Wedding Wednesday: Hotte – Lacasse

Today marks the 155th wedding anniversary of my maternal great-great-grandparents Louis Hotte and Marguerite Lacasse.

Louis was born on 17 April 1844 in Grenville, a village in Argenteuil seigneurie (later Argenteuil County) on the banks of the Outaouais (Ottawa) River, in present-day Quebec. He was the second child and younger son of Jean-Baptiste and Archange (Sigouin) Hotte.

Marguerite was one of ten children of Pierre and Thérèse (Doyer) Lacasse. She was born on 23 April 1839 in Montebello, a village in the Petite-Nation seigneurie, now in Papineau County, Quebec.

Louis and Marguerite, who were fifth cousins, married on 27 March 1864 in nearby St-André-Avellin, a village in Papineau County, Quebec. [1]

Hotte - Lacasse marriage record (Ancestry)

My transcription of Louis and Marguerite’s marriage record (original lineation indicated by / ):

Le vingt sept mars mil huit cent soixante / quatre, nous curé soussigné après la publica- / tion de trois bans de mariage faite au prône / de nos messes paroissiales entre Louis Hotte cult. domi / cilié à Harwell fils majeur de J. Bte Hotte cult. / et de Archange Sigouin, d’une part; et Marguerite / Lacasse domiciliée au même lieu, fille majeure de / Pierre Lacasse cult. et de Thérèse Doyer d’autre part / ne s’étant découvert aucun empechement à leur / mariage nous avons reçu le mutuel consentement / de mariage des époux et leur avons donné la bénédi- / tion nuptial en présence de Emery Villeneuve et / de Amédé Goyer qui, ainsi que les époux ont déclaré / ne savoir signer. / [signed] C. Guillaume

My English translation (original lineation indicated by / ):

The twenty seven March one thousand eight hundred sixty / four, we undersigned parish priest after the publica- / tion of three banns of marriage done at the sermons / of our parish masses between Louis Hotte [farmer] domi / ciled in Hartwell son of age of J. Bte Hotte [farmer] / and of Archange Sigouin, on the one part; and Marguerite / Lacasse domiciled at the same place, daughter of age of / Pierre Lacasse [farmer] and of Thérèse Doyer on the other part / not having discovered any impediment to their / marriage we have received the mutual consent / of marriage of the spouses and have given them the nuptial benedi- / cation in the presence of Emery Villeneuve and / of Amédé Goyer who, along with the spouses have declared / not knowing how to write [their names]. / [signed] C. Guillaume

Louis and Marguerite resided in Hartwell (now Chénéville), located a little to the north of St-André-Avellin. Hartwell did not have a resident priest at this time, but I don’t know if Father Guillaume travelled to Hartwell to perform the service or if Louis and Marguerite went to his church that March day in 1864.

Source:

1. St-André-Avellin (St-André-Avellin, Quebec), parish register, 1864, p. 95 stamped, entry no. M.6, Louis Hotte – Marguerite Lacasse (written as Louis Hotte – Marguerite Lacasse, indexed as Louis Hotte - Mgtr Lacasse) marriage, 27 March 1864; St-André-Avellin parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 27 March 2008).

Copyright © 2019, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Janvry – St-Michel

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the wedding of my paternal great-great-great-grandparents, Pierre Janvry dit Belair and Scholastique St-Michel.

Pierre was born on 2 March 1772 in Ste-Geneviève (now Pierrefonds), near Montreal. He was the sixth child and youngest son of François Janvry dit Belair, a French-born soldier, by his wife Marie-Elisabeth Martel.

On 12 August 1793, Pierre married Marguerite Campeau. They had 14 children before Marguerite died, age 44, on 10 September 1817.

Within a few months, Pierre sought a wife for himself and a mother for his five surviving children. He fixed his choice on 22-year-old Scholastique St-Michel. Daughter of Joseph St-Michel, a miller, and Elisabeth Marleau (Merlot), Scholastique was born on 4 May 1796 in Vaudreuil, east of Montreal.

On 5 September 1818, Pierre and Scholastique entered into a marriage contract at the office of notary Joseph Payment. Two days later, on 7 September 1818, the couple married in the parish church at Ste-Geneviève. [1]

Janvry – St-Michel marriage record, verso (FamilySearch)

Janvry – St-Michel marriage record, recto (FamilySearch)

My transcription of Pierre and Scholastique’s marriage record (original lineation indicated by / ):

Lan mil huit cent dix huit le sept septembre après la publica- / tion de trois bans de mariage faite au prône de Messe paroissiale par / trois Dimanches consécutifs entre pière Jeanvri veuf de Marguerite / Campau d’une part et de Scholastique St Michel majeure fille de / Joseph St Michel et d’Elisabeth Merlot ses père et mère d’ / autre part, tous habitants de cette Paroisse, ne s’étant trouvé / aucun empêchement entre les dites parties, je soussigné curé / Missionnaire ai reçu leur mutuel consentement par paroles et / leur ai donné la bénédiction Nuptiale avec les cérémonies / prescrites par la Ste Eglise notre mère, en présence et du / consentement de François Lalonde qui sert de père au garcon [,] de / Lois cardinal témoin, de Joseph St Michel père de la fille, de François / Lebrun témoin et de plusieurs autres parens et amis qui tous ont déclaré / ne savoir signer de [ce?] enquis lecture faite suivant L’ordonnance. [signed] Dumouchel ptre

