RESEARCHING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX

Percy English

1897-1959

Some time ago while researching my husband's side of the family I had pretty much exhausted all the avenues to find more family members. Most of his ancestors did not have surviving children. He did have some half siblings though significantly older than him, from his father Percy. I was in contact with one of their sons in particular who told me of the many family items he had and was going to share with us.

MANITOBA RECORDS

I came across this site last night and it just goes to show you that you need to revisit your research over and over again. You never know what will show up. (http://www.shsb.mb.ca/paysriel/outils/frs-outlnk-voyageurs.html)

The site is in French but I read enough French to know that I have to get written permission to use the pictures on my site. You can copy them for personal use without permission however. 
I saved about a dozen photos of my ancestors starting with my grandfather Ziphirin Champagne. This is a different photo that I already had.

There were other photos of my great grand aunts and uncles. Many slightly distant cousins a few times removed. And also a group photo with the Metis Council. There were 4 or 5 of my family in that picture but the quality of the complete picture is very poor so I really can't see their faces. 
If you have family from Manitoba you should have a look on this site to see what they have in their archives. The following is the translation from that site:

This project was carried out thanks to l' financial aid of the government of Canada, by l' intermediary of the Public records of Canada and the Canadian Council of the files and l' Association manitobaine of the files like l' financial aid of Culture, Inheritance and Manitoba Tourism

SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY FUN

This is my first foray into Saturday Night Genealogy Fun hosted by Randy Seaver @ Genea-Musings .
I often see the topics and don't have anything to add to them but this Saturday night is different. Here is the topic for this week. 

What is the Nicest Thing another genealogist did for you, or to you, in the last week or so? (If you have no examples for this past week, go back in time - surely someone has done a nice thing for you in recent years!).

I don't have anything recent but several years ago I was contacted by my second cousin, Maureen. I didn't even know she existed as I was very early into my research. We agreed that the connection was there in the family tree and exchanged notes and details. I thought I had won the lottery because she had so much more information than I did. 

Then it came. It came in the mail. A large manila envelope heavy with family photographs. Photographs of people who I had never seen before. My family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, great grandparents. Oh my, the photos it contained. 

You can get information and details, dates and places and names but when you see a photo of your blood family from a time long before you were even born it changes you. It connects you to a whole world of people. It grounds you and it is the nicest thing anyone has done for me in the genealogy world. 

Thank you Maureen. 

I was so lucky to meet Maureen in person for a lovely lunch. She lives about 5 hours away from me. When I look at her I see my mother and my aunts faces too.  

MARIN BOUCHER- 8TH GREAT GRANDFATHER

Genealogy is synonymous with sharing I think. How lucky for me to find the site of a generous  researcher, Michel Robert. 
Michel has done a great deal of research that includes one set of my 8th. great grandparents. He was even in France and has photographed the original home of theirs from the 1500's. 
His web site is full of interesting genealogy research, photos and facts. I really had little on my relative other then an approximate birth date in France and the names of both his wives and 8 of his children. He generously allowed me to use his photographs in this post.

La Barre home of Julienne Baril and Marin Boucher. Handed down in her family.
 

Marin Boucher was born around 1589 in Mortagne, France. He married his first wife Julienne Baril in February of 1611. Their son Francois married Florence Gareman in 1641 making them 7th great grandparents. I don't have the names yet of any more of their children but Michel says there were

After the death of Julienne in 1627 Marin still lived in the house in France that had been handed down through the Baril family. I don't  have any records of the other children from his first marriage but Michel states there were 7 in all baptized in St. Langis all said to be from La Barre which is how the family house was referred to noting the great grandfather of Julienne whose surname was Barr.

Being left with young children it was imperative Marin marry again and he chose Perrine Malet. With her he had 7 children one of which became one of my 7th great grandmothers, Madeleine Boucher.

St. Langis, church where Marin Boucher's children were baptized. 

I have had this happen several times in my tree where I am connected not only through a married couple but also through more than one of their children who end up connected to me down the line. Inbreeding at it's best. 
There is much more I could add but I don't want to simply post a copy of Michel's own research. He has worked very hard on gathering so much personal information. You should have a look at his site, Genealogy of New France in North America. It is bursting with information, maps, passenger lists.

