52 Ancestors 2015: #40 – Joseph Adam and Angélique Bissonnette, 240th wedding anniversary

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

For the 40th week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (October) to write about my paternal ancestors Joseph and Angélique (Bissonnette) Adam, who have a wedding anniversary in October.

Adam - Bissonnette marriage record (Ancestry.ca)

Here a few facts about Joseph and Angélique:

• They are my double ancestors, nos. 166/182 and 167/183, respectively.

• Joseph was a fraternal twin with his sister Marie Charlotte. [1]

• Joseph and Angélique married on 9 October 1775 in St-Michel-de-la-Durantaye (now St-Michel-de-Bellechasse, Quebec), 240 years ago this week. [2] They were married for 49 years.

• They had previously entered into a marriage contract ten days earlier (September 30) in the notarial office of Joseph Riverin. [3]

• They received a dispensation to marry, because Angélique was Joseph’s second cousin once removed. [4]

• Joseph was almost 20 years old and Angélique was 18. [4]

• They were the parents of eleven children, three sons and seven (or eight) daughters, born between 1777 and 1799. [6]

• They have only female-line descendants, because their sons (Joseph, Louis, and Pierre) died as infants. [7]

• Joseph’s occupation: journalier (day laborer). [8]

• Joseph died on 27 December 1824 and was buried in Beloeil, east of Montreal. [9]

• Angélique survived her husband by ten years. She died on 26 December 1834 in Marieville, near Beloeil, where she was buried. [10]

Sources:

1. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 1 July 2014), Ignace Adam – Marie Ursule Lefebvre Boulanger, Famille no. 31064.

2. St-Michel (La Durantaye, Quebec), parish register, 1755-1789, p. 132 recto, entry no. 382, Joseph Adam – Marie Angelique Bissonnet marriage, 9 October 1775; St-Michel parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 October 2014).

3. “Archives des notaires”, digital images, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) (http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/notaires/index.html : accessed 4 October 2015), notary Joseph Riverin, Répertoire chronologique, 1773-1777, entry 30 September 1775, Mariage de Joseph Adam et Marie Angelique Bissonnette.

4. St-Michel, parish register, 1755-1789, p. 132 recto, Joseph Adam – Marie Angelique Bissonnet marriage, 9 October 1775. The couple received a dispensation of du troisième degré de parenté au quatre (the third degree of relationship to the fourth).

5. St-Etienne (Beaumont, Quebec), parish register, 1692-1796, page no. illegible, entry no. 1384 (1755), Joseph Adam baptism, 15 August 1855; St-Etienne parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 July 2014), and, St-Michel (La Durantaye, Quebec), parish register, 1755-1789, p. 61 verso, entry no. 1151, Marie Angelique Bissonnet baptism, 12 May 1757; St-Michel parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 August 2015).

6. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 February 2015), Joseph Adam – Marie Angelique Bissonnet, Famille no. 51923.

7. “Dictionnaire”, Joseph Adam – Marie Angelique Bissonnet, Famille no. 51923.

8. St-Mathieu (Beloeil, Quebec), parish register, 1801-1810, p. 4 recto, entry no. M.2 (1805), Charles Messier – Marie Josette Adam (written as Charles Messier – Marie Josette Adam, indexed as Charles Mettier – Marie S?? Adam) marriage, 6 May 1805; St-Mathieu parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 April 2008).

9. St-Mathieu (Beloeil, Quebec), parish register, 1816-1834, p. 177 recto, no entry no. (1824), Joseph Adam burial, 29 December 1824; St-Mathieu parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 29 July 2015).

10. St-Nom-de-Marie (Marieville, Quebec), parish register, 1834, p. 61 verso, entry no. S.97, Angélique Bissonet (written as Angélique Bissonet, indexed as Angelique Bissouel Adam) burial, 28 December 1834; St-Nom-de-Marie parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 29 July 2015).

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #33 – Philorome Desgroseilliers, asylum patient

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

For the 33rd week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (Defective, Dependent, & Delinquent) to feature a distant cousin of mine, Philorome Desgroseilliers.

The terms defective, dependent, and delinquent are classifications found on a special schedule of the 1880 U.S. census. They refer to people who were blind, prisoners, insane, and such. (For more information, see Amy’s post, Do You Have a Defective Ancestor?)

I don’t think there was an equivalent special schedule on Canadian censuses, but similar terms appear on our censuses.

