Disclaimer-
Please Note- all the info below, are from ALLEGED Charges and Crimes,
stemming from Rum Running Booze
from Saskatchewan to the US in the 1920's.
I have no physical proof Mr. Dellage, Lacoste and Auld
were involved in this activity,
other than newspaper articles,
and history books, from the time.
You can make up your own mind, if they were guilty or not.
I do know he was ACQUITTED of the murder described below.

Lee Dellage was arrested and charged with the murder
of Sam Bronfman's brother-in-law, Paul Matoff
in the CPR Station Telegrapher's office on Oct 4,1922 in Bienfait.

Lee Leander Dellage
b-  Feb 2, 1886 in New Haven, Iowa, USA
(age 33 in 1920 census in Burke Co, ND)
d- Jan 15, 1988, in Long Lake, Hennepin, Minnesota, age 102!
His last address in Social Security registry
Social Sec. # 501-36-3029
buried in Flaxton Cemetery, Burke Co. ND

Wife- May (Mae?) Eva Dellage, nee Noyes
b- Oct 13, 1892 in Forest City, Winnebago, Iowa
(age 27 in 1920 census)
d- July 13, 1923 in Flaxton ND
buried in Flaxton Cemetery, Burke Co. ND

They had 3 children:

1.  Arliene "Arlene" Dellage
b- 1913 in Lignite ND
(age 7 in 1920 census)
Arlene married Otto Woodward
They lived in Laguna Hills CA, in 2006.
Otto and Arlene are both deceased, per Debbie Kramer.

2. Wilmar "William" "Bill" L. Dellage
b- Mar 15, 1915 in Lignite ND (1914 on headstone)
(age 4 yr, 9 mo, in 1920 census)
d- Oct 21, 2006 at a local care facility, The Dalles, Oregon
in his obit, it says he was 2nd of 3 children.
it says his mother's maiden name was Noyes.
He married Mildred Loveland, in 1942.
Later married Mary Unrein in 1947
cremated- remains buried in St. Paul Catholic Cemetery
They had a daughter Pamela Kay Dellage, b- 1945, d-1990

3. Ellen J. Dellage
 b- Apr 12, 1921 in Lignite ND
d- May 3, 2006, age 85
buried in Rest-Haven Memorial Park, cremated.
she married Gordon Jacobson, Apr 14, 1941 in Eugene Oregon
He died Jan 9, 2000
They had a son and daughter.

1910 Lee Dellage was living in Vale, Burke Co. ND
1980 when his sister died he was living in Minneapolis MN

also buried in Flaxton Cemetery, wife, children?:

Mae Eva Dellage
 b-  1892 in Iowa
d- 1923 
This could be his wife that died
 while he was in jail, (see below and above)

Mildred Dellage
b- May 7, 1903
d- Dec 13, 1924

Mildred Dellage
b-  May 1916
d- Dec 1949
Social Security # 517-18-3993 issued in Montana
could be first wife of Bill Dellage above

Lee Dellage remarried Aug 16, 1933,
 in Scobey, Daniels Co., Montana
to Jean Marie Morris
b- 1910 in New Rockford, ND
daughter of Edward Marton Morris and Mary Yuetzel

Lee's Father-
Louis Azarié Délâge
anglicized to Louis Azarie Dellage
 b- Jan 17, 1846, at Notre-Dame du Rosaire, St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada
d- Nov 25, 1915 in New Haven, Mitchell Co., Iowa
buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Osage, Iowa
Louis's father and mother were both born in Quebec Canada
Louis shown as a farmer in Lincoln township, Mitchell Co., Iowa in 1900
He might have fought as an infantry man in Connecticut during civil war
rank -P, Company -F, Regiment -11

Lee's Mother-
married Nov 9, 1879 in Osage, Mitchell Co., Iowa
Maryell "Mary" "Mayme" Morrissey
b- Feb 2, 1854 in Dodge Co., Wisconsin
d- Nov 18, 1920 in Osage, Mitchell Co. Iowa.
buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Osage, Iowa
other names I have seen- Mary Morrisie, (Morrisey) (Morrison)
Mary's father and mother were both born in Ireland
Father- Dennis (Denis?) Morrissey (1830-1901)
Mother- Mary Anne Curtin (1833-1906)

