Then... and Now...

Today I've been working on the Family Tree project - it's never-ending!  Since I missed last year's self-imposed deadline to put a "book" together of the primary family lines for the family (paternal and maternal), I want to get it done this year.  That is, as done as it will be as of the time I print everything out and have it copied and bound!  I am constantly discovering new lines of inquiry into branches of the family, mostly not direct lines but fascinating in their own right, nonetheless!  Today, for instance, I discovered photographs of Andrew Forsyth, Jr. and some of his daughters.  Andrew Forsyth, Jr. was the oldest son of Andrew the Soldier, of whom I've previously written about here.  Andrew the Soldier's second son was Jerome Forsyth, my direct ancestor.  It was a daughter of Jerome, Mathilda Forsyth, who became by great-grandmother.  In looking at those old photographs of Andrew Forsyth, Jr.'s girls, I saw echoes of my own grandmother, Ida Belanger Newton (daughter of Mathilda Forsyth and Edward Belanger, Jr.)  Andrew, Jr.'s daughters and my great-grandmother were first cousins.

While looking at some other old photographs I've already posted to the family tree, I came across one of my sisters Yvonne, Darlene and me with Grandpa and Grandma Newton.  Judging by how young we look, I believe it was taken in either late December, 1959, or early January, 1960.

I was struck by how much I look in this old photo (enlarged and cropped from the original) like I do in a more recent photo:

Me in 1960

Me, early October, 2011.

Gee, I haven't changed very much, LOL! I guess I shouldn't be so amazed -- eyes, nose, mouth, and those cheeks --- still the same, oh my!  Even the hairstyles are similar, separated by 50 plus years! 

Oh My! Family Tree Stuff

Greetings!  It's cold and crappy here today - lake effect snow since I got up which, for the most part is melting, but it's like 20 degrees below normal temperature wise and there's a windchill, although those weather people are NOT talking about it on TV or radio - subversives, the whole lot of 'em!  It's a whopping 28 degrees F out there right now and the wind is blustering off the lake from the northeast, it's COLD. 

Here is is nearly the end of March and I'm back to running around in my Land's End down coat! 

It's not fit to be outdoors so I've been pounding away today on the Family Tree and already have discovered lots of new interesting things.  For one thing, Granddad Frank Newton's sister, Phoebe, had not one illegitimate children - she had two!  Unfortunately, the first one, born when she was about 20 years old, a boy, was stillborn and was named on the birth/death record I found.  How sad. So sad - not even to have a name.  It was about 14 years later that Geneva Newton, another child of Phoebe, was born.  I had imagined some grand romance built around her lover going off to fight in WWI and Phoebe and the unknown young man consummating their love (yes, I am a hopeless romantic) - and then he didn't return ...

Well, maybe that did happen, but that doesn't explain who she was fooling around with when she was 20!  Now I know people don't make a big deal out of this sort of thing today, but back then (the turn of the 20th century) - and she was born into a very strictly observant Roman Catholic Family - it must have been quite a scandal.

I want to know what Phoebe's story is.  What happened, Phoebe?  What was your life?  Who were you, really?  What did you feel?  What did you think?  Were you a rebel - a free spirit who was the first to throw off the corset and bob her hair, or were you simple-minded (as they called it back in those days) and easily led astray? 

I can piece together some facts from birth and census records, but there is so much missing - so much!  And unfortunately, everyone who might have been able to actually give me some facts and fill in some details are all dead.  I can't trace Geneva Newton after the 1930 Census, nor Phoebe either.  They were going under the name of Mineau at that time.  Did Phoebe marry?  I don't know - and Wisconsin records aren't available covering the time period in question.  I've searched and searched using wide parameters and narrow parameters at both ancestry.com and family search.org and can't find anything.  There were some Mineaus living in the same town that Phoebe grew up in, but I can't pin-point which Mineau (if any), she might have married.  What I know for sure is that she was the "informant" on great-grandfather David Antoine Newton (Villeneuve)'s death record in 1925 as "Phoebe Mineau." 

I've written about Phoebe before, and may well do so again.  I see how this hunting down one's ancestry is absolutely addicting.  And with the hit television show "Who Do You Think You Are?" on NBC on Friday nights - this is the second season and it's been fabulous! - I've no doubt that millions more people are now feverishly hunting for their ancestors by taking advantage of the 2-week free sign-up at ancestry.com.  That's how I got started (and sucked in...) LOL!

