Vikings and Visigoths: the DNA mystery

I am often struck by how we are the results of random choices by our ancestors, decisions to move, to immigrate, to live one place rather than another. My parents might never have met if my grandfather had not lost his business during the 1920's and moved from one side of Vermont to another.  My father would not have been living there if his parents had not decided to finally settle permanently in Vermont. His family had a history of almost 100 years of going back and forth to Canada. He was born in Canada. Recently I had my DNA tested for ethnic origin, thinking it might answer some questions. Like many genealogical answers it only provided  more questions.

My limited understanding of how DNA works is that you get pieces from both parents: 1/2 from each. What pieces they pass along may differ. My profile is came out as 58% British Isles, 19% Scandinavian, 17% Southern European and 6% other.  However my sibling's is 78% Scandinavian, 19% Southern European and 3% other. With an Irish mother it does seem strange that there is no British Isles DNA in her profile.  Looking at the migration patterns of the Celts below it is also possible that they may have contributed to the Southern European DNA that both of us have. Viking DNA is distributed widely over Europe: Ireland and France would both have Scandinavian DNA. Irish legendary migration histories have the invaders coming to the island through what is now the Iberian peninsula.

The migration of the Celtic tribes across Europe reached the Irish isle in the period from 2000-300 B.C. These peoples probably carried DNA from what is now Austria, France, and Spain. Ireland is unique in that it was never invaded or conquered by the Romans who occupied what is today modern Britain and Scotland.

I was expecting my Irish mother to contribute British Isles and Scandinavian DNA. The Vikings founded the cities of Ireland when they were tired of plundering and realized they could make a bigger profit by becoming merchant traders.  These "trading posts" developed into the cities of Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Cork and others. I  suspected there was some Welsh ancestry  and one line is Norman Irish which could either bring the Scandinavian or British Isles genes.

From my Dad obviously I got some British Isles, Scandinavian and Southern European - he was French Canadian and part Native American which might account for the 6% other. I wondered why it did not reflect central European DNA - which covers France. So I started to look at the history. Given the immigration statistics on the areas where his ancestors originated I found the Celts and Vikings again. Normandy and the area around Paris were Celtic strongholds. Paris, a Roman city was taken over by Frankish tribal peoples and attacked by the Vikings. There were many immigrants from La Rochelle and surrounding areas passed back and forth in the middle ages between English and French control.  More British DNA perhaps? That area was also settled by the Romans - more southern European DNA? What I didn't expect was the Visigoths. 

The Visigoths were a "barbarian" people who had invaded Italy and Rome in the late 4th and early 5th century. They migrated through the Mediterranean countries and became sufficiently powerful to fight a successful war with the Romans whom they defeated in 378. A treaty allowed them to fight on the side of Rome until conflict broke out and they sacked Rome in 410. They swept into the power vacuum left by the declining Roman empire in the 5th century. They converted to Christianity and became the civil authority in the structures of the empire left behind. Their capital was at Toulouse. (We have a double connection with Toulouse through my great grandmothers Adelaide and Virginia Raymond dite Toulouse)  The settlements in France were largely in the south west along the Garonne River. The Visigoth kingdom in Gaul was defeated by Clovis in 507. The main territory remained  Spain and Portugal, at least until the 8th century when there was a Muslim invasion. They may account for the southern European DNA.

DNA opens interesting windows into the past. Its bits and pieces have been sorted and passed on from parents to children for centuries. 

Founding Mothers: La Fille du Roi

Working with the genealogies of the mothers on my family tree in honor of Mothers' Day I realized all the fascinating women that are in my own bloodline. This blog entry will focus on one of the founding mothers - the original female  immigrant of the Chicoine line and her story. She was my 7th great grandmother and came to New France as an imported bride at age 18.

St. Eustache church Paris

Magdelaine Chretien 1652-1709 was born in Paris, France and baptized in the parish of St. Eustache. The church dates from the 16th century and was next to the large city market Les Halles. Her parents were Toussaint Chretien and Francoise Bertaut.  She had some education - at least enough to sign her name on her wedding record. She was a Fille du Roi, (Daughter of the King)  one of about 120  women assisted immigrants  that year. They were part of a government funded program to provide French wives for the many single Frenchmen living in the colony of New France. Over a ten year period about 770 women came this way to New France. (There are at least 40 other Filles du Roi in our family tree)

Magdelaine   left a city of perhaps 500,000 inhabitants, with beautiful and historic buildings, commerce and culture. Moliere was premiering a play in her neighborhood that year. The Filles from Paris traveled by river boat to the nearby port of Dieppe to board their ship, aptly named  "La Nouvelle France". The ship probably left in late spring, around mid May. The 53 girls from Paris  were joined by the 22+ young women from Normandy. The ship then continued to  La Rochelle where the rest of the passengers joined them.

