Week 7: Outcast

I have written here about a few outcasts in my family history. Most recently, it was about the year and a half that my grandfather, Lawrence Wells, spent lonely and sometimes homeless in San Francisco, away from his wife, my grandmother, and baby daughter, my mother. You can read about this beginning in this post here. In an earlier post, I had written about an accused witch, Sarah Hood Bassett, my 7X great-grandmother, an outcast if there ever was one.

Today, I’d like to tell the story of an official banishment of one of my ancestors, who lived as an outcast upon threat of a hanging should he leave his designated refuge.

So, let’s get started, shall we?

We are going way back in time and place, to Switzerland in the very early 1600s.

Pierre Miville dit Le Suisse was born in Fribourg, in western Switzerland, sometime between 1602 and 1605. As a young adult, Pierre was employed in the very distinguished Swiss Guards, known for their protection of the prelate. He appears in the official records in 1635, when he was a witness to a marriage that took place in the church of Saint-Hilaire d’Hiers. He is described in this record as being a “sourice de Monseigneur the cardinal living in Brouage.”

(Most of my information for this post comes from “Our French-Canadian Ancestors”, by Thomas Laforest.)

In the registries of Brouage, it is recorded that Pierre married Charlotte Maugis around the year 1629. A few years later, the young couple had two children, a son and a daughter. After 1640, it became difficult to find employment in Brouage, as the harbor had been narrowed earlier by the residents of La Rochelle. They had hoped that the 20 barges of stones poured into the harbor would prove to be support for the development of salt mines, but instead, the stones caused the failure of the mine project, leading to economic decline.

In 1649, Pierre and his family immigrated to New France, on one of three ships hired for the voyage by wealthy merchants of La Rochelle. The ships were the Compagnie des Habitants, the Grand Cardinal, and Notre-Dame. The first record of the family in Quebec was October 5, when Pierre’s daughter, Marie, was a godmother at a christening.

On October 29 of that same year, the governor of Quebec granted the family three pieces of land, two of them across the St. Lawrence river from Quebec City in the siegneurie (estate, lordship) of Lauzon. This land would play a very important part in the story. Pierre later also owned lots in Quebec City.

Years passed, children were born, married, and given in marriage (including Francois and Aimee, siblings who are both direct ancestors), and land was farmed. Somewhere along the path of his life, Pierre took to ship-building. He became known in his community, and was second in command of the militia at Lauzon. Seemed to be a regular, upstanding citizen. So far.

Then in July 1664, Pierre got himself in trouble. He was imprisoned and appeared in court with the charge that he:

“…committed sedition and intentionally, through open force, accompanied individuals to kidnap passengers sent by the King, to the prejudice of the distribution which had been ordered by the Council.”

Yikes, Pierre… There are no further details about the circumstances of this incident. What people? Why kidnap them? What ever did Pierre and his compatriots hope to accomplish?

I have questions.

What is known is the punishment that Pierre endured. After pleading for mercy, for sedition was punishable by execution, his sentence was that he be:

“…banished in perpetuity from Quebec and relegated to his house located on the Coast and seignuerie of Lauzon… ordered that he keep his banishment and not leave the area of the said seignuerie of Lauzon on penalty of the gallows…”

I think they meant it, don’t you?

In addition to his banishment, his was required to pay a penalty:

…payable without delay, payable namely one-third to the King, for use in the cost of the war, and the remaining two-thirds to the poor of the Hotel-Dieu of this city.”

As a result of this very serious infraction, Pierre would remain for the rest of his life on his land across the river from Quebec. The photo below was taken when we visited Quebec in 2019; we are standing on the shore of the St. Lawrence in the area of the Plains of Abraham, looking across to the other side. Not a terrible place to live as an outcast.

Also as a result of the court’s decision, Pierre’s wife, Charlotte Mongis, had to take over all the family’s business dealings, done in person in Quebec City. In 1667, Pierre was hired to build a ship specifically to recruit Swiss workers for New France. Charlotte was Pierre’s designated representative for this deal and all other dealings after Pierre’s banishment.

