I guess I could have entitled this posting, out with the old, in with the new. But as with most genealogy not very much of this information is actually new; including the fact that I had yet another problem in my Deyo lineage.
Here’s the long and short of what has happened. Barb (one of my Deyo ‘cousins’) reviewed my latest Deyo line and noticed that my information and hers were not in synch. She is the proud owner of many things Deyo including photos, death certificates, folklore and the like. And as luck would have it, Barb’s copy of Mary (Bonah) Deyo’s death certificate indicated that Mary’s parents had names sounding like Paul Bonah and Nora Bolack.
My records showed a Calixte Bonin and Hedwige Delaire as Mary Bonah Deyo’s parents, opps! I had come up with Calixte and Hedwige as Mary’s parents based upon a match with Mary (Bonah) Deyo’s birth date, which was close but not perfect (I have to admit I also really liked their names!).
Anyway a new hunt was on! We needed to right this fairly obvious mistake -note: By the way all genealogists make mistakes, just not all are as enthusiastic about publishing them on the web as I seem to be.
So to begin my search, I looked for a Paul Bonah and Nora Bolack. It probably comes as no big surprise, neither name produced anything approaching a reasonable result. Given that these folks were ‘most likely’ French Canadian (remember my Prussian- Quebecois ethnicity) I needed their names revised into something more French and less Italian, German sounding. Again to the rescue came my cousin. She suggested that Bolack might be Beaulac and Burnah/Bonin might ‘originally’ have been Bonin. She further suggested that Paul might appear in French records as Napoleon and that Nora could appear as Honoree/ Honoret. So the search now was for a father-mother combination of Paul Bonin and Honoret (Nora) Beaulac to fit with our Mary Burnah/ Bonah/ Bonin.
By way of a hint, with these new criteria for search values I was able to find all manner of interesting things. More on that and the next phase of this adventure in a follow-on posting.
Joseph Yon was born around the year 1805. His parents, Ignace Yon (Guyon) and Marie Suzanne Gervais were of the Parish of St. Marc sur Richelieu. It is believed Joseph lived in the area of St. Marc until his marriage at about the age of twenty three. He was a furniture maker of legal age when he married Julienne Denys, daughter of Ignace Denys and Julie Fall. The marriage took place on June 22, 1828 in the parish of St. Cyprien of Napierville, Quebec, Canada.
With all the information available it would appear that Joseph and Julienne (Denys) Yon/Deyo had a total of eleven children, six boys and five girls-the last being Marie Dion (Mary Deyo), born February 2, 1852 in the parish of St. Bernard of Lacolle, Quebec, Canada.
It is believed that Joseph Yon/Deyo migrated to the United States from the area of Lacolle, Quebec, Canada around the mid 1850’s and settled in the area of Altona/Sciota in Clinton County, New York where he lived until his death sometimes after the year 1880. It is not known at this time whether Joseph or Julia died first.
There were instances where Julia’s maiden name was given as “FAYE”. The writer thinks this was in reference to her mother’s maiden name which appears as “FALL” in some documents such as a Chart received from Albert Smith that lists all their children as he found them in the records at that time. The name “FALL” may well be an error of what would have been the most probable French surname of “FALLE” or “FAILLE”-both of which may translate as “FAYE” in English. Why Julie (or others) used her mother’s maiden name is not known other than perhaps this was another case of the language difficulty that existed between the French-Canadians and the English speaking officials at that time.
The writer wishes to note here that in research he has reached the conclusion that after Joseph Yon migrated to the United States, he and his family became known by the name DEO and/or DEYO and as such were recorded in the “public records” of the various “Public Offices” where they lived at the time. The exception of course being Catholic Churches (at least until 1900) that continued to use the name DION as the family surname for the records in their Parish books.
The writer in correlating all the information available to him through research has compiled the following Genealogical account of the children he believes to be the complete and entire family of Joseph Yon/Deo/Deyo/Dion. Dion of course being the family surname sometimes recorded in the Church records in Canada and the United States. In the United States after the year 1900 the name Deo and Deyo began appearing in the church records, particularly in upper New York State.
The reader is taken through the following phases of the writer’s research in order that it will be better understood how the writer came to the conclusion that the children shown under Genealogy were the total and final members of the Joseph Yon and Julienne (Denys) Yon family, later known as Deo and/or Deyo.
On January 28, 1983, Albert Smith, the writer’s record searcher in St. Jean, Quebec, Canada sent him the following names and baptism dates of Joseph Yon’s children. All information available on the children will be shown under the heading of Genealogy.
