Sunday’s Obituary: Lucille Saucier

Lucille (Potvin) Saucier passed away ten years ago on 15 November 2006. [1]

Born Doris Lucille Potvin, she was “Lou” to her family and “Cousin Lou” to my Dad and I. Actually, I was first cousin once removed to her, while she and Dad were first cousins.

Lou was the only daughter of Clement and Cecilia (Vanasse) Potvin. She was four years older than her cousin Maurice, but they were rather close as young children and spent vacations on their grandparents’ farm on Ile des Allumettes in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In later years, Dad always spoke fondly of Lou, probably because he knew her best of his Vanasse cousins.

When I was a student at the University of Ottawa, Lou would invite me to her home for meals (and much appreciated they were) or to just hang out when I got lonely living in my dorm. Lou and I corresponded fairly regularly after my family moved to British Columbia. She was a wonderful source of information about our relatives and ancestors.

Cousin Lou is still missed and remembered to this day.

Source:

1. “Doris “Lou” Saucier”, obituary, undated clipping, 2006, from unidentified newspaper; privately held by Joan (Belair) Laneville, Timmins, Ontario, 2016. Yvonne scanned family memorabilia, including this obituary, when she visited her aunt Joan (Belair) Laneville in May 2014. Joan and Lou were first cousins.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Sunday’s Obituary: David Venasse

Great-uncle David was my grandmother Julie (Vanasse) Belair’s youngest brother. Some of the family spelled their last name Vanasse, others spelled it Venasse.

David, the eighth of nine children of Olivier and Elizabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse, was born on 3 May 1903 on Ile des Allumettes, Pontiac County, Quebec. He married Louise St-Martin in June 1929 and they adopted a son, Glen.

I don’t think I ever met David or Louise, but my Dad used to talk about his Uncle Dave to me.

A resident of Pembroke, Ontario, David passed away of cancer on 28 May 1979 in Queensway-Carleton Hospital in nearby Ottawa, Ontario. [1] His funeral took place three days later in Petawawa, just north of Pembroke, and he was interred in Chapeau on Ile des Allumettes. [2]

David’s death was a great blow to his wife Louise and to his surviving sisters Celia and Agnes, who were devoted to their brother.

Sources:

1. Agnes (Vanasse) Burchill (Ottawa, Ontario) to “Dear Joan”, letter, 1 June 1979; privately held by Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff, British Columbia, 2016. Yvonne received assorted family memorabilia, including this letter, from her aunt Joan (Belair) Laneville when she visited her home in May 2014. Joan was Agnes’ niece.

2. “Venasse”, obituary, undated clipping, 1979, from unidentified newspaper; privately held by Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff, British Columbia, 2016. Yvonne received assorted family memorabilia, including this obituary, from her aunt Joan (Belair) Laneville when she visited her home in May 2014. Joan, David’s niece, received it from his sister Agnes (Vanasse) Burchill in a letter to Joan dated 1 June 1979.

Copyright © 2016, 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.

Sunday’s Obituary: George Vanasse

George’s obituary is the second one that appears on my blog today. Earlier, I posted the obit of my paternal grandmother Julie (Vanasse) Belair.

George and Julie were the younger children of Olivier Vanasse and his wife (and first cousin) Elisabeth Vanasse. George, the eldest son, was born on 13 October 1891. He and his siblings – Mary, William, Cecilia, Joseph, Corinne, David and Agnes – grew up on their parents’ farm on Ile des Allumettes, Pontiac County, Quebec.

In June 1920, George married (Marie) Louise Potvin in her hometown of Bourget, Russell County, Ontario. They and their seven children (three sons and four daughters) lived most of their lives in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa.

George died on 22 March 1976 – forty years ago this Tuesday. His funeral was held two days later in St. Sebastian (Roman Catholic) church, with interment in Notre-Dame cemetery in Ottawa. [1]

I don’t believe I ever met my great-uncle George, but I had the opportunity to visit his eldest child Jeanne (Jean) at her home in the 1980s, while on vacation in Ottawa.

Source:

1. “Ontario, Canada, The Ottawa Journal (Birth, Marriage and Death Notices), 1885-1980”, digital images, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 2 July 2013), Georges Vanasse [sic] death notice; citing The Ottawa Journal, 23 March 1976, p. 36, col. 7; City of Ottawa Archive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; database created from microfilm copies of the newspaper.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Frappier – Neveu Marriage

My 3x paternal great-grandparents Michel Frappier and Louise Neveu married on 31 January 1836. [1] Today marks the 180th anniversary of their union.

