Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Out of Place

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

Topic:
Did you ever find an ancestor in an unexpected place? I recently discovered that my 3rd-great-grandmother didn't die in the county where I found her in every census. Instead, I found her living 4 counties away from there -- in the county where I currently live. She's even buried here. (I'm still trying to figure out why.) Maybe you found an ancestor in a record you didn't expect (like finding a member of a pacifist religion serving in the Civil War). Or maybe there's an ancestor who always seemed "out of place" with the rest of the family.

I have a few ancestor's which could probably fit this selection. One is my great grandparents and the other would probably be my mother's maternal side moving to Newburgh, NY. For each of these, there are questions around them, but I think I'll stick with my great grandparents.

I've mentioned before my maternal great grandparents - Jules and Anne Gauquie. Well Jules' formal name was Joannes Julius Van Rompaye Gauquie. He was born to an unwed mother, this is where the Van Rompaye comes from, but when his father found out, he married Jules' mother. I think there were many Joannes, as it was a common name among the region, which is why he was always called Jules, or that's what I've put together over time.

What area are you questioning? 
According to the topic, did I ever find them in an unexpected place, is the question to be answered. Boy, did I ever find them in a weird area. I'll explain below.

After I found my grandfather's last name, I did searches on the name and started to find family on things like the census of 1910, 1920, 1900. This lead me to Belgium, but I had a hard time to where to get started. I found a system like Ancestry, but it was for Europe called Geneanet. I posted what information I had there in hopes to find my great grandfather's family. After I had help finding Jules' birth entry in Belgium, I could then narrow down when he came to the US.

I contacted the county clerk in New York where they were apart of. I asked them if they had Jules or Annie's passport applications as I was looking for information about them. Also, it would be great to see if the applications had pictures so I could see what they looked like, but this was a bonus.

Soon after I received information on them both and she asked me if I knew an Aloyis Gauquie. This left me stunned because according to the birth entry this was Jules' father! I answered back stating he was Jules' father. Within hours I had an email with copies of all (Jules, Annie, and Aloyis!) their Naturalization Paperwork.  Most of it confirmed the information I had already from my research.

Part of Aloys Gauquie Naturalization paperwork. Credit: Orange County, NY Register 

What shocked me is when it stated Annie and Jules' got married in St. Paul's Minnesota from Annie's Declaration of Intention paperwork. As far as I knew, we had NO relatives there.

Page 1 of Annie Gauquie's Petition for Naturalization listing where she was married. Credit: Orange County, NY Register

Why St. Paul's Minnesota?
This is the question I went searching for many times. This and why did they leave their countries to come to the USA. Both of these questions have answers which are pure speculation on my part.

Where St Paul MN and NY are on a map. Credit for map: Google Earth

But come on this is the 1890s and this was no small trip. If you went straight without stopping from one circle to the other its 982 miles. For back then, this is a huge amount of area to travel and expensive.

Here's some history of Minnesota. France had come to this area in the 17th century and Europeans came here in the 19th century driving out the Indians.  Minnesota Territory was named in 1849 and became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858 (credit). So for Jules and Annie to be married there in 1896, it would have still been pretty young part of the country.

Robert Street Bridge in St Paul, MN Credit: LOC

You can see just how small and how less populated it was in this 1896 picture from the Library of Congress.

It was researching the Homestead Act in 1862 facilitated land claims by settlers which started me thinking about why they went there. Could it be they wanted to claim land there? But it could have been the railroad industry, led by the Northern Pacific Railway and Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad, advertised the many opportunities in the state and worked to get immigrants to settle in Minnesota (credit).

I could see Annie travelling there if she thought she could get work either on a farm or on the railway. However, would Jules? I know from the census I found, Jules was a farmer which put my thinking back to the Homestead Act and farming.

Then I found Jules had cousins in Minnesota named Jerome or Jerry/Gerry and Camiel Gauquie. I did some researching for the areas of Lake Benton, Ivanhoe, and Vallers area and its still about 150 miles which is a huge trip for Jules. However, maybe he came for a visit and ended up getting married on the way back.

