It is usually of great interest to learn something more about our family members who gave us their DNA. It’s amazing what stories and family history one can find. There are often surprises the further back you go in time!
Modern technology makes it far easier than it used to be.
The best free site is FamilySearch.org. Others, such as Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com, have paid membership tiers depending on how far and deep you want to search.
Don’t know any names beyond your grandparents? No problem. All three sites have millions of family trees that others have already built. If you are fortunate, you may find that someone has already assembled part of your tree for you.
These sites are simple for beginners, include tutorials and give you access to billions of records. Our library in Cheboygan also features a large genealogy section, with books and resources to help you get started.
In hope of sparking some connections for you, I have assembled two lists of surnames below of people who lived in Cheboygan County from the 1840s to 1860s.
For example, one of the surnames in the first list below Is “Houle.” We know a Louis Houle was born in France and arrived in Canada in 1864. He came to Cheboygan where he married Madeline Boucher and had 13 children.
Louis was a great mason. In Cheboygan, he had to learn ways to deal with snow, wind and extreme cold weather. He developed ingenious strategies for building methods, like walls of thick masonry that stayed cool in summer and warm in winter. Incidentally, all of his homes had a fireplace.
Louis and Madeline left many descendants in the county bearing the names Houle, Houd, Desrocher, Clair, Laclair and Leclere. One descendant married a Mageau girl. Their descendants still live here.
I discovered Louis and Madeline in a priceless book titled “Cheboygan County Certificates of Marriage Performed by Justices of the Peace 1855-1867.”
It is very unusual to find marriage records from Justices of the Peace. Many did not spell well; thus the surnames of the brides and grooms were often misspelled.
Here are the surnames from the marriage records: Riggs, Strang, Davenport, Flint, Micklejohn, Hurst, Shall, Schwartz, Douglas, Emerick, Sammons, Shark, Gohl, Stipprew, Jordan, St. Johns, Harvey, Loomis, Maultby, Penman, Wagner, Thomas, Chase, Ball, LaRau, Carter, Kichish, Shawaniss, Shawanagwain, Omskagurte, North, Hartwick, Pasicoskie, Carle, Brannock, Small, Jennings, Nickels, Spooner, Marlow, Isabel, Deroshia, Lafave, Ano, Gaynor, Caro, Genia, Enault, Fisher, Robarge, Martin, Wilson, Dodge, Gee, Kitchen, Haufkeeka, Piano, Basha, St. Peter, Metivier, Grant, Marsh, Stevenson, Williams, Rice and LaFrener.
Next, I want to share surnames I have found in other records such as censuses, and death and birth records: Dugas/Douglas, Rood, Chapman, Price, Burr, Knight, Farrell, Suttin, Perrin, Strohn, Taylor, Bell, Horne, Weed, Post, Stimpson, Ellis, McDonald, McArthur, Ware, Humphrey, Smith, Devine, Littlefield, Robinson, Page, Cayford, Erratt, Hamel, Kezar, Paquette, Chandler, Sutton, Newton, Embury, Brown ,Brace, McKay, Farr, Gerow, Pommier, Rollo, Patterson, Nelson, Meiklejohn, Bellant, Ellis, Pease, McLeod, Woolston, Heaphy, Shenanaquette, Nonquesha, Wiley, Newman, Targriff, Legault, Embury, Rapin, Todd, Beaugrand, Barclay, Kniffin, Curtis, Maiden, Woodard, Reiley, Bellant, Airth, Crumley, McGinn, McGuire, Earl, Biddle, O’Brien, Starkey, Vincent, McKinley, LaBelle, Duncan, Swan, Southwick, Baker, Young, Buchanan, Barron, Bullon, Ball, Wheelock, Myers, Tuttle, Rosenblad, Reed, Joslin, Chamberlain, Kessler, Kemp, Long, Downing, Backus, Bunker, Moery, Buck, Linderman, Vanderbilt, St. John, Bunker, Bries, Barber, Maloney, Farmer, Bouchard, Harrington, Fax, Ke Ge On, Ke Ge Go Way, Show WA Quan, Chin Gua, Baptist, Baurasaw/Bourassa, St. Antoine, Louisignan, Moyer, Lalond, Prestly, Hudson, Hamel, Fugere, Bartholomy, Kniffin, Labine and Johnston.
Are any of your ancestors’ surnames listed? You may find several. If one or more are your ancestors, please let me know at the email address below. I would love to tell their stories.
These families were among the many pioneers who endured great hardships while building the foundation of modern Cheboygan County. Whether relatives or not, we owe them much for their sacrifices.
If you liked this column, let me know and I will continue searching for more surnames to publish in a future column.
Note: These are not intended to be a complete list of surnames, only a part. There are many more to discover.