52 Ancestors 2015: #5 Fedosia Savinkoff, possibly a plough woman

I’m participating in “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition” by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small.

For the 5th week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (Plowing through) and chose Fedosia N. Savinkoff (about 1848-1927).

Fedosia, known in English as Fanny, was my husband’s maternal great-grandmother. She was born about 1848 to 1852 in Transcaucasia, Russia. [1] Her parents are unknown, but since Fedosia’s middle initial is ‘N’, her father’s name might be Nikolai, Nikita, Nikifor, or Nestor.

In 1875, Fedosia married Wasyl Wasilievitch Cazakoff. [2] The couple had four children: Mikhail (Michael), Gregorii (George), Nikolai (Nicholas) and Pologea (Polly).

Fedosia, Wasyl and their children were part of a group of over 2,000 Doukhobors who left Russia in December 1898 for Canada. According to family tradition, the family sailed on the Lake Huron, which arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia a few weeks later in January 1899. [3]

"Doukhobor women are shown breaking the prairie sod by pulling a plough themselves, Thunder Hill Colony, Manitoba. c 1899"

I don’t know if Fedosia is in the above photo or if she was one of the women that pulled a plough in the early years of the Doukhobors presence in Canada. It would not have been unusual if she had, because when these Russian pacifists first came to the Prairies, many of their menfolk worked away from their settlements in order to earn money. It wasn’t a case of men exploiting women, though, but of women who “took the initiative and proceeded to break the sod for spring planting”. [4]

Fedosia died on 15 November 1926 in Lily Vale District, Saskatchewan. [5]

Sources:

Photo credit: Library and Archives Canada/C-000681.

1. History Coming Alive: R.M. of St. Philips, Pelly and District, 2 vols. (Pelly, Saskatchewan: St. Philips/Pelly History Book Committee, 1988), 1: 382. Fedosia’s approximate years of birth are calculated based on her age on Canadian and Doukhobor censuses. “MacKenzie District, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1906 Census”, database, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 5 April 2009), entry for Fanny Casokoff (age 58); MacKenzie District; citing p. 10, line 11 on Library and Archives Canada (LAC) microfilm T-18359. “Assiniboia District, The Territories, Canada, 1901 Census”, database, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 5 April 2009), entry for Pheodocia Kazakoff (age 49); Kamsack, Assiniboia District; citing p. 6, line 28 on Library and Archives Canada (LAC) microfilm T-6552. Jonathan Kalmakoff, compiler, 1918 Census of Independent Doukhobors (Regina, Saskatchewan: Jonathan J. Kalmakoff, 2002); entry for Fanny N. Kazakoff (age 66), p. 66; Veregin, Saskatchewan; citing Saskatchewan Archives Board, Regina Branch Microfilm Reel No. R.2.46.

2. History Coming Alive, 1: 382.

3. “Doukhobors at Halifax”, The Globe, 21 January 1899, p. 13, cols. 6-7; digital images, The Globe and Mail (http://heritage.theglobeandmail.com : accessed 10 April 2009).

4. “The Role of Doukhobor Women”, database, Doukhobor Genealogy Website (http://www.doukhobor.org/Doukhobor-Women.pdf : accessed 27 January 2015).

5. History Coming Alive, 1: 383. Also, “Nadezhda Cemetery – Verigin District, Saskatchewan”, database, Doukhobor Genealogy Website (http://www.doukhobor.org/Cemetery-Nadezhda.htm : accessed 5 April 2009), entry for Fedosia Cazakoff.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #4 Dorothée Brassard, a 17th century woman

I’m participating in “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition” by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small.

For the 4th week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (Closest to your birthday) and chose Dorothée Brassard (1656-1738).

I found two individuals in my ancestor database who were baptized on my birthday (Raphaël Giroux in 1656 and Jeanne Beauchamp in 1663), but only one individual who was born on the same date as I was (Dorothée Brassard in 1656).

Instead of writing a biographical sketch about Dorothée, I created a table comparing the similarities and differences in our lives. Although I have not included sources for this article, they are available upon request.

My 9x maternal great-grandmother and I definitely have things in common, like our religion and our language, but we also have differences, like the size of our families (by birth and by marriage). Probably the biggest difference in our lives, however, is how Dorothée, a woman who was born in the 17th century, was limited for choices compared to me, a child of the 20th century. Her life was pretty much mapped out for her from birth (marriage and children), while I had the opportunity to go to university and work before marriage.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #3 Marguerite Carpentier

I’m participating in “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition” by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small.

For the 3rd week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (Tough woman) and chose Marguerite Carpentier (ca 1774-1874).

