I've been working on trying to map out Tim's French Canadian ancestry for several years (at least?) now. I was able to utilize DNA matches Tim had, in order to prove that his very not-French-sounding-surnamed Carter ancestors were Carto ancestors in upstate New York, and Harteau/Arteau/Hertau ancestors in Quebec.
One of Tim's ancestors, Thomas B. Carter b. 1852 was married to an Elmira/Almira Blair. Elmira unfortunately died quite young but it seems she was very popular in her community because when she died on 23 Apr 1892 in Bay County, Michigan, she had a quite extensive obituary. That obituary gave me her birth date (27 Jan 1850) and a birthplace of Burlington, Vermont (prior to that, I just knew from census that she was supposed to have been born in Vermont). She also apparently founded the local chapter of the Rebekah Lodge.
Despite its length, the obituary did not mention the names of her children nor the names of any parents or siblings. She was buried alone in a plot bought by Thomas; no one else is there with her. Further complicating things, her marriage record with Thomas listed no parents and they were married by a Justice of the Peace. So, there were no church records to look for.
So, I had to dig into some of the more "non-traditional" records that I could find for Bay County, Michigan, on FamilySearch. I was lucky to find a probate file for Elmira, but it seemed somewhat incomplete, and wasn't started until years after her death around 1899. Interestingly, it mentioned an Eli Blair, and mentioned promissory notes he'd given her in 1885 related to a mortgage on land in Tuscola County, Michigan. The file went on to say that the land was sold under statutory foreclosure. There was not much else to the file beyond this and I had no idea what Elmira would be doing with any land in Tuscola County (true, it is only the next county over). I was also curious if this Eli Blair might be related or not.
Eli was married in Bay County, too, and this record also listed no parents. Interestingly though, he was also born in Vermont- in 1855. His family appeared to have largely moved to Washington state after 1900. I found a death record for him there which listed his parents as Charles Blair and Mariah Ely.
From there I pursued those names, to see if there was anyone by those names in northern Vermont/Burlington, and if there might be any connection to Elmira/Almira Blair Carter. I found a family group in the 1860 census in Burlington, Vermont, that included a Charles Blair aged 35, wife Almira Blair aged 31, and children, Almira b. about 1850, Eli, Charles, and Leonora. This same family group lived in Burlington in 1850, with Charles aged 22, "Mariah" aged 21 and an unnamed female infant that was listed as being 6/12 months old. The census date was 10 Aug 1850 making this female infant, eventually named Almira, the right age for the Elmira/Almira I was tracking who'd been born at the end of January, 1850. A Leonora Blair had been a witness for Elmira Blair's marriage to Thomas Carter. Was I looking at the right family? I still didn't have anything direct from Elmira Blair Carter herself to show who her parents might be or any relationships to the names I'd turned up yet.
Charles, the potential father, had a sad death. He appears to have owned a boat called the W. W. Wright which was described as a sloop-rigged canal boat, which he sailed on Lake Champlain. Unfortunately, he died in an accident on Lake Champlain, when his boat was struck in the night by a steamer ship. From newspaper articles from the time, it seems his boat did not have any lights on it, and the steamer ship did not see his boat until it was too late. It seems he was killed almost immediately when the steamer ship struck his boat.
There was a very brief probate file for Charles, which stated that he left a wife and dependent children, but doesn't list the children. One page has an Almira Blair signing off as his wife. However, separate from this, there was also a guardianship file (which I had to send for from the Chittenden County probate court). It only referred to two children, Eli and "Honora" [probably Leonora] Blair who were minors in 1869 when this was in court. Their guardian wished to sell the real estate that had belonged to Charles to better support them. "Almera Blair" was mentioned once; but no mention of the child Almira, nor of the son Charles who had been on the 1860 census.
At the time I started this deep dive, I was still living in the northeast, so I went to a research library in northern Vermont which specializes in French-Canadian research to see if there might be any hints there. They had transcriptions of some of the churches in the area which gave some interesting if not incomplete clues. One of those was a recording in the marriages of St. Joseph's Catholic church in Burlington between Charles "Blais" and "Emilie Helo" (or possibly "Helie") which took place on 3 Mar 1851 and was listed as a rehabilitation. This meant they'd married somewhere else, outside of the Catholic church, prior to this date.