My English translation (original lineation indicated by / ):

Year one thousand eight hundred and eighteen the seventh september after the publica- / tion of three banns of marriage read at the sermons of our parish Mass on / three consecutive Sundays between pière Jeanvri widower of Marguerite / Campau on the one part and of Scholastique St Michel of age daughter of / Joseph St Michel and of Elisabeth Merlot her father and mother / on the other part, all residents of this Parish, not having found / any impediment between the said parties, I undersigned parish priest / Missionary have received their mutual consent by spoken words and / have given the Nuptial blessing with the prescribed ceremonies / by the Holy Church our mother, in the presence and of / the consent of François Lalonde acting as father to the boy [,] and / Lois cardinal witness, of Joseph St Michel father of the girl, of François / Lebrun witness and of several other relatives and friends all of whom have declared / not knowing how to sign [their names] and as inquired reading done according to the law. [signed] Dumouchel [priest]

A couple of things stood out in the text. One, Pierre and Scholastique are referred to as garçon [boy] and fille [girl], even though he was 46 years old and she was 22. Two, Pierre's brothers-in-law were present: François Lalonde served as proxy father to Pierre (François père died the previous year) and François Lebrun was a witness.

Pierre and Scholastique were married for thirty years. He died in 1848, while Scholastique remarried in 1851, and died in 1864.

Source:

1. Sainte-Geneviève (Sainte-Geneviève [Pierrefonds], Quebec), parish register, 1812-1838, p. 127 verso, no entry no. (1818), Pierre Janvry – Scholastique St Michel marriage, 7 September 1818; Sainte-Geneviève parish; digital images, “Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 4 September 2018).

Copyright © 2018, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Deschatelets – Colle

Nearly 240 years ago – on 4 April 1780 – my maternal 5x great-grandparents François and Marie Louise (Colle) Deschatelets married. [1]

François, born in 1755, was the second, but eldest surviving son of Joseph Marie Pineault dit Deschatelets and Marie-Gabrielle Sullière. For her part, Marie Louise, born in 1758, was a younger daughter of Jean-Baptiste Colle and Marie Josephe Paule Martel. Jean-Baptiste, originally Valentin Cole from Boston, converted to the Roman Catholic faith a few months before his marriage to Marie Louise’s mother in 1753.

François and Marie Louise were the parents of six children (two sons and four daughters) before Marie Louise died aged 30 in December 1788. Four years later, widower François married Marie Angélique Duquet, by whom he had eleven children. He died in 1833.

Deschatelets – Colle marriage record, Ancestry

Transcription of François and Marie Louise’s marriage record:

Le quatre avril mil sept cent quatre vingt par nous ptre / apres la publication de trois bans de mariage faite au prone / des grandes messes parroissial entre francois dechatelest et / fils de Joseph Pinault dt dechatelest et de marie Gabrielle / Sullière de cette parroise d’une part et de marie Louise / colle fille de Jean Baptiste colle et de marie Josette paul / martelle aussy de cette paroisse d’autre part, sans [qu’il / ce soit?] trouvé aucun enpèchement canoniques [au Séville?] au / dt mariage et Leur avon donné La Benediction nuptial / avec les ceremony prescripte par notre mere La Ste Eglise / catholique apostolique et Romaine en presence de / Joseph dechatelest frere de l’epoux de noel lavoix son / oncle et de Jean LeBoeuf et du cotté de l’epouse de Jean / Baptiste colle son pere de Joseph Locas et plusieurs autres / parant et amis qui ont declaré ne savoir [signer?] [des … ?] / qui suivant Lordce 
[signed] Petrimoulx ptre

My translation of the text:

The fourth april one thousand seven hundred eighty by us [priest] after the publication of three banns of marriage at the sermons of the parish high masses between francois dechatelest and / son of Joseph Pinault [aka] dechatelest et of marie Gabrielle Sullière of this parish on the one part and of marie Louise / colle daughter of Jean Baptiste colle and of marie Josette paul / martelle also of this parish on the other part, without [having?] found any canonical impediments [as well as civil ones?] to the [said] marriage and [we] have given The nuptial Benediction / with the prescribed ceremonies of our mother The Holy catholic and apostolic Roman Church in the presence of / Joseph dechatelest brother of the groom de noel lavoix his / uncle and of Jean LeBoeuf and on the side of the bride of Jean / Baptiste colle her father of Joseph Locas and of several other / relatives and friends who declared could not sign [their names] [des … ?] / following the [ordinance] 
[signed] Petrimoulx [priest]

Source:

1. St-Pierre-du-Portage (L’Assomption, Quebec), parish register, 1777-1782, p. 78 verso, no entry no. (1780), Francois Dechatelest – Marie Louise Colle [sic] marriage, 4 April 1780; St-Pierre-du-Portage parish; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 11 February 2011).

