Our Marchant Relatives

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OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES by Jeanne and Les Rentmeester J.

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OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES

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COPYRIGHT 1995

of Congress Catal og Card Number

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PUBL ISHE D BY: Howard- Suamico Hi st o rica l Socie t y , Inc . 60 5 Maywood Aven ue Gre e n Ba y , Wiscon sin 54303

SECOND PR I NTI NG 2010 Co pyright © Copy right ©

1995 Jeanne and Le s Rentrneeste r 2010 Howard - Su amico Historical Soc iety , Inc .

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Di r e ct c o r respond ence to : Howard -S u a mico Hi storical Soc i e t y , Inc . 6 0 5 Maywood Avenue Green Ba y , Wisconsin 54303

www .hshi storicalsociet y . org

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the several years that it took us to write this story, many wonderful peopl e volunteered their assistance. We thank you all for your cheerful and whole-hearted help. If there are mistakes in the book, they are ma i n ly ours; we apologize for them and, if we have inadvertently forgot ten to include anyone in the following list, we apologize for that also.

Gerald Abitz Algoma (WI) Library Staff Geraldine Brosig Lois (Mrs. John) Brosteau Linda C. Charlier Lisa Delaruelle Colombo Mary Ann (Mrs. John) Defnet Pam DeGrand (Degrandgagnage) Louis J_ Dejardin Edna Rentmeester Delfosse Larry Delfosse Loretta Demant Michel ine Gaudette Raymond Gilsoul, Belgium James Hansen, Wisconsin Historical Society Irene Dashnier Hanson Sister Mariola Henry, Holy Family Convent, Manitowoc, WI. Mary Jane Herber, Brown County Publ ic Library Luella MARCHANT Jacobs Rev. Samuel Jadin, O Praem. Patricia Jerry Jansen Francis Jauquet Elmer Jeanquart Betty Rioux Jerry Lillian Fabry Johnson Norbert Johnson Steve D. Kander Sister Ella Kaster, C.S.J.

MERCI

Kewaunee County Historical Soci ety. Kewaunee County Public Museum Kewaunee (WI) Library Staff Abbot S.M. Killeen, O.Praem. Reginald Kramer Mary Ann Delfosse La Plante James Linak Mitchell Mackey Beatrice Leroy MARCHANT Clarence MARCHANT Mar:i.e Van Ness MARCHANT Willard MARCHANT Dorothe Rioux Mill er Neville Publi c Museum of Brown County Doris MARCHANT Nockerts Bruce Paulson Louise Pfotenhauer Arnold Rentmeester Rentmeester, Sister Do lorosa Holy Family Convent, Mani towoc, WI. Hubert A. Rentmeester Jules Rentmeesters, Belgium June Umberham Schumacher Joyce MARCHANT Smith Roseann Verboomen Linda Vogel Helen Charles Wi lliam Beatrice Rentmeester Weidner

BEAUCOUP

i

D EDICATED TO MY

LI LLIAN

MO"T'I-I ER

MARCHANT

RIOUX

vvish that I co1....l.l d ha..-r ali1.•11t tho mouth 11f fie:.*--~ in the year eig hteen bm;clred nn'-~ -~

lwISCONSIN'S BELGIUM COMMUNITY by H.R. Holand, Door County Historical Society, Sturgeon Bay, WI, 1933. See also HISTORY OF DOOR COUNTY by Charles I . Martin, Sturgeon Bay, WI, 1881, and THE HISTORY OF THE BELGIAN SETTLEMENTS by Math S. Tlachac, Algoma, 1974. 2Nee Virginia Donart . the three l"lARCHANT men .

The Massart family came to the

86

lJ. S.

in 1856 with

~.

the whole way. She stopped there that night . The next morning, h er wheat was ground , four persons being required t o turn the stones. Thereupon , she took her bag o f uns ifted flour and returned to h e r home."

It appears that LOUIS MARCHANT 1 s mill was on the same site as the Daniel Whitney sawrnillr which had been in use sporadi cally for the previous ten or fif teen years. Perhaps the waterpower

was

insufficient

to

operate

the

mil L

or

perhaps

LOUIS

MARCHANT could not purchase the mill-si te; whatever the reasonsr the mill was only used off- and- on for five to ten years. Louis

Van Dycker

a nd later Scofield,

a short dista nce to t he southr

had a

When

lumber-mi ll located

they used steam- engines to power

the mill.

The Fall of 1857 saw the best harvest in Wisconsi n in years; the State ranked second in the nation in wheat produc ti on. Howeverr there were but few buyers because of a financial p anic that year. Paper currency was devalued and was worth between 70 and 80 cents on the dollar. Many of the stores wouldn' t accept greenbacks, wh ich puzzled and worried the Belgian settlers. Banks t hroughout the nation had failed. Laborers were l ucky to earn 50 cents a d ay. To made matters worser the Bay froze over earl y that Winter before supplies

could be shipped inr

so

that some items, such as sugar and hardware r were almost impossible to obtain. On 4 October 1857,

LOU IS MARCHANT marri ed Marie-Joseph

Lal uzerne at Our Lady of the Snows Mission

in Namur.

It was

actual ly the house of the Guillaume Delwiche family ; the ir oldest daughter would soon marry Guil laume- Joseph Laluzerner brotherJOSEPH and EDMOND MARCHANT were the in- law of LOUIS MARCHANT. The De ls ipees were there; witnesses at their uncle 's wedding. they were neighbors to the Laluzernes in Bovesser Belgium, where Mari e - Jos eph's father married Florence Delsipeer her mother. A few weeks later,

-

twenty- one year old EDMOND MARCHANT 87

married twenty-year old Henriette Fabry, the oldest daughter of Guillaume and Lenora Fabry_ The Fabry family had arrived in Wisconsin in July, just a few months previously, and had picked out a homestead i n the Thiry -Daems area. The young couple had met in the Bay Settlement Church, had fallen in love and quickly made up their minds to marry.

They immediately started a campaign

to coax the rest of the Fabry family to move to Union and settle on some of the MARCHANT land. They had the support of TELESPHORE and LOUIS because of their urgent need for the skills of a blacksmith such as Guillaume Fabry, to keep their iron tools and equipment in operation . Many of the farmers had little forges and handmade bellows, so that they could repair horse-shoes, axes, grub - hoes, etc. See FI GURE 30 for an idea of the services provided by a blacksmith. The Fabrys li sted several places, such as Binch, Oleye, etc.,

as their hometown in Belgium, places which we could not on the map. This occurred with other families as well.

find One explanation is that they were referring to hamlets or subdiv-

isions which were a part of cities or districts. The name of Guillaume Fabry' s wife, Lenora-Joanna Vanaise, was spelled in several

different ways,

e_ g.,

Van Ness,

Van Hees,

etc.;

these

variations in name spellings were very common amongst the Belgian immigrants. The MENOMINEE

Indians who

lived

in

the

area and the

POTTAWATOMI Indians who still had a village near Kewaunee, would greet the Belgian settlers with a hearty POSO ! or BOSO! The word meant "hello" or "goodbye " and was derived from the French word bonjour, a greeting that they learned from the French-speaking fur traders over the past couple of centuries.

The Red River

Indians generally lived in cabins, while their ALGONQUIN cousins, the POTTAWATOMI Indians, lived in tepees made of skin and bark. They lived, mainly, by fishing, hunting, trapping and raising corn,

beans,

squash and the like.

88

They were of enormous help

FIGURE 30.

SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE BLACKSMITH. A blacksmith provided indispensable services in early conununities. He fashioned all sorts of products out of metal guns, tools, iron-hoops to hold barrel-staves in pJ_ace, wheels for carts and wagons, etc.

Pieces of metal were heated to glowing-red color, then holding it with tongs the "smith" hammered the metal intc the shape desired after which the fire is made intensely hot with the bellows. Then the object is heated until it is nearly white; as it cools, it is plunged into cold water to 11 temper 11 it to made it hard.

TYPICAL BLACKSMITH PRODUCTS

CHISEL Metal fires were often re-shaped to make chisels, scrapers and knives.

METAL-HOOPS were made for buckets, kegs and barrels.

STEEL-RIMS for wagon-wheels. There were several wagon-makers i n the Red River area who needed steel-rims for the wheels. In hot weather, these rims expanded and came off. Water was poured on the rim to cool the metal and expand the wood.

Welding and wrought-iron was often required when iron parts broke. Wrought-iron products inc 1 uded gates, ornamental work, etc.

89

to the early settlers, swapping their labor in building cabins, making snow-shoes, teaching maple - sugaring, and showing them where the wild game and fish wereThe Town of Red River was created and the officers were selected in April 1857_ Those Belgians who had filed citizenship papers and were residents in Wisconsin for a period of one year, elected Joseph Lemieux as Town Chairman and member of the Kewaunee County Board_ Lemieux was also appointed as one of the three County Commissioners of the Poor, an important organization in caring for the less-fortunate. Louis Van Dycke was elected Justice of the PeaceLambert Renard came to America with his brother, Francois Renard and family, in 1857, after a voyage that took eight long weeks on a sailing vessel-

Both brothers were

shoemakers-

The Francois Renard family went to a Belgian settlement in Illinois, while batchelor Lambert went to the Town of Union, where he was shortly joined by FrancoisShoemakers worked in both wood and leather in the Belgian settlementsLeather shoes were a luxury in Belgium at that time, to be used for special occasions. In Wisconsin, the abundance of rawhide a n d tan-bark made leather shoes more afford able, but it was some time before wooden shoes were no longer everyday footware. To make wooden

shoes,

the Renards selected willow or

poplar limbs about ten inches in circumference, which were free of knots or branches. The limbs were cut i n half, each half to be used to make one shoe_

With special tools the soft wood

was cut away to fit t he foot, then the outside was cut away until the desired length was reached. It would take experienced shoemakers, such as the Renards, about two hours to complete a pair_

90

Wooden

shoes

were

cleaned

by

shaving

off

the

dirty

part. In the Winter, strips of cloth were tacked t o the shoes and then wound around the legs. The WALLOON-Belgians normally called wooden shoes, sabot, the French word for shoes; they were in French and sole in WALLOON. The sometimes cal led soulier FLEMISH called them TELESPHORE

klompen; FLEMISH dancers were called

and

JULIE

MARCHANT

had

their

klompers.

first

child

on 1 November 1857, a son named JULES,

'f"'

after her brother. This They lived indicates that they knew each other for some time. in neighboring communities and she came from a n influential family. Many years .later when her brother died and had remembered her in his will,

it was revealed that she was, in her family to come to Arnerica. 1

indeed, the only one

Most of the farmers had an ox and worked continuously There was a on extending the cleared area near their houses. scarcity of provisions, with the early fre eze immobilizing shipping and people lived mainly on potatoes and fish. men left their family at home dur i ng the Winter, work as

far away as Milwaukee.

Many of the looking for

One group of men crossed over

Green Bay on the ice, looking for work at the lumber-mills in They slept in the sleigh at night in order Oconto and Marinette. t o save money. That year,

the railroad was completed as far as Fond

du Lac. On 5 Dec 1857 7 Door County set real-estate taxes on property, to the consternation of the new-comers. However, many found that they could work off their taxes as laborers on roadconstruction and other county projects. Sucker-fishing

time

in

the

Spring

brought

relief,

as a f ood source as well as a carnival attraction to the Belgians. lJulie Delwiche MARCHANT's brothers and one sister are listed in a WALLOON newsletter, GAZETE DI WALONIYE, Walhain, Belgium, February 1995, sent to us by Raymond Gilsoul of Perwez, Belgium.

91

Things

were

looking up_

The

follow ing

two articles

from

the

GREEN BAY ADVOCATE reflect the slowing tide of emigrants; LOUIS MARCHANT may have been one of those mentioned in the first article as returning to Belgium to help prospective immigrants: MARCH 4, 1858: Parties have gone over to the old country to organize companies of Belgians who are preparing to emigrate to this place, and to accompany them hither in order to protect them from the land sharks they will encounter along the route_ They are just what we need here a farming cornmuni ty _ There wil l also be needed here we hope and believe, a large gang of men to construct our contemplated Railroad_ Dyckesville- - Where is Dyckesvi lle? We will tell you. About eighteen miles down the Bay, on the east shore, just north of Whitney's Bluff, is the commencement of a smart town, named after Mr- Louis Van Dyck, an intelligent and enterprising Belgian, who has a store there and we believe is the principal proprietor of the place. Beside the store and a considerable number of dwelling houses, there are two taverns in the vicin i ty --- one called the DYCKESVILLE HOUSE, kept by Mr. Recor, who is an old settler there; and the other called the TRAVELLOR' S HOME, kept by Mr_ Deto, a Belgian_ A good road from the place leads through Bay Settlement to this city, and roads have been cut out in various directions, leading to Kewaunee, Sturgeon Bay, and the numerous Belgian Settlements on the Peninsula_ Dyckesville is in Kewaunee County in that corner of it which touches the Bay --- but it must be annoying for the settlers to be obliged to go across to the Lake Michi gan shore to transact business with county offices. It is naturally a suburb of Green Bay, and should be attached to this county. (Brown) Eastward from the village about three miles is a settlement of some two hundred and fifty Belgian families, where they have a church, shops, etc. (Thiry Daems) Preparations are making to put up a school house at Dyckesville in t he spring. Something Which is Needed_- A plank or good gravel road from Green Bay northeastwardly along the Peninsula, would be of more positive benefit to this city and to the rapidly improving country thereaway than any enterprise of similar cost which could be devised_ So quietly has the who.le Peninsula been settling up that very few are aware of the large farm ing co11UTiunity which actually inhabits that region at the present time_ We are informed, on good authority that between Bay Settlement on the south and Sturgeon Bay on the north, there is a Belgian population of ten thousand! This immense population, entirely an agricultural one, is opening the wilderness with great rapidity; and by the time we can make an

92

,.....,

avenue to it, there must be an important surplus production to find its way to a market. MARCH 18, 1858: .... the arrivals have been unusual light since the beginning of the present year. Several German vessels have been delayed or driven back by heavy westerly winds, __ ... One vessel was 18 days in beating up the British Channel, and the JOSEPHINE, from Antwerp, was 19 days before it could venture into the German ocean. There is much anxiety felt with regard to several German vessels, says the New York Herald, and among others the ship HOWARD, which sailed from Hamburg on the 18th of November last, nearly three months since. This vessel was spoken some five weeks back, and it may be she has put into Barbedoes. There were 280 passengers on board. . ... With the help of their Indian friends, the Belgian settlers had a good maple-sugar harvest, starti ng in March, when the sun would me lt the snow during the day but the temperature would fall below freezing at night. This caused the maple-sap to 11 rise 11 and a hole would be bored into the tree to allow the sap to be drained into a wooden bucket · (see FIGURE 31) which had to be made of cedar or white-ash. FIGURE 31. I MAKING MAPLE-SUGAR.

/

,.

