Surname Saturday: SONNIER

SONNIER is the surname of my great-great-grandmother, Marie Alice (Sonnier) BONEAUX. She was my paternal grandfather's maternal grandmother. She was featured last Sunday in my Census Sunday post. In her older years, she lived in a little one-room house behind my great-grandparents house on Nelson St. in Vinton, Louisiana. I always thought that house was really cool when I was a kid because I had never seen such a small house, and it had a bunch of old stuff in it.

Marie Alice SONNIER

b. 07 Sep 1891 in Carencro, Lafayette, Louisiana
m. Maurice BONEAUX 10 Sep 1908 at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Carencro, Lafayette, Louisiana
m. Hymel POTIER aft. 1934
d. 07 May 1970 in Vinton, Calcasieu, Louisiana

Joseph Numa "Babe" SONNIER

b. 03 Jun 1862
bap. at St. John's Cathedral in Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana
m. Marie Edmonia DOMINGUE 22 Jan 1883 at St. John's Cathedral in Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana
d. probably bef. 1906, probably in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

He has been quite the mystery for my cousin Cheryl and I. The rumor in Cheryl's line of the family was that he had committed suicide (Cheryl's grandfather and Marie Alice SONNIER were siblings). We had both come across a reference to a 1906 courthouse marriage record for a woman named Mrs. Edmonia DOMINGUE and Laurent ARCENEAUX, but there was no way to tell for sure if it was our Edmonia. Several years later, as my grandmother was digging around in a desk inherited from Edmonia's granddaughter, she came across the actual marriage record buried in the desk, which confirmed for us that this was likely our Edmonia.

Simeon SONNIER

b. 18 Feb 1830
bap. 01 May 1830 at St. John's Cathedral in Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana
m. Rosalie Basilisse Armigela DOMINGUE 05 Aug 1861 at St. John's Cathedral in Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana
d. 15 Aug 1871
bur. St. John Cemetery in Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana

Cyrille SONNIER

b. abt Sep 1794
bap. 10 May 1795 at St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville, St. Martin, Louisiana
m. Susanne PARR 13 May 1822 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Grand Coteau, St. Landry, Louisiana
d. 16 Apr 1859
bur. St. John Cemetery in Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana

Joseph SONNIER/SAULNIER

b. 30 Apr 1755
bap. 16 Nov 1755 in Petitcoudiac, Acadia
m. Marie THIBODEAUX 10 Jan 1779 at St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville, St. Martin, Louisiana
d. 09 Oct 1820 in Carencro, Lafayette, Louisiana
bur. 10 Oct 1820 at St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery in Grand Coteau, St. Landry, Louisiana
Arrived in Louisiana in 1765 with his older sister, Madeleine. Read more about their journey here.

Etienne SONNIER/SAULNIER

b. abt 1702, probably in Minas, Acadia
m. Jeanne COMEAU abt 1729, prob. at Minas, Acadia
m. Anne Marie DAROIS 04 Jun 1740 in Beaubassin, Acadia (my line)
d. Unknown

Louis SONNIER/SAULNIER

b. abt 1663 in France
m. Louise BASTINEAU c. 1684 in Grand Pre, Acadia
d. abt 1730, probably at Minas, Acadia

Census Sunday: My Great-Great-Grandparents in 1930

Three weeks ago, I started a Census Sunday series, in which I featured the census records showing my great-grandparents in 1930. I skipped the next two weeks because my mom was visiting from Louisiana two weeks ago, and last week I was in Louisiana visiting. Now that I am back on track, this post will feature my great-great-grandparents in 1930.

Oscar TRAHAN and Bertha DUHON

1930 U.S. census, Harris County, Texas, population schedule, Justice Precinct 3, enumeration district (ED) 178, sheet 32A, dwelling 587, family 649, Oscar Trahan household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 June 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 2352.

This is my great-great-grandfather, Oscar, and his second wife, Bertha. He ran off to Texas to work for the oil refineries after he left his first wife. I cannot seem to find his first wife, Virginia PREJEAN, in 1930. They divorced around 1920. She had a child with a man named DOMINGUE in 1926, and then she married a SCHENKEL in 1932. I looked for Virginia and her son, Claude DOMINGUE, but I have not been able to find them in 1930. I also looked for her future husband, Louis SCHENKEL, but she was not with him either in 1930. I'm just going to have to order Claude's SS-5 application to see who his father was. Perhaps they were with his father in 1930. DOMINGUE is a very hard name to find in the census. It is pronounced like the word "domain," so you can imagine how it gets spelled. Oscar and Virginia's only chld, Bienvenue, was featured in my last Census Sunday post in the home of his father-in-law (see below).

