Scott Crevier's Family History Scott Crevier's Family History
As I've researched my family history over the years and found so much information and many details about my ancestors, my great grandparents, Florian & Odilia LeGrave, have fascinated me the most. They were typical, hard-working, Belgian farmers in northeast Wisconsin, raising a family of 13 children (including my grandmother Emerence) in a small farmhouse. They had 65 grandchildren and 175 great grandchildren (including me)! Over the years, I've had the fortune to meet several of my relatives with whom I'm connected through those 13 children. Note that Odelia was commonly called Odile; I've used those names interchangeably here.
Here's a family chart with their 13 kids:
Florian LeGrave — b. Mar 1, 1880 Rosiere, WI, d. Jan 31, 1960 Rosiere, WI
married 1900
Odile LeRoy — b. Aug 7, 1882 Red River, WI, d. Jun 26, 1971 Algoma, WI
➞ Daniel LeGrave — b. Aug 24, 1901, d. ?
↳ m. Jul 1923, Palmy Gerondale
➞ Elsie LeGrave — b. Feb 15, 1903, d. ?
↳ m. ?, John Nellis
➞ Rosemund LeGrave — b. Jun 1, 1905, d. ?
↳ m. ?, Steven "Goldie" Nellis
➞ Clayton LeGrave — b. Dec 21, 1906, d. Oct 10, 2001 (94)
↳ m. Jun 11, 1921, Myrtle Virlee
➞ Anna LeGrave — b. Aug 14, 1908, d. ?
↳ m. ?, William Virlee
➞ Mary LeGrave — b. Dec 18, 1910, d. ?
↳ m. ?, George Dart
➞ Celia LeGrave — b. Apr 10, 1912, d. ?
↳ m. ?, John Adams
➞ Lawrence LeGrave — b. Jun 7, 1914, d. Oct 13, 1991 (77)
↳ m. Sep 16, 1936, Dora Agamaite
➞ Florence LeGrave — b. May 10, 1916, d. Sep 22, 2011 (94)
↳ m. Jun 6, 1934, Myron Lardinois
➞ Emerence LeGrave — b. Jul 25, 1918, d. Apr 7, 2000 (81)
↳ m. Nov 12, 1935, Wilfred Crevier
➞ Clifford LeGrave — b. Aug 23, 1921, d. Jan 10, 2003 (82)
↳ m. ? 1942, Esther Vandervest
➞ Ruth LeGrave — b. Aug 23, 1921, d. May 7, 2012 (90)
↳ m. Oct 18, 1939, Edmund Engebose
➞ James LeGrave — b. Aug 10, 1926, d. Nov 24, 2008 (81)
↳ m. Apr 10, 1945, Mathilda Guilette
↳ m. Dec 16, 1972, Betty Weyenberg
Doing the math, when Florian and Odile married, he was 20, she was 18. They had their 13 children over the next 26 years. When their last child was born, he was 46, she was 44.
Florian & Odile lived on the family homestead in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, originally settled by Florian's grandfather, Alexis LeGrave. Alexis was born in Ohain, Belgium and emigrated in July 1856. His son Francois and Francois' wife Harriet (Meunier), Florian's parents, bought the homestead in 1868. In 1907, Francois and Harriett retired from active farming and sold their land to three sons, including Florian.
Here's a chart of Florian's ancestors and here's a chart of Odile's ancestors. (I'm always open to receiving new data to fill in the holes in my tree.)
An interesting thing happened back around 1900. Florian's uncle Alexis (b. 1869 Rosiere, Wisconsin) and his wife Amanda (b. 1872 Rosiere, Wisconsin) had 10 children: 8 boys and 2 girls. Their third child, Henry (b. 1898 Rosiere, Wisconsin), changed the spelling of his name at some point in his life from "LeGrave" to "LeGreve". I've heard a few stories about the reason for this but I don't recall what is true. Perhaps it was a simple misspelling on a government document.
Nonetheless, all of his descendants now have the surname "LeGreve".
This photo includes the entire family, yes, all 13 children. I don't know the year or occasion. I figure that with such a large family, a photo like this must have been rare and perhaps a very special occasion. The boy in the front center looks like the youngest, so that must be James. He looks to be about 14 or so, which would put the photo at about 1940. The woman in the front far right is my grandmother Emerence (who turned 22 in 1940).
Florian & Odile celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1950. This photo (with all 13 children like the one above) along with the article below was printed in the Algoma Record-Herald on Thursday, November 9th, 1950. They got this picture outside the church at a special Mass a week earlier. What a treasure to have!
It's a very common tradition for a Belgian farmer to build a small chapel on his farm, usually dedicated to a specific cause or saint. Most of these chapels are near the road and open for all to use. The Le Grave homestead is no exception, with their St. Jude chapel being at the northeast corner of the farm.
Several organizations have published pamphlets and maps of these chapels over the years, like this one. On most of those maps, the Le Grave homestead is chapel #15.
If you want to learn more, here are some related links:
I found Florian & Odile and their family in the censuses of 1930, 1940, and 1950, all in the Town of Red River in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin. So obviously they didn't move around much. When you click on a screenshot of the census below, you'll see the full image of that page from the census, with Florian's family outlined in red.
Interestingly, in 1930 & 1940, Florian was the head of household. But by 1950, the census shows that he and Odile were living in the household of his son, Clifford and his wife Esther and their two children.
Unfortunately, I don't have an obituary for Florian. But my grandmother saved an obituary for Odelia, her mother-in-law. She also saved what looks like a memorial written about Odelia by Odelia's sister-in-law Grace LeMense. Grace (Florian's sister) was married to Harvey Lemense.
Florian and Odile, along with many Le Graves, are buried at St. Hubert's Cemetery on the grounds of St. Hubert's Catholic Church in Rosiere, Wisconsin. Their headstone is located at these coordinates: 44.674715, -87.612724.
These links show a map to some key location:
I was fortunate to have heard stories first hand about my great grandparents and life on their farm; I didn't have to just read it in a book. I've been able to visit the farm on occasion and chat with my cousin who still owns it. This connection has given me a great appreciation for how they lived and what it took to for me to be here today. I find it hard to complain about anything these days, knowing how they persevered.
I'm grateful for their faith in God, and for passing that down to me through our bloodline.