\

Boiling maple sap. The containers with the sap would be emptied into a kettle which would be suspended over a roaring fire. The sap is boiled until

93

~I

' I the excess water evaporates and the mixture becomes maple syrup; further boiling reduces the syrup to sugar.

It takes about forty

gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup,

and one gallon of

syrup when

five-to-six

heated

some

more

will

result

in

pounds

of sugar. The law allowed the settlers two years to pay for their land

at

the

Menasha

In February 1858,

Land

Office

after

they made

Noel,

LOUIS MARCHANT,

the group included

Guillaume Ser votte,

zerne and Francois Delvaux of the Red River area.l method

of

claim.

thirteen men from Door County were the first

to obtain their government deeds at Menasha; Jean B.

their

transportation and a

route

Jean J.

Lalu-

They picked

a

favored by several gener-

ations of fur traders - a horse-drawn sleigh on the frozen waterway. 2 (See FIGURE 32.) FIGURE 32. SLEIGH RIDE TO MENASHA.

1WISCONSIN'S BELGIAN COMI"JUNITY by Hjalrnar Rued Holand, Door County Historical Society, Sturgeon Bay, 1933. 2 see our WISCONSIN FUR-TRADE PEOPLE, p 124, for a 1841 receipt from Judge John P. Arndt of Green Bay to Jeanne's great-grandfather, Lucas Rioux. He rented a two-horse sled for a round-trip of a month down the frozen rivers to Mineral Point, then Wisconsin's capital in the far southwestern corner of the State. The rental fee for the sled was only $5.00.

94

~ I

l

Supplies from the outside finally were brought to Red River when the ice left the Bay on 8 May 1858, and shipping could resume.

In the early elections ,

Louis Van Dycke became the first

Belgian to be elected to county office when he became District Attorney of Kewaunee County, than his Town

opponent.

receiving 455 votes,

Joseph Lemieux was

Chairman and Constant Martin, 1

,Justice of the Peace.

Constant s

a

ten times more

reelected as

school

brother,

Red River

teacher,

Xavier,

became

a

was a school

teacher at Bay Settlement and also became a Justice of the Peace. In 1860, Henry Watermolen became the second Belgian to hold county office, when he was elected Sheriff of Brown County. Father

Daems

would

establish

mi ssions

in

of an area where there were groups of Belgians, wouldn't he

have

would

conduct

more

visit

than

these

baptism

and

three

areas

and

LOUIS

MARCHANT

for this purpose. ANTs,

Francois

family,

miles

ceremonies. to

start

a

to

to go hold

have a

chapel

middle

so that people

A group

they wanted to

offered

and

to church;

services of

and

settlers

mission-house donate

land

Early members of the community were the MARCH-

Delvaux

family,

Constant Engebos frunily, iaux family,

four

periodically

wedding

at Red River decided that

or

the

,Jacques-Joseph

Charles

Maximilian Laduron family,

Gui.llaume Servotte family,

Gi lain Geniesse family,

family,

Pierre Carp-

Jacques Jeanson (Johnson)

Michel Degrave and perhaps many

others whose names are not immediately found in the church rec-ords, such as the Everards, Beras, etc. It was a ches

for pews,

Cemetery. peop le

located in what

It was

with

all

large chapel with packed-clay floors and ben named

sorts

of

for eye

is

now the St-

Saint Adele, problems.

the

Francis de Paul intercessor

Perhaps

for

the name was

selected because somebody in the community had a severe eye disease;

perhaps it was because St.

l e - Grand,

Ade l e was associated with Orp-

where she cured pilgrims with eye problems using water

from a special well, starting during the Middle Ages (See FIGURE

95

33 for spec ial holy cards and medals of St. Adele).

It appears

FIGURE 33.

SAINT ADELE MEMORIALS. ... - ·-- - - -·-- -- .

'

9~ . M.:dai lk tk Sainte A--'

N N

J

J

Jl

3 9.

KEWAUNEE COUNTY PUBLIC MUSEUM)

J

)

,)

1}

Telesphore Marchant and his wi fe, Julia De lwiche, sta rted t heir brewery in 1657; for f ifteen y e ars it was t he o nly b rewery i n Door County. Telesphore had operated a comb i ned brew~ry, farm and i nn at Orp - le-Grand, Be lgium before emigrating and continued in the same business, e xcept for farming, after he came to America. The photo was probably taken by Louis Vandycke's store and An toine Ricard's hote l.

(Courtesy:

PICKING UP THE EMPTY BEER KEGS .

FIGURE

•

[

_.,.A..

It was a vibrant period in the area after Lee's surrender in April. hoping

to

People would walk down the piers to meet the boats,

greet a

returning

soldier.

The

names of

the boats

plying the waters of the Bay were household names then, many

decades

later,

and

people

stayed

familiar

with

and for the

boat

The schedules of the two daily trains arrivals and departures. arriving at Fort Howard were published in the area newspapers. Soldiers were mustered out

in June

even though their terms

of

enlistment ran until October. The most prominent businesses Van Dycke s

store,

and Hotel.

That Fall,

1

the

area were Louis

the three sawmills and the MARCHANT Brewery Constant Martin was elected as Red River

Supervisor and Kewaunee and his wife,

in

County Superintendent of Schools.

He,

an American that he had married in Philadelphia,

were both early Red River school teachers.

The KEWAUNEE ENTER-

PRISE described him as a man who "pretended to speak for all of the Belgians of the County, all the time and upon all subjects. He had been Presbyterian colporteur in Belgium, spoke English fluently, possessed an education, was of fine address, portly and florid, and a~.wa s ne~tly dress~d."

The year 1866 saw the lumber industry in north eastern Wisconsin begin

in

earnest to start off a booming era that would last for forty years.

The tall pine

trees were the prime targets to satisfy the insatiable demand for the boards and beams.

The scream of the

steam-powered saws could be ... heard day and night on both sides of the Bay; there were at least four transforming

123

the

pin e

logs

into

boards

and

shingles

River area right after t he Civil War. Red River 1866.

area welcomed Ferdinand Haevers

Belgium,

to

the

community

in

Born i n St. -Agathe-

he came to America as a thirteen-year old orphan

with the Pierre Draye famil y. in

the Dyckesvill e /Red

The FLEMISH group in the

He had an interesting story to te ll .

Rode, was

in

Ne w Orleans

where

When the Civil War started,

he

was

d rafted

into

the

he

Confederate

Army.

He was captured by the Union Army, exchanged for a captured

Union

soldier,

was

wounded,

captured

aga in

and

this

time he ld

prisoner unti l the war was over. He returned to the Red River area and ran for the town clerk's office in the Spring of 1866, to the surprise of Constant Martin who had dominated Red River of the Belgian settlement there. to 49, the

politics from the beginning

Haevers beat Martin by 75 votes

af t er which Martin refused to give up the office and had

State a t torney

because he had

declare

that

Haevers

coul d

fought for the Con federacy.

not hold office

Haevers,

later

on ,

held many political offices. Constant Martin was to the State Legislature. to authoriz e the

from

Scofield Lumber

Louis

the

four

Belgians elected

As an assenb lyman, he got a bill passed

the Van Dycke Lumber Company to build a

a pier i nto Green Bay. by

one o f

Van Dycke.

dock and

This 1100- foot long pier was later used Company after

they

bought

the property

The KEWAUNEE ENTERPRISE noted that Van

Dycl.

in fog and darkness.