Philorome was born on 25 August 1873 in the province of Quebec. [1] Son of Michel and Odile (Marchand) Desgroseilliers, he had at least seven brothers and seven sisters. Philorome and my maternal great-grandfather Albert Desgroseilliers (who I don’t believe knew each other) were second cousins.

On the 1881, 1891, and 1901 censuses, Philorome is enumerated with his parents and siblings. On the first census, he is 8 years old and does not attend school, unlike his 11-year-old sister Mélina. [2] On the second census, on which he is 18 years old, he does not have an occupation, but can read and write. [3] On the third census, he is 27 years old, unmarried, works as a day labourer, and can read and write. [4]

I noticed that no infirmities are reported for Philorome on these three censuses; he was not “Deaf and Dumb”, “Blind”, or “Unsound of Mind”. However, something happened between 1901 and 1904, because on 30 June 1904, he entered or was admitted to St-Jean de Dieu, a large psychiatric care hospital, in Longue-Pointe, in east Montreal. [5] He was almost 31 years old.

St-Jean de Dieu in 1875

The hospital, known in English as St-Jean de Dieu Lunatic Asylum, was founded in 1873 under the care of the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence. (The hospital was renamed Hôpital Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine in 1976.)

Philorome appears as a patient of St-Jean de Dieu on the 1911 and 1921 censuses. On the first census, he is 38 years old, single, and has no occupation. [6] On the second census, he is 48 years old, single, speaks French, but not English, can read and write, and his occupation is “journalier” (day labourer). [7]

I lose track of Philorome after the 1921 census. I don’t know when or where he died.

Sources:

Image source: Archives de la Ville de Montréal. Asile Saint-jean-de-Dieu, 1875. VM006, S10.

1. 1901 Census of Canada, Beauharnois, Beauharnois, Quebec, population schedule, subdistrict A-3, p. 10, family 98, Philor[ome] Desgroselliers (written as Philor[ome] Desgroselliers, indexed as Philomin Dosporelliae); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://ancestry.ca : accessed 18 August 2015); citing Library and Archives Canada, Census of Canada, 1901, no microfilm no. cited.

2. 1881 Census of Canada, St Louis de Gonzague, Beauharnois, Quebec, population schedule, subdistrict E, p. 15, family 65, Philorum Desgroseillers [sic]; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://ancestry.ca : accessed 18 August 2015); citing Library and Archives Canada, Census of Canada, 1881, microfilm C-13207.

3. 1891 Census of Canada, St Louis de Gonzague, Beauharnois, Quebec, population schedule, subdistrict 139, p. 7, family 31, Philorome Desgrosellier (written as Philorome Desgrosellier, indexed as Fhilorowe Desgroseiller); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://ancestry.ca : accessed 18 August 2015); citing Library and Archives Canada, Census of Canada, 1891, microfilm T-6387.

4. 1901 Census of Canada, Beauharnois, Beauharnois, Quebec, pop. sch., subd. A-3, p. 10, fam. 98, Philor[ome] Desgroselliers.

5. 1911 Census of Canada, Longue Pointe, Laval, Quebec, population schedule, subdistrict 22, p. 25, Philoriom Desgrosseilliers (written as Philoriom Desgrosseilliers, indexed as Phelorum Desgrossulliers); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://ancestry.ca : accessed 18 August 2015); citing Library and Archives Canada, Census of Canada, 1911, no microfilm no. cited. The enumerator did not record anyone’s date of birth (month and year) in columns 8 and 9. Also, the date on which a patient was admitted is entered in columns 11 and 12 (year of birth and year of immigration).

6. 1911 Census of Canada, Longue Pointe, Laval, Quebec, pop. sch., subd. 22, p. 25, Philoriom Desgrosseilliers.

7. 1921 Census of Canada, Mercier and Maisonneuve Ward, Montreal (Maisonneuve), Quebec, population schedule, subdistrict 16, p. 15 Philor[ome] Desgroseilliers (written as Philor[ome] Desgroseilliers, indexed as Philomon Desgroseilliers); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://ancestry.ca : accessed 18 August 2015); citing Library and Archives Canada, Sixth Census of Canada, 1921, no microfilm no. cited.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #32 – Pierre Janvry dit Belair, Father of 25 Children

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

For the 32nd week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (32) to write about one of my 32 3rd great-grandparents, Pierre Janvry dit Belair (1772-1848).