KREATIVE BLOGGER AWARD

Linda @ Flipside is a sneaky one for sure. Yesterday I awarded her blog the Kreative Blogger award in recognition of her many interesting and creative posts on her site. She has done amazing research on her family trees and posts such interesting things. 
Now Linda knows I have two blogs and she turned around and gave the award right back to me for this blog. Ha, sneaky I told ya! 

Well thank you Linda. It is appreciated. I will list the 7 things asked for but I will not select 7 more recipients as it was hard enough the last time. Not that there aren't many who deserve it but there are many who have award and tag free blogs. 

7 Things About Me

1. I am so into genealogy that I will look for stuff for anyone. 
2. I often solve  brick wall in my research in the middle of the night when I roll over in bed.
3. I had an uncle who did nothing but research every day in the archives in Ottawa and never shared a word of it with any of the family. (okay not really about me I know)
   
4. I have to use a calculator to work out dates and ages because I can't do math in my head. Even simple ones. 
5. I proved we were Metis when I did my mother's side of the family. It was not something they were proud of in the past but my sisters and I are very proud. 
6. I have developed an interest in history since starting genealogy because now I can relate it to real people. I think this is something the schools could use to their advantage. 
7. I think people who do genealogy are always the most generous, kind people out there. They share such fabulous information and photos with complete strangers. I like to think I am the same.
   

METIS VETERANS MEMORIAL

 I post this with the permission of the Metis National Council. I think it is an important honour for our Metis veterans who have served our country. Lest we forget.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Métis Veterans to be Honoured at Juno Beach
Ottawa, ON -- Métis Nation veterans, youth and dignitaries will travel to the Juno Beach Centre in Courseulles-sur-Mer, France next week to dedicate a memorial to Métis who served in the World Wars.
“We all owe a debt to the Métis Nation citizens who fought, who were wounded and who died defending their people, their country and world freedom,” said Métis National Council President Clément Chartier. “This memorial will help ensure their service and sacrifice will not be forgotten.”
The memorial will include an exhibit highlighting Métis culture, the contributions of Métis soldiers, aircrew and sailors during the World Wars and will feature a Red River Cart, one of the most widely recognized symbols of the Métis Nation.

A STORY OF MY MOM

This is a story about my mom. Although parts of this story may seem sad it is actually isn't. I learned a lot from my mom. She died when I was 25, before my kids were born. She had always had a pretty rough life and seemed beaten down a good portion of the time. We will go back to the year 1969, Christmas time. I was 13.


One of my sisters and my brother chipped in their money to send my mom and me from British Columbia back to Ontario to visit our eldest sister who lived there with her husband and kids. They didn't have enough money for a plane so we were traveling by train. They also didn't have enough money for a berth so we were going to sleep in our seats. For 3 nights. 
The food at the diner counter was pretty rough looking. The only thing they had that seemed decent was some pea soup. Breakfast, pea soup. Lunch, pea soup. Dinner, pea soup. My mother finally had enough of this but had such a tight budget I didn't know what she could do. 

image courtesy of J E Matheson

She brought me through the train cars, past the luncheon counter further and further until we got to the dining car. Train travel back in those days, when you had the money was very elegant. The tables were set in a fashion that would give Bill or Susan a run for their money on Tablescape Thursday for sure. 
She hustled me over to one of the beautifully set tables. The table was set with icy cold water filled crystal glasses, crystal dishes filled with olives and celery and other tidbits to nibble on. White linen napkins starched into perfect folds.  A silver basket lined with a white napkin held some yeasty warm breads and the butter pats were close by molded into shells on their silver plates.


"Quickly" she said. "have some bread and butter" She tore some bread and managed to get the crumbs on the tablecloth. On purpose. 
"Have some olives and celery" she said while drinking from the crystal glass. 
Slowly down the aisle way came the conductor. He was chatting with the patrons. I ate some olives. Closer he comes, I drink some water. Finally he reaches our table. He asks my mother to see her ticket expecting (or not) to see a first class ticket which would entitle us to be in the elegant dining car. 
She hands him our tickets and he says, of course, that we are not supposed to be in the dining car.
 
