#52Ancestors - At the Courthouse

                I truly enjoy researching at the courthouse.  There are so many treasures to be found!  Whenever we plan a genealogy road trip, we make sure at least one day is a weekday so we can go to the courthouse to find the wonderful information that is there.  I know each courthouse is different in where the records are kept, so make sure you ask for information when you go in.

                I visit the Magistrate Judge’s office to find marriage licenses for family members.  (If you don’t find them in the county they lived in, it doesn’t hurt to try neighboring counties).  This is the office where the probate records are kept.  These envelopes can be packed full of information.  There are the basic records detailing the division of the deceased’s property.  Some of the extras that can be found are receipts for the funeral expenses, records of the estate auction (items sold, to who and the amount they brought), affidavit of death giving the exact date and location of death, names and addresses of beneficiaries and more.  Adoption and Insanity records can also be found in the Magistrate’s office, but it is up to the Judge and the laws of the state whether you will be allowed to view those records. 

(The beautiful Lincoln County Kansas Courthouse)

                After the Judge’s office, I always make a stop at the Clerk of the District Court office.  This is the office where civil court case records are kept.  You can find divorces here, along with civil law suits.  The records I find in this office never fail to entertain me.  Reading old divorce records can be highly entertaining.  I found a divorce that was filed by the husband because his wife refused to give him his “husbandly rights”.  She countered by saying he was a rogue.  Which was the truth?  We may never know.

                It never hurts to stop by the County Clerk’s office.  In some Kansas counties, they have a book of early births and deaths.  Before it was required to register births and deaths with the state, there was a book at the courthouse where doctors, undertakers and family members could stop by and register those events.  It was not required, so there is no guarantee that you will find what you are looking for, but it is worth a try. 

                Then I go to is the Registrar of Deeds office.  The work in this office is more difficult for me, but it is well worth the time.  In this office you can find information on where your ancestors lived, when they moved there, when the land was sold and to whom.  They have township maps that will show the locations of the land and who the neighbors were.  The Registrar of Deeds office also holds one room schoolhouse records, immigration records and military discharge papers. 

                Finally, if I have found out that there is still a house on the ancestor’s land, I stop at the county assessor’s office.  If you can give them an address or exact location of the home, they can tell you what year it was built and if there have been any major remodels or additions and the year on those. 

                It is always worth scheduling a day to spend at the courthouse in the county your ancestors lived in.  Time spent there is time well spent!

#52Ancestors - Family Photo

                I love photos.  Everyone who knows me knows that I rarely go anywhere without my camera.  I photograph wildlife, landscapes and people.  I especially love old photos and always have.  I remember sitting with my great grandmother having her tell me about her Uncle Enoch and showing me his photo.  I search out the old photos, contacting distant cousins in an attempt to put faces on the names that I have spent so much time researching.  To me, it makes everything mean so much more when I can look into the eyes of that person. 

                In our families, we have lots of couple photos and individual shots.  But family photos are few and far between.  The few that we have are true treasures.  One of the best days of research for me was the day I met Tillie Talbot.  She was married to Gedeon and Flavie (Provost) Talbot’s grandson.  She still lived in Greenleaf in a cozy little house.  When I got to her house, she had a small cardboard box sitting on the table.  In it were several 7x9 mailing envelopes.  She invited me to sit down and go ahead and look through them.  Each was labeled, one for Gedeon and Flavie and on each of the others was written the name of one of Gedeon and Flavie’s children.  Inside each envelope were beautiful studio portraits of the families of all but three of their children.  Two of them just had a studio portrait of one of their sons.  There was no photo of little Aurelie, who had died in Illinois.  I was so excited!  I think I bounced in the seat of my pick-up all the way home!

               

The Wilhelm & Bertha (Reich) Quade family, circa 1912.

The girls from L to R: Olga, Hulda, little Bertha, Marie.  Father Wilhelm is standing and Rudolph is the son in back.  Walter is standing at right.  Those seated are Peter, Fred and mother Bertha holding baby David.  