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.

Wedding Wednesday: Desgroseilliers – Nunegand

244 years ago today – on 17 February 1772 – my maternal 4x great-grandparents married. [1]

Joseph Prosper Dorval, later Desgroseiliers (var. Desgroseilliers) and Charlotte Lunegand (var. Nunegand, Beaurosier) were united in matrimony in St-Joachim Roman Catholic church in Châteauguay, southwest of Montreal. He was almost 29 years old and she 17½.

Father Joseph Huguet, a French-born Jesuit, celebrated the nuptial mass. He also served the spiritual needs of the local Iroquois and has the distinction of being “the last of New France’s Jesuit missionaries”. [2]

Joseph and Charlotte had thirteen children born between 1773 and 1795: six sons, six daughters, and one child of unrecorded gender. The family made its home first in Châteauguay, and then in Montreal and later in St-Martin (Laval), before finally returning to Châteauguay.

Joseph died between 1795 and 1800, while Charlotte survived until May 1835.

Desgroseilliers – Nunegand marriage record (p. 36),Généalogie Québec

Desgroseilliers – Nunegand marriage record (p. 37), Généalogie Québec

Transcription of Joseph and Charlotte’s marriage record:

L’an mil sept soixante et douze le seize [dix sept] février, après / la publication de trois bans de Mariage entre Joseph / Prosper Desgroseliers, fils de feu Jean baptiste Desgroseliers / dit Chochouart, et de feu Marie Josephe Lachevretiere, / de la paroisse de Deschampbau, depuis onze ans habitué / à Chateaugai, d’une part; et Charlotte Nunegand, fille / de feu Francois Nunegand, dit Beaurosier et de Louise / Huimete, de la pointe à la Chevelure, habituée depuis / deux ans à Chateaugai, d’autre part, ne s’etant trouvé / 

opposition, je soussigné desservant la dite Paroisse / ai reçu leur mutual consentement et leur ai donné la / Benediction nuptial en presence de Marie Louise / Desgroseliers, soeur de l’Epoux, de Jacques Doret, / de François [Metate?], Jean baptiste Doret fils, de Jean / Besse, beaupere de l’Epouse, de Claude Roland, Charlot / la Roche et de plusieurs autres parens et amis.

[signed] Jos. Huguet Jesuite
Louise [deisgrosilé?]
marie magdeleine doray

My translation of the text:

The year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-two the sixteen [seventeen] February, after / the publication of three banns of Marriage between Joseph / Prosper Desgroseliers, son of the late Jean baptiste Desgroseliers / dit Chochouart, and of the late Marie Joseph Lachevretiere / of the parish of Deschampbau [Deschambault], residing since eleven years / at Chateaugai [Châteauguay], on the one part; and Charlotte Nunegand, daughter / of the late Francois Nunegand, dit Beaurosier and of Louise / Huimete, of the pointe à la Chevelure [aka Fort St-Frederic now Crown Point, NY], residing since / two years at Chateaugai [Châteauguay], on the other part, not having found / 

opposition, I undersigned serving the said Parish / have received their mutual consent and have given them the / nuptial Blessing in the presence of Marie Louise / Desgroseliers, sister of the Groom, of Jacques Doret, / of François [Metate?], Jean baptiste Doret son, of Jean / Besse, stepfather of the Bride, of Claude Roland, Charlot / la Roche and of several other relatives and friends.

[signed] Jos. Huguet Jesuit
Louise [deisgrosilé?]
marie magdeleine doray

Sources:

1. St-Joachim (Châteauguay, Quebec), parish register, 1768-1775, pp. 36-37, no entry no. (1772), Joseph Prosper Desgroseliers – Charlotte Nunegand [sic] marriage, 17 February 1772; St-Joachim parish; digital images, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 30 June 2015).

2. Joseph Cossette, “Huguet, Joseph”, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 4, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003– (http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/huguet_joseph_4E.html : accessed 16 February 2016).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Desgroseilliers – Lemieux

François Desgroseilliers - Elisabeth Lemieux marriage record (FamilySearch)

On 28 January 1828, a young couple presented themselves at the Roman Catholic church in La Prairie, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Montreal. It was a wintry Monday when François, 23 years old, and Elisabeth, 17 years old, stood in her parish of La Nativité de la Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie to be wed. [1]

Father J.B. Boucher officiated at the ceremony. Present in the congregation were François' father and his younger brothers Joseph and Michel, as well as Elisabeth’s older brothers Jean Baptiste, Pierre, and François. (Their father Jean Baptiste had died almost two years earlier in May 1826.)

