#25 - Samantha Allard Gets a Job which Leads to A Family

Samantha Allard, my husband’s great-great grandmother, was born 10 Apr 1840 in West Ely, Shefford, Quebec, Canada. According to local families, the Allard family is of French-Canadian origin. Samantha apparently spoke English as well for she married an Anglo-Canadian.

Samantha was the schoolteacher to the Kendall children (and others) in a rural one-room schoolhouse. Little did she know at the start of her teaching job, that she’d end up married to a father of some of her students.

I don’t know how much they earned, but based on my understanding of the area and the era, she may have been paid in produce and the like. It was a small country school, much like many others that dotted the Eastern Townships of Quebec at that time. It probably resembled schools in this website: Eastern Townships Schools [this site has other info on the Eastern Townships].
I am guessing it was small then (Lawrenceville has a population of 662, Stukely and West Ely are tiny crossroads). 

When she was 20 she married the widower, Joseph Ward Kendall, on 30 May 1860 in Lawrenceville, Shefford Methodist Church in Quebec, Canada. 

Her husband Joseph Ward Kendall was 20 years older than his new wife. (My husband is descended thru their son Luke Kendall).
Joseph Kendall, born in 1820, was the son of Henry Kendall and Dorothy Thankful Parker.

The much younger Samantha Allard and her husband Joseph Ward Kendall

 

1862 Gazeeter. Ely Twnship is circled

 

 

 

Their Family: 

Their first surviving child together was Isaiah Johnston Kendall born on 4 Sep 1863 in Lawrenceville, Shefford County, Quebec, Canada. 

Their second son was my husband’s great grandfather Luke Hale Kendall, was born 27 Dec 1866 in Lawrenceville, Shefford County, Quebec, Canada (died 1948).

Luke Hale Kendall prob 1882

The rest of the children Samantha had were:
3 Gardner Ward Kendall (1871-1935)
4 Dorothy Vermilia Kendall (1874–1941)
5 A son Alpheus Gordon Kendall (1876-1956)
6 Florence Marion Amanda Kendall (1878-1935)
7 Jennie Grace Kendall (1886-1908)

Prior to the birth of her last child, in 1881, Samantha Allard Kendall's father, Stephen Allard died.
By the time little Jennie Grace was 4 or 5, by 1891, the family had moved and were living in Waterloo, Quebec, a city of some size.
Within 7 years her husband died, on August 5 1898 in Waterloo. Joseph Kendall was 78 years old at the time of his death. Ten years later, her daughter Jennie also died at the age of 22 in Massachusetts.
Samantha lived on for a while in Waterloo.
Death:
Samantha Allard died in 1913.
I found her death recorded in Folio 3 of the registers for Masonville Methodist Church, Quebec says 

“Samantha Elizabeth Allard, age 73 years, 6 days, relict [widow] of Joseph Kendall died on this date” it was April 16, 1913.
The Waterloo Advertiser Apr 25 1913 reported she died "after many years of suffering from rheumatism." 

Samantha Allard, 2nd wife of Jos Kendall and their children

Above Photo:
Seated, middle: Joseph Ward Kendall with  Samantha Elizabeth (Allard) and their 7 children.
In the back: Luke Hale, Isaiah Johnston, and Dorothy Vermilia.
Seated in the front : Gardner Ward, Alpheus Gordon, Florence, and on Samantha's lap is Jenny Grace.

Burial:
Joseph Kendall and Samantha Allard, as well as many other Kendalls and relations are buried in the Waterloo (Quebec) Graveyard (Protestant). 

A great-great grandson at the Waterloo Cemetery in 2018

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Joseph had several children with his first wife Emily Hunt. As they are half-relations, and I have their names, I list them below.