Another family on my husband’s side, the Wilhelm and Bertha (Reich) Quade family, had their own camera and took photos of their farm home near Blue Hill Kansas, various family members and a beautiful family photo with all of them but the son who was behind the camera.  It was taken in the yard of their home, the girls all dressed in white, the boys all wearing shirts, ties and pants. One of my favorites of their snap shots was a photo of my husband’s grandmother Bertha with two of her little brothers posing in front of the family Christmas tree in about 1915.

Hulda Quade & Alfred Lick pose for a
snapshot on their wedding day.  They are
standing in the living room of the home
where Hulda and her siblings were raised
near Blue Hill, Kansas

When their second daughter Hulda married Alfred Lick at their farm home on the 10^th of May 1916, the family camera was used to snap several very special photos.  Hulda and Alfred would later pose for a formal studio portrait in their wedding clothes, but on the day of their wedding, the Quade family photographer took their photo in the living room.  I love the crepe paper bell hanging over their heads. 

The second photo tells the story about how close Wilhelm Quade was to his siblings who remained in Missouri.  It was taken outside the house with everyone who was at the wedding posing on the porch.  It is nearly impossible to put names on all of the faces, but two of the gentlemen on the right side of the photo in front are Wilhelm’s brothers.

  

A true treasure.  Look at how many relatives and friends filled the Quade home for Hulda and Alfred's wedding!

The three photos we have of Hulda’s wedding (the third was taken inside the house and has the happy couple, the best man and maid of honor) were printed on post card backs and in Hulda’s beautiful script was written “Bertha”.  She had had copies made for her seven year-old sister Bertha. 

                The sad thing about these photos is that just six days after the Lick’s second anniversary, Hulda passed away.  She left Alfred with one year-old son Marvin. 

                We have not found photos like this of the other Quade children’s weddings.  Surely they were taken, we just have not found the person who has them.  Hopefully we will find them someday!

#52Ancestors - Love

                There are so many love stories in a family tree.  Without them, we wouldn’t be here.  But some love stories tug at the heart strings and cannot be forgotten, no matter how many generations pass.  One of those is the story of Gedeon Talbot and Flavie Provost.  Gedeon and Flavie were both born in French Canada.  They married in a double ceremony with Gedeon’s best friend, Solomon Lanoue and Flavie’s younger sister Julie Provost on the 29^th of September 1846 at Henryville, Quebec. 

                The Lanoues and the Talbots remained close all of their lives.  Where one couple moved, the other followed shortly thereafter.   Gedeon and Flavie started their family in Henryville with the births of their first three children; Julia, Victoria and Mary.  They moved to Kankakee County, Illinois like so many other French Canadians after Mary’s birth.  Daughter Aurelie was the first of their children born in the United States, born on the 21^st of September 1856.  In Kankakee County they welcomed six more children in addition to Aurelie; Joseph, George, Napoleon, Alfred, Josephine and Rosanna.  On the 7^th of January 1866 they suffered for the death of a child. Nine-year-old Aurelie passed away and was buried at St. George Cemetery in Kankakee County. 

                It was around that time that Gedeon took part in a trade mission through Kansas Territory and on to Pike’s Peak.    He loved the country and decided to move his family to this new land.  Illinois was crowded and there was no room to expand his farm.  There was no available land for his sons to farm when they came of age.  It was time to move on. 

                Gedeon put his land up for sale and in 1868 he left for northern Kansas to establish a claim.  In February of 1869 Flavie brought the younger children on the train, along with Victoria and her husband Eugene Fountain.  They got off the train at the last stop, which was Waterville, Kansas.  They loaded their belongings into two wagons and headed west to where Gedeon’s land was.  Eugene drove one wagon, Joseph drove the other.  Gedeon had built a lean to which in later years they joked was a “lean to with nothing to lean on” for the family that first winter.  It was a bitterly cold winter and the family nearly froze. 

                The Talbot homestead was on the southeast side of what would soon become the town of Greenleaf, Kansas.  Solomon and Julie Lanoue had also left Illinois and they settled on the southwest side of town.  The two families were the earliest settlers of Greenleaf and were responsible for the establishment of the Catholic Church there.  The first services were held in the Lanoue home until a frame church could be built. 

