Sibling Saturday: The Children of Olivier and Elizabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse

Olivier and Elizabeth Vanasse are my paternal great-grandparents. Olivier was born on 4 February 1863 in Chapeau, Pontiac County, Quebec (then known as Canada East). He was the sixth and youngest child of Olivier and Elizabeth (Frappier) Vanasse. Elizabeth was born on 11 September 1862, also in Chapeau. She was the third of thirteen children of Joseph and Marie (Guérard) Vanasse.

Olivier and Elizabeth Vanasse (ca 1930s)

Olivier and Elizabeth were first cousins, their fathers being brothers. They married in the summer of 1889 and lived in Chapeau, where Olivier farmed. He and Elizabeth had nine children, who all survived to adulthood. Olivier died on 7 December 1944 at home. About 1946, my great-grandmother moved to Ottawa, Ontario to live with her daughter Mary. She died there on 1 September 1947.

Children of Olivier and Elizabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse

1. Mary Vanasse
Mary was born on 1 April 1890 and died, unmarried, on 21 September 1951.

2. George Vanasse
George was born on 13 October 1891. On 15 June 1920, he married Louisa Potvin (1902-1996) in Bourget, Ontario. Louisa was the sister of Clément Potvin, who married George’s sister Celia. George and Louisa had seven children. George died on 22 March 1976 in Ottawa.

3. William (Willie) Vanasse
Willie was born on 23 February 1893 and died on 13 May 1955 in a veterans’ hospital in London, Ontario. He was unmarried. Willie served in World War I.

4. Cecilia (Celia) Vanasse
Celia was born on 6 January 1895. She married on 14 June 1921 in Ottawa Clément (Clem) Potvin (1895-1987). Clem was the brother of Louisa Potvin, who married Celia’s brother George. She and Clem had two children. Celia died on 3 September 1986 in Ottawa.

Olivier and Elizabeth Vanasse (centre, back) with their children
Mary (centre, left) and Joe (in uniform) and (front, left to right)
Celia, Aggie, and Dave (ca 1939)

5. Julia (Julie) Vanasse
Julie was born on 31 August 1896. She married on 28 October 1926 Fred Belair (1889-1991) in Ottawa. Julie and Fred had six children, including my father Maurice. She died on 19 March 1967 in Timmins, Ontario.

6. Joseph (Joe) Vanasse
Joe was born on 23 January 1898. He married on 19 August 1942 Stella (Shirley) Ranger (1920-2010) in Chapeau. Like his elder brother, Joe served in World War I. He and his wife Stella had two children. Joe died on 23 March 1973 in Ottawa.

7. Corinne (Cora) Vanasse
Cora was born on 20 August 1900. She married Francis (Frank) Milks (1900-1968) on 5 November 1921 In Ottawa. Cora and Frank had five children. She died on 11 April 1977 in Ottawa.

8. David (Dave) Vanasse (Venasse)
Dave was born on 3 May 1903. He married on 12 June 1929 Louise St-Martin (1911-1991) in Chapeau. They didn’t have children of their own, but adopted a boy. Dave died on 28 May 1979 in Pembroke, Ontario.

9. Agnes (Aggie) Vanasse
Aggie was born on 12 September 1905. She married on 2 September 1935 Frederick (Fred; Freddie) Burchill (ca 1907-1989) in Chapeau. Fred was a British home child. He and Aggie had three children. Aggie died on 28 June 2000 in Ottawa.

Celia, Julie, Cora, and Aggie Vanasse (1962)

My grandmother Julie lived a couple of houses from mine when I was a child, so I knew her very well. I never met great-aunt Mary and great-uncle Willie, who passed away before I was born. I don’t believe I ever met George, Joe and Dave, but might have the year my family went to Ottawa on vacation in 1969. When I was a teenager, I visited Celia, Cora, and Aggie on a few occasions at their homes in Ottawa. I loved those visits with my great-aunts, because they were a link to my beloved grandmother after she passed away.

Copyright © 2018, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Vanasse – Frappier

Today is the 164th anniversary of the marriage of Olivier Vanasse and Elizabeth Frappier, my paternal great-great-grandparents.

Vanasse - Frappier marriage record (Ancestry)

Olivier, second son of Régis and Josephte (Messier) Vanasse, was born in 1832 in Yamaska, Yamaska County, Quebec. His wife Elizabeth is one of three children I’ve identified of Michel and Louise (Neveu) Frappier. She was born about 1832, based on her age at her baptism in 1836, probably on Ile des Allumettes in Pontiac County, Quebec.