After their wedding, François and Elisabeth went to live in his home parish of Ste-Martine, in nearby Châteauguay county. Most of their eleven children (six sons and five daughters) were born here, including younger son Pierre, who is my 2x maternal great-grandfather.

François died in August 1853. Elisabeth survived him by thirty-eight years, and died in July 1891 in Embrun, Russell County, Ontario.

Their marriage record (above) reads in French:

L’an mil huit-cent vingt-huit le vingt-huit Janvier / après trois publications de promesse de mariage faites par / trois Dimanches consécutifs aux prônes des messes paroissiales / tant de cette Paroisse que de celle de Ste Martine ainsi qu’il m’est apparu par le certificat de [Messire] Mereuve même / curé en la ditte Paroisse entre Francois Desgroseilliers / laboureur, de la Paroisse de Ste Martine fils majeur de Fran- / cois Desgroseilliers et de Louise Roi ses pere et mere de la / ditte Paroisse de Ste Martine d’une part, et Elizabeth Lemieux / de cette Paroisse fille mineure de feu Jean Baptiste Lemieux / et de Marie Anne Séguin ses pere et mere de cette Paroisse / d’une autre part, ne s’étant découvert aucun empêchement, ni / formée aucune opposition au dit Mariage, Nous Prêtre soussigné / curé en cette Paroisse, leur avons, du consentement des parens / requis par le droit donné la benediction nuptial après / avoir reçu leur consentement mutual par paroles de presents, / et ce en présence de Francois Desgroseilliers pere de l’Epoux / Joseph Desgroseilliers et Michel Desgroseilliers ses freres et Jean / Baptiste Lemieux, Pierre Lemieux et Francois Lemieux freres / de l’épouse, et Pascal Lussier qui ainsi que les epoux ont déclaré / ne savoir signer de ce enquis lecture faite

In English:

The year 1828 the 28 January / after three publications of promise of marriage made by / three consecutive Sundays at [the] sermons of the parish masses / as much in this Parish as in the one of Ste Martine as well as it has appeared to me by the certificate of [Messire] Mereuve same / curate in the said Parish between Francois Desgroseilliers laborer, of the Parish of Ste Martine son of age of Fran- / cois Desgroseilliers and Louise Roi his father and mother of the / said Parish of Ste Martine on the one part, and Elizabeth Lemieux / of this Parish minor daughter of the late Jean Baptiste Lemieux / and of Marie Anne Séguin her father and mother of this Parish / of the other part, not discovering any impediment, nor / formed any opposition to said Marriage, We Priest undersigned / curate in this Parish, having given, of the consent of the parents / required by law given the nuptial blessing after / having received their spoken mutual consent of those present / and this in presence of Francois Desgroseilliers father of the Groom / Joseph Desgroseilliers and Michel Desgroseilliers his brothers and Jean / Baptiste Lemieux, Pierre Lemieux and Francois Lemieux brothers / of the bride, and Pascal Lussier who as well as the [bride and groom] have declared not knowing how to sign [their names] [have inquired] [reading done]

Source:

1. "Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979", digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-28006-26428-80?cc=1321742 : accessed 21 January 2016), La Prairie > Nativité-de-la-Prairie-de-la-Magdeleine > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1821-1835 > image 300 of 734; nos paroisses de Église Catholique, Quebec (Catholic Church parishes, Quebec).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Gauthier – Meunier

Sixty-seven years ago today, Cécile Meunier, my Dad’s cousin, married Ovila Gauthier on 14 October 1948 in Ste-Cécile-de-Masham (now La Pêche), Gatineau County, Quebec. Father Louis-Léon Binet, Ste-Cécile’s prêtre-curé, officiated at the ceremony.

Cécile was the daughter of my grandfather Fred’s half-sister Priscille Belair by her husband Aldoria Meunier. Born on 1 July 1924 in Masham, Cécile was the eldest of thirteen children. I’ve written about her mother Priscille in Church Record Sunday: Sisters Priscille and Domitille Belair.

I first saw this lovely black-and-white photograph when I visited my Aunt Joan last year. It looks like Cécile sent it to Joan’s parents, Fred and Julie (Vanasse) Belair, her uncle and aunt. Left to right are Aldoria, Cécile, Ovila, and Edmond, his father.

There are two handwritings on the back of the photo. The first one belongs to Cécile, who wrote: “Cela c’est mon père / et le père de mon / marie et moi et / mon marie”. (This one is my father / and the father of my / husband and me and / my husband.)

The second handwriting is Joan’s, who wrote: “Oncle AIdoria Meunier 1948 / Cecile Meunier’s Wedding / Ovila Gauthier son papa / Edmond Gauthier”. (Uncle Aldoria Meunier 1948 / Cecile Meunier’s Wedding / Ovila Gauthier his father / Edmond Gauthier.)

