Ancestors in 52 Weeks - I'd Like to Meet

This year's challenge is 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and is run by Amy Johnson Crow.

This is a difficult prompt to write because I'm not sure which ancestor I'd like to meet because there are so many for different reasons.

What I think I'd like to do is have dinner parties for certain people or groups I'd like to meet and talk to them.

Mother's Maternal:

Person/People: Janet Jagodzinski Gauquie (grandmother), Bernice Ostrzycki Jagodzinski (great grandmother), Walerja/Valerie  Rutkowski Ostrzyski (2 x great grandmother), Appolanus Jagodzinski.

Reason why want to meet: To get to know them and answer some questions which will never be answered.

Some Proposed questions: 

Credit

Valerie: Why did we leave Poland? Was it because of the Russians in 1905? Why did Bernice have so many names at first? Was it trying to find the right Americanized name? What really happened with Charles Wagner Ostrzycki and why did he consider you dead? (Charles was Bernice's oldest brother which moved away from the family in the US and changed his name and no one knows why. On his marriage docs he has his parents died).

Credit

Bernice: How did you meet your husband Appolanus? Why did you move all over? (They moved from PA to Ohio, NYC, NJ, and back to NY. In fact her husband was living in NYC when he died). Why did people change their names back and forth from Barry? Was it because of 'mistaken identity' as it says on one of his alien documents? Why didn't you keep closer contact with everyone in PA? Did you really keep a roster in the kitchen where it bathed in the sink? (My oldest sister remember this and it fascinated her.)

Janet: What happened to make you change your name all over the place? How did you meet Louis (husband)? Where did you marry? Why did you move all over when your children were growing up? What happened to make you become unstable? Was it how your husband was treating you? (like going without food and medications to give everything to your children?) Was it really NY Health Department that kept moving you or was it someone in the family? Did you like having Thanksgiving with us the one year we found you? Did you know we all loved you even though you were alone?

Appolanus: Where did you come from in Galicia, Poland?  Where is your sister you listed on your ship manifest? What is her name as we cannot read it. How did you meet Bernice? Was it by her brother who was working at a hotel in PA? What was going on with the robbery entry on the alien paperwork? Were you really a chef at the Lexington in NYC? Why did you change your name so many times to Leo Barry? Why did the family change theirs? Why did you live apart from Bernice? Did you kids hate you like what my mother said they did?

Mother's Paternal:

Person/People: Louis Gauquie, Jules Gauquie,  Aloys/Charles Gauquie, Jean Baptiste Gauquie, Laurent Gauquie, Florentina Van Rompaye Gauquie, Annie Larson

Reason why to meet:To get to know them and answer some questions which will never be answered.

Some Proposed questions: 

Credit: Jason Gauquie

Louis:  What was the biggest part of your father (Jules) that you didn't like? Why so much fighting with him to cause him to throw you out when you were a boy of nearly 15? Why so much moving around? Why not take care of your wife and children like they deserved? What was the huge fight that occurred in 1955 (with you saying something about your mother in law) to cause your children to leave home and get married within 6 months? Why didn't you take care of your third child instead of letting him live with your mother in law (Bernice)? Why did you choose alcohol and other women instead of your family? Why didn't I ever get to know you even though you were still alive when I was born?

Credit: Gail Boo

Jules: Why were you so disregarded and/or hated by your family (sons, daughters, brothers and father)? Did being born illegitimate play with your mind so much even though your father married your mother as soon as he found out? Why did you treat everyone so badly until your later years when you married your second wife and gave her almost everything?








Aloys/Charles: Why did you come to the US? Did you really want to marry Florentina or did you make the best out of a bad situation? Tell me what it was like to be in the first militia for Belgium? Why did you marry Margaret and then leave her and your children behind? The problems with your will and your daughter's part were huge and she fought, would you go back and change your will to spell her name correctly? Where are you buried and why can't I find you?

