My Great Grandparents
Albamie was bron November 29, 1858 and christened on December 8 of that year at the Ste. John the Baptist church in Amherstburg, Ontario. His godparents were Denis and Mathilde Drouillard who were his uncle and aunt. There seems not to be a ready English equivalent for the name Albamie. Various records may show that name as Albemy, Antoine, or Albert.
Albamie and Marguerite were married on January 18 at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in River Canard, Ontario. Witnesses were Euzeb and Cezaire Drouillard. Marguerite was baptized on October 26, 1860 and was the daughter of Joseph (11820–1871) and Archange St. Bernard (1823-1881). Together they had five children: Marie Josephine, Marie Philomene, Joseph Simon, Elouidge (Edna), and Joseph Albert Alphonse. Marguerite died on September 17, 1891.
Because of the variations of the Albemie name it can be difficult to be sure that records refer to Albamie or another Drouillard male. It appears that Albamie remarried a Agnes Renaud on September 4, 1892 at St. Joseph RC church in Trenton, Michigan. There was strong Drouillard family presence in the downriver area of Detroit including Wyandotte and River Raisin (Monroe, Michigan) so a move to the US side of the river is not without possibilities. Albert and Agnes had four children; Richard Alphonse, Albert, Raymond, and Louisa (18896-1898). Albert dies on August 8, 1931 of carcinoma of the stomach and is buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Wyandotte, Michigan. There is no headstone.
The death certificate for Albert leaves a number of questions as to whether this Albert is Albemie. His wife is shown as Agnes and his father is listed as Joseph. However, his mother is listed as Marcella not Marguerite and a birth year of 1864 instead of 1858. This could just be a bit of confusion or imprecision as the informant is show as Agnes. Additionally, his occupation is given as a laborer at Michigan Alkali (current BASF) but his age at death would be either 67 or 73 depending which death date one goes by. Is this occupation meant to imply a former occupation? A search for Agnes Renaud on FamilySearch.com yields a marriage to Alpine Drouillard in the same year but a different date. To add to the confusion, a Albin Drouillard marries a Artemiza Reno on May 27, 1892 in Trenton, Michigan. On that record, his father is listed as Joseph but the mother’s name is listed as unknown. His age is listed as 32 instead of the expected 33. A 1910 directory of the Wyandotte, Michigan area shows a A. Drouillard listing is a blacksmith. This is the kind of mismatch in records that keeps genealogist up at night. The extended Drouillard family is very large so the possibility exists that some of these facts are associated with another Albert or indeed Agnes. Clearly more work is needed.
It is a bit frustrating that it is sometimes easier to clearly documber records from 400 years ago than 100. Clearly, more work needs to be done here.
