Category Archives: Genealogy

Monday, Monday… Week of January 27, 2014

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Well, I must say, things were not too bad last week. The only thing on the agenda I could not do was going to the Archives. Remember, I said that I was easily distracted? Well, last week was a good example.

I published my article on Guillaume Hubou with a scan of a baptismal record from the parish of St-André of Mesnil-Durand, in France, dated 1622 and I was lucky to be helped by Hervé and Claire to decipher the priest’s writing. Thank you to both of them! 🙂 That almost distracted me from my other tasks but I stayed focused.

With my #4 article already published for the 52 Ancestors challenge, I will have a little time for research! 😀

  • On Monday night, I will gather articles to send to a new found cousin via my Website. I have a lot on her great-grandfather.
  • I will continue to work on my Vergennes-Ferrisburgh database. January 31st is coming fast and I still have a few items to check before finishing the letter “A”!
  • I subscribed to the Calvados Archives (France) Website, so I will be searching for the name Vauquanu/Vaucanu in that department.
  • I have some filing to do. 🙁
  • I already have an idea about post #5 for the 52 Ancestors Challenge so I might start writing about it.
  • On Saturday, I might go to the Archives nationales du Québec to work on my Vermont Project and get some documents.

That should be it. Have a great week everyone!

52 Ancestors: #4 Frank Troville & Frank Tourville

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Two young men. One from New York, the other from Kentucky. Their names were almost the same as Frank Troville was also known as Frank or Francis Tourville. Both born in 1844, both enlisted in the Civil War in a Cavalry Regiment, both died in 1864 in the same state. In Andersonville, Georgia.

Frank Troville was born in 1844 in Vermont. His parents, Narcisse Tourville and Celina Durand (or Francis Troville and Adelina Durand in the United States) were married in Quebec in 1838 but soon left for South Hero, Vermont with Francis’ parents. They later relocated in Plattsburgh, in Upstate New York around 1853.

On February 10, 1864, at age 19, Frank Troville enlisted in the Civil War in Beekmantown for three years. Little he knew that less than eight months later he would be dead. Mustered in on March 4, 1864 in the New York 16th Cavalry Regiment, Company L and made prisoner of war on June 24, 1864 near Centreville, Virginia, his family was informed only three months later, on September 19, that he was taken prisoner. He died of scorbutus on October 24, 1864 at Andersonville Hospital. He was admitted there on October 18.

The details about the life of his “twin”, Frank Tourville, from Illinois, are not so clear. He was born abt 1844 in Alabama as well as his mother (according to the Illinois 1860 Census). However, his mother is said to be born in Kentucky in later censuses. I always thought that Frank was the son of Peter Tourville and Nancy Irwin. The Civil War pension application made by his mother reveals an important detail: she was his foster mother. The pension application was rejected on that ground. So maybe he was born in Alabama after all but we will probably never know who his biological parents were. According to his obituary, Peter and Nancy were married in February 1839. It was a second marriage for Peter. His wife Marie Aspace gave birth to a girl in 1838 in Florissant, Missouri, so we can assume that his first wife died between that birth and his second marriage. In the 1860 Census, Francis (or Frank) is living alone with his adopted parents in Jersey County, in Illinois. Peter has moved from Missouri to Illinois around 1849. Both died there in the 1890’s.

Frank Tourville enlisted in the Civil War on December 14, 1862 in Lebanon, Kentucky, his place of residence at that time. Mustered in on April 16, 1863 in the Kentucky 11th Cavalry Regiment, Company E, he was declared absent without leave from April 18, 1863 until his return on May 1st, 1863. He went missing at the battle of French Broad, in East Tennesse, on January 28,1864. He was declared as having died in Andersonville during the month of March 1864.

By being prisoner at Andersonville, our young men did not have much chance to survive. The numbers talk: Of the 45,000 Union Army soldiers held prisoner at the camp during a period of 14 months starting February 1864, 12,913 have died.

andersonvilleTo find more information about Andersonville:

52 Ancestors / 52 Weeks is an idea proposed by Amy Johnson Crow. Link on the image for more details about it.

52 Ancestors / 52 Weeks is an idea proposed by Amy Johnson Crow. Link on the image for more details about it.

 

52 Ancestors: #3 Guillaume Hubou (? -1653)

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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 Guillaume Hubou.

