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COUSINS
A newsletter pertaining to the descendants of Robert
Pepin and Marie Crete
August 2001 -- Vol 2, No. 8
In this month's COUSINS:
======================================= WHAT'S NEW I think I mentioned a few issues back that I'd met a new cousin, a fellow named Brian McClure from Bismark, North Dakota. Brian is a descendant of John McClure and Jeanne Finn and as such is a cousin to many of us here. In mid-July I received a large envelope from him with a BUNCH of McClure info in it. He also gave me his permission to share it. Says the letter he sent with this unexpected wealth of information: "Per our earlier email messages, I am enclosing the following family history related items for your information, use, and file: "1. Contract of marriage between Jeanne Maclure and Louis Pepin, dated May 25, 1761 in French, with notes - 4 pages. "2. Letter to Brian McClure from Janice Nickerson, Genealogical Research Library of Canada - 4 pages. "3. Descendancy Chart of John McClure, dated 15 August 2000, plus family group sheets - 6 pages. "4. History of John McCluer in French and English -- 3 pages "5. Descendants of John Maclure - 4 pages. "6. Family group Record from familysearch.org - 7 pages. "I hope you find these items not only of interest, but also somewhat helpful for you in your research. I would be very interested to know if they bring you new information that you had not had before. Please let me know. "I obtained much of the enclosed from the Genealogical Research Library of Canada for a fee. I share it with you in the hope that it helps you and the possibly you, or one of the cousins, might be able to find the ancestors of John McClure who was born in Forestdale, MA, around 1701. That to me would be the "big prize." "Please feel free to use or share any of the enclosed information. Please also keep in touch from time to time." I did answer Brian and told him that there was indeed new information in what he sent. It was especially cool to see Louis-Etienne Pepin's signature -- he signed as Etienne Pepin -- and there's a page entitled "Parchemin - banque de données notariale (1635-1775)" bundled with Louis-Etienne and Jeanne's marriage contract with information that just might be useful to most of you. Anyway. Yes, Brian, this is some VERY cool info, and I and your McClure cousins thank you whole heartedly for sharing. And maybe, just maybe, we can crack the mystery of just exactly who John McClure really is. (I have included you in the mailing list as a one time thing; if you would like to keep receiving this newsletter, just let me know.) Starting next month, I shall be sharing Brian's info. There is a bunch of it so I don't expect it will fit in just one issue . . . but I might try anyway. But, for now, we do have the single most important clue to solving the John McClure mystery -- that John was born about 1701 in Forestdale, MA. Cousins -- the hunt is afoot! ======================================= THIS MONTH'S FEATURE: Louis PEPIN and his wife, Marie-Madeleine Martin dit Jolicoeur dit Lachance. Remember, before you go out and have these names and dates tattooed on your back, check'em in the Red and Blue Drouin, as well as the René Jetté, most especially the info on the older families. Last month we looked at Marie-Marguerite (2Jean, 1 Robert), and her three husbands André Parant, René Rodrigue, and Joseph Groinier. This month we look at Marie-Marguerite's younger brother Louis (2Jean, 1Robert) and his wife Marie-Madeleine Martin dit Jolicoeur dit Lachance (Yes, that's two -- count'em -- two dit names), and their 6 kids. Louis (2Jean, 1 Robert) was baptized 25 July 1702 in St.Joseph. His wife, Marie-Madeleine Martin dit Jolicoeur dit Lachance, daughter of Nicholas Martin dit Jolicoeur and Marie-Angélique Bacon, baptised 29 June 1700 in Québec City, Québec; buried 14 Aug 1774, Québec City, Québec. Louis PEPIN and Marie Madeleine MARTIN married 30 Oct 1724 in Québec City, and their 6 chidren are:
If you see something that doesn't quite agree with your personal family history, e-mail me and tell me about it. ======================================= RAMBLINGS FROM THE EDITOR (oh and does she ramble this month!) Where have I been . . . ? Fort Langley in 1850 (Aug 3, 4, 5, & 6) and Fort Nisqually in 1855 (Aug 10, 11, &12), having entirely too much fun. At Fort Langley it was the first annual reunion of The Children of Fort Langley (descendants of the Hudson Bay Company employees who worked at Ft Langley from 1827 to 1894), which coincided with Fort Langley's annual Brigade Days celebration (which celebrates the year 1850). O! What a weekend it was. I've already shared the cool stuff that pertains to my branch of the family with them, but there is also the fact that after looking at the genealogy info the other C of FL brought with them, I am ever more convinced that there are family ties between the Pepin family and the other Canadian men who worked at the fort. Now they may "just" be by-marriage ties, but <grin> family is family. At Fort Langley I also learned that some reunions can plan themselves. About the only real planning I did was pass info back and forth between The Children of Fort Langley and the Fort Langley staff, and then Parks Canada and the Fort Staff lined up a bunch of speakers and scheduled a