52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Ancestors # 26 and 27

Joannes Du Four (1791-1856)

Francisca Bernarda Caurvels (1794-1862)

Joannes Du Four was born in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium in July 1791. He was baptized in the Catholic Church there on 16 July 1791ⁱ, the son of Judocus and Helena (Van Schoonacker) Du Four. He died on 10 February 1856ⁱⁱ. He married Francisca Bernarda Caurvels about 1814 since their first child was born between 1814 and 1816. Francisca was the daughter of Petrus Joannes and Anna Maria (Van De Velde) Caurvels. She was baptized on 15 May 1794ⁱⁱⁱ in Sint Laureins, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium and died in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo on 27 December 1862^iv.

Names in Flanders can be either in Latin, Dutch or French depending upon the time frame and who was recording the event. Names in Catholic Church records are always given in Latin at least in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. When Napoleon conquered Flanders, the official language became French so names were given in French in civil records from 1796 to 1815. So Joannes is the Latin form of John. The Dutch form is usually Jan and the French would be Jean.

This can cause some confusion. I have noted that as we approach the twentieth century, many names were Anglicized. Therefore, my grandmother's brother Carolus (Latin) or Karel (Dutch) began to be written as Charles in the early 1900's.

Both Joannes and Francisca were described in official documents as a workman or a work woman. This was the term used to describe a general laborer. Joannes may have worked in agriculture for one of his more well-to-do neighbors or he might have worked in one of the construction trades maintaining roads or dikes. Another common occupation in this period was as weaver. Generally the women would spin the thread and the men would weave the cloth. Weaving was a cottage industry and provided some necessary cash for many people. Belgium was particularly known for producing exquisite lace during this period. The coming of the industrial age and machine powered looms destroyed this industry and by the end of the nineteenth century, jobs were scarce in Flanders. This led to a large migration of Flemish people to the United States and Canada from about 1880 to 1910.^v

Children of Joannes and Francisca Bernarda (Carvels) Du Four all born in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo:

1. Franciscus Du Four, b. abt. 1815.
2. Pieter Bernard Du Four, b.30 Aug 1821 and d. 25 Dec 1824.
3. Maria Theresia Du Four, b 1824 and d. 12 Mar 1827.
4. Jacobus Bernardus Du Four, b. 26 Feb 1827.
5. Virginia Du Four, b. 25 Mar 1830 and d. 28 Mar 1867.
6. Peter Bernard Du Four, b. 6 Apr 1833.
7. Rosalie Francisca Du Four, b. 25 Nov 1835 and d. 29 Apr 1900 in Kaprijke, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium, m. on 11 Oct 1876 to Ivo Van De Veire, b. 30 Apr 1837 in Kaprijke and d. there 21 Jan 1900.

iSint-Jan-Baptist (Sint-Jan-in-Eremo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium), Dopen, huwelijken, overlijdens, Register Sint-Jan-in-Eremo, baptism of Joannes Du Four, 1794, p. 1, item 1, FHL film #4458840, digital images, FamilySearch.org (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 23 Feb 2018)

ii“Registers van de Burgerlijke Stand, 1796-1870”, index and images, FamilySearch.org (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 13 Sep 2014), 1856, p. 3, item 7, death of Joannes Du Four, film #4189376, citing Gerechtshof te Gent records.

iiiSint Laurentius (Sint-Laureins, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium), Dopen, huwelijken, overlijdens, Register Sint-Laureins, baptism of Francisca Bernarda Caurvels, p. 2249, item 4, film #4459046, digital images, FamilySearch.org (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 9 Jul 2018).

iv“Registers van de Burgerlijke Stand, 1796-1870”, index and images,Sint-Jan-in-Eremo Deaths 1862, item 29, death of Francisca Caurvels, film #4189376.

vGoethals, Jozef J. and Karel Denys, CICM, Searching for Flemish (Belgian) Ancestors (Baltimore, MD:Clearfield Publishing, 2007), p. 13-14.