Michel and Louise were married by Pascal Brunet, the curé (curate) of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours church in Petite Nation seigneurie, Lower Canada. It was one of six marriages he performed that day. Father Brunet undertook a mission in early 1836 to serve the needs of Roman Catholics who lived in nearby counties that didn’t have resident priests. This particular mission took him to the remote settlements of Grand Calumet, la Passe, Fort Coulonge, and Ile aux Allumettes in what is now Pontiac County, Quebec. [2]

After the mission was completed, the baptism and marriage records were placed in the archives of Notre-Dame church in Ottawa, not in Father Brunet’s own parish.

It’s unfortunate that the Frappier – Neveu marriage record contains the minimum of information: names of the bride and groom and names of the witnesses. Additional details that were required by ecclesiastical law and civil law are missing: for instance, Michel and Louise’ ages, their parish or place of residence, their marital status, and most importantly, the names of their parents. [3]

Father Brunet also did not record if Michel and Louise were previously married and if such a marriage required to be rehabilitated. They appear to have lived as a couple, however, since about 1832, when their daughter Elizabeth (my 2x great-grandmother) was born. [4]

The marriage record (above) reads in French:

Michel Frappier et Louise Neveu, en présen / ce de Frs Leclerc, Hubert Neveu, Louis Lamarche.

In English:

Michel Frappier and Louise Neveu, in the presen / ce of Frs Leclerc, Hubert Neveu, Louis Lamarche.

Sources:

1. Notre-Dame (Ottawa, Ontario), parish register, 1825-1836, p. 301, entry no. 2 (1836), Michel Frappier – Louise Neveu marriage, 31 January 1836; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979”, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 30 January 2016).

2. Notre-Dame (Ottawa, Ontario), parish register, 1825-1836, p. 300 and p. 302; digital images, “Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979”, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 30 January 2016).

3. René Jetté, Traité de généalogie (Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1991), 438, “Tableau 10.3: Evolution du contenu des actes de mariage d’après la réglementation ecclésiastique en vigueur au Québec” [Evolution of the contents of marriage records according to ecclesiastical regulation in force in Quebec].

4. Notre-Dame (Ottawa, Ontario), parish register, 1825-1836, no page no., entry no. B.3 (1836), Nancy Frappier [sic] baptism, 1 February 1836; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 May 2011).

Copyright © 2016, 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.

52 Ancestors: #29 Joseph Vanasse - From Yamaska County to Pontiac County

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 29th week of this challenge, I chose Joseph Vanasse (1838-1897).

Joseph is my paternal great-great-grandfather and is number 22 in my ancestor list.

He is the younger brother of Olivier Vanasse (1832-1914), whose story I wrote for 52 Ancestors two weeks ago; you can read it here.

Joseph was born possibly in the parish of St-Michel in the town of Yamaska on 17 October 1838. I say possibly because his parents were residents of that parish when he was baptized in the parish of St-David in the nearby town of St-David. [1]

I don’t know when the Vanasse brothers left their home county of Yamaska or what motivated them to seek their fortune elsewhere in the province. Olivier was presumably the first to arrive in Pontiac County, because he married there in April 1852; he was 20 years old. I wonder if Joseph, who was only 13 years old, was with him. The earliest I can place Joseph in Pontiac is on 31 October 1857. That’s when he was present at the baptism of his godchild and nephew John Vanasse in Chapeau. [2]

When I record information about Joseph in Word documents or in my genealogy software program or in my family trees at Ancestry.ca, I standardize his surname as Vanasse. I rarely find his name spelled that way, though, so I add a note to explain the variant. For example, his surname was Vanasse in his baptism and his burial records, Venance in his marriage record and on the 1861 and 1871 censuses of Canada, Venasse in the baptism record of his godson in 1857, on the 1881 census of Canada and on his tombstone, and Venace on the 1891 census of Canada.

On 10 January 1859, Joseph married Marie Guérard in the little parish church of St-Alphonsus of Liguori in Chapeau. [3]

Joseph and Marie were blessed with thirteen children between 1859 and 1883: Dalmatius (aka Delmar, Delmond), Regis (aka Richard), Elizabeth (my ancestor, who married her first cousin Olivier Vanasse), Lucy, Pierre, Isidore, Alexander, Mary Julia, Josephine, Maria Jane, Delina (aka Delia), David, and Joseph.

