Tag Archives: Tourville

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #8 Antoine Tourville (1779-~1813)

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Picturing the lives of the people in our family trees between 1780 and 1820 in what is now the Province of Quebec is no easy task. The parish records may provide some hints about their relationships but without a census and no indication about the date of death, there is not much to write about. That is when the notary records come in handy.

It seems that some people had a close relationship with their notary. In small villages, their names keep coming back when reading the notary’s minutier (repertoire). Buying and selling lands, taking care of business; going to the notary’s office was no big deal for them. For others, it was a lifetime event, as it seemed to be the case for Antoine.

But first, let’s take a look at what the parish records tell us about him.

His parents, Joseph Tourville and second wife, Françoise Daunay, were married in 1766 in Lachenaie. Antoine, who was baptized on May 30, 1779 in Terrebonne, was the youngest child of the couple as my research led me to find two older sisters, Marie-Angélique, who probably died at a young age as there is no trace of her, except for her baptismal record in 1770, and Marie-Louise, who was born in 1773 and died in 1832.  Antoine had numerous half-siblings, including Joseph Tourville, my GGG grandfather, married to Marguerite Fortin, and Michel Tourville, married to Catherine Marié.

Antoine was not even three years old when his father died in 1782, at age 62. In 1789, a few months before his 10th birthday, his mother passed away at age 54.

What happened to Antoine after his parents died? In fact, we would be in the dark if it wasn’t for a notary act telling the story of two major events of his life.

Picture him, on that Friday, November 22, 1799, walking to Notary Joseph Turgeon’s office in Terrebonne, accompanied by his godfather, Joseph Limoges, the Town’s Militia Captain.

On that day, Antoine is signing an agreement passed between Michel Rochelau dit Morrisseau and himself. Antoine thereby agreed to be his engagé (servant or laborer) for the next four years, from November 20, 1799 to November 20, 1803, which means he accepts to do whatever task Michel will ask him to do and, in return, he will get free room and board in Michel’s house as well as an annual salary of 132 pounds. The contract also states that Antoine is satisfied with the agreement as he has been living in Michel’s house for 16 years.

We therefore presume that, around 1783, Antoine is three or four years old when moving in with Michel Rochelau who got married with Marie-Archange Charpentier in 1782, the year Antoine’s father died. Maybe Françoise Daunay went there to work as a servant and she and her children went to live with that family.

The notary’s act furthermore indicates, by a addenda to that act, that Michel and Antoine returned to Notary Turgeon’s office on April 30, 1803 when Michel agreed to pay Antoine what was due to him and cancel the agreement before the November 20, 1803 deadline. You may wonder why? A very simple reason. Three days later, Antoine married Josephte Amiot-Villeneuve in Mascouche on May 2, 1803.

Montréal, vers 1800. Panorama depuis un flanc du mont Royal. Archives du Musée McCord / Richard Dillon, (1772-1856), dessin (détail). By Philippe Du Berger [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Montréal, vers 1800. Panorama depuis un flanc du mont Royal. Archives du Musée McCord / Richard Dillon, (1772-1856), dessin (détail). By Philippe Du Berger [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

 Antoine and Josephte are the first Montrealers of the Hubou-Tourville family in the 1800’s as evidenced by two baptismal acts found with respect to the couple in Notre-Dame church in Montreal: Joseph, born in 1803, and Josepthe, in 1805. These acts do not indicate the father’s occupation but when his son as well as his daughter got married at the said church, the records state that their “late father was a baker of the parish of Montreal”.

The only clue pointing out that Antoine lived no longer than 33 years is to be found in Josephte Amiot-Villeneuve’s second marriage record on February 2, 1813, whereby she was identified as Antoine’s widow. On the day of the wedding, she declared residing temporarily at l’Île Jésus (now Ville de Laval) but was a parishioner of St. Joseph Church in Rivière-des-Prairies (on Montreal Island).

There were a lot of notaries in Montreal in the early 1800’s, so who knows? I may find some other clues about Antoine’s life. And who would have guessed that this man’s grandson, Louis Tourville, would be the co-founder of the Banque d’Hochelaga, now the Banque Nationale du Canada (National Bank of Canada) which, as you may know, is a major Canadian bank, in addition to being a very successful businessman in the late 1800’s, as well as a politician? I do have more than 52 ancestors to write about.