The ocean voyage probably took about two months, although some travelers mention 11 weeks depending on the weather. Conditions were crowded and unsanitary. If the passengers were lucky they got fair weather and could get fresh air on deck. The women had ample time to get to know one another and there are many connections between them. Besides Magdelaine, two others: Marguerite Moreau and Catherine Fourier are ancestors of my grandmother Ida Emma Desrosiers who would marry Paul Chicoine, Magdelaine's descendant. Marguerite Moreau may have joined the vessel in La Rochelle or Dieppe since she lived in Orleans. She would become my 8th great grandmother. A descendant of hers,  Marguerite Ricard would be the mother of  my grandfather Joseph Moreau dit Desrosiers. (From a different Moreau line) Catherine Fourier who also appears in the  Moreau line was, like Magdelaine, from Paris. She was married at least 3 times - her first to Mathurin Mercardier on October 15 was witnessed by Magdelaine Chretien and Magdelaine Therese Salle. When, a young widow with a child, she married Pierre Bosquet in 1672 Magdelaine Salle was again a witness. A 7th great grand aunt, Marguerite Deshayes from Rouen, is coming to join her sister Marie, my 7th great grandmother. Marie arrived in 1668. and married Adrien Betourne.  Marguerite's eldest niece would marry Magdelaine's eldest son Pierre Chicoine.

Magdelaine age 18, along with Marie Chretien, 15 who may have been a cousin, left for the colony in May 1670.  Marie also lived in Paris but on the left bank in the 5th arrondissment in the parish of St.Suplice. Magdelaine Therese Salle  was from the same parish as Marie and would attend Magdelaine's wedding as she would hers. Also from St. Suplice was Catherine Fourier my 8th great grandmother ancestor of my grandmother Ida Emma Desrosiers.  The pastor of the parish of St.Suplice recruited about 68 women and 12 from his parish were on board the Nouvelle France in 1670. 

Many of the girls on the voyage were orphans but Magdelaine Chretien's parents were alive, based on evidence from her marriage record. Marie's father was deceased. Magdelaine Therese Salle's parents were living, her father was a master painter for the King.  Most of the Filles were young and single but at least one widow traveled on this trip Francoise Goubilleau who traveled with her son  Pierre Maguet. There is a sprinkling of women from  bourgeois families and daughters of military and court officials on the passenger list who may have carried additional funds for their dowry. The King's program provided most of the women with a grant of at least fifty French pounds and a trunk with some basic clothing and sewing supplies.

The towers of La Rochelle .

La Rochelle from ship in harbor

La Rochelle was a good size town with impressive towers that protected the harbor and many churches and large buildings. Ruled at times in the middle ages by England it was now the center of trade with New France. It had survived some bitter religious wars and there were Protestant (Reformed) churches in the city. Religious strife between Catholics and Protestant led many Reformed church members to immigrate. Although New France was closed to all but Catholics there were some  who managed to immigrate there by adopting the Catholic faith.

View looking back at the town of La Rochelle

Paving stones from New France

So many ships went from this harbor to New France that some streets were paved with the ballast stone of those returning from Canada.  The last glimpse of their homeland for Magdelaine and her companions was the city of La Rochelle. Most would never see their homeland again. However for all of the girls this adventure gave them a financial security and independence that they could not have hoped for in their homeland. At least one girl on this trip, Magdelaine Therese Salle, would only stay in New France for 10 years and would return. Her husband and children would join her in Paris where she would die.

Summer provided a smoother and safer voyage, winter traveling ran the risk of rough stormy crossings. It was possible to encounter ice bergs at anytime.  Extremes of weather and violent thunderstorms are described by contemporary travelers.

When she arrived in New France July 31st the ship stopped in Quebec city, a large settlement with about 3,000 inhabitants. It had a  few stone dwellings, a church the size of village ones in France and the wilderness pressing in around it. Marguerite Moreau and some of the others disembarked here. She would be married in a month to Andre Morin from Poitiers. As they continued down to Montreal,  Magdelaine would have seen farms of the "long lot" type which lined the banks of the St. Lawrence. Their narrow and long fields that allowed families to live near each other for protection and communication with the river.  When she arrived in Montreal it must have been a big contrast with the city of Paris. It had about 500 with perhaps 50 dwellings mostly of wood.  