Jules and Annie's marriage license and certificate in 1896. 

As I know by their marriage certificate I found, they did get married and stayed married in New York until Annie passes away in 1931 from pneumonia at St. Luke's Hospital, Newburgh, New York. 

Annie and Jules' resting spot in Blooming Grove, NY during my visit January 2019

I really want to know how they met and what attracted them to the other along with how they chose to go to St Paul, MN.

What we do know what is written inside Jules' wedding ring my cousin found a few years ago.

Jules' wedding ring my cousin Teri found. We had thought it lost forever.

It looks like it says 8 K gold. There are 2 suggestions for the rest.

A Loves JG (Annie loves Jules Gauquie) or it could say AL to JG which is Annie Larson to Jules Gauquie.

What do you think it says?

The mistake that wasn't - Ancestors in 52 Weeks

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

Topic Info:
Mistakes. We all make them. (We are human, after all.) What's a mistake that an ancestor made? What's a mistake that you've had to correct in your research? What was something that you were sure was a mistake in the records, but turned out to be right?

Background
My mother would never talk about her family. In fact, growing up when I asked, which wasn't often, I was told they were all dead and to leave it at that. It was the look sad look on her face which caused me not to push. Eventually, I left to get married and my mother opened up to me about her cousin Jimmy, which led me to my grandfather, Louis Paul. Then I kept looking, and with help, I found my great grandfather, Jules and eventually his father Aloysius Hyppolitus Gauquie. I was able to go back generations. 

Due to finding Jules' birth information, I knew Aloysius was drafted into the Belgium military and his parents weren't married until after his birth - once his father returned from serving. 

The military document showing Aloysius being drafted. Credit

Where I can, I try and put the "flesh" on the ancestors bones. I try and understand what made them do what they did, what could have been their thought processes, by finding out as much as I can about them. This was my next step to find out about Aloysius. 

I thought Aloysius had stayed in Belgium. This was my assumption. Imagine by shock when I was trying to get a picture of Jules by asking for his passport application and found Jules', Annie (his wife) and Aloysius, all had naturalization paperwork with the registrar in a nearby town where they lived called Newburgh. 

The registrar asked me if I knew of Aloysius as Jules mentions him and he seemed like a relative. I told her he was actually Jules' father and I would like a copy of anything they could give me. I found Aloysius had filed for naturalization and Jules thought he obtained it after his father became a citizen. However, he was wrong because he was termed an adult when his father became a citizen which is why he didn't become one for years afterward. 

The email I received regarding documents on Jules, Aloysius and Annie Gauquie. Credit: J. Fitzgerald

Who is/was Aloysius Hyppolitus Gauquie?
This is the question which kept going around in my mind. According to the documents I found, I had him being born in Eessen, Belgium and as he was 51 years old, it put him being born about 1847. He worked in a Creamery, and lives in Chester, NY. He's been in the US for 14 years, which put him in the US about 1884. He had at least one son, but there was no mention of his wife, Florentina, which was in Jules' birth entry documents. 

Aloyse Gauquie's Intention to become a citizen paperwork. This shows his birth and other details. Credit: Orange County NY registrar.

I went looking for census and couldn't find him. I could find Jules and could but more of his life story together but Aloysius, who was now going by the name Aloyse, was a ghost. 

Once again I went looking for other Gauquie names in the Orange County area. It's a very unique name for the area as you can imagine. In fact, I was even told my family couldn't have come from Belgium because the name isn't a Belgium one - its French. I was shocked as I had documents, but whatever. 

Where did he go?
Anyhow, I could find others and I found a Charles Gauquie. Upon looking at all the information I had on him, I found one census, in 1910, which had 3 Charles' living in the same family home. One was the head of household, aged 35, one labelled son, aged 6 months, and finally one labelled father, aged 64. The father's age put him about the same age as Aloyse, but his names Charles? 

The 1910 US Census showing the Gauquie Families living next to each other Jules' family is the first 3 lines then Charles Gauquie is the next grouping including last line of Charles Gauquie, father, aged 64. Credit

I didn't know what was going on, but started a file on this new Charles Gauquie and collected information. one of the bits of information was a will. Charles Gauquie passed away December 5, 1917 at St. Luke's Hospital, Newburgh, NY. Within these pages was a list of children. The children listed are: Charles, Fharille Holloway, and Jules. 

