The Carpenter With Many Spellings: The Story of Benjamin Limoges
A family history blog article
If you tried to follow Benjamin Limoges through the records, you'd need a lot of patience and a good imagination. He appears as Limoges, Limoge, Limange, Limonge, Limose, Lemorge, LaMorge, and Limorge, and in one record even Lemage. The clerks heard a French name through an English ear and wrote down whatever they thought they heard. Behind the shifting spellings is one man who moved his family across a border, worked with his hands for decades, and ended up the grandfather of a large Rhode Island family.
A boy from Napierville
Benjamin was born in Napierville, Quebec, in the summer of 1828. His baptism was on July 30 at the church of Saint-Cyprien, and one record gives his birth as July 2, so the July 30 date that appears in many places is probably his baptism. His father, André Prosper Limoges, was born in 1785 and was married to Marie Rose Benjamin dit St Aubin, who came from the Chambly area.
Marriage and loss in one spring
On February 19, 1849, at the age of 20, Benjamin married Clémence Langevin at Saint-Valentin, Quebec. Less than three months later, on May 6, his father died, at about 60. Their daughter Clémence was born on October 28, 1850.
The records don't say what happened to his first wife. Benjamin married again on November 25, 1856, this time to Marie Catherine Aubin, called Lambert, who was born in Joliette in 1834. Young Clémence appears in the 1861 census, age 11, in the household with her stepmother.
Life along the border
The next decade moved around. Rosanna was born in December 1857, and Rose De Lima followed in 1859. The family record places Rose's birth on Lake Champlain, and she grew up to be someone who, in a family memory, "loved to be on the water." Emma came in 1860, and Benjamin Napoleon in July 1861 in Montreal, though he was baptized the next day at Saint-Valentin. Marie Marguerite was born in 1863.
Then came a sad chapter. In September 1865, a son named Henry was baptized at Lacolle, a Quebec town near the U.S. border. He died 13 months later and was buried there on September 25, 1866. That fall, the Limoges family was still on the Canadian side.
Becoming a Rhode Islander
Between 1866 and 1870, the family crossed the border. The 1870 census finds them on Lonsdale Road in Smithfield, Rhode Island, with their name recorded as "Limose." Andrew was born around 1870, and Mary Ellen followed in 1873 in Lincoln, where the family lived through 1880.
Benjamin worked as a carpenter. The 1885 Rhode Island census lists him that way, at age 55, and also notes that he was an "alien" who could not read or write English. That's easy to understand, but it's still striking: he built things in a country whose language he couldn't read. His son Benjamin Napoleon followed him into carpentry, as city directories show in the early 1890s. By 1891, Benjamin was living at 132 Harrison Street in Pawtucket.
Two sisters, two brothers
In 1882, two of Benjamin's daughters married into the Theroux family, brothers of the family in the last two articles. Rose De Lima married Michel Alberic Theroux on April 16, and Marie Marguerite married Charles Edward Henry Theroux on September 3. Their older sister Rosanna had married Henry P. Langevin two years earlier, and Mary Ellen married Edmond Chagnon in February 1894.
Rose De Lima became a practical nurse and midwife who, according to family memory, was sent for in emergencies "rather than a doctor." Her descendants, counted in 2022, included 64 grandchildren and 47 great-great-grandchildren.
The last years
Benjamin died on September 15, 1893, in Pawtucket. A researcher noted that she couldn't find a newspaper death notice, but the state death register has the entry. His wife appears as a widow in the 1900 census, living with Rosanna and her family.
One more loss followed. In March 1895, his son Andrew died at 24 of erysipelas, a skin infection. Andrew belonged to the Pawtucket City Band, and Father Garcin, the same priest who officiated at Alberic Theroux's funeral, conducted the service.
A very long life next door
Marie Catherine outlived her husband by 36 years. She died on July 28, 1929, and the Pawtucket Times described her as "oldest Pawtucket resident," saying she was 101. Her baptism record says she was 94, which is still remarkable. Her funeral was held from the home of her daughter, Mrs. Charles Theroux, and four Theroux grandsons carried her.
Why he matters
Benjamin left no writings and no memorial. What he left was a name that survived forty spellings, a skill he passed to his son, and daughters who became nurses and mothers of a large family. If your family tree has a carpenter's branch like his, it's one of the sturdy ones.
Benjamin Limoges, a 2nd Great Grandfather!