The Belgians developed a the

see

FIGURE

are

a

technique for using gill-nets

ice which remains much the SL

smaller

Also

used

version

of

0

Sl'in Tlircad, per.It> .......... ." .. .... 50 cent~. ,\t '\W. ur. "'\\.'"JEAD.

able to find their way back

through

0

in

Winter,

the

same were

pound-nets

in modern times

"pond 11

nets,

previously

which

described,

and fike-nets. Lent was

a

season of

fasting

of the Catholic Belgian colony. good-old-days,

a

26

February

and

abstinence

in most

To remind our readers of those

1874

article

in

the

DOOR

COUNTY

ADVOCATE is reprinted here: "Lenten Regulations. The following are the regulations to be observed during Lent by our Catholic friends, and which have been promulgated by Rev. Father Daems, in charge of the Roman Catholic See of Green Bay. 1. All Days of Lent, Sundays excepted, are fasting days of obligation, on which but one full meal is allowed which should not be taken before noon. 2. The use of flesh meat is allowed by dispensation at the principal meal only, on all days, except Wednesdays and Fridays and also Saturdays of the first, second or Ember week and the last four days of Lent. 3. The use of eggs, butter, milk and cheese is allowed throughout Lent and also the use of lard, instead of butter for cooking, though on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, lard and likewise eggs are forbidden. 4. Fish and flesh meat are not permitted to be used at the same meal. 5. A collation or repast may be taken in the evening, but it ought not to exceed the fourth part of an ordinary meal, and a cup of coffee or tea, mixed with a little milk, may be taken with a small slice of bread by those who need it, i n the morning.

148

;

FIGURE 51.

USE OF GILL NETS IN WINTER FISHING. This information on gill-net by CLARENCE MARCHANT and Ivan Draize.

fishing

was

furnished

The gill-nets, as shown in FIGuRE 41 on page 126, are connected in a series (sixty-feet long in this example) and are inserted under the ice by use of a "running" or "setting" board, see sketch A, to which the gi ll -nets are attached. The board is guided under the ice, past a series of holes, where pushingpoles are used to guide the board to the l ast hole, where it is removed, see sketch B. Attached to the end of the board, is a rope, usually a 1/2-inch cotton rope, with the gill-nets attached. Sketch C shows the gill-nets in position under the ice, with stone anchors at each end of .t he nets and a flag (or small evergreen), for locating the nets and marking the holes when they freeze over. The flag is held in place, usually by using a forked tree-pole, see sketch D. l" x 4" boards nailed together, about 60-feet l ong ..

A

~-· .

n~

1.':·1------

):~,:~

Approximately Slot where rope is· tied

B

Jee

Rope tied to board frp-

s •w

J_

·:

sf inch

~ overlap .

rrh:::-poles1tzt I,ce/

"--· _ _...--· ~ fut!ti&wfill?!raS.z

~Board

pushing-holes.

e • • '" ee -•

j'5

,;;; 8

...

c Net

·~-}?/ Sinkers

locating holes.

on top of ice.

D

N~t

(Sketches by CLARENCE MARCHANT)

149

~ •!

All must consider themselves as strictly bound to this fast; those only are exempt who are under the age of twenty-one, and such persons as are sick, inf irm, conval escent or otherwise of a delicate const itu tion, and whose strength is i mpaired by old age, nursing, or by hard or serv ile labor. Such as entertain any reasonable doubt or scruples about their obligation to fast, ought to have recourse to their respective pastors for advise or dispensation.

In Spring 1874, cords of

the Scofield Mill reported that 50,000

ice were shipped,

and that they were hiring over 100

men and between 40 to 50 teams of horses. stories

about

Ox felling

not used beast o f

the

legendary Paul

Bunyan and his

forests of trees in a day, in the

lumber-camps,

Despite the i maginative mythical

Blue

the slow -moving oxen were

al though

they remained

a

common

burden on Belgian farms until the turn o f the century.

FIGURE 52 shows a yoke of oxen, with uncut horns, pull i ng a load

FIGURE 52.

YOKE OF OXEN. (Courtesy: of hay.

NEVILLE PUBLIC MUSEUM of Brown County)

The yoke was hand carved,

as mentioned on page

70~

such yoke used by Clement Rass (Ross) is on display in Namur 150

one now,

in the Belgian-American Museum there. The 1870s. vi l le

post-offices

Theophi l e in

1874;

close

together

in

the

he

had

purchased

Pascal

DeGrandgagnage' s

saloon and post·· office.

A few

house

miles to

Thomas Srni th replaced Charles Scofield as post.111aster

at · Red River. Post

located

Duchateau was appointed postmaster at Dyckes-

and converted it to a the North,

were

Office,.

The Darbelly Post-Office was renamed Thiry-Daems with

Constant Thiry

in

charge.

at Rosiere was re-established and Charles

The

post-office

Rubens was

appointed

postmaster. In the Fall of 1874,

Constable Joseph Delfosse reported

that Joseph Baudhuin was building a brick house

in Door County.

28'

X

40'

house,

the first

Building with brick was

becoming

popular because so many wood-structures burned down in the 1871 Fire and in many accidental fires; the only structures left in the path of the Big Fire were those constructed with the native Dolo-

-

mite stone.

Joseph Vandermissen,

a

Civi l

War veteran,

started

a brickyard in the Town of Union, which soon had many customers. Public protests about the wanton consumption of natural resources began to appear in the newspapers and public records. A GREEN BAY ADVOCATE article in the Winter of 1874- 5 stated that the pine-lumbering had disappeared in Brown County and with it, shingle- making.

Charles Scofield bought

the Lily Lake Mill

in

Brown County for $5000.00 and used its machinery to equip a mill in Sturgeon Bay. every day;

a

Pound-nets were trapping many barrels of fish

new pount-net

that measured

selling for $1200. 00 in 1875. of the entire fish population.

70-feet in depth was

These pound-nets were destructive One report was that two hunters

came from Chicago and shot close to one-hundred

deer 9

without

saving the meat, leaving the carcasses for the wolves. The State of Wisconsin passed a law against hunting deer with dogs and another law prohibiting deer-hunting between January 15th and August 15th . 151 -~

In the Spring of the year, many Belgians were employed by the Count y in building roads. Clement Gen iesse, proprietor of

the

Sheriff,

Halfway

House,

had

run

unsuccessfully

for

Door

County

but secured an appo intme nt as Cler k of the State Road

Committee.

He called for bids on the county-line road,

Red River a nd Union,

between

and on the county-line road from Namur to

Ahnapee. In the Summer of 1875, popular.

Boats

would

leave

ri ver and Bay excursi ons became

Green

Bay in

the

morning,

cru ise

leisurely northward on the Bay to the Red River dock, where they might visit the Halfway House for lunch. to

stop

at

TELESPHORE

MARCHANT' s

I t was a common practice

Brewery

for

a

free

glass

of

beer; we had many a free glass of beer at Rahr's Brewery in Green Bay,

in our

f or the ride steamer,

youth .

The party would then reassemble at the dock

back to Green Bay.

See FIGURE 53 wh ich shows the

"John Denessen," used several decades later. FIGURE 53. AN EXCURS ION BOAT AT A RED RIVER DOCK. (Courtesy: NEVILLE PUBLIC MUSEUM of Brown County)

152

When

people

didn' t

pay

the

taxes

on

their

property,

either because they wanted to get rid of it or because they didn't have the money, If

the

taxes

an official notice was pl aced in the newspaper.

stil l

weren' t

paid,

This method was unscrupulous for in Red River

but

lost

it

t he sheriff held a

t ax sale.

those Indians who he ld property

becaus e

they

didn't

know the rules.