Charles Gauquie's will listing children about 1/2 down and Jules mentioned last sentence. Credit 

So not only is this person Jules' father, but Jules now has 2 siblings and I can start to connect the family up. 

What's also shocking is Aloyse/Charles makes it known he wants Jules, my great grandfather, to get nothing. 

Written within the will, his son Jules purposely omitted from getting anything. Credit

A Mistake? Or a Mixup?
After I found this out I then started to go through all the information I had on the Charles' in the family and separate it out. I was thinking this was a mistake and was another relative. I thought I had them all mixed and really messed up. 

I found there was a Charles who was registered in the poorhouse in 1916. Once again all the information matches what I had - age, Chester area, Belgium, amount of time in US, occupation, and parents name. This locks in this Charles WAS Aloyse. 

I asked my cousins who know a bit about the family's history about it. No one knew anything about him. I kept looking here and there because there was something I was missing, but I had huge chunks of time missing from him. 

New information comes to light - highlights my mistake that wasn't
One day I was checking my email and I had an email from a person looking for information on Gauquie's in Chester, NY. When I asked the person for more information, I got a shock. 

He said he has information of a Charles Gauquie was his 2x great grandfather. He was married to a Margaret and and a few children one of which was George Charles Gauquie, but he grew up knowing the name of Joseph, and with the last name of Wittman/Whittman. He asked if I knew anything of this and I didn't. I told him I believed him, due to gaps in my research, but we needed to see if we could join the information in paperwork. 

He said his father actually had to legally change his name to what he wanted it to be because according to the Social Security Administration he was still George Charles and couldn't get his pension until his name was changed legally. I asked for paperwork and he didn't have any. It took me awhile, but I eventually found it listed in the newspapers. 

Newspaper notice of change of name. Credit

The final notice of change of name becoming legal. Credit

This is how close Goshen and Chester NY are to one another. Credit: Google Earth

I finally found the 1910 census which linked a Charles, same year of birth, in the Goshen, NY area, which is close to Chester, NY.

He was married with a Margaret and lists children which just happened to match up with some of the ones I had found information for. There was a Charles, Margaret, Joseph, Caroline (suspect she was known as Carrie) and the other kids were known as S child or step child.

Cropped 1910 US Census showing the Gauquie family with step family. Credit

I was finally able to find Aloyse's son Charles' Obituary when he died in February 1952. He lists his father as Charles and born in Belgium. This puts even more weight with him being the same person.

Son Charles' obituary listing a Charles Gauquie as his father. Credit

Caroline(Carrie) and Ella's headstone. Credit

Filling in the Timeline
I sat down and made up a timeline using both of his names. George Charles, it was known he was called Joseph though, was born in 1899, which was right around the time my timeline stops. My new cousin gave me George's brother's name Frank John Gauquie born in 1905 which was still in the time where I had nothing. 

Then there's Ella.

In my earlier research I had come across a headstone for an Ella Gauquie who was born in 1902 and died 1907. The interesting part? Ella was buried with another girl called Carrie Wittman which would put them step sisters. This is on your right.

First I put everything I had down for Aloyius, or Aloyse. Then I started to add everything I had about the Charles person I suspected. Finally adding the census and my new cousin (the person had contacted me) information in. 

The evidence was stacking up with the connections. It's really uncanny on how the information fit like a key into its lock. The results are outstanding. Everything fits. See below.

Finally, what is really interesting is when Charles made out his will, he still did not mention Margaret, nor any of their children, in it. We do not know why he he had done this. I don't think it's a question anyone will ever be able to answer.

The Final Part
Sometimes things just fall into your lap and this is what happened next. My husband and I had done our DNA tests mainly to see what they'd come back with and where it would be tracked back to.

Imagine my shock when I checked my DNA matches, and the person who emailed me - my new cousin - comes up as a relation in the DNA list. It puts him down as a 3rd cousin which is about right but so many times removed.

