The Belgian Ancestry of the Louis Family of Gladstone Michigan

 

 

FOREWARD

 

I am the wife of John Henry Louis, whom I love deeply. I also greatly admire his high intelligence and simply enjoy his rapscallion personality. Where did he get these traits? I can guess some of them from knowing his parents, sibling and other relatives personally, but which of these traits came down through the ages? I’m not sure there is an answer but knowing something of the lives of his ancestors may give me a clue.

 

Though I am by no means a professional writer or researcher, I have been so intrigued with the records and the connections that still exist to our past that I have felt like a private eye solving a mystery. Now I would like to share what I have learned. Please forgive any lack of polish or mistakes in protocol of this document. I am sensitive to the identity theft threats of our day and so I will not say too much about living individuals.

 

This information is not complete. Some records that I know must exist, I have not been able to find. Some records are just very illegible due to age. Mostly this research just takes time. One could do this for a lifetime and never finish. I will try to indicate where I have made assumptions and why. I will try to document specifically where I got my information from. I hope this account is exciting and satisfying to those who don’t know the family story.

 

Mary Zanoni                                                                                                   December, 2006

 

MANY THANKS to all my SOURCES

Bob Burm, Colorado – Grandson of John Joseph Louis of Gladstone

Paul Cole, Gladstone – Great-grandson of Valentina Broeckaert’s brother, Paul Broeckaert

Brenda J. Laakso, Site Historian, Fayette Historic Townsite

Schoolcraft County, Munising

Delta County records, Census Records

Garden peninsula graveyard; Fayette State Park Graveyard

Escanaba Library “Families of the Garden Peninsula”, newspaper obituaries,

“Gladstone Centennial History 1887-1987”

Family History Center, Escanaba, MI

Family History Center, Lawrence, KS and Salt Lake City, UT

Microfilms:

 292997 Knokke Church Records 1632-1792 variable

1143335 Knokke Church Records 1631-1690, 1690-1756 (from vault)

1142461 Knokke Church Records 1632-1796, item 4

1231319 Knokke Civil Records 1796-1810, sections 14-22

1231365 Knokke 1811-1838

1231366 Knokke 1839-1860

1231367 Knokke 1861-1870, item 1-10

1383179 Knokke 1871-1894, item 2

Immigration to the United States and a Change of Name

 

Joseph Louis was born in Knocke, Belgium, in 1845. His name on his birth record is written Joannes Josephus Loys. His father’s name was Joannes Franciscus Loys and his mother’s name was Anna Maria Osaer. Though he was born John Joseph, he became know as Joseph, perhaps since his father’s name was John. 

 

 

When Joseph first came to the United States in 1872, he was employed by the Jackson Iron Company at Fayette. He brought with him his two brothers, Fredrick (born Godefridus) and John Jr., as well as his wife Blondina Waeghe, and three children. At the time of his immigration, his name was changed from Loys to Louis. I believe that the Flemish pronunciation of Loys is close to the sound of Louis.

 

Joseph left behind several sisters and his mother and father. His father died in 1875, and in 1879, he brought his mother over for a while, but she missed her daughter and went back within the year. In 1885, Joseph returned to Belgium, and stayed there until 1891 when he first came to live in Gladstone, Michigan. His brothers remained in the United States. Fred became a farmer on the Garden Peninsula, and John moved to Seattle, Washington where he was reported killed in a logging accident.

 

Spellings over time

 

Now spelled Knokke, when Joseph Louis was born, the spelling was Knocke, and previous to that is was spelled Cnocke. Knokke is a small town on the north coast of Belgium very close to France. In the early 1800’s it was under French rule and we see the birth records at that time all written in French. They also had their own calendar, so a translation table is required to convert it to the appropriate dates in our Gregorian calendar.

 

Knokke has become an upscale beach town, sometimes called the Riviera of the North. It is hard to find the old city amongst the new high rise condos. About 15 miles south of Knokke is the city of Brugge. It miraculously escaped bombing in WW II and the city center has the look and feel of old Belgium. It is easy to imagine the Louis ancestors working and trading in Brugge (which they probably did from time to time).

 

The Louis family name is found spelled in several ways on birth, marriage and death records over time. I find records with spellings Loys, Loeys, and Lo˙s. I may have even run across a spelling of Lois once, but the records can be very difficult to read.

 

Interesting things about Joseph Louis and his siblings

 

As you can see from the family list above, three Loys siblings married three Waeghe siblings, so their children were, what I would call, double cousins.

 

  

 

Joseph and Blondina had a child, named Eulelia in 1869. Interestingly, their wedding took place in 1870, and Eulelia is mentioned on the marriage record to indicate that she was their daughter. Eulalia’s birth record originally names her as Waeghe, and then a note about Joseph Loys is entered in the left column. Unfortunately Eulelia died in Knokke 1872, the same year that Joseph first came to the USA.

 

Note: Joseph’s son John Joseph was called John. John was born in Knokke, came to the US when he was just a baby, and went to school at the Fayette company school.
Reaching back in time

 

As we now know, John Francis was the father of Joseph Louis. John Francis was born in 1803. His birth date is noted as the 18th day of the month of Fructidor in the eleventh year of the Republic of France. This date translates to September 5, 1803.  His name is noted as Jean Francois here, but on his baptism record it is in Latin, Joannes Franciscus.

 

 

 

John (father of Joseph Louis) came from a family of 5. Interestingly, his sister married a Schram, which is a common name in the Gladstone area. His great-great grandmother was also a Schramm.

 

Louis Family Photos, News Articles and Records

 

 

                                                                        Valentina Broeckaert and John Joseph Louis

 

Fayette school: John Joseph Louis is the third boy from the right in a large white collar. I believe the three boys directly left of him are his brothers, the taller one in the middle being Harry.

* This picture was taken at the Fayette Michigan State Park from their school house display. Rights belong to the Garden Peninsula Historical Society.

 John and Valentina Louis

 

 

John’s birth record May 28, 1871. Name abbreviated Jan. Josef. Last name Loeys.

Birth record of Joseph Louis August 25, 1845. Name written Joannes Josephus Loys.

 

 

Note: Birth record of Joseph’s father, John Francis, is found above (in French), September 5, 1803.

 

 

Baptismal record of Jacobus Franciscus Loeys, father of John Francis, Sept, 17, 1775.

 

Death record of Andries Loys, father of Jacobus, born April 1, 1743; died October 25, 1822, age 79. This record states that his parents were Giulielmus Loys and Joanna Van Helsinghe.

Note the signature of A. Lo˙s below. This is his son’s signature.

 

Index of births from the 1600’s and 1700’s in Knokke, Belgium.