Joseph's first wife:
Emily Hunt (not a direct ancestor) -
B 8 Sep 1819 , Quebec, Canada
D 21 Aug 1858 Shefford, , Quebec, Canada
The children of Emily Hunt & Joseph W Kendall
1 Henry Peter Kendall 1842–1920
2 Rachel Kendall 1844–1917
3 Vining Paul Kendall 1846–1927
4 James W Kendall 1848–1868
5 Elizabeth Kendall 1850–1871
6 John Frederick Kendall 1854–?
7 Adelbert Kendall 1856–1927
8 Baby Kendall 1858–1858 

#23- Multiple Names - Learning about "dit" names (for the French-Canadians I thought didn't exist)

 Never underestimate the value of visiting a place.

I tend to revisit the same types of places: gravesites, conferences, libraries.
But when I branch out to court houses and to historical societies,  I’m usually pleasantly surprised: I’m illuminated, I’ve got added information, and often the ‘why’s and wherefores’ are explained, mysteries are solved.

Several years ago my husband and I spent a few days in Quebec's Eastern Townships before our ultimate destination of Montreal.

My husband is a very social person and that's handy when traveling to unknown parts. In the Eastern Townships of Quebec we had spent a day in Bromont and Waterloo and then spent some time poking through Lawrenceville, Ely, Shefford, S. Stukey and other little towns.
 

My husband was seeking his grandmother’s family, the Kendalls from this area of Quebec. His father’s mother was born in Quebec. But we didn’t find the Kendalls (for a while). He was getting tired and bored with driving around. 

When we passed a building with a  sign that read: “GENERAL STORE and POST OFFICE” he stopped the car. He went inside to ask about the Kendalls.  He returned a minute later asking for more names. I gave him 2 family names of women who were likely from old families in the area. This time he popped back out to call me inside. 

To abbreviate the ensuing conversation I'll tell you the gist.  I mentioned Joseph Ward Kendall married Samantha Allard as his 2nd wife. The storeowner (who was a genealogist and married to my husband's 2nd cousin) knew the family name.
She said, “Oh! yes, the Allards!” Her  husband Rob said, “They’re an old French-Canadian family.” 

She added, “Right over there is Allard Road.
I was stunned.

This information did not fit with what I believed my husband's family would be. I knew they were Scottish immigrants or English to Canada, a few were disaffected Americans or Americans looking for more land (as in the Kendalls).

 

 Multiple Names and "DIT"

French-Canadian:
I know no French and I dreaded the thought of researching ‘dit’ names, because I was ignorant.
Yet, Samantha Allard’s father’s lineage and her grandmothers, have the typical French-Canadian “dit" names.

Logically if this lineage (the Allard family) had "dit" names, there would be a lot more going back. There was no avoiding "dit" names.

  

For the Allard line alone we need to go back to France--and the first Allard or Alard who arrived in Canada:

My husband's 8th gr grandfather
Pierre Alard II
B Abt 1600 Sainte-Hermine, Vendée, Pays de la Loire, France
D 18 Sep 1703 Beaupré, La Côte-de-Beaupré, Quebec, Canada
Married 1665 Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, Québec, Canada
Marie-Marthe De Lugré
B Nov 1667 Chateau Richer, Quebec, Canada
D 19 Jun 1699 Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Capitale-Nationale, Quebec, Canada

7th gr grandfather
Joseph Allard (Alard)
B 28 Nov 1694 Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, La Côte-de-Beaupré, Quebec, Canada
D 9 Dec 1767 St. Henri, Mascouche, Les Moulins, Quebec, Canada
à1723 November, a Marriage Contract made with "Cecile Berloin" (Canadian Notarial Record)
Note her 'dit' name:
Cecile Berloin dit Nantel
B 17 Jun 1706 St-Francois-de-Sales, Le Domaine-du-Roy, Quebec, Canada
D 4 Aug 1783 Mascouche, Les Moulins, Quebec, Canada

6th gr-grandfather
Joseph Allard
B 17 Aug 1724 Paroisse St-Charles de Lachenaie, Lachenaie, Québec, Canada
D 20 Apr 1800 Mascouche, L’Assomption-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada
Married 18 Oct 1745 in Lachenaie, Quebec
Marie Anne Chalifoux
B 4 Mar 1728 Lachiene, Quebec, Canada
D 28 Mar 1800 Lachiene, Quebec, Canada