Notre Dame des Victoires near port

When they docked in Montreal the Filles du Roi were lodged with the nuns of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys in Montreal or in Maison Saint Gabriel outside of the city. The current church of Notre Dame des Victoires, near where they landed  was a small chapel at the time and the facing stone house may have housed some of the girls. Marguerite is credited with inventing the title: Fille du Roi to distinguish between immigrants who came with government assistance and those who came on their own. The girls ranged in age from 13-18 or more. The Sisters took on the task of educating these girls, many from urban areas, and some very young, in domestic arts and the skills they would need to survive as a frontier wife.

After the Filles du Roi arrived the nuns put out a sign advertising "girls to marry" and eligible men cleaned up, got dressed up and came to be interviewed. The girls were able to ask pertinent questions such as whether the young man owned a cow or chickens, had a house with a floor and was clean in his habits.  Men looked for robust women who would survive the harsh weather and produce many children. The bachelors were eager since every year a man remained single after 20 he faced the "bachelor tax".

House where women stayed in Montreal

Magdelaine had made a friend on the voyage, Magdeleine Therese Salle. She  attended her wedding Sept. 30, signing the register. A few weeks later her friend attended hers and signed. Some time between her arrival in Montreal in mid August she met with and liked Pierre Chicoine age 28 born in a small town near Poitiers,  who had arrived in the colony a few years before her. He may  also have been an assisted immigrant - a person whose passage was paid by a landholder in return for a number of years of service. He appears in the 1666 Montreal census as a domestic, working for Mathurin Langevin, one of the original settlers of Montreal. By the time he met his future bride he was living in Longueil on the seigneury or fief of the LeMoyne family. Charles LeMoyne, age about 14, son of the seigneur would be one of the witnesses to the marriage of Pierre and Magdelaine. (see below). On the same day as Pierre and Magdelaine another girl, from the ship, Anne Foubert was married in Notre Dame church (a much smaller chapel than the current grand cathedral). Her groom Pierre Boisseau also worked for the LeMoyne's. Their two families would remain connected. Their daughter Marie Boisseau would later marry Magdelaine and Pierre's son Paul.

She and Pierre remained in the Montreal area where many of their children were baptized.  By the census of 1681 they appear the town of Vercheres east of Montreal. They own a gun and 7 head of cattle and have 10 arpents of land. Their eldest son Pierre settled on his own fief called Bellevue in Vercheres where today there are many Chicoine descendants.  They had 7 girls and 3 boys. Most of modern day US Chicoines are descended from sons Pierre and Paul. (Their other son Francis married but had no children) Magdelaine survived her husband and remarried in 1702. Unlike her friend Magdelaine Therese Salle she would stay in New France and die there 7 years later.

In 1826 Jean Baptiste Chicoine, 5th generation descendant of Pierre and Magdelaine, who had married in Swanton, Vermont,  traveled back to have his daughter Marie Emilie baptized in the parish church of Vercheres. His aunt Marie Emilie Chicoine and her husband Antoine Gosselin served as godparents.

Chercher la femme! French mothers and grandmothers

On this week before Mothers day I am looking at the matrilineal ancestry in my family tree. On my paternal grandmother's side I can go all the way back to 16th century France in the area around LaRochelle. 

Ida Emma Desrosiers (Moreau dite Desrosiers) 1873-1924 was born in Vermont, a second generation American whose grandparents immigrated from French Canada. In the only fuzzy  picture I have of her circa 1890 she is living with her husband in Canada and expecting their first child. She would have 9 pregnancies and 7 children would survive. She and her husband Paul Marcel Chicoine would move back and forth across the US border until finally settling in Highgate, Vermont in 1906.

Adelaide Raymond (Raymond dite Toulouse) 1852-1916 was born in Highgate, Vermont. Her cousin Virginia Raymond was the grandmother of Ida Emma's spouse Paul Chicoine. She married Joseph Desrosiers (Moreau dit Desrosiers) in 1870. She had at least 12 children between then and 1895. 9 girls and 3 boys.She lived all of her life in the small Vermont town of Highgate in a section called "Frenchtown" because of the number of French Canadian families settled there. Her great grandfather Antoine Raymond and wife Marie Garand had settled there early in the 19th century. Two of their sons Marcel and Julien are in the family tree, making their daughters Adelaide and Virginia cousins.