Maurice BONEAUX and Marie Alice SONNIER

Maurice and Marie were the parents of my great-grandmother, Beatrice Marie BONEAUX. They were featured in the last Census Sunday post, since my great-grandparents, Beatrice and Bienvenue, were living with them.

John Henry MERTENA and Blanche WELDEN
John and Blanche were the parents of my great-grandfather, Merlen Paris MERTENA. They were featured in the last Census Sunday post, since my great-grandfather was still single and living at home with them.

William Harmon PROFFITT and Emmer Link BAKER

1930 U.S. census, Creek County, Oklahoma, population schedule, Mannford, enumeration district (ED) 24, sheet 3A, dwelling 49, family 51, William H. Proffitt household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 June 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1900.

William and Emmer were the parents of my great-grandmother, Hassie Cora PROFFITT. They were living in Mannford, Creek, Oklahoma, where William was a Methodist minister. Creek is just one county west of Tulsa County. They moved around Oklahoma a lot since William was a minister. I really need to dig into church history and find out where all his appointments were located. My great-grandmother, Hassie, was not living with them. Her younger sister, Bessie, was the only child living at home in 1930. Hassie was probably boarding with a family near where she was teaching, but I haven't been able to find her yet in the 1930 census. I'm not precisely sure where she was teaching. I know that at one time between 1925 and 1930, she was teaching in Pawnee County, just one county north of Creek County.

Lovell Hugh PEMBERTON and Alvina Mary LESPERANCE

1930 U.S. census, St. Clair County, Michigan, population schedule, Kimball Township, enumeration district (ED) 20, sheets 17A-B, dwelling 391, family 394, Lovell H. Pemberton household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 December 2005); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1024

Lovell and Alvina were the parents of my great-grandfather, John Vital "Jack" Pemberton, who was already married and living with his wife and two children in Port Huron, St. Clair, Michigan, in 1930. Lovell and Alvina were living on Ditty Road in Kimball Township, not too far from Port Huron. Every census year, they seem to migrate further north. Their youngest four children were still living at home in 1930. Lovell was a blacksmith, and the oldest of the four children at home, Madeline, was a laborer in the salt plant. Morton Salt Company had large operations in Marysville, Michigan, just a few miles from Kimball Township, so I presume she worked for them.

Ernest George CRYSLER

1930 U.S. census, Sanilac County, Michigan, population schedule, Fremont Township, enumeration district (ED) 17, sheets 5B-6A, dwelling 114, family 116, Mary Crysler household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 June 2011); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1028.

Ernest was the father of my great-grandmother, Mabel CRYSLER. Mabel was already married in 1930 and living with her husband, John Vital "Jack" Pemberton, and two children in Port Huron. Ernest was a farmer living with his mother, Mary (Molesworth) CRYSLER, in Fremont Township, Sanilac, Michigan, in 1930. Ernest's first wife and Mabel's mother, Nellie REYNOLDS, died in 1917. He remarried Minnie SIBLEY in 1919. I'm a little confused because this lists Ernest as a widower, and Minnie is also listed as a widower, living with her mother, Pauline CAMPBELL, in Port Huron in 1930. It seems Ernest and Minnie must have had an unhappy union. Interestingly, Minnie was 10 years older than Ernest. Ernest's sons, George and Harold, were living with him in 1930. George was working as a farm laborer.

Alexander CURRIE and Mary RAYMOND
Alexander and Mary are not found in the 1930 census because they both died prior to 1930. They were the parents of my great-grandfather, Archie CURRIE. Alexander died in 1909, and Mary died in 1920.

Robert PLAINE and Florence Minnie HILLMAN
Robert and Flora are not found in the 1930 census because they were living in Ontario, Canada in 1930. They never immigrated to the U.S. They were the parents of my great-grandmother, Jennie Grace Christina PLAINE, who immigrated in the 1920s.

SNGF: Ancestral Name List Roulette

It's Saturday night and time for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

1) How old is one of your grandfathers now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

My paternal grandfather, Benford Maurice TRAHAN, would be 75 years old today if he was still alive. If I divide this by four, I get 18.75, which rounds to 19.