5th great-grandfather
Françoise Allard
B 12 Oct 1769 Paroisse St Henri de Mascouche, Quebec, Canada
D Abt 1807  Quebec, Canada
Married 1789
Magdaleine Tellier [Lafortune]
B 1769 L’Asumption, Quebec, Canada
D 1833 St Roch Le Achigan, Quebec, Canada

4th great-grandfather
Francois Joseph Allard (Alard)
B 31 Mar 1790 Mascouche, L'Assomption, Quebec, Canada
D 1854 St. David d'Yamaska, Québec, Canada
Married- another "dit" name
Suzanne Mercier dit Lajoie
B 2 Sep 1798 Repentigny, L'Assomption, Québec, Canada
D 28 Jun 1877 Quebec, Canada

3rd great-grandfather
Stephen Allard  
B 1815 Quebec, Canada
D After 1881 Quebec, Canada
Married
Sarah (Marston?)
B 1810 Shefford, Quebec, Canada
D Before 1880, Quebec, Canada

Their daughter: 2nd great-grandmother of husband
Samantha Elizabeth Allard
Born 10 Apr 1840 West Ely, Shefford, Quebec, Canada
Died 16 Apr 1913 Waterloo, Shefford, Quebec, Canada
Married 30 May 1860 Lawrenceville (Shefford Methodist Church), Quebec, Canada
Joseph Ward Kendall (B 1820 D 1898) 

Joseph Ward Kendall and 2nd wife Samantha Allard (Luke Hale K is back, left)

 

 

Their children: 

Isaiah Johnston Kendall 1863–1921 

**Luke Hale Kendall 1866–1948 - my husband’s great grandfather 

Gardner Ward Kendall 1871–1935 

Dorothy Vermilia Kendall 1874–1941 

Alpheus Gordon Kendall 1876–1956 

Florence Marion Amanda 1878–1935 

Jennie Grace Kendall 1886–1908 

About those predecessors 

There are at least 2 “dit” names in the family. What is a dit name? I found an easy summary from a source:

 

What Is a Dit Name?

A dit name is essentially an alias, or alternate name, tacked on to a family name or surname. 

Dit (pronounced "dee") is a French form of the word dire, which means "to say," and in the case of dit names is translated loosely as "that is to say," or "called." 

Therefore, the first name is the family's original surname, passed down to them by an ancestor, while the "dit" name is the name the person/family is actually "called" or known as.

Dit names are found primarily in New France (French-Canada, Louisiana, etc.), France, and sometimes Scotland. They are used by families, not specific individuals, and are usually passed down to future generations, either in place of the original surname, or in addition to it. 

After several generations, many families eventually settled on one surname or the other, although it isn't uncommon to see some siblings within the same family using the original surname, while others carried on the dit name. 

The use of dit names slowed dramatically during the mid- to late-1800s, although they could still be found used by some families into the early twentieth century.

Dit names were often adopted by families to distinguish them from another branch of the same family. 

The specific dit name may also have been chosen for many of the same reasons as the original surname - as a nickname based on trade or physical characteristics, or to identify the ancestral place of origin (e.g. Andre Jarret de Beauregard, where Beauregard refers to the ancestral home in the French province of Dauphine). 

The mother's surname, or even the father's first name, may also have been adopted as a dit name.

Interestingly, many dit names derived from military service, where early French military rules required a nom de guerre, or war name, for all regular soldiers. 

This practice was a precursor to identification numbers, allowing soldiers to be identified collectively by their given name, their family name, and their nom de guerre.

 

Example of a Dit Name

Gustave Eiffel, architect of the Eiffel Tower, was born Alexandre Gustave Bonickhausen dit Eiffel in Dijon, France, on 15 December 1832. 

