#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #32 Nancy Tourville (née Head) (~1816-1906)

If Nancy was still alive today, I would have tons of questions to ask her. There is a lot we know about her, but surprisingly, her exact identity still remains a mystery to me so far. Let’s take a look. Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #31 Anne Hubou (~1619-?)

Eglise_Saint-AndreInsomnia has its good sides. Sort of. As I couldn’t sleep for too long, I gave in; I thus went back to my computer and visited the Website of the Archives départementales du Calvados, in France, to continue looking through the index of Saint-Germain de Lisieux Parish. I then thought I might as well take advantage of the fact that due to some technical problems for this Website all viewings are free for now. So, I searched through the parish of Saint-André du Mesnil-Durand from the very first page. Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #29 Charles Tourville (1828-1907) and #30 Joseph Gier (Giguère) (1826-1892)

About six years ago, I drove just south of the border to pay a visit to the Franklin County Courthouse in Malone, New York, hoping to find out if Charles Tourville Sr. (father of our Charles featured here and married to Sophie Arpajou) once owned a land in Chateaugay. Unfortunately, my search in the Grantee Index (e.g. Buyer Index) was fruitless. Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #27 Michel Tourville (1759-1810) and #28 Catherine Marié (1764-1830)

I can easily picture Catherine Marié (widowed for almost two years), sitting in Notary Public Pierre Laforce’s office, on this afternoon of the 12th day of October 1811, along with her eleven children: the elder, Jean-Baptiste, 25, married to Rosalie Bleau for three years; Michel, 24; Rose, 23, married to Joseph Forget-Depaty for two years; and the minor children: Catherine, 19*; Antoinette, 17; Hyacinthe, 15; Marie, 14; Charlotte, 12; Joseph, 11; Charles, 9; and François, 7. [*Note: The age of Catherine is estimated but the age of the other children is based on their actual birthdates.] Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #26 Catherine LaCount (née Tourville) (~1792-1866)

In my next 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks article, I will write about the family of Michel Tourville and Catherine Marié, parents of 14 children; but this week I would like to bring to your attention the case of their daughter Catherine. Why? Because she’s their only child for whom no baptismal act is available. Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #24 Olivier Tourville (1848-?) & #25 Amédée Tourville (1855-1899)

For so long I have been complaining about the limitations of the wildcard search on Ancestry.com. The only thing you could do was type the first three characters and then enter either a “*” or a “?”. And then just last week without even thinking about it I tried to search with “*ville” and much to my surprise, it worked. Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #23 Barbe Hubou

20121115034504!GlobeThe Pioneers from Mesnil-Durand, France

We have identified five persons who came from Mesnil-Durand in the 17th Century: Guillaume Hubou (about 1627), Barbe Hubou (1639), Mathieu Hubou (1641), Nicolas Goupil (1642) and Françoise Hubou (1662). Here is the story of Barbe Hubou. Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #22 Nina Tourville (?-1910)

My annual research trip to Salt Lake City is coming up fast and I have started preparing for it. I often get the same comment before leaving: “Again?! Aren’t you done?” No I’m not… 😉 Continue reading

#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #21 Adélard Charbonneau (1864-1925)

Genealogy is a lot of fun when you can tell your mother: “Well… did you know that Adélard Charbonneau was 22 years old when he married Emma Tourville? And that she was… 34?!” Continue reading

The Bangle Files: #1 | The Will of Adam Bangle

BANQI thought it would be appropriate to begin this journey with the will of Adam Bangle. If you have read the introduction, you already know that there is no marriage record or contract for our couple, William Bangle and Marie Tourville. So let’s see what story this document tells us and how we can find more information about William: Continue reading