My maternal ancestor is a ‘tough woman’ to research. I’m really keen to know more about her, because she’s also my matrilineal ancestress in the seventh generation, and I can’t go any further than her.

What I Know:

• Her name. She’s “Marguerite Carpentier” in 1814 (when her daughter Thérèse, my third great-grandmother, was baptized) and in 1874 (at her burial). She was “Marie Carpentier” in 1829 (when Thérèse was married).

• Her approximate year of birth. She was born about 1774, 1776, 1779, 1782, or before 1797 (based on her ages on censuses and her age at her burial) in the province of Quebec.

• Her husband. He’s François Durgey or Doggie or Doyer, who was born about 1769/1770 in New Hampshire. His name might have been originally Francis Durkee, which would have been difficult to pronounce in French once he relocated to Canada.

• Her religion. She and her children were Roman Catholic, while François was Anabaptist.

• Her places of residence. For example, in July 1814, she, her husband and their eldest children lived in Petite-Nation seigneurie, later Montebello, Quebec. The family was still living there on the 1842 and 1852 censuses. By the time of the 1861 census, widow Marguerite lived in her son-in-law’s household in Papineauville, Quebec.

• Her death and burial. She died on 16 May 1874 in Papineauville and was buried there two days later in Ste-Angélique parish cemetery.

What I don’t Know:

• Her birth and baptism.

• Her parents or her siblings.

• Her marriage. It was presumably before 15 October 1810, when her and François’ eldest child (Thérèse) was born, and possibly in Petite-Nation seigneurie, where many of their children were baptized between 1815 and 1829.

Are there any of Marguerite’s descendants out there reading this article? If so, would you be able to fill in the missing bits of her life?

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #2 Louise Roy

I’m participating in “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition” by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small.

For the 2nd week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (King) and chose Louise Roy (ca 1768-1839). Her last name “Roy [Roi]” is French for “king”.

For many years, this maternal ancestor (my 4x great-grandmother) had presented some puzzling challenges.

For example, her date and place of birth were unknown, other than she was possibly born about 1768, based on her approximate age of 71 at her burial in December 1839. [1]

The name of her father was known (Joseph Roy), but not her mother’s.

Her only known sibling was a brother, who also named Joseph Roy.

Both her father and brother were present as witnesses when she married François Desgroseilliers on 17 October 1803 in the village of St-Constant, south of Montreal. [2] According to her marriage record, Marie Louise (as she is described) resided in that parish and was the widow of a certain Jacques [Rusman?].

In June 1802, newborn Jacques [Rusneau?] was baptized in St-Constant. He was the son of Jacques [Rusneau?], merchant, by his wife Marie Louise Roy. Infant Jacques’ godparents were Constant [Capinel?] and Marie-Anne Viau. [3] The parish priest added important details: baby Jacques’ father was deceased and his godmother Marie-Anne was his grandmother and the wife of Joseph Roy. I became aware of this child’s existence when I searched for Louise’s marriage to François in an online genealogy database. [4]

I searched, but didn’t find a [Rusman?] – Roy marriage or a burial for Jacques père; neither record seems to exist in the province of Quebec. [5]

About two years ago, I viewed the “Famille” file of Joseph Roy and Marie Suzanne Viau Lespérance at Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH). [6] One of the couple’s daughters is named Marie Louise; she was born on 4 August 1777 in La Prairie and died on 11 December 1839 in Ste-Martine. Since my ancestor Louise died on 11 December 1839 in Ste-Martine, the Marie Louise in the Roy – Viau file is presumably the woman who married François Desgroseilliers in 1803.

I still had a problem, though. I didn’t know how PRDH’s database concluded that the Marie Louise who was born in 1777 was the same one who died in 1839. No spouse is shown for her in the list of Roy children, so I don’t know if she married Jacques [Rusneau?] and then François Desgroseilliers. (Marriages are shown in the “Mariage /Lieu” column of a family file only if they took place before 1800.)

It didn’t take long for this mystery to unravel.

When I first looked at Marie Louise’s parents’ family file at PRDH, I didn’t click on her name to view her personal file. I did recently, though, to prepare this blog post. As expected, her individual file contained a repeat of her name, those of her parents, and her dates and places of birth and death, but it also held a surprise: it listed a child named Marie, an “Enfant hors-union” (a child [born] outside of marriage). [7] There wasn’t a date or place of birth for this daughter, but when I clicked on Marie’s name and got her own “Individu” file, I saw her full name: Marie Desgroseilliers Prosper. [8]

I’m now satisfied that the Marie Louise who was born in 1777 to Joseph Roy and Marie Suzanne Viau Lespérance, is the woman who married at some unrecorded date and location a man named Jacques [Rusneau?], by whom she had a son, who did not survive. Within a few months, she then became pregnant and had a daughter Marie, born possibly in the summer of 1803. Shortly after this event, she married François Desgroseilliers, the father of her child Marie.