The family lived in a one-story log house on a property that Joseph farmed in Chapeau on Ile des Allumettes. This island is situated in the Ottawa River on the Quebec side, across from the town of Pembroke in Renfrew County, Ontario.

Joseph died on 29 September 1897 in Chapeau. [4] He was survived by his wife Marie and all their children. Sons Isidore and Alexander were present at his funeral the next day at St-Alphonsus church, although they declared they could not sign their names in the sacramental register.

Sources:

1. St-David (St-David, Quebec), parish register, 1838, p. 17 verso, entry no. B63, Joseph Vanasse baptism, 18 October 1838; St-David parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 15 June 2010).

2. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 232 verso, entry no. B59, John Venasse baptism, 31 October 1857; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 17 July 2010).

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, 1895, p. 22 recto, entry no. S32, Joseph Vanasse burial, 30 September 1897; 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.

Sibling Saturday: Euphrosine and Elisabeth Laronde

My ancestor Euphrosine Laronde is sometimes confused with her younger sister Elisabeth in family trees at Ancestry.ca. Those muddled trees give her two husbands (Jean-Baptiste Guérard and François-Xavier Gaudette) and give 1878 as her year of death.

Based on my research, Euphrosine had one husband, Guérard, and she died before the 1861 census. It was her younger sister Elisabeth who was the wife of Gaudette, and who died in 1878.

Background Information

Euphrosine and Elisabeth were the daughters of Toussaint Laronde and his Aboriginal wife Marie Kekijicakoe. [1] The Laronde family lived on Ile aux Allumettes, an island located in the Ottawa River between the province of Quebec on the east and the province of Ontario on the west.

Euphrosine was born about 1820 or 1821 at Lake Nipissing. [2] Elisabeth was born between 1826 and 1831 in Ontario or Quebec. [3]

Euphrosine married Jean-Baptiste Guérard at an unknown date and place, but presumably before December 1840. [4] (I’ve written about how I haven’t been able to find their marriage record here.) The couple had three children.

Elisabeth and François-Xavier Gaudette’s date and place of marriage are also unknown, but the event took place before 30 April 1846. [5] They had seven children.

Separate Identities

I examined the sacramental records for the parish of St-Alphonse de Liguori on Ile des Allumettes and made a list of the different names under which the two sisters appeared. The results gave me a better understanding of the sisters’ identities at various times in their lives.

In Euphrosine’s case, she was known as ‘Euphrosine’ as early as 1824. [6] On other occasions, she was known by what appears to be shortened phonetic versions of that name: ‘Frisin’ and ‘Fisina’. [7] Interestingly, I found only one occasion where she was known as ‘Isabella’. [8]

Meanwhile, her sister Elisabeth was known as Elizabeth/Elisabeth, [9] Isabelle/Isabella, [10] or Eliza. [11]

Family Units

Now that Euphrosine and Elisabeth’s names and aliases were established, I turned to baptism records to recreate their family units.

Euphrosine and Jean-Baptiste had three known children:

• Marie (Mary), born December 1840 [12]
• Delina (Célina), born 4 August 1851 [13]
• Euphémie, born 24 October 1852 [14]

All three daughters were baptised at the parish church at Chapeau on Ile aux Allumettes, with the records stating they were the children of Jean Baptiste Guéra[rd] and Euphrosine Laronde (1840), John B. Gerrard and Fisina Laronde (1851), and J.B. Girrard and Felicita Laronde (1852).

Elisabeth and François-Xavier had seven known children:

• Francis (Olivier), born 30 November 1846 [15]
• Michael, born 3 September 1848 [16]
• Mary Julie, born 2 October 1858 [17]
• Andrew (Denis), born 18 January 1861 [18]
• Toussaint, born 12 March 1863 [19]
• Susanne, born 9 June 1864 [20]
• Mederick (Edward), born 20 June 1867 [21]

Like their Guérard cousins, the Gaudette siblings were baptised at Chapeau. The records show they were the children of Francis Gaudette and Isabella Laronde (1846), Xavier Gaudet and Isabella Laronde (1848), Michel [sic] Gaudette and Elisabeth Laronde (1858), Francis [X.] Gaudette and Elizabeth Laronde (1861), Francis Xavier Gaudette and Isabella Le Rhonde (1863), Francis X. Gaudet and Elizabeth Leronde (1864), and Xavier Gaudet and Isabelle Leronde (1867).