Virginia Raymond, (Raymond dite Toulouse) 1846-1934 , a large and colorful character known in the family as "Grandma Cook" survived three husbands (Antoine Bouvier, Paul Chicoine and William Cook) and produced a formidable set of French matriarchs that can be seen in this picture of her daughters from the three marriages. She had nine children. seven of whom survived. In interviews for this tree, my father shared that she treated all the children alike so he had trouble figuring out who belong to which father.

Salome Dupuis, (1822-1907) was born in Canada and died in Highgate. She was the mother of Adelaide Raymond by her second husband Julien Raymond.

She lost her first husband Louis Lemelin in 1849 after only 9 years of marriage leaving 5 children under 10.  She married Julien in 1851 in Canada. He was already living in Highgate and had lost his first wife Theotiste Fontaine in 1850 who left him with 7 children under 10. All of this blended family with their 12 children lived in Highgate, VT. Her marriage to Julien Raymond produced at least 8 children more between 1851 and 1865. (This is why my father had trouble figuring out who was not related to him in Highdate!)  Salome is listed in US records as Sally Wells - a translation of her last name Dupuis. Salome's father Antoine Dupuis was the son of a refugee from Acadie (Nova Scotia) expelled by the British in one of the deportations from Grand Pre.  (see Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) His father was deported to Connecticut as a young man, married there but returned to New France around 1769 and settled in a small town in the Richlieu valley south of Montreal founded by Acadien refugees. They called the town L'Acadie in honor of their homeland. Her mother was not Acadien but descended from a line of mothers and grandmothers reaching back to the late 16th or early 17th century to Bernarde Venet a native of  Verdille, Charente-Poitou, France, a town near LaRochelle, whose daughter with husband Maixent Veillon,  Sebastiene immigrated to New France.

Sebastiene Vellion 1626 - 1698 Born in Verdille  married Mathieu Choret in the port city of LaRochelle France in 1647 just prior to sailing for New France. Before the time of the marriage on March 4  her parents had evidently moved to LaRochelle and the marriage ceremony was in the large church of Notre Dame de Cogne. Mathieu was a native of LaRochelle. Many  settlers of New France embarked from this seaport. They settled near Quebec City and had at least 7 children. When her husband died  she remarried. Below is a summary of the matrilinial line from Sebastienne down to Salome Dupuis' mother Marie Josephte Montminy (Montmesnil).

Jeanne Choret 1652-1718 married Jean Morisset and settled on the Island of Orleans opposite Quebec city in the St.Lawrence. They had at least 14 children.

Marie Jeanne Morisset 1683-after 1726 married Leonard Clement dit LaBonte (having at least 14 children) in Ste-Famille, (Holy Family) parish on the Island of Orleans (Ile d'Orleans).

Marie Jeanne Clement 1704-after 1731 married Joseph Denys dit LaPierre in St. Michael's parish Bellechasse, Quebec. They had 6 children.

Clotilde Denys dite LaPierre abt 1731-after 1756 married Joseph M. Remillard in Beaumont, Quebec.

Francoise Remillard abt 1756-after 1795 married Pierre Montminny (Montmesnil) in St. Michel, Bellechasse but by the time her daughter Marie Josephte married Antoine Dupuis in 1805 the family was living in L'Acadie. All three of her sisters were married there between 1795 and 1818.

Marie Josephte Montminy (Montmesnil) 1772-before 1831 married Antoine Dupuis in L'Acadie. Salome was the youngest of eight children. Her older brother Antoine also immigrated to the US settling in Detroit. Two of her older sisters married before her in L'Acadie and since her parents appear to have been deceased by 1796 she may have lived with them before her marriage and met Antoine because of that.

Let's hear it for the Irish matriarchs!

On Mothers’ Day it is appropriate for a genealogist to look at her matrilineal lines – the mothers of our mothers and grandmothers. In the family tree I am working on,  my Irish female ancestors are few as the line only goes back to the late 18^th century. 

Mary Margaret Leary & Maureen

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Mary Margaret Leary (1907-1994) married Elphege Chicoine 1935, St. Albans, VT. Born in Concord, NH. Graduated high school in St. Johnsbury, VT and worked as a bookkeeper there for the Fairbanks Scale factory.Moved to St. Albans in the 1920's and worked for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.Met her husband through her brother. They had two daughters Maureen and  Sheila named for the Irish version of family names Mary and Julia. She lived in Schenectady NY when her husband started working for GE during the second World War. She was a stay at home Mom, When she was 75 she fulfilled a life long dream of visiting Ireland. When her husband retired she moved to Glenville, NY and then to Reston, VA to be near her daughter Sheila and her family.