I could find no baptism for a daughter Almira (or any similar first/last name). I found a baptism on 22 Nov 1854 for a Hilaire Blais in St. Joseph's to a Charles Blais and Elmire Elie. Hilaire seems to be pronounced similarly to Eli, so it seemed likely to be him. There was a baptism for the child Charles to parents Charles Blair and Emilie Elie. Leonora was baptized there also, to parents transcribed as "Lames Blain" and "Elmira Heli."
The book of transcriptions of St. Joseph's indicates that Helie and Elie are referring to the same name. Other variations that appear in the transcriptions are Helo, Hely, Helot, etc. It seemed from these records I was looking at all the same folks from the census and probate files... but where was the connection to Almira Blair Carter?
I kept plugging at these names. I found that there was a baptismal record at St. Joseph's for a Lucie Helie on 25 Sep 1855 which noted the child was 4 years and 6 months old at the time of baptism, and had been born at Castleton VT. The parents listed there were Andre Helie and Charlotte Gousy --- and the witnesses were transcribed as "Charles Blatt" and "Edmire Helie." I believe these are the same folks. Then wondered if maybe Elmira/Mariah Helie Blair was related to this Andrew Helie and Charlotte Gousy.
Andre and Charlotte appeared to have a number of children who were baptized up in Marieville, Quebec, including Marie (b. & d. 1825), Marie Louise (1827), Magloire (1829), Andre Cleophas (1830), and it seems also a child baptized in St-Athanase-de-Bleury in 1837 named Charles Eusebe -- he was apparently born in the U.S. 5 months earlier. I found that Magloire went by Michael later in life, and interestingly, Tim had a DNA match to at least one descendant of Michael's. Could Mariah/Almira Helie Blair be the daughter born in 1827? (Baptized 20 Feb 1827)
I ran out of useful material at the French-Canadian library, unfortunately. With new names to look for, I started looking back at Bay County. Interestingly, I found an Andrew Ely who had died in Hampton, Bay Co., Michigan on 19 Nov 1874 (this was the same area the Blairs and Carters were living!) And who did I find buried with him in the same cemetery, but a Charlotte Ely who died 6 Nov 1872, also in Hampton. No maiden name or parents listed on Charlotte's death record - just an age of 65 years, 4 months given. I found what felt like a too-brief probate file for Andrew, but it did list children: Michael Ely, Andrew Ely, Charles Ely, and MARIA BLAIR as his heirs.
I found what appears to be Elys on the 1860 census living in Bay City, Bay Co., Michigan, a "Charles" aged 54; a Charlotte Ely aged 50, and also in the household were Andrew aged 21 and a Mary aged 14. Who is this Mary? Who is Charles? Is this supposed to be Andrew and Charlotte? The ages would be right but the name Charles appearing is a bit odd.
Overall, it seemed this might be the same family group from the Quebec and Burlington church records... and we have Maria Blair directly tied to them. But what happened to Maria? Or Mariah? Or Almira? Or whatever name she went by - it seemed to change by the record? I couldn't find anything for her in Vermont past the 1869 guardianship case for her kids. I could not find ANY of these folks in the 1870 census. Not the Elys, not the Blairs, not the Carters even. I felt they'd likely moved to the Bay County, MI, area by then.. but they don't seem to appear on the census for some reason. I couldn't really find much of anything for Mariah/Almira Helie Blair in Bay County, either.
I tried searching these various names in Bay County, including in the city directories, etc., and traced the children of Mariah/Almira Helie Blair, namely Eli and Leonora, hoping that would lead me to her and possibly a more defined connection to Almira/Elmira Blair Carter. Leonora Blair had first, married Charles Maxon in 1877. They divorced in 1897 (many years after he evidently ran off the California and married someone else) and later the same year she married a man named John Bovia/Bovbin?? (there are a lot of variations to this surname as well). In 1900, they live together on the 1900 census in Bay City, Michigan with her daughter Della, and her age significantly lower than usual (Nov 1864 rather than the Nov 1858 when she was actually born). They consistently appear in the Bay City directory at 725 Fitzgerald, until 1907 when it changes to 925 (it seems Fitzgerald street may have been lengthened around this time, so it would appear to be the same home).
