Alfred N. Blanchard (1833 - 1910)

Born 13 Jan 1833 in Potton, Stanstead, Lower Canada

Ancestors

Died 9 Feb 1910 at age 77 in Potton, Brome, Quebec, Canada

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Biography

This profile is part of the Blanchard Name Study.

Alfred N. Blanchard was born in 1832 or 1833. His birth date is recorded as Jan. 1833 on the 1901 Census, as referenced below. Alfred's parentage is not established on a "rock-solid" basis, but he is strongly believed to be the son of Daniel Blanchard and Hannah Bourne. One of the considerations is the presence of Daniel and Hannah's son Tristan as witness to Alfred's first marriage, it making perfect sense that his family would be represented by an older brother. Similarly, Alfred was living next door to George Blanchard in 1861, "J. W. Blanchard" (John Wesley) in 1871, Judson Blanchard in 1881, Tristan Blanchard in 1891, and both Judson and Tristan in 1901, all being sons of Daniel and Hannah. Moreover, Daniel and Hannah themselves were only two doors down from Alfred on the 1881 census.

Several of the larger Blanchard family, including George, believed that Canada ought to be annexed to the USA. In 1849, George and some of his brothers were signers of a Petition to the member of parliament for Stanstead County (to which Potton belonged at that time) to let Canada be separated from British rule and be annexed by the United States.^[1] Today that sounds like a naive concept, but there was a serious movement in those years.^[2]

On 28 Oct. 1851, Alfred married Martha (or Marcia) Bresee.^[3] According to the marriage record, Alfred was 19 years old, while the birth date stated above would indicate he was 2 months away from his 19th birthday. More interestingly, Martha is shown at 13 years old, unusual to say the least. Most likely this marriage took place pre-maturely, for reasons we may not discover, which would also explain why there is no evidence that it survived long. We have found no evidence of children from this first marriage.

In fact, just slightly more than five years later, on 10 January 1857, Alfred married Mary Allen, in Coventry, Vermont.^[4] Alfred and Mary were recorded together on the 1861 census, with their first two children, Ella (4) and Susan (2).^[5] On the 1871 census, the couple were recorded with 5 children, including the two from 1861.^[6] The 1871 census is somewhat difficult to decipher in terms of childrens' names - "Ella J." and "L.L" are easily identified as the oldest and youngest, "S.M." as Susan, but the middle child/only boy as "S.M." is a mystery, given his age and sex is a match for "Wesley" and finally "H.A." matches "Eva" in age, making one guess if her full name was for example "Helen Ava".

On the 1881 census, the family remained in Potton, this time with only their oldest and youngest children still at home, with Susan and Eva having previously married and the boy having passed away.^[7]

All told, Alfred and Mary had five children:

1. Ella Jane, b. 12 Dec. 1856; m. Robert Drown, 10 May 1884;^[8] d. 25 Sept. 1887
2. Susan Linda, b. 24 May 1860; m. John Duval, 4 July 1877;^[9] d. 17 April 1927
3. Wesley, b. abt. 1862; d. 18 June 1879^[10]
4. Eva, b. 29 March 1865; m. George Schoolcraft, 4 June 1879;^[11] d. 25 Feb. 1932, and
5. Luva L., b. 1 Nov. 1868; m. James Burton Drown, 4 July 1884;^[12] d. 2 March 1893.

On the 1891 Census, Alfred and Mary had one child (Luva) at home with them, plus a grandson Tyrone Schoolcraft.^[13] In 1901, the couple were still caring for grandson Tyrone Schoolcraft, son of their daughter Eva.^[14]

Alfred passed away in 1910,^[15] and was interred in Mansonville Protestant Cemetery.^[16] Cause of death was heart failure.^[17] Note that the Baptist church death record referenced above was witnessed by Alfred's grandson Tyron Schoolcraft (Eva's daughter), as well as "H.A. Schoolcraft", believed to be Eva herself as per above comments.

After losing her husband, Alfred's wife Mary lived for a short time with her daughter Eva Schoolcraft.^[18] Note that the census omitted her family name, therefore tagging her with her son-in-law's name. She passed away on 12 June 1912, just a bit more than 2 years after her husband.^[19]

Sources

1. ↑ Annexation in Stanstead County, by Leslie Nutbrown, December 2006| Annexation Petition, 1949
2. ↑ Montreal Annexation Manifesto, Wikipedia| Montreal Manifesto
3. ↑ Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), Bolton Methodist Church, 1851, Folio Thirteenth
4. ↑ Vermont Vital Records, Coventry, 1857| Marriage, Blanchard - Allen
5. ↑ 1861 Canada East Census, District of Brome, Sub-District of Potton, Page 160, Line 41| 1861 Canada East Census, "Alfred Blanchard, Age 30"
6. ↑ 1871 Canada Census, Province of Quebec, District 126 (Brome), Sub-District d (Potton), Page 38, Line 20| 1871 Canada Census, "Alfred Blanchard, Age 40"
7. ↑ 1881 Canada Census, Province of Quebec, District 60 (Brome), Sub-District C Division 2 (Potton), Family Nbr. 70, Page 14, Line 6| 1881 Canada Census, "Alfred Blanchard, Age 49"
8. ↑ Vermont Vital Records, Troy, 1884| Marriage Record, Ella
9. ↑ Vermont Vital Records, Salem, 1877| Marriage Record, Susan
10. ↑ FindAGrave| "Wesley Blanchard"
11. ↑ Vermont Vital Records, Jay, 1879| Marriage Record, Eva
12. ↑ Vermont Vital Records, Newport, 1884| Marriage Record, Luva
13. ↑ 1891 Canada Census, Province of Quebec, District 143 (Brome), Sub-District E Division 2 (Potton), Family Nbr. 114, Page 22, Line 11| 1891 Canada Census, "Alfred Blanchard, Age 56"
14. ↑ 1901 Canada Census, Province of Quebec, District 144 (Brome), Sub-District H Division 3 (Potton), Family Nbr. 124, Page 13, Line 14| 1901 Canada Census, "Alfred Blanchard, Age 67
15. ↑ Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), Mansonville Baptist Church, 1910, Folio 2
16. ↑ FindAGrave| "Alfred N Blanchard"
17. ↑ Funeral Records of F. H. Perkins, J.P., Mansonville, Quebec, Entry Nbr. 286, "Age 78, 9 Feb. 1910, Potton, Heart Failure"
18. ↑ 1911 Canada Census, Province of Quebec, District 149 (Brome), Sub-District 15 (Potton), Family Nbr. 22, Page 3, Line 2| 1911 Canada Census, "Mary Schoolcraf, Age 67"
19. ↑ FindAGrave| "Mary Allen Blanchard"