I don’t believe I ever met Cécile and her husband. She died in February 2009, while Ovila, who predeceased her, died in April 1985.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Belair – Murphy

On a summer’s day sixty-three years ago, my uncle Ray married Emily Murphy. Their marriage took place on 8 August 1952 at the Anglican church in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

Ray was the younger son of my grandparents Fred and Julie (Vanasse) Belair, while Emily was a daughter of William and Emily (Grisenthwaite) Murphy. Emily was born and raised in B.C., but Ray was originally from Ontario, although born in Montreal. My uncle came west in the early 1950s and settled near the village (now town) of Hope, about two hours east of Vancouver.

I don’t have a picture of Ray and Emily’s wedding, but the above photo is part of a series of the earliest photos of them as a couple in my parents’ old albums. Ray and Emily are on the right and pose with his parents. The picture was taken in December 1957 when they visited his parents Fred and Julie at their home in Timmins, Ontario.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Liard – Janvry (Belair)

This Friday (July 17) marks the 110th anniversary of Délia Janvry dit Belair’s first marriage. She was my paternal grandfather Fred Belair’s elder sister.Born in April 1885, Délia married Charles Liard on 17 July 1905 in Ste-Cécile, the R.C. parish church in Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Quebec. [1]

Liard – Belair marriage record (Généalogie Québec.com)

The marriage record, seen above, is in French. The officiating priest, J. Eug[ène]. L. Limoges, vicar of Ste-Cécile, recorded that two banns of marriage were announced (published) during Sunday Masses and that a dispensation was granted for the third bann. Charles is described as the fils majeur (son of age) of his parents Xavier and Félanise [Phelonise] (Moreau) Liard, residents of Ste-Cécile parish. For her part, Délia is described as the fille mineure (minor daughter) of her parents Pierre Janvrie [Janvry dit Belair] and the late Angélina Meunier, also of this parish. There were no impediments to the marriage. The young couple received the nuptial blessing in the presence of Charles’ father Xavier and of Pierre Janvrie, as well as plusieurs autres parents et amis (many other family and friends). Three people signed the sacramental register: Délia, a woman named Claire Gauvreau (possibly her friend, who married the following month), and Pierre Janvrie. This Pierre is not likely Délia’s father, but instead her eldest brother, also named Pierre, who was literate. [2] I’ve never seen my great-grandfather Pierre’s signature, because he didn’t sign or was unable to sign his name in his family’s baptism, marriage, and burial records.

After Charles’s death in 1918, Délia married widower Isaïe Brazeau in March 1919 in Ste-Cécile parish. Isaïe, who was twice mayor of Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, died in 1954. Délia died on 30 December 1972 in Hull, Quebec.

Sources:

1. Ste-Cécile (Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Quebec), parish register, 1899-1908, folio 131 (recto)/p. 262 (stamped), entry no. M.15 (1905), Charles Liard – Délia Janvrie [sic] marriage, 17 July 1905; Ste-Cécile parish; digital image, “Le LAFRANCE”, Généalogie Québec (https://www.genealogiequebec.com/ : accessed 9 July 2015).

2. Ste-Cécile (Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Quebec), parish register, 1899-1908, folio 165 (recto)/p. 330 (stamped), entry no. M.8 (1907), Pierre Belair – Elisa Barnabée [sic] marriage, 9 July 1907; Ste-Cécile parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection, 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 27 April 2010). Délia’s father Pierre was present at her brother Pierre’s wedding. The priest noted that only the bridal couple could (and did) sign their names in the sacramental register.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Laronde – Kekijicakoe

One of the more interesting weddings among my ancestors is that of Toussaint Laronde, a voyageur, and his Native American (possibly Algonquin) wife Marie Kekijicakoe, from whom I descend patrilineally. [1]

Toussaint and Marie seem to have been a couple from about 1812 or 1813 when their first child (daughter Angélique) was born. There were thirteen more children born to them until about 1839. [2] I’ve written about two of those children in Sibling Saturday: Euphrosine and Elisabeth Laronde.

In 1837, Toussaint and Marie married in a Roman Catholic ceremony officiated by Father Pascal Brunet, a missionary priest from Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, now Montebello, Papineau County, Quebec. [3] Toussaint and Marie were granted a dispensation to marry because of their relationship of second degree of consanguinity (they were first cousins). [4]

I searched digitized images of the parish registers of Petite Nation and Buckingham (both in the province of Quebec) and Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ottawa, Ontario for 1836-1837, where some of Father Brunet’s sacramental records are conserved, but didn’t find an entry showing this Laronde marriage. [5]

Before they married, Toussaint baptised (specifically, “ondoyé”) Marie. [6] A spiritual affinity or relationship thus formed between the one who baptised (Toussaint) and the one who was baptised (Marie). [7] Father Brunet was not aware of this baptism and the resulting affinity, an impediment to the marriage.