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?

This person is my great-great-grandmother, Marie Alice SONNIER. She is actually the maternal grandmother of my grandfather above.

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

1) Marie was born 7 Sep 1891 in Carencro, Lafayette, Louisiana to Numa SONNIER and Edmonia DOMINGUE.

2) Marie spoke French all of her life and never learned English.

3) Marie lived her later years in a little one-room house behind the house of my great-grandparents on Nelson Street in Vinton, Louisiana, just around the corner from where I grew up. I never met Marie because she died 11 years before I was born, but I always thought her little one-room house was the perfect playhouse when I was a kid.

More Relatives from 1909

I started thinking that I hadn't covered all of my direct ancestors with my two previous posts on 1909/1910. There were a few more that were still living in 1910.

My Paternal Grandfather's Side:

My great-great-great-grandmother, Marie "Edmonia" DOMINGUE, was living with her second husband, Lawrence ARCENEAUX, in Police Jury Ward 1, Lafayette, Louisiana. Edmonia was the mother of my great-great-grandmother, Marie Alice SONNIER. Edmonia's first husband was Joseph Numa SONNIER. The 1910 census says Lawrence was age 52, and Edmonia was age 40. I know from church baptismal records that Edmonia was actually 47. Her two youngest sons, Romain and Alexandre SONNIER, from her first marriage were living in the household, ages 12 and 8, respectively. Lawrence and Edmonia were living with the family of Antoine Conque, and Lawrence's relationship is given as hired help. It appears that he was a farm laborer.

My fourth great-grandfather, Edmonia's father, Jean William DOMINGUE, was also still alive in 1909/1910. He was married to his second wife, Cidalise MCDANIEL, who was 38 years younger than him. They should have been living in Acadia or Lafayette Parish, Louisiana in 1910, but I cannot seem to find them. I know from Jean's Confederate pension record that he died in 1912 in Crowley, Acadia, Louisiana. I know from compiled church records that he was born in 1831 in Plattenville, Assumption, Louisiana, so he would have been 78 years old in 1909.

The mother of Edmonia's first husband, my fourth great-grandmother, Rosalie Basilisse Armigela DOMINGUE, was also alive in 1909/1910. In fact, she was Jean William DOMINGUE's sister (Joseph Numa SONNIER and Marie Edmonia DOMINGUE were first cousins who married one another). Rosalie was a widow living in Police Jury Ward 1, Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1910 with her single daughter, Coralie SONNIER, age 42. Her second husband, Simeon SONNIER, father of Joseph Numa SONNIER, had died in 1871. Rosalie was 78 years old in 1910. She was born in 1832, also in Plattenville. She died in 1922 at the age of 90. Seems like those DOMINGUE's lived longer than most.

My Paternal Grandmother's Side:

My great-great-great-grandmother, Carolina Cristina "Carrie" ORTH, was alive in 1909/1910. She was the mother of my great-great-grandfather, John Henry MERTENA. She was living in Rose Hill, Logan, Oklahoma, with her second husband, James Leonard COTHERN, and their son, Willie COTHERN, age 16. James Leonard COTHERN was a farmer. The census says Carrie was 50 years old, but I believe she was actually 51 years old. She's probably the ancestor I'd most like to talk to, mostly about her first husband, John Henry MERTENA, who has been much of a mystery to our family.

My great-great-great-grandparents, James William WELDEN and Henrietta Murl RENFRO, were also alive in 1909/1910. They were the parents of my great-great-grandmother, Blanche WELDEN. They lived in Marshall, Logan, Oklahoma, in 1910. James is listed as age 60 and "Hattie" as age 55. Their son, Fred, age 32, was living with them. James was a farmer.

Henrietta Murl RENFRO's mother, Eliza LAWSON, my fourth great-grandmother, was also alive in 1909/1910. She was born in 1835 and was 76 years old at the time of the 1910 census. She lived in Hardyville, Hart, Kentucky. Her single son, Alfred G. RENFRO, age 33, lived with her. I have a letter from her written to Henrietta's daughter, Blanche WELDEN, about 1918 when Henrietta died. Eliza did not died until 1922.