1. Louis Yon
2. Dorothee Yon
3. Aurelie Dion
4. Adelaide Dion
5. Julie Yon
6. Joseph Dion
7. Raphael Dion
8. Hilaire Guinon (The writer’s grandfather)
On December 8, 1983, Albert Smith provided the writer with the following information in his letter of the above date. The writer will quote directly from that letter.
“What I did come across in doing some research for other families in this area has to do with the Census records done in 1842 and 1851. In the 1842 Census on microfilm, reel C-731, folio 2493 for Henryville lists a Joseph Deo with a total of 7 in household, this being a family head only Census. Lists 2 males under 5 yrs. 1 female aged 5-14 yrs., 1 female 14-45 yrs. Husband over 60 and wife over 45 yrs.
The writer correlated this information with the one sent on January 28, 1983 and came up with what he believes to be a correct assumption of the family of Joseph Deo in 1842. The parents ages appear to be in error so a question mark takes the place of their ages.
1842 Census Report-Henryville, Quebec, Canada
Deo, Joseph—————Age–??
Wife—————– “ –??
Aurelie————– “ –10
Francois————- “ –07
Baptiste————– “ –06
Julie—————— “ –5/12
Note:-The children’s ages are calculated on previous information and later data received by the writer.
Also note that Louis and Dorothee were already deceased when this Census Report was taken. And Julie had just been born prior to the Census. The above accounts for the 7 mentioned in Albert Smith’s letter.
1851 Census Report for St. Bernard of Lacolle, reel C-1121, page 25 lists a Joseph Dion and family:
Joseh Dion——————–Born St. Marc———Age 46
Julienne Dion—————–Born Lacadie———-Age 45
Aurelie————————- “ Lacadie———- “ 19
Adelaide———————– “ “ ———- “ 17
Francois———————— “ “ ———- “ 15
Baptiste———————— “ “ ———- “ 12
Julie—————————- “ “ ———– “ 9
Joseph————————– “ “ ———– “ 7
Raphael———————— “ “ ———– “ 5
Hilaire————————– “ “ ———- “ 3
Note:-As in the 1842 Census for Henryville-Louis and Dorothee are deceased. Julia who will be shown later was born shortly after the 1852 Census was taken. Also the writer believes that the name Dion is used in this Census Report because the Church Parish of Lacolle may have been involved in gathering the data.
The next period in Joseph Yon/Deyo’s life that the writer learns about is that shortly after migrating from Canada to Upper New York State he became a United States citizen. The following information was received in a letter from Addie Shields, Historian, Clinton County, New York.
Aliens admitted, Clinton County, Plattsburgh, New York.
Book 3, pg. 2502.
-Deyo, Joseph at 60 yrs., living in Altona, born in Canada
makes a declaration and is received 24 Oct., 1861.
The next time anything is seen about Joseph Deyo is when he appears in the United States Census. Much of the information that follows was received from Addie Shields, Historian.
United States Census Reports.
1870-Town of Altona, Clinton County, New York.
-Deyo, Joseph———-60——–Farmer——-b. Canada
Julia————-60——-Wife———-b. Canada
(Note: Joseph’s and Julia’s ages are apparently in error).
1880-Town of Altona, Clinton County, New York
-Deyo, Joseph———-80——–Farmer——-b. Canada
Julia————-81——-Wife———-b. Canada
The reader is reminded that there is no positive proof that the Joseph Deyo, purchaser of the property below is same one as above. This person could logically be his son or other kin since there were so many males named Joseph in those early days of the Deyo lineage.
The writer has recorded the following information in the interest of avoiding any oversight in the life of Joseph Yon/Deyo (ac1805-1880-plus) in his write-up. Research will continue in hopes of clarifying this area.
Property purchased.
1871-Deyo, Joseph of Plattsburgh purchased for $350, half of Lot
No. 8 on West side of Wm. St.
1873-Deyo, Joseph of Plattsburgh purchased half of Lot No. 8.
(Note: Writer believes this refers to the other half of Lot No.
8 purchased in 1871).
There are still many areas relating to PART I which are being researched by the writer. When sufficient information becomes available it will be made an addendum to this write-up.
GENEALOGY
Joseph Yon/Deyo.
Born:-ac1805. Place believed to be St. Marc.
Bapt:-Date and place unknown.
Married:-July 22, 1828 to Marie Anne Gervais of St. Marc., in the Parish
of Saint-Cyprien of Napierville, Diocese of St-Jean., Quebec,
Canada.
Died:-Sometime after 1880. Date and place unknown.
CHILDREN
1. Louis——–Born:-August 17, 1829 in the Parish of St. Cyprien, Napierville, Quebec,
Canada.
Bapt.-August 18, 1829.
Died:-September 9, 1829. Place unknown.
