(Copyright (c) 2014 Cynthia Shenette) A couple of years ago I did a tongue-in-cheek piece on my great-grandfather, Francois Chenet (1813-1886), for the Carnival of Genealogy. While the piece is fun it doesn't tell the whole story.
Francois is notable in my family tree in that he was a Civil War soldier, but my main fascination with him is that he had four wives and 24 children. I wanted to know what kind of a man has four wives. And 24 children. Not only is the number of children fascinating, but the dates and places and events in his and his wives' and children's lives tell a story about the family as a whole. Thanks to the detailed birth, marriage, and death records in the Drouin Collection, the U.S. and Canadian Censuses, and his Civil War pension file I've been able to put together a reasonably comprehensive profile of Francois and his family.
Francois was born in St. Denis in Quebec on 18 April 1813. He married his first wife, Marie-Marguerite Charron on 3 October 1836 in St. Denis. Francois was 23 years old and Marguerite was 21. Marguerite may have been pregnant at the time of marriage as she gave birth to their first child, Marguerite on 16 June 1837, eight and a half months after the wedding. Marguerite was 22 and Francois was 24. Over the next 12 years Marguerite gave birth to nine more children--Justine (1839), Jean Baptiste (1840), Julienne (1841), Celina (1842), Philomene (1844), Francois (1845), Marie-Reine (1847), Marie-Vitaline (1848), and Joseph (1849)--in quick succession.
I charted out Marguerite's pregnancies from 1837 to 1849, and figured out she was pregnant for at least a portion of every year of their marriage. The longest stretch between pregnancies was 13 months. On three separate occasions Marguerite only had three months off between giving birth and getting pregnant again. Life must have been hard with constantly being pregnant, having multiple children to care for and working as a farmer's wife in rural Quebec. Two of the couple's ten children (Jean Baptiste and Marie-Reine) lived less than a year. Marguerite gave birth for the last time in November 1849. When she died on 5 June 1850 at the age of 35 she left eight children behind, ages 12, 11, 8, 7, 6, 5, 2, and 7 months.
A year and a half after Marguerite's death Francois married his second wife, Theotiste Tetreault, on 20 January 1852. Francois was a 38 year old widower with eight children, now ages 14, 12, 10, 9, 7, 6, 3, 2. Francois and Theotiste had four children together--Francois Xavier born 1852, Louis born 1854, Louis Napoleon born 1856 and Toussaint born 1858. Francois Xavier and Toussaint lived less than a year. Daughter Celina from Francois marriage to Marguerite died in February 1858 at the age of 15. Toussaint and his mother, Theotiste, died on the same day, 8 April 1859, perhaps during an epidemic of some sort. Daughter Marguerite died two months later on 15 June 1859 at the age of 21. Francois was 45 years old.
Francois didn't mourn long. He married his third wife, Louise Dubreuil, seven months later on 8 November 1859. According to my calculations Louise was almost five months pregnant when they married. Whether the child was Francois' or someone else's and the the marriage was one of convenience who knows. At the time of their marriage, Louise inherited eight step-children from Francois' previous marriages--ages 20, 18, 15, 14, 11, 10, 5, and 3.
During their marriage Francois and Louise had two children of their own, Marie-Louise born in April of 1860 and Marie born in 1864. There probably would have been more children had Francois not joined the North to fight in the Civil War. Francois Jr., also volunteered and died of disease at the age of 19 on a Virginia battlefield in 1864. Marie-Vitaline died in 1864 at the age of 16 and Philomene died in 1866 at the age of 22. At the time of Louise's death on 14 December 1866, there were only three surviving children out of the ten from Francois' first marriage to Marguerite. When Louise died Francois was 53 years old.