                Gedeon built a beautiful frame house for his family in 1871.  Until just four or five years ago, that home was still lived in and though now deserted, it still stands on the southeast side of town.  At this home, Flavie gave birth to their last child on April 15^th, 1872, a son named Phillip. 

                All of Gedeon and Flavie’s surviving children married and settled in north central Kansas.  Daughter Julia had married Marcel Balthazor in Kankakee County and they came to Kansas in about 1870, homesteading near Clifton.  Eugene and Victoria settled in Clifton.  Mary married John Baptiste Provost (no close relation to Flavie and Julie that we can find) and moved to St. Joseph, Kansas.  The boys married and settled right there in Greenleaf.  Josephine married Lue Odette and moved to Clyde, Kansas.  Rosanna married Napoleon Mailloux and lived in Kansas until after the turn of the century, when they moved to South Dakota.  The family was close and they often visited each other.

                In 1886 Gedeon donated a section of his land for the building of a new Catholic Church.  It was a beautiful brick structure and he and his sons helped construct the building.  Son George Talbot and his second wife, Ella Hayes, were the first couple married in the new church.  Son Joe’s daughter Ella was the first child baptized there.  

Gedeon & Flavie (Provost) Talbot pose for a photo at Smith's California Photo Car in late 1886.  Gedeon carefully wrote their names and ages on the back and the date the photo was taken.

                Solomon and Julie Lanoue moved to Concordia Kansas where many of Solomon’s siblings had established homes, but they rode the train to Greenleaf often to spend time with Gedeon and Flavie.

                The love that Gedeon and Flavie shared was one for the ages.  Together with the Lanoues, they had a large 50^th Anniversary celebration in Greenleaf with over 75 family and friends present.   Both couples renewed their vows at the Catholic Church and then went to the Talbot home for dinner and celebrating late into the evening.  The articles say that Gedeon and Flavie were hale and hearty at the ages of 71 and 69 respectively. 

                Flavie Talbot died suddenly of a stroke on the 7th of January in 1899. Her funeral was held on January 9^th in the church her husband and sons had built.   Gedeon was devastated.  Family legend says he set his affairs in order and went to bed to die, for he couldn’t live without his Flavie.  Upon further investigation, I found that this was likely true.  Gedeon wrote his will just days after Flavie’s death and filed it at the county courthouse.  He named his lifelong friend Solomon Lanoue to be the executor of his estate.  On the 13^th of January the Greenleaf Sentinel reported that Gedeon was “quite sick with pneumonia.”  His daughters took turns making their way to Greenleaf to care for him.  Gedeon Talbot died on the 16^th of January 1899, just nine days after Flavie.  His funeral was held the following day and he and Flavie rest together at Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery, just a mile or so east of the house they lived in for 28 years.  One has to wonder, was it really pneumonia that killed Gedeon Talbot, or did he die of a broken heart?

               

#52Ancestors - SURPRISE! (or Did You Know About the Axe Murderer in the Family?)

                In all of the years of research (close to thirty now!) there has been no greater surprise than finding the true story of L.J. Tremblay.

                I need to start out by saying that I do collateral genealogy.  I research all of the children, not just the one we are descended from.  I have found information and some great photos by tracking down those siblings.  My mother-in-law is descended from the French-Canadians that settled in Cloud County, Kansas.  I have done quite a bit of research on the French-Canadians and help people with them. 

                 Louis Julien Tremblay was doubly connected to my mother-in-law.  He was the nephew of her great-great grandfather, John Baptiste Tremblay.  On the third of April 1894 he married Corinne Boisvin, who was the niece of Gayle’s great grandfather, Marcel Balthazor.  Louis Julien was known as L.J. Tremblay.  He and Corinne were the parents of 15, yes 15 children!  They lived in Cloud County for most of their married life, with the exception of three or four years spent in Canada.  L.J. was well known in the county.  He was the township assessor. 

                On March 14^th 1921, Corinne Tremblay passed away after gall bladder surgery, leaving L.J. with seven children still in the home; Theodore (17), Philip (15), Albert (13), Francis (11), Alphonse (9), Cleo (6) and Mary Anne Valerie (4).  Little Mary Anne went to stay with her older, married sister Rosanna Sorrell, instead of staying in the houseful of men. 