2. Dorothee—Born:-ac June 6, 1830 in the Parish of St. Cyprien.
Bapt.-February 6, 1831 in the Parish of St. Valentin.
Died:-February 6, 1831 in the Parish of St. Valentin.
3. Aurelie—–Born:-June 26, 1832
Bapt.-July 26, 1832 in the Parish of St. Valentin.
Married:-February 2, 1852 to Alexis Menard in the Parish of St. Bernard
of Lacolle, Quebec, Canada.
Died:-Date and Place unknown.
4. Adelaide—Born:-May 19, 1835 in St. Jean, Quebec, Canada.
Bapt.-July 7, 1835 in St. Jean.
Married:-No information.
Died:-Place and Date unknown.
5. Francois—-Born:-sc 1836 in Lacolle, Quebec, Canada.
Bapt.-Date and place unknown.
Married:-Date and place unknown. Based on other documents-to
Margaret Dennis of Canada.
Died:-March 22, 1913 in Alburg, Vermont. Buried there with his wife
in the Catholic Cemetery. The names on the tombstone are Deo
and Deyo. Margaret died in Alburg, Vermont on August 9, 1882
at the age of 35.
6. Baptiste—-Born:-ac 1839 in Lacolle, Quebec, Canada.
Bapt.-Date and place unknown.
Married:-Around 1867. Place believed to be Altona, New York and under
the name John Baptiste Dion to Marrie Anna Bonah.
7. Julie———Born:-August 5, 1842 in St. Valentin, Quebec, Canada.
Bapt.-August 7, 1842 in St. Valentin.
Married:-No information
Died:-No information.
8. Joseph——Born:-February 7, 1845 in the Parish of St. Bernard.
Bapt.-February 24, 1845 in the Parish of St. Bernard.
Married:-No information.
Died:-No information.
9. Raphael—–Born:-May 26, 1847 at Henryville, Quebec, Canada.
Bapt.-May 29, 1847 at Henryville.
Married:-Date and place unknown. To Adeline Lambert of Canada.
10. Hilaire—–Born:-March 26, 1849 in Lacolle, Quebec, Canada.
Bapt.-April 12, 1849 in the Parish of St. Bernard of Lacolle.
Married:-1st:-October 10, 1870 in St. Joseph’s Church in Coopersville,
New York under the name Hilaire YOUNG to Marcellaine
Babien.
2nd:-January 6, 1873 in Alburg, Vermont under the name ELI
DEYOto Miranda Baba.
3rd:-February 25, 1895 in Champlain, New York under the name
Hilam DION to Philomnie Lafountan.
Died:-January 24, 1924 in Hampden, Massachusetts. He and his third
wife are buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Hampden, Mass. His
third wife, Philomena (LaFountain) Deyo died May 21, 1950 in
Springfield, Massachusetts at the age of 90. The writer has no
information on the date, place and burial location of Hilaire’s first
and second wives. The logical places would be in New York
and/or Vermont.
11. Marie——Born:-February 6, 1852 in the Parish of St. Bernard of Lacolle, Quebec,
Canada.
Bapt.-February 8, 1852 in the Parish of St. Bernard.
Married:-May 11, 1868 to Louis Trombley. Place unknown.
Died:-December 15, 1926. Louis died on January 15, 1907. Place of
death and burial site is Sciota, New York with burial in the St.
Louis of France Church Cemetery in Sciota.
The reader must now begin to understand and appreciate the complexity of this research work as so many first names and surnames appear and vary for the same person over the early years of the writer’s ancestors. The language difficulty experienced by these people must have been enormous.
The lives of the persons, such as their marriages, children and other information of interest will be covered in greater detail when the Genealogy of each is written and added to Part I by the writer.
POSTSCRIPT by Craig LaPine: I obtained this work by Wilfred Deyo in the Clinton County Historian’s office in Plattsburgh, New York on 29 April 2010. It was located in the “Deyo” file among clippings and many other letters written by Wilfred between 1982 and 1985 to former historian Addie Shields. This appeared to be the last draft as I did not find any additions to this version of Wilfred’s genealogy in the file. This work has been retyped by myself but I added nothing nor did I take anything out of Wilfred’s work. It is typed verbatim.
-29 Apr 2010
As I have written numerous times before the Deyo portion of my family is a bit of a challenge.
Well recently, my analysis and documentation of the Joseph Dion line was once again brought into question (by my new friend Craig LaPine!).