Jean Baptiste: What was it like to fight and deal with Napoleon? What were your views on this time?

Credit

Laurent: What did you think of your church being used by invaders for their horses? Did you support them or want them run out? Tell me more about your family and about any family in France?

Florentina Van Rompaye and Annie Larson: Tell me more about why you married the men you did? What was it like living with them? If you had to do something before your life was cut short, what would they be?

Father's Maternal:

Person/People: Feliks, Adam, Stanley, Freddy, Al Wojtkowski, Mary Slepowronska Wojtkowska, Zofia/Sofia Slepowronska Wyrzykowska, Petr/Piotr Slepowronski, Anna Zakrzewska, Florentina Murawski

Reason why to meet:To get to know them and answer some questions which will never be answered.

Some Proposed questions: 

Feliks: Please tell me a bit about our family history? How long have we lived in this area? Were we part of the nobility as having land suggests? What happened to you? Where and how did you die prior to 1906?

Credit: J. Fitzgerald

Adam: What do you make of the current political situation in the US? Do you see any alignments as to what you lived with when in Poland? What was your brother's name? Aleksandr maybe? If you had to do or could do it differently what would you do? Rest in peace and you won't be forgotten now I've found you having never known you because no one spoke of you.








Stanley: I've heard a bit about you and your brother Al. What do you think of Al? Why didn't our families keep in contact? I wish I got to know you and your family because I'd love to get to know them.

Al: I've heard a bit about you over the years with you being my oldest sister's godfather. Did you ever regret being in the mob and being wanted by the mob after you left and hid out most of your life until you got sick with cancer? If you could change anything, what would it be? Why are you buried in the south when you had a spot in New Jersey your father picked out and paid for for you?

Credit

Freddy: I would have loved to get to know you and your family, however, I'm a bit late. I wish you were still here as you were taken from us far too young. I hope your sons and our family will one day connect and join the family once again.

Mary: I admire you so much with all of the struggles you've had growing up. What was life like after Adam left for the US and left you, and my grandmother, with your family? Was there another child after my grandmother but it passed away as I'm thinking there was? Who are the other people in this photo (below)? I've connected with one of your sister's grandchildren and we're trying to meld this part of the family back together again.

Credit: K.Wyrzykowski 

Zofia/Sofia: I wanted you to know how much I admire what you and your husband did with the Polish underground and saving as many children as you possibly could even though it put all your lives at stake during World War 2. This is even after finding out your brother in law was murder in Auschwitz. Is there anything you would like to tell everyone about your life or that of your sibilings? Your grandson found your album and we don't know who these people are in the picture (above). Can you tell us a bit about them?





Petr/Piotr: Please tell me a bit about our family history? How long have we lived in this area? Were we part of the nobility as having land suggests? What happened to you? Where and how did you die after 1906?

Anna and Florentina: I admire you for keeping things going in 1906. What can you tell me about your histories. Anna, how did you become the owner of the local mill being a widowed female? Florentina how difficult was it being a wife who owned part of the land in Poland? What happened to either of you? Where are you?

Father's Paternal:

Person/People: Joannes/John Schmitz, Anna Klapperich, Mathias/Matthew Schmitz

Reason why to meet:To get to know them and answer some questions which will never be answered.

Some Proposed questions: 
Joannes/John: What did Mathias door what was the reason why he got kicked out of the house? Where are you buried? What is your history and what was your life like? With your father dying at such a young age, do you know anything about your history in the Rhineland area of Germany? What do you wish you did and didn't do? Did you miss your son or regret anything that was said the last time you saw each other?

Anna: Where you the buffer between John and Mathias? Is one of the reasons why he came back was for your funeral? Did you have much sway over John? Where you happy or did you regret marrying John? Did you miss Mathias when he left? Did you ever contact him here?

Credit: US NIS

Mathias/Matthew: Did you ever regret anything you did or said to your father? If so, what? Why did you keep getting sick when you were in the military? Why didn't you continue with your carpentry even if it was just a hobby? What made you keep going back to the alcohol? Why were you the way you were with your son, Matthew? Did you regret dying without your son, Matthew, by your side?