There was such a notice in the DOOR COUNTY ADVOCATE on 2 September 1874,

stating that a

judgement of foreclosure and sale was made

against TELESPHORE MARCHANT,

Marc Naniot, Wadue Naniot and Matt-

hias Cochems on 40 acres of land across from the MARCHANT Brewery. The tax must have been paid, n a me of EDMOND MARCHANT. On

because the tit le later was in the

22 September 1875,

there was a

notice i n the same

paper stating that a sale would be held at the house of Barthel my Lar ose of the esta te of LOU I S MARCHANT,

deceased.

A.

Guesnier

was the guardian for the two minor children, ALBERTINE J. MARCHANT and

HERMAN

J . L.A.

MARCHANT;

the

property

i ncluded

seventy-six

acres and a homestead, across from the MARCHANT Cemetery. It (Kermiss)

was

reported

that

the

usual

were held at Pierre Decamp' s

annual

and Frank Pierre's on the

evenings o f Septembe r 5th and September 6th. the Chairmen of Union and Brussels;

These two men were

they would also be honored

as community leaders during the month of May, p arties.

harvest balls

The AHNAPEE RECORD has this

with the May tree-

to say about the harvest

festi vals hel d that September: "The season of "bals" and "fetes" is now opened. This i s an old country custom - rural feas ts. In some parts of Europe, especially in France and Belgium, the work ing classes have but few enjoyments the year; hence, at a certain time in the s ummer or in autumn, each vil lage has it's feas t or fe te, and the good people for t wo or three days are plunged in the {to them) greatest luxury - that of partaking with their i nvited friends and parents to the sweets of the table , having a good talk over past times, and going to the taverns to sip their beer, danci ng, races, etc. All kinds of plays a re resorted to i n the day time, while at al l the tave rns, the yards and the corners are cover ed with stands, where all k i nds of "bon bons" a nd "bijoux" are sold to the children . The custom here is not forgotten, and shal l not be fo r some time, al though the affair s are much less bri llian t then i n Europe ."

153

n The

Scofield

Mill

reported

that

the

schooner,

"Mary

Nau," took on a cargo of a mil lion shingles.

The mill produced

70-million

drifted

harbor

in

Although

shingles

during

mid- November

the

1875,

season.

so

Ice

that

into

the

boats

were

of

logs ,

there

they had sawed 8-million fee t

the

laid up. were

5-

mi l lion left over in the icy mil l-pond . The

Sturgeon

Bay

newspaper

house of EDMOND MARCHANT was Apri l

1876,

that

entirely destroyed by fire

fire was not reported.

on

21

Fires were common at

A kerosene lamp may have tipped over.

the time.

just being advertised;

the culprit. brush piles,

a

lightning

Lightning-rods

strike

may

which sometimes

gaseous resin.

led to errant sparks.

been

One of the

stemmed from burning green wood, which released As it went up the chimney and cooled,

of resin formed on the inside brick of the chimney; set on

have

Farmers were still clearing land and burning the

greatest dangers

fire,

in the Summer, chimney

large

which inc luded eleven children at that t ime.

The cause of the

were

the

together with all of the furniture and clothing of

this large family,

were

reported

intense

heat was

gene rated.

A

the lumps when these

yearly task

was to lower a stone or bri ck on a rope down the

in an effort to knock down the

balls of

tar and soot

that had formed. The

number

of

fires

reported

in

the

newspapers

riva lled by the number of accidents on the farms, lumber - mills,

fishing,

etc.

That

year,

1876,

of horses on their way to Green Bay from Union, a way from the control of the driver,

was

lumber-camps ,

a runaway

team

frantic ally ran

August Balza.

He was not

hurt , but the wagon was busted and, of his two passengers, Charles Delsart

had

three

broken

ribs

and ,Joseph

Delfosse

bruised hi s

shoulder.

P.J. Pomm ier was so crippled that he became a school -

teacher.

Henry

logs was

for

Mathey,

amusement

survived

by

in

his

17- years

the

father

old,

drowned

while

mil l -pond at Red River and

154

three

sisters.

"riding"

in 1876; "Riding 11

he

logs

or logrolling,

was later called birling, logging contests. 1 See F'IGURE 54.

and is now an event in

FIGURE 54. A BIRLING (LOGROLLING) CONTEST.

The DOOR COUNTY ADVOCATE reported that Fall on "The good condition of the 'Belgian Settlement,' their snug houses, and commodius barns. Only the blackened timber reminds them of the terrible 1871 destruction. The roads are in excellent condition and the farms are being extended, with some having over a hundred acres. More settlers are coming from Belgium."

In

December

1876,

12-rnillion feet of pine-logs

the

Scofield

to be

Mill

contracted

towed across

the Bay.

for It

was the first sign that the pine-forests around Red River were so depleted that they could no longer satisfy the ravenous appe tite of the Scofield Mill. More and more, the logs had to be brought in by vessels, called "gaff-rigs," from across the Bay. As many as three gaff-rigs were filled below decks, on the decks, and even with logs hanging over the sides, would be hooked togeth er and towed by a tug-boat. Each gaff-rig had a captain and a crew of four; their names were often published in local papers. It would be,

for several more years,

that logs would

continue to be brought to the Scofield Mill by horse-teams and sleighs. See FIGURE 55. Men with axes and cross-cut saws worked

lLogrolling is an American sport originated by lumberjacks in the timber country in 1840. A man stands on each end of a floating log; the two participants attempt to dislodge each other into the water by swiftly twisting or rolling the log with their spiked boots. The best two out of three falls determine the winner in a championship contest .

155

from

dawn

to

dusk fe lling treesr

which were then dragged to a

road that had been cut through the fores t. water

from

a

stream or

other

the roads

to

sleighs .

A "road- monkey"

the

provide an

horse-dropp ings

to

source,

ice-coating

A night -crew brought

and poured for

the water

easier passage of

walked along the roads r

faci litate

the

movement of

on the

c learing off the

sle ighs

(called "cars") with their tremendously heavy load of logs/ there are about lOrOOO board-feet of lumber in the load shown in FIGURE 55.

F'IGURE 55.

LOGS GOI NG TO

THE SAW-MILL .

The

holdings

of Scofie ld & Co.

pine - tree acreage

can

be seen on FIGURE 56, which is part of the 1876 plat of the Town of Red River .

In the Spring of 1877 r

the Scofield Red River

was e mp loying 60 p e ople at the millr to

200, 000

Their tug,

shingles

of

10, 000

turning out b etween 185,000

board- feet

"Tornado," iced in until Apri l,

one raft of were

and

plant

of

lumber

per

day .

final l y was delivering

logs per day to the mill -pond;

mos t

of these logs

loaded on the east side of the Bay at an average distance

ten miles

away.

A new tug,

built at a

c o st of $3, 00 0 . 00,

lFrom a taped conversation with ANDREW W. RENTMEESTER, who worked in lumber camps in the 1890s.

156

FIGURE 56 . SCOFIELD & CO. PINE TREE ACREAGE, TOWN OF RED RIVER-1876.

I

J

i. ; (

·:.:~

•

..(". . llels-ium; !lien July 13, 1928, a~ union, Door 1974) married (first) Mary Co.. \\"is. a nd his wife. Etienne, and (second) Helen Jl .\T11.D .\ .r.\'rn1ci::, b Ol'11 :-> ov. 2. 1S~5. nt Chnrlc ro i. St'I· Kostichka. ~ium; died. De;.'I. Belglu 111. .\pdl / 2. J:/\f,g,

. rn

lo 1Uei:nor,- u c CLl'lnlENT Jllli\Nhine Ropson, who had two sons, one of whom was John Rapson. JOSEPH (b. 1868 d.