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #7 Susan Tourville (née Stout) (1837-1915) or “Love Thy Neighbour”

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The theme of Love proposed by Amy Johnson Crow on St. Valentine’s week made me think of two little articles I read in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat while in Salt Lake City last November.

It concerned Susan Stout, the wife of Joseph T. Tourville, who had a little argument with her neighbour in front of her house in March 1883 in St. Louis, Missouri.

As you know, I am a French-Canadian and I learned two new expressions: “the father of a butin” — no meaning found but I can guess! —and “Steal a march on the enemy”. You never stop learning with genealogy!

Here, enjoy. But the story doesn’t tell if they spoke to each other after that! 😉

St. Louis Global-Democrat, March 20, 1883, page xx

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 20, 1883, page 12

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 21, 1883

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 21, 1883, p. 5

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BREAKING NEWS | Charles Tourville and Sophie Arpajou buried in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, sources confirm

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Last Saturday, I was looking at the Clarence Wells Tourville genealogy book which he had prepared for his close family members in the late 1980’s. I was lucky enough to receive a copy last month from one of Mr. Tourville’s relative. I cannot tell you how generous I think it was from her for doing so [Thank You Joan! #happydance].

Well, I almost fell off my chair when I read in that book that Charles Tourville (1802-?) and Sophie Arpajou (1811-?) were supposedly buried in their son Stephen Tourville’s cemetery plot which is in Section 2, Lot 22 in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Chateaugay, Franklin County, NY. No source or reference were indicated for that information.

I was often told that Charles and Sophie were probably buried there but no one has ever specified to me that there was a listing of the cemetery plot in the Clarence Wells Tourville book.

I decided to write to the St. Patrick’s Cemetery [why haven’t I done this before, I’ll never know except I didn’t realize that the cemetery opened in 1844, almost two decades before the Church] to ask confirmation of the listing that was in the book. The book listed 11 names, including those of Peter Stephen Tourville, his wife, Caroline, their son Stephen, his wife Fanny Amo, their son Henry, his wife Roseland, Charles Tourville, his wife, Sophie Arpajou, Estele and two children of Stephen. Here is the answer I received from the Church office secretary:

“I indeed found the plot you described, but it is not as large as you thought. […] The lot is not made up of 12 spaces though, it appears to be only 6, since 5 are already taken, but it could consist of 9, and they haven’t been documented correctly. If I had to guess though, I would say that it is only a 6 person lot, with one still open, or it has been taken and not documented properly. […] The following people are buried in St. Patrick’s for sure according to our records:

† Henry Tourville buried in 1931, born in 1876
† Roseland Tourville buried in 1952, born in 1876
† Peter Tourville buried in 1922, born in 1836
† Charlie DeTourville, born in 1802 (I believe, it is written next to his name, there is no notation on what the date means) no date when he was buried, but he is buried in the lot otherwise his name wouldn’t be there.
† Sophie Arpajou (no date of burial or birth) She is buried in the lot though because her name is listed.”

So she could not confirm that the other people mentioned in the book were there but then she wrote back that she found the information on Caroline Daignault on Find A Grave. She indicated:

“I can’t find any record of her in our books, but it says she was buried in St. Patrick’s, and it even has a picture of her stone. Some books were destroyed in a fire years ago, so she might have been in one of those. She should be in the books that I have here, but she is not.

I found Stephen Tourville in our books, but unfortunately for whatever reason there are no dates associated with his name. I have the following info for Stephen Tourville

Stephen Tourville 28 yrs died  27 May 1901 buried 29 May 1901 received last Sacraments. He is in Lot 22. It also lists a few other names below his, not sure if they ring a bell for you. James Leers [sic – should be Seers] 4 years old- buried 1883, Elizabeth Barrette 10 months old- buried 1883.”

I answered back as I wanted to confirm that I understood it right, that Charles and Sophie were indeed in Section 2, Lot 22.

“Their names are written as Charlie Tourville, and Sophia Arpajou in the book, so you did get the names right. They are buried in Section 2, lot 22.  They are in the same lot as Peter Tourville.”

The two children mentioned in the Clarence book may be in fact Peter’s grandchildren as James and Elizabeth were his daughters’ children.

As for “Estele” which has not been found by the secretary I thought that she might be Marie-Édesse who was still living in 1840 and died before 1850. The Cemetery opened in 1844 but the fact that Sophie and Charles are both buried in Chateaugay probably means that they went to live in Chateaugay before Sophie’s death which probably occurred between 1848 (she had twins that year in Vermont) and 1850. As for Charles, he died between 1850 and 1860.

