[Fearless Females, 21st of May, Brick Walls]
It’s not enough that I have my own family tree to work on. I also do my brother-in-law’s La Grange-Boisvert tree.
The line goes back to the 1600s with the original ancestor, Omie de la Grange. Omie settled in the Albany, New York area and spread his tree all over the United States.
The tree is well documented. Except for the big whole in the middle of my brother-in-law’s line, that is.
His great grandfather, John S. La Grange, was a civil war veteran. He left a mountain of information behind in the form of a disputed military pension file. Page after page documents his life as he tried to prove that he was injured in the line of duty and deserved his pension (some things never change, do they?)
Yet, with all that information, his Mother’s name was left blank. I only have a couple of things to go by:
1. She died before the 1850 census. It was sometime between 1841 and 1850.
2. Her maiden name was Smith. This information comes from John’s death certificate.
It’s ironic that so little can be found about her. His father’s name was John La Grange and that has been recorded in various records. The de la Grange clan left records of events all over the Albany and Schenectady region. Yet John and his wife were quite tight lipped about baptising their kids and recording a marriage or two.
The problem lies in the fact that they both died when the children were young. The children went off to live with John’s parents, Elias “Jellis” La Grange and Annetie Van Patten. It appears from records I’ve found that they may not have known their Mother’s name beyond calling her “Mother”.
I have a little glimmer of research hope for ??? (Smith) La Grange. One of the sons of John S. La Grange was name Sables. Odd name, isn’t it? I search around the area and I found a Smith family with a son name Sable or Sables who was of the same age as John S. La Grange’s parents. He could be an Uncle and John S.’s son was named after him.
Another connection to this family is that the same Smith family is recorded near the La Grange’s in census records. In 1840, it appears that the same family was living with the La Grange’s.
I feel like I’m heading in the right direction, but further proof is needed. ??? (Smith) La Grange is out there somewhere! She was born. She married. She had children. She died. She was buried. Somewhere there must be a record that tells me what her first name is! Someday I will find it!
