Friday’s Faces from the Past: François and Julia Gagnon and Family

Isn’t this a splendid family photograph? It features François and Julia (Vanasse) Gagnon and their young family in the summer of 1902. They lived in Chapeau, Pontiac County, Quebec. My grandmother Julie (Vanasse) Belair was named for her aunt Julia, who was 30 years old in this picture. [1]

The photo came in a letter that my Aunt Joan received from her cousin Gladys in the late 1990s. Joan then gave it to me when I visited her in May 2014. Gladys was the granddaughter of Julia (1872-1956), who married François (1859-1949) in Chapeau in June 1895.

Left to right: Julia holding Victor (b. 1901), Albertine (b. 1897), François holding Richard (b. 1900), and Mae (b. 1895).

Young Albertine (4½ years old in the picture) would later be my father Maurice’s godmother at his baptism in 1927. I’ve written about her and her sister Cora (not yet born when the photo was taken) in Sibling Saturday: Albertine and Cora Gagnon.

Source:

1. Gagnon family photograph, 1902; privately held by Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Hope, British Columbia, 2016. Gladys (Holden) Santry sent the photograph of her maternal grandmother and her family in a letter to her second cousin Joan (Belair) Laneville between 1996 and 2002. (Gladys dated and identified the individuals by name and age on the back of the photo.) Joan then gave the letter and photograph to her niece Yvonne when she visited her aunt’s home in May 2014.

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.

Langlois – Grenier 1634 Marriage Record

Recently, there’s been some interest in the Noël Langlois – Françoise Grenier couple, who married in 1634 in Quebec, in “Ancestry Hook Ups”, a public group in Facebook. I decided to transcribe and translate their marriage record for those individuals who might descend from or who might be interested in Noël and Françoise, one of the most prolific ancestral couples of New France. [1]

Langlois - Grenier marriage record (Ancestry.ca)

Their marriage record (above), in French, in the rather stylish handwriting of the 1600s is a copy. [2] The original was lost when the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Recouvrance’s sacramental registers were destroyed in a fire on 15 June 1640. [3] Shortly after this disaster, the early records were recreated from memory by Jesuit priests. [4]

Langlois - Grenier marriage record (Généalogie Québec.com)

This version of Noël and Françoise’s marriage record is another copy, but I don’t know when it was produced. [5] It is much more legible than the first one and can be read easily, assuming one knows French. Here is my transcription:

Le 25. Juillet 1634 Les bans ordinaires / estant faits, et ne S’estant trouvé / aucun légitime empeschement, / Le P. Charles Lallemant Jesuite faisant / fonction de Curé a Quebec, apres avoir / Interrogé ouy et receu le mutuel / consentement A Solemnellement marié et conioint en le lieu du St Mariage / Noel Langlois et françoise Grenier. / Presens M. Robert Giffart Chirurgien / et M. Noel Juchereau.

My English translation:

The 25. July 1634 The ordinary banns / having been done, and not finding / any legitimate [objection?] / the P. Charles Lallement Jesuit having / the role of [parish priest] at Quebec, after having / Interrogated [yes?] and received the mutual / consent Has Solemnly married / and [united?] in the location of the Holy Marriage / Noel Langlois and françoise Grenier. / Present Mr. Robert Giffart Surgeon / and Mr. Noel Juchereau.

The couple had ten children, four sons and six daughters. [6] I have three lines of descent (paternal and maternal) from Noël and Françoise: two from their elder daughter Marguerite (1639-1697), who married notary Paul Vachon, and one from younger daughter Jeanne (1643-?), who married René Chevalier, a master mason.

Françoise died on 1 November 1665 at Quebec. Noël, who remarried in 1666, died on 14 July 1684 at Beauport. [7]

Sources:

1. Michel Langlois, “Noël Langlois (1606-1684) et ses enfants”, Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française 26 (avril-mai-juin 1975): 83-102, specifically 87; DVD edition (Montreal, QC: SGCF, 2013).

2. Notre-Dame (Quebec, Quebec), parish register, Marriages 1621-1671, p. 101 (stamped), entry no. 1634 [year of marriage], Noel Langlois – françoise Grenier (written as Noel Langlois – françoise Grenier, indexed as Noel Langlois – Francoise Grenier) marriage, 25 July 1634; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 14 April 2016). A transcription of the record created in 1640 can be seen in Michel Langlois, “Noël Langlois (1606-1684) et ses enfants”, Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française 26 (avril-mai-juin 1975): 83-102, specifically 86-87; DVD edition (Montreal, QC: SGCF, 2013).

3. Georges Gauthier Larouche, L’église pionnière de Québec: origines et fondateurs (1615-1664) (Québec: Les éditions de Septentrion, 2014), 70 and 72.