I have updated Find A Grave to include Charles and Sophie‘s burials in St. Patrick’s Cemetery. A trip to Chateaugay is planned for this Spring for sure!

All researchers who have helped me over the years know my obsession for Charles Tourville and Sophie Arpajou. Well, Charles and Sophie can now rest in peace… and so can I! I will of course continue to look for the date of Charles’ death but I am so happy I finally know their final resting place!

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #6 Evelina Bissonnette (née Tourville) (1879-1956)

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Evelina Tourville Bissonnette (1879-1956) - Sarah Di Lallo collection

Evelina Tourville Bissonnette (1879-1956) – Sarah Di Lallo collection

I wrote in a previous post about the tragic death of Evelina’s mother in the spring of 1880. Let’s now tell the story of Evelina’s childhood, the baby mentioned in the newspaper clip.

Evelina was born on August 31, 1879, from the marriage of Moïse Tourville and Malvina Hogue, in the village of St-Henri, in the district of Montreal. She was baptized the next day, her uncle Néré Leclaire and her aunt Evelina Tourville as her godparents.

At the time of her birth, her father Moïse was a clerk. As you may know, Moïse lost his wife about nine months after Evelina’s birth. We should expect to find Moïse with his daughter Evelina in the 1881 Canadian Census but we don’t. In those days, young widowers with a baby either remarried quickly or left the child with a family member. So, in 1881 Moïse is shown as having returned to live with his father. But Evelina is nowhere to be found in 1881 nor in 1891.

Evelina Tourville and Albert Bissonnette - Sarah Di Lallo collection

Evelina Tourville and Albert Bissonnette – Sarah Di Lallo collection

The next clue comes from her marriage to Albert Bissonnette on April 19, 1898 in St-Henri. What happened between 1880 and 1898? Fortunately, I found two documents telling a little bit about Evelina’s childhood.

In September of 1894, Néré Leclaire, Evelina’s godfather, went before a judge because he felt that a tutor and a sub-tutor should be named for Evelina, then aged 14. He said that he took care of Evelina since she was a baby and brought her up like his own child.

You may wonder why Néré Leclaire has waited all those years to take care of the tutorship? Well, Malvina’s mother died without a will and her daughter Evelina has inherited from her grandmother and became the owner of 1/4 of her house.

In that tutorship request, we learn that Moïse has been out of the Province of Quebec for 10 years or so and has returned only once, four or five years before. From a deed of sale passed between Moïse Tourville and his father before Notary Faure in April 1883, we know that Moïse is residing temporarily in Pullman City, Illinois. We also know that Moïse married his second wife, Azilda Labelle, in December 1884 in Chicago and that he remained there until at least 1900 as his name is listed in the US Census for that year. While Moïse was naturalized in 1893 in Illinois he came back to Canada before 1907.

We may assume from said deed that Moïse left his daughter to his sister before going to Illinois. But why can’t we find the household of Néré Leclaire, Evelina Tourville Leclaire and their niece Evelina Tourville in the 1881 and 1891 Canadian Census? If the 1890 US Census had been spared, we might have been able to get an answer.

Ms. Sarah Di Lallo told me that her great-grandmother Evelina was brought up by a family member in Chicago. At first, I thought that maybe it was the other way around. Moïse left for Chicago and Evelina stayed in St-Henri with a family member. But as I have no proof of that, it might be both ways. Maybe Néré Leclaire left for Chicago as well but came back with his family at some point before 1894. For sure, we know that Néré Leclaire was a grocer in St-Henri in September of 1894 and that Evelina married in St-Henri in 1898. I also checked the Montreal Lovell Directory and Néré is there from 1894 to 1898. Unfortunately, it seems that St-Henri was not included in the Directory before 1894 (what a bad luck!).

Moreover, a thing that seems inconsistent to me is that Moïse Tourville was present at Evelina’s marriage but claimed he was not able to sign. Then, how is it that all other documents bear his signature? Was he actually there? I have yet seen his signature on quite a few documents.

From left to righ, Evelina, Marguerite, Aline, Pauline, Madeleine, Yolande, Cécile, Agnès, Henriette. - Sarah Di Lallo collection
[Updated] From left to right, the daughters of Evelina and Albert Bissonnette: Marguerite, Aline, Pauline, Madeleine, Yolande, Cécile, Agnès and Henriette. – Sarah Di Lallo collection

Evelina Tourville and Albert Bissonnette had eight daughters, Marguerite, Cécile, Agnès, Aline, Pauline, Henriette, Madeleine and Yolande. Aline died last year at 109 years old! She is at the top of my Website statistics for being the one who had the longest life.

Evelina passed away on April 17, 1956 in Montreal, just a year before Albert who died on June 26, 1957 and both are buried in Montreal’s Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges.

As for her Evelina Tourville Leclaire, she passed away in 1910 and strange enough, she was buried in the Church of St-Henri. I will definitely go to the BANQ (Montreal Library) to check for an obituary for her.

About a year later, Néré moved to Ontario where he married their former servant, Clara Deschamps, a native of that province, who lived with them in 1900. Néré died in Glengarry County, Ontario in 1915.

Sewing pieces done by Evelina at age 10 - Sarah Di Lallo collection

Sewing pieces done by Evelina at age 10 – Sarah Di Lallo collection

52ancestors-2015Thank you to Sarah Di Lallo for the pictures!

Great Find on the Web: Extract of the Official Book of Reference of the Parish of Montreal (1872)

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Your ancestor lived in the Montreal parish in 1872? Maybe in Hochelaga, Côte de la Visitation, Côte St. Louis, Côte St. Jean Baptiste or Côte-des-Neiges? Would you like to know if he owned his home or not?

Then, you might be interested by this book I found on the Web.

Extract of the official book of reference of the parish of Montreal : including the incorporated villages of Hochelaga, la Côte de la Visitation, la Côte St. Louis, St. Jean-Baptiste, and la Côte des Neiges / prepared and published by L.W. Sicotte (1872)

It indicates for each lot the name of the owner and the dimensions in the villages mentioned above. The number before each name is the official lot number. If you download the PDF version, you may easily do a search in the document.

extrait officiel

For those who are wondering about the streets mentioned above, they are named today Rachel, Hôtel-de-Ville, Duluth and de Bullion

When compared to the 1871 Canadian Census, this book might be very useful.

I found the names of Honoré Tourville, who lived in the village of St-Henri as well as Élisabeth Lamoureux, widow of Louis Tourville, her son Médard as well as two of her sons-in-law, Denis Barrette and Napoléon Gauvreau who lived in St-Jean-Baptiste village.

Happy Searching!

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #5 Charles B. Tourville (1857-1910)

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Aren’t people who were born, got married or died between 1880 and 1900 the most difficult to search? You’re going to tell me that it depends on where they lived (some States are more secretive than others) or whether other sources are available. Exactly!

Take for instance Charles B. Tourville, born on May 20, 1857 in St. Louis, Missouri to Joseph Toussaint Tourville and Susan Stout. That date came from the Pension Application of his father, a Civil War veteran. For the rest, I had to rely on the 1860, 1870, 1900 and 1910 US Census. What have I learned from those census?

In 1860, the family lived in St. Louis, Missouri. By 1870, they had moved to Canton, Fulton County, Illinois. Although Charles’ parents and youngest siblings are back in St. Louis by 1880, he’s nowhere to be found. The next hint I got was from the 1900 US Census. Charles is living in St. Louis and he is married to Katherine. Looking more closely at the household I noticed that the wife never had any children, the couple had been married for four years, a daughter of Charles is living with them, Lorena, born in September 1885. And finally, the 1910 US Census tells us that the couple is living alone, with new details: it was a second marriage for him and a first for Katherine.

I quickly discovered a marriage license dated September 17, 1896 for Charles Tourville and Katherine F. Motzer on Ancestry in the “Missouri Marriage Records” database. I found no other marriages for Charles.

During my stay in Salt Lake City last November, while I was browsing through newspaper indexes, some interesting clues came up :

St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, October 19, 1881, p. 11

St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, October 19, 1881, p. 11

Meyer Amelia st louis daily globe-democrat 6 feb 1882

St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, February 6, 1882, page 5

St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, February 7, 1882

St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, February 7, 1882, page 10

See how newspapers filled that 1880-1900 gap? Not only did I have Amelia’s maiden name but also her age and the cause of death. With that information in hand, I have found the marriage record while in Salt Lake City. Later on, I noted that Charles was indexed as Toneville. No wonder there was no trace of him in the database before. The only detail that puzzled me is since Amelia died long before 1885, she couldn’t possibly be the mother of Lorena. She also died only four months after her marriage.