number of events for us, some public and some private -- and despite my best intentions and almost complete lack of organizational skills, it all just sort of fell together. Might have been that we were all genealogists, might have been Just The Way It Works, but what ever it was, it was a very very cool experience. However, I know two thing for certain. First, that he reunion will NOT be held on either the first or second weekends in August, and second, that when time comes for the North American Pepin Reunion I *will* need a lot of help. I was only going to do Fort Langley this year but as so many of the new friends I've made in the reenactment community were so keen on me being at Fort Nisqually's Brigade Days, I went and we partied like it was 1855. Fort Nisqually is yet another of the Hudson's Bay fur forts and I'm learning a great deal about the fur trade and its people through what is called Living History or Historic Recreation. Historic recreation is a lot of fun. Basically, one chooses a persona -- an alter ego if you will -- and then dresses and acts accordingly. The clothing and assorted accoutrements need to be as close to historically correct as possible -- which for both Langley and Nisqually fall in the 1820 to 1850 time frame -- and those who choose to do this for more than just a weekend here and there also learn the speech patterns and words that were actually used during his/her persona's time frame. I chose to be a entirely fictitious Métisse of Pacific Coast First Nations, Canadian French, and Scottish ancestry by name of Mary Huston, who was taught a great deal about agriculture by her Uncle Etienne Pepin of Fort Langley, whom she quotes frequently and proudly ("Mon Oncle Etienne, he say ...") and shares a few of his more endearing traits (blunt and self-confident in the extreme). Mary's Da was a "Skirtsman" from "Eddyberg, Skirtland" who left town not long after her birth, her (as of yet unnamed PCFN/CF) mama died birthing her, leaving her to be raised by "family" at Fort Langley. Anyway. In the last couple weeks, I have been honored by a Sto:lo Welcome Ceremony (wherein we were publicly recognized as the descendants of our Sto:lo great great grandmothers), experienced the rush of having folks crane their necks trying to catch a glimpse of a "real Live Descendant", paddled a canoe (bringing the Langley Brigade), smoked a clay pipe (kinikinik is a rather tasty smoking blend), learned the principle behind rope making, got to come in as part of two separate Brigades, watched a very tasty bread pudding made over an open fire, and then made a pretty fair first-batch of pan-fried bannock over that same open fire, slept in what is called a Diamond-fly tent (a 10 X 10 canvas tarp, pegged down at three corners, with the fourth held up by a stick), and, as Mary Huston, secured a one year contract with The Honorable Company as an Agriculturalist for Fort Nisqually at the amazing starting wage of 7 pounds sterling a year (the modern day equivalent of about $900 a month). The latter -- securing a contract with the Honorable Company (aka The Hudson's Bay Company) -- is a regular feature of the Fort Nisqually Brigade Days. It's an improvisational kind of theater put on to show the public what could have gone on at the 1855 Brigade, where folks looking for employment with Hudson's Bay go up in front of the high mucky-mucks and convince them that they know what they're doing and deserve a good wage. The only set parameters is who the high mucky-mucks sitting at the table listening to applicants are, and that as an applicant, you must convince these guys to hire you on -- all while The Public stand around and/or lean in the large open windows and watch. One regular character is an American farmer with a large family and small purse being put off his land by the HBC; this farmer is a real historical person and Jerry Ramsey does a wonderful job of portraying him. I think I am going to have to acquire and learn how to throw a belt-ax (aka "hawk"), and I may look into acquiring a flintlock or percussion cap rifle (erm . . . Don . . . ? About that other muzzleloader you're aren't using . . .) But I ramble enough. I'll just leave it at "I had a really good time" and still feel so amped that I think I might just be able to light a small city. <grin> ======================================= NEWSLETTER INFORMATION If you have family you want to share this with but they don't have a computer, please feel free to print it out and share it with them. If you have family with a computer who you think might be interested in the newsletter, drop'em an e-mail and let'em know about it; feel free to pass along my e-mail address. If at anytime you wish to be change the way you receive the newsletter, drop me an e-mail at lisa@fortlangley.ca and tell me. ======================================= COUSINS comes out once a month - more or less.
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ADDENDUM On 16 August 2001 at 4:26 pm, I sent out an addendum with information I had *just* received from my cousin Robbyn, and that Addendum read: When I sent out the August COUSINS, a message from my 1st cousin Robbyn was in the incoming mail. Her message read:
And when I opened the attachment (a .pdf file) I saw a document that starts out with:
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