Pierre, my paternal great-great-grandfather and #32 in my ancestor list, had twenty-five children:

• fourteen (10 sons and 4 daughters) with first wife Marguerite Campeau (1773-1817) 
• eleven (7 sons and 4 daughters) with second wife Scholastique St-Michel (1797-1864).

The sixth and youngest child of François Janvry dit Belair and his wife Marie Elisabeth Martel, Pierre was born on 2 March 1772 in Ste-Geneviève (now Pierrefonds, Quebec). [1] Interestingly, he had an older brother named Pierre (1766-1860) who also married twice. [2] (I plan on writing a blog post about the elder Pierre one day.)

My ancestor, the younger Pierre, married Marguerite Campeau on 12 August 1793 in Ste-Geneviève. [3] The couple had fourteen children between April 1794 and September 1814. Five survived to adulthood, but only three married, while two died as young adults. A sixth child (Jean-Baptiste born in 1804) presumably died as an infant.

After Marguerite’s death in September 1817, Pierre married Scholastique on 27 September 1818 in Ste-Geneviève. [4] Their eleven children were born between May 1819 and July 1840. There was a 46 year gap between the birth of eldest sibling Pierre in 1794 and the birth of the youngest sibling Denis in 1840.

I’ve prepared a couple of charts to show Pierre’s children by each wife. Blank cells indicate that I haven’t found the information in question, while shaded cells indicate information that does not apply. Locations in italics indicate place of baptism or burial when place of birth or death is unknown or unspecified. Unless stated otherwise, all locations are in the province Quebec.

Sources:

1. Ste-Geneviève (Pierrefonds, Quebec), parish register, 1756-1775, no page no., no entry no. (1772), Pierre Janvri [sic] baptism, 2 March 1772; Ste-Geneviève parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 23 March 2008).

2. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 17 January 2009), Francois Janvry Belair – Marie Elisabeth Martel Lamontagne, Famille no. 37356.

3. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 14 February 2015), Pierre Janvry Belair, Individu no. 234999. Also, Ste-Geneviève (Pierrefonds, Quebec), parish register, 1787-1795, p. 8 verso, no entry no. (1798), Pierre Dejanvry – Marguerite Campau [sic] marriage, 12 August 1793; Ste-Geneviève parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 4 August 2015).

4. Ste-Geneviève (Pierrefonds, Quebec), parish register, 1812-1825, p. 127 verso, no entry no. (1818), Pierre Janvry – Scholastique St-Michel (written as Pierre Janvry – Scholastique St-Michel, indexed as Pierre Jarry – Scholastique Michel) marriage, 27 September 1818; Ste-Geneviève parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 4 August 2015).

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #31 – Wasyl Cazakoff, From Russia to Canada

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

For the 31st week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (Easy) to write about my husband’s maternal great-grandfather, Wasyl W. Cazakoff.

Wasyl W. Cazakoff

As my husband’s ancestors go, Wasyl has been pretty easy to research, even though I don’t have all the documentary evidence I’d like for him. Wasyl, like others who belonged to the Doukhobor pacifist sect, avoided “bureaucratic intervention in their lives by refusing to register births, deaths, marriages, and in particular, by steadfastly opposing military service”. [1] For this reason, a certain amount of potential records don’t exist.

Despite a lack of records, I know the following information about Wasyl:

• Name: Wasyl (aka Wasilii) W. Cazakoff.

• Parents: Wasyl A. Cazakoff and Anastasia Horkoff. [2]

• Birth: 25 April 1848 in the village of Orlovka in the Akhalkalaki district of Tiflis province in southern Russian Empire. [3] Orlovka is now in the republic of Georgia.

• Spouse: Married Fedosia N. Savinkoff in 1875. [4] (I wrote about her in 52 Ancestors 2015: #5 Fedosia Savinkoff, possibly a plough woman.)

• Children: Mikhail (Michael), Gregorii (George), Nicholai (Nicholas), and Pologea (Polly), born in Orlovka between 1877 and 1891.

• Immigration: Wasyl and his family, along with other Doukhobors, sailed on the chartered Canadian freighter S.S. Lake Huron from Batum, a port on the Black Sea, on 22 December 1898. [5] They arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada at noon on 20 January 1899. [6] Most of the passenger list for the Lake Huron is missing or lost. An incomplete list exists, but unfortunately, there is no one on it by the name of Cazakoff. [7] Family tradition, however, maintains that the Cazakoff family sailed on this ship.