Yes, there are some heavy topics here but it would be interesting to see if they would answer them or if I'd have to push.



Continuation 
While writing this entry, my brother, Charles Adam Schmitz Sr (below), passed away.

Charlie A. Schmitz Sr in 2002. Credit. J. Fitzgerald

This meant we had to go back to the US. While there, some of my questions I had about mainly my maternal line were answered which was a huge bonus, but I still just want my big brother back.

Unfortunately, we all can't have what we wish for.

A-Z Blogging Challenge - The letter J is for Journeys our relatives have taken!

In 2017, there was a challenge. I heard about it from jillballau blog and more information can be found out about it on the A-Z Blogging Challenge (which was at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/) page itself. However, as I was testing links I found the A-Z Blogging Challenge link is no longer working *frown*

Many people had done this challenge in April 2017, but I’m a rebel and do things when I have time, so I’ll do mine now. I’ve been working on it over many days, and was hoping to get it all done before posting BUT it’s taking me a lot longer than I expected. I’ll do a few posts now and work on the rest. 

I know I have about ½ of this challenge done in draft format, so not too bad.  J

What can I say – I’m an original. So, here I go…

The letter J is for Journeys our Relatives have taken!

When you sit down and think about where your relatives came from, think about the travel they had to do to get to the US. Some of the reasons could be:

Before they left the country:

• Could they leave? Conscription/Draft? Military/Police to stop them?
• Did they have to report or get anyone’s permission TO leave.
• WHY did they leave?  Political? Financial?
• Did they leave alone? With family? Friends?
• How did they leave?
• What do you think their feelings and concerns were?

During the journey:

• What paperwork did they need? Could they get the paperwork?
• Would they get tossed off?
• Would the port close before their ship could leave?
• Would they get refused entry onboard if they thought they were sick?
• Would they be safe onboard?
• Would they have enough food for the trip?
• Would the ship be attacked or lost at sea?

Upon arrival at the new country:

• Where would they go once they got to the new country?
• Would there be someone to meet them?
• Did they have enough money for their ongoing trip? To survive until they got a job?
• Would they get refused entry upon arrival?

If they were refused entry:

• Would they be killed once they returned to their home country?
• Would they be imprisoned?
• Were they too sick to make it back?

 All of these questions are things you must ask yourself and go looking for as most of the time there are no concrete stories or reasons why they left but you can see what you can find by looking at the newspapers, history of the countries and what information you have on your ancestors. By doing this you can state you have reasons why you think they came to the new country. Unfortunately, you cannot have complete certainty unless they left a journal behind detailing their reasons.

In fact, one of my cousins asked me not too long ago, if I knew why our ancestors left and I told her I exactly what I put here – I can’t say for definite, but some good reasons are… and listed them. I’ll detail a few of the countries my ancestors came from and what I think are the reasons why they left.

Poland

As many of my ancestors came from Poland, you really need to sit back and study the history of this heart of Europe nation. I’m going to start this post after World War 1. Believe me most of what’s already happened to the Poles had happened between 1700-1918 when they had their lands, homes and livelihoods burnt, their language, Catholic religion and education and even in some cases lives taken away from them. Where my grandmother lived they called this Russification.

Article Snip fro JewishGen

Article taken from Trove. The full article is here.

Then came World War 1, which made everything worse and any food the Polish people had were taken by the soldiers – usually the Germans, Russians and  Bolsheviks. Then came the raping, murdering, and burning of homes. This is along with the soldiers taking food for anyone they could.

By the end of the war and the reemergence of Poland in 1918, things weren’t better because the when the Treaty of Versailles was put into place, one of the things they didn’t decide on what where each country ended with Poland. The people who signed this figured the individual fighting will decide the boarders of Poland. So while everyone else was happy about the Treaty, there was still fighting and struggles happening because each of the countries wanted as much land as they could get and this included Poland. To put it bluntly, nothing really changed for people who lived there except they were living back in Poland.