Really? she asks. Oh my I didn't realize that. The conductor eyes the table in front of us. They would have to completely redo the table if we left. He decided that we could stay and we ordered our dinner. I think the only thing I recognized on the menu was a steak so that is what I had. I don't remember what my mother had but she enjoyed every bite of it.


Well this story almost has a happy ending. Remember this was the first solid food I had eaten in a couple of days. The train was shaking back and forth. I could feel it slowly coming back up and I excused myself quickly from the table. I raced out of the dining car and into the first bathroom I could find. I threw up my entire dinner as the train jolted me from side to side. It was a colossal mess and I took off back to our car as fast as I could. I was so embarrassed. 
The next morning I went to get some pea soup from the luncheonette and they were all out.

(I have also posted this on my other site:Family Trees May Contain Nuts)

MY GRANDPARENTS

I have always said it is easier to get information on my family members back in the 1700's than it has been for the 1900's.

My grandfather, Ziphirin Champagne was born July 28, 1876 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He married Octavie Carriere on May 21, 1907. He was 30 years old and she was 18, having been born February 12, 1889 in DeSalaberry, Manitoba. I have his date of death as September 11, 1944 in Ontario. This was before I was born. I cannot find a death date for her.

I have no recollection of my grandmother but I have a vague recollection of my mom and my aunt cleaning out her suite in an old house. I could be mistaken about that. I would have been about 4 or 5 years old. I recall hardwood floors and a bunch of 78 rpm records in an empty closet.

I have few stories about them. My grandfather worked on the railway for a time. He was known for his big hands and was a bit of a security guard on the trains tossing people off. Though not an educated man Ziphirin could speak English, French and Cree being of Metis heritage. My grandmother was apparently a rather unhappy woman but with 12 children that lived, at least for a while, and many more who didn't I think I would be miserable too. Too many mouths and too little food. It was a very hard life. One that was shared with many others.

My grandparents family lines crossed in many areas. They were first cousins once removed through Emmanuel Beaugrand dit Champagne, grandfather to Ziphirin and great grandfather to Octavie. They were also second cousins through two different lines. In total they are related 16 different ways that I won't go into here. It is a wonder that my entire family doesn't have two heads or something. 

A NOTE FOR SANDY

Hi out there to Sandy who has left a couple of comments on my Picasa web album in reference to Alida Pickle. I can't leave a reply comment for some reason so how about you email me directly and we can see if I can come up with some info for you. I don't have your email address either.

COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT

The most amazing thing happened today. I received an email from one of my sisters. I know that is amazing in itself but stick with me here. She sent me some photos that she received from her sister-in-law that were taken in the early 1960's.
My sister was on a trip with her husband and his mother from Ontario to Nova Scotia to visit her brother in law in the navy. Their trip took them through Quebec. They sat down in front of some statues and had their picture taken. She never thought anything of it again until this week, over 40 years later, when she was sent the picture in an email.Isn't she pretty? That is my big sister on the left and her dear mother in law on the right. Nothing unusual here is there? Until you look at the statues and read the inscription. I have written about these people immortalized in these monuments before. They are our 11th great grandparents, Louis Hebert and Marie Rollet.
The odd thing here is that we didn't know this until a couple of years ago when I discovered our connection and added them into our family tree.

I am so excited about this. I actually had shivers up my spine when I saw the old photo.

SHARING RESEARCH

I received a comment in a previous genealogy post from Kathleen in Western Australia. She had done a search for a family name and it brought her to my site. Now I did have the names of the people she had searched for in my tree as they were my great great grandparents. What I did not have was the line she was searching for.
I did a few preliminary searches in the usual places and still wasn't finding anything. When dealing with Metis history the best place to go when you are stumped is Our_Metis_Roots@yahoogroups.com where you will find the most informed researchers. They constantly amaze me with the information they have collected and they are always ready to share.
Rod MacQuarrie came up with the answers both Kathleen and I were looking for and he did it in about 60 seconds. I have seen him respond so many times to others questions with very detailed and well sourced records. He includes everything on the people in question. Parents, children, military records, work records. You name it. Rod is not the only person in this group that jump to answer questions. There are many others doing great research and sharing it generously.
I always say genealogists are the most generous people always willing to help a fellow researcher.