 

Let’s climb up to the top of my tree! My direct paternal ancestor, Mathieu Hubou, came to New France around 1642 to join his uncle Guillaume Hubou on his journey that had begun 15 years earlier.

From Mesnil-Durand, in Calvados, France, as was his nephew, Guillaume probably arrived before 1627 as historian Marcel Trudel mentioned that he was not listed as a migrant in 1627 nor 1628. Married to Marie Rollet, widow of Louis Hébert, on May 16, 1629 in the presence of Samuel de Champlain, he stayed in Québec with Marie when the Kirke brothers took possession of the city that year. Most of the French people who were sent back to France came back to Quebec in 1632.

In the parish registers of St-André du Mesnil-Durand, I have found the baptism of Katherine, a sister of Mathieu, baptized on December 29, 1622. Guillaume Hubou was his godfather. This document is the oldest proof of the existence of Guillaume. Son of Jean Hubou and Jeanne Goupil, some reference books estimated he was born around 1600, but II have yet to find a source document to prove it. The names of his parents is known through the marriage of his sister Barbe who arrived in New France around 1639 to be his servant under a contract until 1642, year of her marriage.

Guillaume Hubou was granted a land in the Sault-au-Matelot “fief” in 1634. Several contracts were signed by Guillaume over the years. One seems to be very interesting: the list of movables from Guillaume Hubou after the death of Marie Rollet in 1649. I intend to get a copy of it on my next visit to the Archives and make a transcription (or at least try!).

Guillaume Hubou was buried 13 May 1653 in Québec, an “old inhabitant of the country,” wrote the priest.

I am closing my post with a little mystery. Would you please help me with the transcript of Katherine’s baptismal act? 😉 You may click on the image to enlarge it.

Update:

  • Hervé Pencalet suggested Katherine Vauquane de la Berniere.
  • Claire Burman suggested Katherine Vauquenu de la Berniere.
  • Hervé has found Vauquanu (spelled Vaucanu today).
  • I found out a village near Mesnil-Durand is called La Brévière. Katherine Vauquanu de la Brévière (of the village named La Brévière!). Thanks everyone!
 Translation of the baptismal Act

Katherine Hubout daughter of Nicollad was baptized on the twenty nine of December (…) by me Louid Mavia (?) priest, godfather and godmother, Guillaume Huboult & Katherine Vauquanu de la Berniere.

katherine hubout fille de nicollad fut baptisé le vingt neuf jour de decembre (…) par moy louyd mavia(?) pretre vicaire (…) ses parrain & marraine guillaume huboult & katherine banquanne (???) de la (…)??

Monday, Monday… Week of January 20, 2014

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All those New Year Resolutions have inspired me. 🙂

What do I like about genealogy? Researching! That is really my favorite. So I last year I made the resolution to get organized, to be organized. I have this bad habit of being distracted by anything that involves an exciting new research, like an email from someone, a surname I read in a book, a tweet on some new computer tool and so on. So what happens is that I go all over the place and in all the directions and forget what I have started in the first place.

I thought it would be a good idea to publish every Monday morning what I intend to work on during the week to come. Publish it at large should help me get motivated and be more focused. So here is what’s in store for me this week:

  • Mail back my DNA kit to Family Tree DNA 🙂
  • Finish my article on Guillaume Hubou for the 52 Ancestors Challenge and publish it on Monday night.
  • On Tuesday night, I am volunteering at the library of the Société généalogique canadienne-française.
  • I am working on building a database. I want to trace all (hopefully!) the French-Canadians who lived in Vergennes and Ferrisburgh, Addison County, in Vermont for the period 1840-1880. January is dedicated to surnames that begin with an “A”. So I’ll work a bit on this one.
  • Friday night is Genchat on Twitter at 10PM ET. I understand that I have homework to do so I hope to take care of that on Wednesday.
  • On Saturday, I might go to the Archives nationales du Québec to work on my Vermont Project and get some documents.