He was a descendant of Jean-René Bönickhausen, who emigrated to France from the German town of Marmagen in the early 18th century. The dit name Eiffel was adopted by descendants of Jean-René for the Eifel mountain region of Germany from which he had come. Gustave formally changed his name to Eiffel in 1880.

 

How You Might See Dit Names Recorded

A dit name can be legally used to replace the family's original surname.  

Sometimes the two surnames may be linked as one family name, or you may find families who use the two surnames interchangeably.

Thus, you may find an individual's name recorded with a dit name, or under either just the original surname or just the dit name.

Dit names may also be found reversed with the original surname, or as hyphenated surnames. 

  

How to Record a Dit Name in Your Family Tree 

When recording a dit name in your family tree, it is generally standard practice to record it in its most common form - e.g. Hudon dit Beaulieu. A standardized list of dit names with their common variants can be found in "Rene Jette's Répertoire des Noms de Famille du Québec" des Origines à 1825, and Msgr Cyprien Tanguay's "Dictionnaire genealogique des familles canadiennes (Volume 7)." Another extensive source is The dit Name: French Canadian Surnames, Aliases, Adulterations, and Anglicizations by Robert J. Quentin. The American-French Genealogical Society also has an extensive online list of French-Canadian surnames, including variants, dit names, and Anglicizations. 

When the name is not found in one of the above sources, you can use a phone book (Québec City or Montréal) to find the most common form or, even better, just record it in the form most often used by your ancestors.

SOURCE: Powell, Kimberly. "What Is a Dit Name?" ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/what-is-a-dit-name-3972358. [Accessed 12 July 2020]

#6 - Luke Hale Kendall, Canadian, moves across the border

 Luke Hale Kendall, my husband’s father’s maternal grandfather (his great grandfather) was the second son of Joseph Ward Kendall (1820-1898) and his second and (much younger wife) Samantha Allard (1840-1913).

(Emily Hunt (1819-1858) was his father’s 1st wife. I believe 7 children from his first wife survived to adulthood). Luke Hale Kendall, as mentioned, was born to wife #2 (Samantha Allard), and was one amongst another large number of children, here:

The 2nd set of Kendall children born in Quebec, Canada were:
1-Isaiah Johnston Kendall 1863-1921
2- Luke Hale Kendall
3-Gardner Ward Kendall 1871-1935
4-Dorothy Vermilia Kendall 1874-1941
5- Alpheus Gordon Kendall 1876–1913
6-Florence M Kendall 1877–1913
7-Jennie Grace Kendall (dates?)

[For a list of Kendall children born in his father's 1st family, see end of post below].

Luke Hale Kendall was born on December 27 1867 in Lawrenceville, Quebec, Canada in an "Anglo" family (English-speaking).
He died December 8 1948 in Shefford, Quebec, Canada but finished his life in New England.

Though he was born in a French-speaking province, he was living in an Anglo household. Border crossings between the US and Canada were easy and more like crossing into another state at that time. No passports! 

His area of Canada (Quebec) isn't far from the US border. Lawrenceville, Quebec is about 55 miles north of northern Vermont. 

And, as it turns out Luke Kendall spent a fair amount of his life in Burlington or Winooski Vermont, and not much in Canada. As an English-speaking Canadian in a French speaking province, he likely felt quite at home there.

Marriage and Family:
He married first Ida Craig, another "Anglo" Canadian from Quebec. She was my husband’s great grandmother.

Ida Craig and Luke H Kendall were wed on February 4, 1889 in the Methodist Church, in Waterloo, Québec, Canada. Luke was 21 and Ida was 23 years old. Waterloo is less than 90 miles N of Burlington.

1 Luella Nina Louise Kendall(1889-1917) (called "Nina")
2 Gordon Harold G Kendall (1891-1963)
3 Minnie May Marion Kendall (1896-1938)
4 Grace Ada Lana Kendall (1903–2004)
5 Giles Gardner Craig Kendall (1905–1987)
6 Clifton Warren J Kendall (1907-1985)

Note that the eldest two are 2 years apart in age.
But the age difference between Nina (the eldest) and the third child Minnie, widens to 7 years. Further, Grace is 14 years younger than Nina, Giles is 16 years younger than Nina and Clifton is 18 years younger than she.  