His father Louis Dellage, remarried Ellen McHugh,
b- May 15,1848, Hartford, Washington Co. New York,
d- June 10, 1879 in New Haven, Mitchell Co., Iowa
buried in Saint Peter's Cemetery, New Haven, Mitchell Co., Iowa

Siblings of Lee Dellage:

1. Dennis Dellage
b- Nov 10, 1880
d- Dec 1880

2. Mary Ellen Dellage
b- Feb 5, 1882 in New Haven, Mitchell, Iowa
d- Apr 5, 1906 at parents home, in Osage, Mitchell Co., Iowa
married Isrial (Israel?) Cross, Sept 1, 1900, Alta Vista, Chickasaw, Iowa
son of John Cross, and Sarah Fellen
They had a daughter Marjorie,
b- Aug 8, 1902
d- Sept 6, 1952 at a hospital at Hampton
Marjorie married Wesley Wilson Parks

3. James Dellage
b- Nov 15, 1883 in Osage, Iowa
 d- Apr 26, 1929 in Peoria, Iowa
buried in Osage Cemetery
married Alice Marie "Allie" Dellage, nee VanHooser (1889-1978)
July 5, 1905
daughter of Edgar VanHooser and Martha Hunt
James lived at 205 2nd st, Osage, in a house Alice used as a hospital.
they had a son Warren Edgar Dellage (1912-1914)
and son Clair James Dellage, b- Sept 22, 1909, d- Dec 18, 1975
also a son Wayne L. Dellage, who married a Jean Dellage, nee ?
Jean formed a Dellage Family Scholarship
 in 2001 in Osage High School.

4. Frank Dellage
b- Feb 10, 1888 on home farm, near New Haven, Mitchell Co., Iowa
d- Jan 24, 1931 in Cedar Falls, Black Hawk Co, Iowa
buried in Riverside Cemetery, Riceville, Mitchell co. Iowa
Killed at a car accident at a Rock Island Railway crossing
his wife and 2 other women riding with him were injured.
A Mrs. Askel Holst was driving, she died a day later.
Grew up in Mitchell Co., lived in Osage vicinity,
moved to a farm near Waterloo ca1930.
Lived at 402 Leland Ave. Waterloo
married Lulu B. Gooder, b- 1895
daughter of John Gooder, and Eliza Bell
Frank looked after his parents in their old age at Osage.
Lulu Gooder remarried a Jerry Gray.

5. Jessie Jane Dellage
b- Aug 29, 1889 in New Haven, Mitchell, Iowa
d- Mar 30, 1976 in Osage, Mitchell Co. Iowa
buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery
married Harry Egbert Brown, Nov 5, 1908, Mason City, Cerro Gordo, Iowa
son of Warner J. Brown and Hattie R. Case
They had 2 children
(confused on Jessie, as Frank's Obit says he had a brother Jess? misprint?)
They lived in Mason City in 1931

6. John "Jack" Michael Dellage
b- Dec 7, 1892 in Douglas Twp, Mitchell, Iowa
d- Mar 1970, Eugene, Lane, Oregon
married Norma Francis Stanfield, Sept 1917, Eugene, Lane, Oregon
b- Apr 12, 1894 in Spangle WA
d- Sept 1981 in Eugene, Lane, Oregon
Her father- Romeo Camilla Stanfield
Her mother- Leslie May Hurley
They lived in Lignite ND in 1931

7. Julia Francesca Dellage
b- Sept 9, 1894 in New Haven, Iowa
d- Jan 14, 1980 Clinton Iowa, age 85
buried in Peru Cemetery, Madison Co. Iowa
She married John Phillip Bullin,
Feb 7, 1913 in Des Moines, Polk, Iowa.
She operated the Peru Cafe.
They had 4 children:
a son- Jack D. Bullin
 b- Dec. 28, 1918, d- July 7, 1927
daughter- Cleta Bullin, who married a Almquist.
Cleta was alive when her mother died.
They also had another son and daughter,
who died before their mother.
They lived in Des Moines in 1931

Lee had 4 Half brothers and sisters,
same father, different mother

1. Half-brother- Henry Dellage
b- ? near New Haven, Iowa
died ca Nov 1931, in a sanatorium, at Jamestown ND
buried in a place called Hope.
married Nora Vance, they had a baby which died young.

