🧑🏻‍🌾The Chicoine Family photo⛪

This CDV was one of my finds from the Postcard fair at the Methodist Chapel at Hellesveor, St Ives (fabulous old building) back in September when we were on holiday in Cornwall. Although I don’t have lots of old photos in my collection from outside of the UK it’s always nice to find one especially when there is a name on the back!

I’ve altered the light on the back of the CDV to enable me to read it more clearly. It has a French sentence “ce portrat i ete prisen 1883” translated to English is “this portrait was taken in 1883”

I thought I would start looking for the family by using Amanda Chicoine as she was the youngest here and I wasn’t entirely sure what the man’s first name was.

Searching on Ancestry one of the first records that came up was U.S. Find a Grave.

Name Amanda Chicoine
Birth Date 11 Jan 1869
Birth Place Richelieu, Monteregie Region, Quebec, Canada
Death Date 13 Jun 1952
Death Place Jefferson, Union County, South Dakota, United States of America
Cemetery Saint Peters Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place Jefferson, Union County, South Dakota, United States of America
Has Bio? N
Father Marc Chicoine
Mother Odile Chicoine

Wonderful information and so I started a tree on Ancestry for the family with Amanda, her father Marc and mother Odile. I was gradually able to add more children for Marc and Odile, they had ten altogether.

Also following the links for Marc and Odile I was able to add much more about them including Odile’s maiden name. Someone had done an excellent job of putting lots of the family history for the Chicoine family on this site. Plus these two photos above and a few more including my CDV of the couple!

Chicoine Family History

“Marc Chicoine and his family left their home in St. Marc, Quebec, Canada in April 1869. They first lived in Connecticut, and then, in 1874, they arrived in Jefferson, South Dakota, where they lived until they died. This information, taken from Elise Chicoine’s diary“, was shared on a public family tree on Ancestry. This family tree had excellent information that they had very kindly shared publicly, here’s a little of what I found.

Odile Chicoine (Loiselle). 2 April 1827-28 December 1904.

“Mama is 77 years and 9 months old. She left behind Papa, 7 children and 36 grandchildren to mourn her loss. She was very ill for 9 months. She received communion at the convent on December 4. She was very ill for 3 weeks. She was only 3 days without leaving her chair. She communicated the last three days and had all the help of religion. She had a solemn service. Father Robinson sang the mass and was assisted by Father Plante and Father Daignon. The ladies of the altar preceded the procession with their banners and also the St. Jean Baptiste society. The bearers were these 4 boys and ladies at Jefferson, S.D. on January 8, 1905″. (rough translation by Karen Chicoine, great-great-grandaughter)

Marc Chicoine. 20 April 1826-8 June 1905.

“Papa was 78 years and one and a half month in age. He left to mourn him 7 children and 37 grandchildren. He had been ill for 6 months. He was bedridden for a week. He was unable to speak his last day. He received all the comforts of religion (probably the last sacrements). He had a solemn burial service. The pallbearers were four sons and two friends. The cortege was led by the Society of St Jean-Baptiste“.

This image of all the children of Marc and Odile was also shared on Find a Grave.

I found the couple with Amanda on the US 1900 census on Find My Past. Marked in blue below.

More records saved from the public family tree on Ancestry. Below is a page of “Naissances” births, for Elise’s parents, Marc Chicoine and Odile Loiselle, for Isaie Benjamin, Elise’s husband, for Elise herself and for Regina Benjamin, Isaie’s daughter by his wife in Quebec who died after Regina was born.

Including this family tree below giving us many descendants of the family.

Lovely to see a photo below of Odile when she was a young woman before she married and had children.

The grave marker is of Marc and Odile. It is located in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Jefferson, Union County South Dakota.

The question I have is: How did this CDV end up in Cornwall? Did a descendant come to England to live? I might find out the answer to this when I receive a reply to my message from the owner of the public family tree on Ancestry. I will let you know. Or are you a descendant? Or do you know a descendant? If you do please contact me as a comment on this blog or email lynnswaffles@gmail.com