VAN ESSEN Genealogy - French Ancestors

Charles Joseph De France was named as the bridegroom's father in the 1835 Maastricht, Limburg, marriage record of his son, Jean Charles De France, where his death on the 27th of January, 1832, in Givet, France was noted. Givet is pronounced "jih VAY", and is located in the Ardennes, which is on the eastern border of France. Here are some maps showing its location. Here is a 775x1000 269 KB scan of the Givet death record.

The following transcriptions and translations were done by my friend, Raphaël Quinet, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. Here is the verbatim transcription of the death record:

L'an Mil huit Cent trente Deux, Le Vingt huit du mois de Janvier, à dix heures du matin, Pardevant nous nicolas antoine Constantin Poulet, deuxième adjoint au Maire de Givet, délégué par son arrêté du vingt quatre décembre dernier, pour remplir la fonction d'officier du l'Etat Civil des Villes de Givet et Charlemont arrondissement de Rocroy, Département des ardennes, sont Comparus en l'hôtel de ville, les sieurs jacques joseph harroy, âgé de cinquante un ans, maître Cordonnier, et antoine Campette, âgé de vingt trois ans, aussi cordonnier, tous deux domiciliés à Givet: Lesquels nous ont déclaré que lejourd'hier vingt sept janvier, à huit heures du soir, Le Sieur Charles Joseph -- DeFrance, domicilié à Givet Fort de Rome numéro deux, Caporal jouissant d'une pension militaire de Cent Soixante dix francs; inscrite sous le numéro cent vingt quatre mille huit cent soixante sept, baptisé à auxerre, département de L'yonne, le vingt deux aout mil sept Cent Soixante Douze, suivant son acte de baptême qui n'indique pas le jour de la naissance, époux de Marie Catherine Gerardu demeurant au dit Givet : est décédé en la maison de son domicile. Et ont les déclarants signé avec nous le présent acte après que lecture leur en a été faite les jour, mois et an susdits.         Harroy     Campette     N.Poulet

This corrected version has modern spelling, standard capitalization, and digits for the numbers: L'an 1832, le 28 du mois de Janvier, à 10 heures du matin, par-devant nous Nicolas Antoine Constantin Poulet, deuxième adjoint au Maire de Givet, délégué par son arrêté du 24 décembre dernier, pour remplir la fonction d'officier de l'Etat Civil des villes de Givet et Charlemont arrondissement de Rocroy, département des Ardennes, sont comparus en l'hôtel de ville, les sieurs Jacques Joseph Harroy, âgé de 51 ans, maître cordonnier, et Antoine Campette, âgé de 23 ans, aussi cordonnier, tous deux domiciliés à Givet. Lesquels nous ont déclaré que le jour d'hier 27 janvier, à 8 heures du soir, Le sieur Charles Joseph-DeFrance, domicilié à Givet Fort de Rome numéro 2, Caporal jouissant d'une pension militaire de 170 francs, inscrite sous le numéro 124867, baptisé à Auxerre, département de l'Yonne, le 22 aout 1772, suivant son acte de baptême qui n'indique pas le jour de la naissance, époux de Marie Catherine Gerardu demeurant au dit Givet; est décédé en la maison de son domicile. Et ont les déclarants signé avec nous le présent acte après que lecture leur en a été faite les jour, mois et an susdits.                 Harroy     Campette     N.Poulet And here is the English translation: The year 1832, 28 of January, at 10 o'clock in the morning, in front of us Nicolas Antoine Constantin Poulet, second assistant of the Mayor of Givet, delegated by his decree of last 24 December to fulfill the function of registrar of the towns of Givet and Charlemont district of Rocroy, department of the Ardennes, appeared before the town hall the sirs Jacques Joseph Harroy, 51 years old, master shoe-maker, and Antoine Campette, 23 years old, also shoe-maker, both domiciled in Givet. Which declared to us that the day of yesterday January 27, at 8 o'clock in the evening, the sir Charles Joseph DeFrance, domiciled in Givet, Fort de Rome number 2, corporal enjoying a military pension of 170 francs, registered under the number 124867, baptized in Auxerre, department of Yonne, August 22, 1772, according to his baptismal certificate which does not indicate the day of the birth, husband of Marie Catherine Gerardu living in said Givet; is deceased in the house of his residence. And the declarants have signed this act with us after it was read to them the above mentioned day, month and year.                 Harroy     Campette     N.Poulet

Givet (Pop. 8,000) is a picturesque town with an interesting and lengthy local history. The Givet web site (see Related Links, below) has pictures and historical information if you want to learn more. After my friend, Raphaël, translated the death record, I emailed the webmaster of the Givet web site, Thierry Laurent, telling him about the death record and asking if he had a map of Givet online so I could see where Fort de Rome, number 2, was located. Map of Givet   [1200x570] (155K)     Mr. Laurent was kind enough to mail me a map of the city that includes the various historical sites and other details in addition to the street names. The thumbnail at the left is linked to a larger image showing the southwest area of the city where Fort de Rome (now called Quai du Fort de Rome) runs along the north bank of the River Meuse. Fort de Rome #2 [450x450] (41K)     Much to my delight, Mr. Laurent had taken the time and effort to take a couple of Polaroid pictures and included them with the map! The thumbnail at the left is a picture of the building at the address given in Charles Joseph's death record (it is linked to a larger image). The building has been uninhabited for many years and has fallen into a state of disrepair. It was formerly an apartment-style building. This was where Charles and his wife, Catherine, were living at the time of his death at age 59. The house is on a riverbank. Notice the edifice on the cliff above the house. That is one corner of Fort Charlemont. On the map, you can see how much farther it extends from the corner nearest the river. If you are curious, the Givet City History page (see below) has a 17th century engraving of the fortified village of Charlemont. The death record gives Charles' birthplace (well, baptism place, anyway) as Auxerre (pronounced "oh-SAYR"), Yonne. There are at least fifteen Catholic Churches in Auxerre that have records microfilmed by the LDS, so I will have my work cut out for me finding his baptismal record!

Related Links Givet, France Web Page (in English) and City History Page (in English) Champagne-Ardenne GenWeb Page and Query Page at RootsWeb De France GenConnect Bulletin Board at RootsWeb. De France GenForum Bulletin Board at Genealogy.com.

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