Olivier and Elizabeth married on 20 April 1852 in St. Alphonsus church in Chapeau, Pontiac County, Quebec. [1] Irish-born Reverend James Christopher Lynch blessed their union. [2] The couple had six children: Michael (1853-1933), Julia (1854-1895), Henriette (1856-1883), John (1858-1931), Elizabeth (aka Elmire) (1860-1953), and Olivier (1863-1944), my great-grandfather.

Here’s my transcription of the marriage record (above):

April 20th 1852 after the banns of Marriage / having been twice published at the / prone of Mass in this mission Between / Oliver Venace son of age of Regis Venace / and of [Joseth] Mar[i iere?] on the one part / and Anne Isabelle Frappier minor / daughter of Michael Frappier and of / Louissa Nevaux on the other part and / where as a dispensation of one of the banns / of Marriage have been given by us in vir- / tue of a power accorded to us by his lord- / ship the Right Rev. F. Guigues Bishop of / Bytown no impediment having been / discovered we the undersigned priest / of this mission have Received their mutual / Consent to mariage and have given / them the nuptial benediction at St / Liguoris Allumette Island in the presence / of Joseph [Laganef?] & [La reau?] [La Viven?] who have not signed[Signed Jas C Lynch Priest]

Olivier passed away in November 1914, having survived Elizabeth, who died in July 1909.
 
Sources:

1. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 152 verso, entry no. M.8 (1852), Oliver Venace – Anne Isabelle Frappier (written as Olivier Venace – Anne Isabelle Frappier, indexed as Olivin Verran – Anne Isabelle Frappier) marriage, 20 April 1852; St-Alphonse parish; digital images, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 March 2011).

2. Alexis de Barbezieux, Histoire de la province ecclésiastique d'Ottawa et de la colonisation dans la vallée de l'Ottawa (Ottawa, 1897: I: 253 and 399); digital images, Our Roots (http://www.ourroots.ca/ : accessed 13 March 2014). Father Lynch was appointed curate (assistant priest) of St. Alphonsus in 1845 and then its parish priest in 1846. He spent his entire priestly career there, and died in 1885.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Census Sunday: The Vanasse Family and the 1921 Census

1921 census of Canada (Chichester Township, Quebec) [1]

My paternal grandmother Julie Vanasse was enumerated on the 1921 census of Canada. [2] She, her parents and some of her siblings lived in rural Chichester, Pontiac County, Quebec.

Julie was born on 31 August 1896, so her presence on the 1921 census marks her third appearance on a federal Canadian census.

Cropped version of 1921  Chichester Township census

The family’s surname is spelled Venasse on the above images, but is indexed Vinson in the census database at Ancestry.ca.

There were eight members in the household: head of family Oliver (54), wife Elizabeth (54), and children Mary Ann (31), Willie (28), my grandmother Julia (24), Joseph (23), David (18) and Agnes (15). Three other children, eldest son George, and younger daughters Celia and Cora, lived in their own homes or in other communities.

Although the census form is bilingual (French and English), the responses are in English. I don’t see a date on this return, but the official census date was 1 June 1911. [3]

Oliver is a farmer. He owns his house, which is constructed of wood and has four occupied rooms. [4] The family is Roman Catholic, all its members were born in the province of Quebec, Oliver cannot read or write, his wife Elizabeth can write, and all their children can read and write. The family speaks French and English.

The thing that strikes me the most interesting about my Vanasse great-grandparents’ family on this census is that almost all of their unmarried children lived at home. I would expect to see teenager Agnes and perhaps her 18-year-old brother David still at home, but the others are between 23 and 31 years old and of an age to be living in their own homes or working out of town. I like to think that this nearly complete household means that they were a particularly close and united family.

Sources:

1. 1921 census of Canada, Chichester Township, Pontiac-Témiscamingue-Abitibi, Quebec, population schedule, subdistrict 7, p. 7, dwelling 49, family 49, Oliver Venasse [sic] household; digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 August 2013); citing Library and Archives Canada, Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2013. Series RG31. Statistics Canada Fonds.

2. 1921 census of Canada, Chichester Township, Pontiac-Témiscamingue-Abitibi, Quebec, pop. sched., subdist. 7, p. 1, dwel. 49, fam. 49, Oliver Venasse [sic] household.

