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

Watch out, I break for cemeteries!

Earl Park, IN

Tombstone of Theophile Deno b. 11-10-1861 d. 6-29-1881

my GG grandfather

and his sister

Anna Deno b. 7-23-1863 d. 3-11-1884

Tombstone of Theophile's sisters;

Delia Deno b. 3-10-1869 d. 1-30-1885

and

Leonie Deno b. 1-17-1871 d. 7-29-1887

Sacred Heart Cemetery

Fowler, IN

Headstone of Theophile Deno b. 3-2-1837 (in Canada) d. 12-30-1924

my GGG grandfather


Odile Palin Deno b. 10-29-1843 (in Canada) d. 2-17-1919
my GGG grandmother

Well, this past weekend my two youngest sons and I visited my daughter at Eastern Illinois University for family weekend. Of course we took in the football game where we certainly exercised our voices! The stands were packed with EIU students and their families and although the EIU Panthers lost the game, everyone seemed to have a great time. The boys and I had a great time visiting my daughter who appears to be adjusting to college life and being away from home.

On our way home I took a detour and drove over to Fowler, Indiana and Earl Park, Indiana where quite a number of my French Canadian relatives resided. (Yes, I used a little "bribe" to get the boys to go along with my "detour"....two trips to Dairy Queen was a SMALL price to pay for their help!)

With the help of a friendly woman (who else can you ask for directions from?) I located Sacred Heart Cemetery, Fowler, Indiana, in the middle of a corn field! Once there the kids and I searched for and located my GGG grandparents graves! What a find! Theophile Deno born 1837 died 1924 and Odile Deno born 1842 died 1919. Both of their headstones were pretty well protected from the elements because they are located under a large tree. We found many more Deno graves too. Not only were there Deno graves but also Boudreau's and Senesac's--both names in my family tree. This cemetery is very nice and well kept. It appears that quite a number of relatives may still reside in this particular area of Indiana for we saw a few businesses in Fowler with the Deno name on them.

Theophile and Odile's oldest son, my GG grandfather, Theophile Deno who was born in 1861 and died of consumption in June of 1881 before his twentieth birthday. My GG grandfather Theophile married Belle Boudreau in January of 1881. He died the end of June and their daughter Eva Belle Deno was born in December of 1881. Eva never knew her father. He was buried in St. Anthony's Cemetery (also known as Dehner's Cemetery) in Earl Park, Indiana. His tombstone also marks the grave of his sister Delia. Although less than ten miles from Sacred Heart Cemetery this particular cemetery took us forever to locate, driving down many a gravel road until finally we found it- once again in the middle of a corn field. It is quite a small cemetery and has some very old tombstones. We were lucky enough to find the tombstone of Theophile's sisters Delia and Leonie who also share a large tombstone as well. According to the Benton County Genealogical Society there are even more Deno's buried in this small cemetery, although we could not find them. I wish I would have had the time to photograph every tombstone and post it, but we were all getting very tired and wanted to get home! Perhaps a future visit will allow me the time to do so.

The most interesting fact I verified was that my GGG grandparents lost too many children in such a short amount of time. They had eleven children and six died before they reached the age of 25 years. Three died in the same year; Delia died 1-30-1887, Leonie died 7-29-1887 and Maria Rosa died 8-19-1887. I believe most died of consumption. The other interesting fact was that my GGG grandparents spelled their name "Deno," not Deneau, or Denault as I sometimes have found it. I am not sure who changed the spelling but it was nice to see that at least four generations back it was spelled DENO. Hopefully it will also make it easier to continue my research on this most interesting family.

Charles Ball and Theophillus Denno

Well, after waiting for quite some time, I received a letter from the Cook County Clerk's Office, indicating that they searched the years 1899 through 1907 and were unable to locate a death certificate for my GG Grandfather Charles Ball. So my search will have to go elsewhere. I am not sure where to look now, but will keep on trying. Of course, I still have no idea when my GG Grandmother Katharine Ball died either. Just another brickwall.
Now, onto another GG Grandfather- Theophillus (Theopolis) Deneau (Denno, Deno). I did receive a copy of my GG Grandparents Belle and Theopolis' marriage certificate, dated January 18, 1881! They were married in Newton County, Indiana as I have mentioned before. It is such an awesome feeling to actually have a copy of the original document. There really is nothing like a vital record to keep an amateur genealogist happy!

Theopolis Deneau

Well, because I continue to hit brickwall after brickwall with my GG Grandparents Charles and Katherine Ball, I have decided to change course for a short while. Believe me, I am not giving up on researching Charles and Katherine, just taking a short break from their branch of my family tree.
Theopolis Deneau or Theophile Deno (Denno) is another one of my maternal GG Grandfathers. Theopolis married Belle Boudreau in January of 1881 in Newton County, Indiana. Unfortunately he died in June of that same year. At this point in time it seems that there is no death certificate for Theopolis. His death is not listed on the Newton County death index. I have been in contact with Newton County, Indiana GenWeb Coordinator Beth Bassett who has been an absolute gem! I asked Beth if there may have been a death notice published in the local Kentland, Indiana newspaper. The reason I was focusing on the Kentland area was because Theopolis and Belle Deneau's daughter Eva Belle was born in Kentland, Indiana in December of 1881. Despite researching the Kentland Gazette for the entire year of 1881, Beth was unable to locate any information on my GG Grandfather. Beth informed me that newspapers "very seldom printed obits for people unless they were business people, or church people." I cannot thank Beth enough for all the time and effort she put into to helping me with my family research. Theopolis may have died in a different town or even a different county in Indiana. I really don't know. I believe that he is buried in the Dehner Cemetery (AKA, St. Anthony's Cemetery) in Benton County, Indiana. Without a death certificate or a published death notice I might not get too far, so my next area to research will be the Dehner Cemetery. Cemeteries should keep burial records, I might just get lucky. A burial record may also give me the town Theopolis resided in at the time of his death. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I may learn more about another GG Grandfather! A road trip may be in my future!