FRANCOIS JACQUES BRUNEAU

Francois Jacques Bruneau is my 3rd. great grandfather also in my mother's line. Francois was a child of a "a la facon du pays" union between Antoine Bruneau and an Aboriginal woman, likely Cree. This refers to a union "as was the custom of the country" where there was likely no religious sanction of the marriage due to the remote areas where they lived and the non-catholic wives. He was born in December of 1809 in Lac Vert, Saskatchewan or Rupert's Land as it was called. 
Francois was not baptized at the time of his birth but traveled to Quebec with his father when he was 4 years old and was baptized on October 28, 1814 in the Basilique Notre Dame, Montreal. 
In 1822 Francois was in the Red River Settlement in Manitoba and was attending a school directed by Abbe Jean Harper. He was going to enter the priesthood which made the Bishop Joseph Norbet Provencher especially happy because Francois spoke Cree and could be very helpful in dealing with the aboriginals. In 1829 he changed his mind and became a teacher instead. 
He married Marguerite Harrison, also Metis, in 1831 and left teaching for farming. The census reports for the area during the 1832-1849 span show his assest growing steadily. He and Marguerite had 8 children that I know of but others say they had 11. 
He became considerably well off in comparison to others in the area at the time. His interests turned to civic affairs and in July of 1843 he appeared before the Council of Assiniboia to request a distillery giving the Metis somewhere to sell their grain surpluses as well as requesting changes to the police force at the time. These requests were granted. 
Bishop Provencher urged the governor of Rupert's Land to name French Canadians and Metis to the Council of Assiniboia and had him look at Francois qualifications. He was recommended as "a man of sound standing in the settlement of fair education". This was again to facilitate relations with the Metis, French and Aboriginals. 
In the fall of 1850 he was named as a magistrate in one of the judicial districts and in 1851 was made a judge. He earned between 12 and 25 British pounds for his service yearly. 
Francois Jacques Bruneau died June 26, 1865 during the typhoid epidemic followed two days later by his wife, Marguerite. 

Note that the age for Francois say 55 years. It is hard to read and looks like 3s.

ANDRE CARRIERE- VOYAGEUR

Andre Carriere is my 3rd great grandfather in my maternal line. Andre was born March 31, 1779 in Boucherville, Quebec to Joseph Carriere and Marguerite St. Sauveur.

Like many men of the day Andre worked for the Hudson Bay Company's North West Company. They were trappers and riverboat men. The term used at the time for the boat men was voyageur. His work with them started around 1811 and continued until 1831. 


One of vessels used at the time was a birch bark canoe that used 10-12 paddlers and could carry a payload of about 4 tons. These men paddled all day long to get to their destination. Being referred to a a voyageur was a professional term and not just a boatman. A lost load would be an expensive error. 

 

Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall, Ontario, 1869

Frances Anne Hopkins/Library and Archives Canada/C-002771

 

 Shooting the rapids, in a master canoe. Painting by Francis Ann Hopkins (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C2774f).

 Andre Carriere married Angelique Daigneault (Dion, Lyon) but this was not necessarily a Catholic marriage but probably "a la facon du pays" or according to the custom of the country. These men often started new families in the bush so to speak with native women. Angelique was Metis, her mother being Cree and her father from Quebec. They had at least 7 children and as it goes in these times of small communities two of their sons are my second great grandfathers. Moise Carriere married Josephte Beaugrande dit Champagne and Daniel Carriere married Dorothee Landry.

HELENE DESPORTES

When going so far back in time to learn about your ancestors the information available is often unproven and conflicting.

Take for instance my 8th. Great Grandmother, Helene Desportes. With my French heritage there seems to be a lot of firsts that happened in New France (Quebec). I have mentioned Louis Hebert and Marie Rollet being the first official family of NewFrance before. Now Helene Desportes was said to be the first white child (non aboriginal or Metis) born in New France. Helene was born to Pierre Desportes and Francoise Langlois. The date of her birth varies from 1619,1620,1621, 1622 or not even born in New France at all depending on what source is checked.

The next likely child who would have been the first born would have been the child of Anne Hebert and her husband Etienne Jonquet born in 1620. According to Samuel Champlain Anne Hebert died in child birth previous to 1620 and with no further mention of her child it was presumed stillborn. So this takes us back to Helene.

