Marie Florentine Soucy Brisson

Marie Florentine Soucy was born 23 Jul 1855 in Rimouski, Quebec, Canada to Pierre (Prudent) Soucy and Mides-Neiges Thibault. She was the 2nd of eight children. Here is a copy of her baptismal record.

We find this family in the 1861, 1871, 1881 Canadian census living in various location in Rimouski, Quebec, Canada. Pierre, her father was a farmer.

Maire Florentine Soucy married Elzear Brisson on 4 Feb 1879 at St. Blanchard's Church, Rimouski, Quebec, Canada. Together with three children they immigrated to the United States in 1893 and settled in Providence, Rhode Island. This family is located living at 44 Howard Street, Providence, RI. This census states she has had 9 children but only 4 are living. It is difficult to imagine how it would have been to leave their country knowing that these 5 children were buried and their family moved on for perhaps a better life in a new country.

Ancestry's "Quebec Vital & Church Records 'Drouin Collection', 1621-1967" allowed me to locate the missing 5 children who lived very short lives:

1) Elzear Brisson: 3 Feb 1882 to 13 Feb 1882

2) Marie Delphine Brisson: 30 May 1883 to 12 Dec 1886

3) Pierre Irenee Brisson: 28 Nov 1884 to 4 Dec 1886

4) Marie Exilda Brisson: 10 Jan 1887 to 19 Nov 1887

5) Joseph Theodore Pamela Brisson: 7 Apr 1889 to 12 Sep 1889

Their next child was my grandfather, Omer Joseph Brisson born 14 Jan 1891. The family moved to the US after this birth as their daughter Marie Victoria Leontine Rose Brisson was born in Providence, RI on 3 Apr 1893. It must have been difficult to leave family and loved ones behind and yet they were able to relocate, settle down and the remainder of their family stayed in the RI area for many years. Some of their descendants moved out of the area but most stayed in New England.

The 1900 Census finds her husband, Elzear working for the Railway and unable to speak, read or write English as was the usual situation during this time period. Florence was also unable to speak, read or write English, however all of their children had learned English within the 7 years they had been in the US.

The 1910, 1920 Census shows the family living on Huntington Ave. where they stayed for many years.  Elzear contined to work for the railways and died in 1924, Florentine lived till 1937 and was living with her daughter Evelina's family still in Providence. They had 8 children and she was probably able to help out with their care. She is buried at St. Ann's Cemetery in Cranston, RI.

She leaves a great legacy of endurance through difficult times to the many descendants she has today along with courage to be able to settle in a new country, learn a new language and instill in her family all the good qualities needed to be a productive member of society.

Marie Florentine Soucy Brisson: 1855-1937

Eliza Audette Marotte

Eliza Audette was born in Rouville, Quebec, Canada on 16 April 1856 to Magloire Audette and Marceline Mace. Her baptism record lists her name as "Azilda Arsarine Audet", however, in each record where her name is listed, it is always mispelled somewhere! According to her granddaughter, Ozina Cora Marotte, she was always mentioned as "Grandma Eliza" in conversations with her grandfather Theodore Marotte as Eliza passed away before Ozina was born, in fact, her grandfather passed away when she was still young child herself.

We first find Eliza listed with her parents and brother Joseph in the 1861 Canadian Census where they are living in Rouville, Quebec.

She was the first of nine children. Her father, Magloire, was listed as a saddler on her baptismal record. A saddler was an individual who worked with leather. 

Their whole family immigrated to the United States sometime around 1866. While we located her family in the 1870 US Census she is not living with them and we don't locate her until the 1880 US Census where she is married to Theodore Marotte with their first child Albina. They were married on 9 Sep 1877 at Notre Dame Church, Central Falls, Rhode Island.

Together they had six children, Albena, Cora Anne, Alphonse, Alma, Alfred and Henry. Unfortunately, Henry died 15 days after his birth on 28 Feb 1888 however, she had died seven days earlier on the Feb 21st leaving her husband a widow with five children.

