I haven’t spend a lot of time on my personal family tree in awhile. I always seem to work on the same people over and over, which is fine, but if you keep hitting that same brick wall sometimes you get discouraged and take a break.
Instead, I have decided to do more work on my French-Canadian line. When I originally entered a lot of this information many years ago, I didn’t exactly source everything like I do now. This line connects me to some big French-Canadian family lines including CLOUTIER, ST LOUIS, and MANSEAU. This is a line that I know I have a lot of cousins on, and I know a lot of them show up consistently in my DNA matches lists. I’d like to confirm a lot of this information before using it elsewhere.
The gateway ancestors I always start with are my maternal 4th-great-grandparents, Ephraim ST LOUIS and his wife Marie DesAnges MANSEAU. So far, I’ve confirmed a bunch of births and deaths using FamilySearch’s family tree and I am finding a lot more solid sources (thanks to the old Quebec parishes for keeping records.)
Hopefully, this turns out to bring in more information I never had.
The thirty-seventh ancestor in my 52-week challenge, is my paternal 4th-great-grandfather, Michael John CORRIGAN. He is the furthest back that Corrigan researchers have been able to track, as far as I know. Michael and his wife have a lot of descendants. Out of all of my lines, I have met and connected with more descendants of their’s than most others. Maybe their descendants just like to do genealogy more?
He was born about 1792 in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. My notes say that he was married on 20 December 1816 in Killeeshil Parish in County Tyrone to Elisabeth Roseann NUGENT. Together, they had a few children in Ireland before something made them leave and come to North America in about 1823. Somewhere during or after this trip, my ancestor, William Corrigan was born. Records say he was either born in the United States and born “at sea.”
They may have come to North America to find work, as they spent a bit of time in New York, possibly helping to build the Erie Canal as the entry on Wikipedia mentions:
Many of the laborers working on the canal were Scots Irish, who had recently come to the United States as a group of about 5,000 from Northern Ireland, most of whom were Protestants and wealthy enough to pay for this caravan.
After that, they moved north and settled in the Brock Township in Ontario, Canada. By the time of the 1852 Canadian Census, they had moved to the Mara Township, which was close by.
While I don’t have exact sources for this information, a Corrigan researcher sent me this a few years ago:
There was a rebellion in 1837 in Ontario and Michael Corrigan was among many families guilty of treason. The majority of them were pardoned and allowed to return on parole for three years after paying a security bond. Briefly, the rebellion was led by William Lyon Mackenzie against the authoritarian system, which culminated early in December 1837 with a abortive attempt to take over the government in Toronto. He had farmers joining him from all over the providence. Most of the rebels were captured or ran away as their take-over was foiled by government troops.
On a list of prisoners held at Parliament House in Toronto, December 13, 1837 was Michael Corrigan along with 312 others jailed there. Michael was arrested January 6, 1838 some weeks after the rebellion was quashed. He was released May 12, 1838 and pardoned on finding security to keep peace and be of good behavior for three years.
Michael passed away on 7 September 1859 in Mara Township. It is assumed he is buried near his wife at Saint Columbkille Roman Catholic Cemetery, in Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada, but his headstone has not yet been found as far as I can tell.
The thirty-third ancestor in my 52-week challenge is my wife’s maternal 3rd-great-grandmother, Rosina Winslow (Arnold) Shannon.
Multiple census sources note that she was born about 1824 in New York State (info says Three Mile bay in Jefferson County.) Her obituary in the Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Journal says that she was born in “West Canada” which is more than likely “Canada West” in terms of the 1851/52 Canada Census. Both of those locations are quite close physically as Jefferson County is very close to the Canadian border. Her parents are unknown to me, but they are both noted to have been born in New York State.
Sometime in 1838, she married Nathaniel SHANNON in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, which is right across the border from New York. In the 1852 Canada Census, the family lived on Wolfe Island in Ontario which is right on the border within the Saint Lawrence River. According to her obituary, the family left Canada and arrived in Wisconsin in about 1856, settling in the Portage County area. Nathaniel and Rosina had 10 children, including my wife’s ancestor, George Washington Shannon, whom I wrote about earlier in this series.
Nathaniel passed away in October 1878. Rosina passed away many years later on December 20th, 1899. An interesting note is that her son, Rudolph, died on this same day. I first thought maybe it was some sort of accident that took their lives together, but it seemed to be unrelated sickness. Rosina died from dropsy (now known as edema) and heart failure, while Rudolph died of pneumonia. She is buried with Rudolph at McDill Cemetery in Whiting, Portage, Wisconsin, near Plover and Stevens Point.
Sometime around 1831, Marie married Ephraim ST. LOUIS in Quebec. In 1834, my ancestor, Olivine Marie ST. LOUIS was born in Quebec. The family left Canada and settled in central Wisconsin around 1837 or 1838.
To the right is the only photo I have seen of Marie. She looks like a hard, tough woman, which is to be expected while living in rural Wisconsin the 19th century.
I have written down that Marie passed away on 16 October 1895 in Florence County, Wisconsin and is buried there, but I have no documented source for this entry. This is something I probably added early in my research when I wasn’t the smartest genealogist. My guess is that it’s probably close to the real date, but can’t confirm.