Lake Huron

• Residence: Upon arrival, in temporary accommodations in Brandon, Manitoba until the spring thaw. Later, in various Doukhobor-established villages like Petrovka, Simeonovka, and Vera in the future province of Saskatchewan. Eventually, Wasyl left his farm to live with younger son George when he acquired a homestead near Nadezhda, northwest of Kamsack. [8]

• Occupation: Communal farmer for the first few years after his arrival, then an independent farmer. [9]

• Death: 15 November 1926 at the home of his son George. Although no marker exists, Wasyl is buried in Nadezhda Cemetery, near Veregin, Saskatchewan. [10]

Sources:

1. “Folk Furniture of Canada’s Doukhobors”, database, Doukhobor Genealogy Website (http://www.doukhobor.org/Antiques.html : accessed 2 August 2015). Once established in Canada, Wasyl, like many of his fellow Doukhobors, relaxed his objection to some governmental authority. For example, he was enumerated on federal and territorial censuses beginning in 1901.

2. St. Philips/Pelly History Book Committee, History Coming Alive: R.M. of St. Philips, Pelly and District, 2 vols. (Regina, Saskatchewan: FOCUS Publishing, 1988), I, 382.

3. Family tradition and History Coming Alive, I, 382. Alternate dates of birth for Wasyl are about 1846 or about 1849, based on his age on Canadian censuses.

4. History Coming Alive, I, 382.

5. Steve Lapshinoff & Jonathan Kalmakoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928 (Crescent Valley: self-published, 2001), 2. Photo of S/S Lake Huron (built 1881), digital image, Norway – Heritage (http://www.norwayheritage.com : accessed 18 January 2014).

6. “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).

7. Lapshinoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928, 2.

8. History Coming Alive, I, 383.

9. History Coming Alive, I, 383. Also, Jonathan J. Kalmakoff, 1918 Census of Independent Doukhobors: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia (Regina: Jonathan J. Kalmakoff, 2002), 66.

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

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #30 – Josephte Adam, a challenging ancestor

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

For the 30th week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (Challenging) to focus on challenging-to-research ancestor, Josephte (aka Josette) Adam.

Josephte, from whom I have a double descent in my paternal line, is my 4x great-grandmother. What makes her challenging is that I haven’t been able to find her date and place of death or burial. I also don’t know when she was born or baptized, but I’ll leave that mystery for another time.

Josephte was a younger daughter of Joseph Adam and his wife Marie Angélique Bissonnette. [1] She was born between 1784 and 1791, possibly in Beloeil, Verchères County, Quebec. In May 1808, Josephte married Charles Messier, who was 54 years old. [2] The couple had two sons and five daughters born between 1806 and 1819. Husband Charles died the following year in 1820. Despite having to care for seven children, the youngest of whom was only one year old, Josephte didn’t immediately remarry. It wasn’t until six years later that she did. [3] Her new husband, Jacques Millet dit Beauchemin, was a widower, with children of his own. They were the parents of two daughters, both born in Sorel.

View of Sorel (September 1839)

Despite my searches in the databases at Ancestry.ca and Genealogie Quebec.com, I haven’t found Josephte’s death or burial record. I know that she was alive on 24 April 1833, because she is described as being from Sorel at the marriage of one of her daughters. [4]

I searched the 1851/1852 census index at Ancestry.ca for the town of Sorel and for Richelieu County, but didn’t find a ‘Josephte Adam’ or variation.

I’ll keep looking for evidence of her death, but for now, Josephte remains a challenge.

Sources:

Image credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1983-47-67.

1. St-Mathieu (Beloeil, Quebec), parish register, 1801-1810, p. 4 recto, entry no. M2, Charles Messier – Marie Josephte Adam marriage, 6 May 1805; St-Mathieu parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 April 2008). The names of Josephte’s parents are stated in her marriage record.

2. St-Mathieu, parish register, 1801-1810, p. 4 recto, Charles Messier – Marie Josephte Adam marriage, 6 May 1805.

3. St-Pierre (Sorel, Quebec), parish register, 1826, p. 48 verso, entry no. M.26, Jacques Millet dit Beauchemin – Josephte Adam marriage, 24 October 1826; St-Pierre parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 17 December 2009).

4. Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire (St-Hyacinthe, Quebec), parish register, 1833, p. 24 recto, entry no. M.28, Antoine Daigle – Marie Louise Messier marriage, 24 April 1833; Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 29 July 2015).

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #28 – From Rouyn, Quebec to Nobel, Ontario

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

For the 28th week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (Road Trip) to describe the journey my mother and her family made when they moved from Quebec to Ontario when she was a young child. Mom doesn’t have any memories of this trip, but her sister Madeleine does. A few years ago, Aunt Madeleine wrote her recollections for me and I quote from them in this article.

In the spring of 1940, my Desgroseilliers grandparents, Eugène and Juliette, lived in Rouyn, a mining community in the boreal forest of northwestern Quebec. Eugène, who was 39 years old, was unemployed after working as a chief of police for a number of years.

Rouyn-Noranda, 1937 (fr.wikipedia.org)

Canadian Industries Ltd. (CIL) had recently opened a new plant on the site of a former WWI explosives factory in Nobel, a village located just north of Parry Sound, Ontario. Eugène decided to try his luck with CIL, which manufactured explosives and munitions. He was soon hired as a guard with the company. Before returning to Rouyn, Eugène bought some property outside of Parry Sound. With the help of friends, he built a two-story home for his family. His elder daughter Madeleine described it as a “shell of a house”.

After borrowing a car, Eugène returned home. His elder daughters had just finished school in June. Madeleine remembered how her father “loaded us all with only our personal belongings for the long drive back to Parry Sound”. Eugène, wife Juliette (39), and children Mariette (12½), Madeleine (11), Simone (9½), Jacqueline (6½), Gaston (5), Normande (3), and Jeanne d’arc (2) were “jammed in a car plus boxes”.

Route from Rouyn, Quebec to Nobel, Ontario 

The journey of about 426 kilometres (about 265 miles) took a few days. Madeleine recalls that the car had “a couple of flat tires on the [way]”. One of them happened “just on the outskirts of North Bay” in Ontario. She and her sister Mariette “walked to [the] nearest garage” to fetch an attendant to repair the tire. The family finally arrived at their new home late in the evening of “a real hot day in July”.

It must have been a great relief for my grandfather Eugène to find a job after being out of work. A regular paycheck was a blessing, but the change in environment was a culture shock. The family exchanged Rouyn, a largely Roman Catholic Francophone community, for Nobel, a mainly Protestant English-speaking village. My aunts and uncle had known only parochial schools, Juliette spoke no English, and she and Eugène were separated from family (they both had brothers who lived near them).

Nobel turned out to be an unhappy place of residence. Less than a year later, six year old Gaston died following a car accident after a day of fishing with his father.* I’ve always wondered if the tragic loss of his only surviving son had something to do with my grandfather moving away from Nobel and relocating his family to another town within a few weeks of Gaston’s death.

* I’ve written twice about Gaston on my blog: Wednesday’s Child: Gaston Desgroseilliers, A Brief Life and Mystery Monday: Gaston Desgroseilliers’ Cause of Death.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #25 Little House on the (Canadian) Prairie

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

For the 25th week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (The Old Homestead) and chose to write about the prairie home of my parents-in-law Bill and Ann Demoskoff.

Demoskoff family home in late 1952

Bill and Ann lived in the central Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Their house wasn’t an ‘old homestead’, but it was their first home as a married couple. Since the house was purpose-built, I decided to record my husband’s childhood memories and conversations we had with his late father about their Prairie family home.

Before he married, my father-in-law Bill owned some property (two quarter sections, each 160 acres) about ten miles north of Pelly, located in Saskatchewan’s Aspen Parkland region. Since neither land had a house, Bill lived about half a mile away to the north of his quarter sections in a house he shared with a friend.

In the spring of 1952, Ann’s brother Larry asked Bill where he and his sister were going to live after their June wedding. My husband doesn’t know what his father replied, but whatever he said, it seems that Larry had other plans. He and his brothers Fred and Pete decided to build Ann a house as their gift to her. (She was their only sister and the youngest of the family.)

The brothers needed lumber, so they asked around to see if any farmers were allowed to harvest timber. Fred eventually found two loads of green timber and borrowed a neighbor’s portable planer to convert the timber to usable lumber. Larry, Fred, and Pete began by digging out a basement (on one of Bill’s quarter sections) using horses to drag out the dirt. They made forms and poured cement to make a foundation. After they back-filled the dirt to the foundation, they started framing the house. Later on, Larry got more sizes of lumber for finishing work, like cupboards.

