Joseph Hamel Sr. lived in Quebec until 1870 when he moved to Houghton, Michigan, where he married Margaret Perkins of Houghton in 1879. They came to Carrington on one of the first trains to arrive in 1883.

He came to homestead and filed on the South 1/2 of Section 14 in Haven Township but he learned that workers were needed on the railroad, he applied for work on the Northern Pacific. He worked for the railroad for forty years, serving as section boss part of the time and retired in 1923.

Two children: Amelia and Joseph Jr. were born in Michigan. They were the parents of fourteen children.

Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 25B