Randolph County (Ill).
The Grand Genealogy Journey 2010 (Virtual Edition) Starts Anew
Believe it or don’t, but it’s been three years since the Big Train Trip. I’m really ready to go again, but circumstances currently won’t allow that. So we started to lay out our virtual genealogical dream trip traveling via Amtrak and other conveyances. We ran into a set of difficulties soon after the beginning of the trip. As a result, …
June 30, 2010 Wednesday at 2:34 pm
Love Letters from Prairie du Rocher: Epilogue
1. Joseph Perry Micheau and Edna Julia Lewis were married on 27 November 1913, at St. Francis Xavier Church, in Carbondale, Illinois. They were married for 62 years before Joe died in 1975. On their 50th wedding anniversary in 1963, they received a special telegram from Pope John XXIII. 2. She was, at the end of the day, a practical …
February 14, 2010 Sunday at 10:31 am
Valentines Day: Love Letters from Prairie du Rocher
Joseph Perry Micheau (born 23 Feb 1888, Prairie du Rocher, Illinois; died 15 Nov 1975, St Louis, Missouri) was a descendant of the French Negroes of Illinois–originally slaves from Jamaica brought to Upper Louisiana by French entrepeneur Phillipe Renault in the 1720′s. The Micheau family represent well the social and cultural lives of the descendants of the French Negroes of …
February 13, 2010 Saturday at 2:49 pm
The Mysteries of the Two Fiddles
The photograph on this page was taken on May 10, 2009, which happened to be both Mother’s Day and the birthday of Edna Micheau Penny, who’s shown here. She’s examining a violin which belonged to her father, Joseph Perry Micheau (1888-1975) of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois. It had been many years since she had seen the violin. Apparently, there is …
May 20, 2009 Wednesday at 1:01 pm
Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces
I started this with a note on Facebook and it was suggested that it would make a good meme for bloggers. The idea is to publicize your surnames and locales to see if anyone elseknows something about them. For me on Facebook, I got several research-helpful replies. So how much better to take it to a wider audience. List the …
February 26, 2009 Thursday at 8:29 pm
2009: Day 3
Is the honeymoon with the new year over already? I’m betting that by Monday morning, that’s what of us will be thinking! But I’ve had a good first three days! On the one hand, I missed the Carnival, which broke one of my resolutions, but it was unavoidable. Plagued by connectivity problems all week (which are now solved), I was …
January 3, 2009 Saturday at 9:53 pm
The Phantom Funeral of Southern Illinois
Readers recall that in the summer of 2007, GeneaBlogie’s research trip took us to the St Louis area and southern Illinois. We visited the Micheau family ancestral homeland of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, a village founded by the French in 1722. I didn’t know then what I know now: that in 1889, a phantom funeral was first seen near Prairie …
October 15, 2008 Wednesday at 3:12 pm
From Catholic Records to Illinois Slave Records
Le vingt deux fevrier mil huit cent treize a ete baptiste George ne de Julie esclave de fem Mv LaChange ont ete parrein Ignace et marrein Marguerite tous deux esclaves de Mde Ve D’Amour So it says in the records of the Catholic Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, referring to one George Micheau. What does this mean? Keeping in mind that …
July 28, 2008 Monday at 2:28 am
William George Micheau, 1880-1949
Born 31 Dec 1880, Prairie du Rocher, IllinoisDied 15 Nov 1949, St Louis, MissouriOccupation: Barber*Parents: George Micheau, Sr. & Mary Emma RoySpouse: Clara Robinson (or Roberson), 1885-1938 *“It will doubtless be observed by the reader, that a majority of our colored aristocracy belong to the tonsorial profession; a mulatto takes to razor and soap as naturally as a young duck …
June 12, 2008 Thursday at 1:30 am