It's now been a year of searching my own family's origins.  In the meantime, I've also done trees for Mr. Don's family, my friend Ann's family, another friend's family, and my friend Isis' family - that's almost ready to go and will be a surprise gift for her when I visit next month - she doesn't read here so I'm safe mentioning it!  See- addicting!  Finally, those skills I learned in law school are being put to good use.  I am a relentless hunter and searcher.  No detail is too small or too obscure, and my memory has gotten much better because I'm remembering stuff that means something to me! 

Just today I learned that I may be shirt-tail related to both Mr. Don's mother's family (the Bouthilliers) and Isis' father's family (the Moshers) - and it's like - my head is spinning around and around!  Now I'm imagining I'm related to Queen Marie Antoinette and Catherine the Great of Russia as well :)  I'm pretty sure I've got some Native American and Jewish genes floating around, too. 

The Mosher connection comes - somehow - through Isaac Michael Belanger (Balanger), born in December, 1861 in Scott, Bay Settlement, Brown County, Wisconsin, to Aurelia Marie Francoise Brunette (10 Oct 1831 - 30 Aug 1907) and Edward Belanger (Balanger).  My line of descent is through Isaac Michael's older brother, Edward Belanger, Jr., born in about 1853.  A photograph of Isaac Michael Belanger was posted at ancestry.com by the owner of the Mosher Family Tree.  When I looked at it earlier today, curious, I lost my breath for a second - it was like looking at my grandmother, Ida Belanger Newton - I believe Isaac Michael Belanger would be her great-grand uncle.  Wow! 

The Boutilier family connection also comes through Isaac Michael Belanger!  I wonder - does it come through Isaac Michael's wife, Melanise (Minnie) Hebert?  Or through a marriage of one of their children to a Boutilier?  I have to explore further, but that will have to be saved for another time. Boutilier is a variant of Bouthillier and just about all of the French Canadian Bouthilliers are related, just as most of the French Canadian Seguins are related, and just as most of the French Canadian Villeneuves are related (on my father's side, I am descended from the original line of French Canadian Seguins through Adele Marie Louise Seguin dite Laderoute, who married Antoine Anthyme Villeneuve, another old French family).

Interestingly, the Canadian Moshers, who trace their roots to the North American Moshers, who all seem to trace through roots through one particular Mosher who came from England, are probably originally French, maybe Norman French - Mosier! 

Here is that photo of Isaac Michael Belanger that so struck me with a family resemblance to my own grandma Newton.  Isaac Michael would have been about 67 years old in this photo. The family resemblance to my grandmother, Ida Belanger, that struck me most was the eyes first of all, then the nose and cheekbones.  This Mr. Belanger/Balenger was certainly a handsome man. According to its provenance, it was taken in June, 1928, at Skelton Road in Gladstone, Michigan.  He is holding two of his grandchildren:  granddaugher Eleanor Balenger (see how the name changed from Belanger to Balanger), daughter of Adelore Balenger (one of Isaac Michael's sons), and grandson Wally Jr., son of Walter Balenger and his wife, Bertha. 

I'm wondering now - what are the odds that I would be related to my spiritual sister (Isis a/k/a Georgia) - who is from the Moshers, and my - er - good friend, Mr. Don, who is from the Bouthilliers.  Rather spooky, actually! 

Tracing the Family - Update

Wow!  I have been very fortunate that other descendants of the Balenger/Belanger lines through Jean Baptiste Balenger (Balenger) (b. 1787 Yamaska, Quebec, Canada; d. May 12, 1838 in Bay Settlement (Town of Scott), Brown County, Wisconsin, USA) have done thorough research.  Today I added a full line of ancestors through Jean Baptiste back to 1586 Normandie, France (paternal line) and via a maternal line all the way back to 1530 Bourgogne, France.

This is all very very mind-boggling.  I am still having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that there is a paper trail of my ancestors nearly 500 years long.  In my first post, I had traced my particular  Balenger/Belanger line through Jean Baptiste and Angelique Forcier, and then traced the Forcier line all the way back to France:

Guillaume Forcier b. 1623; d. 1690 St. Aubin France m. Sebastienne Gaultier b. 1625, d. 1674 France -- parents of Pierre Forcier b. 1648 in St. Aubin, Nantes, Bregagne (?), France; d. 5/18/1690 in Indian attack St. Francois Du Lac, Quebec, Canada.  He was the first Forcier in this line to tracel to the New World.