Kathryn Grace Corbett ca. 1893.

Kathryn Grace Corbett (1873-1961) Mary Margaret’s mother married James T. Leary 1904 St. Johnsbury, VT. Kathryn worked as a maid for one of the Fairbanks family (as did her sister). Her father was a carpenter in the Fairbanks scale factory. She had at least an 8^th grade education. Loved to travel, write letters and wanted her daughters as well as her sons to have more education. She attended the Chicago exposition in 1893 traveling by train. She was married in a double wedding with her sister Mamie and the couples traveled to the 1904 St. Louis World’s fair on their honeymoon.

Mary Bridget Shea Corbett with Mary Margaret

Mary Bridget Shea (1844-1924) Kathryn’s mother,  married Dominick Corbett 1867 St. Johnsbury VT. Born in Limerick and immigrated with her family when about 3 or 4. Family tradition is that she and her mother were midwives. She was left a widow with 3 small children to raise in 1877 and took in boarders to supplement family income (Civil War pension from her husband) Her daughter Kathryn probably met her future husband James T. Leary when he boarded in her mother’s house.

Mary Agnes Farrell (1815-1888) Mary Bridget’s mother, married Michael Shea ca. 1839 Limerick Ireland and  immigrated from Mungret, Limerick in the famine years 1848-1850. She came with her husband and at least two small children: Michael and Mary Bridget. They brought with them a white lace trimmed baptism gown still used by the family today.

Mary Catherine Supple (ca. 1790-abt 1850) Mary Agnes’ mother, married Michael Farrell ca.1813 Limerick Ireland. He probably died in Ireland. She immigrated with sons Michael and John to US when in her 60’s. She may have died in either Ohio where Michael settled or in Vermont where her daughters Mary Agnes and Bridget were living.

Mothers and grandmothers of James and John Leary, Dominick Corbett

Julia Bresnahan, (1839-1926) mother of James T. Leary, was born somewhere in Ireland and immigrated in the 1850’s with her mother Margaret and sister Honora. In 1860 she is living in Manchester, NH working in a textile mill with her mother, sister, and two other probably related Bresnahans. She spoke Irish. She may have met her husband, James Leary through her brother Andrew who married his sister Mary. She settled in Concord NH after her marriage. She raised her deceased brother’s son and cared for her elderly in-laws and seven children.

Abbie (Gobnait, Juliana) Callahan (1800-1875) grandmother of James T. Leary, was born either in Kerry or Cork. She married James Leary’s grandfather, John in Ireland about 1828 and they had at least 6 children. Two of her daughters Mary and Hannah left for America perhaps accompanied by  John around 1848. One son died in Ireland. She, John with sons James and John, and daughter Catherine  immigrated  in 1853. They landed at the current South Street Seaport in New York City and traveled to New Hampshire to join her other daughters Mary and Hannah. She spoke Irish. When she died in 1875 she left nearly $500 in the bank in her own name. Her husband and son went to court to get access to the money and used it to buy a burial plot, pay for her funeral and erect a monument that says: Abbie Callahan (large letters) wife of John Leary (smaller letters). Unfortunately her death record does not give her parents names.

Hannah Walsh (Welsh) (ca. 1770-1840) mother of John Leary who was born in Kerry about 1798. She and her husband James may also have been from Kerry or may have moved there at the end of the 18^th century from Cork. They were married in Ireland and may have had other children. She did not immigrate to the US. She probably was an Irish speaker.

Margaret Fleming (1799-before 1870) mother of Julia Bresnahan married Corneilius Bresnahan around 1825 in Ireland. She may have been a widow before she immigrated with her two daughters. She probably worked with them in the textile mills. She spoke Irish. She had at least three children.

Anastasia (Anty) Grace (1792-1873) mother of Dominick Corbett had lost her husband John sometime before 1850. They were probably married around 1825.  She immigrated with Dominick and son Patrick  from Turkstown, Kilkenny Ireland about 1854 to Taunton, MA. Her mother was Mary but no maiden name was written on her daughter's death record. She was not an Irish speaker. She and her sons seemed to have had some education. One son, Richard, a sailor went to the gold fields of California, three other children immigrated between 1855 and 1860 and are living with her in Taunton that year: Ellen, Johanna and William.