Adam Wojtkowski is on line 16. Taken from Ellis Island website although if looking under different last name.

My great grandfather had left Poland in 1913 or 1914 for the US to save up enough money to send for my great grandmother and grandmother. He needed to have everything stable before they could come over. My great grandmother and grandmother were staying with family in Malkinia, near Warsaw. However, I believe they heard about the soldiers making a march towards Warsaw and knew if they were to get out they had to get ASAP. So they decided to head towards Gdansk or Danzig where it was a free area due to the Treaty, but they knew it was going to be tricky.

Line 6 & 7 showing where my grandmother and great grandmother lived and where they were going. 

I found their Manifest of when they left for the US, so I could backtrack this towards the town. I now had a date when I could see where the fighting was in this time and what they had to endure to get there.

I believe there would have been fighting all around and they probably traveled at night where they wouldn’t be easily spotted. It would have taken them probably over a week to get there, and I’m thinking they either had friends or family to stay with along the way, along with riding along in the horse and buggy and if they had enough sometimes on the train. My great grandfather paid for the passage as it says on the documents as you can see from the above manifest in the 3rd filled out column. 

My grandmother always told us over and over again they were the last boat to leave port before it closed. However, according to the documents I found they were probably the first boat to leave after the ports reopened.

Taken from Daily Examiner on 27 July 1920. Page 5.

 And then 2 days later...

Taken from The Sydney Morning Herald on 29 July 1920. Page 8.

The ship manifest for my grandmother and great grandmother say one date but if they were delayed at all, they wouldn't have been able to leave before the 19 July. 

According to the paperwork they had a room, which my great grandfather probably did this for safety of both of them due to them being females. The steerage is really rough from what I’ve been told, so this would have been a protection for them.

Then when they got to Ellis Island, they wouldn’t have just pulled the boat up right next to the pier and got off either. Usually they were transferred to a barge and then the barge to the pier. Then unless they were US citizens usually they had to go into the building carrying their belongings. They were looked over by doctors while they were walking and if someone was questionable then they were usually pulled aside and sent to the hospital to be checked. Read more about the journey here.

Then my great grandmother would have had been tested for her language skills. This can be found on the ship manifest as the numbers. 

On line 6 it shows numbers in column 8 about the tests for language skills for my great grandmother. The date next to it is the date someone checked her file.

My grandmother's health sheet in her naturalization file

After all of that, they would have been led to the side and asked to sit down and wait. Why? Because they were female and they needed to be ‘released’ to a male. This way they can be taken care of. It might have been a few minutes or it could have been hours. There is no way of knowing, but they would have had to wait for Adam, my great grandfather, to collect them before being allowed into the USA.

Then they would have had to make it to where their new home was and there they could relax and have a sleep. However, over the next months, they would have had to get used to money, the new and strange community, new language, new money, schooling and it the list went on and on.

Belgium

Belgium is a very small country really. They had multiple take overs just like Poland. Then when they were unhappy they held revolts. Many people don’t realize the amount of times France pushed into West Belgium over the years.

Belgium was captured by Spain until 1714. Then Austria had its turn at the area.

I have been able to find, with a help of a cousin, an ancestors record from 1727! It’s in an area where France and Belgium meet basically. It’s always a huge place for many wars due to the advantage of being able to see out over the valley. Its name is Wytschaete or Wijtschate

From Wikipedia

Then France in 1746 captured it until 1749 when it was handed back to Austria. Then it was stable until 1795 when France was headed by Napoleon and he took over Belgium and Southern Netherlands. In 1798 a peasant’s war broke out in East Flanders and Ardennes. Then in 1815 Holland decided to rule the area for a bit. There were a few more take overs and mergers before 1830 when the Belgium people revolt and gain independence.