3. Dave Obee, Counting Canada: A Genealogical Guide to the Canadian Census (Victoria, BC: Dave Obee, 2012), 160.

4. “1921 Canada Census Enumerator Instructions”, Ontario (Upper Canada) Genealogy and History - 1921 Canada Census Information (http://www.ontariogenealogy.com/1921canadacensusinformation.html : accessed 2 August 2014), entries no. 73, 77 and 78.

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors: #30 Marie Guérard, baptized "sous condition"

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”.

For the 30th week of this challenge, I chose Marie Guérard (1840-1917).

Marie is my paternal great-great-grandmother and is number 23 in my ancestor list.

According to her baptism record in February 1841, Marie was born in “le mois de décembre dernier” (the month of December last). [1]

She was baptized “sous condition” (on condition) in the mission of St-Alphonsus of Liguori in Chapeau, Pontiac County, Quebec. The phrase “sous condition” in a baptism record means that a child is baptized on the condition that he or she hasn’t already been baptized. This scenario occurs, for example, when a newborn is in danger of not surviving and is “ondoyé” (provisionally baptized) by someone present at the birth, for example the midwife, before the child can receive the sacrament of baptism by a priest. If the child survives, he or she is brought to the parish church to be baptized by the priest, who then adds “sous condition” to the child’s record. [2]

Marie was the daughter of Jean-Baptiste Guérard and Euphrosine Laronde. Her father was originally from eastern Quebec, while her mother was a Métis from Ile aux Allumettes, where Chapeau is located. (I’ve written about Euphrosine’s Métis background in Euphrosine Laronde, My Metis Ancestor.)

The next time Marie appears in sacramental records is at her marriage to Joseph Vanasse on 10 January 1859 in St-Alphonsus church in Chapeau. [3]

Marie and Joseph had 13 children, seven sons and six daughters, including Elizabeth, my ancestor.

Marie died on 15 November 1917 in Chapeau. She was buried there two days later in the parish cemetery. [4] Her son Regis (aka Richard) Vanasse and her son-in-law Olivier Vanasse were present.

Sources:

1. St-Paul (Aylmer, Quebec), parish register, 1841-1851, p. 14 verso, no entry no., Marie Guérard baptism, 4 February 1841; St-Paul parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 June 2010).

2. Can. 869 §1 states: “If there is doubt as to whether a person was baptised or whether a baptism was conferred validly […] the person is to be baptised conditionally [“sous condition”]. The Code of Canon Law In English translation, The Canon Law Society Trust, London: Collins Liturgical Publications, 1983, 160.

3. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 3 recto, entry no. M2, Joseph Venance – Mary Siard [Guerard] marriage, 10 January 1859; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 30 July 2007).

4. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1917, p. 15 verso, entry no. S19, Moïse Girard [sic] burial, 17 November 1917; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 30 July 2007).

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Elisabeth Vanasse’s Baptism Record

Baptism record of Elizabeth Vanasse [1]

My great-grandmother Elisabeth Vanasse was born on 11 September 1862 in Chapeau, Pontiac County, Quebec. She was the third child and first daughter of Joseph and Marie (Guérard) Vanasse.

I find it interesting and a bit puzzling that she wasn’t baptized until she was nearly three months old, on 7 December 1862. Roman Catholic parents were urged to have their infants baptized without delay, lest they die before receiving the Sacrament.

What could have caused the delay? Here are some ideas that I’ve considered.

• Remote location?
The Vanasse family lived on rural Ile des Allumettes, near the village of Chapeau, where St. Alphonsus church was located.

• Bad weather?
Unless there was unseasonable weather when Elisabeth was born in September, it doesn’t make sense to wait until almost the end of the year when there’s a chance of snowstorms.

• No church or clergy?
Two Irish-born resident priests served Chapeau’s faithful, Father James Lynch and his assistant Father Bartholomew Casey. [2]

• Priest too busy?
With risk of infant mortality a real concern, parents sought to baptize their children as soon as possible, and were indeed instructed to. [3] Therefore, other events (generally) did not take precedence over baptism.

• Objection of clergy?
Since Joseph and Marie were both baptized, married canonically, and practicing Catholics, there shouldn’t be any objection, unless perhaps one or both parents were in a state of grave or mortal sin in 1862.

• Parental objection?
Joseph and Marie’s first two children (sons Dalmatius and Regis) were baptized, so unless they had serious doubts about their faith when Elisabeth was born, they wouldn’t object to their daughter being received into the Church.