More Clues

Two sets of godparents stood out among these baptism records. First, Michael Gaudette’s godparents at his 1848 baptism are recorded as “Michael Gaudet” and “Frisin Laronde”. [22] Although the relationship between the infant and his godparents isn’t stated in the parish register, Michel is likely his father’s brother, while Frisin is likely his mother’s sister. (In French, ‘Frisin’ sounds like a shortened version of ‘Euphrosine’: Euphrosine = Phrosine = Frisin.)

Second, at Delina Guérard’s baptism in 1851, her godparents are named “X. Gaudet” and “Isabell Laronde”. [23] Again, no relationship is stated, but they are likely her mother’s brother-in-law and her sister.

Sorting Death Dates

The exact date and place of Euphrosine’s death is a mystery to me. However, the event occurred between 24 October 1852 when her daughter Euphémie was baptised [24] and the 1861 census of Canada on which her husband is a widower. [25]

Unlike her sister, Elisabeth’s date and place of death are known. Her burial record states that she died on 11 October 1878 and that she was buried in Chapeau two days later. [26] Her widowed husband remarried in 1883. [27]

Conclusion

Sacramental and census records helped untangle fact from fiction and eliminated confusion between Euphrosine and Elisabeth Laronde. They showed that although the sisters both used the name Isabella, Euphrosine married Jean-Baptiste Guérard and died before the 1861 census, while Elisabeth was the wife of François-Xavier Gaudette and died in 1878.

Sources:

1. Marie's surname is "Kekijicakoe" or "Kekijicoköe" in her son François' baptism record. To date, this is the only record I have found in which her Aboriginal surname is stated. St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze (Buckingham, Quebec), parish register, 1839-1854, p. 35 verso, entry no. B136 (1840), Francis Laronde baptism, 15 September 1840; St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze parish; digital image, "Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967", Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 February 2011).

2. “Registres paroissiaux” [Régistres des missions de 19 juillet 1836 au 27 may [sic] 1839], p. 77 verso, no entry no., Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838; Family History Library (FHL) microfilm 1703968. Euphrosine’s age (17) is stated in her parents’ marriage record. Also, Ste-Anne (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec), parish register, 1796-1846, p. 54 verso, no entry no. (1824), Euphroisine [sic] Laronde baptism, 28 July 1824; Ste-Anne parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 4 March 2011). Euphrosine was 3 years old. Her baptismal entry states she was born “au Lac Népiscingue” [at Lake Nipissing].

3. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838. Elisabeth was 11 years old. Also, “Registres paroissiaux” [Régistres des missions de 19 juillet 1836 au 27 may [sic] 1839], p. 77 verso, entry no. B117 and B118, Marie and Elizabeth Laronde baptism, 28 August 1838; FHL microfilm 1703968. Elisabeth was about 11 years old. Also, 1871 census of Canada, Allumette Island, Pontiac South, Quebec, population schedule, division 01, subdistrict k, p. 20, dwelling 59, family 71, Elizabeth Gaudette; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 July 2009); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-10025. Elisabeth is 43 years old and her place of birth is Ontario. Also, St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1876-1886, p. 56 recto, entry no. S15 (1878), Isabelle Laronde burial, 13 October 1878; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 April 2009). Elisabeth was 48 years old. Also, 1861 census of Canada, [Allumettes,] Pontiac, Canada East [Quebec], population schedule, p. 12, line 21, Eliza Gaudet [sic]; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 July 2009); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-1305. Elizabeth was 30 years old and was born in Lower Canada [Quebec].

4. Euphrosine and Jean-Baptiste’s marriage date is deduced from when their presumed eldest daughter Marie was born – “dans le mois de décembre dernier” [in the month of last December]. St-Paul (Aylmer, Quebec), parish register, 1841-1851, p. 14 verso, no entry no. (1841), 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 11 March 2008). Marie’s baptism took place in the “mission de St Alphonse de Liguori des Allumettes”, but the priest recorded the event in St-Paul’s sacramental register.

5. Elisabeth and François-Xavier married before 30 April 1846, because they are described as a married couple who witnessed the marriage of François-Xavier’s brother Michel Gaudet [sic] to Vitaline Généreux on that date. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 20 verso, entry no. M20 (1846), Gaudet – Généreux marriage, 30 April 1846; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 9 February 2011).

