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.

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

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

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

Wasyl W. Cazakoff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lake Huron

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

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

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

Sources:

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

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

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

4. History Coming Alive, I, 382.

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

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

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

8. History Coming Alive, I, 383.

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

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

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

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

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

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

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

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

View of Sorel (September 1839)

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

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

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

Sources:

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Maritime Monday: S/S Lake Superior and the July 1899 Doukhobors

On 20 July 1899 – 116 years ago today – the Lake Superior arrived at Quebec City. The steamship had left Liverpool, England twelve days earlier and carried 670 passengers that included a small contingent of Doukhobors. [1]

Unlike the first groups of exiled Doukhobors who had immigrated to Canada in the previous months (including my husband’s ancestors), these 12 families from Elizavetpol and Kars provinces in Russia consisted of “Doukhobor military personnel detained in Russia until their terms of military service expired”. [2]

Their surnames were Goncharov, Golubov, Panferkov, Popov, Salykin, Slastukhin, Sukhorukov, Zhuravlev, and Zybin. [3]

Sources:

Image credit: Photo of S/S Lake Superior (built 1884), digital image, Norway – Heritage (http://www.norwayheritage.com : accessed 8 January 2014).

1. Steve Lapshinoff & Jonathan Kalmakoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928 (Crescent Valley: self-published, 2001), 106.

2. Lapshinoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928, 106.

3. Lapshinoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928, 106.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Marthe Quitel’s 1665 Abjuration

A few months ago, I wrote about my maternal ancestor Marthe Quitel (ca 1638-1722) in 52 Ancestors: #40 Marthe Quitel, a Calvinist fille du roi.

At that time, I mentioned how she came to Canada in the summer of 1665 to seek a husband. In preparation for marriage, Marthe renounced her Protestant faith and became Roman Catholic.

Today (17 July) is the 350th anniversary of that renunciation (abjuration in French).

Marthe Quitel’s abjuration record (Généalogie Québec)

The image above shows the abjuration record, copied from the 1665 original. [1] Here are my transcription and translation of that record.

Transcription of Marthe Quitel's abjuration record:

Translation of Marthe Quitel's abjuration record:

Source:

1. “Registres du Fonds Drouin”, digital images, Généalogie Québec (https://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 6 July 2015); “Registre des abjurations d’hérésie depuis 1662 jusqu’a 1757”, p. 9, entry no. 9, Marthe Quitel abjuration, 17 July 1665.

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.

François Desgroseilliers’ 1783 Baptism Record

Today – 15 July – is the 232nd anniversary of the birth of my 4x maternal great-grandfather, François Desgroseilliers.

Louis François Desgroseilliers's baptism record (Ancestry.ca)

He was born on 15 July 1783 and received the names "Louis François" at his baptism that day in Montreal’s Notre-Dame church. [1] The officiating priest, Ch. Ecuier, noted that the infant was born vers midi [about noon] and that his godparents Pierre Migneron and Marie Celeste Caillé, who were present, declared they could not write their names.

François, as he was known as an adult, was the eighth of thirteen children of Joseph Prosper and Charlotte (Lunegand) Desgroseilliers, who married in 1772 in Châteauguay, now a suburb of Montreal.

When I first researched my mother’s ancestors, I found François’ date of birth of 6 March 1782. I didn't make a note of where I got it, but believed it was the correct date. (It never occurred to me to think it might be incorrect.) Years later, I came across a family tree (either on a personal website or in a public tree at Ancestry) that said François was born on 15 July 1783.

I decided to check Joseph Prosper and Charlotte’s family file in an online database. I was surprised to find two sons similarly named: François and Louis François. [2] The François born in 1782 died when he was six months old in August 1782. [3] He was therefore not my ancestor.

I made a beginner genealogist’s mistake: I assumed that the François I had originally found was the only one by this name in his family. I didn’t take the time to compare the information against other documentation, such as his baptism record. I also didn’t look for a death or burial record in case he had died young.

Sources:

1. Notre-Dame (Montreal, Quebec), parish register, 1781-1785, p. 185 recto, no entry no. (1783), Louis François Desgroselliers [sic] baptism 17 July 1783; Notre-Dame parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 11 January 2012).

2. “Dictionnaire”, database, Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) (http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca : accessed 211 January 2012), Joseph Prosper Bouchard Dorval Desgroseilliers – Marie Charlotte Lunegent Beaurosier, Famille no. 48279).

3. Notre-Dame (Montreal, Quebec), parish register, 1781-1785, p. 86 verso, no entry no. (1782), Francois Dégroselier [sic] burial 31 August 1782; Notre-Dame parish; digital image, “Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 11 January 2012). The priest recorded that François was interred in the cimétière des pauvres [in the paupers’ cemetery] in the presence of his parents.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Route from Rouyn, Quebec to Nobel, Ontario 

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

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

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

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

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.