Dory's Tidbits
DID YOU KNOW-------
...and can you believe that the Grenoughs have been around
in North America for eleven generations?? If Jacques Grignon/Grenough
were still around today, he would be about 330 years old, and I believe
the youngest Grenough descendant in generation XI is Chloe Marie
Longhill-Noblit, daughter of Mary & George, born July 13, 1998.
DID YOU KNOW-------
Our first Grenough/Grignon to the new world came to Quebec, Canada, by 1692??
He was Jacques Grignon, a member of Vaudreuil's Company sent to protect the new
colony. Shortly after he arrived in Quebec, he met a charming little girl of sixteen,
Marie Therese Richer, and married her at Batiscan, Quebec, February 10, 1692.
It was not at all unusual for young ladies to marry that young back in those days.
Marie-Therese and Jacques had fifteen children:
Francoise, Jacques, Marie Catherine, Jean Baptiste (our ancestor), Marie Jeanne,
Michel, Joseph, Pierre, Francois, Alexis, Antoine, Charles, Ambroise and Charles.
WHEW!! Apparently, Jacques Grignon was a notable figure in that area,
for his signature appears on lots of documents, and just being able to sign
your name in those days was an accomplishment!
DID YOU KNOW-------
The siblings of Louis B. came as a family from Quebec - Francis X.
Grignon/Grenough, wife Hannah Judge, and their six children: Francis X.,
Eliza, Louis B., Mary, Hannah and Henry. We know that Eliza and Hannah never
married; and that Mary was married but died at about age 31, but I don't
believe she had any offspring. So that leaves two of Louis' brothers with offspring
that I know of: Joan Koechig from Francis X, and Joe Hardesty from Henry.
GENERATION II - GRIGNONS TO NORTH AMERICA
(added 2-8-99)
There had to be a tremendous amount of adventuresome blood in our family,
to motivate them enough to leave the relatively secure confines
of their homes in France for uncharted territory in Quebec.
In our little chapter re Jacques Grignon (Gen. I), I inadvertantly said he
and Marie Therese had fifteen children when I have documentation on only 14.
Their fourth child, Jean Baptiste and our ancestor, was born and baptized
April 16, 1700 in an area called Grondines, which hugged the north shore
of the St. Lawrence River about halfway between Montreal and Quebec City.
As a young man, not to be outdone putting that pioneer spirit to work,
he and three of his brothers, Alexis, Jacques and Pierre,
left the homestead to become "engages ou ouesst" or fur traders,
not exactly a safe profession going into unexplored Indian lands!
I'm sure substantial monetary gain, not just adventure, influenced their decision.
Two of the brothers never returned to farming and Pierre is
credited with fathering the Grignon dynasty in Wisconsin.
Jean Baptiste finally settled down and married Marie Anne Josette Gipoulon
Jan. 30, 1730, and during their brief 18 year marriage had five children.
We'll never know whether he met a tragic death on one of his canoe trips
into the unknown or died at home with his wife and children.
All we do know at this point is that the date was May 7, 1748.
GENERATION III
(added 5-11-99)
Joseph Marie Grignon was the last child to be born to Jean
Baptiste Grignon and Marie Josette Gipoulon on June 29, 1747. Little Joseph
Marie lost his father when Joseph was less than a year old. We don't know
whether Jean Baptiste died at home with his wife and children or if he met
his fate while on one his many trips into the wilderness and Indian country.
By the time he was married to Marie Amable Daunis in 1772, the family was
living at Vercheres, a picturesque little village along the St. Lawrence
River. This branch of ours was inching their way toward the great
metropolis of Montreal. The Richelieu River, a tributary of the St.
Lawrence, nourishes a fertile valley and eventually empties into Lake
Champlain. This was the route taken to eventually reach Montreal.
Joseph Valentin Grignon, Generation IV, was probably named
Valentin because his birth coincided with St. Valentine's Day. Farm land
was becoming very scarce, what with the divisions being made over the
generations and time, so it was essential for his children to learn other
means of subsistance. Joseph died in the sleepy little village of St.
Charles along the Richelieu. His son, Antoine, was one of twins (Generation
V) and was in Montreal by 1828, and the first to migrate to Kentucky was
Antoine's son, Francois Xavier Grignon (Generation VI). Does that have a
familiar ring to it?? He was married at the magnificent Cathedral of Notre
Dame in Montreal to a lovely coleen, Anna Judge in 1856, and 10 years later,
they and their six children were on their way to the U.S.A. and KY.
DID YOU KNOW-------
(added 5-17-99)
I thought it might be interesting to include a few items about Louis B.
Grenough that were relayed on to me by Angela or that I learned from my
research in Canada. Now Louis' Mother and Father were married in Montreal,
but they evaporate into thin air until Louis is baptized at St. Roch church
in Quebec City, Quebec, in 1863 Angela had a copy of the abstract of the
record and the priest who recorded it put his Mother's name down as Anny
George (instead of Judge)! I wasted many hours pursuing the name George
until I found a document confirming the Judge spelling.
According to the 1880 U.S. census, the family came to KY in 1866.
In that same year, a huge fire destroyed over 2,500 homes in St. Roch
parish - was this just a coincidence or was it a contributing factor to the
family's move to KY??
There are not too many Bill Gates around, but our grandfather, at the tender
age of 22, had purchased property in Louisville on Brook St in 1885. When
he married Louise Isabel Back in 1892, they lived on Brook until her
untimely death in 1902. It is said that the two Aunts Eliza and Hannah
arranged the second marriage in Montreal to Agnes Bridgett Desmond,1903,
and returned to Louisville.
It was about this time that Louie was stricken with a bug called the
WANDERLUST. In 1904, the family had a grocery store in Evansville
Indiana; in 1906, they had a five and dime store in St. Louis; and in 1910,
moved to Montreal! Gerald and Edgar joined the Canadian army and guess
what?? So did Louie at age 52, by saying he was 33! So he and
his two boys went overseas during World War I, and it took the army almost a
year to learn he was a little older than 33, and sent him home
The family headed back to Louisville in 1918, and from this point, he
decided to STAY PUT!
last updated: May 17, 1999
questions, comments, suggestions, complaints about the info, e-mail Vince at vingreno@home.com
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