Nicolas Girard b. 1610; d. 1671 m. Francoise Huon b. 1620 d. 1725 (she was 105 years old???) -- parents of Marguerite Marie Girard b. 1643 Boulogne Ser Mer, Picardie, France; d. 8/7/1695 Quebec, Quebec, Canada.  Marguerite Marie Girard married Pierre Forcier after both families had emigrated to Quebec, Canada.

Here is the information on Jean Baptiste Balenger (Belanger):

Jean Baptiste Balenger (Balenger) (my great-great-great grandfather)
b. 1787 Yamaska, Quebec, Canada;
d. May 12, 1838 in Bay Settlement (Town of Scott), Brown County, Wisconsin, USA

Son of
Chrysostome P. Belanger b. 2/20/1751 Lislet Sur Mer, Lislet, Quebec, Canada; d. 3/3/1798 Yamaska, Quebec, Canada m. Marie Louise Dit G Godin b. 12/30/1754 Quebec, Canada; d. 3/19 or 3/20/1794 Quebec, Canada

Son of
Pierre Belanger b. 2/4/1727 Canada; d. 10/3/1792 France m. Marie Francoise Bernier b. 7/16/1730 Canada; d. 10/10/1804 Canada.  This line did not continue any further in this particular geneaology.

Now there is a problem, because on a separate genealogy by another descendant of Jean Baptiste Belanger, Chrysostome P. Belanger is the son of Pierre Balenger b. 5/3/1719 Lislet, Quebec, Canada; d. 5/4/1774 Y, Picardie, France m. Anne Clair Fournier b. 1/1/1722 Michigan USA; d. 8/7/1763 Yamaska, Quebec, Canada!  This geneaology line continues as follows:

Son of
Francois Balenger b. 12/12/1686 Quebec, Canada; d. 11/12/1727 Quebec, Canada m. Genevieve Cloutier b. 2/4/1689 Quebec, Canada; d. 5/23/1759 Quebec, Canada.

Son of
Louis Belanger b. 12/18/1654 Canada; d. 10/1/1724 Canada m. Marguerite Lefrancois b. 2/2/1665 Canada; d. 10/29/1735 Canada.

Son of
Francois Belanger b. 10/1612 France; d. 10/25/1685 Canada m. Marie Barbe Guyon b. 3/18/1624 St. Jean, Mortagne, Perche, France; d. 11/27/1700 Cap St. Ignace, Quebec, Canada. This is the first Belanger in my particular family line to arrive in the New World from France.

Son of
Francois Belanger b. 1585 Normandie, France; d. 1640 Normandie France m. Francoise Horlays b. 1590 Normandie, France; d. 1612 Normandie, France.  This is the end of this line of research.

However, there is research further back in the line of Marie Barbe Guyon, the wife of the first Belanger in my particular family line to arrive in the New World from France (Francois Belanger b. 10/1612 France; d. 10/25/1685 Canada):

Daughter of
Jean John Guyon b. 9/18/1592 France; d. 5/30/1663 Canada; no mother listed.

Son of
Jacques Guyon b. 1/6/1578 France; d. 9/29/1623 France; no mother listed.

Son of
Mathurin Guyon b. 1530 Bourgogne, France; d. 1/6/1578 France. (He died the day his son was born?  Wow - wonder what the story is behind that).  Married Mathurine Robin b. 1592 Perche, France; d. 4/16/1662 Canada.

Tracing the Family - All the Way Back to 1600s France! EEK!

Edited on March 30, 2010 to correct some details and add a few more:

I have not been posting as much as usual lately, triggered by a sad family event, the loss of a beloved aunt, Lorraine Prondzinski, one of my mother's sisters.  Of seven Jablonski sisters, only two are now living, my mother, Caroline Newton, and Aunt Christine Gonawicka.  I've been busy busy busy doing other things -

Some comments were made at the funeral that reminded me of something that I had begun way back in 1976, during the celebration of USA's 200th birthday - and some misunderstanding that I had undertaken to do a family tree.  Not!  I had done a little writing about the family line - old stories that I remember Dad telling us, but nothing more.