Francois married my great-grandmother, Lucie Touchette, on 18 July 1867. He was 54. She was 19. I wonder what life circumstances would induce a 19-year-old girl to marry a widower 35 years her senior. Upon marriage Lucie became "mother" to seven step-children--Justine age 28, Julienne 26, Joseph 17, Louis 12, Napoleon, 10, Marie-Louise 7, and Marie 3. One month after their marriage Lucie was pregnant with her first child. Victorine Lucy was born on 13 May 1867. Over the next 13 years Lucie gave birth to eight more children--Francois Adei in 1871, Joseph Theodore Hormidas (also known as Frank, my grandfather) in 1873, Joseph in 1874, Marie-Josephine in 1876, Flavi Joseph in 1878 and Marie Delina Vedora in 1882.
Victorine Lucy died at the age of two in 1871. I suspect there was a ninth child that died as there was a 23 month gap between pregnancies from July 1868 to April of 1870, a 13 month gap between July 1874 and July 1875, and a 23 month gap between October of 1879 and July of 1881. The 1900 U.S. Census corroborates this. When the enumerator asked "Mother of how many children." Lucie's response was "9," and when asked, "Number of these children living." her answer was "7."
According to his Civil War pension file Francois weighted 130 lbs. in 1884, suffered from "rheumatism" and was blind from cataracts. It's interesting to consider when you think about the fact that he had seven children age 14 and under, including a two-year-old daughter, at the time. Francois died at the age of 72 on 22 March 1886. Lucie was 38. Francois left 14 children from four marriages, ranging in age from 3 to 46.* Lucie died in 1917. She outlived her husband by 31 years.
* While I have not been able to find a death record for Justine, I do know she was alive at least until 1864 when she married Louis Debreuille. For this exercise I am going presume she lived until 1886. If you have information to the contrary please contact me, and I will be happy to consider it.
Other Posts You Might Like:
Sightseeing Around Civil War Richmond, Virginia
Tombstone Tuesday: Francois Chenette, Civil War Soldier
The Death and Funeral of Charles Senecal - Amanuensis Monday
Photo Story: Dad and a Mystery Solved
Tumbleweed Guest Ranch, 1944
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| "Elmer" |
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| "After the Hayride" "Before" Helene (Szerejko) Dingle, left; Unidentified, center; Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, right |
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| "After" Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, left; Helene (Szerejko) Dingle, center; Unidentified, right |
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| "Kris + Helene riding a pair of Army horses" Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, left; Helene (Szerejko) Dingle, right |
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| "Jack on Patches" Jack Franks |
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| "Helene feeding Ambitious a daisy" Helene (Szerejko) Dingle |
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| "Jack + Patches" Jack Franks |
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| "Helene, Kris + Irv." Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, left; Helene (Szereko) Dingle, center; Irv, right |
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| "Time out for Dawsons " |
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| Helene (Szerejko) Dingle |
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| "Helene - leg art" Helene (Szerejko) Dingle |
Tumbleweed advertised moderate rates for modern, private log cabins with showers, as well as excellent food. The main ranch house was constructed of logs and contained an "Indian fireplace" decorated in "western fashion."
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| "Crisco Kid" Christine (Szerejko) Shenette |
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| "Kris Soaping Saddles" Christine (Szerejko) Shenette |
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| "Follies Cowgirls" Christine (Szerejko) Shenette |
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| "Follies Cowgirls" Helene (Szerejko) Dingle |
Another reader who vacationed at Tumbleweed between 1951 and 1952 contacted me and said the people who ran Tumbleweed did not discriminate against Jews when other resorts did. I found a 1941 advertisement for Tumbleweed in the Jewish Chronicle which substantiates this. My reader said the folks at Tumbleweed were fun and "open-minded" during a time of discrimination and prejudice. She told me she met a group of girls there, and they became friends for life. Some guests, like my mom and her sister and this lady, returned to Tumbleweed year after year.
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| "Shoeing Powderpuff" Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, left; Jack Franks, center; Elmer, shoeing Powderpuff |
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| "Kris, Rex, Helene" Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, left; Rex, center; Helene (Szerejko) Dingle, right |
I'm not sure why my mom and her sister stopped going to Tumbleweed after 1945. Maybe the end of the war changed things and opportunities for other types of vacations opened up. I do know that my mom loved Tumbleweed and talked about her time there fondly. Mom worked at the Ration Board during the war, so maybe after the war she had different friends once she moved on to a new job and she and her sister decided to explore new destinations for their annual summer vacation.
