Della Gaume

Della Gaume was born on May 21, 1868 in Canton, Ohio.¹ She was the daughter of Francis Gaume and Della Pickering. She was baptized on May 31, 1868 in St. Louis Catholic Church, Louisville, Ohio.² She married August Vital Francois Joseph DeBacker, son of Vital Eugene Louis DeBacker and Hortence DeDonder, on January 6, 1887 in St Marys, Pottawatomie County, Kansas; Sponsors: Camillus Pessemier & Maria DeDonder. She died on October 3, 1923 in St Marys at age 55.¹

It appears that Della's mother died only a few days after she was born. According to a pension request filed by Francis Gaume's second wife some fifty years after the fact, Della's mother's maiden name was "Pickering" and that Francis Gaume and Della Pickering were married around 1867 in the state of Wisconsin. Della, the daughter, was raised by her grandmother, Elise (Faiver) Gaume; the two appearing together in both the 1870 and 1880 US census for Nimishillen Twnsp., Stark Co., Ohio. It is unclear as to where Francis Gaume was during the time between the death of his first wife in 1868 and through out the decade of the 1870's, but it is fairly certain that sometime around 1883 both father and daughter had relocated to Kansas. By this time a number of relatives had also moved west from Ohio. Della Gaume married Dr. August DeBacker in 1887 at the age of 19. Her married name was DeBacker. She appeared in a group photo with others about 1914 in St Marys, Kansas. See exhibit. She appeared in a group photo with others about 1919 in St Marys. See exhibit.