The name Bouvia/Bovbin/Bouvie sometimes even changed to Souvie, and while searching all of these variations, I stumbled on a death record for a Maria Souvie who lived at.... 925 Fitzgerald Ave. Her death record gave a lot of information, but some of it was perplexing. She died 26 Aug 1909 and her birth date was given as 19 Feb 1846, born in St. Marys, Canada. Parents were listed as Andrew Ely and Charlotte Berteau! Her first marriage was listed as having been when she was 22 years old; and she was listed as being the mother of 6 children, 2 of whom were still living. Now who was this?? Could this be Leonora's mother Maria/Mariah/Almira Helie Blair?? This Maria's birth year matched the 14 year old Maria Ely's age from the 1860 Bay City census with "Charles" and Charlotte. But if that 14 year old is a daughter of Andrew and Charlotte, she couldn't be Maria/Mariah/Almira Helie Blair, who was born about 1827/28 and was still living in Vermont with her husband and children.
Why was she living with Leonora though? Was she a relative of Leonora's husband John Bouvia/Bovbin/Bouvie instead?? Interestingly, the birth date of 19 Feb would be correct to be the Maria Louise Helie baptized in on 20 Feb 1827, if she were to be Leonora's mother and the birth year was just wrong?? So many confusing name changes and birth year differences, it was very difficult to know what I was looking at. I contacted the cemetery where this Maria Souvie was buried and they found her listed as "Elmire" Souvie, aged 83 (though he said mayyybe it said 63, it couldn't be sure). No info was on the funeral/burial record than had been on the death record.
I kept trying to figure out who this Maria/Elmire Souvie was, but couldn't find her in much of anything else. There were a couple of very brief death notices for her in the Bay City Times Tribune, which reiterated that she was survived by two children, but it did not say who those two children were. One notice listed her as "Marie Sousie" and one as "Marie Souvie." It could be Leonora's mother, as both Leonora and her brother Eli Blair were still living, but with the vague death notices there wasn't enough to go on. I could not find a marriage record that seemed to pertain to this Maria Souvie. The other weird part was the mother being listed as "Charlotte Berteau" on her death record. That didn't sound like Gousy/Gouzy.
So, I was a bit stuck, and Tim did not seem to have a lot of Blair/Ely matches to help clarify all of this. I found that in some records in Quebec, Andrew Ely/Helie's family sometimes had a dit name of dit Breton, and wondered if maybe that got conflated as Charlotte's maiden name. But overall I didn't have enough to tie this together for sure. I figured I needed to try to use DNA of an older generation on Tim's dad's side to try to see if there were more DNA matches to these families. His uncle had tested but didn't have access to his account anymore. I asked his dad's double first cousin if she'd be willing to test on Ancestry and let me access the results to do this research and she agreed to do so.
I took a break on the family in the meantime, and about a year ago got access to the cousin's results. However, her results revealed a very interesting puzzle on a different line, and I spent much of last year investigating that. I had not yet looked into the Blair/Ely puzzle. I recently got a message from a Carter cousin talking about land records in the areas those folks had settled, which got me digging into the Bay County land deeds. This got me looking for Ely/Blair folks in the land deeds as well.
The earliest reference I can find of Andrew receiving land appears to be a land patent from the state of Michigan in 1865 (though I cannot view that record to confirm it is him). He then buys and sells various land in 1873-74. He is on several mortgage deeds between 1870 and 1874 as well. In 1874, Andrew sold 4 acres to a Maria Blair for $1. Maria Blair also appears to have bought land 29 Dec 1869 (40 acres) and sold some land on 8 Dec 1874 to a Charles Ely.
Charles Ely and his wife Mary buy and sell a bunch of different land between 1865-1880. Tracing Charles' purchases and sales I found a very interesting one - he sold 40 acres on 28 Apr 1876 to a MARIA SUSSEY of "Ackron," Tuscola Co., Michigan. He sold this to her for only $1. On that same day is a record for a "Maria Sussy formerly Maria Blair" of Wisney, Tuscola Co., MI, selling 20 acres for Charles Ely for $1. And the following day, "Mrs. Maria Sussy" of Wisner, Tuscola Co., MI, sells 40 acres to ELI BLAIR of Hampton for only $1. Later in 1876 (8 Aug) Maria Sousie "formerly Maria Blair" of Port Crescent, Huron Co., MI, appears again, and sells 4 acres to Olive King.
