This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/lg.2ADE/1152 Message Board Post: In 1848, Joseph Guyon (born 1827) and his wife, Sophie Desdell, married in their hometown of St. Dominique, Quebec, in Bagot County (not far from Montreal) and within a year left for Bourbonnais, Illinois, accompanied by their young daughter, Alice, born 1849. Alice may have been born in Illinois; don't know. The reason for leaving long established families in their hometown is unknown, but young Joseph found work with the Illinois Central RR with whom he remained for the rest of his natural life. He died in 1894 in Effingham county, IL. Sophie died (year unknown), and in 1856, Joseph remarried to what we might call today his nanny, Caroline Desnoyers, in Effingham County. Caroline's death certificate says that her father was "Frank Hickory". Not so strange when you consider the French name Francois Desnoyer would translate into Frank Hickory. Joseph and Caroline went on to have nine children of their own with most of the children raising large families of their own living in the small community of Watson just outside Effingham, Illinois. I have posted some of the surnames of the families the children married into. Because of our descent from Rose, a child of Caroline, the natural progression of the genealogy hunt was to look for the parents of Joseph Guyon and Caroline. Years were spent on the Guyon search. A key piece of "evidence" was a notebook kept by Joseph's son, Daniel, containing a treasure trove of genealogical information about his fathers place of birth and arrival in the USA. Dozens of letters were written to public agencies and individuals who were hoped to have information about Joseph's parents. All inquiries resulted in the proverbial 'dead end'. One day, a relative, Marie Hill, who was also searching this family wrote to say that a cousin had been to St. Dominique, Quebec, and was searching the parish records when he came across the marriage certificate of Sophie Desdell in 1848. The kicker is that she was married to Joseph Gagne, NOT Joseph Guyon. What a revelation that was! Finally! The drought ended! The Fugitive was found! Evidently, the phonetic similarity between Guyon and Gagne, and probably Joseph's illiteracy, precipitated a complete name change in America. Armed with Joseph's real surname, and the kindness of Bill Fleming of a Quebec genealogical forum, Joseph's complete genealogy has been revealed. We are still confounded by the parents of Caroline Desnoyer(s). She was born 1840 in Montreal, evidently the daughter of Frank Desnoyer/Hickory. How she found her way to Illinois remains a mystery. It is frustrating to have pictures of this beautiful lady with her high cheekbones, and not to know more about her. If any reader on this list believes they are descended from this family, I am happy to freely share my data base with them. I also have many photographs I can share. Mike LaForest Knoxville, YN