6. Ste-Anne, parish register, 1796-1846, p. 54 verso, Euphroisine [sic] Laronde baptism, 28 July 1824.

7. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 78 recto, entry no. B76 (1848), Michael Gaudet [sic] baptism, 10 September 1848; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011). Euphrosine’s name is rendered as “Frisin Laronde” in her godchild’s baptism record. Also, St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 137 recto, entry no. B77 (1851), Delina Gerrard [sic] baptism, 5 August 1851; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 11 March 2008). Euphrosine appears as “Fisina Laronde” at her daughter’s baptism.

8. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1859-1876, p. 278 recto, entry no. M16 (1870), Foisy – Guérard marriage, 10 October 1870; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 30 March 2009). Euphrosine’s name is given as “Isabella Laronde” in her daughter’s marriage record.

9. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Marie and Elizabeth Laronde baptism, 28 August 1838. Elisabeth’s name is spelled “Elizabeth” at her baptism. Also, St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856 [sic], p. 232 verso, entry no. B55 (1858), Mary Julie Gaudette baptism, 10 October 1858; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011). Elisabeth’s name is spelled “Elisabeth” in her daughter’s baptism record.

10. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 20 verso, Gaudet – Généreux marriage, 30 April 1846. Elisabeth’s name is rendered as “Isabelle” on this occasion. Also, St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 39 recto, entry no. B186 (1846), Francis Gaudette baptism, 1 December 1846; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011). Elisabeth appears as “Isabella Laronde” in her son’s baptism record.

11. 1861 census of Canada, [Allumettes,] Pontiac, Canada East [Quebec], pop. sched., p. 12, line 21, Eliza Gaudet [sic].

12. St-Paul, parish register, 1841-1851, p. 14 verso, Marie Guérard baptism, 4 February 1841.

13. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 137 recto, Delina Gerrard [sic] baptism, 5 August 1851.

14. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 164 verso, entry no. B95 (1852), Euph[émie] Guérard baptism, 24 October 1852; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 11 March 2008).

15. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 39 recto, entry no. B186 (1846), Francis Gaudette baptism, 1 December 1846; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

16. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 78 recto, Michael Gaudet [sic] baptism, 10 September 1848.

17. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1846-1856, p. 232 verso, entry no. B55 (1858), Mary Julie Gaudette baptism, 10 October 1858; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

18. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 44 recto, entry no. B22 (1861), Andrew Gaudette baptism, 2 February 1861; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 22 June 2010).

19. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 107 verso, entry no. B22 (1863), Toussaint Gaudette baptism, 13 March 1863; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

20. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 141 recto, entry no. B49 (1864), Susanne Gaudet [sic] baptism, 14 June 1864; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

21. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1857-1876, p. 208 verso, entry no. B52 (1867), Mederick Gaudet [sic] baptism, 24 June 1867; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 March 2011).

22. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 78 recto, Michael Gaudet [sic] baptism, 10 September 1848.

23. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 137 recto, Delina Gerrard [sic] baptism, 5 August 1851.

24. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1846-1856, p. 164 verso, Euph[émie] Guérard baptism, 24 October 1852.

25. 1861 census of Canada, [Township of Chichester,] Pontiac, Canada East [Quebec], population schedule, p. 132, line 11, Bte Gerard [sic]; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 8 June 2010); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-1305. The official enumeration date was 14 January 1861.

26. St-Alphonse, parish register, 1876-1886, p. 56 recto, Isabelle Laronde burial, 13 October 1878.

27. François-Xavier married widow Maria Pack on 16 October 1883 in Chapeau. St-Alphonse (Chapeau, Quebec), parish register, 1876-1886, p. 139 recto, entry no. M13 (1883), Gaudette – Pack marriage, 16 October 1883; St-Alphonse parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 1 April 2009).

Copyright (c) 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Mystery Monday: Guérard – Laronde Marriage

The marriage record for my paternal ancestors Jean-Baptiste Guérard (ca 1814-after 10 Oct 1870) and Euphrosine Laronde (ca 1820-before 1861 census) does not seem to exist.

I started looking for this couple’s marriage over twenty years ago. I used published resources like Tanguay’s Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes and microfilmed ones like Loiselle Marriage Index.