Well, wish me good luck and have a great week everyone!

 

 

52 Ancestors: #2 – Louis Tourville (1838-1895)

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As part of the 52 Ancestors Challenge, I promised my Facebook friends that I would alternate between Quebec and the United States for members of the Hubou-Tourville family. So Louis Tourville is not a direct ancestor of mine but mind you, a 3rd cousin 3 times removed. 😉

I cannot imagine the emotional roller coaster the family of Louis Tourville has endured after his tragic death on that Sunday, May 12, 1895, in Chicago Post-Graduate Hospital.

All began the previous Wednesday when Louis Tourville was working on the drainage canal. He was employed for some time by Hendenreich Company Contractors. As reported in the Chicago Tribune of May 17, 1895: “…while at work near one of the dumps (…) he was caught by a cable rope which elevates cars and was jerked into the air with great violence.” Louis suffered from internal injuries and was badly bruised. They probably thought it was not that serious since they brought him back home but he was later rushed to Post-Graduate Hospital where he died four days later.

View of O.C. Farrington [verify], standing in the excavation site of the new Chicago Drainage [Sanitary and Ship] Canal. "Construction proceeds on the Sanitary and Ship Canal...much of the 28 miles was through solid rock underlying the continental divide." 1896. Original size and material: 4x5 inch glass negative Digital Identifier: CSGEO8770 Part of the Illinois Urban Landscapes Project: www.fieldmuseum.org/urbanlandscapes/


View of O.C. Farrington [verify], standing in the excavation site of the new Chicago Drainage [Sanitary and Ship] Canal. “Construction proceeds on the Sanitary and Ship Canal…much of the 28 miles was through solid rock underlying the continental divide.” 1896.
Original size and material: 4×5 inch glass negative
Digital Identifier: CSGEO8770
Part of the Illinois Urban Landscapes Project: www.fieldmuseum.org/urbanlandscapes/

Afterwards, on May 14, just as the family was preparing for the funeral and burial in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, it was stopped by Coroner McHale and the body of Louis was put in a vault until an inquest could be conducted. It was suspected that the death certificate issued by Dr. Kuraeff of Post-Graduate Hospital was not in accordance with the real facts.

The coroner’s inquest was held on May 16, 1895, 4 days after Louis’ death. The verdict issued by the jury concluded that “(…) from the evidence presented (…) the said cable was not properly protected to avoid accidents and ensure (…) Hendenreich Company Contractors for not doing so.” The jury also blamed the doctor for issuing a burial certificate not in accordance with the cause of death. The jury also recommended that the “(…) proper authorities take steps to remedy such cases in the future.”

Looking at the coroner’s inquest form, the list of witnesses included Louis Tourville, a moulder, living at 270 Forquer St., which can only be Louis’ son. So that means that Louis has witnessed his father’s accident…

Louis Tourville was born in Lachenaie, Quebec, in 1838, son of Louis Tourville and Elisabeth Lamoureux. His family moved to Montreal during the late 1830’s. Just a few Tourville families were living in Montreal at that time. Lucky enough, we actually can find them in the 1842 and 1851 Canadian Census in Montreal. Census for these periods are very incomplete.

Louis Tourville married Suzanne Bélec on September 13, 1858 at Notre-Dame Church in Montreal. The couple had 11 children, all born in Montreal, 9 making it to adulthood.

Carpenter and moulder by trade, Louis and his family moved to Chicago probably in October 1880 (according to the U.S. naturalization record of his son Victor). An economic recession that started in 1873 might have triggered him to move to Chicago where the economy was flourishing in the 1880’s. His nephew Alphonse was already there since about 1878.

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52 Ancestors / 52 Weeks is an idea proposed by Amy Johnson Crow. Link on the image for more details about it.

52 Ancestors / 52 Weeks is an idea proposed by Amy Johnson Crow. Link on the image for more details about it.

52 Ancestors: #1 – Rosa Tourville (née Denis) (1887-1973)

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My paternal grandmother, Rosa, was not a big talker as I remember her. When we used to go visit her she was living with one of her daughter and family. As she died as I was a teenager and quite a shy one I might add, I didn’t ask a lot of questions about her life. I would describe her as a reserved person. She looked a little sad and I know she had a difficult life. My grandfather Ovila was a daily laborer often without work. They had nine children, six of them making it to adulthood.

