Manfred History & Preservation, Inc.
Axel and Jennie Le Grand
Husband's Full Name: Axel LeGrand
Husband's Place of Birth: Sweden
Husband's Father's Name: Joseph LeGrand
Husband's Mother's Name: Anna Christian Lidstrom
Husband's Siblings' Names: Esther, Inez, Sarah,
David, Hulda, Gertrude, Harry and Clara
Wife's Full Name: Jennie Fincher
Wife's Place of Birth: Milan, Michigan
Wife's Father's Name: Herbert J. Fincher
Wife's Mother's Name: Eliza Cone Fincher
Wife's Siblings' Names: Jessie, Cora, Grace and Nellie
Children's Names: Norman (Theresa Rogers), Evelyn (Art Carter), Herbert (Esther Janz), Helen (George Ruben), Lyle, Genevieve (Jean) (Edward Thomas)
Joseph Le Grand and his family were early settlers in Manfred, having emigrated from Sweden, when Axel, their oldest son, was four years old. They settled in Northwood, and then later moved to Manfred.
Joseph's grandfather had moved to Sweden from France, at the time of Napoleon. He was an aide of Gen. Bernadette, who became king of Sweden. Eventually Joseph, the grandson, married a Swedish girl, Anna Lindstrom, and they immigrated to the United States, where they lived and raised nine children.
Axel, the oldest, grew up in North Dakota, and married Jennie Fincher, whose parents homesteaded in Pony Gulch near Harvey, living in a cave in the hills, until a cabin could be built.
During these years of farming on a homestead, Jennie, as a young girl, remembered the hardships, and having Sioux Indians as their only neighbors, who often came to her father for help. These two hardy pioneers, Axel and Jennie, lived and farmed in Manfred, raising six children, three boys and three girls.
They are: Norman Le Grand, deceased; Evelyn Le Grand Carter, El Cajon, CA; Herbert Le Grand, deceased, had a daughter, Jeanette; Helen Le Grand Ruber, Folsom, Calif.; Lyle Le Grand, Del Mar, Calif.; Jean Le Grand Thomas, Hemet, Calif., a son, Eddie.
Axel passed away in 1928 and Jennie lived until 1971, having married Guy Fisher, in 1938.
Of the original Joseph Le Grand family of nine, only one remains at this time, Harry Le Grand of Lynwood, Calif., who was Axel's youngest brother. This is the last of the Le Grands, there is no one to carry on the family name.