Then in 1865 there was another there was another revolution. This one occurred for many reasons mainly it was because people came to not like King Leopold. However after the revolution, there were problems. There were Dutch and French parts of the country and they could not agree on which language should be the official language. They fought over this.

There were conservative and progressive parts of the country. Again another area for people to fight over. Catholic and liberal parts of the country. As religion was a huge part of people back then, it would have caused many fights as well.

However, they still had a king ruling the country. King Leopold II. He was nicknamed the butcher of the Congo because he found the area and then exploited it for its rubber. While his country and the area he founded started to crumble, he ended being forced to relinquish his crown.

During 1847-1857 they had many different things hit the country – Economic destabilization with exporters having increasing competition from the British. Then there were the radical publications which were founded and this fueled a rebellion to go to the main government area to overthrow the monarchy to establish a republic only to be stopped/captured by soldiers. Then they had the epidemics of cholera which gave everyone a difficult time to survive.

Then in 1847 until 1880 the liberals ran Belgium and things settled down. People were starting to have a positive attitude, arts flourished as in music, theater, visual arts types of things. The economic side of things started to expand at a fast rate and had a good trade understanding with the Netherlands.

Take from FamilySearch.org

During this time is when my great grandfather Jules is born (1871). His father was away serving in the military due to the draft.

Taken from Familysearch.org

By the end of 1871, my great grandparents were married.

Taken from Family Search

In 1878, my 2x great grandmother Florentina Van Rompaye Gauquie, had died. As you can see if you understand the language, my 2x great grandfather is actually an entertainer!

Found here

I believe this spurred my 2x great grandfather to bring himself and his children to the US in about 1884 according to his statement in his Intention for US Citizenship he filed.

Came from Orange County NY Registrars office

In 1909, King Leopold II died and people still did not like him. He loved his Africa, where he was getting/selling the rubber from but they were not as good as he thought they were and things started to fail for him. The Belgian people booed him at his own funeral.

During this time, my great father met my great grandmother and in 1900 bought a property which has been known as the king’s highway, meets up to it. If you look into the history of the area, then you can see many people who fought against and for America’s independence are all around the area.

Got from here

I believe the whole reason why they came, was because they were afraid of the trade going too fast and being given very little for their food as many were farmers. If you add to this, the many cousins already in the US – in New York and Minnesota – I think they went to see if they can get whatever they could.

I have ancestors from Denmark and Germany as well, so it’s a timely thing to look up history and understand it.

As you can see, putting history of a country with what’s going on in your family is a huge thing. By doing this it brings about understanding of the times and your ancestors mind set as well! 

Mother's Day

My Experiences with Mother's Day
Every year on Mother's Day, and the few days leading up to it, my Facebook news feed gets loaded down with Thank You Mother notes. I can understand for the majority of people, this is a normal every year occurrence. I admit I never used to think of this day as something horrible and with dread. When I was growing up, I even went and made my own cards to give to my mother on this day.

One of my Mother's Day cards growing up

Then I moved from the US to Australia and I was so busy with the move, I didn't realize the day I picked, May 9, was Mother's Day. I remembered earlier that day, but between getting to the airport and my mother's "Well are we done yet? Can I leave?" mixed with with "If you get into any trouble over there I don't want to know" type of statements the statement for Happy Mother's Day just withered away along with my positive attitude on that day.

Then after we married and started to try for children, each step got a little harder during certain days and holidays. This was one of them. Now? Now, after over 15 years of trying to have children, and still no live birth, during these days, I just try and stay away from anything to do with the day because I do understand people being happy about it, but it just makes me feel like crap and a loser as a woman and wife.

How Genealogy helped me
In saying this, I was grateful this year too. Huh? How can you still feel like crap and a loser as a wife and woman?

This year I found ancestors - past women - who I am related to and am thankful they were so strong and together have made me who I am. If these women didn't have the courage and guts then I wouldn't be who I am today.