That St. Louis newspaper really has all the answers: well, well, well… take a look at that, under the Licenses to marry Section in 1883:

st louis globe democrat february 1, 1883

St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, February 1, 1883, p. 12

A quick look at Amelia Meyer and Eugenia Meyer in the 1880 US census for St. Louis and it appears like Charles married his sister-in-law Eugenia after his wife’s death.

My next step was the Missouri Death index. I quickly noted the death information for Amelia, on February 4, 1882, Eugenia, on July 30, 1895, and Charles, on October 3, 1910.

From the same database, I found some children named Tourville who died in St. Louis, so I tried to find out if they could be children of Charles and Eugenia. As a matter of fact, they were. With the help of the Missouri Birth Index and the St. Louis Directory as well as the name of the parents, I could identify the following children:

  1. Robert S. born November 3, 1883, died at age 15 on July 13, 1899. He was badly injured at the Fourth of July celebration and died a week later from tetanus.
  2. Lorena E. born September 27, 1885, died in 1964 in California. She was married about 1907 to Robert Gilreath. She was living in Los Angeles in 1910. She is not mentioned in her father’s obituary. Was she estranged from him?
  3. Freda C. born November 8, 1887, died on November 20, 1889.
  4. Susan (birth name Pearl H.), born July 13, 1892, died on May 17, 1894.
  5. Esther born April 15, 1895, died June 22, 1895.

So between 1889 and 1899, Charles lost four children and his second wife Eugenia. Esther died one month before her mother. That must have been a very difficult time for the family.

As you can see, I now know a lot on Charles B. Tourville even if most of the events happened between the years 1880-1900. Wasn’t I lucky he lived in St. Louis! If not, I might have never known about his other marriages and his children.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 4, 1910, page 11

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 4, 1910, page 11

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #4 Emilie Tourville (née) Rousselle (1803-1863) ~ Find A Grave or Miracles do Happen

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I have been looking for the death date and place of Emilie Rousselle, wife of Charles Tourville, for as long as I’ve been doing genealogy, so for more than 20 years believe it or not.

Emilie Rousselle was born in Florissant, Missouri in 1803, where she also married Charles Tourville (whose death I haven’t found yet) on February 11, 1822.

For a long time, the 1850 US census was the most recent proof of them being still alive in St. Louis but a couple of years ago I found a Supreme Court case for a daughter of Charles and he testified in 1855 stating that he was married and it was clear from what he said that his wife was still alive. I couldn’t and still cannot find them (or her) in the 1860 US Census.

While on the Website Find A Grave, working on Tourvilles in Missouri, I found an entry for Emilie Rousselle Tourville buried in the Old Saint Ferdinand Cemetery which is defunct since 1900. Florissant’s St. Ferdinand Catholic Church records are in the Drouin Collection but I think they are not all indexed on Ancestry as the burials for later years do not show up. I realize now I should have gone through all the pages index or not.

But no matter what, the most wonderful thing was not to find her burial death and place but a SOURCE for it:

“September the 13th Buried Emilie Rousselle 54 yrs wife of Charles Tourville.” ~ J. F. Van Assche, SJ

A couple of years ago, a member of Find A Grave, Sheila Kesterston, was looking for her ancestors in Florissant, Missouri and she found where the burial records were located. The entries for the cemetery come from this source as stated by Sheila:

“Registre des Sepultures faites dans le Cimetière De la paroisse de St Ferdinand, Diocèse de Louisiane, commencé le premier de janvier L’année mil huit cent vingt deux 1822” which translates to “Record of the Burials made in the Cemetery Of the parish of St Ferdinand, Diocese of Louisiana, beginning the first of January In the year one thousand eight hundred twenty two 1822.” Found at:

St. Louis County Library – Headquarters
Tier 5 (top floor)
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63131-3598

Old St. Ferdinand Burial Records
Roll 167, Item 5

It has 95 pages and runs from 1822 to July 1876.”

A warm “Thank You!” to Sheila who has decided to input all the names on that roll. I cannot thank her enough!

You may first consult the Find A Grave page for the Old Saint Ferdinand Cemetery should you want to check for your own ancestors and then browse the pages of the database on Ancestry.com if you want the copy of the image.