On Saturday the 24th of April, I received the following email note from Craig:
Hello Mr. Rabideau. I enjoy your [ManyRoads] site regarding the Deyo family. I am a descendant of Emma Deyo (a daughter of John and Mary Ann Bonah, whom I don’t see listed on your site [meaning I missed Emma]). I have specifics on her but she first married Charles Lagoy and the Fred Belair. I am from the Lagoy/Deyo line. Anyhow, I see that you listed John’s parents as Joseph and Julie Denis and his parents as Benoit Guyon and Marie Alain. Today I was looking up Joseph and Julienne’s marriage in the Drouin files and found that they were married in Napierville on 22 Jul 1828. Her parents were listed as Ignace and Julie Fall). Joseph’s parents were listed as Ignace (from St-Marc) and Marie Anne Gervais. Have you come across these names before?
Needless to say this brought to question my Joseph Dion to Benoit Dion/ Marie Allain family line. Not only had I missed his ‘Emma’ but I had introduced serious structural errors into the line. I reinvestigated. As I rummaged around, I stumble across a note from Wilfred Deyo that had been given me by Barb Deyo. Wilfred’s note [analysis] reads:
John Deyo & Mary Anna (Bonnin) Deyo
Short Genealogical History
According to his death certificate John Deyo was born in Rouses Point, New York on February 23, 1839. The year 1839 agrees with the data in various Census Reports on the family. He was born the son of Joseph Yon/Dyon and Julienne Denys. Julienne’s surname like Joseph’s took on many variations over the years- for example Denis and Dennis. She was also known as Julia, the English version for Julienne. There were many variations of the French Canadian names in the early years because of their inability to read and write in both their native tongue and English. Therefore they were unable to understand the names as they were spelled and entered in the records. And then there were priests in Canada in those early years that made personal decisions as to how the names of the family would be spelled. Most of the spelling of the names was based on the phonetic sound- the sound of the name as given by the person involved in providing the information for the records, such as births, marriages, deaths and of course Census Reports.
John Deyo was married under the name of John Dyon to Maria Bonin in St. Ann’s Church at Mooers Forks, New York on July 2, 1866 according to a copy of his “marriage certificate’ the writer has. The name Dyon appears to be a simple mis-interpretation of the name Dion. Maria was recorded under a number of names, both given and surnames as time went on. For example, she was known by the first names of Maria, Mary, and Anna. Mary, of course, being the English version of Maria. Surnames were also Bonin and Bonah. These names are all English versions of the French name Bonney. The name Bonney appears on a postcard that she received from a brother in Tacoma, Washington in the year 1915. The writer has that postcard.
John and Mary Deyo had 10 children. One name Jean Baptiste Yon (after his father) died in infancy.
John (Jean Baptiste) and another brother Frank (Francois) were both born in the United States while their sisters and brothers were born in Canada. Frank being born in 1837 and John in 1839 which were then known as the “Troubled Years” in Canada- that is when the French Canadians made an attempt to gain their independence and seize Quebec and failed. It appears that Joseph and other heads of French families living close to the American border (LaColle) decided to cross over and did return after the trouble was over. Joseph did migrate to the United States in the early 1850′s and become a U.S. citizen in October of 1861.
John Deyo died in Altona, New York on April 15, 1924.
Anna (Bonin/ Bonah) died in Altona, New York on February 17, 1937.
are both buried in the Holy Angels Cemetary in Altona, New York.
Note: Rough draft.
Date: September 3, 1986
writer: signed
Wilfred F. Deyo
No doubt, I had missed something important. The problem needed to be fixed. Craig and I discussed and analyzed the problem (via email); we were on our way to repairing my mistake. Craig and I compared notes… discussed options.
Our plan was a simple one. I would do the Ancestry re-work. Craig would trek to Plattsburgh to see what he could find. It was great having a partner doing our family genealogy. The fix was on!
Thank you to Barb Deyo for the following documentation.
Plattsburgh Daily Press – February 18, 1938
MRS. MARY DEYO OF ALTONA DIES
Mrs. Mary Deyo of Altona died at her home yesterday morning at ten O’clock. She was 81 years old.
Mrs. Deyo had lived in Altona for the past forty years. Her husband, John Deyo, died 15 years ago. She leaves nine children: George Deyo of Altona, Jerome Deyo of “Plattsburgh; Henry Deyo of Barre, VT.; Mrs. Celina Ladue of Altona; Napoleon Deyo of Sciota; Mrs. Fred Blair of Altona; Fred Deyo of Alona; Mrs. Frank Dragoon of Sciota and Frank Deyo of Altona. Twenty-five grand children and forty-five great grand children also survive.
Funeral services will be held in Holy Angels church at Altona Saturday morning at ten o’clock. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
My records showed a Calixte Bonin and Hedwige Delaire as Mary Bonah Deyo’s parents, opps! I had come up with Calixte and Hedwige as Mary’s parents based upon a match with Mary (Bonah) Deyo’s birth date, which was close but not perfect (I have to admit I also really liked their names!).