My Mother

My mother and I

My mother is very strong. Back when she gave birth to me, my father, who was in the US Navy, was out to sea when she went into labor. She was helped by my paternal grandmother to be driven to West Point but then also had to deal with having 4 children at home waiting for her while taking care of a newborn (me). This is the woman I am named after - only because she lost the bet and I'm a girl.

My Maternal & Paternal Grandmothers

My Paternal Grandmother

My Maternal Grandmother

Both of these women were very strong and brave. 
My paternal grandmother, Jean/Geneowfa, who was in my life until my teens, survived Russia, Poland during WW1 and the fighting before WW1. Later, she moved to the US at the age of 10 and learned English and about America. Later, she married, had children, and owned businesses in Newburgh, NY. Everyone loved and respected her and knew better than to try and take advantage of her.

My maternal grandmother, Janet (whom I'm part named after), I only had met a few times in my life. She was born in Pennsylvania,USA. She had many brother's and sisters, but sadly lost a few siblings before they turned 5 due to diseases. Later, she met my grandfather, married and moved to New York to be near his family. They struggled as employment wasn't the best, but she always had her mother and sister's nearby in Newburgh, NY.

My Great Grandmother's

Maryanna Ślepowron Wojtkowska

Geneowfa/Jean's mother was Maryanna. She grew up in Russia Poland among fighting and unrest. However, she married and had my grandmother while going through this. Then her husband went to the US while her and my grandmother stayed behind. After World War 1, they were finally able to leave Russia Poland on the last ship out before they closed the boarders. She arrived in the US without knowing how to speak the language and had to go through a short interview before being allowed into the country. Once inside, she was able to find relatives and set up a life for her and her family.

No known picture of Anna Klepperich

My paternal great grandmother was Anna Klepperich. She was born in Germany. I'm still looking for information on her.

No known picture of Bronislaw Ostrzycki Jagodzinski

 My maternal great grandmother was Bronisława Ostrzycki Jagodzinski. She, too, was born in Russia Poland, but left with her father and some siblings when she was around 14 years old. Her father changed her name to Bridget when they first arrived. However, when her and her husband split, she then changed her name to Bernice and moved to Newburgh, NY to be near her daughters. 

Ane / Annie / Anna Hansine Larsen Gauquie

My maternal great grandmother was born as Ane Hansine Larsen but was known later in life as Annie Larsen Gauquie. She was born in Alrup, Denmark. By the time she was 17 she was a servant on a farm like her brother and had no mother, father or grandmother. At the age of 19, she left Denmark for St. Paul, Mn.in the USA. When she was 24, she met her husband and moved to NY where she was a dairy farmer's wife and mother. She lost one child to drowning and another caught Polio. She milked cows and was even known to been injured by them. She was very loved and well thought of in the community. 



My 2x great grandmothers

 

No known picture of Hansine Emeline Nielsdatter

My maternal 2x great grandmother of Ane (or Annie), was Hansine Emeline Nielsdatter of Denmark. I am still
researching her but I do know she was 42 years old when she passed away according to documents I had found so far.

No known picture of Florentina Van Rompaye

My maternal 2x great grandmother of Joannes Julius was Florentina Van Rompaye Gauquie of Wiekevorst, Belgium. She was a very strong woman as she was a servant when she met her future husband. She got pregnant and was let go of her position, so lived with her widowed brother in-law when she had my great grandfather Joannes Julius. My 2x great grandfather was drafted into the service and it wasn't until he returned home after serving that he found he had a child. Unfortunately, I do not know where she died or is buried.

Walerja (Valerie) Rutkowski Ostrzycki

Another of my maternal 2x great grandmother of Bronisława Ostrzycki Jagodzinski was Walerja (Valerie) Rutkowski Ostrzycki. She was born in Russia Poland where she married and had children.
In fact, when she was 16, she knew who she wanted to marry, but needed special permissions. After going to the church 3 times for bann's or released in the church, her parents finally relented and let them marry. After she had children, the whole family (herself, husband and children) all left Russia Poland for Pennsylvania USA. Where she worked in many positions (including nurse) and lost her 3 youngest children to diseases. She ended up dying from Hodgkin's Disease.

