Abraham Sorrell(4)—What the 1850 US Census for Ferrisburgh Doesn’t Tell

vermont 2016

Abraham Sorrell, who lost his life from injuries sustained in the Civil War’s Wilderness Battle in May 1864, had married three times. His Civil War pension file offers an incredible portrait of people living in Ferrisburgh in 1850 and beyond.

After having read the testimony left by his first wife, Eliza Sears, and by his second wife, Eliza Carpenter, by his sister-in-law, Catherine Palmer, Eliza Carpenter’s sister, let’s now read my favorite one, the testimony of Abraham’s cousin, Oliver Sorrell. This affidavit is so full of details. As I mentioned before, I am fascinated by this story. I feel like a census page is coming to life!

I will publish a short biography of each person concerned in the last post of this series. Enjoy!

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From the Archives: A Snapshot of Montréal’s Common Gaol in 1820

Prison commune de Montréal, Place Vauquelin, 19e siècle — Archives de Montréal, VM6,R3067-2_155E-1939-005

Life is full of surprises.

As I was doing research for the Bangle Files at the Archives nationales du Québec on Viger Street in Montréal, I unearthed a document among the criminal files shedding light on the appalling living conditions at Montréal’s Common Gaol, actually the same building where John Bangle and his wife, Marie-Louise Quevillon, were detained in September, October, November 1820 and beyond.

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The Bangle Files: #25 | A First Land for William Bangle

After having revisited the year 1820 through John Bangle’s uncommon way of life, let’s retrace our steps to the late 1790s to explore the one of his brother, William Bangle.

As evidenced by the Catholic parish records, William Bangle and his wife, Marie Tourville, spent the first years of their marriage in Terrebonne (ca 1794-1806) (with a brief stay in Saint-Vincent-de-Paul on Isle Jésus in 1799-1800), and then moved to Mascouche until 1812. Afterward, they will settle in Berthierville and, finally, in Sainte-Élisabeth of Joliette, where William died and was buried in 1821. Other records provide more specific details about William which we will address in the next few posts.

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Abraham Sorrell(3)—What the 1850 US Census for Ferrisburgh Doesn’t Tell

vermont 2016

Abraham Sorrell, who lost his life from injuries sustained in the Civil War’s Wilderness Battle in May 1864, had married three times. His Civil War pension file offers an incredible portrait of people living in Ferrisburgh in 1850 and beyond.

After having read the testimony left by his first wife, Eliza Sears, and by his second wife, Eliza Carpenter, let’s take a look at what Eliza Carpenter’s sister, Catherine Palmer, had to say about the two lovebirds.

I will publish a short biography of each person concerned in the last post of this series. Enjoy!

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South Hero’s Neighbours: Tourvilles/Trovilles and Cardinals

I was validating some dates for Jean-Baptiste Tourville and Marguerite Dome—they were married on August 2, 1836, in Saint-Luc, Saint-Jean County, in Québec just before they left for South Hero, Grand Isle County, Vermont—when I came across the next marriage record which was about Toussaint Cardinal and Catherine Audette dit Lapointe.

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French Canadians Living in Ferrisburgh, VT in 1850: #13 Joseph Larivee

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Joseph Larivee (whose surname is Larivée in Québec) is listed in the 1850 US Census for Ferrisburgh. He is referred to as Joseph Larabee Jr on Page 294, Line 24, Household 6, with the following persons listed, respectively, on lines 25 to 27:

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Abraham Sorrell(2)—What the 1850 US Census for Ferrisburgh Doesn’t Tell

vermont 2016

Abraham Sorrell, who lost his life from injuries sustained in the Civil War’s Wilderness Battle in May 1864, had married three times. His Civil War pension file offers an incredible portrait of people living in Ferrisburgh in 1850 and beyond.

After having read the testimony left by his first wife, Eliza Sears about their lives together, let’s continue our journey through the eyes of his second wife, Eliza Carpenter. At the time of her testimony, Eliza was living with John Ayers but was apparently not married to him.

I will publish a short biography of each person concerned in the last post of this series. Enjoy!

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The Bangle Files: #24 | Mary Bangle and William Hogan

After having confirmed—as related in the last post—that Mary Hogan was indeed John Bangle’s daughter, I thought it would be interesting for you to get to know her and her family.

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Abraham Sorrell(1)—What the 1850 US Census for Ferrisburgh Doesn’t Tell

vermont 2016

About a year ago, while doing some sleuthing on people listed in the 1850 US Census in Ferrisburgh, I came across one of the most baffling Civil War Pension Files I have seen in years.

The name is Abraham Sorrell. In 1850, he was living on a farm in Ferrisburgh, working as a labourer (although his family was living elsewhere in the same town). Of course, without any information on his civil status, we can assume this 17-year-old young man was still single, right? Continue reading

Augustin Hubou dit Tourville : From Which Line Are You?

Église St-François-de-Sales, Laval, Québec. Construction 1844-1851.

If your surname is Tourville and you are, just like me, from the Hubou family line, we all share a common ancestor: Augustin Hubou dit Tourville.

Augustin and Elizabeth Forget were married on October 2, 1712, in Saint-François-de-Sales, Île Jésus (Laval nowadays), in Québec. They were the overjoyed parents of 18 children. As you may know, I usually make it a rule to never discard women, but for the purposes of this post, I intentionally chose to set them aside and consider exclusively the male children. Continue reading