The historian Benjamin Sulte (1841-1923)¹ maintains that Guillemette Hebert was the first born Canadienne because he assumed that Marie Rollet had come to Acadia with her husband Louis Hebert in 1606 but this has been refuted and she is said to have come from Paris in 1617.

It is believed that Helene's father, Pierre came to New France with Abraham Martin (as in The Plains of Abraham) who was married to Marguerite Langlois, the sister of Pierre's wife, Francois Langlois. Pierre could read and write and held some standing in the community. He signed on behalf of the inhabitants of New France in appeal to the King of France. .

When Helene and Guillaume Hebert's marriage contract was drawn up in 1634² her parents did not sign as witnesses. They had 3 children, one who died in infancy. Joseph, born 1636³ and Francoise, born 16384

Helene's husband Guillaume died in 1639⁵ and she married Noel Morin. He was a wheelwright and became one of the early pioneers of Montmagny.
Their son, Germain was consecrated to the priesthood in September, 1665, making him the first Canadienne born priest. Their daughter Marie became the first Canadienne born nun. And their other son Jean Baptiste was member of the Conseil Souverain, political body appointed by the King of France, chosen as a part of French nobility.⁶
There have been many firsts in my family history. I believe I am the first to blog.

Sources:

W. Stewart WALLACE, "Benjamin Sulte", in The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. VI, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 398p. p. 85.
Quebec Vital Records, Drouin Collection, 1621-1967, online [http://www.ancestry.ca/]
Quebec Vital Records, Drouin Collection, 1621-1967, ancestry.ca online [http://www.ancestry.ca/], accessed, Quebec, Notre Dame, Baptemes 1621-1667, page 7
Quebec Vital Records, Drouin Collection, 1621-1967, ancestry.ca online [http://www.ancestry.ca/], accessed, Quebec, Notre Dame, Baptemes 1621-1667, page 10
Dictionary Of Canadian Biography Online, Library and Archives Canada online [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=34521&query=marsolet], accessed May 15, 2007, http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=34294&query=desportes
Ethel M. G. Bennett For information about the Desportes family in Quebec see Léon Roy, “Pierre Desportes et sa descendance,” SGCF Mémoires, II (1946–47), 165–68. See also Azarie Couillard Després, Louis Hébert: premier colon canadien et sa famille (Lille, Paris, Bruges, 1913; Montréal, 1918); La première famille française au Canada. Dionne Champlain, II, passim. Sulte, Hist. des Can.-fr., II, 37, 78.

SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY CHALLENGE

Randy @ Genea-Musings has given us a Saturday night challenge. Our mission should we choose to accept it is to list our ancestors 5 generations back. This gives us 16 people. We are to also list their information as well as their ethnicity. That will be pretty easy for me.
Here we go:

1. Francois Lemire b. 1783 in Nicolet, Quebec- d.1854 Nicolet, Quebec, French

   Image via Wikipedia

2. Marie Louise Salmon b. 1786, Nicolet, Quebec- d.1861 Nicolet, Quebec, French
3. Antoine Martel b. 1793 Baie du Febvre, Quebec - d. 1860 Nicolet, Quebec, French
4. Rosalie Faucher dit Chateauverd b. 1791 Baie du Febvre, Quebec - d. 1874 Nicolet French
5. Etienne Pinard dit Beauchemin b. 1813 Nicolet, Quebec - d. 1895 Nicolet, Quebec, French
6. Marguerite Beauchemin b. 1814 Nicolet, Quebec - d. 1880 Nicolet, Quebec, French
7. Louis Theophile Pinard b. 1829 Nicolet, Quebec - d. 1910 Nicolet, Quebec, French
8. Agnes Leblanc b. 1839 Nicolet, Quebec - d. 1877 Nicolet, Quebec, French
9. Emmanuel Beaugrand dit Champagne b. 1799 Berthierville, Quebec - d. 1872 St. Boniface, Manitoba, French