Not William Corrigan, but his brother, Patrick. I have no photo of William, but I assume he looked similar.
The seventeenth ancestor in my 52 week challenge is my paternal 3rd-great-grandfather, William “Curly Bill” CORRIGAN.
I don’t know exactly how he got the nickname Curly Bill, though I can only assume it was hair-related, but here’s hoping it was some other crazy reason.
There is some uncertain information on the birthplace of William. All of the information says he was born in 1823, but it is tough to pinpoint him. Many different records mention many different places, though most are in the same general vicinity. William was born not long after his parents, Michael John & Rose (NUGENT) CORRIGAN immigrated from Northern Ireland in about 1821. He is listed as having been born in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and just the general United States. There is also some info that says that William was born during their voyage to North America. If he was born after the trip, my money is on either New York or Pennsylvania as history points to the Corrigan family possibly working on the Erie Canal as it was being built during this time and they used a lot of Irish workers. According to Wikipedia, “many of the laborers working on the canal were Scots Irish, who had recently come to the United States as a group of about 5,000 from Northern Ireland.” Sometime after William was born his family settled in the small town of Mara in Ontario, Canada.
William married Mary McCANN in November 1848 in Ontario. It is documented that they had about 12 children, their 3rd child being my great-great-grandfather, Thomas J CORRIGAN. Canadian census records indicate that William was mainly a farmer and lived in a 1-story, log home in 1861. The family was also Roman Catholic.
William passed away on 13 July 1876 in the Mara township. I am assuming he is buried in same cemetery in Uptergrove in that area along with a lot of the other Corrigan family members, but I have yet to find his headstone.
This is a photo of my wife’s great-great-grandparents, Charles & Emma (DIETER) MORAN, and three of their children. The child on the left is her great-grandfather, Fred MORAN, born in 1891. Basing the date off of the children, this photo was probably taken in about 1900. The other two children are probably the twins, Alma & Allan. Charles was one of the first Moran children of Robert & Dorothea (COOK) MORAN to be born in Wisconsin. The rest were born in Quebec, Canada as Robert & Dorothea must have immigrated there from Ireland and later married. There were a lot of Irish immigrants in that specific area of Quebec.
1630 – Born – Jean CUSSON-CALLIOU – Jean is my 10th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born at St. Marguerite-sur-Durclair, Rouen, Normandie, France. He married Marie FOUBERT in 1656. He passed away on 8 Apr 1718 at St. Sulpice, Quebec, Canada.
1719 – Born – Josephte CHEVREFILS-BELISLE – Josephte is my 7th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born at Montreal, Ile de Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She married Antoine LAFOND in 1750. She passed away on 13 Jun 1774 at Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada.
My younger brother, Joel, also calls November 11th his birthday. Happy 25th birthday!
November 12
1934 – Died – Ida SCHAVANDIE – Ida is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born on 6 Sep 1852 in Prussia. She married Peter MUHM in 1870 and had 3 daughters, including my ancestor Minnie MUHM. She passed away at Antigo, Langlade Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at Elmwood Cemetery.
November 14
1848 – Married – William CORRIGAN & Mary McCANN – William and Mary are my 3rd-great-grandparents on my father’s side. Both were born in Ireland in the 1820s (though stories also say William was born in New York) and immigrated with their families, settling in Ontario, Canada. They had 12 children, including my great-great-grandfather, Thomas CORRIGAN. William passed away first in 1876 and Mary in 1884. I assume they’re both buried in the Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada area.
This is a slow week in my family history. Mostly just French-Canadian history and only on three of the days.
August 17th
1715 – Died – Julien Lesieur dit DUHAIME – Julien is my 8th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born about 1679. He married Simone BLANCHET in 1701. He passed away at Louisville, Canada.
August 19th
1672 – Born – Catherine JAMIN – Catherine is my 8th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born in Quebec, Canada. In 1687 she married Jacuqes DURET. She passed away on 12 Apr 1755 at Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1688 – Died – Adrian SENECAL – Adrian is my 10th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born in Rouen, France. He married Jeanne LECOMTE and passed away at Boucherville, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
August 20th
1741 – Died – Jacques Robidas dit MANSEAU – Jacques is my 8th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born abotu 1656 in St. Nicolas, Le Mans, France. He married Louise DEGUITRE in 1692 and had 10 children, including my ancestor Gabriel. He passed away at Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada. Apparently he was a soldier in the French war against the Iroquois, and one of the early landowners in the Montreal area.
1671 – Married – Nicolaes van CRAYBECK & Helena WAGEMANS – Nicolaes and Helena are my 9th-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married at Kuringen, Belgium.
August 10th
1732 – Died – Louise DEGUITRE – Louis is my 8th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born 5 Aug 1667 in Cogne, Aunis, France. She married Jacques Robidas dit MANSEAU in 1692. She passed away at Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada.
August 11th
1692 – Married – Alexis RICHARD & Claudine LANGLOIS – Alexis and Claudine are my 9th-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married at Neuville, Port Neuf, Quebec, Canada.