).

ELIE (b. 1870 d. 1923) married Catherine Moreaux (b. 21 Aug 1896 d. 20 Jan 1987), daughter of William Moreaux and Sophie ~~~~~' on 3 April 1907. They had two sons: l )John (b. 6 Jul 1909 d. 5 Oct 1979) married Verna Del lis (b. 12 Oct 1910 d. 5 Oct 1979) and had these children: -Alden. -Larry. -John Jr. married Verna Ambrosius. -Ervin. -Etherida married Ed Theys. -Armilla married Peter Jauquet. 2)Clarence (b. d. ) was killed in an automobile accident with Leonard Delvaux. Catherine Moreaux married, as her second husband, Wi l liam Maccaux, son of Joseph Maccaux and Josephine Everard. SYLVAN (b . 1873 d. dren:

) married 320

-----

and had two chil -

-

OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES :

THE LEROY FAMILY continued.

l)Elmer married 2)Sadie married FABIEN (b. 1875 d. MARY (b. 4 Oct 1880 d.

- ---

and had eight or nine children . a nd had a daugh ter, Lenore.

). ).

LOUISE (b. 1881 d. ) married Will iam Hall on 8 July 1903. Some of their children are: l)Harold . 2)Wil liam. 3)Margaret. 4 )Vernon. 5 )Lester. 6)Phylis . 7)Lawrence. ODILE (b. 1882 d. ) marr ied Florian Legrave a nd had four teen children: l)Emerence married a Crevier. 2)Ruth married an Engebos. 3)Daniel. 4)Lawrence. 5 )Elsie. 6)Mary. 7)Anna married a Virlee. 8)James . 9 )Florence married a Lardinois . lO )Ruth (a twin). ll)Cli fford (a twin) . 12)Celia married an Adarns. 13)Cla yton. 14rRosamund married a Nellis. CEDONIE (SADIE) (b . 1884 d. 14 Sep 1982) married Gustave Malcorps on 27 January 1904 and had five children: l)Richard. 2)Ethel. 3)Gustave. 4)Elmer. 5)Sadie married Ed Ropson . ANTOINE (b. 1886 d. 7 May 1962) was raised by his Aunt Brabant Deprey, his mother's sister. He worked for his bro ther, Emile, on Barrette's Dock, where he met his future wife, Octavia Johnson (b. 2 Feb 1890 d. 12 Nov 1993), daught er of Joseph Jeanson and Alice Gerard . Their children are: l)Harry married (first) Lorraine Romaul t and had t wo children. He married (second) Norma Heath. 321

OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES:

THE LEROY FAMILY continued.

2)Margaret married Walter Charles and had five children. 3)Bernard married Loretta Zellner and had six children . 4)Beatrice married WILLARD MARCHANT (see the MARCHANT family sketch). MARIE LEROY (b. 14 Dec 1823 at Corry-l e-Grand d. ) arrived in the United States with LOUIS and SERAPHIN LEROY and could have been a sister of theirs.

OTHER LEROY INFORMATION: MAXIMILLIEN LEROY was born on 3 January 1797 at Longchamps. In 1833, he married Alexandrine Glime; they had four children. Maximillien died 24 Mar 1864; Alexandrine died 23 September 1877. Both are buried i n Warisoulx. Their children are: AUGUSTINE (b. 1839 d. 19 04) married Leopold Denis d. 1893). Their chi ldren are: l)Marie. 2)Mati lde. 3)Eloise. 4)Eugene.

(b.

1835

Sep 1834 d. 8 May 1913) married (first) to Therese Pirotte , who died shortly af ter the marriage. Hubert was a stone cutter. I n 1882, he married as his (second) wi fe, Marie J_ Bodart, widow of Pierre Baud.huin, and raised Marie 1 s daughter, , from her first marriage. HUBERT

(b.

26

NICOLAS Cb- 1 Apr 1837 d. 1 Mar 1 911) married Marie- Josephe Motte (b. 13 Jul 1847 at Novilles, Belgium, d . 3 Mar 1920 at Brussels) on 16 September 1870 at Emines. They lived at Warisoulx before departing for the United States on 14 Apr il 1878 . Their children are: l)Mary Alexandrine Cb - Sep 1871 in Belg. d. 10 Oct 1941) marrj_ed Joseph Pierce on 22 Apr 1896 and had six children. 2)Louis J. (b. 23 Feb 1873 at Villers, Belg. d. 20 Jan 1942 at Brussels, WI) 322

SOUVllNtll Pl'BUX

PRCRZ l?OUR L~ RllP08 IHI L' ,lj,tjj

..

DB MONsqrnR

NlCOLAS J. LEROY dtf ·Warisoux, Ic ler Avril, 1 8117 , cl dEril I, I692 et de /'Associalio11 du"tiw11ii11 de In Croix, Oierl Mn.ch 4, 19~'1 17 Nov 1991), daughter of ec a11 Fo11d.d11 Lat· (W'is) Amei-ique, . le 3o ._ 11 Jules Jeanquart and Celina Mars JS66, pie11se111c11t decedee a" Afarcf1a!1!· Lecocque. They lived in (('Dor ecmitc (1'fis ), le .:zr Novembre 1903, . f--., the Town of Union, where Jules was a supervisor during World War II years. Their children are: 1. Rose (b. 1915) marri ed . e Louis Granius and had three children: WlRY

:ii

·~ci~1VEN

t.

1

JEANQUART MARCHANT

328

OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES:

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

THE MARCHANT FAMILY continued .

-Jerry married Jean Graf. -Leland was a bachelor. -Sandy married Dave Barta and had two children: Jane and Stacey. Lucy (b. 1917) married John Jauquet on 20 Oct 1936 and had three boys: -Larry married Sharon Wautier. -Denis married Barbara -John Jr. married Doris (b. 1919) marri ed Clarence DeWitt and had one daughter: -Sharon married Mil ton Engebose and had three children: Kim, Brian and Laura. Gladys (b. 26 Sep 1920) married Leonard Bouche and had these children : -Jim married Madonna Virlee and had four children: Pat, Katie, Lorie (Paul) and Lynn. -carol Jean married Cletus Wil lems and had a daughter : 1. Jody. Robert Cb. 23 Nov 1923) married Gertrude Vandertie (b. 1925 d. Sep 1964) :ho"'"'. and had one daughter: In Lovfug Memory Of -Barbara married Wery. The Robert MARCHANT family l ives in Mrs. Robert Marchant Luxemburg, Wisconsin. Born March 7, 1925 Willard (b. 4 Aug 1925) married Bea- DiedSeptember2,1964 trice Leroy and had two children: -Davi d married Sue Claflin (a descendant of Increase Claflin, the first settler in Door County in 1835) and had these children: Mike, Mark, Martin, twins Kevin and Craig, and Michelle. -Beverly married Stan Peterson and had a daughter, Sherry. Lester Cb. 4 Mar 1931 d. 4 Dec 1965) married Germaine Jonetr daughter of Alex Jonet and Ida Delongville, and had four daughters: -Julie married a Eytcheson. -Joan was not married. -Debbie married Larry Kittel. -Dawn. Germaine married (second) George Ratajczak. In loving Memory Of Melvin (b. 27 Oct 1932 d. 14 Jul Lester Marcliant 1992) married (first) Alvira GuilBorn March 4, 1931 l ette and had a son: Died December 4, 1965 -Gary. Melvin married (second) Joyce Hein and had three children: -Lynn married Ferris. -Scott was a bachelor. -Chris married Moses. 329

-M I I

OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES:

'

THE MARCHANT FAMILY continued.