4. Hubert Charbonneau et Raymond Roy, “Généalogie, démographie et registres paroissiaux”, Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française 27 (jan.-fév.-mars 1976): 23-36, specifically 31; DVD edition (Montreal, QC: SGCF, 2013).

5. Notre-Dame (Quebec, Quebec), parish register, Marriages 1621-1671, no page no., entry no. M.3 (1634), Noel Langlois – Francoise Grenier marriage, 25 July 1634; Notre-Dame parish; digital images, “Registres du Fonds Drouin”, Généalogie Québec.com (http://www.genealogiequebec.com : accessed 14 April 2016).

6. René Jetté, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec (Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 1983), 645.

7. Langlois, “Noël Langlois (1606-1684) et ses enfants”, 95 and 102.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Those Places Thursday: Evadale School in Saskatchewan

I’ve long wanted to write an article about my husband’s elementary school days, especially because he had such a different experience than I did. For instance, he went to a one-room rural school on the Prairies, while I went to an urban school in northeastern Ontario. He received a public education, while I was taught by nuns and secular teachers.

Michael attended Evadale School, located about seven miles northwest of Arran, Saskatchewan. He was there for Grades 1 through 5, from September 1959 until June 1964. Later, when his sister was old enough, she too went to Evadale, but only for Grades 1 through 3, because the family moved into the nearby town of Kamsack. Michael took these photos on a trip to his home province in the summer of 1973.

I've gathered his reminiscences in point form.

• My Dad told me that we lived exactly the same distance from three schools, but he chose to send us to Evadale.

• The school was three miles east from our farm. For the first couple of grades, my Dad drove me until I was old enough to walk by myself or with friends.

• My Mom used to tell me the story about my very first day at school (Grade 1) and how I couldn’t wait to get there, but when I arrived, I started to cry and refused to go inside. It took a lot of coaxing and I finally went inside.

• The school was on two acres. There were swings and teeter-totters, a teacher’s residence, and off in the distance, a barn and an outhouse.

• It was one large building: 2/3 of it was one room for the classroom with a wood-burning stove, then the other 1/3 was divided into the entrance (we’d hang our coats and leave our boots here; firewood was also kept here) and a storage room for supplies.

• Just about every year we had a different teacher. There were about 28-32 kids in all per year. Sometimes there’d be only one student in a grade. Our teacher taught one grade at a time.

• I think I started walking to school in Grade 3. I remember meeting up with my friends Dmitro, Doris, and Lawrence on the way.

• I’d leave about 45 minutes before class started. Some days I’d take my time and explore the bushes on the side of the road. One day I was late and was scared to go inside, so I stayed outside and sat by myself. A student going to the outhouse saw me near the school door and he told the teacher. She came out and asked me why I didn’t go inside. After talking to me for a bit, she told me to not worry and just go to my seat and that no one would notice.

• In good weather, my sister and I would walk or take a two-seat horse buggy that we’d park at the school’s large barn. There was room for about a dozen horses.

• I don’t remember which horse it was, maybe Fly or Prince, but after it was trained, it knew the route to take, enter the school grounds and pull up to the barn. I’d unhitch him, take him inside to his stall and then give him some hay.

• In winter, we’d get into an old car that my Dad had removed the roof and dashboard, and added runners. Our horse would pull the car to school. When it was very cold, my sister and I wrapped ourselves in blankets and duck under where the dashboard used to be to keep warm.

• I remember we had sports days before the end of the school year. I usually would enter track-and-field events like broad jump, high jump and 100-yard dash. Sometimes, I’d get ribbons for broad jump.

• I did well at school and almost always got straight As. It was hard to leave all the friends I made there when we moved into town in July 1964.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Tombstone Tuesday: Fred Demosky

Fred was my husband’s paternal uncle; his obituary can be read here.

Michael photographed his uncle’s tombstone during our visit to Grand Forks in June 2015.

Born on 16 September 1909 in the Canadian prairie province of Saskatchewan, Fred died on 14 April 1988 at home in Oliver, British Columbia. He was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery in Grand Forks, British Columbia.

Fred’s gravemarker reads:

In Loving Memory

Fredrick W.

Demosky

1909 – 1988

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Maritime Monday: 227 Doukhobors Arrive in Canada in 1912

SS Californian on the morning after Titanic sank

In the spring of 1912, four separate ships brought more exiled Russian Doukhobors to a new life in Canada.

