ChallengeAZ 2016: P for Pascal

Pascal TourvilleA few years ago, Dennis Tourville (now deceased) made me so happy when he sent me this picture of Pascal Lewis Tourville, born in 1839, in Florissant, Missouri. Pascal is the first cousin once removed of Jesse Herndon Tourville and the grandson of Toussaint Tourville who left Lachenaie around 1790 to settle near St. Louis, Missouri. I’m not sure that picture is a photograph. Is it an illustration or a photo that was colorized or something? No matter what, I am really glad to know what Pascal Lewis looked like!


Statistics

Letter P:  almost 3% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

Pascal was very popular for the Missouri line. Lots of Peter! And we have Prosper, Philibert and few Pierre. For the women, Philomène is in first place followed by Pamela, Perpétue, Pierrette and Priscilla.


Kind of Funny

Perpétue is not my favorite.


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres

ChallengeAZ 2016: O for Olivine

Septembre_1908Definitely my favorite picture! The lady holding the baby is Doralice who was featured in a post on June 4. I can easily imagine that on a beautiful Sunday morning of September 1908, relatives dropped by after church. It seems like Doralice was asked to leave the kitchen to take this picture in house’s yard, on Amherst Street, in Montréal. The old lady beside her can only be her sister Olivine, who died in 1917, as she is the spitting image of her sister Elmire…


Statistics

Letter O: Less than 1% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

Well, Olivine, Olive, Oliver, Ovila and Oswald.


Kind of Funny

Oswald is not very trendy these days, right?


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres

ChallengeAZ 2016: N for Normand

Version 2While entering a child’s baptism date on my genealogy database only to realize a few minutes later that the burial date is so close, I can’t help thinking about Normand, the big brother I never had the chance to know. And thinking about some women who lived during the eighteen and nineteen centuries and who had 10 children, or even 15 in some cases, and that so many of them never made it to adulthood, I wonder how these mothers could cope with their grief. Did they become resigned? An era in which it was heartbreaking being a mother.


Statistics

Letter N: Almost 2 % for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

Napoléon counts for the third of the letter N. Then we have Narcisse, Norbert, Nicolas, Norman as well as Nellie, Nettie, Nora and Nancy for the women.


Kind of Funny

What’s your choice?


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres

ChallengeAZ 2016: M for Marie

marie2016
One upon a time, an old lady became a great-grandmother.
“You must be so proud.”
“Very proud indeed!”
“Is it a boy or a girl?”
“It’s a girl!”
“And what’s her name?”
“Marie!”
“Marie-…?”
“Marie.”
“Marie?”
“Yes, Marie and that’s it!”

This scene was repeated several times much to the annoyance of the great-grandmother. What’s wrong with that? Marie is a very nice first name. As they say, less is more!

“You must be so proud.”
“Very proud indeed!”
“Is it a boy or a girl?”
“It’s a girl!”
“And what’s her name?”
“Marie and that’s it!”


Statistics

Letter M: More than 13% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

With so many Marie-Louise (30!) and other names with Marie, no wonder we obtained such a high result. For the men, the most popular is Michel. What else do we have? Marguerite/Margaret, Mathilde/Mathilda, Malvina, Mamie, Marjorie, Martha, Moïse and Morris.


Kind of Funny

My least favorites: Medora and Magloire.


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres

ChallengeAZ 2016: L for Laurette

Laurette tourville 1927

I haven’t seen my godmother much as she died when I was only 5 years old. But I do remember her. And  such memories have nothing to do with the magnificent young girl pictured in this photo at age 16. She is so beautiful, she looks like a Hollywood actress of the 1920s! What about her eyes! As her parents had a hard time making ends meet, I am also surprised she was able to go to a photographer. Is it possible that there were photos of the other children that would be lost today?


Statistics

Letter L: 9% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

Louis, Louis, Lewis, Louis, Louis and Louis again! Larry, Léopold. A few Lillie, Lizzie, Lottie. And Lucie, Lucienne, Lucille!


Kind of Funny

Lulu!