My husband thinks the house was about 30’ x 40’. It had five rooms on the main floor: a living room, kitchen, pantry, and two bedrooms. A staircase in the living room led to the upstairs, which was divided in two large rooms that were used for storage. While they were young, my husband and his sister shared a bedroom on the main floor, but when he was about six years old, he moved upstairs where the south-facing room was converted into a bedroom for him. The bathroom (outhouse) was fifty feet down the hill at the back of the property.

The front door faced south towards the highway about fifty feet away. The kitchen, which faced north and east, had a wood-burning stove and a cast iron hand pump for water from the basement well. The house was wired for electricity, but Bill couldn’t afford the cost of residential power in the early years. Instead, a wind generator provided energy for indoor lighting.

My husband and his sister (seen above, ca 1963) and their parents lived here until the summer of 1964. That year, Bill sold his farm and moved with his family to the nearby town of Kamsack.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #23 Anne Jousselot, "serial marry-er"

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

For the 23rd week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (Wedding) and chose Anne Jousselot (ca 1659-1743). 

Looking through my database, I see that some of my ancestors married three or four times, but there’s only one ancestor who married a remarkable five times: Anne Jousselot, my maternal 8x great-grandmother. To paraphrase Amy’s words, Anne is the “serial marry-er in my family”.

French origins

Anne was born about 1659, based on her age (22) on the census that took place in 1681 in the colony of Nouvelle France. [1] She was one of four daughters of Pierre Jousselot and his wife Ozanne Drapeau, who immigrated to Quebec in the 1660s. The family was originally from the parish of St-Pierre in Langon, a commune in the wine-growing region of Bordeaux, in southwestern France. [2]

A marriage contract

On 6 October 1675, Anne entered into a marriage contract with Simon Trillaud, an immigrant from the province of Angoumois, France. Simon was about 32 years old and had been in New France since 1665. They did not make it to the altar, however, because their contract was subsequently annulled and they did not marry. [3]

“Quebec from the Ice”, by James Pattison Cockburn (1779-1847)*

* Image credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1989-260-6.

First marriage

Within a few months, Anne entered into another marriage contract on 27 December 1676 with Joseph Galois from Poitou, France. This contract was successful; the couple went on to make a public promise of marriage (known as fiançailles) that was recorded in Notre-Dame’s sacramental register. The next step toward marriage was the reading of the banns on three occasions during January 1677 at Anne’s parish church. Finally, Anne and Joseph were married on 9 February 1677 at Notre-Dame in Quebec. Their happiness was short lived, though, because Joseph died a few months later at an unknown date. There were no children by this brief marriage. [4]

Second marriage

Widow Anne married Toussaint Dubeau on 23 May 1678 in Quebec. (A marriage contract was drawn up two weeks earlier on the 8th.) Toussaint, a widower with two teenage children, was a master shoemaker from the archdiocese of Paris, France. The new couple was blessed with eleven children: seven sons and four daughters. (I descend from the younger daughter Marguerite Dubeau, who married Jacques Sigouin in 1712.) Anne became a widow for the second time when Toussaint, who was about 52 years old, died in August 1693. [5]

Third marriage

Anne had seven surviving children, with the youngest one only five months old, to care for in her grief. However, she did not remarry for the next few years. Was this decision by choice or were there no men able to take on a widow with children at this time in the colony’s history? Perhaps a change of location from Quebec to nearby Charlesbourg (now part of that city) helped Anne find a husband, because on 20 July 1698, she entered into a marriage contract with André Duval, who was originally from Savoie, France. They married the next day in Charlesbourg’s St-Charles-Borromée parish church. Unlike her first two weddings, Anne wasn’t attended by her father Pierre (he had presumably died in the interval), but by two nephews, sons of her sister Marie (Jousselot) Gervais. A few months later, Anne was blessed with another child, a son Jacques, in January 1699. Life can be cruelly short in 17th century New France and death came twice to the Duval household in 1699: first, Anne’s husband André died that July at the Hôtel-Dieu in Quebec and then her infant son of four months passed away that October. [6]

Fourth marriage

Anne remained a widow for the next thirteen years. On 12 June 1712, she and Jean Maranda entered into a marriage contract and married on the following day in Charlesbourg. Jean was about 50 years old; he was twice widowed and the father of fifteen children. He and Anne didn’t have children of their own when he died in September 1724. [7]

“In the village of Charlesbourg”, by James Pattison Cockburn (1779-1847)*

* Image credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1989-262-21.