On a Sunday afternoon, one of her sister stopped at our house and asked for directions to go visit my grandmother. My father suggested that my older sister went with them as she knew how to get there. When my sister came back late that afternoon, she said that she had never seen her so happy and talking so much (my grandmother hadn’t seen her sister for a long time). My sister said that my grandmother told them at one point that she was “lying in bed the other day and thought about all the time that we had to leave an appartment in a hurry because we didn’t have any money to pay the rent.” My grandmother said that she counted as many as 42 different places!

A few years ago, I visited my aunt, her daughter, and we talked about my grandmother and it was great. I talked about that story to my aunt about the 42 different places and she went to her room and came back with a notebook that belonged to my grandmother and there it was on a page: the list of all the addresses where they lived!

My grandparents got married in 1908 and my grandfather died in 1950. They didn’t move every year during 42 years. They lived at 42 different places between 1908 and about 1935!

Would you be surprised if I told you that I can’t find them in the 1921 Canadian Census?

Rosa and Ovila

Rosa Denis (1887-1973) and Ovila Tourville (1885-1950)

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52 Ancestors / 52 Weeks is an idea proposed by Amy Johnson Crow. Link on the image for more details about it.

52 Ancestors / 52 Weeks is an idea proposed by Amy Johnson Crow. Click on the image for more details about it.

Genealogy Leg Work: A Glimpse from the Past

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If you have been doing genealogy for just a couple of years and you are frustrated because you can’t find anything online from the comfort of your home, have you ever thought of all the leg work that was done by our fellow amateur genealogists in the late ’60’s?

While I was in Salt Lake City this past November, I came across an article in the Manasota Genealogical Society, Inc. Newsletter of March 1980 which I found fascinating to read.

This article, Searching for my Canadian Roots, is from Clarence W. Tourville and his wife Grayce. It relates their four trips to Canada to retrace his great grandfather Charles Tourville, married to Julia Leclair. When I think of all the work and travelling he did with the little (and misleading) information he had, I can only admire the guy!

Manasota Genelogical Society, Inc. Newsletter, March 1980, vol. 2, no. 3

Manasota Genelogical Society, Inc. Newsletter, March 1980, vol. 2, no. 3

For those who wouldn’t know, Peter Tourville, mentioned in the article, was the brother of his great-grandfather. Roy Tourville was Raymond Tourville, of Syracuse, NY, who was born in Chicago, IL and was the son of Fred Tourville and grandson of Louis Tourville, married to Susan Belec and uncle of Alphonse Tourville who settled in Nebraska.

The article can be found here.

Enjoy!

 

 

The Death of François Tourville: a Timeframe

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In 1851, François Tourville was living in St-Jude, Québec, with his wife Louise Corriveau, and their children: Marie, Alexandre, Léonard, Marie-Louise, Luc and Célestin (Louis).

In 1860, his wife Louise was living in Sutton, Worcester County, in Massachusetts. We can assume from the Census that she is a widow. Lucky enough, I found two contracts signed before notary Timothée Brodeur in St-Hughes to give us a hint about when François Tourville died and confirm the fact that Louise Corriveau was indeed a widow when she moved to Massachusetts.

The first one is dated February 14, 1854. The document states that François Hubou dit Tourville and his wife Louise Corriveau, both residents of St-Jude, acknowledge receipt for the fourth payment that was due last January “of this year” for the sale of a land that was made by François to Bazile Richard, on March 30, 1850 before the same notary. The buyer is the owner of the neighbouring land.

Act No. 3004 dated Jan 10, 1854 before notary Timothée Brodeur

Act No. 3004 dated February 14, 1854 before notary Timothée Brodeur.

The second contract was dated January 26, 1855 where Louise Corriveau, widow of the late François Tourville, resident of St-Jude, acknowledges receipt for the last payment regarding the sale of a land made by the late François Tourville, to Bazile Richard.

Act No. 3855 dated January 26, 1855 before notary Timothée Brodeur.