Louise Roy is no longer a ‘puzzling’ ancestor.

Sources:

1. Ste-Martine (Ste-Martine, Quebec), parish register, 1839, p. 42 verso, no entry no., Louise Roy burial, 13 December 1839; Ste-Martine parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 January 2015).

2. St-Constant (St-Constant, Quebec), parish register, 1803, p. 33 recto, no entry no., François Dégrosellier [sic] – Marie Louise Roy marriage, 17 October 1803; St-Constant parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 12 February 2014).

3. St-Constant (St-Constant, Quebec), parish register, 1802, p. 16 verso, no entry no., Jacques [Rusneau?] (indexed as Raimau) baptism, 19 June 1802; St-Constant parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 10 January 2015).

4. “Genealogy Francois Desgroseilliers”, database, Genealogy of Canada (http://www.nosorigines.org/ accessed 7 September 2013).

5. “Le LAFRANCE”, database, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 7 September 2013). A search for Marie Louise’s first marriage record and Jacques’ burial record prior to 19 June 1802 (when they are stated to be a legitimately married couple at their son’s baptism) proved negative.

6. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 19 June 2013), Joseph Roy – Marie Suzanne Viau Lespérance, Famille no. 45865.

7. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 10 January 2015), Marie Louise Roy, Individu no. 873059.

8. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 10 January 2015), Marie Desgroseilliers Prosper, Individu no. 738464. The lack of a date of birth or baptism for Marie in her “Individu” file suggests that she was not baptized. A child born outside of marriage was not necessarily refused the Sacrament of Baptism, so it seems odd that this event is not listed in Marie's file.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

William Demoskoff (1914-2015)

My father-in-law Bill passed away this morning (January 8). He had been in poor health recently, but weakened over the last few days.

Michael, his sister Margaret and I saw Pop yesterday evening, and Margaret and her husband Sid visited him earlier this morning. Within a couple of hours, Michael got a phone call from Menno Hospital, where Bill was a resident since May 2012, letting him know that his father had passed away just before noon.

Bill was just over 100 years old, having celebrated this milestone birthday last June; see Pop’s 100th birthday.

The fifth and youngest child of Wasyl and Luchenia (Tomelin) Demosky, Bill was born on 13 June 1914 in Dolina Lugovoya, a Doukhobor settlement near Pass Creek, British Columbia. When he was about 4 or 5 years old, his family moved to Saskatchewan, where Wasyl farmed. In June 1952, Bill married Ann Cazakoff, by whom he had two children (Michael and Margaret).

Bill was a faithful Doukhobor. His belief in God, pacifism, and non-violence sustained him all his life.

Rest in peace, Pop.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #1 Marguerite Lamirault

Last year, Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small had a successful year-long blogging challenge called “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks”. For 2015, she’s re-issued that challenge, but added optional weekly themes. The challenge is the same as it was in 2014 – write a blog post a week about a specific ancestor, but with optional weekly themes to follow or interpret as we wish. For more information, see Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition.

For the 1st week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (“Fresh start”) and chose Marguerite Lamirault (ca 1644/1645-1706).

My ancestor Marguerite is a good choice for this week’s theme, because she was one of the 750 or so filles du Roi who made a fresh start when she left “the comforts of home for life in the unknown wilderness of New France”. [1] The King’s Daughters’ purpose was to help populate the colony of Nouvelle-France by marrying and having children. [2]

"L'Arrivée des Filles du Roi"

Marguerite was born about 1644 (age at death) or about 1645 (age on 1681 census) in rue des Poulies in the parish of St-Germain-l’Auxerrois in Paris, France. [3] She was the daughter of François Lamirault, a coach driver for the Queen, by his wife Jeanne Clos. [4]

"Church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, Paris first district, France"

Marguerite arrived in the summer of 1668. [5] She brought with her a dowry of goods estimated at 300 livres. [6] She did not stay long on the ‘marriage market’, because soon after her arrival in Quebec, she met Honoré Martel dit Lamontagne, a bachelor, who was about 36 years old. Despite the little time, if any, spent in courting, they agreed to marry. [7]