   Image by merlinprincesse via Flickr

10. Madeleine Laderoute b. 1828 St. Boniface, Manitoba - d. unknown, Manitoba, Metis, (French & Aboriginal)
11. Daniel Carriere b. 1823 Red River, Manitoba - d. unknown, Metis (French & Aboriginal)
12. Dorothee Landry b. 1826 St. Boniface, Manitoba - d. 1898 St. Boniface, Manitoba, Metis
13. Moise Carriere b. 1819 Red River, Manitoba - d. 1890 Desalaberry, Manitoba, Metis
14. Josephte Beaugrand dit Champagne b. 1828 Red River, Manitoba - d. unknown, Metis
15. Thomas Stanislaus Bruneau b. 1833 St. Boniface, Manitoba - d. 1896 Desalaberry, Manitoba, Metis
16. Adelaide Landry b. 1834 Red River, Manitoba - d. 1925 Desalaberry, Manitoba, Metis
    

So I figure my ancestors were 56.25 % French and 43.75% Metis (French & Aboriginal). So would this mean I would add another 21.875 % to my French side? That would make me 78.125% French and 21.875% Aboriginal. Depending on how you look at this I guess I would also be 100% Canadian.

SIGNATURES FROM MY ANCESTORS

I have very few photographs of my ancestors. Even the ones who were alive in a time when there were ways of creating photo type images. Of course for those alive before the advent of photographs and daguerreotypes etc. there are no images unless they had a portrait painted.

It occurred to me while looking at some old records that what I did have were their signatures. I cropped them out of the images of the documents. This will be the closest I ever get to photographs of these ancestors.

It also gave a glimpse into the education of these people. You could see from the documents who could sign their own names.

This first signature was on the marriage record for my 5th great grandfather. Now this is likely his signature but also could have been his father's who had the same name. Because it was the first signature on the record I think it would be his. This was signed in 1751.(Jacques Baron)


In 1685 Marguerite Benoist signed on her marriage record to Guy Vache (Lacerte). I would have thought that was unusual for a woman of that time. Marguerite is not in my direct line but in a collateral line I have done for someone else.
(Marguerite Benoist)

Often the records are almost unreadable. Ink stains like this one can obliterate very important information. You have to be very tenacious to find out the facts. This signature from my 5th great grandmother Marie Renee Lefebvre was from her marriage record in 1728.

(Marie Renee Lefebvre)

Her father also signed that day in 1728 but seemed to have a little more luck with the ink.

(Rene Lefebvre)

Edmond Pinard was my great grand uncle. I have posted about him before on here. Click here for his story

(Edmond Pinard)


My Aunt on her marriage to my father's brother in 1919

(Virginie Pinard)

At the marriage of his son Noel Houde my 6th great grandfather signed his name in 1722.

I AM REALLY ANNOYED

Image by Akbar Simonse (busy and tired) via Flickr

I have a question for those of you who follow this blog.
I have been working on the last post about Gen. Cadwalader for ever. Every time I would think I had corrected the problem and would publish it the text would not be in the right place. I check the preview and it is fine but then BAM!!! it moves when published. I won't even go into how many times I tried to get it to the "read more" stage.
Here is my question:
When you see on your site that I have published a post do you get another notification every time I edit that same post and hit publish again. If you do I am sorry because you probably got 20 notifications for that one post alone.
So let me know please.
Thanks for your help.

GENERAL JOHN CADWALADER

Some time ago I researched a family history that really did have some amazing family tales. Documented ones at that. I was thinking about this recently when Linda over at Flipside wrote about her gggg grandfather, Purnell Houston.

She mentioned in her post that Purnell had served in the militia under the command of General John Cadwalader. The name rang a bell so I looked up in my research and sure enough he was the 5th great grandfather of the person I researched for.

John Cadwalader, the son of Thomas Cadwalader was a man of great prominence during the American Revolution. He attended the Academy and College of Philadelphia from 1751 to 1758. Although he entered the College of Philadelphia with the class of 1760, he did not graduate but instead left to organize a very successful mercantile business with his brother Lambert Cadwalader.

From the earliest days of the American Revolution, John Cadwalader worked to persuade others to protest in favor of colonial liberties. He became a member of Philadelphia's Committee of Safety and captain of the City Troop or "Silk Stocking Company." He was later appointed Brigadier-General of the Pennsylvania Militia and commanded the Pennsylvania troops during the winter campaign of 1776-1777, in which he crossed the Delaware with Washington and engaged the British in the Battle of Princeton. As the war progessed, he was instrumental in forming a militia from the eastern shore of Maryland; with this militia he rejoined Washington as a volunteer to fight the Battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth.