-ARTHUR (Bastien) (b. 1894 d. Dec 1967) (first) Mary Jadin (b.

iw===q_~ ,.= ."1'=-=====:;:::====.o::;:::;ll'~ .,~---~-married

·1895 d. 10 Jun 1943),. daughter of Joseph Jadin and Florentine DeKeyser,. on 18 Feb 1919. They ··~ -j ·... , .. . . . ·• ·•. . . Jn:. Mem1>rr ' of' . had these children: llXARY-· JADIN ' ,.,.· . . wlte·: ot 1 . Henry. ' ~-P .·: .. ARTHUR' MARCIIANTh ·. ' 2. Melvin. -~ o~tn Im: the-. lcr-wn · or· Gardner, .l\fa'l" Jn l oving Memory Of -16, 18!14, dled Irr the. town or· Gard. e en. 3 H l ner;. June· 10,. HO;· J>urtedr; ln St ~a.ry's cemetery, · ·town -Qti"Unlon'· 4. Marian (b. 5 Apr 1924 died RAYMOND MARCHANT 1. . une 14., 1948. · . .. . ~ . . · · ' 12 Jun 1990) married RichBorn: Dec. 18, 1920 ard Alsteen (b. 1924 died . 1983), son of Henry and Died: Oct. 8, 1967 Mary Etienne Alsteen and had these children: Nancy married Bob Haen; Gary; Pat married a Bellin; Dale; Jerry; Rich Jr; Linda married Allen Nagel. 5_ Raymond (b. 1923 d. Oct 1967) married Lucille Everard. 6. Rita married Ben Massart. 7. Della married Alvin Jeanquart. ARTHUR married (second) Odile Baudhuin, daughter of Marcellin Baudhuin and Catherine Gerondale. They had no children.

-MAGDALENE (Margaret) (b_ 1 Jun 1890 d. 1941) married Joseph Parmentier (b. 1888 d. 14 Oct 1977) and had two boys: 1. Harold. 2. Edward (b. 1914 d. 1988) married Bernadette Roanhaus. Joseph Parmentier married (second) Dorothy Whitmore. - FLORENCE (EUPHRASIA) Cb. 5 Oct 1897 d. 9 Jan 1985) married (first) Edward Macco (b. 1895 d. 1955) and (second) Henry Boulanger. They had no children. -ADA HENRIETTE (b. 2 Feb 1889) . Delima Chartran MARCHANT died with a baby in her arms in 1903.

HENRY MARCHANT and Amelia Lardeau had a son: -JOSEPH Cb. 23 DeChamps (b. of Joseph and 1. Darold. 2. Geraldine

Ih I

Apr 1901 d. 13 Sep 1987) married Lillian 16 Sep 1903 d. 29 Apr 1 989),. daughter Mary DeChamps, and had two children: married George Seidl.

,, HENRY

next married Mary Renier Jacquart (b. 3 Mar 1922), widow of Prosper Jacquart and daughter of Michael Renier and Victoria Bara. They were married on 8 Dec 1910 and are buried in Dyckesville. MARCHANT

20 Aug 1858 d.

330

OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES:

THE MARCHANT FAMILY continued.

2)MELANIE-MARY MARCHANT (b. 29 Apr 1861 d. 1 922 or 1941 ?) married ( I s adore ) Joseph Duchateau (b . 1857 d. Nov 1929) on 28 March 1885. Their only child,

Victori a (Victorine ) (b. Feb 1880 d. 1959) married J oseph Vandermissen Cb. Jun 1875 d. 1938), son of Joseph and Catherine Vandermissen. The Vandermissen chi ldren are: -KATIE (b. Mar 1899) remained single. - JOSEPH (b. 1900) married Annie Renard, daughter of Louis Renard and Augusta Martin. They had no children. -EDMOND (b. d. ) married Louise Dubois and had three children: 1. Lillian. married Herman Delfosse. 2. Lorna married a Bailey. 3 . Mark.

-

3)LOUIS-JOSEPH MARCHANT (b. 31 Oct 1862 d. 23 Oct 1947 in Green Bay) spent his working years as a carpenter and in a packing plant in Green. Bay, _where h e had moved with his grandparents. He married Mary-Cel ia Geniesse ( b. Mar 1860), daugh ter of Gh islaines Geniesse (b. 1829) and Emily Laisse (b . 1836). Their children are: -BLANCHE (b. 30 Jan 1892 d. 1969) married Herbert Van Deuren and had three children: 1. Herbert. 2. Ralph. 3. Mary Ann married Eugene Webber. -ADELE (DELIA) (b. 20 Jul 1893 d. 1979) married James Brazier and had three childre n: 1. Mary Jane Cb. ].n Cal if . ) married a Joachim. 2. Florence married Norbert Wieker. 3. Grace married a LaFond . -JOHN BAPTIST Cb- 25 Apr 1895 d. 1944) married Loctie McFarland, daughter of Alexander and Mary McFarland. Their children died as infants. -RUSSELL J. (b. 19 Jan 1897 . d. 1981) married Mae Schilling (b. 2 Apr 1903 d. 1 Apr 1980), daughter of Henry Schill ing and Delia Quigley, and had two children: 1- Donna married Ray Hudak. 2. Robert lives in Texas. - AMELIA I. (b . 1 8 Dec 1898 d. 8 Dec 1983) married Frank Drzewi ecki. Their daugh ter: 1. Lois married John Brosteau and had three children: Jane, Ann and John J. - LOUIS H. (b. 21 Oct 1900 d. 16 Dec 1988), daughter Donalda Klaus (b. 12 Jul 1901 d. 23 Dec 1988), daughter of Andrew and Eli zabeth Casper Klaus. They had no children. 331

~-

OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES:

THE MARCHANT FAMILY continued.

-BERNARD (BUTCH) (b. 1903 d. 1978) married Marian (Babe) Stodola and had three children: 1. Carol Jean. 2. David. 3. Janet. -JOSEPH Cb. 1907 d. 1960) married Evelyn Josephs and had two children: 1. Sandra married Ray Terrien. 2. Roger. -GENEVIEVE (b. 8 Nov 1908 d. 8 Oct 1918) was a swineflu victim. 4)JOSEPHINE-PHILOMENE MARCHANT (b. 23 Oct 1864) had a daughter: -FLORA (b. May 1885 d. 1965) married Jule Willems and had five sons and one daughter: 1. Peter (b. 1909 d. Nov 1971) married Nona Bray (b. 27 Apr 1905 d. 27 Oct 1987) in 1951. 2. Leonard married Doris 3. Viney (b. 12 Mar 1914 d. 29 Oct 1987) married Richard Hafeman on 18 Mar 1932. 4. Richard (b. 2 Apr 1919 d. 12 Feb 1992) married Helen (Olson) Parinski and had a stepson; Daniel. 5. Alvin. 6. Russell (b. 11 Feb 1923 d. 9 May 1993) was a bachelor.

1 I.

According to family legend, JOSEPHINE became pregnant with another child, JULES, and went to Belgium, where the family lost contact with her.

M.J. MARCHANT (b. 27 1866 d. 9 Aug 1904) married Theodore Van Caster (b. 1853), the son of Casimir Van Caster and Marie Victoria Martin, on 13 May 1893. Their children are: -THEODORE (PINKY) (b. 13 Sep 1894 d. 24 Nov 1981) married Marie Deno (b. 1905 d. 1957) and had these children: L Rosemarie. 2. Jack. 3. Ronald. THEODORE (PINKY) was a cigar-maker in Green Bay. -CASIMIR J. (b. 1895) died young. -LOUIS J. (b. 12 Jul 1896 d. 4 Aug 1985) married 1902 d. 1983), daughter married Alice Boehm (b. of John and Emily Boehmr and had these children: 1. Louis. 2. Richard.