Cousin Thomas' DNA against my DNA. Taken from my Family Tree DNA account.

I still cannot find why or where he changed his name officially. I'm now of the belief he changed it to make it sound more American. I'm not sure why he decided to do this when he did. I think he may have left Margaret, and all of their children and step children, because he might have fallen into bad times and couldn't support them. I think he left them, in hope people would be more likely to help her and the kids than with him being with her.

If you put all the information above together, I believe there is no doubt Aloysius Hyppolitus Gauquie is also Charles Gauquie there is just no paperwork to confirm it.

Which is easier to find.... Ancestors in 52 Weeks

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

Topic Info:
Not all ancestors are tough to research. This week, who has been easier to research than others?

Jimmy Sherman (I believe) taken before his death.
Credit: University of South Florida Libraries, USAF

Growing up, my mother never spoke about her side of the family. When I pressed she told me they were all dead and we didn't need them. However, once she told me about her cousin James 'Jimmy' Sherman, on the cusp of my leaving to get married, I started to get interested. After things with my marriage settled down, which took a bit of time due to the 3 fires and a wedding and moving countries, I started asking questions. My mother didn't give me much, so I had to take what I could get. 

Louis Gauquie in undated picture.
Credit: J. Gauquie

One piece of information was my maternal grandfather's name, Louis Gauquie (left). Yes, growing up I didn't know his name, but knew he was dead. (However, among my research I found he had died when I was very young.) I went researching and things started to grow.



Once I was able to pinpoint my grandfather's name and knew about the location, I started finding great aunts and uncles as he was 1 of 7 children that my great grandparents had. Then I went looking to learn more about this side of the family - who had lived only about 10 minutes away from where I mainly grew up in the Hudson Valley in New York. 

Picture of Helen Gauquie who passed away in 2014. Credit

From there I found Helen Gauquie, who had just passed away, when I did a normal search on Google. From there I was able to pinpoint Helen's children and I left a message, including contact information, on the memorial page. Before long, I was contacted by my mother's cousin, Teri, and she put me in contact with my direct cousin and uncle. My cousins and uncle I met in January/February 2019. 

Anyhow, this led me to trying to figure out the rest of the family, which was a waterfall of information when I started to find it. By waterfall, I mean, I found out a lot about my mother's aunts and uncles, and then I started to find out about their children, and so on. Once I was confident about them, I turned my sights onto my great grandparents and trying to go backwards. 

Jules Gauquie born Joannes Julius Van Rompaye Credit: Gail Boo Ancestry

I found out a bit about Jules Gauquie. About him being a farmer, helping out the fire departments, and letting kids use his pool, things along those lines. I found his obituary and found he had gave something to all his kids. However, when I started to ask my mother's cousins about him, then we started to learn things about public vs private personality. 

I had found out where Jules came from - Belgium. However, I didn't know how to go about getting the information I needed and stumbled across a website called Geneanet and their boards where you can ask questions. I asked a question and within days I had people helping and sharing where they were getting information. In fact, they found the birth entry of Jules Gauquie, who was actually born Joannes Julius Van Rompaye. This was due to the fact his father, Aloysius Hyppolitus Gauquie was chosen to be in the first Belgium military draft according to the documents behind the birth entry. These documents listed Jules' parents, grandparents and areas within Belgium. 

By this point, I was telling my cousin, who is a Gauquie, about what I had found. One of my helpers in the Geneanet website pointed me to the Belgium Archives. We all wanted some of the questions everyone started to have answered. 

My 3rd Great grandfather Desire Gauquie's entry in Belgium Archives translated.

It took me about a month working with the Belgium website to try and figure out who belongs with who in the entries, which went from Dutch, to French, to what I think is Flemish Dutch to get through the records, but thankfully the Belgium website can be translated to English. I had pages of notebooks written with people's names and information about them along with screenshots, so I could go back and reference what I had been finding.

I used what people call the FAN technique or even use the words cluster genealogy to describe it. I read about it but never had used it before but thought it would be a good use here. 

One of my many FAN sheets I've used to show connections.