Pierre passed away on October 14, 1669 in his Lauzon house. He was finally able to return to Quebec the next day, for his funeral and burial.

Sadly, towards the end of her life, Charlotte entered into a business partnership with two of her sons, that did not end well. She eventually had to sell much of her property to pay her debts. She suffered under the stress of the many court suits, eventually developing dementia. She passed away on October 10, 1676.

I would sure like to know more about the case against Pierre. What made him decide to act so foolishly, as he certainly knew of the consequences of sedition. Maybe the story is out there, but this is where I’m ending for today.

‘Til next time.

Week 6: Social Media

Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay.

As I reflected on this prompt, I realized that every generation has had its own form of social media, ones we wouldn’t today consider to be so.

From the Lascaux cave paintings to whatever the youngins’ latest craze is (TikTok? Post? Reddit? I am hopelessly old-fashioned and behind the times here.) people have always craved connection and communication with others.

In history more recent than cave paintings, letters were common, from clay tablets to fine tissue paper for Air Mail. Usually letters were sent to a single recipient, but they could also be shared with others, much like our modern-day emails.

My mother-in-law participated for years in a family “round-robin” letter. Person One, say Aunt Violet, would write a newsy letter and send it to Person two, her sister, who would then write her own newsy letter and add it to Violet’s letter to the next person in the chain, with each person in the round robin repeating this until it all came back around to Violet with multiple letters. Violet would take out her original letter, and add a new one, sending the letters ’round again. And, ’round and ’round it went.

This type of letter sharing reminded me of an early social media sharing site, Xanga. Our family had our own private site, where each member could contribute a new story or add comments to an earlier post. It was quite fun while it lasted, but other social media sites quickly overtook it. I am still kicking myself that I didn’t download the file.

Sadly, letters weren’t always saved, so the ones I do have are precious, giving insight into an otherwise incomplete picture of a relative. The letter below is from my husband’s side of the family, from his great great grandfather to his daughter, my husband’s great grandmother.

The letter reads:

Iowa Falls Iowa

? 23 1902

Dear Daughter Mary I received thy letter to day was sorry to hear of they poor health but be thou brave and try to stand it if thee hast to have an operation I would try everything else first. I am well as ??? we dug 75 bu (bushels) of potatoes sold 22 bu and 50 ct per bu and I have sold $12 worth of cabbage and 3 bu of beets and have lots more to sel I hope these lines will find thee better so farewell. I remain thy loving Father

James Morgan

Lovely, isn’t it? 

Another way to stay connected, without the length of a letter nor the more costly postage, was through the sending and receiving of postcards.  I like to think of these as quick Twitter posts.  Just a few lines, perhaps more than 140 characters, but usually not by much. They were much more public than letters, as anyone could read the message written on the back.

Because postcards were so quick to write, I think many more were sent, just based on the fact that I have many, many more postcards in my collection than letters.  Here are few below.

This postcard is from my great-great grandmother Sarah (Kendall) Kesterson to her daughter, my great-grandmother, Eva Kesterson Gard.  It is postmarked Aug 2 1912, Cherryvale, Kansas, and says:

Dear Daughter surely hope to have time to write you a letter soon… I had Jude Brown of Altoona-a week …Aunt Mary 4 weeks next tues morning at 4am she goes to Colo next monday all are well here Aunt Natt and Ly… are so much better and Aunt Mary is at Olive’s today  This lady is Mrs. Hendricks (I think referring to the photo on the front.)

The postcard below is one of possibly over a hundred that my grandfather, Charles L. Keene, Sr., sent to his mother, my great-grandmother, Lydia Ann (Thompson) Keene.

This card reads:

Dear Mother

Thelma is better Temperature 99 this a.m. Dr says everything looks very favorable and with good luck can come home in four weeks

Charlie

Unfortunately, Thelma, his first wife, wouldn’t come home.  She passed away from typhoid fever in the New Bedford hospital. 