After the British evacuated Philadelphia in June 1778, Cadwalader fought a duel with General Thomas Conway, who had been accused of plotting to remove Washington from command of the Continental army and whose conduct toward American officer was considered "offensive" by Cadwalader. Cadwalader gravely wounded Conway, but Conway did recover to write a letter of apology to Washington.

In 1779, the same year he was elected a trustee of the Academy and College of Philadelphia, Cadwalader also became a member of the Maryland Legislature. He died in Maryland in 1786.

If someone in this family could have blogged we would have had some amazing table scapes and what's on your walls for sure. Even George Washington had commented on the Cadwalader home and furnishings. The following notes are from PBS.org

Cadwalader Furniture

John Hays of Christie's is on the lookout for missing pieces of the most famous suite of furniture made in American history. When John Cadwalader, one of the great patriots of the American Revolution, married the very wealthy Elizabeth Lloyd in 1768, he set out to build one of the most splendid houses in Philadelphia. Even George Washington was well known to have remarked in his diaries that Cadwalader's house, the pride and envy of the colony, was the grandest house he'd ever seen. Cadwalader left no stone unturned in the building of his magnificent home. He commissioned Thomas Affleck, who immigrated from England in 1763 and produced the most elaborate, high-styled furniture in Philadelphia, to create a suite of furniture to match the design of his house. Affleck brought in the leading carvers and cabinetmakers of the time to fill Cadwalader's huge order — chairs, tables, sofas, card tables, and the like — that needed to be done between 1768 and 1772. Cadwalader's furniture was carved in the very highest, most elaborate fashion of the day, the Chippendale style. The most distinctive feature of the furniture was the "hairy paw feet," which appeared on all of the forms. After Cadwalader died, his descendant Charles married their young housekeeper, which did not go over well with the people of Philadelphia. In response to this, Charles shut down the house and sold its contents in 1904. The furniture was dispersed throughout the U.S. and abroad. Since that fateful day, six saddle-seat chairs from the front parlor have been found in Ireland, and another in Italy. Four chairs from the back parlor set have also been found: a single chair sold at Christie's last fall for $400,000. Christie's was also lucky to have recently found a tea table at an auction for less than $5,000: a dealer recognized the famous hairy-paw foot. It later sold in New York for over $1 million. Among the pieces still missing are two sofas, last seen in Charles Cadwalader's 1904 auction in Philadelphia. They are so widely sought after that people are making up schematic drawings of what the sofas would look like. John Hays hopes that these drawings will help lead to the recovery of the rest of Cadwalader's furniture.

John married 3 times and his daughter Frances with Wilemina Bond, married Lord David Montagu Erskine and they moved to England where Lord David and his family were from. My research continued with this line.

LOUIS PINARD

My 6th Great Grandfather was Louis Pinard.¹ He was born July 12, 1634 in La Rochelle, FranceHe was the son of Jean Pinard and Marguerite Gaignier of Notre Dame de La Rochelle.
Louis came to Canada about 1648. He was a surgeon. He returned to France with the surgeon Francois Gendron to complete his surgical studies August 23, 1650. This made him a Master Surgeon upon his return six years later. He made use of his skills immediately working in the garrison at Trois Rivieres.
In 1666 Jacques Dubois was employed by him as a surgeon’s aid. Louis Pinard is said to have taken part in the expedition to Hudson Bay in 1685 along with the surgeon Jacques Meneux dit Châteauneuf. Around 1690 he became surgeon-major of the town of Trois-Rivières. His son Claude was also to become a surgeon and undoubtedly began his studies under his father’s direction; he did his apprenticeship, however, under Jean Demosny at Quebec. In 1692 Pinard was the agent of Claude Deshaies-Gendron, and distributed in the region around Trois-Rivières “the remedies which M. Gendron sent to Canada for charity.”