Before long, I sat back and looked at what I had found and Wow! I believe I found quite a bit of the family links and where we all come from. Along the way, I was contacted by another cousin of mine who lives in Paris, France of all places. He agreed with my findings and he had gone back one more generation which isn't online. He actually went to one of the locations and into the church to find my what I think is my 7 x great grandfather dating back to the 1700s! 

This cousin's line comes off this person who had a son who went to Paris and the other stayed in Belgium. 

These trees (above) were put together by cousin Herve in 2015. Credit: H. Costille

I'm still trying to put more branches on this side of the tree, but to do this, I have to go page by page in FamilySearch looking at original documents in other languages looking for other people in the family. 

Because of how much information I had and am encompassing, I started up a few Facebook groups, one of which being the Gauquie Genealogy group, so any relations can get to know the other, share information as its a private group, and we can put this Humpty Dumpty family egg back together again. 

The chart from my 2x great grandfather Desire and the stars above are some of the business and people listed below. Credit. J. Fitzgerald

So far, because of the group, we've found connections to the Gauquie Hotel and the family who resided there, the family connection to Galloways Garage in Newburgh, NY, the family connection to Devitts in New Windsor, and the connection to the Van Rompaye Trucking Corp in Chester, NY. 

My 2x great cousin Louis Van Rompaye in front of his business in Chester, NY over 100 years ago. Credit

Of course there are still questions, but this list is starting to get smaller - Thankfully. I just need the time to sit down and go through FamilySearch for the information. 

Where there's a will there can be...secrets - Ancestors in 52 Weeks

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

Information on the Topic
This can be a fun theme! Maybe the will you're thinking of is a legal document. (There are certainly some intriguing finds in wills, such as my ancestor who left money to provide for the education of his daughters.) Another way to approach it would be an ancestor who was strong-willed or tenacious. Could there be an ancestor named Will?

The hardest part of anyone researching family history is when you make the jump from the country you knew ancestor was in back to where they had left from. There are so many variables which can go wrong. What helps is the documentation you might find in the country where you know the ancestor was and they give you this information. For me, that ancestor was my great grandfather Jules. However, I didn’t know where to go to look for information on Belgium because my basic knowledge was of it has a country in Europe. That’s it. Boy, was I in for some major learning. 

First, I got to know what the country is and what it looked like. Next, was the languages - Flemish and French - which shocked me. That’s not what I was expecting. I never even heard of Flemish before! However, upon going back to the census information I found they listed that language as the one spoken when Jules was growing up, so it had shocked me, but also proved I as on the right track through it all. 

Credit: US 1910 Census - You can clearly see Flemish Belgium on the first line for Jules

Next came trying to find more information in Belgium and Jules’ family in Belgium. Who were his parents? Where did they go? What did they do for a living?  Just to name a few things. Slowly Jules’ history was starting to fill in once I found Geneanet, a social media platform for family history which has a big of information of Belgium family history. I had some people there help me and they found the beginnings of the information and passed it along to me which then I took off with. 

My questions were starting to be answered slowly. Jules’ parents were Aloyse and Florentina. Jules’ was born illegitimate due to his father being drafted. I had newspaper reports a few times which stated Jules’ went back to help or visit family in Belgium. I decided to contact the local county registrar to see if she had the application for him or anything for his wife, Annie. The way I always look at it is if you don’t ask a question you will never get an answer to it, so I asked it and gave them all the information I had on their travels. 

Jules' birth entry and the entry making him legitimate on the right. Credit

Within 24 hours, I had some answers. The registrar's office of the county, who I contacted, asked me a few questions including if his father was Aloyse. This confused me but I agreed it was thinking it might have been one of the blanks Jules had filled in on the application which they were using to link my information to his. Next, what blew my mind was I received another email which had 4 attachments to it - all information on Jules, Aloyse and Annie. It was all for free which is/was almost unheard of. 

Aloyse actually came to the US, and filed, and later became, to be a US citizen. I now had this paperwork in my hand! This meant Jules’ father came to the US and is there some place. This spurred me on to do more researching for Aloyse all around the area I grew up, and was put onto his documentation. 