5)CONSTANCE

332

r

OUR MARCHANT RELAT IVES:

THE MARCHANT FAMILY continued.

3. Betty married Orville Koslowsky. 4. Margaret married Alfred Podebrasher. 5. Rosal ie married Harvey Bahrke of Suring. -D IDIER H. (b. 1901) died as an infant. -EDMOND (b. 27 Mar 1904 d. 15 Jun 1975) was a bachelor. He was raised by ALICE MARCHANT Jeanquart after his mother died.

6)ALBERTI NA MARCHANT 9b. 8 Jan 1868) marri ed Ernest Rollin (Reolin) (b. 1867 d. 1950), son of Isadore Rollin and Clara Malcorps (Malcore) on 3 May 1892. Their children are: - JULIAN-JOSEPH(b. 31 Mar 1894). ALBERTINA MARCHANT lived wi th the William Fabry family as a young girl. Sylvia and Jules Birant were witnesse s at her wedding.

7)JULIA MARCHANT (b. 31 Jan 1869). According to family legend, s he di ed at the age of 18 and is buried in the MARCHANT Cemetery.

8 )ELIZA MARCHANT (b. 2 Aug 1871 d. 1941), dau married Hubert Charles (b. 1860 d. 1938), son of Joseph Charles and Catherine Degrave (b. 1825 d. 1913) on 2 May 1886. Their children are: -JULES SR. (b. 1887 d. 12 Apr 1966 at Duck Creek) married MARY MARCHANT Cb. 1886 d. 5 Mar 1974), daughter of CAROLIN (CHARLES) MARCHANT. They had seven children: l. Helen (b. 1914) married Bernard Williams Cb. Their children are: Gloria, 1911 d. 1991). Geral d, Ronald, Richard, Judith, Jean, James and Thomas . 2. Marie (b. 1.917) marri ed Cyril Cornell and had these children: Mary Ann, Darrell, Karen, Donne, Marlene and Danny. 3. Jules Jr. (b. 1918 d. 1970) married Cordella Cornell and had two children: Andy and Kenny. 4. Gladys (b. 1920) married Edward Giesler - and had these children: Edward and Robert. 5. Mabel (b. 22 Nov 1922 d. 19 Jan 1987) marri ed Francis Staszak Cb . 1922 d. 1975) and bad these ch i ldren : Thomas, Richard, Larry, Timothy and James. 333

OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES:

THE MARCHANT FAMILY . con tinued.

6.

Walter (b. 1925) married June Kuske and had these children: Michael, Terry, John and Melissa. 7. Robert (b. 1927) married Gloria Sharp and had a daughter , Sharon. -JOSEPH (b . 1 1 Feb 1888 at MARCHANT died 1967). See photo. -LOUIS (b . 1889 d. 1962. -GUSTAVE (b . 23 May 1 891 d. 1969). -VICTORINE (b. 14 May 1895 d. 1956) marr i ed Joseph Pauquette (b. 1 877 d. 1954). -OCTAVIA (b. 14 May 1895 d. J.989) married Cyril Laurin (b. 1880 d. 1967). -ALICE (b . 1900 d. 1981) married Fred Lebeau (b. 1889 d. 1977). -EDMOND (b. 6 Mar 1902 d. 1969). -HUBERT (b. 1904 d. 1985) married Isabella Hanna (born 1908 d. 1972) . -MARY (b. 5 Apr 1906 d. 1990) married Sam Groundine . - WILLIAM (b . 1912 d. 1991) lived in Powers, Michigan .

9)EDMUND MARCHANT JR. (b. 15 Oct 1872 d. Jan 1947) married Mary Delima Debauche (b. 13 Oct 1878 d. 1962), daught er of Joseph DeBauche and Rosalie Delvaux, in 1894. Their children are: - .;JOSEPH Cb .12 Mar 1899 d. 14 Sep 1984) married (first) Edna Emma Andre (b. 1899 d. 24 Mar 1942), daughter of Henry Andre and Mary Belongia of Canada. Their only child was: 1. Ruth (b. 1920 d. 1974) married Merlin Rasmussen . JOSEPH married (second) Clara Connelly Renard (b. 3 Jun 1901 d. 4 Oct 1993), daughter o f Frank Renard and Flora Gilot, on 5 Jan 1963. His step-children are: l. Ronald Connelly. 2. Patricia Rasmussen. 3. Joan Busse. -GLADYS (b. 1912 d. 1970) remained single. This EDMOND MARCHANT JR. family moved from the Town of Union to the northeast side of Green Bay where both fat her and son worked for the Hobart (now Proctor and Gamble) Paper Mill. lO)OCTAVIA MARCHANT (b. 1875 d. Apr 1 950) married Godfrey DeBauche (b. 1874 d. Aug 1958). They had one child, GODFREY JR_ (b. 1903 d. 1948), who marr i ed Simone DeBauche (b . Mayberge, France d. 1 Jan 1956), who was not a re l ative. Their children are: 334

~

OUR MARCHANT RELATIVES:

THE MARCHANT FAMILY continued .

-BEATRICE married· John Gottfried. -ALBERT married (first) Grace Mi ller

and

(second)

ll)HONORE AUGUSTINE MARCHANT, the eleventh child of ALMI and Henrietta was born in 1 874 in the Town of MARCHANT and died 3 Dec 1926 in Green Bay. HONORE married Victoria DeBauche (b. 14 Jun 1880 d. 25 Nov 1978), daughter of Joseph Debouche and Rosalie Delvauxr in the Town of MARCHANT on 6 Apr 1899. Their children are: -AUGUSTUS(JOSEPH) I (b. 14 Mar 1899 d. 3 Feb 1901) is buried at the MARCHANT Cemetery. -JOSEPH I NE (b. 3 Feb 1900) died young. -EDMOND (b. 1902 d. 30 Jan 1970) married Adele Derenne (b. 30 Sep 1903 d. 14 May 1990), daughter of Frank Derenne and Octavia Bertrand, and had six children: L Martha married Orville Hendricks. There were no children. 2. Alfred married June Peckham and had six children. 3. Virginia married (first) Jack Vandervest and (second) Lee Bucholz. 4. Wi l mer married Angela Tyczkowski and has five (as of 1995) : Donna married a Dow; Crystal married a Hendri cks ; Carol; Ann and David. 5. Harold married(first) Nita Michelle and (second) Judy Muenster (their children are Todd and Scott), and (third) Lorrai ne 6. Wilfred died as an infant. 7. Thomas married (first) Suzie Mayhew and (second) Arlene with whom he had these children: Kim, Marie~usan, Craig, Jeffrey and Thomas. -MARY (b. 1905 d. 1976) married Stephen DeBeck (1901 d. 1991) and had four children: 1. Esther marr ied Robert Drewieski. 2. Clifford married (first) Pat Pelkin and (second) ,Jean Gerstner. 3. Arlene married Norb Wisnieski and had one ll 29, 1846 Died January 27, 1985 -James married Alice Kollross. - Marie married Jim Mi l ler. -Laverne married Henry Hoppel. -Betty married Don Weier. - Lois married Anthony Dorner. ·~··. -Robert married Evelyn Mlezina 't . and had four ~I·:~. \;01·11 al llvl•esvill Yeu'n i: flerre Jos. 2.7 ~

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