Alexander Mitchell "Alec" Lancor aka Lincourt, son of Michel Lincourt dit Desorcy and Matilde Morel, was born March 2 1861 in Ontonagon, Michigan. He married Adelia Mondeau February 9 1885. Their marriage ended in divorce March 23 1893. On July 2 1893, Alec married Elizabeth Jane Van Horn. He died January 10 1948 at the home of his son, Robert, in the Town of Delmar, Chippewa County, Wisconsin after 86 years, 10 months and 8 days of life.1 The cause of death was terminal pneumonia and pulmonary edema. His obituary appeared in the Friday, January 16 1948 edition of the Stanley Republican (page 3).2 Funeral services were held January 12 1948 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Boyd, Wisconsin with Msgr. Hilary A. Leuther officiating. Alec was laid to rest January 12 1948 in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery, Boyd, Wisconsin.
Alec was of French-Canadian descent. His parents were born and married in the parish of Saint-Michel d'Yamaska (se mee-SHEHL duh yuhm-A-skuh). The parish is located 10 mi/16 km ESE of Sorel, Québec, Canada on the Yamaska River near its mouth on the St. Lawrence River.
The following article appeared in a circa 1940s edition of The Chippewa Herald. The article compares the pioneer days of the Matanuska Valley, near Anchorage in Alaska, with those of Chippewa County. In the article, Alec recalls many of his childhood experiences in Chippewa County.
Says Pioneer Days in Matanuska Nothing to Those in Chippewa
The present pioneer days of the Matanuska Valley are nothing compared to those experienced in Chippewa County according to Alex Lancor, town of Delmar resident. Mr. Lancor in telling of the early days says:
"I arrived in Chippewa from Michigan with my parents and brothers and sisters, my father having only $20 left. We walked 20 miles through the forest on footpaths to our homestead in the town of Delmar where my father built a log home with shakes for shingles and a pole floor. We used cedar boughs for a broom. Timber was red oak, maple and pine, three and four foot on the stump. To make a clearing we made a head line without any relief."
"Joseph being the oldest, walked the 20 miles to Chippewa and purchased 12 drag teeth, packing them home on his back. We made a drag to tear up the ground. Our first team was oxen."
"Deer and bear were plentiful. Our neighbors were Indians with whom we use to exchange food for deer meat, so with our pioneer energy we were always on top shelf."
"At the age of 15, I left home to work in the pine woods and on the drive. One hundred men or more were on the drive but few are left now. We would pitch our tents in swamps or wherever night overtook us, sometimes the clothing would be frozen to the ground. Hardships were a pleasure. One morning 25 or more of us stood looking at a log stalled on a rock, there being water frozen one half inch thick. The foreman said, 'Boys jump in, the water won't burn.' We sure had to jump or starve, so jump it was with a whoopee. These were real days of pleasure but hard times to look back to if we had to face them today."