2. Half-brother- Bert Dellage from Wisconsin in 1931
b- 1877, in Osage Iowa
married Vera Porter Nov 23, 1899 in New Hampton, Chickasaw, Iowa,
b- 1882 in Charles City
daughter of Charles Porter, and M. Read

3. Half-sister- Gene Dellage, married Mr. Gray, Minnesota

4. Half-sister- Emma Dellage, married Mr. Sherman, Minnesota

I have found Dellage family names
 buried in Flaxton Cemetery, Burke Co ND
Mae Eva, Mildred, and Mildred Mae

In the mid 1920's Lee Dellage owned and managed
a semi professional Baseball team,
called "Dellage's Cubans", based in Lignite ND.
Known as a Farmer and Carpenter in the area.

I have seen spellings of Dillage, Dillege, Dilledge, and Dellage
in various newspaper accounts, and history books.
but it appears this man's real name was Lee Leander Dellage
(1900 US census says Leo Dellage, but only place this appears)

In the book "Grass Roots" by Heather Robertson,
Lee Dellage is described as "Small and Wiry".
Jimmy LaCoste as "a big blond Frenchman with a broken nose".
She writes Dellage had a high powered Cadillac car.
In this book she says the booze was found in a straw pile
just as Jimmy LaCoste told the police.
Investigating Dellage's farm they found more booze.

Per a newspaper article, James LaCoste, the truck driver,
who worked with Dellage, and was his friend,
admitted the story he told at Matoff's coroner's inquest,
of the hijacking of the whiskey truck,
and Dellage's automobile was false.
LaCoste claimed Dellage told him to tell this story.
He admitted he told this story to Sergeant Worgan
of the Provincial Police on his return to Bienfait.
LaCoste said he told Dellage he was crazy telling such a story,
as Dellage just told him Matoff was killed.
LaCoste stuck to his story to shield Dellage from
Federal Officers in the USA.
LcCoste claimed they hid the whiskey in a straw pile near Lignite ND.
LaCoste said they were assisted by a man named Martinson,
after the truck got stuck in a ditch.
On LaCoste's return to Bienfait he told the police,
he would lead them to Dellage's farm.
When he got to a town 6 miles south of Bienfait (Roche Percee?)
he sped up, and lost the police, to warn Dellage
to not stick to the hijacking story now the truth was out.
Makes you wonder if he wasn't guilty, then why the story?
Or was he more worried about the booze?

then this story in the LA paper, and St Paul paper,
Lucky Tommy O'Connor was believed to have been located today
in the neighbourhood of the Canadian border
 between St. Paul, Minn., and Winnipeg, Can.
The escaped murderer (from a Chicago jail),
was said to have been recognized,
 as the leader of a gang of hijackers,
who shot and killed Paul Matoff, wealthy rum runner,
and later held up a liquor caravan,
robbed the man in charge of $6000
and drove off with the contents of a ten-ton truck.
another story, another suspect, red herring?
It seemed a lot of crimes were blamed on this fellow
while he was on the run for many years.

