Martha “Mattie” Elizabeth Fredette is the youngest daughter of three of Francois “Frank” Fredett 1841-1888 and his wife Mary Porter 1848-1922. She was born in Whallonsburg, a small farming community. Her father died when she was only 6 in March 1888 in a tragic accident in Willsboro. Mother Mary married again in June of the same year to William A Barnes 1867-1938. He was only 21 compared to her 39 years at the time, but 6 year old “Mattie”, her 12 year old sister Clara, and sister 15 year old Minnie needed a father figure and a source of income to avoid destitution.

According to a note in the old Simpson Family Bible, Mattie married in 1902 to William Edgar Dashnaw 1880-1943. There were no children from that relationship and they were separated and divorced before the relationship reached the second anniversary. The bible recorded no mention of the date of her second marriage to John Bolton “Burt” Simpson 1882-1948, but other records state 20 OCT 1903 in Essex County. This shows the first marriage of 1902 was probably rapidly annulled. Over the next 18 years a total of at least 10 children were born: Oliver S 1905; Joyce Marie 1907; Nellie Cecilla “Helen” 1908; Gordon S 1910; Henry Lee 1912; William John “Bill” 1913; Donald H “Pete” 1915; Mary Rose 1918; Raymond L 1918; and Charles Richard in 1921 who died in the Invasion of Italy in 1943 as an Army Private. She was widowed 5 years later in the fall of 1948 when “Burt” passed at age 66 at their long-time family home in Westport. Shortly before her own death 22 years later at age 77 she sold the family home and had moved to Port Henry.∼Found in Archives of Elizabethtown Post (Essex County, New York) Volume 51, Issue #4 (Weekly Newspaper) of August 28, 1902: Mrs Fred Martin (Clara "Calla Lilly" Fredette) is in town (Essex, New York) visiting her sister, Mrs Charles Porter. (Clara only had one surviving sister - Martha E Fredette! Update....27 July 2010...Since writing the original on 29 Jan 2009, I have found that Calla-Lilly also had another surviving sister "Minnie" Fredette, who is the one who married Charles Porter! Best of all surprizes, this Charles Porter she marries is the next younger sibling of the "Mary Porter" (The real actual Mary Porter born 1861) who name Minnie's morther uses as an alias (Since we know Minnie's mother was an Indian and could not use her Indian Name, she had to use a "white" name!)