It wasn’t until a year later that another missionary, Father Louis-Charles Lefebvre de Bellefeuille, a Sulpician priest from Montreal, discovered the impediment. [8] He accordingly granted two dispensations (spiritual affinity and consanguinity) and rehabilitated or ‘ratified’ Toussaint and Marie’s 1837 marriage, making their union canonically valid. [9] The rehabilitation took place on 28 August 1838 at Poste des Allumettes on Ile des Allumettes in Pontiac County, Quebec. [10]

Note that no mention is made in Toussaint and Marie’s 1838 marriage record that they were previously wed in a Native American ceremony or that they received an annulment for such a ceremony. [11]

Finally, here are images from the FHL microfilm showing the marriage rehabilitation record, followed by my English translation of the French text. I originally prepared the translation (Appendix C, further below) on 20 March 2011 when I put together my Laronde research in a 23-page document (“The Family of Toussaint Laronde and Marie Kekijicakoe”); it appears on my blog for the first time.

Marriage rehabilitation record of Toussaint and Marie Laronde (page 77 verso and page 78 recto)

Marriage rehabilitation record of Toussaint and Marie Laronde (page 78 verso)

English translation of the marriage rehabilitation record

Sources:

1. Marie’s surname is “Kekijicakoe” in her son François’ baptismal entry. (Her name appears to be spelled Kekiji[cakoe], although it is somewhat difficult to decipher.) To date, this is the only record I have found in which Marie’s Aboriginal surname is explicitly 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. (1838), Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838; Family History Library (FHL) microfilm 1703968. Toussaint and Marie had fourteen children, according to their marriage rehabilitation record. By 1838, thirteen survived and they were all legitimated by Father de Bellefeuille when their parents married that year in August. (The deceased child is not identified in the record.) The children and their ages appear in the record in the following order: Denis (23), Angélique (25), Marie (22), Toussaint (19), Euphrosine (17), Anne (15), François (13½), Elizabeth (11), Charles (9½), Eustache (8), Louis (7), Paul (3) and Susanne (4 months). According to some online family trees, Toussaint and Marie were the parents of an elder son named Alexander. The marriage rehabilitation record does not mention Alexander, suggesting that he is not Toussaint and Marie’s son.

3. The marriage rehabilitation record of 1838 states that Father Brunet married the couple “l’année dernière” [last year]. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838.

4. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838.

5. Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours (Montebello, Quebec), parish register, 1815-1900, pages 118-130 (1837); Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 28 February 2011). Also, St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze (Buckingham, Quebec), parish register, 1836-1860, pages 1-22 (1836-1837); St-Grégoire-de-Nazianze parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 20 March 2011). Also, Notre Dame (Ottawa, Ontario), parish register, 1829[-1948], unpaginated, entries no. 19–24 (1836); Notre-Dame parish; digital image, “Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1747-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 12 March 2011).

6. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838.

7. “The Catholic Encyclopedia”, New Advent (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ : accessed 18 June 2015), “B: Baptism: Minister of the sacrament: Extraordinary minister”. See also Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, “ASK FATHER: Can a godparent marry a godchild? Confirmation sponsor a confirmand?”, Fr. Z's Blog, 28 October 2014 (http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/10/ask-father-can-a-godparent-marry-a-godchild-confirmation-sponsor-a-confirmand/ : accessed 18 June 2015).

8. Father de Bellefeuille led three missions from 1836 to 1838 to minister to the Christians and Native Americans who lived at Poste des Allumettes and the nearby region of Lake Timiskaming. It was during his last mission in August 1838 that he rehabilitated Toussaint and Marie’s marriage, before his death that October in Montreal. Dictionary of Canadian Biography/Dictionnaire biographique du Canada (http://www.biographi.ca/en/index.php : accessed 18 June 2015), “Louis-Charles Lefebvre de Bellefeuille”.

9. A rehabilitated marriage is a non-canonically valid marriage that receives official church recognition. “The Catholic Encyclopedia”, New Advent (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ : accessed 18 June 2015), “V: Validation of Marriage”.

10. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838. Poste des Allumettes, also known as Fort William, was a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post situated on the Ottawa River near Sheenboro in Pontiac County, Quebec.

11. “Registres paroissiaux”, p. 77 verso, Laronde – Laronde marriage rehabilitation, 28 August 1838.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Saucier – Potvin

My Dad’s first cousin Lucille (Lou) Potvin married Joseph (Joe) Saucier on 22 June 1946, sixty-nine years ago next week. Father Fernand Faucher, a Dominican priest, officiated at the ceremony in St-Jean-Baptiste church on Empress Avenue in Ottawa, Ontario.

In the photo, Clem and Celia (Vanasse) Potvin stand next to their daughter, while Madame Victor Saucier is beside her son. Joe, who served in WWII, is wearing his army uniform.

I don’t think that my Dad and his family (his parents and his three siblings) travelled from their home in northern Ontario to attend his cousin’s wedding. (None of them appear in other photos I have seen of the wedding.)

