Annie Billerie is known through a single historical record, the 1870 U.S. Federal Census, which provides a brief glimpse into her life in Altona, Clinton County, New York. Born about 1809 in Vermont, Annie was sixty-one years old when she was recorded living with her husband, Peter Billerie, and their daughters, Ellen and Permenlia.
The census noted that both of Annie’s parents were foreign born, although it did not identify their country of origin. This detail suggests that Annie belonged to a family whose roots extended beyond the United States, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of many nineteenth-century North Country residents.
Although little else is known about Annie’s life, her census record documents her role within a family household during a period when the region was experiencing agricultural growth and increasing settlement. No additional census entries or public records have been located to trace her later years, making the 1870 census the sole surviving account of her life.
Annie Billerie’s story illustrates the challenges historians face in reconstructing the lives of ordinary individuals whose contributions to their communities were recorded only briefly. Even a single census entry provides valuable insight into the families and communities that shaped the history of Clinton County and New York’s North Country.