My Journey Into My Past

EGLISE DE STE MARIE MAGDELEINE The Church of St. Mary Magdelene was built from 1951 to 1953. The building, clad in bumpy stone, features a Latin cross plan consisteing of  a rectangular nave and transepts, and finished with a choir loft.  It has a two sided roof, and has a large warhead bay and is flanked by a bell tower on the right. It is located close to the site of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Cape, in the Cap-de-Madeleine area of the town of Trois-Rivieres, Quesbec, Canada. The church is the fourth place of worship built in the parish of the same name. The parish began in 1678 and is the oldest parish in the diocese of Trois-Rivieres.  At first a wooden chapel was built in 1659 by Pierre Boucher 1622-1717.  Pierre was born in Mortagne-au-Perche and arrived in New France around 1634. He was my 9th Great Grandfather. The chapel was moved to site of the shrine of Our Lady of the Cape in the 1660's.  In 1717. when the building was considered t...

There is a spot in Canada. Not necessarily a popular spot, but it is one of my favorite spots.  It is the  only place I found that was owned by one of my ancestors. Called Moulin a vent de Grondines, it is situated on the St Lawrence River, near Grondines Quebec, Canada.  "Grondines" is from the French verb "gronder"meaning to runbel or roar. This is how the mill at Grondines appeared in 1910.   Built in 1674 the Grondines windmill is the oldest of the 18 windmills in Quebec. It was originally a flour mill, and later became a lighthouse.  A landmark that stands on the north  bank of the St Lawrence River, halfway between Quebec City and Trois-Rivieres, this 17th century mill was once owned by Jacques Aubert Born about 1639 in Duclair France, Jacques was the son of the merchant Georges Aubert and his wife Marguerite Ossanne.  He immigrated to New France, and on 9 November 1665 signed a marriage contract with Antoinette Meunier, a ...

If I was not a procrastinator I would be writing this post in March, instead of April, but since I am one, I am going to divert away from family and ancestry stories and talk about the present.  2020 will always be remember for one thing, and only one thing, COVID19. Yes, the awful Corona Virus.  We were horrified to hear of another virus affecting China. Concerned when it affected Asia. But the real "Oh No!" moment came when it hit the US. It wasn't taken seriously at first, but as it started its insidious spread from relatively minor pockets to affecting large portions of the population, panic began. This isn't our first brush with an overwhelming epidemic.  My great uncle Joe was felled by Cholera in 1899, he was just a toddler.  My parents were both babies at the time of the Spanish Flu, and a cousin was one of the first persons I knew who had AIDS.  At that time there wasn't much known about that disease and he died from it.  We lived through Swine Flu...

 One of the many strong women in a family of strong women was my paternal grandmother Michalina (Lena) Lyskawa.  Lena was born in Sokolniki Poland (Poznan) on 28 September 1877. Her parents were Franciszek Lyskawa and Franciszka Konieczna. Her father died on 3 May 1893 when Lena was 16 years old.  She travelled to the United States by herself in 1901 arriving in Baltimore harbor to be met by her sponsor, her uncle, Jan Antzak. He was a worker in a tobacco shop, and Lena not only lived with her Uncle Jan and Aunt Stanislawa Lyskawa, but went to work in the tobacco shop as well.  She sent most of her money home to her mother. In 1903 her mother and sisters Victoria and Mary were able to make the passage to America. With Lena's wages and Jan Antzak as sponsor, they travelled to join Lena just prior to her marriage. The only son of the family arrived in 1905. Jozef was said to have stowed away to avoid conscription in the Prussian Army.  A different scena...