Another form of social media connection was the practice of leaving and collecting calling cards.  These were akin to short texts, to let someone know that you were thinking of them. From Wikipedia:

A visiting card, also known as a calling card, is a small card used for social purposes. Before the 18th century, visitors making social calls left handwritten notes at the home of friends who were not at home. By the 1760s, the upper classes in France and Italy were leaving printed visiting cards decorated with images on one side and a blank space for hand-writing a note on the other. The style quickly spread across Europe and to the United States. As printing technology improved, elaborate color designs became increasingly popular. However, by the late 1800s, simpler styles became more common.

By the 19th century, men and women needed personalized calling or visiting cards to maintain their social status or to move up in society. These small cards, about the size of a modern-day business card, usually featured the name of the owner, and sometimes an address. Calling cards were left at homes, sent to individuals, or exchanged in person for various social purposes. Knowing and following calling card “rules” signaled one’s status and intentions.

I have lots of calling cards in my archive, from flowery to very simple, more modern ones.  The ones in the phot0 below are in an old geography book that was used as a scrapbook, filled with Morgan family memorabilia.  The card at the top is an early type of campaign flyer for John T. Morgan, a candidate for County Assessor. 

My grandmother Wells had two types of calling cards, one very traditional (“Mrs. Lawrence E. Wells”) and the other a more modern, even feminist, version of her name “Vida G. Wells.”

Another form of social media was scrapbooks and autograph books.  My grandmother Wells’ high school graduation scrapbook is fill with pages like this one below, which I think is a bit like our timelines on Facebook.  You might remember this page from a few posts back.  There are pages and pages in her scrapbook of these notes to Vida, wishing her well in the future or remembering school days together.  

Social media has always been with us; the difference now is its reach, its anonymity, and its transient nature.  Most of us aren’t saving our texts or tweets for posterity. (Which frankly, might be a good thing.) And, we can hide behind made-up profile names.  For the majority of us, this is how we stay in contact with our friends and family; our ancestors had the same desire and need for connection. 

I just wonder what, if anything, my descendants will have to discover about my life.   

‘Til next time.

 

 

Week 5: Oops

Folks who are serious about their family history do not want to make mistakes. No “oops.” But, it can happen, despite our best intentions.

Recently, my second cousin, Peter, found a mistake in his meticulous research in our French Canadian history. Thankfully, due to all the inter-marriage (endogamy), it was quite easily fixed, with minimal corrections needed further back in history.

I have had to go back and undo connections that my earlier, and more foolhardy, self made in haste, sometimes deleting whole branches. I have become much more cautious in my conclusions now. Since my tree is also my work-in-progress, I might accept a hint, if there seems to be substantial evidence to accompany it. But, I always search for more corroborating evidence.

This is why I have only privately owned trees as well. Not only do I not want to make a mistake and have someone else take that as fact and repeat it, but I also do not want to have to correct another’s mistakes. One-world or one-family collaborative trees such as WikiTree and Family Search are fun and interesting places to explore, but I would advise against taking as truth what is posted on such sites, without finding evidence first.

I will give you an example of one such mistake that would be nearly impossible to untangle, so much so that I gave up and never returned to this one-world tree site.

I have written before about my great-grandfather, George Augustus Keene. George’s mother was Lydia Ann (Kent) Keen, his sister was Lydia Ann Keen(e), and he married Lydia Ann (Thompson) Keene. I have more than adequate documentation for all these relationships and Lydia Anns.

On this one-family tree, however, someone had incorrectly conflated three Lydias into two, making George’s sister his wife, removing Lydia Ann Thompson, and making this Lydia Ann the mother of his children. It was truly a mess.

I sent a note to the person who had done the damage, asking that she repair it. It would have taken hours and hours of tedious uncoupling and recoupling to fix the mess. I didn’t have the time nor the heart to do the repair work myself, and I left the site. But, I have often wondered, how many people copied that information into their own trees?

The quest for correct connections isn’t just about perfectionism; it’s that with the wrong information, any further search will either lead further down the wrong path or end in frustration.

Above is Lydia Ann Keene, sister of George.

The photo above is of Lydia Ann (Thompson) Keene, (second) wife of George.

Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of Lydia Ann Kent Keen, mother of George, but what I do have is a 1880 US census with all three Lydias living under the same roof as George.

