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Hi, here’s a french canadian storyteller http://www.fredpellerin.com/
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Thank you Sami!
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Submitting the following about my French-Canadian great-great grandfather and his family. I was introduced to this project by Patrick Tucker. Thank you for this outstanding project.
OÙ AVEZ-VOUS VENEZ, PHILLIPPE?
Gloria Bauer Ishida
Being on the younger end of the grandchildren of Edward and Anna Bauer, I only picked up bits and pieces of family information. I remember Grandma mentioning the name Lemay, but it was not until many years later that I discovered that Philippe (Philip) Lemay was one of my great-great grandfathers. His daughter, Mary Rose, was Grandma Anna’s own mother. But I wonder how much more Grandma Anna or Great Grandma Mary knew, for Philippe had died at age thirty-six when Mary Rose was just two and half.
The story must begin with Philip’s wife. Angelique (Angeline) Bauer. Angelique arrived in Huron County with her parents, Pierre (Peter) and Angelique (I) Carabin Bauer, and siblings, in the fall of 1828 from Phalsbourg, Lorraine, France. They had traveled together with Joseph and Katherine Bauer Carabin and their family.
The two related Catholic families settled in a rural area of Bronson Township a few miles from Norwalk, Ohio, establishing what came to be known as the German Settlement.
At some point Phillipe Lemay (Philip) had come to Norwalk and was in a blacksmith business.
How did Angeline and Philip become acquainted? Did Philip for some reason visit the German Settlement to do some blacksmith work? Did Angeline ride into town with one of the family members and attract the attention of Philip?
Angeline and Philip soon fell in love. Angeline’s native tongue was probably Moselle Franconian; she may have spoken some basic French. And both were Catholic.
Although there was no Catholic Church the settlers remained faithful. Occasionally circuit t priests visited the community to preach and administer the Sacraments.
Father John Henni, on a circuit mission, arrived to perform the marriage of the young lovers. The Norwalk Reflector printed that the two were married on October 22, 1829 by “Rev. Mr. Haney (sic)”.
The following year in April 1830, Philip amicably ended a blacksmith partnership with Justus Fix in Norwalk and opened a new shop in Bronson.
In the church records of St. Mary’s, Monroe, Michigan, Angeline’s first cousin, Father Peter Carabin, who had been ordained after coming to Ohio, recorded in French the baptism of Lucie, born December 13, 1830, daughter of “Philippe Lemay et Angelique Bauer”, February 20, 1831. Given the stark winters of northern Ohio and the difficulty in winter travel especially with a small infant, the couple may well have moved earlier to Michigan.
Another Lemay in northeastern United States has indicated Lucie’s baptism (verified) but two more siblings as well. John Philip, born November 7, 1833 and Mary Ann, April 3, 1835 in Detroit, Michigan (a later census in her married name recorded Michigan as her birthplace). Again a question, had Philip and Angela moved to the French Canadian Detroit area? There were Lemays living there. Had “Frenchman” Philip not fit into the German Settlement?
If in Michigan, was it Angeline’s unhappiness in Detroit that brought them back to Ohio? Detroit was a growing town. Perhaps she missed her home in the country and her native language. A second son, Charles, was baptized April 14, 1837 and my great-grandmother, Mary Rose, born August 30, 1839 was baptized September 8 at the recently established St. Alphonsus Church in Bronson.
Winters in northern Ohio were harsh. Colds brought on pneumonia. This may have been the cause of the following two deaths. Toddler Charles died and was buried November 11, 1839. Sadly, his father, Philip, buried January 14, 1841, had followed him.
Angeline became widowed with four small children. Philip appears to have left her with no outstanding debts but practically nothing for a livelihood. The Probate record listed 200 pounds of pork, two kettles (perhaps used in butchering), one clock, one stove, an axe, a hoe, a scythe, and “a lot of scrap iron”. Most household goods and furniture must have been Angeline’s property.
It is little wonder that Angeline remarried a half-year after Philip’s death to Frederick Hoffner of the same place on June 30, 1841. They probably lived on property adjoining Peter Bowers’ (sic) that was still in Angelina Lemay’s name on the 1845 Plat map. The couple had moved to adjacent Erie County by 1850 where Angeline and Frederick raised the Lemay children and three children of their own.