Fifth marriage

In the autumn of 1725, Anne married Claude Dubreuil on 11 October 1725 in Charlesbourg. Claude, originally from Saintonge, France, was a widower with three surviving (adult) children. His union with Anne lasted five years until his death in October 1730 in Quebec. [8]

Death

Anne was about 71 years old when she became a widow for the fifth time. She survived her last husband by twelve years, dying on 13 January 1743. She was buried the next day in Charlesbourg. [9]

Historian and genealogist Cyprien Tanguay stated that Anne’s fifth marriage was “le seul exemple, dans ce siècle, d’une épouse en cinquième mariage” [“the only example, in this century, of a wife in a fifth marriage]. [10]

Sources:

1. René Jetté, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec (Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1983), 610.

2. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 610 and “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 6 June 2015), Marie Anne Jeanne Jousselot [sic], Individu no. 16628.

3. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 1091. Simon entered into a second marriage contract in 1676, but it too was later annulled. He finally married in 1688 in Lachine to widow Marie-Charlotte Jolivet, a paternal ancestor of mine by her first husband.

4. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 460. Also, Notre-Dame (Quebec, Quebec), parish register, 1667-1679, p. 150 (penned)/450 (stamped), no entry no. (1667), Joseph Galois – Anne Jousselot marriage, 9 February 1667; Notre-Dame parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 June 2015).

5. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 365. Also, Notre-Dame (Quebec, Quebec), parish register, 1667-1679, p. 159 (penned)/459 (stamped), no entry no. (1678), Toussaint Dubau [sic] – Anne Jousselot marriage, 23 May 1678; Notre-Dame parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 June 2015).

6. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 399. Also, St-Charles-Borromée (Charlesbourg, Quebec), parish register, 1679-1794, p. 22, no entry no. (1698), André Duval – Anne Jousselot marriage, 21 July 1698; St-Charles-Borromée parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 June 2015).

7. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 761. Also, St-Charles-Borromée (Charlesbourg, Quebec), parish register, 1679-1794, p. 6 recto, no entry no. (1712), Jean Maranda – Marianne Jusselot (written Marianne Jusselot, indexed Marie Anne Jusselot) marriage, 13 June 1712; St-Charles-Borromée parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 June 2015).

8. Jetté, Dictionnaire, 371. Also, St-Charles-Borromée (Charlesbourg, Quebec), parish register, 1679-1794, p. 9 verso, no entry no. (1725), Claude [Dubreül] – Jeanne Jouselot [sic] marriage, 11 October 1725; St-Charles-Borromée parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 June 2015).

9. St-Charles-Borromée (Charlesbourg, Quebec), parish register, 1679-1794, page no. (if any) illegible, no entry no. (1743), Marie Anne Juslot [sic] burial, 14 January 1743; St-Charles-Borromée parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 June 2015). Also, “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 6 June 2015), Marie Anne Jeanne Jousselot, Individu no. 16628.

10. Cyprien Tanguay, A travers les registres (Montréal, 1886: 122); digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/traverslesregis00tanggoog : accessed 7 June 2015). Also, Paul-André Leclerc, “Le mariage sous le régime français (suite)”, Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française 14 (1960); online archives, érudit (http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/302029ar : accessed 8 June 2015), 48.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors 2015: #7 Marguerite Bouvret – her 1829 burial record finally found

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

For the 7th week of this challenge, I used the optional weekly theme (Love) and chose Marguerite Bouvret (1784-1829).

The ancestor that I love to research is the one for whom I can find records. I especially love it when I find a baptism or burial record that solves a ‘brick wall’. And that’s what happened last week – I solved a brick wall when I found Marguerite’s burial record.

I knew when and where my maternal 4x great-grandmother Marguerite Bouvret was baptised and married, but I couldn’t locate her burial record. I had an estimated date of death for her, though, between 1824 and 1829, but not the exact date or place.