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| "The sister act" Irv, back row center; Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, second on the right; Helene (Szerejko) Dingle, far right |
Jack Franks sold Tumbleweed around 1958 but remained in the guest ranch business. According to a newspaper article he operated the largest ranch for children on the East Coast, at least into the 1960s. Tumbleweed eventually became a riding camp for teens in the 1960s and 1970s. If you are interested, there is an active Facebook group devoted to sharing memories of Tumbleweed.
This concludes this year's visit to Tumbleweed. See y'all next year!
Other Posts You Might Like:
Happy Acres - Those Places Thursday
Photo Story: 1939 World's Fair
The Rope Pull - Wordless Wednesday
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
Over There!: My Grandfather and World War I
(Digital Images. Photographs and Postcard Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Over There! Poster in the public domain, available Wikipedia; Photographs, Postcard, and Text, Copyright (c) 2014 Cynthia Shenette) I've written a number of posts about my grandfather's service in World War I. While I've enjoyed delving into my research for my various posts, it's easy to overlook the big picture in relation to individual parts. For Bill West's Geneablogger's First World War Challenge I thought I'd put the pieces together and create a sort of timeline of events about my grandfather's time in the service to try to create a cohesive whole out of the many parts.
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| Adolf Szerejko, Augusta, GA |
My grandfather, Adolf Szerejko was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1895. He immigrated to the States in 1913 at age 18 to avoid conscription into the Russian army. I've written about it before, but my grandfather's brother Wincenty was conscripted into the Russian army at a young age and neither my grandfather nor their parents ever saw Wincenty again. To spare my grandfather and his brother Aleksander the same fate, their parents arranged for Adolf and Aleksander to immigrate to the United States. The brothers arrived in the United States through Ellis Island, and my grandfather eventually settled in Worcester, MA. While my grandfather was lucky enough to avoid conscription into the Russian army his immigration to the United States coincided with the start of the First World War.
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| Adolf Szerejko, Augusta, GA |
According to his World War I draft card Adolf registered for the draft on 2 June 1917. At that time he lived at 55 Lafayette St. in Worcester, MA. He was born in Warsaw Poland and worked as a machinist at Babcock Printing Press Co. in New London, CT. This fact has always confused me in that, as far as I've been aware my grandfather always lived in Worcester, other than living with a relative for a brief time in Webster, MA. His name appears as Adolph Sharaiko, in the Worcester City Directories for the years 1914 and 1915, but he disappears for time in the directories until after the war. His draft card lists him as single, Caucasian, of medium height and weight, with brown eyes and brown hair. Interestingly, his card looks as if he registered in Ward 5, Precinct 1 in Worcester, but the card is signed by the assistant city clerk of New London, CT.
According to a record from Ancestry's U. S. Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 database, Adolf enlisted on 15 December 1917. The application indicates he served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army Air Service, 2nd Company 3rd Regiment Air Service Mechanics.
The back of the first photo indicates that it was taken on 7 February 1918. The back of the second more casual picture indicates the photo was taken on 17 February 1918. Both photos were taken at Camp Hancock, Augusta, GA. I suspect that given that he enlisted in December of 1917 and was in Georgia by February of 1918 he was perhaps there for basic training before being sent overseas.
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| Camp Green Charlotte NC |
My grandfather also spent some time at Camp Green in Charlotte, NC. I have some wonderful candids from his time at Camp Green. You can see them in my previous post here. I don't know exactly when and how long he was at Camp Green, but my guess is probably sometime in the early spring of 1918.
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| Adolf Szerejko, Leaning Out Window |
The photo above is one of my favorites. The chalk writing on the train says, " Going to GET the Kaiser" "Scranton, PA US Aviation Section Regulars Going to Berlin via France." The back of the photo says, "Taken at Rocky Mountain South Carolina Adolf"
My grandfather sent this post card to my grandmother after he arrived in France in September 1918. According to the post card he left for France on 7 July 1918. You can read my post on the post card here.