There seems to be two other Tourville members in that cemetery (one is named Tourvelle). I still have to figure out who they are as they are young children. As for Charles Tourville, well back to work. I will find him too. From my desk or by travelling to Missouri. 😉

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition #3 Malvina Tourville (née Hogue) (1859-1880)

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Last November, while in Salt Lake City, I found an article in the Daily Arkansas Gazette dated May 9, 1880 which referred to an article published in Montreal on April 30. A woman died from fright when she saw passing on the street two workers severely burned and injured at work. These men were brothers named Couvrette. The name of the woman is “Mrs. Tourville”, no other information provided.

The only person in my database who died in 1880 and was living in Montreal at the time was Malvina Hogue, wife of Moïse Tourville but I was pretty sure she wasn’t the one since she died on April 19. I then decided to go on the BANQ Website to check a French-Canadian newspaper, La Minerve. The one dated April 30 didn’t mention anything. May 1st edition maybe? Yes! It’s Malvina Hogue allright. The French newspaper gives much more details. Her husband’s name is mentioned. It says that she died the previous Thursday, that she was married for more than a year and that she had a heart condition. Oh! and the April 19 date was a transcription mistake that I did, I checked the original burial church record. It was April 29! The correction has been made on the Website.

Here are the two articles:

Daily Arkansas Gazette

Daily Arkansas Gazette, May 9, 1880, page 1

La Minerve 01051880 malvina hogue tourville

Source: Bibliothèque et archives nationales du Québec, La Minerve, May 1, 1880, page 1

Update: here is the translation of the French article

Death from Fright. – Thursday afternoon, at McDougall’s foundry, two moulders named Couvrette were seriously burned. One of them was working by a boiler full of molten iron and fell into it. He was severely burned on his hands and face. His brother working nearby rushed to help but was also badly burned when taking his brother out of the boiler. The two men were put in a carriage and were immediately taken at their home in St-Henri. Mrs. Moïse Tourville was standing at her door holding a child in her arms and saw them pass. The young woman was so shaken by this terrible scene that she said to a neighbor “Take my child, I am dying.” She was immediately taken inside her house where she died a few minutes later. Mrs. Tourville who was 20 years old was married for more than a year and was also known to have a heart condition. As for the two men who had unintentionally caused this sad accident, they are doing fine given the circumstances.

Malvina Hogue was born June 16, 1859 in Montreal (Hochelaga). She was the daughter of Pierre Hogue and Josephte Boyer. Malvina married Moïse Tourville on October 22, 1878 in St-Henri. She had a daughter named Évélina on August 31,1879 in St-Henri. She’s the child mentioned in the article.

That article is really a coincidence as I am searching family members of Moïse Tourville and his second wife, Azilda Labelle, whom he married in Chicago in 1884. This man had an exciting life. He will be featured in an article very soon.

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition #2 – Some Kings: Marie Louise King (1852-1934), Oliver King (1829-1899), Joseph King (1831-1904)

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The “King” theme proposed by Amy Johnson Crow for the 52 Ancestors/52 Weeks challenge made me think of Marie Louise King. Funny thing, I received a picture of her from one family member the same week.

Marie Louise King (1852-1934)

Marie Louise Tourville (née King)  (1852-1934)

Marie Louise was born on March 10, 1852 in North Ferrisburgh, Addison County, Vermont. She was the daughter of Oliver King (Olivier Roi) and Eleonore Dufresne. She was baptized at St. Mary’s Church in Burlington Vermont, on June 5 of that same year.

Marie Louise was probably the oldest child. While we didn’t find any marriage record for her parents, her father was living with a Joseph King, perhaps his brother, in Ferrisburgh, Vermont in 1850, so Oliver and Eleonore probably got married in late 1850 or in 1851.

Until her marriage to Henry Tourville on June 25, 1870 in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Burlington, Vermont, Marie Louise lived in Ferrisburgh according to the 1860 and 1870 US Census. The couple quickly moved to Sparta, Wisconsin since their oldest son, Charles Henry Tourville, was born there on October 22, 1872. They had at least 5 other children. Henry Tourville and Marie Louise are both buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, in Sparta. Henry died on October 20, 1924 and Marie Louise, on May 4, 1934.