Marguerite and Honoré followed the custom of the day and made a public promise of marriage (known as fiançailles) that was recorded by Notre-Dame’s parish priest. [8] On the morning of 17 November 1668, Marguerite, Honoré and several of their friends gathered at the home of Sieur Soullard in Quebec. [9] There, Honoré signed his name on the marriage contract, but Marguerite could not sign hers. [10] Banns were then read at Mass on two consecutive Sundays, with a dispensation granted for the third bann. [11] Finally, Marguerite and Honoré were wed on 26 November 1668 at Notre-Dame church of Quebec. [12] It was the first of four marriages that Father Henri de Bernières celebrated that day. [13]

Martel - Lamirault church marriage record [14]

Honoré, born about 1632, was also from Paris, but from the parish of St-Eustache. He arrived in Canada as a soldier, probably in 1665. Three years later, he became a colonist and also worked as a sawyer. [15]

The couple had fourteen children, eight sons and six daughters, born between October 1669 and September 1691. Three of the children died young – eldest child Charles and younger children Honoré and Isabelle. [16]

Marguerite died on 17 October 1706 at Hôtel-Dieu (hospital) in Quebec. [17] Her death record indicates her name (“Marguerite lamiro”), her spouse (“de la montagne”), her age (“62 ans”), her place of origin (“de paris de la [paroisse] de St germain de loxerois de larchevesché de paris”), and her date of death (17 octobre 1706). [18] There doesn’t appear to be a burial record for Marguerite, though. As a general rule, those who died at Hôtel-Dieu were interred in the paupers’ cemetery attached to this hospital and not at Notre-Dame’s church cemetery. [19]

Sources:

Filles du roi image credit: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, Acc. no. 1996-371-1.

St-Germain l'Auxerrois photo credit: Wikipedia contributors, "Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASaint-Germain_l'Auxerrois_edit.jpg : accessed 31 December 2014). By Saint-Germain_l'Auxerrois.jpg: Pline derivative work: Maedin\talk (Saint-Germain_l'Auxerrois.jpg) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons.

1. Peter J. Gagné, King’s Daughters and Founding Mothers: The Filles du Roi, 1663-1673, 2 vols. (Pawtucket, Rhode Island: Quintin Publications, 2001), 1: 22.

2. Yves Landry, Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle: Orphelines en France, pionnières au Canada; suivi d’un Répertoire biographique des Filles du Roi (Ottawa: Leméac, 1992), 13.

3. Landry, Les Filles du roi, 331 and René Jetté, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec (Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1983), 776.

4. Landry, Les Filles du roi, 331. The author doesn’t specify which queen consort of France, but it would likely be either Anne of Austria (1601-1666), wife of King Louis XIII (r. 1610-1643) or Maria Theresa of Spain (1638-1683), wife of King Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715).

5. Landry, Les Filles du roi, 127. Table 27 shows estimated dates of arrival for each year (1663-1673) of the Filles du roi program. The estimated date of arrival for 1668 is 3 July. Marguerite was one of about 80 filles who arrived that year. (Gagné, King’s Daughters, 2: 586-590)

6. Landry, Les Filles du roi, 331.

7. A Fille du roi was free to ask questions about a potential husband’s “home, finances, land and profession”. She was also not obliged to agree to marry a candidate if he did not suit her. (Gagné, King’s Daughters, 1: 36)

8. Notre-Dame (Quebec, Quebec), parish register, 1667-1679, p. 336 (stamped), no entry no. (1668), Honoré Martel – Marguerite L’Amiraut” [sic] marriage, 26 November 1668; Notre-Dame parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 30 December 2014).

9. Florence Fernet-Martel, “Honoré Martel”, Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadiennes-française 10 (janvier et avril 1959): 70-76, particularly p. 71; DVD edition (Montreal, QC: SGCF, 2013).

10. Landry, Les Filles du roi, 331.

11. Notre-Dame, parish register, 1667-1679, p. 336, Honoré Martel – Marguerite L’Amiraut” [sic] marriage.

12. Notre-Dame, parish register, 1667-1679, p. 336, Honoré Martel – Marguerite L’Amiraut” [sic] marriage.

13. Notre-Dame, parish register, 1667-1679, p. 336, Honoré Martel – Marguerite L’Amiraut” [sic] marriage.

14. Notre-Dame, parish register, 1667-1679, p. 336, Honoré Martel – Marguerite L’Amiraut” [sic] marriage.

15. Gagné, King’s Daughters, 2: 341.

16. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 776.

17. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 776.

18. Roland-J. Auger, “Notules nécrologiques de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Québec”, Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadiennes-française 4 (juin 1951): 226-231, particularly pages 227-228; DVD edition (Montreal, QC: SGCF, 2013).

19. Auger, “Notules nécrologiques de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Québec”, 226.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.