I was raised with tales of the Newton family ancestry.  I don't remember if I've written about this here before, but this is the family history from Grandpa Newton's side, in a nutshell:  We were from France, we came over here sometime in the early 1700s and worked our way up the Mississippi River and eventually settled in northern Wisconsin where we became lumberjacks.  We may have some Cajun blood from our time in Louisiana.  I am not certain, but vague recollection is that we may have been kicked out of France - or left in a big hurry.  Were we criminals - or religious refuges?  I don't know.

Around the beginning of March I signed up at ancestry.com for a short free trial. I found some information there, but ran into a lot of dead-ends. I searched for my father's parents, and my mother's parents. I did not locate any information at all about my mother's parents - not even her birth certificate. Frustration. I was not able to locate anything at all about my grandmother Newton (Ida Belanger) other than a 1930 census record which confirmed information I already knew: she was married to my grandfather, she had (at that time) four children: my father, my Aunt Laurel, my Aunt Faythe, my Aunt Valerie. I found a lot of Newton records, but I had no way of connecting them to my grandfather Frank C. Newton, because I could not find an online record of his birth and so had no names of his ancestors.

I CAN tell you that there are a LOT of Newtons settled in west Texas and many of them have the name Frank or Francis, but I have no idea if they are relatives. 

Today - a day off from work, while I was digging around for my tax records I came across a copy of my father's World World II service records.  Lo and behold, I found more information there than I had found through numerous fruitless searches online at archives.com.

My dad's service records contained two vital items: (1) a birth certificate and (2) his baptismal certificate.  I thus learned from my father's baptismal record that his father, Frank C. Newton, was born in Marinette, Wisconsin on January 2, 1894.  Before, I did not have a place of birth and I had not been able to confirm that his middle initial was "C" as I had found on another record.  Both of my father's records also confirmed that his mother was, indeed, Ida Belanger, who was born in Michigan - also a snippet of information (place of birth) I did not have before.

Following the path of the celebrities on the current program on NBC "Who Do You Think You Are?",  I signed up for a 14 day free trial at ancestry.com. Not having had any previous success tracing my father's family, I decided to try searching for my paternal grandmother, Ida Belanger.

Unbelievably, I hit a gold mine immediately.  Several other people have researched the Belanger (a/k/a Balenger) family line.  I found Ida right away.  The most extensive work appears to have been done by a descendant of Ida Belanger's younger brother, John Belanger, who died in 1950 (before I was born).

I hit paydirt.  Oh my, did I ever!

The family line is very large and begs for other lines to be explored, but tracing back as straight as I can make it, here goes:

My paternal grandmother (the mother of my father, Francis John Newton):
Ida Belanger b. June 4, 1893; d. January 5, 1962
(possibly born in Michigan, although some records indicate Wisconsin;
she died in Hancock, Michigan while visiting family)
m. Frank C. Newton (b. 1/2/1894 in Amberg, WI; d. 6/8/1964 in Racine, WI) sometime before August 17, 1922, when my father (their oldest child) was born, but I don't have an exact date

Parents of Ida Belanger:
My great-grandfather: Edward Balenger, Jr. (also spelled Belanger) b. 1852 to 1855; d - unknown
(born in Scott, Brown County, Wisconsin, USA; died - unknown )
My great-grandmother: Mathilda A. Forsythe b. April 19, 1861; d. June 7, 1943
(born in Wisconsin; died in Racine, Wisconsin)