Lou sent this photo to her cousin, my Aunt Joan (Dad’s sister). When I visited my Aunt last year, she gave me the picture; it was the first time I saw it. On the back of the photo, Lou wrote (in English and in French) in her distinctive handwriting:

Mum, Dad, Myself

& Joe & his Mum

Juin [June] 46

I don’t know the story of how Lou and Joe met, but maybe they got to know each other during the War. The Potvin family lived in Ottawa, but Joe and his family were from Cornwall, a little over an hour south of Ottawa.

My family and I visited Lou and Joe a few times where they lived in Ottawa. (Later, I visited them on my own when I was a student at the University of Ottawa.) I remember just a little bit about my first visit to their home in the summer of 1969, when their sons Ron and Dennis took me and my sister Marianne to the annual Ottawa Exhibition at Lansdowne Park.

Joe passed away in 1993 and Lou passed away in 2006. They were such nice people and I have fond memories of them.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Belair – Desgroseilliers

Tomorrow, December 18th, would have been my parents Maurice and Jacqueline’s 60th wedding anniversary. (Dad passed away in 1996.)

Mom and Dad married on 18 December 1954 in Sarnia, Lambton County, Ontario. Their attendants were their friends William (Bill) and Helen Chaban.

It was a mid-afternoon civil ceremony, with only Bill and Helen present. Mom bought herself a two-piece grey suit at Saks of Sarnia, and Dad wore a dark suit. Afterwards, photographs were taken, and then the newlyweds and the Chabans went out for dinner.

The next day, Mom and Dad left for northern Ontario to tell the news to their families. They first stopped in Kirkland Lake to see Mom’s sister Madeleine and their father Eugène. Later, they drove to Timmins (about 1½ hours west) to tell Dad’s parents.

The news was unexpected, since no one knew about their plans. Mom once told me that since she and Dad didn’t have much money (she was a waitress and Dad was a pipefitter) and didn’t want to burden their families, they chose to have a quiet wedding. It didn’t take long for everyone to get over their surprise, though, because Dad’s family knew Mom (they had dated for about three years), and Mom’s father liked Dad and got along well with him.

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Bozzer – Desgroseilliers

Jeanne d'arc and Leno

Mom’s youngest sister Jeanne d’arc Desgroseilliers married 47 years ago on 24 June 1967 in Timmins, Ontario. Her husband, Leno Bozzer, was a widower with two young children, Wayne and Suzanne, who became my step-cousins.

The ceremony took place at Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, our parish church that was a block away from our home and Aunt Joan’s home. (She lived in a basement apartment on the next street over from us.) Father Roland Yves (Cassien) Gauthier, o.f.m. cap., celebrated.

I was almost nine years old and it was the first wedding I attended.

Mom and Joan’s friend Donna (whose last name I don’t recall) were my aunt’s bridal attendants. They wore beautiful, long light pink dresses with sheer covers.

Before the wedding, Aunt Jeanne d'arc, Mom and I went to the home of the seamstress who was making Joan’s wedding gown. I don’t think we were there too long; Joan was probably checking up on how her dress was coming along.

L to R: Madeleine, Normande, Jeanne d'arc, Jacqueline and Simone

I don’t remember who came in from out of town, but from what Mom told me, and from photo evidence, her sisters Madeleine, Simone and Normande, including some of their children, were there. Mom also reminded me that her aunt Flavie, her father’s only surviving sister, stayed at our house that weekend. I guess my younger sister Marianne and I must have bunked together in one room (we each had our own bedroom and twin bed), but I don’t have any memories of that.

I don’t know who brought the confetti, but I made sure I got a hold of some. I had lots of fun covering my aunt and new uncle with those multi-coloured paper dots as they came out of the church.

Jeanne d'arc and Leno showered in confetti

The last memory I have of my aunt’s wedding is of the reception. It was held at the Empire Hotel (now an apartment complex) at the corner of Algonquin Boulevard and Spruce Street South, probably the best hotel in town at the time. The dinner and dance were in the large reception room on the ground floor facing the front street. During the meal, I heard cutlery clicking on the drinking glasses. I couldn’t figure out why that kept happening, but every time it did, my aunt and uncle kissed and the guests applauded. After the meal, Marianne and I and some of our cousins played in the elevator. We made it go up and down the 3 or 4 floors of the building. (It must have been the first time I’d been in an elevator.) No one seemed to mind or at least my partners-in-crime and I didn’t take any notice.

Sadly, Uncle Leno passed away in February 1985. Aunt Joan survived him and still lives in Timmins.

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Four Sisters at a June Wedding

Sixty-five years ago today, my grandmother Julie (Vanasse) Belair, seen here on the far left, attended the wedding of her niece Marvel Milks to Charles Cosenzo on 4 June 1949 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. With Julie are her sisters (left to right) Agnes (Mrs. Fred Burchill), Cecilia (Mrs. Clem Potvin) and Cora (Mrs. Frank Milks).

