Before I start to tell the story about the children of Charles Tourville and Sophie Arpajou in the weeks to come, I thought it would be a good idea to start at the beginning and let you know where the children were living after the death of their mother in 1850.
Was Charles’ family living in Vermont before the death of his wife Sophie? Had she die in Ferrisburgh or Vergennes? We know for a fact that she had twin babies in 1848, both of them being baptized in St. Mary’s Church, in Burlington (there were no resident priest in Vergennes at that time).
Now let’s see. Charles Jr married Julia LeClair probably in Ferrisburgh about 1847. He was living there in 1850 with his wife and their first-born, 2 year-old Henry. Also living with them is Charles’ younger sister Philomena (listed as Meranda), 8 years old.
US Census for the town of Ferrisburgh, in the County of Addison, in the State of Vermont, taken in October 1850
Sophia Tourville married Joseph Giguère in Ferrisburgh in 1848. They were still living there in 1850 with their two children, Mary and Edward. Note how the name Giguère was mispelled!
US Census for the town of Ferrisburgh, in the County of Addison, in the State of Vermont, taken in October of 1850
So, I think it is very much likely that Charles, after the death of his wife Sophie, may have chosen to live with his sister Catherine. I have found three children living in Vermont. The youngest children, i.e. Edith, Julia, Louis and Joseph are living with their father in Chateaugay, New York.
1850 US Census for the town of Chateaugay, in the County of Franklin, State of New York, taken the 2nd of August 1850.
Only Peter Stephen, age 15, could not be found. I strongly believe that he was living in Vermont as well. As he was older, he was probably working and maybe living as a boarder with other people and was not enumerated.
The Census enumerator didn’t always take the information directly from family members. They often enquired with neighbors, so the mispelling of names, the errors in age were common practice.