Lee Dellage was tried for murder at the Court of King's Bench,
in Estevan, starting Mar 21, 1923,
he was acquitted afternoon of Mar 22, 1923
the jury deliberated for 3 hours.
Trial lasted 2 days.
Justice Bigelow presided, and made a statement
to Dellage that he knew more than the evidence proved,
and stated the murder was due to a conspiracy
to violate Canadian and American Liquor laws.
the judge then made a statement to Dellage
blaming him for his illegal activities,
then is quoted as saying
I believe you had a distinct part in it.
pretty strong statement for a judge to a man acquitted.
He was then taken into custody for his robbery trial the next morning.
starting Mar 23, 1923 he was tried for robbery,
but was acquitted Mar 24, 1923 on a hung jury.
At this trial his wife and 2 children attended
sitting behind the lawyers table.
One of these was Lee Dellage Jr., age 5 or 6.
and what was written, a chubby 2 year old girl.
evidence from a guard at the Regina jail was ruled inadmissible.
supposedly Dellage told the guard damaging admissions.
the trial was in the old City Hall Auditorium,
which was used as a Court House for years.
He was then up for trial again on the robbery charge.
This trial started Oct 11, 1923. It was to last 2 days.
Robbery charge was based on $6,000.00 stolen from Matoff,
as well as Matoff's Diamond Stick Pin.
His lawyer N. R. Craig KC of Moose Jaw applied for his bail.
He was committed to stand trial Oct 9, 1923 and again bail was refused.
He would have spent over a year in jail, waiting for bail.
His lawyer W.W. Lynd then applied again with Judge Farrell this time.

While in jail in Regina, his first wife and daughter
died of typhoid fever at Lignite ND.
He had 2 sick children and a dying father-in-law at the time.
This was all ca July 1923
Oct 11, 1923 the trial resumed in Estevan.

He was let out of jail to attend his first wife's funeral on $40,000 bail.
He paid $20,000, and bondsmen, Albert C. (Al) Rodgers from Estevan,
and Maurice J. Hawkinson from Bienfait each covered $10,000.
Al Rodgers ran a Boozorium in Bienfait, so having Dellage in jail
was cutting into his deliveries no doubt.
Maurice Hawkinson owned the Bienfait Coal Mine.
His name appears below for Jimmy Lacoste's bail as well.

Lee remarried a lady by the surname of Hoffman, Dec 6, 1924.
I believe her name was Mildred Mae Hoffman.
They were married for only one week,
they were returning from a dance,
Dec 13, 1924, in the early hours of a Saturday morning,
on the state highway between Columbus and Lignite ND.
Lee and his new wife were in the front seat,
and 2 other Lignite ladies in the back seat.
Some horses that were running loose, ran in front of the car.
The car on the icy road, with the brakes applied,
slid and overturned into the ditch.
Mrs. Dellage's neck was broken, and Lee suffered broken ribs.
He was taken to the Kenmare hospital.
Mrs. Dellage was from Williston, ND.,
and was a teacher at Lignite ND School.
Dillage took the Lincoln National Insurance Co. to Court
for a life insurance policy his new wife had.
She had applied to change her beneficiary to Lee,
but died before the policy could be changed.
Another Hoffman, (former husband or son?) was the beneficiary.

He owned large farms near Lignite.
Was well known as a Rum Runner from that era.
The night Paul Matoff was killed he was buying a shipment of liquor,
with the help of Jimmy LaCoste, who was an associate of his,
and who also was charged with Matoff's murder, and robbery,
and who was also acquitted.

The 100 bags of liquor were found and identified in Minot ND
according to one source, even though Lacoste said it was in a straw pile.

In July 1921 Matoff gave evidence on the stand
as Assistant Manager of the Liquor Exporters Ltd,
who had a warehouse in Gainsborough.
4 Americans from Omaha Nebraska were charged
with robbery of the Warehouse.
Arthur Henshaw, Leroy Compton, A.B. Shelton, and Axel Pearson.
They supposedly wrote a bad cheque for liquor
under the name of H. D. Myers.
Later they allegedly broke into the warehouse after a liquor buy,
and stole other cases of liquor.
Did these fellows come back for revenge?

another theory Paul Matoff was paid back
for an allegedly load of watered down booze,
sold to US Bootleggers.

Matoff supposedly testified against other American Hijackers,
who were convicted of hijacking a car load of Bronfman Booze.

The murder weapon, a sawed off shotgun was never found.
A shotgun, similar to this one, was found years later,
under the floor boards in the Alex Ronyk Pool Hall.
It was sent to the RCMP,
but they were not able to identify it as the murder weapon.

Found Lee Dellage was trying to appeal a charge in ND in 1939
LEE DELLAGE, Appellant. File No. Cr. 168. Supreme Court of North Dakota.
Opinion filed September 14, 1939. Rehearing denied October 23, 1939

Living to be 102, it would have been neat to interview this man
and record his story, good and bad.
would love to have a picture of him as well.