Ida May Craig (Kendall) abt 1906

The age difference may help understand why Luke may have felt he was free to do what he did later on:

Death and Remarriage
Unfortunately Ida died in January 2, 1912, when most of their children were still young: 4 ½ (Clifton), 6 ½ (Giles), 8 ½ (Grace), 15 ½ (Minnie). 

The elder two were going to turn 21 (Gordon) and 23 (Nina). I’ve been told Ida had tuberculosis.

The facts don’t tell me much, but I know less than two years later in the spring of 1914, Luke Kendall had crossed the border and remarried  Georgiana (Kemp) Grinder in Essex Junction, Vermont. He was 46 years old when he remarried.

Abandoned
Sadly, he left the younger four children in Waterloo, Canada. 
They were, in effect, orphaned. 
I'm guessing that as best they could the elder two children took care of the four younger ones, but it must have been a real heartache to have lost your mother, and then left behind by your father.
It's hard to write a story when you don't have the information motivating Luke to leave  Canada for Vermont. It's just as likely he felt, as many people do, that staying home would be worse for the family--either financially or emotionally, or both. I can't discern, I can only speculate.

A Family Portrait of.....
When I first saw this photo of Minnie Kendall and her family, I assumed that the people behind her were her parents. 
I now know these are all Kendall siblings: elder two in the back are the “parents” only because Ida was already too sick to have her photo taken (taken about 1910).

Kendall children about 1910

Left to right: back row-Gordon and Nina; front row-Grace, Giles, Minnie, Clifton

United States

Luke and his second wife Georgina settled in Burlington, Vermont. 
I would be interested in finding out often Luke Kendall returned to Waterloo, or if any of the younger children stayed with their father and stepmother.  It seems the children were fending for themselves, I am not sure what, if any, money Luke was sending back to Canada.

We know Grace, Minnie and Giles Kendall lived out their lives in New England. (Clifton and Gordon are both buried in Waterloo Cemetery in Quebec),

I've not yet found census records that would reveal that information. My information comes from the Vermont City Directories which only have Luke residing in Burlington, Vt. throughout the 1920s.

Death & Remarriage - #2
Then in 1924, Georgina (wife #2) died.
And, in 1925-the next year-Luke H Kendall turns up in Essex Junction, Vermont to marry for the 3rd time (by the same minister). 
He married Roseanna (Comeau) Stanhope (it's her second marriage).  Luke is 57 years old when he marries “Rosey”; Rev Chauncey C. Adams conducted the marriage ceremony.

Late Life
It looks like he remained in Burlington till moving to Winooski, Vermont in or about 1930. Then fifteen years after they're wed, Rosey died, late in 1940.

By now Luke Kendall is 73 and he’s outlived three wives, and two of his daughters (Nina and Minnie my husband's grandmother, who died in 1938).

One of the descendants says that although his children were quite unhappy at being abandoned, Luke was taken care of by them. 
As he put it: (his daughter Grace),
 "was generous enough to take him in the last 10 years of his life in Keene, NH, despite having been abandoned as a youth."

I’d say she was “Grace-ous”

Luke Hale Kendall abt 1940

Grace and Gordon (standing); Luke H Kendall 1940s

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Luke Hale Kendall’s Half-Siblings :

These were the Kendall Children born to (his father), Joseph Ward Kendall (1820-1898) and Emily Hunt (1819-1858).
Half-siblings to Luke Hale Kendall
1 Henry Peter (1842–1920)
2 Rachel (1844-1917)
3  Vining Paul (1846-1927)
4  James W  (1848-1868)
5  Letticia Elizabeth (1850–1871)
6  John Frederick (1854–?)
7  Adelbert ['Delbert'](1856–1927)
8  Baby Kendall (1858-1858)