Flash Back! The Life and Times of Francois Chenet (Greatly Abridged)

(Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) Well, it's Carnival of Genealogy time again, and our assignment for this month is to create a "flash" family history of one of our ancestors in 300 words or less.  I decided to write about my great-grandfather Francois Chenet.  To use Francois as the subject for my flash family history is absurd to say the least, given the...um...details of Francois' life, but the concept was both fun and challenging.  Let's just say I tried my best to capture the highlights (cough) of Francois relatively long life.  While my flash family history is short, I think I've done a reasonable job in capturing the essence of the man.  What do you think?

Francois Chenet (18 Apr 1813- 22 Mar 1886)

My great-grandfather Francois Chenet was born in St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, Quebec in 1813.  He married Marie-Marguerite Charron in 1836.  Their first child Marguerite was born in 1837.  Their second child Justine was born in 1839. Their third child Jean-Baptiste was born in 1840.  Their fourth child Julienne was born 1841.  Their fifth child Celina was born in 1842.  Their sixth child Philomene was born in 1844.  Their seventh child Francois was born 1845. Their eighth child Marie-Reine was born in 1847. Their ninth child Marie-Vitaline was born in 1848.  Their tenth child Joseph was born in 1849. In 1850 Marie-Marguerite died.

Francois married Theotiste Tetreault (1852).  Their first child Francois-Xavier was born in 1852.  Their second child Louis was born in 1854. Their third child Louis-Napoleon was born 1856.  Their fourth child Toussaint was born in 1858.  In 1859 Theotiste died.

Francois married Marie-Louise Dubreuil (1859).  Their first child Marie-Louise-Delima was born in 1860.  Francois enlisted in the Union army (1863).  Their second child Marie was born in 1864.  Francois was wounded at Cold Harbor (1864). The Civil War ended (1865).  In 1866 Marie-Louise died.

Francois married my great-grandmother Lucie Touchette (1867).  Their first child Victorine-Lucy was born in 1868.  Their second child Francois-Adei was born in 1871.  Their third child Joseph-Theodore-Hormidas (my grandfather, who became Frank.  Go figure...) was born in 1873.  Their fourth child Joseph was born in 1874.  Their fifth child Marie-Josephine was born in 1876.  Their sixth child Flavi-Joseph was born in 1878.  Their seventh child Francois-Elzear was born in 1879.  Their eighth child Marie-Delina-Vedora was born in 1882.  Francois died in 1886.

And the women of Quebec breathed a collective sigh of relief...

Submitted for the 115th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.


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7 comments:

Carol said...

OHHH, MYYY!

"And the women of Quebec breathed a collective sigh of relief..."

Classic! What a wonderful submission!

Kristin said...

Or perhaps were disappointed they didn't get their turn. Wow! That is some history. Good one!

Elizabeth Handler said...

Nice summary of your ancestor's life. Thanks for the laugh.

Jasia said...

Thanks for a good laugh, Cynthia! What an amazingly virile man that Francois was. LOL! At one point, in reading your article, I wondered what line of work Francois was in. But then I realized that he had no time to work. He was too busy makin' babies! What a man. Great article! Thanks for contributing to the COG!

Cynthia Shenette said...

Thank you all for your comments!

I've wanted to write about Francois for a while. I'm almost afraid to say anything, but judging by clues I've picked up on I actually suspect there may be a couple more kids out there. What's really funny is I think Francois' father had more kids than he did and with only two wives. I'm still working on verifying them all though. I'll try post more about this prodigious family when my verification process is complete.

That said, if you ever run into anyone with my last name, say "hi" to my cousin for me... ;)

Joan said...

Cynthia, a wonderfully entertaining post --- and yes indeed, the essences of Francois comes through with great virility -- just had to say that.

Anne said...

Cynthia,

Yes you certainly captures the essence of Francois. I enjoyed the humour.