barbara Parker , who became Barbara Stone, who became Barbara Hughes

m. to William J Stone (1941)
Elizabeth B. Stone

1901

1978

556-22-5224 - Selma

Two kids -
Daughter Debbie Stone, then Debbie Hansche, and
Son Richard Stone

Mary Aubuchon
m. to Earl Lloyd (Red) Kimrey
Mary Kimrey

557-16-1113
570-12-5121

Fowler

Three Daughters -
Betty E. Kimrey m. Ralph (Duke) Kuhl, and
became Betty E. Kuhl (1925-1997)
Mary Lou Kimrey (1929-1945) and
Joy Kimrey m. Lester (Bud) Conley
and became Joy Conley (1934-2004)

Mike A Aubuchon
m. to Ada M Xxxxx
Ada M. Aubuchon

564-01-3025
563-84-2766

Fresno

Daughter Ellen Aubuchon m. Preston Streit (Fresno) -
Son Richard Aubuchon, helicopter pilot in Apple Valley m. to Rosemary Xxxxx

Florence Aubuchon
m. to Marion (Budge) Cutright
Florence Cutright

Died before SS#
Died before SS#
(The first SS numbers were issued in Nov. 1936.)

Lakeport

Both died in an auto accident on Aug. 28, 1936
Daughter Florence (Buddie) survived, and married Harold Barnes (San Jose, Lake Tahoe)
----- Two daughters
----- Karen Barnes and
----- Sharon Barnes

William Aubuchon
m. to Mayme E Burgeson (1934)
Mayme E. Aubuchon

551-16-0095 - Selma
569-92-3355 - Selma

Selma

Son Gary Wayne Aubuchon (1935,
m. to Nancy (Johnson) Aubuchon
---- son Allen W. Aubuchon (1962),
---- daughter Janet L. Aubuchon Darling (1964), and
---- daughter Gail R. Aubuchon Perez (1966)

Stephen Aubuchon
m. to Beauna V. Fly Lovelace
Buena V. Aubuchon

552-18-7135 - ?
547-20-3089 - ?

Fowler

Stephen's three step-children -
Larry Lovelace Aubuchon (1937-1984),
Ethel Lovelace (now Jackie Johnson) and
Susan Lovelace Aubuchon (1944-1967)

Harry Aubuchon
m. to Blanche Harriet Christiansen
Blanche H. Aubuchon

560-14-4500 - Tulare
559-28-7165 - San Fran.

Harry worked for the Southern California Edison Co.

Auberry
Big Creek
Visalia

3 Sons -
Pat Aubuchon,
Eddie Aubuchon (Shaver Lake) and
Jon Aubuchon

m. to Lucille J. Schuller
Lucille J. Aubuchon - 1-06-73
AKA Lucille J Fischer

none
none
290-56-1342
(1909 s/b 1919?)

Tulare

Harry remarried Lucille J Schuller after Blanche passed.

*I am assuming that the headstone is correct. The California death records show both "Liza" and "Elizabet". Throughout this exercise, you should see what they do with "Lajeunesse" - LAJEANUSS (Stephen) - LAJUESS (Bill) - JUANESS (Harry). Every conceivable misspelling you can think of. When doing genealogy, one must be imaginative and flexible, or you can easily draw wrong conclusions. In one case, I even saw "Young". Close translation perhaps, but that is not what we are looking for. Expect to see anything. I still can't find Ada in the California Death Records. What was her maiden name?
** Upon death, the US government publishes the SS number of the deceased online, in the Social Security Death Index. The number then becomes very useful for genealogy purposes, and is the reason I included them here.

20

230

30

40

40

160

80

300

.
I had always thought that Frederic II told me he was born in Auberry, California. I was wrong - I was wrong about various other facts above. My dad Fred P. Aubuchon has confirmed his dad Fred L. Aubuchon was born in Washington state. He is buried at Yankton Cemetery in St. Helens, Oregon, along with his wife Louise.

MANY THANKS to Barbara Hughes, for all her corrections and additions.
The information above would not be half as good without her input - knowledge and effort.

MANY THANKS to Jackie Johnson, for all her additions.

MANY THANKS to Janet Darling, for her info about Gary's kids.

Aubuchon Family Photo, Selma, CA - Aug. 1936

Bill (26)	Mayme (21)	Steve (24)	-	Florence (28)	Fred (36)	Mike (29)	Louise (34)	-
-	-	-	Elizabeth (34)	Mary (31)	Liza (62)	-	-	-
-	Jeanne (12)	??? (10)?	-	Ellen (?)	Betty (11)	Ada (28)	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	Mary Lou (7)	-	Names in blue suggested by Barbara Hughes
				??? (5?)?	??? (6)?
90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90

Judging the age of my Aunt Jeanne (1924) to be 12 here, I guess the year to be 1936.
Also, Florence is in the photo, and she died in an auto accident on Aug. 28, 1936.
Gary would have been 1 year old, and is not in the photo.
Who took the photo? Who is not in it? Fred (senior), my dad Fred, Budge, Harry, and Bill Stone. We will never know.
Photo provided by Fred Aubuchon, Ontario, OR.

Other possible Aubuchon relatives in the Fresno, CA area - (anybody know?)
Amanda L Aubuchon - Fresno, CA (age 30)
Annette D Aubuchon - Auberry, Clovis, Fresno, Tollhouse, Visalia, CA (age 45)
Christopher Aubuchon - Fresno, CA
Clifford E Aubuchon - Sanger, CA
Dirk H Aubuchon - Visalia, CA (age 41)
Eddie L Aubuchon - Friant, CA (Harry's son?)
Gail R Aubuchon - Selma, CA
Heather J Aubuchon - Clovis, Fresno, CA (age 42)
James Aubuchon - Fresno, CA
Jenifer L Aubuchon - Clovis, Prather, Tollhouse, Visalia, CA (age 60)
Jessica Aubuchon - Fresno, CA
Kellie A Aubuchon - Visalia, CA
Lawrence M Aubuchon - Clovis, CA (age 45)
Leslie Aubuchon - Clovis, CA
Michael R Aubuchon - Fresno, CA (age 57)
Robert Aubuchon - Fresno, CA
Russell Aubuchon - Fresno, CA
Ryan Aubuchon - Clovis, CA

For other Aubuchons, check out AllFolks.com, which is a portal for Intelius People Search, who recently got in hot water by selling everyone's private cell phone numbers.


Other Aubuchon Websites
There is the hardware store icon of New England, the Aubuchon Hardware chain.
You may prefer 400 Years of Aubuchon History.

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Have you tried playing with Google Maps and/ or Google Earth? What a blast! Now you can visit your old home town by simply using your computer mouse - and get a hawk's eye view.

I grew weary of electronically visiting my Palms, Los Angeles childhood haunts - nothing is recognizable - solid apartments from Sepulveda to Jasmine, from Venice to National.

But this! This is different. Fifty-two years later, and there are the same buildings I remember as a child, thanks to Google Maps plus satellite COMPOSITE view.

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