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Fearless Females #5–How did they meet?
I am interested in the comings and goings of my ancestors, especially those who married. My 4th great grandparents were from two different villages that were nearby. Augustin Lassalle was from Escou. His future wife, Marie-Anne Maissonave, was from Escout.
From this map, you can see that Escou and Escout weren’t very far from each other. Though one has to wonder between long work days and household duties, how much time did people get to travel outside their village?
Augustin was a Meuniere (later to be known as the master miller). His grandmother who raised him was a spinner. Marie-Anne was a Couturiere (a dressmaker) Marie-Anne’s father was a Pecheu, a fisherman. I wonder how Augustin and Marie-Anne’s met up. Perhaps it was an arranged marriage. Maybe Augustin’s grandmother got fish was Marie-Anne’s family. Or, maybe Augustin made trips into Escout on business.
It does make you wonder why two people who probably had plenty of people to choose from married someone out of town. And really, with their long work days and all the chores to be done around home, how did they find time to go courting?
It makes me think that the marriages were arranged. A grandmother and a mother speaking over the fish and other items that they traded, coming to terms over how her grandson would be an excellent match for the other woman’s daughter. He being a miller and on his way to the top of his profession. An alliance formed between the fisherman and the miller.
Unfortunately, church officials didn’t give such details in their records. So, I get to make them up as I go along.