These journeys might have been unremarkable except for the following events:

• The Ultonia lost one life when a male infant child (Ivan Rybalkin) died at sea. [5]

• The Canada had to quarantine two Doukhobor families (Esaulov and Kolesnikov) on its arrival. [6]

• The Californian “observed distress signals sent up by the nearby sinking Titanic but ignored them”. [7]

Sources:

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository, Californian.jpg

1. Steve Lapshinoff & Jonathan Kalmakoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928 (Crescent Valley: self-published, 2001), 138; citing National Archives of Canada, Microfilm Reel # T-4692. Note: There is some controversy whether or not there were passengers aboard the Californian during this April voyage. For anecdotal evidence that a six-member family travelled on that ship, see “Polly (Harelkin) Verigin: Recalling the Titanic”, Doukhobor Genealogy Website (http://www.doukhobor.org/Harelkin.html : accessed 10 April 2016).

2. Lapshinoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928, 139; citing National Archives of Canada, Microfilm Reel # C-4784.

3. Lapshinoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928, 140-143; citing National Archives of Canada, Microfilm Reel # T-4744.

4. Lapshinoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928, 144-146; citing National Archives of Canada, Microfilm Reel # T-4787.

5. Lapshinoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928, 143.

6. Lapshinoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928, 144-145.

7. Lapshinoff, Doukhobor Ship Passenger Lists 1898-1928, 138.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Sunday’s Obituary: Fred Demosky

Twenty-eight years ago this month, my husband’s uncle Fred Demosky passed away. He was a younger son of Russian immigrants Wasyl and Luchenia (Tomelin) Demosky. Fred was born on 16 September 1909 at his parents’ farm near Buchanan, Saskatchewan.

When he was twenty-nine years old, Fred married Mary Popoff in November 1938 in Arran, Saskatchewan. The couple, who had two daughters, lived in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, before settling in Oliver, British Columbia.

Fred died at home on 14 April 1988 in Oliver. A prayer service was held there two days later, and his interment took place on April 19 in Evergreen Cemetery in Grand Forks, British Columbia.

The handwriting at the bottom of the obituary (on April 19) belongs to Fred’s youngest brother William (Bill).

Source:

“Demosky”, obituary, undated clipping, from unidentified newspaper; Demoskoff Family Papers, privately held by Yvonne (Belair) Demoskoff, British Columbia, 2016. Yvonne received an assortment of family memorabilia (including Fred’s obituary) in January 2012 from her father-in-law William (Bill) Demoskoff.

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Church Record Sunday: Scholastique St-Michel’s 1864 Burial Record

My paternal great-great-great-grandmother Scholastique St-Michel (ancestor no. 33) passed away on a spring day 152 years ago this month.

Scholastique married twice and was widowed twice. By her first husband (and my ancestor) Pierre Janvry dit Belair, whom she married in September 1818, Scholastique was the mother of eleven children. (For a list of their children, see 52 Ancestors 2015: #32 – Pierre Janvry dit Belair, Father of 25 Children.)

After Pierre’s death, Scholastique married widower Joseph Clément in September 1851, but did not have children by him. The marriage was short-lived, because Joseph died between January 1852 and September 1854.

Scholastique lived on in Ste-Cécile-de-Masham (now La Pêche), Quebec, near her married children Paul (my ancestor), Mathilde, and Elisabeth and their families. Her other married children (Esther, Toussaint, and Denis) lived further afield (one in Montreal and two in the province of Ontario), so it’s not likely that she had much contact with them.

Scholastique died on 8 April 1864. She was buried two days later in the Roman Catholic cemetery attached to Ste-Cécile church in Masham. She was a month shy of her 68th birthday and not 69 as reported in her burial record.

Scholastique St-Michel burial record (Ancestry.ca)

The burial record (above) reads in French:

Le dix avril mil huit cent soixante quatre, nous / soussigné prêtre missionnaire de cette paroisse, avons / inhumé le corps de Scolastique St Michel épouse de / défunt Joseph Clément, décédée le huit de ce mois à / l’age de soixante neuf ans. Les témoins étaient Ambroise / Lemerle et de François Monnette. [signé L. Fremont]

My translation:

The 10 April one thousand sixty four, we / undersigned missionary priest of this parish, have / interred the body of Scolastique St Michel wife of / the late Joseph Clément, died the eighth of this month at / the age of sixty nine years. The witnesses were Ambroise / Lemerle and of François Monnette. [signed L. Fremont]

Source:

1. Ste-Cécile (Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Quebec), parish register, 1853-1875, p. 117 verso, entry no. S.4, Scolastique St-Michel (written as Scolastique St-Michel, indexed as Scholastique St Michel) burial, 10 April 1864; Ste-Cécile parish; digital images, “Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967”, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 2 March 2016).

Copyright © 2016, Yvonne Demoskoff.