SOME FAMILY PHOTOS!
The Rogers Family of Houtzdale/DuBois Pennsylvania ca. 1920
First Row: Rose, Mother Rose Mary (nee McCann), James, Joseph, Father John Peter, Teresa (My Grandmother)
Mary Ellen (nee Glenn) Hull
(b. 1874 Snow Shoe, Pennsylvania, d. 1913 DuBois, Pennsylvania)
Michael A. Brummer
(b. 1843 Buffalo, New York, d. 1924 Buffalo, New York)
- Obituary from the Buffalo Express, November 10, 1924 detailing his life story: service in the Civil War, service in the American West in the 1870's, and as a Buffalo Firefighter!
John Charles Vallee
(b. 1840 sHeerenberg, Holland, d. 1914 Buffalo, New York)
Photograph taken 11 December 1913 upon his committal to the Buffalo State Hospital
- Conducting genealogical research is often like how we would imagine the life of a secret investigator. Through historical records, we learn facts about our ancestors that lead us to piece together stories of their lives. One of my direct ancestors (my great-great grandfather), John Charles Vallee, left behind a trail of records that allow me now, some 100 years after he inhabited this earth, to get a glimpse of life as it was in the 19th century. We are only able to do this today because of the efforts of archivists and others interested in preserving our historical records.
- John Charles Vallee was born in sHeerenberg, Gelderland, Holland, October 23, 1840. Thanks to the efforts of the LDS church, I was able to obtain and review the birth records right here in suburban DC!! This is an image of John Charles Vallee's Birth Certificate.
- Preserved in the National Archives are ship manifests or passenger list records. John, his parents and brother George and sister Antoinette arrived at New York, July 21, 1855 on the Arnold Preminger from Rotterdam. John Charles was then just 14 years old. This is an image of the ship passenger list showing their entries.
- The Vallee family then settled in Buffalo, New York where
his father and older brother George (aka Giesenbert) Vallee carried on the family trade of harnass and saddlemaking; John Charles became a tinsmith
and worked for the Sidney Shepard Company. The 1876 Buffalo City
Directory lists John Charles and his brother:
- On January 15, 1867, John Charles married Cunigunda (Cora) Koerber (1850-1915) at St. Mary's RCC, Broadway & Pine, Buffalo, New York. This is an image of that marriage record. I have been able to locate records for eight children of John Charles and Cunigunda Vallee, born between 1867 and 1881. Four of the eight children lived to adulthood: Michael L. (1867-1949), Theresa (1869-1906), William (1879-1968), and George John (my great grandfather, 1881-1918). They lived all of their married life at 14 Mathews Alley in Buffalo, New York. The house (and basically the street) no longer exist.
- John Charles became a naturalized citizen of the US at the Superior Court of Buffalo on March 16, 1870. These records are preserved in the basement record room of Erie County Hall in Buffalo, New York. This is an image of that naturalization record
- A photograph and accompanying poem from the Buffalo Times, June 30, 1907(NOTE: filesize=400K). A second article about John Charles and his efforts at poetry appeared in The Buffalo Courier, August 30, 1908 (NOTE: filesize=208K). These articles were copied from the amazing scrapbooks now in the genealogy research room at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library.
- John Charles was committed to the Buffalo State Hospital shortly before his death in 1914. View the Statistical
Data form from the Buffalo State Hospital that accompanies the photograph of John Charles that appears below! These records
were provided by the Buffalo Psychiatric Center (the famous Richardson Complex) on Forest Avenue in Buffalo, New York. Note that John
spent time at the Buffalo State Hospital in 1883-1885, shortly after the complex was completed.
- Read the petition of his wife, Cunigunda (Cora) M. Vallee, from the incompetency hearing (ref. File #117, "Index and Register of Lunacy Cases,"
Supreme Court, Erie County, New York)!
- Read the deposition of his son, William M. Vallee, from the incompetency hearing !
- Read the deposition of his daughter-in-law, Laverie (nee Cooper) Vallee (aka Charmion), from the incompetency hearing!
- Read the petition of his wife, Cunigunda (Cora) M. Vallee, from the incompetency hearing (ref. File #117, "Index and Register of Lunacy Cases,"
Supreme Court, Erie County, New York)!
- John Charles' final demise came on March 31, 1914. Death records are preserved and made available both by the City of Buffalo and
the State of New York. This is an image of that death certificate. John Charles was buried at the United German
and French Roman Catholic Cemetery, Pine Hill, Cheektowaga, New York. A photo of his gravestone is coming soon!!
Laverie (nee Cooper) Vallee
(b. 1875, Sacramento, California, d. 1949 Santa Ana, California)
- "Charmion" was a vaudeville performer also known as the "Strongwoman"
- Images of some buttons picturing Charmion are on Jack and Beverly's Strongmen (and Strongwomen) Collectibles webpage
- Read her deposition in the incompetency hearing of John Charles Vallee
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Database Owner Contact Information
Theodore J. Hull2620 Cool Spring Road
Adelphi, MD 20783
301-422-9599
pubdog@aol.com
This page, and all genealogical data contained on it are © 2000 Theodore J. Hull (pubdog@aol.com).