The text of the postcard reads:
September 1st 1918
My dear Antosia,
Tonight I received letter from you which I'm very thankful for. I was very pleased when I got it because I didn't have any news from you for over a month. You wrote that letter on July 7th and same night I was on the way. You may be impatient that you are not getting letters from me too often but you have to get use to it. Write to me as often as you can because letter is the thing [illegible]
I'm sending my regards to everyone.
Yours Adolf
My grandfather was an airplane mechanic for the duration of the war. I have a large collection of World War I air plane photo post cards that were part of his collection. You can see a sample of those post cards in a previous post here.
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| Adolf Szerejko, Far Right |
I also have this photo in my collection. The back of the photo indicates that it was taken in Orly Seine, Paris. The soldiers are wearing what appear to be flu masks, so the photo was probably taken sometime in the fall of 1918 or the winter of 1919. You can see my post about the photo here.
The image above is a scan of one of my favorite items in my collection. It is a pass that says my grandfather had permission to be absent on 26 December 1918 between the hours of 9AM and 10 PM for the purpose of visiting Paris. You can read my post about it here.
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| Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko and Adolf Szerejko |
I don't know exactly when the photo above was taken. Knowing my grandmother she would never wear white shoes before Memorial Day or after Labor Day, so the photo was probably taken in the summer of 1918 or 1919. My grandfather left for France in the summer of 1918 and returned in the summer of 1919. My grandparents were probably not yet engaged when the photograph was taken, because my grandmother is not wearing an engagement ring in the photo.
According to the U. S. Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 database on Ancestry my grandfather was discharged from the service on 11 July 1919...
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| Adolf Szerejko and Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko |
Other Posts You Might Like:
Photo Story: Helping the Red Cross During World War I
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: WWI Red Cross Volunteers
Picnic! - Wordless Wednesday
Visiting the Tenement Museum in NYC - Follow Friday
Autograph Album from Junior High, 1935 - Treasure Chest Thursday
(Digital Image. Album Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Text and Images, Copyright (c) 2014 Cynthia Shenette)
My mom, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, went to Providence Street Junior High School in Worcester, MA in the 1930s. Apparently, she and her junior high friends shared in the age old tradition of exchanging autographs. It's funny how some end of the school year activities don't change. I had an autograph album when I was a kid, and last week my son came home with a tee-shirt signed by all of his classmates. The medium has changed, but the tradition has not.
If you had an album back in the day I bet you can relate to the sentiments expressed here. Some are classics and have probably been written over and over in countless albums and yearbooks. Still, it's fun to read them and imagine my mom going around collecting and signing autographs from her friends on that June day 79 years ago.
If you get to heaven
Christine Sharayko
"To keep my friends
Is my delight
So in this book
I pray you'll write."
***
***
My mom, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, went to Providence Street Junior High School in Worcester, MA in the 1930s. Apparently, she and her junior high friends shared in the age old tradition of exchanging autographs. It's funny how some end of the school year activities don't change. I had an autograph album when I was a kid, and last week my son came home with a tee-shirt signed by all of his classmates. The medium has changed, but the tradition has not.
If you had an album back in the day I bet you can relate to the sentiments expressed here. Some are classics and have probably been written over and over in countless albums and yearbooks. Still, it's fun to read them and imagine my mom going around collecting and signing autographs from her friends on that June day 79 years ago.
Hook or by crook
I am the first
to write in your
book
An Everlasting School-
mate,
Jane Parath
Class of 1935
***
Don't be #
Don't be b
Just be [natural]
Just be [natural]
"Schoolmate"
Edith
Stonequist
***
June 25, 1935
Think of me long;
Think of me ever;
Think of the fun,
We've had together.
Always a friend;
Dorothy Morris
***
***
Eleanor Mikoloski
69 Harlem St. Worcester, Mass
Tel = 3-4978
Yours til Atlantic Ocean
wears pants,
To keep it's bottom dry.
***
***
If you get to heaven
before I do
Poke a hole + pull
me through
R.J.S.
***
***
June 24, 1935
If in the world a
secret you know,
Tell not your friend
Tell not your foe,
For when your friend
became your foe
Then all the world
your secret will know.