A newspaper print of a family photo of the L.J. Tremblay family, taken around 1920.  There were three children that died in infancy and one as a teen.

Back row L to R: Philip, Alphonse, Francis, Theodore and Albert.  

Front row L to R: L.J., Cleo, Rosanna (Tremblay) Sorrell, Adelaide (Tremblay) Savoie, Margaret (Tremblay) Ribordy, Mary Ann and Corinne.  

                I found L.J.’s date of death and decided to look for his obituary.  I was just starting to put the pieces of the family together and obits are a great place to start.  I went to the local library and fast forwarded through microfilm, looking for the date.  When I stopped the microfilm on the correct date a cold chill washed over me.  The newspaper headline read, “The L.J. Tremblay Family Victims of an Arch Murderer.”  I started to read.  The articles were long and covered the front pages of every paper in the county. 

                Theodore had spent the night in the barn with a mare that was about to foal.  L.J. and Cleo slept in the same room on the first floor.  Philip was staying with a neighbor and working for him.  Francis, Alphonse and Albert slept in a bedroom upstairs. 

                At around three in the morning on April 4th, the neighbor across the road awakened to see the Tremblay barn on fire.  It was fully engulfed and the roof was ready to collapse.  Mr. Bachand and his sons ran toward the house to try and keep the fire from spreading there.  They found L.J. on the back porch.  His hands were bound in front with wire and he had some cuts on his forehead.  The boys went inside, where they found L.J.’s bedroom on fire.  Cleo was in his father’s bed with a mild head injury.  They took Cleo out and put out the flames.   Upstairs, they found blood all over the walls and bedding and the three boys suffering from severe head injuries.  The next morning after the remains of the barn had cooled, they found Theodore’s body and his skull had been caved in as well.

                The three with the most severe injuries were taken to the hospital in Clyde, Kansas.   L.J. and Cleo were invited across the road to stay with the Bachand family.  Cloud County Sheriff Carl Moore brought in his famous blood hounds to try to track whoever had committed the heinous crime.  The dogs went from the barn, to the well, to the house and back to the barn.  They never deterred or strayed from the path.  The bloody axe had been found in L.J.’s bedroom, an axe that was used regularly by the family, and was fingerprinted.  The only prints found were those of L.J. Tremblay. 

                The priest came and talked to L.J.  Sheriff Moore questioned him several times.  Two days after the axe attack and fires, L.J. crossed the road to his farm and went down in the cellar.  He went back to the well at the Bachand farm and drank some out of the dipper, then went back into the house.  Within hours, L.J. Tremblay was dead and Mr. Bachand’s daughter was ill.  L.J. had mixed Paris Green (arsenic) in the dipper and drank it.  Mr. Bachand’s daughter drank out of the dipper after him.  She recovered. 

                L.J. Tremblay’s body was taken to be autopsied.  The result was suicide by Paris Green.  He was buried the following week in the Potter’s Field section of St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery with not one mourner present, for the truth had spread quickly over the county.  Three days after L.J.’s death, Francis passed away from his injuries.  Albert and Alphonse recovered, but were never the same.  Albert roamed the country and died on a boxcar somewhere in Colorado.  Alphonse suffered seizures for the rest of his life and lived at a home for epileptics in Parsons, Kansas where he died in 1944.

                The sad truth was that L.J. Tremblay had murdered his son Theodore and attempted to murder the other boys.  He had slightly injured his own forehead and bound himself with wire to make it look like he was a victim as well.  Rumors spread like fire about what caused L.J. to do snap.  Why would L.J. Tremblay do that? 

                There was a large insurance policy on Theodore – over $5000.  L.J. was having financial difficulty and it was believed by some that he murdered Theodore for the money and then did the rest so it wouldn’t look obvious.  The other school of thought was that L.J. had started seeing someone new and that his new lady love was not interested in a ready-made family.  We will probably never know the true reason L.J. committed such a hideous deed.  But it was the biggest and most unpleasant surprise I’ve ever had while climbing the family tree.