 Eugene Joseph (Jim) (Jimmy) (James) Lacoste
b- Feb 1, 1896 in Cheneville, Quebec
d- Feb 23, 1929
buried in Estevan City Cemetery
enlisted in WWI, July 13, 1918 in Regina,
 single, RC, farmer, 5ft 8in tall.
address Bienfait PO.
Military svc #- LC-466124
Reg #- 3355285

Married ca 1922, name unknown

Father- Alfred T. H. Lacoste,
 b- July 1, 1858, in Quebec
d- June 28, 1946
buried in Estevan City Cemetery
1871- living in St-André Avelin f, Ottawa East 95, Quebec
1911 census, shown as a farmer in Estevan
1901 in Labelle, Hartwell and Preston sub district, Quebec

married Jan 31,1881 at Saint-André-Avellin, Québec
Mother- Mélina Lacoste, nee  Rondeau
b- June 9, 1863 Quebec
d- Oct 16, 1932

Siblings of Jimmy Lacoste -

1. Athanase Lacoste
b- Feb 21, 1885
married 1st Marianna Bouchard, had 3 children
married 2nd, in 1921, Agnes Blondeau, had 3 children

2. Albertine Lacoste
b- Apr 1, 1890

3. Bertha Lacoste
b- Mar 1890 in Quebec

4. Wilfrid Joseph Lacoste
b- Apr 2, 1893 in Quebec
d- Apr 22, 1970
buried in Souris Valley Memorial Gardens, Estevan

5. Raphael (Ralph) Lacoste
b- Mar 29, 1898 in Quebec

Grandfather- Joseph Lacoste,
 b- Jan 24, 1826 at Montebello Quebec
d- Mar 4, 1903 in Estevan

Grandmother- Julie Demers,
b-  1828, at Montebello Quebec
d- Feb 22, 1885 at Saint-André-Avellin, Québec


In 1902 the families left Saint-André-Avellin, Québec

Jimmy Lacoste owned an auto repair garage in Bienfait.
 

Nov 22, 1922 Jimmy Lacoste was cleared of the murder charge.
at the preliminary hearing held before Provincial Police
Magistrate J. C. Martin.
The charges preferred by the Crown, were
withdrawn by the Attorney General's Department.
Announced by W. M. Rose, KC, one of the Crown Prosecutors.
He had no previous charges.
He was also recently married, only a few months earlier.
He was bound over as a witness in the trial of Lee Dellage.
Magistrate Martin assigned bail of $10,000.
Half was paid by Mr. Lacoste,
$2500 each by Charles (Charlie) Vaughn, Estevan,
and Maurice Hawkinson, Bienfait.
We have seen Mr. Hawkinson's name appear above.
Mr. Charlie Vaughn, although appearing as an upstanding citizen,
was known by a few to be involved in rum running.
With his farm south of the town of Estevan,
it was a very handy place to smuggle booze from.
Again this is all alleged information.

Both Dellage and Lacoste were asked to pose for pictures
and both refused, so reason no pictures exist I guess.

Evidence given during this trial, included:

"After the killing, a cheque signed by Lee Dellage,
on a North Dakota Bank,
 was found in the pockets of the murdered man"-
Corporal John Molyneux, S.P.P. Estevan

"A large diamond and setting was wretched
from a stick pin worn by Matoff"-
Harry Zellickson, manager of the Bienfait Boozorium

(note some records say a diamond ring, which he also wore)
I think his name might have been Zelickson, with one l.
he was a farm boy from near Hirsch,
and they did have a farm near Hirsch, and there is a Zelickson
buried in the Hirsch Jewish Cemetery.
Harry was an assistant of Matoff in Liquor shipments.
An Abe Zellickson also gave evidence.