Later, I searched a number of online resources when they became available on the Internet, including:

• “Drouin Collection” at Ancestry.ca
• BMS2000 [baptism, marriage, burial] database
• Généalogie du Québec et française d'Amérique 
• Le Centre de généalogie francophone d'Amérique [Gedcom files]
• Mes aieux

I also turned to a firm of Montreal-based professional genealogists for help. Unfortunately, they didn’t succeed in locating a marriage record, but they sent me a report of the types of sources they consulted without success; for example, Fichier Fabien, the Archives nationales du Québec à Montréal, and various Répertoires des mariages.¹

Lake Allumette on the Ottawa River in Ontario (ca 1870)

I might not know exactly when and where Jean-Baptiste and Euphrosine married, but I have it estimated to presumably before December 1840. That’s when their daughter Marie was born, according to her baptism, which took place in February 1841 on Ile des Allumettes.²

Thinking they might have married where their daughter was baptized, I searched the 1841-1851 mission register of St-Paul’s church in Aylmer, Quebec, which is available in the "Drouin Collection" at Ancestry.ca. (St-Paul’s was established in 1841 and started keeping records that year.) I didn’t find a marriage entry for them.

I looked at the register of nearby parish of St-Grégoire-de-Naziance in Buckingham, searching page-by-page from January 1839 through to March 1841. I didn’t find the marriage record.

I extended my search to parishes further afield, like the Pembroke, Ontario missions register for 1839-1842, but was unsuccessful. (Pembroke, which lies across the Ottawa River on the Ontario side, faces Ile des Allumettes.)

I was also not successful when I looked at Ottawa’s Notre-Dame Basilica for January 1835 to July 1841. (I didn’t search earlier than 1835, because Euphrosine, who was born about 1820, probably wouldn’t be younger than 15 years old at her wedding.)

I can think of three reasons why Jean-Baptiste and Euphrosine’s marriage is impossible to find.

#1 – The family lived on Ile des Allumettes in Pontiac County, a sparsely populated and more or less wilderness area in the 1850s. The island didn’t have a resident priest at this time and was served instead by missionary priests. Jean-Baptiste and Euphrosine's marriage record may never have made it into the sacramental register in the travelling priest’s home parish. If it did, it’s in a parish that I haven’t searched or considered.

#2 – Since Euphrosine was born in the Lake Nipissing region of present-day Ontario, she might have married there.³ If she was married by a missionary priest, he might have lost or mislaid the record before he reached his usual parish.

#3 – Euphrosine and Jean-Baptiste might have wed in a Native Indian ceremony with the event going unrecorded.⁴

So, after 20 years of looking, this is where I’m at – the same place as I was at the beginning of my quest.

Could it be that I’ve overlooked a particular parish? Could it be that my Guérard – Laronde ancestors’ marriage record doesn’t exist?

What about you, dear readers? How would you proceed?

Sources:

1. Institut généalogique J.L. & associés inc., “Rapport de recherche en généalogie concernant le couple Guérard-Laronde”, prepared by Micheline Lécuyer, prés., Montreal, Quebec, for Yvonne Demoskoff, 10 September 1991; copy privately held by Yvonne Demoskoff, Hope, British Columbia, 2013.

2. St-Paul (Aylmer, Quebec), parish register, 1841-1851, p. 14 verso, no entry no. (1841), Marie Guéra[r]d baptism, 4 February 1841; St-Paul parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : 11 March 2008). Marie’s date of birth “dans le mois de décembre dernier” (in the month of December last) is stated in her baptism record. The baptism took place in the mission of St-Alphonse de Liguori on Ile des Allumettes, but recorded in St-Paul’s sacramental register.

3. Ste-Anne (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue (aka Ste-Anne-du-Bout-de-l’Isle), Quebec), parish register, 1796-1846, p. 54 verso, no entry no. (1824), Euphroisine [sic] Laronde baptism, 28 July 1824; Ste-Anne parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : 4 March 2011). Euphrosine was 3 years old. Her baptism entry states she was born “au Lac Népiscingue” [Lake Nipissing].

4. Euphrosine’s father Toussaint Laronde appears to be the son of a French-Canadian father and an Aboriginal mother. Her mother Marie Kekijicoköe [Kekijicakoe], described as “une sau[va]gesse” in her daughter’s baptism record, was probably Ojibwa (Chippewa, Algonquin).

Image credit: 

“Lake Allumette on the Ottawa River in Ontario” (ca 1870), by Alfred Worsley Holdstock (1820-1901), W.H. Coverdale Collection of Canadiana, Library and Archives Canada.

Copyright © 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.