How the 'Mother's Curse' Came to Canada

Do you have a Filles du Roi in your ancestry? I do, and my daughter-in-law does too. My Filles du Roi is my 8th great-grandmother Claude des Chalets (ca 1651 France - post 1706 New York). Claude "Blandina" was one of three orphaned sisters who were sent to Canada as a "Filles Du Roi"(King's daughters).

The Filles du Roi (Daughters of the King) were impoverished or orphaned women who were given a dowry by the King of France if they agreed to go to New France (present-day Quebec) to marry and help colonize the land. Over 800 of these women left France for New France. 

With them they brought mutations in their DNA - some common, some more rare. Thus descendants of these Filles du Roi stand a better than average chance of inheriting a rare genetic disorder. According to the article 

"One of these is Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy, which causes vision loss, usually in young men. Recently, geneticists using French Canadian genealogy have reexamined the effects of Leber’s and found a striking pattern of inheritance: It seems to show a long-theorized but never-seen-in-humans pattern called the “mother’s curse.”"

Continue reading this fascinating article How One Woman Brought the 'Mother's Curse' to Canada

Immigrant Ancestors Meme: Filles du Roi Claude des Chalets

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

Claude Deschalets (ca 1651 France - post 1706 New York)  was a Filles du Roi and my 8th great-grandmother.

Claude "Blandina" was one of three orphaned sisters who were sent to Canada as a "Filles Du Roi"(King's daughters). The Filles Du Rois were impoverished or oprhan women sent to Canada at royal expense to find husbands and populate the country. She is thought to have been recently arrived in New France (now Quebec) at the time of her marriage because the bishop dispensed with two of the usual three required banns for her marriage to Simeon LeRoy dit Audy (Ody).    Learn about dit names at Oh Those Dit Names! on Legacy Family Tree.

The filles du roi, or King's Daughters, were some 770 women who arrived in the colony of New France (Canada)  between 1663 and 1673, under the financial sponsorship of King Louis XIV of France. Most were single French women  and many were orphans. Their transportation to Canada and settlement in the colony were paid for by the King. Some were given a royal gift of a dowry of 50 livres for their marriage to one of the many unmarried male colonists in Canada.   These gifts are reflected in some of the marriage contracts entered into by the filles du roi at the time of their first  marriages.

The filles du roi were part of King Louis XIV's program to promote the settlement of his colony in Canada. Some 737 of   these women married and the resultant population explosion gave rise to the success of the colony. Between their arrival in Quebec and their marriages, les Filles du roi were placed under the protection of nuns, widows or families. There they received board and lodging.

 [http://www.vmnf.civilization.ca/somm-en.htm Museum of New France, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation]

Meme: Immigrant Ancestor Jonas Larroway, a Loyalist

1797 Certification of Jonas Larroway's Service in Butler's Rangers

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

Jonas Larroway, United Empire Loyalist, born 1731 Schoharie Co. New York, was descended from the LeRoy dit Audy family who settled in New France (now Quebec) from France in 1668. His great-grandfather, Simeon LeRoy dit Audy was born in Creances Normandy. Simeon settled first in Quebec, Canada in October 1668 where he married a Filles du Roi named Claude (Blandina) Deschalets, an orphan who was sent to New France with her two sisters to be married to a suitable French settler.

The LeRoy surname underwent great changes, becoming LeRoy dit Audy or Ody in New France, and Laraway or LeRoy in the United States. Jonas was my 5th great-grandfather and he married in 1754 in Schoharie New York, Elizabeth (Betsy) Muller, daughter of Johannes Nicholas Muller and Maria Dorothea Wuest, a Palatine line.

Jonas fought in Butler's Rangers during the American Revolution and settled at Niagara, Ontario in 1783.

Jonas, along with other Loyalists, suffered greatly for what he believed in. He had to flee his home in New York to remain loyal to the King of England. 

Life (and Genealogy) Can Throw Some Surprising Curves Sometimes

A Latin Record found in my research

Recently I've been working on a genealogy research project for a client. It's been a lot of fun with some very interesting and intriguing ancestors found. One ancestor helped guard Napoleon during his exile.

One wrote poetry and had a book published in 1857. I was lucky enough to find a few of his poetry online and have added that to the client's book which I am creating on Shutterfly. 

Along the research path I've encountered new areas of research that were unfamiliar to me. I've heard of them of course but had no previous experience researching in the specific location or time period. One was Acadians and I have found the history of the settlement fascinating! The Filles du Roi and Carignan Soldiers also popped up as part of his ancestry. I too have a Filles du Roi so I'm familiar with that history but it was still interesting to learn even more. 

I've had to decipher early records written in French and in Latin.  Luckily here in Canada we are taught French in school so I can read the important bits. And thank you Mr. Finley for your Latin classes in High School! You were a tough teacher but now I'm grateful. 

Jacques Hertel's death recorded in French

But here's the thing that blew me away. As I was carrying on with the research I found that my client and I share a common ancestor! Our shared ancestor is Jacques Hertel born 1604 in France and died in 1651 in New France (present day Quebec). 

Jacques is a very important part of my book The Van Slyke Family in America: A Genealogy of Cornelise Antonissen Van Slyke, 1604-1676 and his Mohawk Wife Ots-Toch, including the story of Jacques Hertel, 1603-1651, Father of Ots-Toch and Interpreter to Samuel de Champlain 

My line of descent is from Jacques' daughter by a Mohawk Indian woman, while my client is from one of Jacques'  children by his wife. 

My client's ancestry on his dad's side is solidly Quebec and Acadia. Mine is not. Mine on my dad's side is early Dutch settlers in New Netherland  (now New York) in the mid 1600s then on to Ontario after the American Revolution. How odd that the client and I should share an ancestor given that our ancestry does not take the same path.

And that's one of the many things I love about genealogy. It will always jump up and surprise you.