"The money, which Dellage was Matoff were counting
at the time of the holdup, could not have been taken,
without entering the CPR ticket office. 
The glass in the window though broken,
was in such a state that it was evident
no man had thrust his arm through.
whoever took the money, and Matoff's diamond,
must have obtained entry through the door of the office"-
Corporal John Molyneux- S.P.P. Estevan

We were some miles from Bienfait when Dellage
told me Matoff was killed.  He said that the robbers
had taken everything he had, leaving him clean.
We took the liquor contained in the truck,
and Dellage's Cadillac across the line, and I and
a man named Martinson unloaded the truck,
concealing the liquor in a straw stack beside the road,
between Columbus and Lignite, ND
Dellage told me to tell the authorities on the Canadian side,
that Hijackers had held us up on the way down,
securing the liquor and stealing Dellage's car"-
James LaCoste

"Dellage had been quite an extensive dealer
with the Dominion Distributors,
the firm of which Matoff was agent.  On one occasion
he bought 115 cases of rye, taking delivery in instalments"-
W. H. Reid, Regina Manager, Dominion Distributors.

"After the murder, a car, presumed to contain the bandit gang,
which held up the CPR station at Bienfait where Matoff was killed,
passed a police car on the road to Frobisher,
Police officers tried to stop this car, shots were exchanged,
without result"-
Sergeant Leonard Harry Worgan, S.P.P. Weyburn.

An old admission by Dellage, not previously told,
that he moved Matoff's body after he was shot.
this evidence was given by Corporal Molyneux

March trial Colin Rawcliffe, express agent at Bienfait,
gave evidence Dellage was the only person with Matoff,
at the time of the Murder and robbery.
He testified that he, Matoff and Dellage were in the ticket office
with Matoff counting the money, when the glass was broken
and the shotgun was fired.
Rawcliffe claimed he ran to the living rooms upstairs
when he returned Dellage was holding Matoff's head in his lap.
June 1, 1922 a provincial edict came down closing
the Liquor warehouses in the southern part of the Province.
Rawcliffe admitted it was still going on.
Judge Bigelow presided.
Lacoste was on the stand and admitted he transported
the liquor across the border since 1920,
when the warehouse was set up.
So he effectively admitted under oath to be a rum runner.

Detective Sergeant W. Mortimer gave evidence
they found large liquor caches on Dellages farm,
and on Mr. A. Martinson's farm. (remember the helper above?)
Inspections were made with US federal enforcement Officer,
N.C. Upton, from Oct 13 to 15.
On the Dellage farm an underground chamber near his barn,
contained 22 one gallon containers of alcohol.
18 sacks of 7 year old rye, 2 sacks of Scotch,
and other intoxicants.
At the Martinson farm near Lignite, 13 one gallon containers,
6 sacks of rye, 2 sacks of scotch and other liquor was found.
In a straw stack near the high road to Columbus ND,
they found 18 sacks of 7 year old rye,
 2 sacks Simpsons White Seal, 4 sacks Martel Cognac,
10 cases of gin, a sack of port, and one case of cocktails.
It's location was described by Lacoste.
In every case the bottled liquors were purported
to come from Bronfman's Dominion Distributors, Regina
Customs vouchers were attached to the gin cases.
According to the manager Mr. Reid, it was an unusually
large order the night Matoff was killed.
It was consigned to a A. Lamont, Minot ND.

One interesting item they brought up,
and I think the most important piece of evidence,
Dellage was there when Matoff was shot,
standing almost beside him,
but somehow didn't see what happened to the diamond pin
that was on Matoff's body?

He was standing next to Matoff, but not shot.
Another vehicle was identified following Dellage's
car into Bienfait.  who was in that car?

He left the station for a brief moment, time enough
to signal someone else.  Did he?

When 2 strangers were seen on the platform,
Dellage assured Matoff they were just harvesters.

It was an unusually large shipment. 
The murder and robbery didn't happen
until the truck and car were loaded.

Dellage told Rawcliffe to not go out on the platform
or he might get shot.
If there were eye witnesses, like Rawcliffe and Dellage,
why were they not killed by the killer?

I have tried to record what I think is the true story.
what I find amazing, NONE of these books, newspapers, etc,
even have his name spelled correct.
That should have been the easy part!

Trust me it is Dellage!
or Délâge
if you want to go to his French Canadian origin!

Anyway I repeat he was found NOT Guilty