Parents of Edward Balenger (Belanger), Jr:
My great-great-grandfather: Edward Be'langer b. April 16, 1822 (or possibly in April, 1821 according to another line of research); d. October 26, 1906
(born in St. Michel, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada; died in Gladstone, Delta, Michigan, USA.  Note, another line of research done by another person indicates that Edward Be'langer died in Bay Settlement (Town of Scott), Brown County, WI.  I do know know why there is a discrepancy.)
My great-great-grandmother: Aurelia Marie Francoise Brunette b. October 10, 1831; d. August 30, 1907
(born in Notre Du Rosarie, St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada; died in Gladstone, Michigan, USA)
Married on May 30, 1846 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA.  A note about Aurelia Marie's name - another line of research done by another person indicates that her name was Marie-Aurelia Brunette.  This marriage was very fruitful.  According to one line of research I have discovered, Edward Be'langer and Aurelia Marie Brunette had the following children:  Mary b. abt. 1848 in Wisconsin; Joseph b. abt. 1850 in Wisconsin; Edward (my ancestor) b. abt. 1852 in Wisconsin; John b. abt. 1854 in Wisconsin; Louis b. abt. 1859 in Wisconsin; Isaac b. abt. 1862 in Wisconsin; Lucy Theresa b. abt. 1864 in Wisconsin; Alfred b. abt. 1866 in Wisconsin; Margaret b. abt. 1868 in Wisconsin; Michael b. abt. 1868 in Wisconsin (twin of Margaret?); Peter b. abt. 1870 in Wisconsin. 

Lots of Belangers - and I'm probably related to most of them!

Parents of Edward Be'langer:
My great-great-great-grandfather: Jean Baptiste Belanger b. 1787; d. May 12, 1838
(born Yamaska, Quebec, Canada; died in Bay Settlement, Brown County, Wisconsin, USA)
My great-great-great-grandmother Angelique Forcier b. 7/10/1793; d. 1834
(born Yamaska, Quebec,Canada)
Note: I thought that Angelique and Jean Baptiste had only the one child, Edward, who is my particular Belanger and Forcier ancestor.  However, I have found a reference to another son of Angelique and Jean Baptiste: Joseph.  This information also says that Jean Baptiste was in Minnesota for awhile.  I do not have any further information on this Joseph Belanger. 

After Angelique's death in 1834, Jean Baptiste married again - Susanne Bibeau on June 16, 1835 in St. Francis du lac, Quebec, Canada.  Unfortunately, she died on May 12, 1838 in Bay Settlement, Brown County, WI.  Jean Baptiste then married again (marriage #3), Theotiste Rivard-dit-Laglanderie, on February 28, 1841.  She died on September 3, 1857.  But wait - according to one record I have, Jean Baptiste died May 12, 1838 - not his second wife.  So - who actually died on May 12, 1838?  Was it Jean Baptiste and therefore he could not have married wife #3, or was it Susanne Bibeau?

Susanne Bibeau and Jean Baptiste Belanger had two children:  Peter Belanger, b. abt. 1836, and Moyses Belanger, b. abt. 1837.  So, Edward had two half-brothers - and possibly he had one full-blood brother, Joseph (see note above).

No children are listed from the marriage of Theotiste Rivard-dit-Laglanderie and Jean Baptiste Belanger. 

Parents of Angelique Forcier:
My great-great-great-great-grandfather Pierre Francois Forcier b. August 13, 1758; d. 1835
(born in St. Michel)
My great-great-great-great-grandmother: unknown - not listed.  I found her, though, in another family line researched by another person:  Jeanne St. Germain.  They were married in St. Michel in 1785 but I have no further information at this time.
Parents of Pierre Francois Forcier:
My great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Francois Forcier b. April 19, 1724; d. March 17, 1781
???

Parents of Francois Forcier:
My great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Jacques Forcier b. 1682; d. 1750
My great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother Jeanne Harel b. 1687; d. 1769

Parents of Jacques Forcier:
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Pierre Forcier b. 1648; d. May 18, 1690
(born St. Aubin, Nantes, Bregagne, France; died in St. Francois Du Lac, Quebec, Canada)
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother Marguerite Marie Girard b. 1643 d. August 7, 1695
(born Boulogne Sur Mer, Picardie, France; died in Quebec, Quebec, Canada)

Parents of Pierre Forcier:
Guillaume Forcier b. 1623; d. 1690 St. Aubin, France
Sebastienne Gaultier b. 1625; d. 1674 France

and

Parents of Marguerite Girard (my 7x great-grandmother):
Nicolas Girard b. 1610; d. 1671
Francoise Huon b. 1620; d. 1725 (if these dates are correct, she died at 105 years of age).

So - this particular branch of the Belanger a/k/a Balenger line, via Angelique Forcier, who married into the Belanger/Balenger line, can be traced all the way back to Guillaume Forcier b. 1623 and Nicolas Girard b. 1610, in France.

I will see if I can find existing lines tracing the ancestors of Jean Baptiste Belanger.
So much more to learn...