Researching This J.C. Guy
Last week I told the tale of a potential inheritance through a line of aristocracy. This week's mystery is themed along the same lines, so to speak. There's no inheritance involved but I hope you find the genealogical case to be compelling, anyway.
Country Roads Magazine articles by Nina Flournoy indicate that she's had a tough time finding information about a couple of her ancestors. In one installment she quotes a message board post by M.M. Loeffler in 2003 which says the following:
“In a Louisiana cemetery is the tombstone of one of my French ancestors, Charles Michel CHAPANTIER, whose place of birth is given as Pittsburgh, PA, 29 Sept. 1795. His parents were refugees from France and Santo Domingo and only stayed briefly in PA. His father was Count Joseph Michel de Tavanne, who changed his name to Joseph CHARPANTIER, when he arrived in the U.S. Mother’s name was Countess Alix de Morainville. I would appreciate any clues about finding documented records of the birth of C.M. Charpantier. Thanks!”
Charles Michel's birth records have eluded me. However, I'm fairly confident that I've uncovered some key information regarding his mysterious father, while his mother remains a total question mark.
Want to do a little detective work? Search the books cited below (they're at books.google.com and archive.org) for the English translation of the adopted French alias surname. At least one individual you should turn up will have a name which bears a striking resemblance to his original one.
To take it a step further, there are records (in other sources) for a man with a very similar name and born in the same year who was the son of a tailor from Puismoisson. Was he really nobility? You make the call!
Bradsby, Henry C.. History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania: With Biographical Selections. United States: S. B. Nelson, 1891.
Murray, Louise Welles. The Story of Some French Refugees and Their "Azilum," 1793-1800. United States: Tioga Point Historical Society, 1903.