This brought me back to that Maria Sousie/Souvie death record from 1909... so I looked for her in Tuscola Co. and found in 1870 a Mary A. Sousie b. ~1832 MI married to a Felix Sousie, in Geneva, Tuscola Co. This didn't seem right...and Maria Blair was still listed as such in land deeds in Dec. 1874, no Sousie name to be found. In 1880, however, Felix is married to a Maria Sousie, b. ~1829 in Canada.. this seems more likely, but they are now living up in Alcona Co., Michigan?? In 1900, it seems this same Maria is now listed as "Mina," (maybe "Mira" but the handwriting is suspect) living up in Alcona still, but her husband Felix is deceased (1894). Her birth is given on the census as Feb. 1827 (!) and she's listed as the stepmother of the head of household (George Sousie, a son of Felix's who also appeared on the 1870 and 1880 census records I mentioned). The census further states her years married as 51 years, that she had 6 children total but only 2 living.
I then find she is in the Bay City, MI city directory in 1902 at 723 Fitzgerald (!) listed as Marie Sousie (wid. Felix) and George is living there at the same address.
So, this seems by all accounts to match the Maria Souvie death record I found, and the land deeds help establish she was indeed surnamed Blair prior to marrying Felix Sousie. Further, she is selling and buying between both Charles Ely (a probable brother of hers) and Eli Blair (should be her son if this is the correct person). The census ages in 1880 and 1900 match Mariah/Maria/Almira Helie/Ely Blair, including the Feb birth date, and the curious 1900 census notation of her married years being 51 years (which would've been about when she would've married Charles Blair, not when she married Felix). (Note that Felix appears to have been married to a different woman, Mary Ann ______ on the 1870 census, which makes sense.) The 6 children total and 2 children living match the death record and match Eli and Leonora Blair still being alive. And the other interesting piece in this, is that probate file for Almira/Elmira Blair Carter... remember it was Eli Blair on there with mention of ties to land in Tuscola Co., Michigan??
Well, the frustrating bit is, Tuscola County land deeds are not visible outside of a Family History Center. I also cannot find a marriage record for Felix Sousie and Maria Helie/Ely/Blair. I think based on the names on the land deeds in Bay County, Michigan, that they must've married between 8 Dec 1874, and 28 Apr 1876 - but where, and when?
I stopped by a FHC the other day but the problem with this type of search is it takes a long time to page through the indexes of the land deeds. I found a few hints, but didn't get nearly far enough to make any conclusions; and while the indexes go a bit past 1900, the land deeds themselves can't be viewed past about 1886-87, so some things I found in indexes I cannot view! What I did find so far was Almira/Elmira Blair's husband Thomas Carter bought land in Tuscola Co. on 18 Apr 1884. Section 4, Town 13, Range 7. Helpfully, the Tuscola indexes list the section/town/range info for transactions, so even though I can't view some of the records I can see if it involves the same land..
I found that Thomas gave land involving 4/13/7 to Almira (can't view this record for a date). Then there is a record of Almira Carter selling land involving 4/13/7 (I can view this; it occurred 31 Dec 1885). It seems this sale was executed by a George P. Cobb, who on the following page from the above Warranty Deed, is named in a document as Almira Carter's power of attorney. I don't quite follow this, other than that Almira was living over in Bay County so wasn't wanting to deal with going to Tuscola Co. to deal with this land?? The other weird part is this sale from Almira to Eli Blair was for $600; and most of these transfers between people who seem to be related, have been for only $1. BUT, this 1885 transaction seems to perhaps be the originator of the mortgaged property/etc. that Eli Blair references on Almira's property.
I had hoped the origins of the mortgage/property in Tuscola Co. might be tied to Maria Blair Sousie, to help connect her further to Eli Blair and Almira Blair Carter but I did not find that.. at least not yet. There are a lot of index files to look through yet and it is going to take many hours. The FHCs are open only for very limited amounts of time when they are open, and only on a few days per week. So, that makes it tricky. I will have to keep looking!
The other piece of this is I haven't yet done a deep dive into the cousin's DNA for these Blair/Ely folks - I hope to do that soon to see if that might further elucidate/confirm things here.