1736 – Died – Vincent DUCHARU – Vincent is my 8th-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born about 1660 at Menoux, Haute-Saône, France. He married Claudine HANRYOT in about 1670. They had 6 children, including my ancestor, Anne Françoise DUCHARU. He passed away at Menoux, Haute-Saône, France.
August 12th
1697 – Died – Guillaume PEPIN – Guillaume is my 10th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born about 1607 at St. Laurent, Saintonge, Xaintes, France. He married Jeanne Mechin dit DE FRONTIGNY in about 1645. He passed away at Trois-Rivieres, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada.
August 13th
1715 – Died – Marie Madeleine ROUSSEL – Marie is my 8th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born 23 Nov 1676 at Trois-Rivieres, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada. She married Gabriel BENOIT on her birthday in 1693. She passed away at Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada.
1715 – Married – Pierre LAFOND & Marie Jeanne LEFEBVRE – Pierre and Marie are my 8th-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married at Batiscan, Champlain, Quebec, Canada.
1977 – Died – Sister Mary Clarentine TROKA – Sister Mary was born Frances TROKA on 31 Mar 1910 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Joseph and Clara (SZULTA) TROKA. She is my 3rd-great-aunt on my father’s side. She took her first vows on 2 Aug 1935. She passed away in Wisconsin in 1977.
1872 – Died – Johann W G LAST – Johann is my 3rd-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born about 1820 in Prussia. Between 29 Mar 1865 and 14 Jun 1866 he was stationed with Company K, 50th Infantry Regiment Wisconsin during the civil war. He passed away in Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried with a soldier’s headstone at Union Cemetery in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.
August 15th
1853 – Born – Nepomuncema SYLDAKT – Nepomuncema, also known as Annie, is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was born in Poland (Austria) according to census records and also wins the strangest name award in my family tree. She married Ignatius SZULTA in about 1870. Her name always confused me until I ran across this entry at Wikipedia on John of Nepomuk, whom I assume the name comes from. She passed away on 22 Dec 1925 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is buried there at Holy Cross Cemetery.
1981 – Died – Joseph Frank ZALEWSKI – Joseph is my great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born October 1892 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the first boy of his parent’s 5 previous children. In 1917 he registered for World War I and was stationed with the 86th Division, Company B, 331st Machine Gun Battalion as I found out in my previois research. When he returned he married Emily TROKA and became a Milwauke City Police Officer until he retired in 1951. He passsed away at Cedarburg, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.
Looks like the beginning of the week is a bit slow.
August 5th
1667 – Born – Louise DEGUITRE – Louise is my 8th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born in Cogne, Aunis, France. She married Jacques Robidas dit MANSEAU in 1692. She passed away on 10 Aug 1732 in Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada.
1731 – Died – Francois ROUSSEL – Francois is my 9th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born about 1646 in St. Leonard, Beaumont le Roger, Normandie, France. He married Madeleine PEPIN in 1671. He passed away at Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada.
August 6th
1987 – Died – Margaret Lenore CORRIGAN – Margaret is my great-great-aunt on my father’s side. She was born 10 Jan 1912 at Ashland, Wisconsin to Thomas J CORRIGAN and Emma Jane FIRMENICH.
August 8th
1774 – Married – Joseph Robidas MANSEAU & Catherine LaFond MONGRAIN – Joseph and Catherine are my 6th-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married at St. Antoine de la Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada. They had 11 children before Joseph passed away in 1776.
1941 -Died – Frank J ZALEWSKI, Sr – Frank was my great-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born 4 Sep 1858 in Prussia. He married Anna LINDNER in 1883 and immigrated to America in 1889. He worked as a City Laborer most of his life, mainly in the Parks department. He passed away in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is buried there at Holy Cross Cemetery.
1675 – Died – Louis DEGUITRE – Louis is my 9th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born 26 Jan 1647 in Cogne, Aunis, France. In 1665, he married Renee DESEINE.
July 2nd
1892 – Born – Edna G FIRMENICH – Edna is my 3rd-great-aunt on my father’s side. She was born in Ashland, Ashland Co., Wisconsin to Mathias & Pauline FIRMENICH. She passed away on 11 Feb 1981 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
July 3rd
1705 – Married – Louis CHEVREFILS-BELISLE & Genevieve PAILLARD – Louis and Genevieve are my 8th-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married in Montreal, Ile de Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1743 – Born – Anne Modeste ROBICHAUD – Anne is my 6th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born in Port Royal, Arcadia, Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1768 she married Jacques Joseph GRIGNAC.
1863 – Born – Augusta Johanna LUEDTKE – Augusta is my great-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born at Storkow, Pommerania (which, according to some basic research, I think this is now located in western Poland and named “Storkowo.”) She lived to be over 100 years old and passed away on 14 Jul 1963 in Grafton, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.
July 4th
Happy Independence Day!
1836 – Born – Friedericke C HENKE – Friedericke is my 3rd-great-grandmother on mother’s side. She was born in Germany. She married Herman RATHKE and had 3 children. She passed away in 1908 and is buried at Union Cemetery in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.