Philippe Lemay and little son, Charles, lie in unmarked graves in the graveyard of St. Alphonsus.
Where were you from, Grandfather Philippe?
OÙ AVEZ-VOUS VENEZ, PHILLIPPE?
Gloria Bauer Ishida
Being on the younger end of the grandchildren of Edward and Anna Bauer, I only picked up bits and pieces of family information. I remember Grandma mentioning the name Lemay, but it was not until many years later that I discovered that Philippe (Philip) Lemay was one of my great-great grandfathers. His daughter, Mary Rose, was Grandma Anna’s own mother. But I wonder how much more Grandma Anna or Great Grandma Mary knew, for Philippe had died at age thirty-six when Mary Rose was just two and half.
The story must begin with Philip’s wife. Angelique (Angeline) Bauer. Angelique arrived in Huron County with her parents, Pierre (Peter) and Angelique (I) Carabin Bauer, and siblings, in the fall of 1828 from Phalsbourg, Lorraine, France. They had traveled together with Joseph and Katherine Bauer Carabin and their family.
The two related Catholic families settled in a rural area of Bronson Township a few miles from Norwalk, Ohio, establishing what came to be known as the German Settlement.
At some point Phillipe Lemay (Philip) had come to Norwalk and was in a blacksmith business.
How did Angeline and Philip become acquainted? Did Philip for some reason visit the German Settlement to do some blacksmith work? Did Angeline ride into town with one of the family members and attract the attention of Philip?
Angeline and Philip soon fell in love. Angeline’s native tongue was probably Moselle Franconian; she may have spoken some basic French. And both were Catholic.
Although there was no Catholic Church the settlers remained faithful. Occasionally circuit t priests visited the community to preach and administer the Sacraments.
Father John Henni, on a circuit mission, arrived to perform the marriage of the young lovers. The Norwalk Reflector printed that the two were married on October 22, 1829 by “Rev. Mr. Haney (sic)”.
The following year in April 1830, Philip amicably ended a blacksmith partnership with Justus Fix in Norwalk and opened a new shop in Bronson.
In the church records of St. Mary’s, Monroe, Michigan, Angeline’s first cousin, Father Peter Carabin, who had been ordained after coming to Ohio, recorded in French the baptism of Lucie, born December 13, 1830, daughter of “Philippe Lemay et Angelique Bauer”, February 20, 1831. Given the stark winters of northern Ohio and the difficulty in winter travel especially with a small infant, the couple may well have moved earlier to Michigan.
Another Lemay in northeastern United States has indicated Lucie’s baptism (verified) but two more siblings as well. John Philip, born November 7, 1833 and Mary Ann, April 3, 1835 in Detroit, Michigan (a later census in her married name recorded Michigan as her birthplace). Again a question, had Philip and Angela moved to the French Canadian Detroit area? There were Lemays living there. Had “Frenchman” Philip not fit into the German Settlement?
If in Michigan, was it Angeline’s unhappiness in Detroit that brought them back to Ohio? Detroit was a growing town. Perhaps she missed her home in the country and her native language. A second son, Charles, was baptized April 14, 1837 and my great-grandmother, Mary Rose, born August 30, 1839 was baptized September 8 at the recently established St. Alphonsus Church in Bronson.
Winters in northern Ohio were harsh. Colds brought on pneumonia. This may have been the cause of the following two deaths. Toddler Charles died and was buried November 11, 1839. Sadly, his father, Philip, buried January 14, 1841, had followed him.
Angeline became widowed with four small children. Philip appears to have left her with no outstanding debts but practically nothing for a livelihood. The Probate record listed 200 pounds of pork, two kettles (perhaps used in butchering), one clock, one stove, an axe, a hoe, a scythe, and “a lot of scrap iron”. Most household goods and furniture must have been Angeline’s property.
It is little wonder that Angeline remarried a half-year after Philip’s death to Frederick Hoffner of the same place on June 30, 1841. They probably lived on property adjoining Peter Bowers’ (sic) that was still in Angelina Lemay’s name on the 1845 Plat map. The couple had moved to adjacent Erie County by 1850 where Angeline and Frederick raised the Lemay children and three children of their own.
Philippe Lemay and little son, Charles, lie in unmarked graves in the graveyard of St. Alphonsus.
Where were you from, Grandfather Philippe?
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