• Father absent?
A father’s absence (for example, if he was working away from home) did not prevent or delay his child’s baptism. In such a case, the priest would simply note his absence in the baptism record with the phrase “le père absent”.

• Sick baby?
If Elisabeth were sick, she could have had an emergency baptism, and indeed, should if in imminent danger of dying. [4]

• Sick mother?
At this time, it was common for only the father, the godparents and the newborn to be present at a baptism ceremony.

There could be other reasons, like choosing the baby’s name, finding godparents, or baby’s gender, but I think they are less likely to be the ones.

Sources:

1. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 96 verso, entry no. B.109 (1862), Elizabeth Venance [sic] baptism, 7 December 1862; Ste-Cécile-de-Masham parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 15 June 2010).

2. Alexis de Barbezieux, Histoire de la province ecclésiastique d'Ottawa et de la colonisation dans la vallée de l'Ottawa (Ottawa, 1897: I: 253 and 563); digital images, Our Roots (http://www.ourroots.ca/ : accessed 13 March 2014). Father Lynch was appointed curé of St. Alphonsus in 1844, the year after he was ordained. He spent his entire priestly career there, and died in 1885. Father Casey arrived in Chapeau in May 1862 as assistant priest. He remained there until September 1863, when he was transferred to St. Bridget in nearby Onslow.

3. The Canon Law Society Trust, The Code of Canon Law In English translation (London: Collins Liturgical Publications, 1983), 160, Can. 867.1, which states “Parents are obliged to see that their infants are baptised within the first few weeks”.

4. The Canon Law Society Trust, The Code of Canon Law In English translation, 160, Can. 867.2.

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

52 Ancestors: #9 Elisabeth Vanasse – One of thirteen children

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”.

For the 9th week of this challenge, I chose my paternal great-grandmother Elisabeth Vanasse (1862-1947).

Last week, I wrote about Elisabeth’s husband Olivier Vanasse; you can read about him here.

My great-grandmother Elisabeth was born on 11 September 1862 in Chapeau, Pontiac County, Quebec.

Elisabeth Vanasse (in the 1930s or 1940s)

She was the third child and first daughter of Joseph Vanasse and his wife Marie Guérard, who married in January 1859 in Chapeau.

Elisabeth had two elder brothers, Dalmatius (Delmond) and Regis (Richard) and ten younger brothers and sisters, Lucy, Pierre, Isidore, Alexander, Mary Julia, Josephine, Maria Jane, Delina (Delia), David and Joseph.

With so many people in the household, I imagine that Elisabeth’s mother Marie must have relied on her daughter from an early age. In fact, Elisabeth had just turned 21 when her youngest sibling, Joseph, was born in 1883. I wonder if being part of a large family had anything to do with her marrying at the rather advanced age of nearly 27?

Elisabeth married Olivier Vanasse on 16 July 1889. Their marriage record states that “a dispensation […] of the second degree of consanguinity had been granted by [… the] Vicar Apostolic of Pontiac, on the eighth instant […]”.

The couple were first cousins and had known each other from childhood, because they were born and raised in Chapeau. Her father Joseph was the younger brother of Olivier’s father, also named Olivier.

Elisabeth was the mother of nine children: Mary, George, William, Cecilia (Celia), Julia (my paternal grandmother), Joseph, Corinne (Cora), David and Agnes (Aggie).

In about 1946, Elisabeth moved to Ottawa, where some of her children lived. She died there in hospital after a short illness on 1 September 1947. She is buried in the parish cemetery in Chapeau, where she lived most of her life.

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Funeral Card Friday: Elizabeth Vanasse

Front and back of memorial record

This lovely memorial record was printed for the funeral of my paternal great-grandmother Elizabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse. Folded, it measures 14 cm x 8 cm (approximately 5½“ x 3¼”). My aunt Joan (one of Elizabeth’s granddaughters) sent me the booklet with other family memorabilia in late 1987.

Inside text of memorial card

My great-grandparents Elizabeth and Olivier Vanasse, who married in July 1889 in Chapeau, Pontiac County, Quebec, were first cousins. They had nine children, including my grandmother Julie.

Elizabeth passed away on 1 September 1947 in Ottawa, where she lived after Olivier’s death. The funeral was held there two days later, followed by interment in the cemetery of St-Alphonsus of Liguori (Roman Catholic) church in Chapeau, where she lived most of her life.

Copyright © 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.