Our Trip to France

In the summer of 2001, six of the Alberque cousins  (Mary, Cissy, Eddie, Kathy, Barbara, Bridget), accompanied by various family members (Bob, Wally, Pat, Joe), traveled to France in search of French relatives and ancestors.  We spent three days in Paris, as tourists. Then we took the train to Chartres and spent three days as genealogy researchers in nearby towns including the cradle of the family in Bonneval, and a nearby village of Dangeau where many Alberques lived, and Toury where Uncle Jules was the priest of the local parish St. Denis-see the pictures of the altar and the altar rail.  Finally, we spent 5 days in Mougins on the Riviera, as tourists and as "visiting relatives".

The altar at St. Denis, Toury

Bonneval

Bonneval is a lovely town. The pictures below are of Bonneval, a town at least 1000 years old.  The medieval walls and turrets of the town are now incorporated into walls of the houses.  Under the "Empire" after the Revolution, Napoleon 1st crossed Bonneval 4 times, notably the last time 30 June 1815, on the "chemin de l’exil"!  

The picture below left is all the Alberques, including cousin Maurice. In the middle is the foyer of a lovely restaurant where we had a very French "dejeuner".  To the right is the house that Maurice and his family fled to when the Germans invaded Paris.  The family would drop lines out the windows and fish for food in the canal below.  

The Graves in Toury

We found out who our great [great] grandfather, father of Ernest George [E.G.], was. His name was Jacques Ernest Alberque, born in 1839.   We also discovered the graves of E.G.'s brother, Curé Victor Jules Alberque  (see left and grave stone rubbing below), and his sister Helene (below right).  In addition, we found out that E.G.'s mother, Victoire Augustine had at least 7 children, 4 with the first brother Jules Nicholas Eugene and 3 with the second brother, Jacques Ernest.  (Jules Nicholas died and it was the custom for the brother to marry the widow.) Most of the children died early in life or did not marry so there are not any descendants except those of E.G., our [great] grandfather.  The grave rubbing, below, has the inscription: His name, however, on his "Acte de Naissance" (birth certificate) states that his given name was "Victor Jules".  It apparently was frequently the custom in the Alberque family to call people by their second name because Victor Jules was called Jules by his family.  Hence, the mistake on his tombstone. 

Jules Victor ALBERQUE

       1859-1944

       Curé de Toury

       Pendant 31 Ans

The word "Jules" was to the left of "Victor" but the paper was too small to cover the area.  

Another Cousin, Eliane

We also found another branch of the family descending from Ernest Lucien, brother of Georges Joseph (our line).  Ernest Lucien had 5 children. Maurice is the son of his eldest son, Eugene.  Another son, Henri, had a son, Jean Pierre. We met Jean Pierre's daughter-in-law, Eliane Alberque, at the hotel in Chartres. Her husband, Pierre Alberque, died in 1995, but they have 2 grown daughters.  We had dinner with her that evening.  At left, before dinner are Maurice, Barbara, Cissy, Mary, Kathy, Pat, Eliane, Bridget behind Eliane, and Ed. At right, after dinner,  are  Barbara, Mary, Kathy, Eliane, Ed, and Cissy.

From France to America

It is also still unknown when the family emigrated to the United States.  We know that Ernestine (4th child of Jules Nicholas and Victoire Augustine) was born in Dangeau, France, in 1860.  We also know that Jacques Ernest and Augustine were married in France on July 7, 1864 and that Helene (first child of Jacques Ernest and Victoire Augustine) was born in France in 1867.  The next two children, however, Ernest George and Gabrielle, were born in Buffalo, NY. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the family emigrated probably some time between 1868 and 1874. Since Buffalo was the port of entry into the United States for immigrants from Canada, it is also possible that the Alberques emigrated first to French Canada, Quebec, before coming to the US.  

Researching Old Records

There is still more to learn, too, about the beginning of the chain. We can trace the tree back to Antoine who was born in 1770 and married in January 1793.  However, his marriage certificate only gives his first name.  Later in 1793 he has a son, Louis Antoine, and he signs his full name this time, Antoine Alberque, as the father.  Also the names of the months of the year were changed around the time of the French Revolution to seasonal names like "Fructidor, the month of the fruit harvest" so pinpointing dates is a challenge. 

In Dangeau, we searched birth records. Kathy and Maurice are at left and Cissy, Pat, Eddie, and Mme. Tardieu are at right.  We are looking through records from the mid 1800's.

While in Chartres, Maurice arranged for us to meet Abbé Guillemard, a priest who personally knew Uncles Jules and his sister Helene when Jules was at Toury and Helene was his housekeeper in the 1940s. (Notice that he keeps a drawing of the church in Toury on the wall behind his desk and see the actual church archways represented in the drawing.  )  He remarked on the likeness of E.G. to his brother Jules when we showed him a picture of [great] grandpa. And, he recognized the picture of "Tante Helene" right away. See the picture of Maurice and Abbé Guillemard as we were leaving his home.

Also, we met Madame Andree Pitou (at left) whose mother worked at the Presbytery with Jules and Helene.  Mme. Pitou was a young child but remembers them well and was kind enough to give Mary a small holy card signed by "Pere Jules Alberque" that had been hidden in her mother's prayerbook, the only thing left from him after the German occupation. 

Maurice, Lucette and Christel Alberque

Our new-found cousins Maurice(gentleman to the right) and his wife Lucette Alberque (left below) and their daughter Christel (below right), welcomed us with open arms, hosting us at their lovely villa in Mougins, a short distance from Cannes on the Riviera.  They had three young children of friends of Christel staying with them for the summer (Constance, Appoline, and Berenice), so Ed and Pat's granddaughter, Bridget, had some playmates, including a "sleepover" with swimming pool and lovely weather. (Language did not seem to be the slightest barrier to the children.) 

We ate French cheeses, olives, salade nicoise, soupe des legumes, gateau chocolat, pissaladiere, croque monsieurs, beaucoup de pain et croissants, wine and "Coca Cola Lite" with pizza (made with camembert, of course)! 

This is the entire group after dinner in the picture at the very bottom on "la terrasse chez Alberque au Mougins".  From left, Bridget kneeling, Christel, Berenice, Barbara,  Constance, Lucette, Appoline, Maurice, Eddie, Pat, Wally, Cissy, Mary, Bob, and Kathy. 

Immediately below is just before dinner, as Lucette rang the dinner bell!

 Everyone, 9 August 2001, after dinner.