Saturday, January 04, 2014

52 Ancestors: #1 Clémentine Léveillé

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has issued herself and her readers a challenge for 2014. It’s called “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks”, and as Amy explains, the challenge is to “have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor”.

I love this challenge, because I’ve been looking for a regular column idea for my blog since I ended my “Ancestral Anniversaries” last month and because talking about ancestors on a genealogy blog is a good thing J

So, here goes with ancestor #1 (picked at random)!


Clémentine Desgroseilliers in the mid-1950s
Clémentine (Léveillé) Desgroseilliers, mid-1950s

My great-grandmother Clémentine Léveillé was born on 13 November 1878 in Embrun, Russell County, Ontario. She had ten brothers and sisters and an older half-sister.

In April 1899, Clémentine married Albert Desgroseilliers in the nearby community of South Indian (now known as Limoges). The young couple lived in different rural communities in Ontario, including Sturgeon Falls, in Nipissing District, where they had a small farm.

My Mom Jacqueline has a few memories of visiting her grandmother when she was a little girl. One of them includes the time she played with a child’s tea set with her cousin Gabrielle, one of Clémentine’s granddaughters by her daughter Flavie.

As you might be able to tell, Clémentine’s left eye is shut in this picture. It’s because when she was younger, she was kicked in the face by a farm animal (it might have been a cow).

Although my great-grandmother lived not too far from where I was born and grew up, I never met her. Clémentine was one month short of her 91st birthday when she died in October 1969.

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

4 comments:

  1. How interesting! I like this idea very much too, and in the end you could make one book of your posts and share it with your family members! She sounds lovely, and she reminds me of my great-grandmother, Bertha, just a bit!

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    1. One thing I left out of my story was that Clémentine had 14 children, so besides being lovely, she was also a strong woman, who lived to a grand old age. Thanks for commenting, Karen!

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  2. What a lovely story. I will ask my Tante Gaby if she remembers playing with her cousin with the tea set. Dominique

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  3. Him Yvonne, I find this so interesting. I am actually searching for a friend I have lost touch with, and so found you in my search. Her married name was Caron, he first name was Jane, but possibly she also went by Mary Jane. I believe she lived in Timmins with her very young family before moving to B.C. which is where I met her, when we were both at the University of British Columbia studying Social Work. She was very good to me, and was my birth coach when I was in need. When I moved a few years later, we lost touch. I have searched for her sons, and her. I wonder if you may have any suggestions for my search?
    As well, I find this post so interesting, my great grandmother was born in Quebec, and her name was Camilla Mylord, she later married a man by the name of Alfred Leveille, in Manitoba. I don't think there is a connection here, but still the names are interesting, to your ancestor.

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