That was about the information I had at the time I received the photo of Marie Louise. I found out afterwards that her father Oliver was buried in East Charlotte, Vermont and that Find A Grave bio notes mentioned he was born on December 19, 1829. The death record for Ferrisburgh states his age as 68 years and 1 month in January 1899. So his birth month would be December but the year would be 1831, not 1829. There is another Olivier Roi born in December 1831. How can we be sure our Oliver is the one born in 1829?

I decided to try to find out what happened to his brother Joseph who was living with him in Ferrisburgh in 1850. I found a marriage record for a Joseph King in Vergennes, Vermont in 1856 to Charlotte Balduke (Bolduc). The couple had a male child born on May 15, 1857 in Vergennes. No trace of them afterwards. But I did find a Joseph King born 1831 in Canada who lived in Sparta, Wisconsin in 1860, the same town where his niece Marie Louise emigrated in the early 1870s, with wife Charlotte born 1838 in Vermont and son Augustus born 1857 in Vermont. They match the couple of Vermont.

The Joseph King of Wisconsin died there in 1904. Only his mother’s first name is given on his death record — Mary. But the given birthdate is January 1, 1832. Close enough, the birth date of Joseph Roi, brother of the Olivier Roi born in 1829 in Maskinongé, is the same but in 1831. In addition, according to Joseph’s 1876 marriage record, his parents are listed as Oliver and Louise King (the parents of Olivier born in 1829 and of Joseph born in 1831 were Olivier Roi and Louise Leblanc). Great, there you go! I ordered Joseph’s obit but haven’t received it yet — the summary mentions he had 3 wives. With the help of the census and the Wisconsin vital records, I did figure out that Joseph King was, as we know, first married to Charlotte Balduke and that they had at least one other child, a daughter named Charlotte, born in 1862 in Wisconsin (according to her marriage record). By 1870, Joseph was married to Addie who died in 1875. In 1876, Joseph got married to Mary A. Brown.

I will conduct further research on Joseph King. But now that we can establish that Oliver and Joseph are brothers, let’s see their family history.

Their parents, Olivier Roi and Louise Leblanc, were married in 1825 in Maskinongé, in Québec. They had 4 children: Marie-Louise (1827), Olivier (1829), Joseph (1831) and Clarisse (1833) who was born after her father passed away. Clarisse never left Canada.

Various records show that Oliver and Joseph probably emigrated to the United States around 1848. Both were blacksmiths.

On reception of the obits I ordered for Joseph King and Marie Louise King Tourville, I will update this post.

Moreover, many documents seem to be available regarding Joseph’s life while he was in Wisconsin. I will follow up on that as well.

52ancestors-2015

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #14: Matilda Tourville (née LaQuire) (1847-aft 1886)

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I cannot post anything on Nettie Tourville, one of Charles and Sophia Arpajou’s children, before I tell you the story of my quest for Matilda Laquire (1847-?).

Never give up.

Used to a goldmine of genealogical information from the Quebec Catholic Records, I was at a lost with Matilda, the wife of Louis Tourville.

All the information I had was the following:

  • In 1866, she had a daughter baptized at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Chateaugay, NY. Her maiden name was recorded as Sequin.
  • She appeared in the 1880 US Census as the wife of Louis Tourville in Grand Haven, MI, born about 1847 in Vermont and her parents, in Pennsylvania.

Never give up, I am telling you.

I don’t know why but I always thought that the fact that her parents were supposedly born in Pennsylvania might be a mistake. I mean her name, Sequin, looked a lot like Seguin or Séguin, which are very common surnames here in Quebec. But as Louis fought in the Civil War I thought that maybe he met her closer to Washington, DC, in Virginia, or even in Pennsylvania.

What to do?

I first checked the original document from St. Patrick’s to see if there was a mistake in the transcription. Nope. I then looked for all Sequin or Seguin families in Vermont, hoping to find her in 1850 or 1860: nothing.

Louis and Matilda’s daughter Lizzie died at age 1 in Grand Haven in 1869. No more clue. Next, I tried to find their daughters Jennie and Clarissa after 1880. Ah! that 1880-1900 gap! I did find a marriage for Clarissa Tourville and Edward Palmer in 1886 in Grand Haven but nothing more than that, except it confirmed that Matilda was still living in 1886 as she was one of the witnesses at the marriage. I did find an Edward Palmer in 1900 but he was married to another woman. Was he the same one? He was indeed as I found a second marriage for him in 1892 and that his obituary confirmed that he was the same Edward Palmer who married Clarissa. The Palmers’ came from Allegan County and I found the records for the cemetery family lot and no Clarissa.