Sadly, there is no picture of her to date. While she died young, her skills and talents were passed onto her five children as they matured into individuals with many talents of their own. She immigrated to a new country, learned a new language and different customs and was able to be a good wife and mother until she died soon after the birth of her sixth child.

While these five children and her husband have long passed on, her talents and love of life have been passed on to her descendants who are scattered throughout the United States. As with all of our ancestors she is missed and we look forward to the day when we will be reunited in eternity.

Eliza Audette Marotte: 1856-1888

Rene Brisson

This part of the memorial to the first French Colonists who settled around  L'Ange-Gardien, Quebec, Canada which is located 10 miles northeast of Quebec City on the north side of the St. Lawrence Seaway. (Courtesy of Roussin.org)

Rene Brisson was born about 1635 in St. Xainte, La Rochelle, Aunis, France. Records from this time period are scarce and it is thought his parents were Pierre Brisson and Marie Navarre, others say that his father was Jacques Brisson. Not much else is known about the family he left behind to settle in Quebec, Canada by this author at this time.

It is known that Rene Brisson sailed in the spring of 1664 on the ship "Le Noir d'Amsterdam" under Captian Pierre Filly who was from Dieppe. The ship was a fishing vessel and to improve the return on investments they added 51 passengers. Rene was among 50 young men hired to work in New France as it was a time of recruiting individuals to help build 'New France'. There was also one female, Jeanne Benart. Besides Rene Brisson there were others who helped to settle the area; Nicolas Fournier, Andre Gautron dit Larochelle, Mathais and Pierre Champagne and Jean Beaudet. From the passenger list only 42 are identified (1). On May 25, 1664, the 100 ton ship docked at Quebec. You'll note most of these names along with many others were some of the "First Colonists" who helped to settle Quebec.

Rene was a baker and did very well in Quebec. He married Anne Vezina in 1664 in L'Ange-Gardien, Montmorency, Quebec, Canada after signing a marriage contract on September 6, 1663 in front of Mr. Paul Vachon dit Pomerleau.

Together they had  ten children but three died very young. They lived off the coast of Beaupre, Montmorency, Quebec, Canada and had four boys who helped to carry on the Brisson name. He died in 1698. The number of descendants this couple has had since their marriage in 1664 is truely amazing, there is no field this family has not entered into and been successful. Their descendants live in many places all over the world.

Rene Brisson is my 8th grandfather and my pioneer ancestor!

1635-1698

Reference:

(1) Author: Debrien, Gabriel "Engages pour le Canada au XVIIe siecle, vus de la Rochelle." In Revue d'Histoire de L'Amerique Francaise, Vol. 6:2 (Sept 1952), pp. 177-233; vol. 6:3 (Dec. 1952), pp. 374-407. Page 393 / http://ancestry.com/

 

Laurent Plante

Laurent Plante was born 6 Aug 1856 in St. Lazare (Bellechasse), Quebec, Canada to Francios David Plante and Marie Henriette Trahan. He was the fourth child of seven children and spent most of his life living in Canada.

In the 1871 Canadian census he is living with his family in Levis, Notre Dame de la Victoire and working as a cultivator. On 26 Nov., 1877, he married Marie Ruel in St. Charles (Bellechasse), Quebec, Canada.

The 1881 and 1891 Canadian Censuses have them living in Sherbrook, this is where all their children were born. Together they had seven children: Joseph, Peter Honore, Jean Baptiste, Louis D., Julia Anne, Emile J.,  and Joseph Oliva.

The 1901 census states they were living in Acton Vale where Laurent was a foreman on a farm. Joseph is listed as an electrician, Jean Baptiste is listed as a 'cordonnier' which is a cobbler (a shoe repair person) while Louis is going to school.

According to the 1910 US Census, the whole family moved and settled in Providence, Rhode Island sometime during 1904, however, on 24 December 1908, Marie Plante, his wife passed away leaving hin a widower. He worked on the railway as a laborer to keep his remaining family of four children together. By 1920 he is living by himself and working in the cotton mills for support.