Marguerite was the younger daughter of Etienne Bouvret (Beauvais) by his first wife Marie Elisabeth Gibouleau (Gipoulou). She was born on 12 July 1784 and baptised as “Marie Marguerite” the next day in St-Henri church in Mascouche, which is a little to the north of Montreal. [1]

When she was 23 years old, Marguerite married Joseph Pinault dit Deschatelets on 11 January 1808 in Ste-Anne-des-Plaines. [2] The couple had eight children over the next fifteen years: Marie Marguerite, Angèle (Angélique), Joseph (my ancestor), Victoire, François, Louise, Pierre, and unnamed child of unrecorded gender who died at birth.

I knew Marguerite died between 25 April 1824 (when her unnamed child was buried in Ste-Anne-des-Plaines) and 19 October 1829 (when her eldest child Marie Marguerite married in Ste-Anne-des-Plaines), so I concentrated my efforts on those years and that location. [3]

I searched various databases, including “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967” at Ancestry.ca and “Inventaires après décès de la région de Montréal, 1791-1840” at Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), but didn’t find Marguerite. I also looked at the images of burial records for Ste-Anne-des-Plaines at Ancestry.ca, but still didn’t find her.

It wasn’t until last week that I realized I hadn’t looked for Marguerite’s “Individu” file at Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH). I don’t know why I didn't look there for her, especially since I’ve used that site for years, but I quickly remedied that situation. It's a good thing that I did, because Marguerite’s file included her death and burial details. At last! I now knew that my ancestor died on 9 April 1829 in Ste-Anne-des-Plaines and that she was buried there on 11 April 1829. [4]

Because PRDH is just a database, I then turned to Ancestry.ca to view the image of Marguerite’s burial record. [5] I was surprised to see that her surname wasn’t Bouvret or one its variations like Beauvais; instead, it was Comptois. For some reason, Ste-Anne’s parish priest made a mistake when he wrote Marguerite’s surname, which would explain how I ignored this entry when I originally skimmed the images of Ste-Anne’s sacramental registers for 1824 to 1829.

Marguerite Bouvret burial record (p. 11 recto), Ancestry.ca

Marguerite Bouvret burial record (p. 11 verso), Ancestry.ca

I’m satisfied that this burial record is the right one for my ancestor Marguerite for the following reasons:

• Her stated age of 45 gives her an approximate year of birth of 1784.
• Her surviving husband’s name is Joseph Pineau, a variation of Pinault.
• Her date and place of burial (11 April 1829 Ste-Anne-des-Plaines) are consistent with when she is last known to be living (25 April 1824 Ste-Anne-des-Plaines) and when she is deceased (19 October 1829 Ste-Anne-des-Plaines).
• No Pineau – Comptois (or variation) marriage appears to exist between 1774 and 1829 in the province of Quebec. [6]

Note to self: next time I’m facing a brick wall, make sure to search all the usual databases and not just some of them.

Sources:

1. St-Henri (Mascouche, Quebec), parish register, 1780-1786, no page no., no entry no. (1784), Marie Marguerite Boves [sic] baptism, 13 July 1784; St-Henri parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 13 February 2015).

2. Ste-Anne (Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec), parish register, 1808, p. 1 verso, no entry no., Joseph Pinau – Marguerite Bouvret [sic] marriage, 11 January 1808; Ste-Anne parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 22 November 2014).

3. Ste-Anne (Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec), parish register, 1824, p. 12 recto, entry no. S.23, Anonyme Déchatelet (written as Anonyme Déchatelet, indexed as Anonyme Dectratetet) burial, 25 April 1824; Ste-Anne parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 22 November 2014). Also, Ste-Anne (Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec), parish register, 1829, p. 28 recto, entry no. M.18, Jacques Legaut – Marie Marguerite Pinault dit Déchatelet (written as Jacques Legaut – Marie Marguerite Pinault dit Déchatelet, indexed as Jacques Lagaut – Margte Pinault) marriage, 19 October 1829; Ste-Anne parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 22 November 2014).

4. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 11 February 2015), Marguerite Bouvret, Individu no. 598141.

5. Ste-Anne (Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec), parish register, 1829, p. 11 recto, entry no. S36, Marguerite Comptois [sic] burial, 11 April 1829; Ste-Anne parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 11 February 2015).

6. “Le LAFRANCE”, database, Généalogie Québec (www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 13 February 2015). A search for a marriage for “Pinau” (and Deschatelets) and “Comptois” between 1774 and 1829 proved negative.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

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.