I can only imagine the chaos and misunderstandings that situation could produce!

“No, not you, Mother; I was calling for my wife!”

“Lydia, you are SO irritating! No, not you, Sweetheart; I meant sister Lydia! Really!”

A situation ripe for “Oops!” if there ever was one!

‘Til next time.

Week 4: Education, Part 2

I have realized that I have often written about my Nana Wells and her accomplishments. I hope I haven’t bored you. But, it seems that with each new discovery, I gain more respect and admiration for her. She was in many ways a woman ahead of her time (driving a car, a working mother, etc.), all the while maintaining a very traditional family and outlook.

So, let’s get on with the story, shall we?

After graduating high school in 1915, Vida attended Los Angeles State Normal School, graduating in 1918 with teaching certificates for both manual arts and home economics. (A “normal” school was a teacher-training institute, named because they taught the “norms.”)

Vida could have rested on her laurels here, just renewing her certificates yearly as required, but she went several steps further.

According to her record of employment written in 1932, Vida was employed after graduation in the East Whittier Elementary school district for two school years, from September 1918-June 1919 and then September 1919-June 1920.  

In the summer of 1919, between her two years at East Whittier, she attended the University of California, taking three classes: Education, English, and Home Ec.

In 1919, Vida met Lawrence Wells, and they were married October 3, 1920.  When they married, Vida was teaching Manual Arts in Riverside, to the east of Los Angeles.  She taught in Riverside from September 1920-June 1921.

My mother, Bula, was born August 19, 1921, so Nana was on her feet for most of her pregnancy, without air conditioning, in Riverside, where it is always hotter than in Los Angeles.  

According to her 1932 work record, she took one year off work when Bula was born, the 1921-1922 school year, then from September 1922 until 1932, she worked continuously for the Los Angeles School District.  (She worked far past 1931; this is just from the record I have posted below.)

 

Again, Vida did not rest.  In 1924, she was awarded a “life diploma” in Manual Arts.  With this diploma, her teaching certification for manual arts stayed with her for life.

She continued to attend classes, while teaching full-time and having a child, at UCLA and USC.  In addition to the summer session of 1919, she also attended UCLA from 1924-1926.  She attended USC in 1932.  

(Reading through some of her letters, it is clear that the only reason Vida could work full-time and attend school while having a small child, is that her parents, my great-grandparents, Willis D. and Eva M. (Kesterson) Gard cared for Bula.  My grandfather, Lawrence, was gone for the first year and half of Bula’s life, and when he returned, his work was never steady.)

Here is her report card for the 1932 summer session at USC.

The next school year, September 1932-1933, Vida applied for, and was granted admission with advanced standing to Santa Barbara State Teachers College.  While she continued teaching, she took three college classes, September 1932-May 1933, Political Science, Principles of Mathematics, and Parent Education.

She also took classes during the summer: Activity Program, Reading Teaching, and Music Appreciation.

In 1934, right before my mother’s 13th birthday, Vida earned her Bachelor’s Degree.

Vida still wasn’t done.  

She applied for, and was granted, a life diploma in 1934 to teach in any subject in any school in the state of California.

In June 1935, she had her formal commencement for Santa Barbara State College.

And, Vida still wasn’t done…

In 1948, She attended USC, taking a class in Elementary School Supervision and Administration.

Although I do not have records of Vida taking more classes in the years between 1935 and 1948, and then 1948 until her retirement in 1959, I wouldn’t be bit surprised to find out that she had. 

Here is the announcement of her retirement in a local paper on May 21, 1959.

According to the article, Los Angeles School District employees were required to retire at 65.  Vida was 63 at the time, so she had taken advantage of the district’s early retirement option.  Frankly, I think looking at her record, she deserved it.  She had worked steadily for decades, both in educating children and herself, and perhaps it was time to take a break.

The photo below has no date, but I think it is probably from 1935, when she received her Bachelor’s Degree.

I was not quite one when Vida retired, so I only knew her in these later years.  I am so pleased to have had the opportunity, through her records, to learn more about her career.  She is an inspiration to me.

‘Til next time.