Born November 28, 1840 in the Québec township of Durham and baptized the following month - December 20th - at Saint-Pierre-de-Wickham in Drummondville, George's life was well documented over the next sixty years.
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| George Felix Gervais - December 20, 1840 baptism Saint-Pierre-de-Wickham in Drummondville, Quebec |
On November 24, 1862 - just four days shy of his 22nd birthday - George married Adeline Parmelia Judd in the Church of England in Danville, Sherbrooke, Québec.
The marriage record reveals a couple interesting things:
The marriage record reveals a couple interesting things:
- For the first time, we see George's surname of Gervais Anglicized to Jarvis (a spelling adopted by his children).
- We also learn that he was illiterate, signing the record with his mark.
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| George Felix Jarvis and Adeline Parmelia Judd November 24, 1862 marriage in Sherbrooke, Quebec |
The family was enumerated in Canada's 1871, 1881, and 1891 censuses, but soon faced tragedy.
On May 8, 1899, Adeline passed away at the age of 54. Two years later, George was enumerated in the 1901 Canadian census as a widower. It was, for the past ten years, where his trail ran cold.
Until last night.
On May 8, 1899, Adeline passed away at the age of 54. Two years later, George was enumerated in the 1901 Canadian census as a widower. It was, for the past ten years, where his trail ran cold.
Until last night.
A Genealogy Hint Unravels A Mystery
Glancing over my tree, a shaky leaf hint summoned my attention to George's profile. I clicked into the clue where I found an 1899 New Hampshire marriage record for William C. Jarvis.
The back of the record included the names of the groom's parents: George Jarvis and Adeline Judd. Although I didn't have William in my tree, I immediately recognized his parents. The reverse side of the marriage card included a notation that his mother was deceased, but that his father was living in Canada.
Although it was bedtime, my curiosity was sufficiently piqued and the hunt was on.
I next turned to George's daughter Addie Jarvis. A new hint pointed me to her 1934 Vermont death record, which named her parents as George Jarvis and Adeline Judd.
Vermont was already familiar territory to me because George and Adeline's daughter Phoebe, my third great-grandmother, had married in the state.
Addie's death certificate also indicated that she had remarried to a man named George Darling; a marriage that I hadn't recorded.
I turned to Newspapers.com where I searched for George Jarvis. Several entries appeared for Vermont, but I was stumped. The clippings were for a George Philip Jarvis not George Felix Jarvis.
But something else immediately caught my attention.
On March 17, 1933, a local Vermont newspaper published a death notice for George P. Jarvis.
The death notice confirmed that George Philip Jarvis had a daughter married to a George Darling and a son named William Jarvis who lived in New Hampshire. These facts were matches to individuals whose parents were recorded as George and Adeline (Judd) Jarvis.
The back of the record included the names of the groom's parents: George Jarvis and Adeline Judd. Although I didn't have William in my tree, I immediately recognized his parents. The reverse side of the marriage card included a notation that his mother was deceased, but that his father was living in Canada.
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| William C. Jarvis Sept. 1899 New Hampshire marriage record (reverse) Confirmed that George Jarvis still lived in Canada |
Although it was bedtime, my curiosity was sufficiently piqued and the hunt was on.
I next turned to George's daughter Addie Jarvis. A new hint pointed me to her 1934 Vermont death record, which named her parents as George Jarvis and Adeline Judd.
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| Addie (Jarvis) Darling - 1934 Vermont death record |
Vermont was already familiar territory to me because George and Adeline's daughter Phoebe, my third great-grandmother, had married in the state.
Addie's death certificate also indicated that she had remarried to a man named George Darling; a marriage that I hadn't recorded.
I turned to Newspapers.com where I searched for George Jarvis. Several entries appeared for Vermont, but I was stumped. The clippings were for a George Philip Jarvis not George Felix Jarvis.
But something else immediately caught my attention.
On March 17, 1933, a local Vermont newspaper published a death notice for George P. Jarvis.
"George Philip Jarvis, 95, one of Rutland's oldest residents, died early yesterday morning at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Leon Lewis...Besides Mrs. Lewis, he is survived by four other daughters, Mrs. George Darling...and two sons, Edward Jarvis of Claremont and William Jarvis of Enfield, N.H."
The death notice also gave George's birth date as November 28, which was an exact match to the birth date given for George Felix Jarvis in his baptism record (although there was a slight discrepancy on the birth year).
Collectively, the obituary's evidence suggested that George Philip Jarvis was in fact George Felix Jarvis.
[As an aside, the one oddity about the obit is that it fails to name George's daughter, Phoebe Elizabeth, among his surviving children. She was my 3rd great-grandmother. Curiously, the record references that he is "survived by four other daughters..." and then names just three women. Perhaps it was an innocent oversight, or maybe the family lore - still unproven - that Phoebe's husband killed a man in Vermont which forced them to flee to Colorado was cause for family shame and justified her absence from the article.]
Backtracking to the 1920 US Federal Census, I found George living with his daughter Addie who was widowed following the death of her first husband Eddie Moore. In an encouraging sign that I had indeed found my ancestor, George's middle initial was enumerated as F!
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| 1920 Vermont census with George F. Jarvis living with daughter Addie |
A decade later, the 1930 census enumeration revealed that the middle initial changed from F to P. I'm unclear on what prompted the change.
Nonetheless, I'm content just knowing what happened to George, my Québécois ancestor. He can keep his middle name mystery...for now.
A couple items for continued research include finding George's 1933 Vermont death certificate (he's not surfacing in any of the digitized collections on FamilySearch or Ancestry nor in Vermont's online death record index). Why would that be? Perhaps he's in the system under an incorrect surname spelling.
I am also intrigued by the 1920 census indication that George became a naturalized US citizen in 1910. I would like to try and find his naturalization records. Perhaps they hold clues to George's middle name swap.