Other Notable Women

On my maternal Jagodzinski's side, I do not know any further information.

On my paternal side, I do not know any further information.

I do have other great's I can go back to but there's only a few lines I can go back that far unfortunately. However, I am still not done looking...and learning.

These are the women that made me who I am, even though I have never met some of them. Each one, a you can see, had a strength in their own way to be proud of and I am proud of them and to be a related to them. If they could do what they did their much different world than what we know of today, then I can surely do the same in today's world. These women give me strength and courage to go on and try things I never would have otherwise.


In fact, I think the women's restroom sign is correct - that its NOT a dress - when you look at this strong line of women I come from.
 

Taken from http://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bathroom-sign-gender-equality-it-was-never-a-dress-tania-katan-1.jpg

To go through what these women have all gone through, they must have been super women.

I've been clustering and fanning

Did I get your attention with the heading? I hope so. You have probably noticed I haven't been around very much in the last 2 months, this is because I was busy doing some clustering and fanning of relatives.

For an in depth explanation, you can watch the video below which has come from Ancestry.com.

However, to easily say what I've been doing is asking a question about where in a country my ancestor would have gone and giving the surname or last name of the person. My my case it was Gauquie. I knew my great grandfather had come from Brussels because this is what he's put down on his paperwork I was able to find - including the census. I then found a forum which had a huge group Esen, Belgium. Another suggested I look at the Belgium Archives website. I then put the two of these suggestions together and off I went taking notes and saving any of the births, deaths, and marriage information I could find. The draw back is I have to now go into FamilySearch and get the certificates but at least I know where to look and the dates. The Archives website gives you a transcribed information but you need the certificate to get more updated information.
of Gauquie's on it. I asked the question about what town would they have likely been in. A helpful person came back and told me

My mapping of the movements of the Gauquie family.

After I went through all of that villages information, I then sat down to see if I could figure out who was the child of whom and the years. Meanwhile, my cousins and I got into a good discussion about if the Gauquie last name/surname was French or not. Within hours one of the helpful 'angels' on the forum said that the surname/last name didn't sound very Belgium it sounded more French to them. I think they are both correct, and had told them that, but we need to find the 'link' for the theory to be true. So on I went about figuring out which parent went with which children. I finally had a pretty good idea who went with whom. However, where's my link to this whole thing?

We are currently still looking for the link back to France. However, this is more difficult because it takes places during the French Revolution.

Jules or Julius Gauquie was born in Belgium. He lived in Brussels the paperwork said. Hmmm where do we fit into this large group of people? Off I went to towns and villages like Boesinge, Izegen, Elverdinge, Ploegsteert, Dikkebus, Noordschote and on and on. Finally I had to stop as it was doing my head in as there was still not a Jules or Julius. I then decided to search for his name or variants of it - nothing. I asked in the forum again and someone came back with Julius being a MIDDLE name. Great. Thankfully, someone found a group of paperwork about his birth and then about his parents' marriage.

Joannes Julius Van Rompaye (Gauquie) Birth certificate in Dutch

As his parents lived in one of the towns I had already researched, I was able to link of up information on siblings and grandparents and cousins. Using some of the family stories, I was able to start to track down if they were correct stories or not.

As you can imagine, this takes time as you are searching by town and person by person and trying to make all the puzzle pieces go together.

Was it worth it? 
You bet it was as I was able to confirm stories and link up people. It might have taken me a few months, but at least we can go back to the late 1700's and according to what I've been tracing on Google Earth, I can tell you we're getting closer to the current French boarder - only 15 miles to go.

Jules' direct ancestors - doesn't include all the cousins and such I found

If you are stuck with where to look next, you might want to give the clustering a try. Its slow but you gain so much information!