Alyose applying for US naturalization in 1898. Credit Orange County Register Office

It seemed like he had disappeared. Poof! I found a small child, Ella Gauquie, who had passed away in the town he was quoted to be in and around. Jules’ sister was in the same area. But where was Aloyse? 

Ella Gauquie headstone Credit: Find a Grave

Then I started to go over what information I had for Jules, including his brother who was on the same census and lived next door at one point. Then I looked again at who was in his brother’s household. There it was - Charles, head, Charles, boy of 1 1/2, and Charles, father of head aged 64 who's place of birth was Flemish Belgium. Whoaaaa!  Charles’ father was Aloyse not this other guy named Charles. And the place of birth is where Alyose is from. What the...? 

You can clearly see the 3 Charles information on the above 1910 census. Credit

Also, what confused me was there was a Charles Gauquie who was listed in a poor house, same age, with the same parents listed as I found in documents in the Belgium Archives for him. It had to be him. 

Found this for Charles Gauquie in 1916. The mother and father information listed is for Alyose's parents. Credit: Ancestry

Then I searched for Charles once again. Up came information... a census in 1900?  But married to another person - Margaret? And had a boatload of kids listed too. Next bit of documented information was a will for Charles Gauquie. I didn’t think much of it - at first. 

Charles (above) matches in Birth information, age, if you look it says Germany and above it is Belgium so someone was trying to lie. Parents information is wrong and the date of citizenship is wrong too. What's interesting is the wife and last child. Credit

I started to go through it again, writing down small things trying to understand the linking up of this to the guy I knew as Aloyse. 

What shocked me was he listed 3 children - Jules, Charles and Pharailde - all of the areas I knew they lived in and the ones listed around on the other documents above. 

Then I spied something which agreed with what others, that I talked to within the family, had been saying about Jules - that he was a nasty man in private but wanted to look good in public. Charles/Aloysius will seemed to back this up by stating, point blank, he did NOT want his son, Jules,  to get anything of his. He wanted it to all go mainly to his daughter, Pharailde, but if she wasn’t there, then it was to go to Charles. 

Part of Charles/Aloysius will which states he does not want Jules to get anything. Credit

There were many motions and others speaking to this to the courts, but it seemed the courts put more into spelling and not others words or testimony as because the person who wrote out the will spelled his daughter’s name wrong, the court decided it was null and void for everything to go to his daughter. 

One of the many pages in the probate record in 1917. Credit

As there was no documents she could show she was his true daughter, the judge wanted both his sons, Charles and Jules, to show up and state they were his sons, which is what they did. 

One of the other pages of Charles/Aloysius probate record showing children. Credit

The court's decision was to split Aloysius assets between them and leave the daughter out, was made even though his daughter took care of his burial, his assets, etc she didn’t even get a fee for that. 

I believe her brother, Charles, gave her some of his inheritance, but that’s just completely wrong. 

There was nothing more on Jules in the documents so I’m thinking he took the money and ran. No wonder why there was a break within the family! 

I still don’t know where Aloysius/Charles is buried, but I do know he was buried. I do know he spent much time around Chester, as his first wife’s sister and brother in law (the ones Aloysius' first wife was living with when she gave birth to Jules - Coletta and Joannes/John (born Jan Baptist)) lived in the area. I think Jules might have been named for him as his first name is Joannes then Jules. 

This is one of the conversations I had with someone on Geneanet regarding Jules' birth. 

Notice the yellow areas and this is what I referenced above.

I’ve researched it and John or Joannes IS buried, along with his wife Coletta, at Saint Columba Cemetery which is on the church grounds of the family church in Chester, NY. The same one I was a bridesmaid in a wedding back in 1996. One day, I’ll have to go for a walk and document these when we get back to the US. 

His headstone and entry on Find a Grave

A few years after this, I was actually contacted by someone claiming to be another cousin of mine. He was telling me about this guy named Charles and how his great grandmother, Margaret, had married him after her first husband died and had a few kids. Then the guy just disappears on her leaving her with the kids from both her first and this marriage. 

