Many pioneers had large families
Special to The Daily Courier
Last week’s article featured two local pioneer families – McDougall and
Lefevre – which came to the Central Okanagan in 1861 and 1879 respectively.
John and Amelie (nee Topa) McDougall had 10 sons. Alphonse and Susan (nee Walker) Lefevre had four daughters and five sons, adding significantly to the local population.
This week’s article focuses on two other pioneer families that had large families: Casorso and Stubbs.
Giovanni Battista “John” Casorso (Casorzo) was born at Tonco, Asti, Piemonte, Italy on Aug. 10, 1848, son of Giovanni and Giovanna Marie Casorso.
His wife, Rosa Bevilaqua, was born at Tonco, Italy on May 13, 1855, daughter of Giovanni Bevilaqua and Marie Margherita Bova.
John Casorso came to the Central Okanagan in 1883; Rosa and their three eldest children — Caroline, Anthony, and Charles — followed him in the summer of 1883.
Casorsos are well-known locally for their agricultural enterprises and early Bernard Avenue meat market.
Rosa Casorso died at Kelowna on Dec. 24, 1921. John Casorso died at Kelowna on April 29, 1932. They had nine children, the first three born in Italy and the rest born in the Central Okanagan:
• Caroline Casorso: 1877 – 1939
• Anthony Casorso: 1880 – 1967
• Charles Casorso: 1882 – 1963
• Joseph Casorso: 1885 – 1960
• Louis John Casorso: 1886 – 1969
• Napoleon Peter Casorso: 1888 – 1987
• Felix Humbert Casorso: 1890 – 1973
• Leo Lawrence Casorso: 1892 – 1977
• August Casorso: 1894 – 1994
Many members of the Casorso family are buried in the historic Roman
Catholic Cemetery, located on Casorso Road, south of Kelowna.
Much has been written about this pioneer family and there are Casorso descendants in the Central Okanagan Valley. Casorso Road and Casorso Road Elementary School are named in honour of this family.
John James Stubbs was born at Manchester, England on Jan. 4, 1861, son of William Stubbs and Elizabeth Walmsley. His wife, Jessie Callie, was born at Liverpool, England on April 29, 1866, daughter of John Callie and Isabella Harris.
In 1888, John Stubbs and Jessie Callie came to Canada and they were married In Manitoba on June 2, 1890.Their first four children —Agnes Maude, Herbert Arthur, Ethel Mona, and Doris Dorothy — were born in Manitoba.
The Stubbs family came to the Central Okanagan about 1897. Initially, John Stubbs worked as a shipper of Okanagan produce and later became a local music teacher and Kelowna’s bandmaster.
John James Stubbs died at Vancouver on Aug. 3, 1921. Jessie (Callie) Stubbs died at Vancouver on Aug.14, 1951. They had eight children, three of them – Zoe, Jessie, and Nellie – born in Kelowna:
• Agnes Maude Stubbs: 1891 – 1921
• Herbert Arthur Stubbs: 1892 – 1916. Killed in First World War at the Somme
• Ethel Mona Stubbs: 1894 – 1987
• Doris Dorothy Stubbs: 1896 – 19??
• Zoe Gertrude Stubbs:1898 – 1970
• Jessie Victoria Stubbs: 1900 – 1984
• Nellie Violet Stubbs: 1902 – 19??
• Cecil George Stubbs: 1910 – 1989 There are probably few, if any, Stubbs family descendants living in the Central Okanagan. The Stubbs surname has not been affixed to any local thoroughfares or landscape features, and so has virtually disappeared from our visual history.
John McDougall — subject of last week’s article — was born at Fort Garry, in what later became Manitoba.
The precise origins of John
McDougall’s Indigenous wife Amelie
(nee Topa) are not known, but she had deep roots in Western Canada.
Alphonse Lefevre — also subject of last week’s article — was born in Quebec. His wife, Susan Walker, born at Hope, was a true British Columbia pioneer.
They were part of the francophone population which settled in the Central Okanagan in the 1860s and 1870s.
Giovanni and Rosa Casorso, natives of Italy, brought the area its first Italian family, easily recognized and well-known more than 130 years after arriving in the Central Okanagan.
English-born John and Jessie Stubbs were of a later generation, arriving at Kelowna in the late 1890s, after the founding of Kelowna’s townsite in 1892, as the Okanagan shed its French identity and became more English in its outlook.
The Casorso and McDougall surnames have endured locally, with many local residents proudly claiming membership in these two pioneer families. Lefevre and Stubbs have not fared as well; these two pioneer families left the area, taking their surname with them.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the McDougall, Lefevre, Casorso, and Stubbs families — with their combined total of 36 children — helped populate and develop our region.They contributed much to our economic and social history.
This article is part of a series, submitted by the Kelowna Branch, Okanagan Historical Society.Additional information is always welcome at P.O Box 22105
Capri P.O., Kelowna, BC, V1Y 9N9.