His daughter Julia Anne, the young girl in the front on the right married Omer Joseph Brisson, Sr. on October 31, 1910 and are my grandparents. Family legend states that Laurent was quite tall and one can see from this family photo that he seems to be so even in his arkward sitting position for this picture.

Laurent Plante passed away on 31 July 1928 and is buried with his wife Marie in St. Ann's Cemetery, Cranston, RI. He was a hard worker who was there for his family every step of the way.

Laurent Plante: 1856-1928

Lovely Blog Award

One Lovely Blog Award

It is nice to know that people read my blog articles about those who have had gone on before and interlaced our lives for the better. It is fun to be chosen and thank you to one of my followers, Sonja at Tree Climbing with Grandma Sonja whose link is http://treeclimbingwithsonja.blogspot.com/.

I also enjoy her post along with many others. The rules of acceptance are:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award and the blog link.
2. Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered or just love so much.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to them know they have been chosen for this award.

Chosing 15 blogs is going to be interesting as there are many good ones! Thank you!

My Choices are:

1. Genea-Musings

2. About.com Genealogy

3. DearMyrtle's Genealogy Blog

4. Family History Circle

5. Genealogy Canada

6. AFGS - American French Genealogical Society

7. The French Genealogy Blog

8. The Knowles Collection

9. My Heritage Blog

10. Arlene H. Eakles' Genealogy Blog

11. Scotish Genes

12. Genealogy Tip of the Day

13. Shades of the Departed

14. Little Bytes of Live

15. The Educated Genealogist

Theodore Marotte

Theodore Marotte was born on 1 February, 1854 in Richelieu, Quebec, Canada to Isaie-Gedeon Marotte and Josephte Bourgeois. Eight children were born to this couple, the first seven were born in Canada and Theodore was the seventh, with the eigth child, a sister, being born in Burlington, Vermont in 1860.

The first US Census we find Theodore was taken on 18 July 1860 and he is living with his family in Burlington, Vermont. This fits right in with the immigration information listed on his application; it states he immigrated in November, 1855 through St. Albans, Vermont which was the port of entry from Quebec into the United States at this time. He was naturalized on 2 November 1888.

The census records states his father was a tin smith. He is listed as a 'car builder' in the 1880 census but other censuses list him as a carpenter. He was someone who had multiple talents with his hands. His family stayed in Burlington, Vermont for the 1870 census also, but by the 1880 census he was in Pawtucket, Rhode Island living with his wife, Eliza Audette and their first child, Albena F. Marotte. Cora Anne, Alphonse, Alma and Alfred Eugene came along quickly and by 1885 they were expecting their sixth child.

Henry was born on 13 Feb 1888 and lived for 15 days, however, his mother died 8 days after his birth which was devasting to Theodore. It was a very difficult time in his life as he had five children to take care of and yet he had to work to support them. Family members helped out during this diffcult time and he remarried on 30 Jan 1889 to Adeline Ratte.

The family moved to Central Falls where he stayed for a number of years and changed his trade to being a carpenter as listed in the 1900 US Census. He had two more children with Adeline, George and Flora Bell. Eventually he moved back to Burlington, Vermont with his family and stayed there till his death on 31 March 1921. He continued his carpentry work in Burlington designing all different types of kitchen cabinets and any other household item made of wood. He built a large clientele and was very successful in his trade. He is buried in Vermont with Adeline.

His remaining five children with Eliza all migrated back to Pawtucket, Rhode Island where they stayed, married and had their families. The two children he had with Adeline stayed in Burlington, Vermont. George never married but Flora Bell did and her descendants are scattered throughout New England as have the descendants of the other five children. Each of them have varying talents and if he were to look down he would be pleased at the many accomplishment of them all.

His grave and photo are posted at FindAGrave: http://tinyurl.com/4fcsul2


Theodore Marotte: 1854-1921