My great-great-great-grandparents, James Gilbert BAKER and Susan Rilla WOODS, were alive in 1909/1910. They were the parents of my great-great-grandmother, Emmer Link BAKER. They lived in Allen, Kingman, Kansas in 1910 with their youngest daughter, Ollie BAKER, and her husband, Henry HALL. They were both listed as age 56.

James Gilbert BAKER's mother, Elizabeth Caroline DENTON, my fourth great-grandmother, was alive in 1909/1910. She was living with Alexander Randolph BAKER, her youngest son, and his family in Mahomet, Burnet, Texas. Her age is given as 76 on the 1910 census.

Whew! That is all I have time for now. I will have to check on my 3rd and 4th great-grandparents on my maternal grandparents' sides tomorrow.

Saturday Night Fun: Where Were They in 1909? Part I (My Paternal Side)

Randy's Saturday Night Fun this weekend asks us where our ancestors were in 1909 and if we've found them in the 1910 census.

Well, none of my grandparents were born until 1928, 1930, 1932, and 1935, so I'll have to start with my great-grandparents. I know, I'm a baby in the genealogy world!

My paternal grandfather's father, Bienvenue TRAHAN, was born 26 Oct 1908 in Vatican, Lafayette, Louisiana. So he was a baby living in the home of his parents, Oscar TRAHAN and Virginia PREJEAN. I have found them in the 1910 census in Police Jury Ward 2, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Oscar was a farmer. They had a farmhand, Joseph Babin, age 14, living with them. Bienvenue was their only child, age 1. Oscar's parents, Theoville TRAHAN and Anna WISE, were living next door, as was Oscar's brother, Honore TRAHAN, and his wife, Azema CHIASSON, with their eight children. On the other side of Oscar and Virginia were Virginia's parents, Paul Lucius PREJEAN and Alicia BERNARD, with several of Virginia's younger siblings living at home. In addition, between Oscar and Virginia and Virginia's parents were Virginia's paternal aunt, Marie Zulime PREJEAN and her husband, Ferdinand ISERINGHAUSER, with their daughter. Sounds like a crazy episode of Everybody Loves Raymond! And not to mention that Anna WISE's brother, Adam WISE, was living with Honore and Azema as their hired farmhand.

My paternal grandfather's mother, Beatrice Marie BONEAUX, was not born until 26 Aug 1910, but her parents, Maurice BONEAUX and Marie Alice SONNIER, were married 10 Sep 1908 in Carencro, Lafayette, Louisiana. I know from compilations of church records that they had a daughter, Marie Florine BONEAUX, on 7 Aug 1909, but she died on 18 Sep 1909. In 1910, Maurice and Marie Alice were living in Police Jury Ward 1, Lafayette, Louisiana. Maurice was age 27 and working as a salesman, barber, and farmer, which is confirmed by family stories that he always had his hands in everything. Marie was age 19. The census confirms that there was a child who was born and died before the census. Next door to Maurice and Marie were Maurice's parents, Dominique BONEAUX, age 70, and Alida MOUTON, also age 70. Dominique does not have an occupation, but "own income" is written next to "none" for occupation. Next door to Dominique and Alida were Maurice's older brother, Joseph BONEAUX, and his wife, Edmee RICHARD, and their four children. Joseph was a miller in a grist mill working on his own account, so I'm assuming this means that Joseph owned the grist mill. Our family still owns this land and the one remaining house still on it.

My paternal grandmother's father, Merlen Paris MERTENA, was not born until 9 Sep 1910. His parents were John Henry MERTENA and Blanche WELDEN. They married on 25 Dec 1907 in Mulhall, Logan, Oklahoma. J. Henry and Blanche MERTENA, both age 26, are found in Oak View, Logan, Oklahoma, in 1910. They had not yet had any children. John Henry was working as a farmer.

My paternal grandmother's mother, Hassie Cora PROFFITT, was born 26 Feb 1908 in Crescent, Logan, Oklahoma. Her parents were William Harmon PROFFITT and Emmer Link BAKER. Her father was a circuit-riding Methodist Episcopal preacher, so no telling where they were in 1909. They seem to have moved every year or so. In 1910, they were in Harrison, Kingfisher, Oklahoma, with six of their seven children, including Hassie, age 2. Their seventh child was not born until 1912. William was 38 and Emmer was 34, and it does say that he was a minister.

As it is very late, and I still have not mentioned my great-grandparents on my mom's side, I think I will have to save part II for Sunday morning fun. Stay tuned!