The guy who contacted me said his father didn’t know anything about there being a Gauquie connection, until he went to file for social security and found his last name was Whitman but Gauquie! He had to get his name switched after finding out about it. 

Over the years I found the articles about this and I had this cousin also come up on my DNA list so we are definitely cousins. What a shock it was. Yet, Aloysius/Charles never put any of them down in his will which saddens me. All children should be recognized by their parents no matter how crappy they were. 

If you add the above to what Jules’ wife had put into her will which I discussed in this blog post, boy Jules was some work of art!

2017 A-Z Blogging Challenge - The letter B is for Belgium!

Earlier this year, 2017, there was another 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, 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 B is for Belgium!

Yes, Beligum. This is for my maternal grandfather’s side of the family. They lived in this country back to the 1700’s. My great grandfather Jules, my 2x great grandfather, Alois and Alois’ children all immigrated to the USA in the late 1800s to early 1900s.

From Google Earth in 2015 - Family from Belgium plotted using yellow pins

I do know Alois was a colorful character. He was born in Belgium and ended up being drafted into the Belgium military when he was very young. He served, but either while he was serving or just before he left to serve, he spent the night with Jules’ mother, Florentyna. I’ve never heard of a name like that before researching and finding her. Jules was born illegitimate while his father served. About 9 months after Jules was born, Alois arrived back and found out about his child. He married Florentyna and they had 2 more children. This is where I don’t know what happened to Florentyna as I cannot find anything more about her from here.

Alois Gauquie National Militia paper

My great grandfather Jules' birth record and notation regarding parents.Credit Belgium National Archives.

Alois, on the other hand, I pick up coming to the USA and he lived and worked around Orange County, New York. I know this because I have obtained his naturalization papers. However, I’m not sure what happens to him but I suspect he might have changed his name for some reason. I do have a will in another name which states all 3 of the kids (one being Jules and the others are his siblings which match up) in the will. My great grandfather is awarded nothing.

Extract of Alois' Naturalization paperwork from Orange County Registers NY office.

Now there is a bit of non agreement with this tiny part. Aloyse drops out of site technically from this point. However, I did find a Charles Gauquie who lives in Chester, NY, like Aloyse's naturalization states he does. This Charles Gauquie puts in his will he wants son, Jules, to get nothing in his will. Below I will put the handwritten full page and then a close up of the part where this person omits Jules. Make your own decision....

Charles/Aloyse's 1918 will regarding leaving his son Jules nothing. Credit FamilySearch.org

A close up of the interesting area of the above will with Jules getting nothing. Credit FamilySearch.org

Jules is another interesting character. He sounds very well thought of in the newspapers with being so active in the community and church. However, the stories passed down where something else altogether. To put it bluntly, he was a bastard. He didn’t treat his wife or kids right at all. Unfortunately, this was passed down to the grand kids and then to the great grand kids. It’s a cycle we are still trying to stop today, but failing unfortunately.

1936 11 Aug -Julius Gauquie coming back home from Belgium Middletown Daily Times

1938 9 Apr - Julius Gauquie Fire Dept - Middletown Times Herald

1938 25 Feb  -Julius Gauquie Church car party -  Middletown Times Herald 

Getting back to Belgium, upon doing some research, I found many cousins who are still living in the areas today which is nothing short of amazing considering the World War 1 took place along most of the towns they all lived in. In fact, some of the cousins have fought in the World War 1 and survived. For more information you can click on the Credit link below for books and other information.

The principal town around which the fighting in Flanders revolved was Ypres, and the area around the town of Ypres was also known as the Salient (see below). This region was fought over from October 1914 until practically the end of the war in November 1918. Credit

Going back even further, one of the smaller towns along the border, called Wijtschate or Wytschaete, I have found back in the early 1700s that Napoleon used the church to store his horses when he rode through the town (as it says in the image below). As it’s still a very small town, I would say my ancestors probably had talked or had helped him in some way back then.

Credit

Hopefully, in the future I can go over and meet them all in Belgium. This, in itself, should be fun because I don’t speak Dutch or Flemishwhich are the languages spoken.