By the way, the Clarissa Tourville Palmer case is still cold.

My first break came from my first trip to Salt Lake City. By looking at all the vital records for Ottawa County, I found the birth of Clarissa in 1869 (no maiden name for the mother) and I found a marriage for a Jennie Lovill married to a Marine Kamphout in 1883. That L from Lovill looked like a T so I decided to follow that track. I found the couple in the 1900 US Census and I found births in the vital records of Ottawa County (online) that matched the names on the census.

I had no proof that this person was indeed the daughter of Louis and Matilda but I had no other clue to pursue.

So I followed Jennie or Mary Jane as she was later called n the census until 1930 where she lived with her daughter in Wyandotte, near Detroit. Marinus Kamhout died in 1906 so in 1910 I found the daughters with their remarried mother in Michigan. In 1920, Mary Jane was back to the Kamhout surname. Who knows what happened with that marriage?

My second big break came from the Louttit Library in Grand Haven. A wonderful woman sent me some newspaper clips (they were not online at the time) as well as a cemetery lot listing for the family. I then had a date for the death of Mary Jane! But… nothing in the Grand Haven newspapers even if she was buried there in 1953.

I even ordered a microfilm through BANQ for a Detroit newspapers (one of her son died there) and I couldn’t find anything still.

Have I ever told you that I have never found ANYBODY in those funeral home repertoires? On another trip to Salt Lake City, I was going through the Michigan books on the US Book Floor and I saw a funeral home repertoire for Wyandotte. I opened it and I almost screamed (I think I did)!

There she was: Mary Jane Kamhout. And that funeral home index refered to a record of funeral in another book which was also on the shelves and it even looked like a DEATH certificate.

Hummm! Father: Louis Detourville. Mother: Matilda LaQuire. Where is that surname coming from? I was so excited I ran to a computer to search for Laquires. First thing I noticed, some Laquires are corrected to Lecuyer and that is also a common surname in Quebec. I also saw Saquire corrected to Laquire. Humm! Saquire and I had Sequin all along. So I went on the Lecuyer trail. Cold trail too.

Then I decided to go through the Vermont vital records for Laquires. I found out that some were living in Ferrisburgh very near the families I knew from the Tourvilles’ circle of family and friends. Interesting.

I looked through the Vermont Vital Records and found a Matilda Laquire married to a Lewis Covill (my second scream of the day). Remember that sometimes the Tourvilles were also called Courville in various catholic church records.

Matilda was the daughter of Mitchell Laquire and Mary German. I found two other marriages for children of Mitchell and Mary German. I could not find the family in censuses. They obviously came to the States after 1850 and the 1851 Canadian Census record for their parish were lost. I did find Matilda, living alone in 1860 in Vermont.

As the Laquire trail went cold also, I decided to go through the Germans. Hummm! Was it German for Lallemand, a French surname here? Nope. It was for Germain or St-Germain. So with a lot of research I did find the St-Germain in Quebec and in St. Mary’s Catholic Repertoire of Burlington. And there it was: Lequin. The name in Quebec was Lequin or Lequien.

After that, it was so easy.

Michel Lequin married Marie-Louise St-Germain on November 3, 1840, in Marieville, Québec. Mathilde was born May 13, 1847 in Mont-St-Grégoire. Michel died in Farnham in 1855, the record states he was living in the United States. Mary German may have remarried in Vermont but no trace of her after that.

As I mentioned before, the last trace of Matilda Laquire Tourville was in 1886 as she was the witness at Clarissa’s marriage. I will never give up. I am pretty sure that one of these days I will find her even if I have no trace of her death in Michigan, Minnesota or even Vermont. And of course, I looked for siblings’ obituaries. No such luck.

But my biggest break was this: while I was looking at the Vermont vital records index on microfilms in Montreal, I saw a child named German, father was Joseph German and the mother was Nettie TOURVILLE. Who was that Nettie?!

I suddenly remembered that years ago someone gave me the name of the children of Charles and Sophia Arpajou from the Clarence Tourville Book and that Sophia (married to Joseph Giguère as I proofed later) was mentioned as being married to a Joseph St-Germain. I never found the couple and as later I found the name of Joseph Giguère, I thought it was a simple mistake. Yeah, MY mistake.

Who was that Nettie? The answer in post #15 coming soon!

 

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.