(205) Myrtle Olson
***
***
Roses are Red
Voilets are blue
pickels are sour
and so are you
Alden Gates
1935
***
***
(Got a little crush Alden?)
"1935"
Down the Lane he led her
The heaven was "studded"
with stars
Down to the gate
he led her
For her he opened the
bars
She turned her soft
eyes upon him
But theres nothing
between them now
He was just a hired man
and she a Jersey Cow
You Everlasting Friend Stella Rosochacki
***
***
(I think Stella and I would have really liked each other...)
Remember the girl in the
city
Remember the girl in the
town
Remember the girl who spoiled
your book
By writing upside
down
Yours Truly
Evelyn Robbins
***
***
Remember always a
Pal.
Sonia Mouskowitz
***
***
In your chain of
friendship consider
me a link
Edith Sklut
Yours till rats eat cats
***
***
Policeman Policeman do
Your duty,
Here comes Christine the
American Beauty
Your Schoolmate
Rose Morris
(Don't take this seriously)
***
***
When you
are married
and hubby gets
mad
Pick up a pocker [poker?] and
say I am boss
A pal
Rita A.
***
***
Christine Sharayko
Robert Smith
***
***
First come Friendship,
Them comes Marriage,
Then come Christine
pushing a baby
carriage.
A Friend
Cecelia Tilenda
***
***
Just a friend
Lillian Tarkiainen
June 25, 1935
***
***
Forget
Me
Not
Beatrice Sher
8' H.R. 205
(your Pal)
***
***
(It's nice to know Mom and Beatrice were in home room (H.R.) 205 together!)
Roses are red
Violets are ducking
When a girl gets out of
High School
She is ready for
College
Albert Quist
206
***
***
A. Louise Jones
~[G clef]~
***
***
Mildred Balcome
Providence St. Jr. High
June 25, 1935
***
***
(Many of the autographs are written with beautiful handwriting. Why is it that we don't teach cursive anymore?)
Onward and Upward
Cora A. Stanton
Providence St. Jr. High School
***
***
schoolmate
Ray Luce
June 1935
P.S.J.H.
***
***
When Christine was a little
girl she use to play
with toys
But she goes to J.H.S. now
she plays with all the boys
Your schoolpal
Rose Potkaj
***
Nils Stead
Providence St. J.H.S.
June 1935
***
***
With Best Regards
Lula E. Mills Art
June 25, 1935.
***
***
(It's fun to know Lula and Mom were in art class together.)
Howard C. Norbeck,
24 Aurilla St.
Worcester,
Mass.
***
***
F.G. McGrath
***
***
Mildred Collins
***
***
Douglas (Pest) Wakefield
Providence J.H.S.
(Pest? Another junior high crush perhaps?)
Sincerely!
Katherine L. Power
June, 1935
***
***
Christine it is
Christine forever
Sherako it is
But not forevever.
just an old
Pal
Anna Migliozzi
***
***
Raymond Stokowski
172 Vernon St.
Worcester
Mass.
***
***
When you marry and
get twins
Don't come to borrow my
pins.
Your's til' powder
puffs.
"Millie"
J.G.D.
***
***
(Your's til powder puffs? I think I would have liked Millie, too. I can see me and Mom and Stella and Millie all heading down to Liggett's for a Coke after class...)
Police man
Police man
due your duty
catch Christine
the American beauty
Doris Soderberg
Worcester
Mass
***
***
By hook or by Crook
I am the last
to write in this book.
Ruth Waska
***
***
If you are related to or knew any of the students from the Providence Street Junior High School Class of 1935 who signed my mother's autograph album I'd love to hear from you!
Other Posts You Might Like:
Climbing Over Rocky Mountain - Wordless Wednesday
Picture Day, Circa 1927 - Wordless Wednesday
Happy Acres - Those Places Thursday
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
Other Posts You Might Like:
Climbing Over Rocky Mountain - Wordless Wednesday
Picture Day, Circa 1927 - Wordless Wednesday
Happy Acres - Those Places Thursday
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...
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