De Grand Family Website

History of the Degrandgagnage / DeGrand Family

 

History

Jean Joseph Grandgagnage was born in 1767 or 1768 in Belgium.  Before 1802, he married Marie Catherine Guldener/Guldenaire.  Jean Joseph was a shoemaker.  No more information is known about them at this time. 

Jean Joseph and Marie Catherine had a son named Henri in 1802, while living in the village of Tillier, in Namur Province, Belgium.  Between the years of 1802 and 1807, they moved to Bolinne and had another son, Francois Joseph, who was born 23 December 1807.  Henri, then a student, died 17 May 1824.    

Francois (a sabot maker) married Marie Josephe Meura on 16 November 1831 in Taviers, Namur Province, Belgium.  Marie was born about 1804 in Taviers, the daughter of Laurent Joseph and Dieudonne (Libert) Meura.  Francois and Marie had nine children (all born in Bolinne):

Jean Baptiste died in 1844 (exact date unknown), and his mother died 14 August 1844.  It is assumed that there may have been complications for both mother and child during his birth.  There are no known death dates for Josephine or Melchior Joseph – it could very well be that they remained in Belgium when the rest of the family emigrated to the United States.

About 1845, Francois married Josephine Cheron.  Josephine was born 30 September 1810 in Branchon, Namur Province, Belgium, the daughter of Jean Baptiste and Marie Henriette (Badot) Cheron.  Francois and Josephine had 6 children (all born in Bolinne):

It is not known when Francois (the child) died, but he did not emigrate to the United States.  There are two separate birth certificates, which show with reasonable certainty that Francois and Felicien are two different children born on the same date.  Of course it is also possible that two different birth certificates with two different names were filed for the same person by mistake.

A potato famine in the early 1850s had caused problems for many in Europe.  Having decided it was time for a change, the Belgians were encouraged to come to Wisconsin because a pamphlet described it as having plenty of water, forests and a climate similar to Belgium’s.  The Green Bay area had French-speaking Canadians whom the Belgians could understand.  The most common way of reaching Wisconsin was by sailing ship from Antwerp to New York, then by canal boat and lake steamer to Green Bay. 

During the years of 1853 to 1858, approximately 10,000 Belgians came to the United States, with the majority of them settling in the Door/Brown/Kewaunee County areas of Wisconsin.  Approximately 95% of them were Walloon Belgians.  Settlements were began in the townships of Green Bay, Scott, Preble, Eaton and Humboldt; the City of Green Bay; western Kewaunee County; and southern Door County.  It was the biggest Belgian settlement in the United States.  A 1970s census estimates 30,000 people of Belgian heritage still living in the three-county area.  Belgian languages, cultures and customs are still heavily practiced in that area today. 

On May 18, 1853, 13 families and 13 single people left Antwerp, Belgium and landed in New York on July 6.  Even though their lives were incredibly hard, they wrote back to their families and friends telling them of land being sold by the government for 50 cents to $1.25 and acre, the magnificent timber and the superiority of the American government.  In 1855, the first Belgian settlements in Door County were formed by the second group of immigrants.   

In 1856, Francois and Josephine came to the United States, along with their children Victor Joseph, Alphonse and Felicien; as well as Francois’ children from his previous marriage – Alexander and Pascal.  There is no confirmation of the ship that they sailed on, nor what port they came to (and whether it was the U.S. or Canada); but naturalization papers for both Francois and Alexander state that is the year that they came (Francois’ was signed 14 July 1856, saying he entered through the Port of Green Bay; the writing on Alexander’s papers is somewhat illegible and could be read as either 1855 or 1856).  “Declaration of Intent to Become a U.S. Citizen” and naturalization papers generally were not filed as soon as people came here, so often times dates were guessed or approximated.  The language barrier caused problems as well.  So in actuality, the year of 1856 has not yet been concretely proven.  Past family researchers have named a certain ship and have even given an exact date of arrival, but passenger lists have been checked and the family has yet to be found. 

Early Belgian immigrants hired experienced surveyors and enlisted the help of Reverend Edward Daems to locate desirable land for them.  Reverend Daems was a missionary priest stationed at Bay Settlement at that time and was instrumental in the settlement of Belgians in that area.  Most settlers walked in on foot, without roads or trails of any kind.  They plunged through the forest, crossing swamps and creeks.  Most men could only build their wives and children a little den of logs and brush before they had to head to the settlements and earn some money.  After a couple of years of this they could sustain their families by farming their new land.

The land office at the time was in Menasha, which is about an hour drive from the area today.  Large groups would walk together down to the land office to register their claims and truly own their land, even though most lived on it for years before doing so.  At the time, it was all wilderness and the immigrants had their choice of land.  If only they knew what their choices would be worth today!  

Francois registered his claim for 40 acres on 3 July 1857.  He actually paid for it 2 May 1859.  He, his wife Josephine, and their children lived on the farm, which was valued at $200.   Francois had purchased it for $30 (75 cents per acre).  The paperwork states that he lived in the NW ¼ of the NW ¼ of section 13, Township No. 26 North, Range No. 23 East.  Present day, that would be in the township of Union in Door County (also called Namur), across State Highway 57 from St. Mary of the Snows Catholic Church.  It also states that he was a married man having five children; that he commenced his improvements on the land on 16 August 1856 by chopping logs for the house, that on 15 September 1856 he had completed a dwelling/house of 22 by 16 feet square, which was one and a half stories high.  It had a shingled roof, two floors, two rooms, one outside door, two inside doors, two windows and was furnished with a stove.  At that time, he had one and a half acres of land under cultivation.  

By 1871, the wilderness had been tamed and the area was a pleasant settlement with snug log houses and barns.  Francois’ farm was worth $800 and he had personal property worth $400.  His sons Alphonse and Felix still lived at home as farm laborers.  The terrible firestorm of October 8, 1871 (the same day as both the Great Chicago Fire and of the Peshtigo Fire) laid the whole region in utter desolation.  Francois and his family survived, but it is not known what happened to them during that time.  The greatest loss of life occurred at Williamson’s Mill near Brussels, where 68 people huddled together in what is now a field.  Others sought shelter in a nearby well.  The well, now filled in, still stands near the monument erected in memory of the lost lives. 

Francois never left Union Township and died there in 1886.  Seven months later, his wife Josephine also died.  Both are buried in St. Mary of the Snows Cemetery, across the road from where they once lived. 

Please note:  Always recheck sources before using any of this information; research is always a work-in-progress.