Act No. 3153 dated January 26, 1855 before notary Timothée Brodeur.

I have checked the St-Jude and St-Hughes church records for 1854 and early 1855 and I haven’t find anything. Was François planning to move to Massachusetts and he died on his way to the States or in Massachusetts? When his son Alexandre married in 1856, he states that he is from the United States. Did the family leave right after receiving that last payment? Généalogie Québec has baptisms, marriages and death entries indexed until 1850. When the years 1854-1855 will be indexed, maybe we will find his death record in another parish.

Both documents have been uploaded on the Website on the pages of François Tourville and Louise Corriveau.

At least, we now have a timeframe to continue the search.

Migration Patterns in North America for the Hubou-Tourville Family – I

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When Mathieu Hubou left Le Mesnil-Durand, in France, in 1641, he first settled in Quebec City. Then, in 1675, the family moved to Lachenaie, near Montreal. In the 17th century, his descendants did not move much, either staying in Lachenaie or nearby, principally in Mascouche, Terrebonne and St-François-de-Sales (now Laval).

In the 1600's, the Hubou-Tourville lived in New France.

In the 1600s, the Hubou-Tourville lived in New France.

On April 3, 1790, brothers Pierre and Toussaint Tourville, respectively 26 and 20 years old, signed an indenture contract before notary Louis Chaboillez, as “voyageurs” for Todd, McGill and Co. and left Lachenaie. The destination was at the discretion of the Company, North excluded. This trip took them to St. Louis which at that time was administrated by the Spanish. In 1800, this territory was given back to France and in 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte sold it to the United States. As you probably know, Missouri became a territory in 1813 and reached statehood in 1821.

If Pierre came back several times to Lachenaie after this first trip, Toussaint settled down in Florissant, Missouri, near St. Louis. In 1797, he married Marie-Reine Calvé and left numerous descendants in Missouri and Illinois.

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In the 1700s, the Hubou-Tourville family is concentrated in New France or later, Lower Canada. Only Toussaint Tourville left for St. Louis.

In the 1800’s, many families moved from Lower Canada or Quebec Province towards the United States. If some, like Charles Tourville, his sister Catherine or his brother Jean-Baptiste, settled near the Canadian border, respectively in upstate New York (Chateaugay) or Vermont (South Hero) around 1840, others like Louis Tourville and his nephew Alphonse, went to Chicago in the late 1870s and later to Nebraska in search of a better life. It is the children of those families who moved to other states: mainly Wisconsin, Colorado and Massachusetts.

For the children of Prosper Tourville and Julie Bélisle, in the 1880s, the destination is the Far West. Julie, Marie-Louise and Magloire (Mack) settled in Montana, the latter living for a while in Lethbridge, in Alberta. As for Napoléon, his new home was Brandon, in Manitoba.

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The amber color indicates which the states the 2nd generation families moved to.

The map of the 20th century will be even more colorful (!). To be continued in a future post.

St. Louis Cholera Epidemic in 1832

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EarlyUSFrenchCatholicChurchRecordsDrouinCollecti_49997929 page 1

St. Louis Catholic Church Records for October 1832

The St. Louis Church Burial Records for October 22, 1832 indicate that both Toussaint Tourville Sr and Toussaint Tourville Jr were buried on that date.

I was always intringued by this entry and often wondered what happened to them. A few people asked me if I knew the cause of death and I didn’t. Of course, a quick look at the history of St. Louis might have helped me find out.

Not so long ago I found a document on the Missouri Digital Heritage Website pertaining to a land dispute between Sylvina Tourville and her husband William Petersen as the plaintiffs and Catherine Seig as the defendant.

The testimony of Charles Tourville, father of Sylvina, and son of Toussaint Tourville Sr has finally shed some light on this mystery. During his testimony, Charles mentioned that his father died during the first year of the cholera.

In fact, the cholera epidemic in North America started in Quebec City during the month of June 1832. It spreads to St. Louis via the Great Lakes. According to the Missouri Intelligencer in October and November, 1832, the cholera raged in the city during those particular months.

For more information on the cholera epidemics in St. Louis :