On 11 June 1657 Louis Pinard had signed before the notary Séverin Ameau* a contract of marriage with Marie Madeleine Hertel, daughter of Jacques Hertel and Marie Marguerie. On 30 Nov. 1680 at Champlain he took as his second wife MarieUrsule Pépin. Each of his wives bore him six children.( I am still searching for the documents of 8 of the 12 children he fathered. )

Pinard does not seem to have had a very peaceful career: we find him engaged in legal disputes over money matters with a great number of citizens of Trois-Rivières and Cap-de-la-Madeleine. In particular he had quarrels with Michael Leneuf Du Hérisson. Moreover he was in rivalry with the surgeon Michel Gamelain, whose competition be feared and who later became father-in-law to his son, the surgeon Claude Pinard. Nevertheless Louis Pinard seems to have been held in esteem, since he was for a long time one of the settlers’ syndics, a churchwarden, and procurator of the church.

In 1670 he settled down on his seigneury of L’Arbre-à-la-Croix at Champlain (seigneury of La Pinardière). There he engaged in agriculture and the fur trade. Later we find him at Batiscan, where he was buried 12 Jan. 1695.

My line descends from two of his sons with Marie Ursule Pepin, Antoine Pinard and Guillaume Pinard dit Beauchemin. They were my 5th. Great Grandfathers. Oh but there is more. Francoise Pinard was my 8th Great Grandmother. She was Louis' daughter with his first wife Marie Madeleine Hertel. Now how does my 6th Great Grandfather sire my 8th Great Grandmother you ask? Well Francoise was 20 years older then her brother Antoine and 27 years older than Guillaume. You can squeeze in a couple more generations when you are married at 18 and your first child is born the same year as your brother. Technically this makes her my 8th Great Grandmother, and my 5th great Aunt. Oh my head hurts.

Now you know why genealogy can be so complicated. This is why you must check and double check your facts and your sources to be sure. There are a lot of pedigree lines to follow when you go back that far. Did you know that for every generation you go back the ammount of grandparents you have doubles? You have 4 grandparents right. Now each of these people have 2 parents so that makes 8 great grandparents for you. Those 8 each have 2 parents so now we are at 16 great great grandparents for you. And so on, and so on.


Dictionary Of Canadian Biography Online, Library and Archives Canada onlineAJTR, Greffe de Séverin Ameau, 11 juin 1657. JJ (Laverdière et Casgrain), 143. Jug. et délib. Ahern, Notes pour l’histoire de la médecine, 441–44. Raymond Douville, “Chirurgiens, barbiers-chirurgiens et charlatans de la région trifluvienne sous le régime français,” Cahiers des Dix, XV (1950), 118–21.

LOUIS STORY

Image via Wikiped

My mother had 11 brothers and sisters that survived past infancy. There were several more that sadly did not.

One of her brothers, my Uncle Louis told me a story once about when he was just a little boy. Now I won't tell it the way he would have because as people have said to him "do we have to pack a lunch for this story".

The way I remember it was that back in his youth, around 1928 maybe, he was walking down the street in their home town in Manitoba. It was near Winnipeg, perhaps Transcona.
Uncle Louis looked down at the ground and found a nickel. That was more money than he could ever hope to have.

Oh my goodness what would he do with this fortune. He thought about it and thought about it. After all he has so many brothers and sisters. He went to the store and spent his nickel. He bought a can of sardines. Not candy. No. Simply a can of oily sardines. And do you know what he did with his treasure? Wrong. He went and hid in the attic and ate the whole can himself. You know what. I can't blame him. They lived in such poverty and this was his one selfish act to have the prize all to himself. To not have to share every waking and sleeping moment with the others.

Now Uncle Lou could have told this story much better than I could but then we would have had to pack a lunch and all the sardines were gone.

METIS HOME IN THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT

This picture is of a home in the Red River Settlement of Manitoba. It was taken in 1870. I do not know who is in the photo. Even if they were not related to me they certainly knew my family. The cart in the picture was a Red River cart made with wood and tied together with leather. The squeal of the leather and wood made a sound that could be heard for miles. It was very stable with two large wheels that would maneuver through marsh and mud and was also buoyant enough to float across a stream.

Image by inkbase via Flickr

The windows of the home were of course small. Glass was a luxury and also the Manitoba winters were beyond harsh.

Source: Archives of Manitoba/Archives du Manitoba, Red River Settlement - Homes 1, N4611
Year: 1870