I didn't know this photo existed until I saw it for the first time at my Aunt Darlene's home when I visited her last month during my trip to Ontario. She gave it to me, along with other family memorabilia, for which I'm truly grateful, because I love seeing any and all photos of my beloved Mémère Julie.

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Beauvais – Hotte

Joseph and Olivine Beauvais, about 1897

This rather grainy picture is actually a recently scanned image of an approximately 25-year-old photocopy of a photograph.¹

It shows my maternal great-grandparents Joseph Beauvais (1877-1937) and Olivine Hotte (1877-1926). I think it was taken on their wedding day, because they look so young compared to other photos I have of them as adults.

Joseph and Olivine married on 16 August 1897 in St-Félix-de-Valois R.C. church in the rural community of Hartwell (now Chénéville), Papineau County, Quebec, Canada.² The newlyweds were distantly related: they were sixth cousins through their 5x great-grandparents Guillaume Labelle (d. 1710) and his wife Anne Charbonneau (d. 1729).

Beauvais - Hotte marriage record (partial image) [3]

Joseph was the second child and eldest son of Pierre and Arline (Deschatelets) Beauvais of Chénéville and nearby Ripon. Olivine was the seventh child and younger daughter of Louis and Marguerite (Lacasse) Hotte of St-André-Avellin (just south of Ripon) and Chénéville.

My great-grandparents had a large family of twelve sons and four daughters (including my grandmother Juliette), all of whom reached adulthood.

Joseph and Olivine’s marriage lasted until her death in June 1926, two months short of their 29th wedding anniversary.⁴

Sources:

1. Joseph and Olivine (Hotte) Beauvais photograph, ca 1897; digital image ca 1988, privately held by Madeleine (Desgroseilliers) Legault, London, Ontario, 2013. Madeleine allowed her niece Yvonne to photocopy the photograph during one of her visits to her aunt. (Madeleine and Jacqueline (Yvonne’s mother) are maternal granddaughters of Joseph and Olivine.)

2. St-Félix-de-Valois (Chénéville, Quebec), parish register, 1887-1899, p. 240 recto, entry no. M.11, Joseph Beauvais – Olivine Hott [sic] marriage, 16 August 1897; St-Félix-de-Valois parish; digital image, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 13 August 2013).

3. St-Félix-de-Valois, parish register, 1887-1899, p. 240 recto, Joseph Beauvais – Olivine Hott [sic] marriage, 16 August 1897.

4. “Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1936 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947”, digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 December 2008); entry for Olivine Hotte, 4 June 1926.

Copyright © 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Demoskoff – Cazakoff

Bill and Ann Demoskoff Wedding, 1952

Bill and Ann (Cazakoff) Demoskoff, my husband’s parents, married on 1 June 1952 at her father George’s property in the Lily Vale School District, a few miles northwest of Kamsack, Saskatchewan.

The couple had known each other for a few months. They met through Ann’s brother John who told Bill, “I have a sister you may want to meet”. Bill agreed to meet Ann at a restaurant in Kamsack. They got along right away and found they were compatible. Soon, Bill began to drop in on Ann at her parents’ home. After a brief courtship, they decided to marry.

Bill, nearly 38 years old, and Ann, 26, were Doukhobors. They chose to marry in the simple and traditional ceremony of their faith. (Doukhobor marriages were recognized by the province of Saskatchewan since 1909.)

After receiving her father’s blessing, the newlyweds and their guests travelled a short distance (about 20 miles) to where the second part of the festivities took place. Here, Bill’s mother Luchenia and his married sister Mable, who were waiting for them with other guests, had prepared a meal – borscht, vegetables, and roasted meat.

Bill and Ann were blessed with two children, son Michael and daughter Margaret. (Maggie would later wear her mother’s off-white satin dress at her own wedding 28 years later.)

Ann passed away in 1980, but Bill is still with us. He will be 99 years old tomorrow. Michael and Margaret are giving him a small, family luncheon this Sunday.

Copyright © 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Wedding Wednesday: Desgroseilliers – Léveillé

One hundred and fourteen years ago today, my maternal great-grandparents Albert Desgroseilliers and Clémentine Léveillé married on 24 April 1899 in St-Viateur Roman Catholic church in Limoges, Russell County, Ontario.



Albert and Clémentine Desgroseilliers, mid-1950s

The above photograph shows them at home at 286 Nipissing Street in Sturgeon Falls in the 1950s.

Albert and Clémentine had fourteen children, 11 sons and three daughters. Their youngest child, Joseph, was only two years old when their eldest child Eugène (my grandfather) married in August 1925.

My great-grandparents were married for 58 years. Their union is the third longest marriage in the first seven generations of my maternal and paternal ancestry.

Albert died aged 78 on 16 December 1957 in Ottawa. (I’ve written here about my theory as to why he died in Ottawa instead of in Sturgeon Falls, his usual place of residence.) Clémentine survived him nearly 12 years; she died on 18 October 1969, one month short of her 91st birthday.

Copyright © 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.