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres

ChallengeAZ 2016: K for Kathryn

Kathryn Hoban TourvilleI’m cheating again since dealing with the letter K is difficult, especially in French! Kathryn Hoban—from Wilkes-Bare, Pennsylvania—was the wife of Jesse Herndon Tourville—from St. Louis, Missouri—a very colourful man who was a palmist. Married in Niagara Falls in 1905, the couple’s life was so astonishing that I could easily write a novel about it. Kathryn is the first person for whom I have discovered a picture in a newspaper. I would have never thought old newspapers would prove so helpful to get to know what a person looked like except, of course, for recent obituaries.


Statistics

Letter K: Less than 1% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

Only a few, Katherine, Kenneth and Kevin.


Kind of Funny

A rare one: Kirby


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres

ChallengeAZ 2016: J for John

Trowville John 1900 (1)Very recently, I found this picture of John Trowville. You may remember that I went to South Hero, Vermont, just a few weeks ago. Born about 1838 in the same town, he lived there most of his life, except for the years he was a private in the Civil War, having fought with the Vermont 13th Infantry Regiment, Company H. I do not have that many pictures of Civil War soldiers so I’m glad I got this one! John reminds me of a famous French actor that you may or may not know, Jean Rochefort.


Statistics

Letter J: More than 26% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

Of course, with all those Joseph, Jean-Baptiste, John, Josephte, Julie and Josephine, it’s no big surprise that we have more than the quarter of the alphabet!


Kind of Funny

Another trend, very popular in the States, Spanish-inspired Juanita


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres

ChallengeAZ 2016: I for Isabelle

cadreI was a bit disappointed when I realized I had no picture of Isabelle Tourville. And then I remembered that I had seen a picture of her in Hanover, New Hampshire, a book of the Images of America series—a collection that I just love. These books feature photos telling the story of little towns or neighborhoods across the United States. I cannot post her picture, but same can be viewed by clicking on the book link here. By the way, have you ever typed your surname in Google Books? If not, you should as you may be in for a nice surprise!


Statistics

Letter I: Less than 2% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

Isabelle of course, but a lot of Ida in the States and a few Isidore and Israel in Quebec.


Kind of Funny

Another novel’s character: Ivanohe!


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres

ChallengeAZ 2016: H for Hyacinthe

hyacintheIsn’t it a wonderful picture? I am still amazed that I have the chance to actually discover the face of someone born in 1821! But let me do proper introductions first. This is Hyacinthe Tourville. To help you understand how you may be related to him, Hyacinthe is the grandson of Michel Tourville and Catherine Marié as well as the nephew of Charles Tourville and Sophie Arpajou. He lived his whole life in Saint-François-de-Sales—he was even buried in the parish cemetery. Married twice, he lost his first wife after only four years of marriage.


Statistics

Letter H: near 3% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

Ah! My favorite is Hélène of course! It was my mother’s first name. Besides Henri, Hyacinthe, Horace, Hervé and Hughette, the letter H was most popular in the States where the first names used were Henry, Howard, Harold, Harriet, Harry and Herbert.


Kind of Funny

Homer, which was chosen well before “The Simpsons”!


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres

ChallengeAZ 2016: G for Graziella

GraziellaGraziella Tourville was born in 1891, in Saint-François-de-Sales. She is the granddaughter of Hyacinthe Tourville and Marguerite Meunier. Her first name is really typical of the end of the 19th century’s trend when practically all female first names ended with the letter “A”, like Gratia, Rosa, Ida, Priscilla, Georgiana, Florida and so many others. How old do you think she is in this picture? Probably not more than twenty years old. As she got married at 22, I believe that this picture was taken well before that.


Statistics

Letter G: near 5% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.

Wow, so many George, Georgette and Georgiana! A few Geneviève, Germaine and Gertrude. More recently Gilbert, Gérard, Gérald, Gustave, Grace, Gratia and Graziella were quite common.


Kind of Funny

When I hear the first name Godfroid, I always think of a butler character in a movie.


challengeaz2016

The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres