Joseph LeBlanc

                                               
  Joseph LeBlanc, my 5th g-Grandfather, was born on 10 November 1718 in Grand-Pre' Acadia. Joseph was the son of Jacques LeBlanc and Elizabeth-Isabelle Boudrot

  On 26 Nov 1742, at the age of 24, Joseph took for his wife a Marie Madeleine Melancon (Melanson). The couple were married in Grand-Pre' and would remain there till world events forced them to be deported from their home in 1755. See:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadian_deportation

  On 2 September 1743 Joseph and Marie Madeleine's son Etienne was born. Unfortunately this son would live only eighteen days. Joseph and Marie would have three more children, a girl named Marie Madeleine, and two boys named Anselme and another Etienne.

  On 5 September 1755, Joseph, along with the other males of Grand-Pre', were locked in the Parish Church and informed that all but their personal property was being forfeited to the British Crown. The men would remain in captivity until transports arrived to take them to the Colonies.

  Joseph and his family were transported to the Colonies, where they were held captive at Sutton Massachusetts until the end of the "French and Indian War".  Massachusetts records indicate that Joseph was "in poor health, unable to do much work" Records indicate that the family grew by four girls and one boy while in captivity, but lack of records cannot confirm if these children were born to Joseph and Marie or orphans that they took charge of.

  Upon release from captivity, most Acadian families returned to Canada. There are no records indicating that Joseph and his family ever returned to Canada and it is speculated that he may have taken his family to "The West Indies" were many famlies died of disease.

  The only member of Joseph's family known to survive  is the son "Etienne". Etienne appears to have reached Quebec by 1776 when he was recruited into the American Continental Army to fight the British in the American Revolution. A marriage of the son "Etienne" in 1778 indicates that his parents were deceased.

  Grand-Pre Acadia is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site;(See;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand-Pr%C3%A9_National_Historic_Site

  For family Genealogy See  http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I1586 

James Robinson "Early Settler of Hardwick Massachusetts"

  James Robinson, my 7th g-Grandfather,  was born on 15 March 1690 in Boston Massachusetts to Thomas Robinson and Sarah Dennison.

  James Robinson would work as a "house-wright", a builder of homes similar to today's occupation of a carpenter. He inherited property in Boston from his paternal Grandfather, across from the Old South Church, on what is today's Washington Street. He sold this property in 1712 and bought a home on Boyston Street. In 1714, he sold the property on Boylston Street and moved his family to Rochester Massachusetts.

  On 3 July 1711, in Roxbury Massachusetts, James Robinson married a Patience Ruggles. From this marriage two sons would be born in Boston Massachusetts and another three sons and three daughters would be born in Rochester Massachusetts.

  With the exception of one daughter, James Robinson and his family would move to  Hardwick Massachusettes. The Robinson's and the Ruggles's famlies were some of the earliest settlers of Hardwick, helping to establish the Town in 1739..

  James Robinson would die on 11 March 1762 in Hardwick and is buried at  Hardwick Central Cemetery. (See Photos)

  Family Genealogy at: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I319

Mathieu Gervais "A soldier of the King"

  Mathieu Gervais, my 7th g-Grandfather, was born in Paris France in 1646 to Pierre Gervais and Catherine Saillard.
 

  At the age of nineteen, Mathieu sailed to the New World as a soldier  of  "The Grandfontaine Company" of "The Carnigan Regiment".(See photos of Unit" Flag and Uniforms)  The Company left France on 16 May 1665, on the French Warship  "L'Aigle d' Or" and arrived in New France on 18 August 1665. The "Carnigan Regiment" would provide security for French settlers against Indian attacks in Quebec. See:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carignan-Sali%C3%A8res_Regiment 

  Matheiu Gervais,like many other soldiers of his unit, remained in New France upon the units return to France. Matheiu and other members of his unit were rewarded for their remaining in New France with parcels of land.

  On 31 August 1676, in Montreal Quebec, Mathieu Gervais married a Michelle Picard. From this marriage four sons and six daughters would be born.

  Mathieu Gervais would die at the age of eighty-two on 31 January 1728 in Montreal Quebec, where he was buried on 1 February 1728.
See:http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I5366

Peter Weber

  Peter Weber, my 2nd Great-Grandfather, was born on 3 November 1842 in Calumet Wisconsin. Peter was the first child born in the United States to German immigrants Anton Weber and Anna Koenigs.

  In 1863, at the age of twenty-one, Peter traveled to the west coast and lived for 5 years in California and Nevada. Peter returned to Wisconsin by 1868 and settled  in Mount Calvary Wisconsin.

  On 3 November 1868, at Mount Calvary Wisconsin, Peter married an Austrian immigrant named Paulina Flatz, From this marriage nine children, five daughters and four sons, would be born in Mount Calvary.

  In Mount Calvary, Peter established and ran a general repair and blacksmith shop. Peter served as a Justice of the Peace for three years and a member of the town's Board of Supervisors as a Democrat.

  In the 1880's, Peter moved his family from Mount Calvary to Superior Wisconsin to live. Peter would die of Pneumonia in Superior Wisconsin on 18 June 1891. (See Photo) Peter is buried  at the Old St Francis Cemetery in Superior Wisconsin, (See Photo)

 See family record at:http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I462

August 15th, A Day of Celebration in the Family

  A short post today.

  August 15th is a day of celebration of my heritage as one descended from Acadia. August 15th, in 2004,  was designated as "Acadian National Day"

For further reading see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadians

  August 15th is a day of celebration for my Korean Wife. On August 15, 1945, Korea regained her independence as a country, and August 15th is celebrated as a national holiday in Korea as "Independence Day"

 For further reading see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangbokjeol

  The attached picture is of me and my wife in Korea forty-six years ago:

 

The Tilley's of Henlow England

  John Tilley and Joan Hurst, my 11th Great-Grandparents were married on 20 September 1596 at St Mary Church in Henlow England, (See Photo) Both John and Joan were born in Henlow England, he on 19 December 1571 to Robert Tilley and his wife Elizabeth, and she on March 13 1567/68 to William Hurst and Rose Fisher.

  Edward Tilley, brother of John Tilley, was born in Henlow England on 27 May 1588. Edward married an Alice Cooper on 20 July 1614, probably in Henlow England.

  In September of 1620 the brothers sailed to The New World on the "Mayflower" (see painting) and arrived at what was to become Plymouth Massachusettes in December of 1620. John brought his wife and his daughter Elizabeth, and  Edward brought his wife and her nephew and neice.

  The winter of 1620/21 was harsh on the new settlers and all the adult Tilley's and their wives died during the winter. John's daughter, Elizabeth, of whom I decend, survived the winter and would marry a fellow "Mayflower" passenger named John Howland. The neice of Alice Cooper, Humility, would survive the winter and return to England. The nephew of Alice Cooper, Henry Samson, survived the winter and remained in the New World

For furthur reading see Wikipedia entries for , John Tilley, Edward Tilley and Henry Samson

Marie Madeleine LeBlanc

  Marie Madeleine LeBlanc, my 6th Great Grandmother, was born in Grand-Pre Acadia on 18 November 1725 to Francois LeBlanc and Cecile Boudrot.
  She would marry a Jean Baptiste Forest around 1745 and to this family would be born two boys and two girls. The family would reside in Pisiguit Acadia, During the French and Indian War, the family moved to Isle Madame to be under the Security of the French Fort at Louisbourg. With the fall of Fort Louisbourg in 1758, the Forest family was captured and placed on ships for France.
  It is unknown whether the father, Jean Baptiste Forest, died prior to the sailing to France or perished during the sailing. One ten year old daughter would escape the sailing by going to Quebec with relatives.(see link below to previous blogpost) The widow, Marie LeBlanc and three of her children  survived the sailing and arrived in St Malo France on 23 January 1759. (See record below)
  Conditions aboard the ship must have been horrible as the family was placed in the hospital upon their arrival in France.(See hospital record below) Marie died on 18 March 1759 in St. Servan France and was buried there the following day.(See Burial Record below) Two of her remaining children would die less than a month after their mother on April 12th and April 14th in the hospital of St. Servan. Only one child of this family would survive the sailing to St Malo France.

Blogpost for Theodose Foresat: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8545416888743417776#editor/target=post;postID=5052587915993585112

See family record at: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m-leblanc&id=I5234