Tombstone Tuesday: Boudreau and Senesac

My GG grandparents headstone

Belle and Isaac Senesac,

Belle Boudreau Deno Senesac b. 7-30-1860 (correct birth date)

d. 1-2-1946

Isaac Senesac b. 4-10-1867 d. 11-3-1912

Buried in St. Rose Cemetery

Bourbonnais, Illinois

Photograph owned by P. Taylor

My GGG grandparents headstone

Luke and Aurelia Boudreau

(Belle's parents)

Luke Boudreau b. 4-10-1828 d. 4-27-1905

Aurelia Landry Boudreau b. 3-21-1830 d. 10-8-1917

Buried in St. Rose Cemetery

Bourbonnais, Illinois

Photograph owned by P. Taylor

Boudreau, Deneau & Senesac families

Yesterday I found I actually had about four hours of FREE time and I didn't need to think twice about how to use those four hours! I packed up the notebook on my Sommer family and headed out to the Kankakee Public Library which is about forty miles from my home. I have read that this library has a pretty nice genealogy section with some city directories and church records. Was I lucky!
I wanted to find out if my GG grandmother Katharine Sommer Ball lived in Kankakee between 1917 and 1923. I can find her in the Chicago City Directories before 1917 and after that I couldn't find her. Her death certificate indicates she died at the Kankakee State Hospital in 1923. My thinking was that she worked at the hospital because she was a nurse. It now seems that perhaps she was a patient. Her sister Julia Sommer paid for Katharine's funeral and burial in Oakwoods Cemetery in Chicago, IL. So, I went to work searching for Katharine in the city directories, and no luck. I searched church records again no luck but, as long as I was searching church records I thought I would look up some of my French Canadian relatives and BINGO!
The library has two books of birth, death, marriage, and parish census records for St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Kankakee, IL. I knew that some of my Senesac and Boudreau ancestors are buried in St. Rose Cemetery so I thought I would search the church records.
I found pages of the Boudreau's, Senesac's and Deneau's in these records from 1855 though 1916! The collection is actually a transcription of church records. My GGG grandfather and grandmother Luc and Aurelie (Landry) Boudreau are listed as godparents of numerous children. The church records verified that my GG grandmother Marie Balsamine (Belle) Boudreau was born in 1860. I have run across two different years of birth for Belle, so it's nice to have verification. The record even includes the names of her godparents; Cyprian Boudreau and Mary Landry.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that on October 12, 1872, Theophile Denaud (Deneau) and Odile Paulin (Palin) had a baby boy named Napoleon Henry Denaud (Deneau). Unfortunately, Napoleon died in June of 1873. Theophile and Odile are my GGG grandparents! Their son Theopolis married Belle Boudreau in January of 1881! I had believed that the Deneau's lived in Indiana and here they are in Illinois. Theophile and Aurelie are both buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Fowler, Indiana.
There is even a record of Belle's second marriage in 1889 to Isaac Senesac at St. Rose's Church!
So, thanks to the Kankakee Valley Genealogical Society for publishing such terrific books! The best part is that the two volumes I searched through the most are available for purchase; St. Rose of Lima, Catholic Church, Births, Marriages, Deaths, and Census Records, Vol. 1 covers the years 1855-1885 and Vol. 2 covers the years 1886-1914. Both volumes were compiled by Norma Meier. I know what I want for Christmas!

Hanaway Family Reunion

Bert and Eva Hanaway
January 15, 1901

Wedding photo

I always look forward to the month of July. Not only to celebrate the 4th of July, which is always a fun time to bar-b-que and watch fireworks, but a month to remember and honor our ancestors who fought for our freedom. Like so very many other people, I have quite a number of relatives who fought not only in the Civil War but also the Revolutionary War.

Since 1956 my Hanaway relatives have held a family reunion in the month of July. My G Grandfather Marion Albert "Bert" Hanaway died July 19, 1955 and shortly thereafter, April 26, 1956 his beloved wife, my G Grandmother Eva passed away. Their eight children started the family reunion as a way of gathering together and celebrating their parents lives. Bert and Eva had 42 grandchildren, 141 great grandchildren, and at this point in time over 269 great great grandchildren. I'm not sure how many ggg grandchildren they have.

We are bound together by family roots. Hanaway family roots, Deneau, Boudreau, Senesac, Bowsher, Hockenberry, Donavan, Yarnell, Bunnell, Castner, and oh so many more fruitful family roots. We gather together to celebrate where we came from, to renew family ties, to meet and greet new additions to our family tree, to reminisce, to eat together, to laugh, take family pictures and catch up with long lost cousins. This year we are once again blessed to celebrate with Bert and Eva's youngest daughter and only living child, my beloved Great Aunt Bernice! How lucky we are!

Our numbers may not always be many. Some of our younger generations have yet to develop an interest in family members they are related to but may not know. They may not make a point of attending for one reason or another. Although I have always loved going to this event, I too remember when I was younger being a bit uncomfortable meeting a lot of relatives who looked familiar but I really didn't know. I would always gravitate to my many cousins who I knew very well. They were and still are a fun group to be with! There are never enough of those times so when a reunion comes around, you bet I'll be there. I'm also going to be involved! I'm really lucky that all of my children actually like going too!

As I have discovered in the last ten years of doing family research, I am not alone in my quest for knowledge of where I came from. Several other family members have taken to shaking our tree. I love to share discoveries and learn about new connections. I really don't mind being called the genealogy addict in our family! Happy times, here I come!